On the ship heading to the island of Tortuga, the captain's room was quite lively after nightfall. Except for the kite man who was patrolling outside, the other three members of Team K were here.

Mason was demonstrating his alchemy skills to Zarkon.

Zarkon was responsible for mocking him.

"Who did you learn alchemy from?"

Forced onto the black ship of Team K, the black magic master with a slanted eye watched Mason use his portable crucible and magic fire to make three healing potions, then showed an expression of "are you fucking kidding me?"

Zarkon shook his head repeatedly and pointed to the still-cooling crucible with a harsh tone:

"This thing is a true wizard's crucible, made of mithril and worth a fortune in the circle. But the way you use it is like a primitive man using a gun as a stone. This is not just a matter of skill. My poor Mason, I want to advise you to change careers now, but it's probably too late. Your career is likely to end tragically."

"Please tell me more."

Mason wasn't too angry.

He was demonstrating his skills to Zarkon in order to get some expert guidance from this unreliable but truly talented guy. Of course, on the other hand, there weren't many entertainment options on this night at sea. If he didn't plan to flirt with the bored big sister, this was the only option. After all, idle hands are the devil's playthings.

"I'm not very good at alchemy myself. I prefer to use my intelligence to solve problems, but Little Zha is a hereditary white wizard, and her family is quite experienced in this area. I've seen how Little Zha makes magic potions, and compared to her, you're really too inexperienced. Even your posture is so rough."

While taking out the top-quality tobacco he "gifted" from the sailor, Zarkon rolled it into a cigarette and said to Mason:

"First of all, you have a problem with the way you handle the materials. Alchemy is a skill that uses magic, and you should enchant the materials before making potions and alchemical items to better stimulate their effects. At least that's what Little Zha told me."

"That makes sense."

Mason nodded seriously, took out Mr. Potter's diary from his pocket, wrote down Zarkon's suggestion, and then looked at the black magic master who was enjoying his cigarette with a satisfied look on his face, saying:

"What else?"

"Well..."

Zarkon showed a "fish on the hook" expression, patted Mason's shoulder with a smile, and said kindly:

"The rest is 'paid content,' my dear captain."

"Ha ha."The catwoman playing with her cat-o'-nine-tails nearby was amused and thought that Scarecrow was not only a scumbag and a pervert, but also quite humorous.

And this time, she was indeed on Scarecrow's side.

Selina admired her nails and said, "Indeed, little Mason, if you want Constantine to share the knowledge you're interested in, you'll have to give us something we want. Like explaining your true origin."

"And the background and internal information of the Star Society."

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Scarecrow squinted his eyes and leaned against the table, playing with a small green fireball in his hand. "We're a team now, Mason. If you want unity, you can't hide too much."

"My origin is just a poor young man from Gotham City."

Mason took out another alchemy material and said to the two in front of him, "My experience is just like what I told Batman. I was indeed caught by old K as cannon fodder and accidentally joined the Star Society. I didn't lie, at most I just didn't tell the whole truth.

As for the Star Society..."

He took out the captain's manual given to him by Mr. Hunter and threw it to Scarecrow, saying, "Everything I know is in here. You have to understand that I'm a newcomer who killed his captain and took his place. I acted too fast and he died before he could explain much.

But I can tell you that the Star Society is not a good organization.

This was the advice old K gave me before he died."

"What kind of organization that uses soul curses to manipulate members is a good one?"

Scarecrow browsed through the captain's manual and said softly, "But this organization does have some tricks. Just from their proficient ability to travel between parallel worlds, they are already a formidable organization even in our world.

According to the power division of the Star Society for different worlds as stated in this manual, our side should be a dangerous A-level or even super A-level world.

Why do I still feel a bit honored but also creepy?"

He joked and handed the thin manual to Selina. The catwoman sat by the window and carefully searched for important information in the text.

"As for the K Squad...

We have an internal trading event of the Star Society in three weeks that we will participate in, as well as the mandatory exploration task I mentioned before. That's our first hurdle after joining the Star Society."

Since he had decided to be honest about their current situation, Mason didn't hide anything and told Scarecrow and Catwoman about Mr. Hunter's existence, saying,"I think we need to survive first before we can think about how to get rid of or kill those bastards. What do you guys think?"

"Instead of that, I'm more curious about the purpose of the Star Society."

Catwoman waved the manual in her hand and said:

"Mr. Fate has spent so much effort building a huge organization that spans countless parallel worlds. What is the purpose of gathering selected people from different worlds together?

