11: Ancient Soul Contract

The sea wave was sailing slowly toward Blood Claw Island. The captured pirates were tightly guarded in the hold, and the bloodstains on the deck had been roughly cleaned, but the air was still permeated with a faint scent of rust and the aura of death.

Linn was alone in his room, his gaze profound. With a thought, his consciousness sank into the breath of life space.

The phantom of the ancient tree within the breath of life continued to emit a gentle halo, sensing the fluctuation of Linn's aura and the bloodstains on him. Dolia's voice was gentle yet filled with concern: "Master, what has happened? I can sense the scent of blood on you."

"Survival requires the watering of blood, Dolia." Linn's voice echoed within the space, carrying a hint of exhaustion. "We just defeated a group of pirates, but there are more enemies ahead. My manpower has suffered heavy losses, and the newly captured pirates are an extremely unstable factor. I need a method to ensure their absolute loyalty; at least until we conquer Blood Claw Island, there cannot be any mishaps."

As a young man from the new century, Linn did not believe that an ordinary oath could make people die for him one hundred percent. Now that his side was weak, if they stabbed him in the back at a critical moment, he would lose everything.

"Dolia, you have existed for a long time and are knowledgeable. Tell me, is there a more effective and absolute method of control than ordinary slave contracts and oaths to gods? I need something foolproof." Linn asked seriously.

Dolia's radiance swayed gently. After a moment of silence, she slowly said: "It exists. In the ancient era, there was a powerful secret technique of the Soul contract. This technique has long been lost, and I only learned of it from the legacy left by the Goddess of Life. This contract was created by an incomparably powerful God of Arcane based on the Soul equality contract. Once this contract is created, the Dominator can forcibly twist its core rune, causing the enslaved person's Soul to dissipate, which can form a one-way, absolute control. The subject's Soul will be completely bound to the caster. The caster can decide their life or death with a single thought, and even perceive their intense emotional fluctuations. The subject will be unable to harbor any thoughts of betrayal."

Linn was overjoyed. As long as he obtained this Soul contract method, he would be able to enslave the captured pirates without fear of them rebelling.

"However..." Dolia's words carried a deep warning.

Upon hearing that "however," Linn's heart immediately went cold.

"My Lord, this kind of ancient contract violates its original intention of protection and connection, and it also has side effects. The most important one is that the enslaved person's Soul Power cannot be higher than the caster's; otherwise, forcibly enslaving them will lead to a backlash, causing damage to your own Soul and even endangering your life. My Lord, your Soul Power is stronger than that of ordinary people, currently at about High Silver Rank Soul Power. That is to say, for the sake of safety at this stage, you can at most enslave two Silver Intermediate Rank knights."

Hearing this, Linn relaxed. Fortunately, that group of pirates were all ordinary people, with only a few Apprentice Knights, and Hogan was only Bronze High Rank. He could completely handle them.

"Every power has a price." Linn responded calmly, making him even more convinced of the "practicality" of this power. "Dolia, give me the complete contract runes and the method of casting. I need to use it right now."

"Very well, Master."

Dolia touched her forehead to Linn's. A stream of mental energy containing complex and profound information surged into Linn's consciousness, including the complete contract structure, the method of guiding Soul energy, and the critical twisting node used for forced control. Linn perceived it carefully, as if studying a complex potion formula.

Having simply learned it, Linn exited the breath of life and returned to the captain's quarters. He led everyone to the hold where the Slaves were being detained. Except for Morton, who was seriously injured and still recovering, the others had recovered quite a bit and were still able to fight.

Linn's gaze was like a cold blade, slowly sweeping over every curled-up figure in the hold. The pirates were in rags, covered in wounds, and under the dim light, their faces were filled with fear and unease.

"You attacked my ship and your hands are stained with the blood of my people." Linn's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached the ears of every captive, carrying unquestionable dignity. "According to the rules of the sea, it would not be excessive to throw you all down to feed the fish."

The air in the hold instantly solidified, and an aura of despair spread, to the point where one could even hear the chattering of someone's teeth.

"However," Linn changed the subject, "I will give you a chance to live, a chance to serve me."

A faint spark of hope rekindled in the eyes of the captives, but Linn's next words made them feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

"However, I do not need fickle fence-sitters; I need absolute loyalty. And loyalty requires a little... guarantee."

