# Chapter 3: Greed
Su Xiao sat on the wooden railing in front of the ship's helm. He closed the world introduction, which didn't provide much information about this world—mainly the origin of the Doom Number and the four great pirates.
Of course, the entire Demon Sea wasn't limited to just these four pirates. Various first, second, and third-rate pirate crews were plentiful. These four great pirates were simply the most representative.
None of these four great pirates' crews had names that sounded particularly imposing or awe-inspiring. In fact, these four legendary pirate crews didn't have names at all.
For example, the Duke's pirate crew was simply called the Duke Pirate Crew. The same went for Twin Towers·Empress, Black Witch Sa, and others. This was the wisdom of great pirates.
This way, when outsiders talked about these pirate crews, they focused more on the captain—"What did Black Witch Sa's men do?" or "How brutal are the West Sea King's subordinates?" The captain was the absolute ruler, and everything the crew did was attributed to the captain.
Don't think this was unimportant. It was actually crucial. On pirate ships, mutinies were common. There was once a ship that went through eight captains in one month at sea. Strangely enough, not many pirates died during that time.
According to legend, after that ship set sail, the first successful raid led to a mutiny because the captain was too greedy. Then no one wanted to be the second captain, so they had to draw lots. Six days into his term, the second captain got cocky and then kicked the bucket.
The four great pirates didn't have to worry about such problems. Their personal strength was enough to suppress all crew members. However, they had to watch out for their vice-captains, navigators, and others. If these people hid their ambitions deep enough, they could potentially replace them.
Generally speaking, charisma was useless on low-level pirates. You either made them fear you or kept them half-fed.
Su Xiao hadn't yet encountered the four great pirates, so he couldn't judge their strength.
As for the Empire, which had similar power to the pirates, the two sides seemed hostile but weren't really. In this lawless Demon Sea, concepts like justice and evil became very blurred. 99.9% of conflicts between pirates and the Empire were due to interests or grudges.
You couldn't say pirates were necessarily evil. On the many islands under the four great pirates' jurisdiction lived nearly a third of this world's population. Even some alien species were at most hostile toward, not harmed.
Of course, don't expect order in pirate territory. When petty theft became commonplace, no one considered it a crime anymore.
As for the Empire, they had done plenty of dirty deeds. The nobles in power had insatiable desires, even embezzling funds from the ocean fleet. Relatively speaking, commoners living on Imperial territory mostly enjoyed peaceful lives.
In this world, the negotiation effects derived from the Charm attribute were greatly diminished. Conversely, as long as you offered satisfactory terms, very few factions were unwilling to cooperate.
Su Xiao glanced at the nearby tricorn hat captain. This guy had incredible vitality. Despite severe blood loss and dozens of sword wounds, instead of gradually dying, he had recovered somewhat. It looked like he could counterattack soon.
Su Xiao had Baha deal with the tricorn hat captain. He needed to use [Dark Redemption] on him to summon the Ouroboros Tablet: Greed.
Besides the major factions in this world, Su Xiao noticed something else from the world introduction—contractors entering this world either had to join a pirate crew or form their own.
If they didn't meet either requirement, they would be forcibly teleported out of the world in three days, not only gaining nothing but also facing penalties.
This fully open Primordial World would have no shortage of contractors entering at once. Contractors from Apocalypse Paradise, Holy Light Paradise, Death Paradise, Sanctuary Paradise, and Watchful Paradise could all be encountered. The chance of meeting violators was also considerable.
Based on this speculation, if he encountered contractors or violators later, it probably wouldn't be a 1v1 duel but a group brawl—first sink the ship, then beat the drowning dogs.
Aside from this, all fully open Primordial Worlds certified by Void Tree had a characteristic: after meeting certain requirements, a leaderboard certified by Void Tree would activate.
The Canglong Continent Su Xiao experienced was such a fully open Primordial World certified by Void Tree. That time, he competed with Huishenshi, Yueshitu, and others, ultimately obtaining the Dragon Hunter Set.
Whether this could be achieved in the Demon Sea was still unknown. Undoubtedly, if the Void Tree certified leaderboard could be triggered, there was a chance to reap huge benefits. Last time's Dragon Hunter Set, Origin Stone·Silver Star, and others were all very tempting.
The slave ship stopped on the sea surface, its tattered sails hanging down. This ship could no longer sail—the main sail had been severely damaged in the previous battle.
Su Xiao jumped down from the railing, walked to the tricorn hat captain, and took out a mass of black fluid from his storage space. This was [Dark Redemption].
He tossed [Dark Redemption] onto the tricorn hat captain. The black fluid spread, completely enveloping him. Whether it was an illusion or not, the sunlight shining down from the sky seemed to grow hotter.
A phantom floated out from the black fluid, identical in appearance to the tricorn hat captain. Now this phantom's eyes rolled upward, a "naive and innocent" smile on its face. The pirate captain's soul had been purified stupid by the sun. This was the so-called "redemption" of [Dark Redemption].
Seeing this, Baha instinctively shuddered. It had been to Holy Land·Chiliad and knew how dangerous that place's "sun" was—lethal, intelligence-reducing, and everywhere.
From within the black fluid, a book-sized gray stone tablet was squeezed out, clattering onto the deck.
[Prompt: You have successfully summoned the Ouroboros Tablet: Greed.]
