Cursed Immortality

After being abruptly surprised and spooked by SAAI's notification, it took Jacob some time to come to terms with this grave situation.

First, if he was being monitored by the SAAI, despite his unique actions and traits, nothing ever happened to him. Second, when he thought about it more thoroughly, he reached a very believable conclusion: that this monitoring seemed to be done through the Star Watch.

Because if the SAAI could monitor his every action and send that magic scroll to him from anywhere and anytime, then why did it wait a week to send his rewards? He had finished with the dark beings a week earlier, and he had also stowed away his Star Watch so no one would disturb his peaceful sleep.

However, he slept for a week, and his Star Watch clearly could not receive any sort of notification or call while it was being held in the infinity pendant.

So, SAAI could only send him this achievement reward when his star account became active again and knew his position to send him that scroll somehow.

Even though this conclusion was riddled with loopholes, right now, Jacob could only think of it like this. Because if it wasn't true, then whether he hid or not, it didn't matter anymore.

This was a sort of feeling like being watched by a god all the time, and it was extremely terrible when so much was at stake.

Nevertheless, Immortika never seemed to comment on this or warn him with its eccentric riddles. So, this was one of the reasons that Jacob was able to accept this fact with a grain of salt.

On the bright side, now he had an ultimate protection charm against the Dark Beings, and his Star Privilege was also now Type 2. This meant that he would no longer receive unavoidable calls as long as the caller did not have Type 3-Star Privilege.

Not to mention that identity badge, which was even more important than the three hegemonies' official member badges.

This also opened Jacob's eyes to another perspective of the Star Network, which was that they all hated the Dark Beings and that if someone really put an effort to annihilate them, they would be rewarded for their excellent services, like in the military.

Another biggest perk Jacob received after he became a Type 2-Star Privilege holder was that the Star Information Sea had converted into the 'Star Information Ocean', and now he could buy more important information on the Star Network database.

However, he still needed a type-2 Star Watch to tap into this Star Information Ocean potential fully.

That's why leaving the Rare Plains is still a top priority right now.

Jacob then sent Hallberg a message when the waterfall canyon was right in his view. If not for this bronze disc, he won't be able to make this journey so quickly.

Surprisingly, Jacob instantly received Hallberg's reply.

"Faceless Ancient to (Great Hallberg): I'm approaching the upper level of the waterfall.

"Great Hallberg (Reply): Hahaha, it seems you are even more eager to leave than me. It's a pity we won't be able to travel together because of those darn corpses. But I can't hold you back, my friend. I have marked the location of a basic type-2 ship on this virtual map. It is a hidden underground bunker. Just find the hidden passage and enter the code (XXXXXX) to gain access to everything there. The type-2 ship is also code-protected, and you need the same passcode to activate it under your ownership fully. If you do not enter the correct passcode within 10 seconds after connecting it to your Star watch, it will self-destruct. So Godspeed, my friend. I bid you luck with your voyage and see you in the Epic Plains. Don't forget to send me some pictures! (Attached File)"

A hint of surprise flashed across Jacob's eyes when he read Hallberg's reply. He was pleased to see that the ship Hallberg had prepared for him was a Type-2 grade treasure ship.

'I expect nothing less from the Dark Earl of the Dark City. But why is he giving this precious treasure to me? Is he really one of those rare people who put relationships over everything?'

'If it were another time, I would have believed him. But he is clearly in a predicament with the Dark Beings, and yet he has said nothing about them. Now he is giving away a Type-2 treasure as if it were disposable, and he even gave me a time period when he stowed that ship in some bunker that is not exposed to the Dark Beings at all.'

Jacob felt conflicted whenever he thought about this point, and now he was even more dubious.

But he had no reason to doubt Hallberg. It felt even more ridiculous to doubt the man who had just given away a priceless Type-2 treasure ship in the Rare Plains.

Nevertheless, Jacob liked to be meticulous, especially after the recent events with the Cursed Path Glory Gem. He also trusted Immortika's words, and there seemed to be nothing wrong at that time, yet his experience was worse than terrible.

Furthermore, this journey was not like going to some neighborhood but traveling in the Star Ocean for years. That place has no restrictions on power levels like plains, and it is filled with mysteries.

That's why Jacob won't trust someone's face and goodwill when it comes to traveling the Star Ocean.

Jacob then sent a "thank you" message to Hallberg anyway and opened the virtual map. He saw a marked location just a few miles away from the waterfall canyon.

However, instead of changing his route and going in the marked direction on the map, Jacob kept flying in the same direction and quickly reached the waterfall canyon. He stopped right in front of the entrance of Dark City.

Now that he already had the bronze disc under control, he could move freely in the dark city.

Not only did he want to confirm that Hallberg did not bear any ill intent, but he also needed to pick up some "food" for Autarch, who had not seen the light of day since he entered that mine, before starting the Epic Voyage!