He stepped forward a few paces and stopped in front of Hogan. "You, and you few," he pointed casually at a few pirate Apprentice Knights with slightly stronger auras in the crowd, "come out."

Hogan and those few pointed-out pirates walked forward trembling, not knowing what awaited them.

Linn said no more. He closed his eyes, held his hands together in front of his chest, and began to chant ancient and obscure syllables. As he chanted, a faint, almost invisible silver glow began to gather at his fingertips, gradually outlining several complex and profound rune contours. The runes exuded a sense of oppression that reached deep into the Soul.

Hogan and the others looked in horror at the gradually forming silver runes, instinctively wanting to retreat, while Clay drew his longsword to the side. "Behave yourselves!" Clay also did not know what Linn was doing.

"Do not resist. Accept it, and you will live." Linn's voice carried a strange magic, as if it were ringing directly in their Souls.

The next moment, Linn tapped his finger, and those silver Soul contract runes, as if possessing life, instantly submerged into the foreheads of Hogan and the few pirate Apprentice Knights.

"Argh—!"

A burning sensation rose in their Souls, feeling as if something had been forcibly branded into the deepest part of their Souls, and an invisible, absolute sense of restraint suddenly formed. The look in their eyes when they looked at Linn changed completely, filled with awe, fear, and an unspeakable obedience that made it impossible to harbor any thoughts of rebellion. They could clearly feel that their life and death, and even every intense thought, were completely in the hands of this young man.

Linn nodded slightly, seemingly very satisfied with the effect of the contract. He could vaguely perceive the trembling and obedience emanating from the Souls of these enslaved people.

Then, he turned to the remaining ordinary pirate captives and performed the contract using the same method, but this time Linn did not actually perform the contract; he only used an ordinary Soul attack method learned from Dolia. After all, his Soul carrying capacity was limited, and he dared not enslave too many at once for fear of a backlash.

After Linn finished his feigned casting, looking at the ordinary pirates wailing on the ground, he then looked at the few people he had truly enslaved.

"You, you seem to be unconvinced?" Linn's tone was flat, yet carried a deadly chill. He casually pointed to a pirate next to Hogan.

"Me?" The pirate's face turned pale. Just as he wanted to open his mouth to beg for mercy, as if wanting to say, "I'm not unconvinced!", Linn did not give him any chance to speak at all.

A cold light flashed in Linn's eyes. Without even making a move, the pointed-out pirate suddenly let out an extremely miserable scream, clutching his head with both hands, his entire face twisted and deformed by extreme pain. Under the terrified gaze of everyone, faint silver light spots escaped from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Then his body twitched violently a few times, and he fell straight down, with no breath left.

— Soul Annihilation!

There was dead silence in the hold.

Whether it was Hogan and the others who had just been enslaved, or the other uncontracted Slaves, everyone was scared pale, their bodies trembling like chaff. The pirate's death was too strange and too terrifying—silent and soundless, as if his Soul had been directly extracted! This kind of power beyond their understanding was more chilling than blades against their bodies.

However, it was not just these bottom-level people who were shocked.

Clay, Karl, and the others, who had been following behind Linn and responsible for vigilance, tightened their grip on their swords unconsciously, their knuckles turning white.

And Elise, who was standing a little further away, also pursed her lips tightly at this moment, her beautiful eyes filled with unbelievable fear. As an Arcane Mage, she could clearly feel the terrifying power fluctuation that erupted just a moment ago, targeting the Soul Origin. This kind of forced Soul enslavement and instant annihilation method, in her view, was almost... evil. The look in everyone's eyes when looking at Linn's back carried deep wariness and a trace of imperceptible fear.

Clay and the others breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. Fortunately, Linn had not used this technique on them. At the same time, they marveled at Linn's mystery, and their belief in following Linn became even firmer.

Linn took in everyone's reactions, including the fleeting fear of Clay and Elise. That was exactly the effect he wanted.

He spoke slowly, his voice still calm, yet like a heavy hammer striking everyone's heart: "This is the fate of betrayal. Serve me, and you can live, and even gain more. But if anyone harbors dissent..."

He did not finish, but those ice-cold eyes already explained everything.

"Hogan."

"Ma... Master!" Hogan gave a start, immediately knelt on one knee, lowered his head deeply, his voice filled with panic and obedience.

"Follow me to the captain's quarters." Linn dropped this sentence, stopped looking at the people in the hold, and turned to leave this place filled with the aura of death and fear.