[Prompt: Dark Redemption has entered cooldown and cannot be used again within this world.]
[Prompt: The Ouroboros Tablet: Greed will exist until the Hunter leaves this world. This is a special existence and will not occupy the Hunter's summoning slot.]
Su Xiao picked up the Ouroboros Tablet from the ground. The back of the tablet bore a circular ouroboros pattern, while the front was blank.
Name: Ouroboros Tablet
Category: Special Existence
Health Points: ???
Dark Energy: 98000/??? Points
Skill 1: ???
Skill 2: ???
???
After reviewing the Ouroboros Tablet: Greed's information, Su Xiao confirmed that this thing couldn't be compared to the Prophet Tablet from Holy Land·Chiliad.
[Prompt: The Hunter can now use the Ouroboros Tablet.]
[Warning: Each use of the Ouroboros Tablet will increase its "Revival Value." When the Revival Value reaches 100%, the Hunter will face great danger!]
[Current Revival Value: 0%.]
[Appropriate greed is the driving force for progress; excessive greed will bring dire consequences—Ouroboros Tablet: Greed.]
Looking at the Ouroboros Tablet: Greed in his hand, Su Xiao already knew how to use it—just inject a small amount of mana into it.
As soon as Su Xiao injected a small amount of mana into the Ouroboros Tablet, a line of text appeared on it.
'There is treasure diagonally below.'
Su Xiao looked down and saw a Holy Spirit Chest within the black fluid—the chest dropped by the tricorn hat captain.
"Holy shit, that prediction is as accurate as saying breathing air leads to old age and death."
Baha was so angry it was trembling. It wasn't blind; of course it could see the chest on the ground.
"..."
Su Xiao pondered for a moment, then manipulated Exile to split open, wrapping a small underwater monitoring device inside before Exile plunged into the seawater.
Through the images fed back by the underwater monitoring device, Su Xiao found that this sea area wasn't deep—about 120 meters on average. Below seemed to be some kind of sunken island.
While Su Xiao was checking the seabed conditions through the underwater monitoring device, the Ouroboros Tablet in his hand began to change, its surface becoming uneven.
After observing for a while, Su Xiao discovered that the pattern now appearing on the front of the Ouroboros Tablet resembled the seabed—specifically, the seabed diagonally below him.
A black dot appeared on the Ouroboros Tablet, marking a certain location.
Using the clue provided by the Ouroboros Tablet, Su Xiao directed Exile to reach the area marked by the black dot. Exile split apart in the seawater and rushed into the sea mud.
A few seconds later, the fragmented blade form of Exile wrapped around a rusted iron chest and burst out of the sea mud.
Su Xiao directed Exile to return. Soon, Exile wrapped around the iron chest and broke through the sea surface.
With a clang, the iron chest crashed onto the deck. Su Xiao first tossed the Ouroboros Tablet beside the iron chest, then retreated with Bubu Wang and Baha to the stern, ready to jump into the sea at any moment.
Bang!
Exile stabbed into the lid of the iron chest. Metal fragments and rust flew everywhere. There were no traps or curses inside.
Su Xiao pressed one hand on his sword hilt and stepped forward to inspect. This wasn't excessive caution—he was guarding against the Ouroboros Tablet's deceptive nature.
Inside the iron chest were many pieces of parchment, all decayed beyond recognition, along with five Soul Crystals and a relatively intact scroll.
The Ouroboros Tablet floated up. One Soul Crystal (Complete) from the iron chest flew above it and was instantly absorbed.
[Prompt: Ouroboros Tablet: Greed's Revival Value +8%.]
[Current Revival Value: 8%.]
[You have obtained Soul Crystal (Complete) ×5.]
[You have obtained Noble Fencing·Rapier (Technique-Type Basic Skill).]
[Prompt: The lower limit of this technique-type basic skill is Fifth Rank, and the absolute upper limit is Eighth Rank.]
Su Xiao put away the scroll in his hand. This ability was very different from the technique abilities he had mastered. This type of technique ability could be quickly learned, but the cost was that its upper limit was Eighth Rank—an absolute upper limit that couldn't be broken through by any means, not even Golden Skill Points.
This type of technique ability was very valuable. Its two highlights were quick learning and low upgrade costs. In Reincarnation Paradise, this kind of ability was called an "Auxiliary Technique"—one of the best supplementary abilities. Using it as a core ability, however, meant having no future.
Not just melee classes, even healing classes were interested in this kind of ability. After all, everyone wanted more ways to protect themselves.
Su Xiao didn't need this. If he mastered "Noble Fencing·Rapier," it would disrupt his ability system—the gain wouldn't be worth the loss.
From the current situation, although using the Ouroboros Tablet had drawbacks, the benefits were considerable. Su Xiao felt that this item's abilities probably weren't limited to treasure hunting. Just as he was about to put away the Ouroboros Tablet, another line of text appeared on it.
'Your subordinate is waiting for you to save it. It endures scorching heat on the burning earth.'
After this line appeared, the floating Ouroboros Tablet fell. This was a lie.
Meanwhile, in some unknown sea area, warm sea breezes blew, and the sky was cloudless.
A block of ice over five meters wide drifted with the waves. A figure with horns and a strong physique stood on this ice. White cold air emanated from its body. It had encountered its lifelong "mortal enemy" again.
"Moo!!"