Pirate Kingship

The gentle breeze enveloped them, as graceful as falling feathers.

Two agile silhouettes, hand in hand, leaped through the rainforest, soaring over hills, streams, and ravines with ease.

Within the endless, stratified rainforest, they moved from the ground layer's grasses and the understory's shrubs, continuously ascending. Through the sapling layer's tender branches and the canopy layer's limbs, they finally emerged into the sunlit emergent layer. The vista suddenly cleared, revealing a vast sea of trees swaying in the wind.

Overhead, groups of three to five roast chickens and seven to eight roast geese flew past, creating a scene as picturesque as a painting.

"Pay attention to the rhythm of my breathing. Breathing is the anchor of our consciousness and the key to unlocking the Flow State. When the stormy waves rise, as long as the anchor holds, the ship won't drift away. No matter what stray thoughts try to disrupt your inner peace, firmly grasp your breathing, and you will have no problems."

"You aren't a Swordsman who constantly walks the edge of death. Your foundation is too weak, so you must work even harder."

"When I taught Catherine, she only took two hours to break through successfully."

Byron, holding Violet's hand as they traveled on the wind, didn't forget to impart the essence of the Flow State to the girl using the 'Heart-Breath Synchronization' method.

Violet had long realized the necessity of maintaining a balance between Divinity and Beastliness, as well as the compatibility of the [Ladder of Glory] with forbidden knowledge.

The Flow State was a power that even the [Law-Breaking Stone] couldn't restrict; it was the fundamental Extraordinary Power belonging to every human. Whether one had mastered it made a world of difference in the application of power.

Especially in the frequently encountered anti-magic zones within various treasure sites, when all skills, witchcraft, and even Miracles failed, the Flow State was their only reliance.

Violet, of course, was particularly earnest in her learning.

Wisps of white breath twined between their mouths and nostrils, their breathing frequencies gradually synchronizing until they merged into one.

In this state, even the Divine Light of the [Stormchild] naturally extended to Violet. This allowed Byron not only to guide one person effortlessly but also to easily borrow strength from a Third Order Transcendent.

Before coming to the Bantaan Archipelago, Byron had promised to teach her hands-on, guaranteeing she would master it.

However, an Artisan was never a true battle profession. Although Violet had become a Grand Artificer and her forbidden knowledge had reached the threshold of the second ritual, her progress in mastering the Flow State was even slower than Bruh's had been initially.

Byron, after... ahem, hands-on teaching for so long, still hadn't helped her achieve the final breakthrough.

The two maintained the Flow State for a while, resting when tired, and continuing their training once rested enough.

They journeyed through the rainforest's emergent layer as lightly as if they were flying, occasionally discovering one or two trees laden with silver coins.

If it weren't for the bizarre rules that could unexpectedly claim a life, everything here would have been too perfect.

After about half a day, during a rest, Byron leaned against the canopy of a large tree and drank a cup of [Blood Brew·Hawkeye] concocted with Eagle's Blood and Gin.

Standing high up, he could easily see almost half the rainforest on the side where they had landed.

At this moment, some treasure-hunting teams that had fallen behind were still landing.

The thousands of adventurers landing on the island from all directions had significantly lessened the pressure on them. There was plenty of "prey" on the island. Byron and Violet were small targets. By strictly adhering to the rules and ignoring the "treasures" along the way, and with the assistance of [Polaris] and the gold-digging rodents, they hadn't encountered any overwhelmingly troublesome foes.

Conversely, each time they passed a challenge guarding Great Pirate Flint's treasure, the "Pirate Treasure Chest's" progress bar advanced, and Byron's Spirituality grew more active. The closer they got to the treasure cave at the island's center, the stronger his power became.

Just then, Violet suddenly pointed towards a river in the forest to their front-left and exclaimed softly, "Byron, look! Some people are already planning to return."

The tortoiseshell glasses on the girl's face flickered with a faint light; her constantly active Hawkeye spell was hardly inferior to Byron's Blood Brew.

Byron looked in the direction she pointed.

Indeed, by the river, there was a robust team of treasure hunters.

While they had been searching for the Albatross expedition ship, many lone adventurers or highly mobile teams had gotten ahead of them. This team was one of them.

They appeared to be low-level, but they clearly had abundant exploration experience, even bringing mules and horses to the island for their treasure hunt.

After shaking silver coins from several large trees by the riverbank and filling their sacks, they had already begun their retreat.

Everyone in the team, humans and mules alike, was almost bent double under the weight of the full sacks on their backs, yet their faces were filled with joy. The leader even seemed quite pleased with his decision not to be greedy or competitive. You all can go after the Great Pirate's treasure. We're content with what we've got and won't play this game with you anymore.

However, the moment they took their first step to turn back, the silver coins they carried on their backs silently melted away in an instant.

AAAAAH...

A chorus of chilling screams immediately followed.

The molten silver seeped into their bodies like water, completely dissolving their flesh and blood in the blink of an eye. It then continued downward, burrowing into the soil and vanishing.

All that remained were pale calcium skeletons, standing rigidly. When the wind blew, they scattered into clouds of bone dust, vanishing completely.

No trace of their existence was left in the world.