Pirate Kingship

The hierarchy of human nobility comes from the Night Demons, "the vassal of my vassal is not my vassal" is one of the core rules.

Byron doesn’t need to worry that the awakening Lilith will bypass him to influence the Half-Night Demon he had initiated, but if he knows too much and actively invites Lilith’s will to descend, no one can save him.

It’s always good to seize advantages when they come.

Knowing the survival rules of the Corridor of Truth, the group didn’t ask much and followed Byron into the forest under the night, arriving at the spot where the girl had just stood.

They prepared to track the traces left by her all the way.

"What a strong scent of blood."

But they hadn’t gone more than a hundred meters into the towering treelines before they were drawn by a strong scent of blood.

Going around a giant dandelion taller than two people, they saw a figure entirely black as if fused with the night, lying on the ground, blood flowing beneath.

"Huh? It’s from the Black Iron Race."

The figure was as robust as a gorilla, with iron shackles on hands and neck, looking like an escaped slave from who knows where.

If the scent of blood hadn’t been so strong, even Byron’s powerful perception from [Divine Sight] nearly missed him.

On this continent, where knowledge is incredibly active, Byron finally relied on the [Sailing Logbook] to determine that the Black Iron Race indeed has the racial trait: Night Battle Vanguard.

At night, as long as they don’t smile, they can passively merge into the darkness, with a highly prioritized invisibility function!

With such a talent, it’s indeed hard to capture a slave escaping at night.

"That’s right, this is the southern part of the [Corridor of Truth], two-thirds of the population are from the Black Iron Race.

Other races are actually minority groups.

Encountering a Black Iron Race slave is nothing unusual."

In the information provided by Heather and Saranthe, this continent not only has the Skull Coast but also the Pepper Coast, Ivory Coast, Gold Coast, Slave Coast... rich in resources.

Separated north-south by the largest desert in the world.

Because it’s so close to the "World Serpent’s Celestial Current Belt," the southern continent doesn’t have spring, summer, autumn, or winter, only the dry and rainy seasons. When the rainy season arrives, everything awakens; when the dry season comes, grass and trees wither.

Outsiders often misunderstand and think all natives are from the Black Iron Race, so it must be hot here.

In fact, tropical rainforest temperatures all year average 25~28℃, usually not exceeding 34℃; the average temperature during the rainy season in a tropical savanna climate is 20~30℃, and during the dry season, it’s 20~25℃.

The entire southern region south of the great desert is a plateau.

Most places are 500~1000 meters in elevation, and the temperature decreases by 0.6℃ for every 100 meters increase in elevation, thus the weather here isn’t overly hot.

On the contrary, because of abundant sunlight and rich resources, Black Iron Race residents can feed themselves just by gathering.

It could be described as a perfectly gifted land by nature!

But the disadvantages aren’t small either; in such a magical land, free from worries about food, clothing, or extreme cold and heat, where do humans find the motivation for evolution?

Just like Byron’s "resource curse" concept posed while researching the Three Kingdoms of the Eternal Night Peninsula.

In places where natural conditions are too good, it ultimately breeds a nation of lazy, complacent people.

Such places are suitable for raw material sourcing and goods dumping, but ironically unsuitable as production bases because they lack that destiny.

As Byron would put it:

"You’re different from others; don’t waste energy on studying or activities that require thinking. Train well and improve... immunity, that’s the true path."

With thoughts spinning, Bruh also checked the body of the escaped slave.

"Captain, it seems wolves killed him!"

No sooner had the words been spoken.

"Ah——!"

A girl’s scream suddenly came from deep within the forest.

Taking on the role of scouts, [Phantom Blade] Gus, and [Iron Wall] Bruh, instantly exploded into a swarm of black bats covering the sky and rushed into the forest’s depths with flapping **"flapping"**, employing the Bat Transformation Technique.