According to the locals of Aroka Island, the "ghost ship" was nothing new.
Long ago, when people sailed through the nearby waters, they would occasionally glimpse a strange vessel deep within the fog.
Looking closely, one could faintly make out its ancient shape, its hull pitch black, as though thick shadow had been smeared directly across the mist.
The ship showed none of the activity a normal vessel should have. It seemed empty, drifting silently across the sea without a sound.
Occasionally someone reckless enough would try to approach it.
Yet no matter how fast they sailed, the ship always kept a fixed distance from them. And if they pursued it too long, they would find they could not return, as though they had vanished into the depths of the fog.
"An unapproachable ghost ship..."
Hearing this, Silas fell into thought.
He was fairly certain that the locals' "ghost ship" was the Black King, but what troubled him was the strange ability it displayed. It didn't appear fast, yet pursuers could never close the distance.
That sounded a great deal like a Beyonder ability from the Lawyer pathway, one that scrambled distance so that approach became forever impossible.
Did the ship carry a corresponding extraordinary item, or had the vessel itself already been transformed by Roselle into something belonging to the Lawyer pathway?
The Black Emperor's ship, the Black King.
Solomon, who had built the great empire in the Fourth Epoch... The pinnacle of the Lawyer pathway was also called the "Black Emperor." Occultically speaking, that made sense!
Just as Silas was lowering his head in thought, a commotion suddenly erupted from the inn next door: a woman's terrified scream, accompanied by the crude laughter of men.
"Everyone step back."
There, a squad of soldiers stood at the top of the stairs with rifles raised, malicious smiles on their faces. "Our officer suspects that Loen woman is a spy. He's taking her in for interrogation."
Across from them, in the ground-floor lobby, a group of men dressed as Loen gentlemen stood seething with anger, but faced with the threat of gun barrels, they had no choice but to stop where they were.
This was foreign soil, and the men opposite were unreasonable Intis sailors. If they dared rush forward recklessly, those men would truly open fire and kill.
The two groups faced off below in furious silence. Neither noticed Silas as he calmly stepped around them, climbed the stairs, and pushed into the room.
A moment later.
The officer's lewd smile had been replaced by rolled-back eyes and a twisted expression. M's finger had sunk deep into his temple, turning every one of his memories inside out.
The Loen woman who had nearly been assaulted sat frozen on the edge of the bed, faint golden light flickering in her hollow eyes.
"Hmm, his name is Philip Tassini, from Trier, the capital of Intis. Heh, quite a vicious one too. He once led a squad to suppress a native uprising, burned prisoners alive, abused women..."
"Enough. Just tell me he deserves to die."
Silas said calmly, "Go dig into what matters."
"He's a boatswain on the warship Pas, holding the rank of lieutenant. He doesn't know why he's here," M replied, continuing to burrow deeper into the officer's mind.
"It looks like every ship in this fleet has been assigned its own patrol waters... hm? Something's off."
"What is it?"
Silas asked at once.
M looked at him, her expression turning serious.
"He just received an order from his captain a little while ago. Tomorrow he's to set sail with the rest, not on the usual patrol, but joining the main fleet. According to his captain, the order came from the fleet's highest command: every captain is to have his ship assembled and ready to depart together tomorrow."
Assembling the whole fleet to set sail?
Silas paused for a moment, then understood.
They were about to make their move!
These people had already pinpointed the location of the Black King. Damn it, he had only just arrived, and he still wasn't prepared at all!
Silas had almost no time left. At most, by the time this one night passed, the entire fleet would set out in pursuit of the Black King.
They had already laid extensive groundwork beforehand; if he didn't intervene, the Black King stood a very real chance of being captured.
What should he do?
Silas stood still in the room, thinking for a moment.
Then, quickly, an idea came to him.
Since they were going after the Black King anyway, why not simply hitch a ride?
He could infiltrate the Intis navy fleet and wait for his chance to act!
This approach had two advantages: first, he could conceal himself, letting the Intis forces genuinely track down the Black King without being discovered himself; and second, he could let the Intis exhaust their strength while he profited from the outcome.
As for how to slip safely into the fleet...
Silas turned his gaze toward the officer.
Psychological concealment could greatly reduce his presence, but it still couldn't rule out certain mishaps. He had a more reliable method: flesh parasitism.
This was an extremely vile application of Flesh Magic, one that dissolved the caster's own flesh and blood and fused it together with the host's.
This kind of parasitism ran deep and was difficult to detect, capable of evading most means of investigation.
Its only drawback was that once the caster withdrew, they could only burst free from within, killing the host in the process.
Fortunately, this officer's death would be no great loss. Killing him hardly mattered.
With Silas's Sequence 4 Flesh Magic, he could easily embed himself deep within this officer without being discovered.
Even that Sequence 3 demigod would find it difficult to detect him, unless she used her ability to investigate at close range, and this officer wasn't even on the flagship, just an ordinary officer on an escort vessel.
Since he had a plan, there was no point wasting time.
Thinking this, Silas walked straight up to the officer.
"Open your mouth."
M's finger pried at a certain region of his brain, her voice gentle.
"Ahh..."
The man obediently complied, mouth falling open in a daze.
The next instant, Silas moved.
With a wet, sliding sound, his body rapidly dissolved into a flowing mass of flesh and blood, surging upward and leaping into the naval officer's mouth.
The next moment, it took root inside the officer's body, invading, fusing.
Flesh Magic, Parasitism: activated!
Silas's flesh and blood invaded every corner of the man's body. Aside from the crucial head, nearly all of it had fused with him.
It was a peculiar state: the flesh and blood now inside the officer already belonged to Silas at its root, but rather than devouring it immediately, he chose to lend it to the officer for the time being, keeping the man's condition stable.
The two of them existed in an eerie, deep fusion.
Before long, the golden light in the officer's eyes dimmed, leaving only faint traces glimmering at the bottom of his gaze.
He rose to his feet with a composed expression, cast the woman aside, and walked straight down the stairs.