The Hunter tells you that in our world, besides the K team, there are other teams secretly active. What are they lurking and trying to do?

The Star Society has five levels of division, as well as clear command and logistics systems. With so many world resources available to them, they are constantly exploring new parallel worlds.

This is not recruiting adventurers, Mason.

They are helping some behind-the-scenes guys build and maintain an 'army'."

Selina leaned against the window and asked softly:

"But who are they fighting against? Or, who are they fighting with?"

"It's a mystery."

Zack spit out a smoke ring and said gloomily:

"Even though I have more than ten curses on me, I haven't been so uneasy for a long time. Just thinking about the possibility of being forced to fight to the death with Superman and Wonder Woman, I want to strangle you now, Mason.

But the good news is, we have the charming Selina on our side!

That annoying Batboy might even switch sides at the last minute.

Give me your hand!

Let me see your tattoo again."

The Black Mage put out the burning cigarette in the healing potion that Mason had just made.

He carefully examined the tattoo on Mason's left arm with a more serious attitude than before, and used a very advanced-looking magic in a low magic environment.

In an instant, the entire captain's room was illuminated by flickering arcs.

"Ah!"

Mason gritted his teeth but still groaned.

He felt like his left arm was being repeatedly cut by a sharp blade. After nearly a minute of flickering arcs, Zack, who was weak and sweating, propped himself up on the table.

There was a strange white mist emanating from his body, as if he had been steamed, and he hurriedly drank the vitality potion that Mason handed him.

After regaining some energy, he rolled up another cigarette and said:

"The good news is, this is not a mandatory curse. There are no words like 'control', 'dominate', or 'bewitch' in its composition, which means we don't have to worry about our souls being taken over and controlled at some point."So I guess this is a 'secrecy curse.' As long as we don't blabber about the Star Society everywhere, the curse probably won't backfire."

"What kind of good news is that?"

Catwoman sneered and said, "If the members don't need to be forced to obey by the curse, it means that the Star Society has other means of dealing with rebels. What's the bad news?"

"Well, there's a lot of bad news."

Finally, Scrappy Kang, who had mustered up all his courage to give Mason a curse check, shrugged, tilted his head, and asked Mason to help him light his cigarette with magic fire before slowly saying, "Mason told me before that this curse comes from a divine devil, but in my experience, even true gods can only have divine authority in their own country. However, the curse on Mason's arm can still take effect despite being separated by countless parallel worlds from its original body, and every member of the Star Society has such a curse. You can figure out the meaning behind it yourselves."

Scrappy Kang spread his hands and said in a lazy tone, "Don't think about removing it head-on, it's impossible. Secondly, this curse will gradually deepen as we rise in the ranks of the Star Society, until it completely merges with our souls. This is an irreversible 'transformation' process. For now, unless we die, we cannot get rid of it."

"Wait!"

Mason suddenly interrupted Scrappy Kang's words and stared at the black magician, saying, "Does the curse become invalid as long as we die?"

"Are you doubting my rich experience in dealing with curses?"

Scrappy Kang looked at him askew and said, "Also, what do you mean by 'as long as we die'? Does that mean death is a piece of cake for you? Or should I stab you now and see what happens?"

"No! You idiot!"

Mason seemed to suddenly open up his mind.

He stood up, quickly thinking, and said to the two people in front of him, "If death is the end of this 'hard labor,' then we still have a way out. Death is not the end, we can find a way to resurrect ourselves, like the Sararu Pool in the Assassin's League, which has the ability to 'resurrect the dead.' We can't remove this curse, but we don't have to remove it. We just need to 'trick' it to gain our freedom."

"I was going to tell you that it's not that simple, but your crazy talk might actually be a solution. When facing an enemy that can't be defeated by conventional means, pretending to die and escape is a wise choice."

Scrappy Kang, whose life motto is "run away when in trouble," also became interested, but he quickly shook his head and said, "But it's not that easy."I've heard of the Lazarus Pit, but I know the power behind it is not easier to deal with than that of a divine devil. You're basically replacing the current curse with a worse one. It's not worth it."

"What about this one?"

Mason took out the Hogwarts Potion Handbook and flipped to the last page, holding it up for Scarecrow and Catwoman to see. The names on it stunned the two.

"The Elixir of Life?"

Scarecrow and Catwoman exchanged a look, and the elder sister said suspiciously, "Even for magical creations, this is too far-fetched. Does such a thing really exist?"

"In the world of Hogwarts, there was an alchemist who lived nearly 900 years thanks to the Philosopher's Stone. What do you think?"

