The moment the selections were completed, John’s vision changed.
When he opened his eyes again, he immediately felt weak and powerless, as though he had not eaten for several days.
A dull ache lingered throughout his entire body.
His surroundings were dark and damp, while the stench of something resembling rotting corpses continuously assaulted his nostrils, causing him to frown.
John examined the strength within his body and thought,
"It seems all my supernatural power has been forcibly stripped away by the will of the universe."
"In other words, I am now nothing more than an ordinary mortal."
"I can die."
"I can feel pain."
"And I will grow old."
After his eyes adjusted to the darkness, John finally saw where he was.
He was inside an incredibly filthy prison cell.
At that moment, an agonized scream suddenly rang out from somewhere in the distance.
"Help!"
"Stop hitting me!"
"It hurts!"
Sharp cracking sounds echoed repeatedly.
There was no mistaking it.
That was the sound of a whip striking human flesh.
A single lash from such a whip would undoubtedly tear open the victim’s skin and leave them bleeding profusely.
Another miserable wail soon followed.
The piercing scream was so horrifying that even John felt goosebumps rise across his entire body.
If he were the one being tortured, he would probably be gritting his teeth from the pain as well.
Fortunately, that would not happen.
John was ranked first and possessed three privilege selections.
Although choosing the Lothar Kingdom as his starting map had consumed one of them, he still had two privileges remaining.
Following his earlier plan, John selected an exclusive skill and starting wealth.
He silently activated the two privileges.
A system notification immediately sounded beside his ear.
[Ding! You have used a privilege. Congratulations, you have obtained the skill: God of Naval Warfare.]
[Ding! You have used a privilege. Congratulations, you have obtained wealth: 100,000,000,000,000,000 gold coins.]
[Note: This is a special currency available only during the competition.]
After hearing the notification, John fell into thought.
"God of Naval Warfare..."
"That name alone sounds incredibly powerful."
He immediately opened his skill panel.
Every skill he had previously mastered was currently displayed in gray, indicating that none of them could be used.
Only the newly acquired skill remained illuminated.
John examined its details.
[God of Naval Warfare]
[Type: Passive Skill]
[Restriction: Exclusive to the Myriad Worlds Tournament. This skill will automatically disappear when the tournament ends.]
[Effect: When fighting beneath the sea, all warships belonging to your faction gain 100% Defense, 100% Attack Power, and 100% Speed.]
[All subordinates under your command gain 100% HP, 100% Attack Power, 100% Defense, and 100% Speed.]
[Attack Accuracy increases by 100%.]
[Note: This skill is exclusive to the top-fifteen-to-top-eight competition. It will automatically disappear once the competition ends.]
After reading the skill description, John could not help feeling excited.
This passive skill had practically been created specifically for naval warfare.
It fully deserved the name God of Naval Warfare.
With such a passive skill, losing a naval battle would be extremely difficult.
A faint smile appeared on John’s face as he stared at the new passive skill.
He then glanced at his account balance and thought,
"I never expected to receive ten billion gold coins."
"The description of the Wealth privilege mentioned that the total annual expenses of an ordinary family of three amounted to only three silver coins."
"Now I have directly obtained ten billion gold coins."
"Within the Lothar Kingdom, this is practically the equivalent of possessing an unlimited-money privilege."
"It is an astronomical fortune."
"I have more than enough to spend and mobilize however I please."
Thinking about his starting conditions, John felt that his advantage was simply overwhelming.
His wealth was enough to rival an entire nation, while the bonuses granted to the forces under his command were practically invincible.
From this point onward, he could simply use money to clear every obstacle and crush his way forward.
And if money alone could not solve a problem, he would build countless warships.
Anyone who refused to submit would be suppressed.
Every enemy standing in his path would be crushed.
At that moment, the voice of the will of the universe suddenly sounded beside his ear.
[Participant John, you have officially entered the competition world and obtained a new identity.]
[New Identity Introduction: Your name is John, and you are a minor pirate from the Lothar Kingdom.]
[Your father was a pirate, and your mother was also a pirate. You have lived on a pirate island for most of your life.]
[During your first voyage as a pirate, you sailed to the waters surrounding Cloudspire City to conduct a raid.]
[Unfortunately, you were captured by the Cloudspire City Coastal Defense Corps and became a prisoner.]
[You were subsequently sentenced to death by hanging.]
[Your execution will take place one morning three days from now.]
[Your young and inexperienced life will come to an end in three days.]
[You must find a way to escape from prison and survive before making plans for your future development.]
[Good luck.]
"So this is my identity in the competition world?"
"A miserable fool who was captured during his very first pirate raid?"
"And Cloudspire City intends to hang me three days from now?"
John frowned slightly as he listened to the explanation.
The situation was rather interesting.
However, considering the enormous fortune in his possession, this crisis was not particularly serious.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a chaotic series of footsteps suddenly came from outside the cell.
A strong scent of blood followed.
Two jailers dragged over a pirate dressed similarly to John and stopped outside his cell.
They glanced indifferently at John, treating him as though he were already a corpse.
"Throw him inside."
The two jailers opened the cell door and tossed the unconscious pirate inside as though they were discarding a piece of garbage.
They then exchanged a knowing glance.
"So, brother, did you enjoy yourself?" the jailer on the left asked his colleague with a malicious grin.
"Not really," the jailer on the right replied.
"This pirate was far too weak. He passed out before I had the chance to beat him for long."
"What a disappointment."
"Look. There is another one right here."
The jailer on the left turned toward John and smiled cruelly.
"Why don’t we continue entertaining ourselves?"
"Will that really be all right?"
The jailer on the right looked at John’s thin and frail body with some hesitation.
"What if we accidentally beat him to death?"
"It will be fine. My uncle is the warden."
"Besides, this little pirate is going to die anyway."
"What difference does it make where he dies?"
The jailer on the left grinned viciously.
"What are pirates?"
"They are nothing more than a pack of animals."
"They burn, kill, plunder, and commit every evil imaginable."
"Rather than allowing them to die on the gallows, we might as well let them die under our torture."
"We need to leave them with such painful memories that even in their next lives, they will never dare become pirates again!"
"All right. I’ll follow your lead."
After hearing this, the jailer on the right completely relaxed.
"Let’s give this one some proper attention today."
He began walking toward John.
At present, John was nothing more than a mortal.
His body was already injured, and he had not eaten for several days, leaving him almost completely without strength.
The two jailers, on the other hand, were tall, muscular, strong, and vicious.
Confronting them head-on was clearly not the best option.
Fortunately, John possessed other means of breaking out of this situation.
"Wait."
John suddenly spoke in a deep voice, stopping them.
"Gentlemen, killing me will not bring either of you any benefit."
"But if you let me go this once, I can offer both of you an extremely generous reward."