Origi froze in place, then after a moment gave a wry smile and said, "Lord George, please don't joke. As long as you can help us send the message back to the Guild, we're already very grateful."
George shrugged and said helplessly, "Why don't you believe me?"
At these words, Origi's body trembled a bit; after a moment he said seriously, "Lord George, the people across from us are the Azure League, a top Guild ranked in the top three in the north!"
His voice turned bitter: "Especially their guild leader! He is very strong—he swept through dozens of Peacekeeper Offices alone!"
While they were talking, the Azure League's ships had already drawn close.
Their Guild people seemed to think George's side was slow to react, so they warned, "I'll give you one last chance. Hand over the people of the Cloudsea Guild, and I can spare your lives!"
Origi gritted his teeth, leaned over the rail, and shouted, "Dean, if you want to kill, then kill me. Don't make things hard for the ordinary people on this ship!"
"Haha, you want to play the hero? I'll grant your wish!" A long-haired young man stepped out from the lead ship—it was the Dean Origi had named.
He pushed through the crowd and at a glance saw George standing beside Origi.
He looked George over, then suddenly asked with some excitement, "Are you George?"
George paused for a moment, but still nodded and said, "I am."
"Hahaha!" Dean's face lit up; holding a sheet of yellow paper, he was so excited he almost jumped.
"What does he mean?" George frowned and asked Sophia beside him.
Sophia sighed and said softly, "You don't remember? Our Azure League put a bounty on you a long time ago!"
After Sophia explained, George finally understood, and his expression turned cold as he looked at Dean and his men.
He hadn't even gone looking for trouble with the Azure League, yet they were already hunting him.
Dean didn't notice George's look and said excitedly, "If I catch you, I can claim a rich reward!"
As he spoke, Dean's face slowly twisted, and he glared viciously at George.
Hearing this, Origi's face went bleak. He sighed and said, "Lord George, looks like we're all going to die here!"
At that, George frowned and asked, "Is he very strong?"
A hint of fear crossed Origi's face as he said in a shaky voice, "His level is already 43, and he has several top-tier pieces of gear. He often leads raids against our other Guilds!"
"Even our guild leader isn't his match!" Origi said, his tone turning bitter.
On their past voyages, they had suffered a lot when facing Dean.
"I see." George showed a spark of fighting spirit and summoned the Dwarven King Iron Hammer and the Deep Sea Shield.
"Come fight me!" He swung the hammer head and pointed at Dean, speaking coldly.
"Know your place!" Dean was about to make a move when a one-eyed player beside him smiled fawningly and said, "My lord, a small fry like this isn't worth your time. Let me handle him!"
Dean thought for a moment, then nodded. "Makes sense."
In Dean's eyes, George was just a bumpkin from Cologne Island, not worth mentioning at all.
If not for the bounty, he wouldn't even bother to look at George.
After getting the order, the one-eyed player was overjoyed. He waved his blade, jumped onto the Dragon Bone ship, and chopped at George.
George gave him a sidelong glance, casually stirred the Dark Crystal, and slipped past the strike.
The one-eyed player was shocked and quickly used the skill "Frenzied Slash"!
In an instant, countless arcs of blade energy shot in all directions, and several of them flew toward George.
But George had no intention of dodging. He simply lifted the Deep Sea Shield.
In a flash, all of the one-eyed player's attacks were blocked by George.
Seeing his finishing move fail, the one-eyed player panicked. He was just about to beg for mercy.
But George didn't give him the chance. He had already moved to the one-eyed player's side without a sound and smashed him into the sea with one hammer.
The seawater here was freezing cold. After falling in, there was almost no chance to live.
Watching his own man drop into the water, Dean's face turned ugly.
He let out a cold snort, drew a sword, and glared at George like a beast.
Then he jumped onto the Dragon Bone ship and slashed at George.
George didn't dare be careless. He took out Demon Essence and Mana Crystals, then cast a demon transformation.
With smoke swirling, George turned into a minotaur demon, his whole body wrapped in giant rocks, standing a full three years tall.
He had just used ten Mana Crystals and one hundred drops of Demon Essence, and could stay transformed for 900 seconds.
That much time would be more than enough to deal with Dean.
As a minotaur demon, George was, you could say, completely immune to damage. He swung his fists and smashed toward Dean.
Dean didn't expect George to turn into a demon. He immediately used the skill "Gale Morph" and began moving at high speed, dodging George's attacks.
George quickly understood Dean's plan. He spent 400 mana at once and used the skill "Split Soul Slaughter"!
Soon, another minotaur demon appeared out of thin air and joined George to corner Dean.
Dean's face turned ugly. Faced with two minotaur demons, he was clearly overwhelmed.
But as a top fighter of the Azure League, he still had a trump card.
He pulled out a scroll right away. After murmuring a few words, the scroll vanished, and his energy surged with a Speed Boost.
"Die!" Empowered, Dean grew bold and drove a punch into George.
But George was ready. The Deep Sea Shield let him ignore most of the hit.
Taking the chance while Dean was close, he quickly cast the skill "Sacred Barrier"!
In an instant, within a ten-meter circle centered on George, his attack speed and move speed both doubled.
Dean, on the other hand, took a 30% debuff.
Dean, who had been full of confidence, froze when he saw the barrier George set. He hadn't expected the other side to have so many skills.
"My turn!" George roared and swung the Dwarven King Iron Hammer at Dean.
In a flash, streams of flame turned into fire dragons and rushed at Dean.
With no time to defend, Dean could only take it head-on. In moments he was charred black, and his HP dropped fast.
Dean finally panicked. Gritting his teeth, he said, "George, stop!"
But George wasn't going to listen. He rushed in, smashed Dean down with one hammer, and sent him to the ground.
Then he planted one foot on Dean's chest and set the hammer head against his skull.
If Dean so much as twitched, the Iron Hammer would come down first.
Facing death, Dean lost his earlier pride and stammered, "George, I'm an important member of the Azure League. You can't kill me!"
George let out a cold laugh and said with disdain, "Have your guild leader say that to me, and maybe I'll consider it!"
Dean heard that, a bit of despair showed on his face, but he quickly said, not willing to give in: "Whatever you want, I can give it to you?"
"I need a Holy Crystal. Do you have one?" George asked.
Hearing that, Dean froze; he didn't even know what a Holy Crystal was.
He swallowed, suddenly thought of something, and shouted, "From the direction you're going, it should be the Arctic, right!"
George nodded and said, "Yes."
Overjoyed, Dean hurried to say, "Spare me, and I know a secret about the Arctic Battlefield of Gods and Demons?"
Hearing this, George was interested at once.
He had been worried this trip to the Arctic would yield nothing; if he could get some useful info, maybe there would be gains.
Dean took a deep breath and said, trembling, "I have a map. It marks all kinds of key landmarks and ruins in the Arctic!"
"Give it to me!" George said coldly.
Dean didn't dare hesitate. He quickly pulled a map from his chest and handed it to George.
George opened it and saw that it marked the Arctic's key landmarks and ruins in great detail.
For George right now, this was definitely of great use.
"Lord George, can you let me go now?" Seeing George's satisfied smile, Dean started to beg.
To improve his chances of living, he even tried to tempt him: "If you let me go, I'll go back and suggest to our guild leader that we invite you to join our Guild!"