Mason's eyes lit up. "Of course, the Elixir of Life cannot bring people back from the dead, but it represents feasibility. I happen to know several ways to achieve resurrection after death, but they all require a certain price to be paid. John's knowledge of horcruxes is one of these methods. The rest, however, requires me to improve my alchemy skills to at least the level of a master before attempting to make them."

"What are you waiting for?"

Catwoman jumped over and pressed Mason back into his chair with her hands on his shoulders, pointing to the crucible and materials in front of them. "Hurry up and practice! The freedom of my later life is on you. If you do well, I can even give you a reward...John! Didn't you say his alchemy has problems? Teach him! Quickly!"

"To be honest, unlike innocent Mason, I'm a person who needs rewards to have motivation..."

Scarecrow looked up and down at Selina, making a strange laugh.

Seeing this, Catwoman sneered and moved her left leg, causing Scarecrow to instinctively cover his lower body and shrug his shoulders. She then picked up a peppermint stick and said to Mason, "Watch closely, I'll only do it once. I remember this is how Zatanna handles magical materials..."

"Bang!"

Scarecrow was about to demonstrate for Mason when the cabin door was suddenly pushed open. The one-eyed sailor was holding a flintlock gun and rushed in, shouting in panic, "Three wizard masters, something has happened! The island of Torguga... Turtle Island is on fire! The island is burning!"

"Hmm?"

Mason immediately stood up.

Turtle Island was their destination, and something had happened before they even landed. As the three of them left the captain's cabin, the Kite-Man, who had flown for reconnaissance during the night, adjusted his large kite and swayed onto the deck."He shouted at Mason and the others:

"It's zombies! Zombies have appeared on that island. They're trying to stop the fire, but it's too late. The zombies have already rushed onto the island from the dock.

Boss, should we save them?"

Mason looked at the burning island in the distance and turned to the terrified captain, asking coldly:

"Besides Turtle Island, how far is the nearest port? How many days do we need to sail?"

"The closest one is Prince Harbor, but it's already been taken over by cannibals."

The one-eyed old sailor wiped his sweat and trembled as he said:

"To find a safe port, we need to sail for at least ten days, maybe more."

"We don't have that much time to waste!"

Mason immediately made a decision and said to Kite Man:

"Charles, take us up and put out the fire first. Selina, stay here and keep the ship heading towards Turtle Island."

"What if I stay here?"

Zirconium didn't really want to risk his life to save a group of survivors from the 18th century. The lack of magic in this world also greatly limited his combat power.

"If you don't want to go, John."

Mason reached out and grabbed the rope that Kite Man had dropped when he ascended again. He glanced at Zirconium and said:

"But think it over, if I die there, you'll be prepared to spend the rest of your life in this end-of-the-world world with Selina."

"Uh..."

The Black Mage looked at Catwoman up and down, hesitated for a few seconds, and said:

"If it's a woman like Selina, then it's not unacceptable."

"Swish!"

The expressionless Catwoman drew her sword halfway from her waist.

Zirconium shrank his head and picked up another rope, posing elegantly and letting Kite Man fly with two guys from the ship to the burning Turtle Island.

"This is for you!"

In the air, Mason took out his own explosive hunting rifle "Old K" and hung it on his back, while throwing a small bag of gray potion to Zirconium. He said:

"This is a petrification potion. When I tell you to throw it, you throw it down. Do you have a spell that can extinguish fire quickly?"

"I do."

Zirconium looked at the increasingly burning island with a dazed expression and said:

"But this super-low magic environment will exhaust a person after one use. I don't have the habit of risking my life to save strangers."

"I'll make you a magic potion."

Mason said:

"You don't have to return anything you took from me, except for that magic stone. We're all on the same boat now, so don't hide anything, John.

I know how powerful you are."

"What thing? Isn't that mine?"

Zirconium said warily."How shameless of you! What kind of captain directly demands things from his team members like this?"

"Don't talk nonsense, get ready to cast the spell!"

The young man snorted and shouted to the sky:

"Charles, lower the altitude."

"Boss, um, I think you two should prepare for a rapid descent immediately..."

"Hmm? Aren't you the self-proclaimed kite master who can't even land smoothly?"

"No, my technique is completely fine! But the kite can't support the weight of the three of us anymore and is already cracking. The good news is that I can glide to the island. The bad news is that we might crash!"

"Tsk tsk, is this the true strength of K Squad? It really opens my eyes! How about we discuss it, Mason? Can I still quit the team and ensure my safety?"