Cursed Immortality

A few hundred miles away from the Epic Plains in the Star Ocean, the massive ship of the Carefree Sword Star Pirates was calmly afloat on the water's surface. 

At this moment, Masha stood in front of Captain Free Sword with a somewhat pale complexion, and she also lacked her sharp focus for some reason. 

Captain Free Sword easily noticed this strange change in Masha, who was always spirited, and asked, "Are you feeling alright? You look absent-minded for some reason?" 

Masha was not only an alchemy genius, but she was also the chief alchemist of Captain Free Sword's crew, and she had never fallen sick before because it was simply impossible for an alchemist like her to succumb to some illness especially when she was Unique Rank Sorceress!

Masha finally snapped out of her daze-like expression, and she frowned, "I-I'm not sure, Captain. According to all the scans and even after using the inner-sight, there's nothing wrong with me. But as you see, there is definitely something wrong!" 

Captain Free Sword's eyes narrowed, "If you don't, can I examine you?" He can afford to lose anyone else but Masha because of her uniqueness, and if there was something wrong with her, then he had to find its root and take care of it quickly. 

"Of course, that's why I'm here." Masha nodded without hesitation. 

Captain Free Sword was far stronger than her, so he might be able to discover what was the cause of her current situation, and that's why she came here. 

Captain Free Sword put his massive hand over Masha's head, and the next moment, Masha felt a current suddenly run down her entire body. But she didn't resist as she knew this Captain Free Sword's inner sight ability in play. 

The Inner Sight ability was a unique rank magic ability that only had one use, which was to reveal the normally invisible magic orbits and magic core within your own body or you can also examine others if they are weaker than you and can't resist the potency of your mana. 

This ability was a must-have if someone wanted to go further in the path of magic because this ability would make it much easier to observe the magic core and the rectified stars in it. 

Not only that, but it can also help with mystic signatures. That's why this ability is a must-have for any unique. There were also similarly weaker or even more powerful versions of inner sight. 

But all of them were driven by the three most powerful innate magic abilities of the legends: the Inner Espy, the Eyes of Judge, and the Vision of Truth and False. 

These three innate abilities were considered the most powerful vision abilities, and there were only legends about them, and no one had ever seen someone who could use them.

Captain Free Sword frowned as he put his hand away and said with uncertainty, "I also didn't find anything wrong with your body or magic orbits. Could it be you're just tired, and all those tireless torture practices are finally catching up to you?" 

Masha appeared more depressed about it since she was hoping that something was wrong with her since she would be able to counter it this way. But if she didn't even know what was causing all this, she couldn't do anything. The unknown was more terrifying, after all. 

"Captain, I'm not in the mood for jokes." She pursed her lips, "I have another speculation about my condition. I think someone might have poisoned me!" 

Captain Free Sword was taken aback by her declaration and squinted his eyes, "What made you think that?" 

"My symptoms have been worsening day by day, and they are not affecting my physical condition but my mind. I'm losing focus more often, and sometimes, I stare at the void like an idiot for hours. 

"This sort of poison is extremely rare, and they can affect others by simply polluting the air. That's why I've reached a conclusion." Masha's eyes shone with killing intent, "I think there is another traitor or traitors among us other than Veilly, and now that things have calmed down, they have started to make a move. If they are targeting me first, then this means they might want to rescue Veilly!" 

Sharpness crept into Captain Free Sword's eyes as he wasn't expecting to hear this from Masha. Because he never told her about another traitor being present among them since he also has doubts about Masha herself. 

But now that he thought about it, Masha's reaching this conclusion was not so startling since she was clearly being effective by something, and the only sound explanation was someone targeting her. 

If she was being targeted, this could only mean she wasn't a suspect, or she was playing victim to avoid his suspicion. Whatever the case was, Captain Free Sword couldn't ignore the possibility of it being the truth since it would also put his own life in danger. 

'If they are starting to move, then this could only mean they are losing their patience. Furthermore, that slave is still far away from making the three leaders his slaves. The trial plain is also about to start, which means it will take many years before he can complete them, or he might die. 

'This is no longer a matter of wait and see. Since they're making their move, then this means they are confident in handling the consequences…' Captain Free Sword's mind raced as he remained silent while gawking at Masha with a grim expression.

Masha suddenly felt chills in her spine when she saw Captain Free Sword's grim expression, and realization dawned upon her, 'He knew!' 

She felt even more alarmed because if Captain Free Sword knew about another traitor and didn't tell her, this meant she was also a suspect, which was anything but good. 

Captain Free Sword sighed ruefully as his eyes went sharp like a ruthless predator, "Alright, Masha, I need to trust you, and only then can I help you and myself. I really want to avoid it, but now the safety of all the crew members is on the line here, so you all have to be considerate of my plight. 

"I want you to carve a slave rune on yourself, and if you're not the traitor, I'll promise after a few questions, I'll set you free. Only after that, we will start combing through the rest of the crew!"