Chapter 15: The Penultimate
Inside the small wooden cabin, Su Xiao put away the [Black Crow Ring]. He wasn’t planning to wear it just yet—putting it on required an adaptation period, which should also come with risks.
In other words, anything related to the Doom Number carried a certain degree of usage risk. For those with insufficient soul strength, the Doom Number, Dim Light Island, the Old Hag, and the like were all brimming with malice.
From this perspective, the scapegoat who had previously bought the Doom Number was stronger than imagined. While their soul strength wasn’t enough to wear the [Black Crow Ring], it wasn’t low either.
What caused that scapegoat to die horribly was information Su Xiao desperately wanted to know. The other party had sailed the Doom Number across the sea, slaughtering, and after raising it to its peak, they died shortly after.
What exactly happened when the Doom Number reached its strongest state was a question Su Xiao urgently needed answered. To lift the curse of the Demon Sea, he first had to remove all seals on the Doom Number. Only then could he touch the “source of the curse.”
After some investigation, Su Xiao understood why the Demon Sea’s curse was so stubborn and troublesome. To put it simply, the Demon Sea had imposed the curse on the Doom Number and then sealed the ship. This placed the curse’s power within the protection of the seal.
The seal was like a bottle, and the curse’s power was the water inside. Gradually breaking the seal was like slowly unscrewing the bottle cap.
The reason the captain of the Doom Number was cursed was similar to the principle of an IV drip. The water inside the bottle flowed through the tube below into the captain’s body. Thus, becoming the captain of the Doom Number led to being cursed.
Of course, these were just metaphors. The actual situation was far more complex.
It was meaningless for Su Xiao to lift the curse acting on himself. The moment he did, the curse’s power would surge out from the Doom Number and reapply itself to him. Gradually opening the seal was the key.
Su Xiao surveyed the situation inside the small wooden cabin. Many strange items hung around—a dried, dead parrot, a wooden prosthetic eye, and on a nearby wooden shelf, various bottles and jars.
“Captain of the Doom Number, do you want to take something from me? You can take anything here, but… you must leave something of equal value, like a part of your soul, hehehehehe.”
The Old Hag laughed hoarsely. Her words weren’t a joke. There were many good things in this cabin. Though they couldn’t be taken out of this world, they could still play a huge role at sea.
Unfortunately, to take anything from here, one had to leave a part of their soul. This was verified by the Void Tree.
Leaving part of one’s soul would inevitably lead to a permanent reduction in soul strength. And many dangers on the Doom Number and Dim Light Island were judged based on soul strength. The malice in this cabin’s transaction was off the charts.
“I can only pay with my own soul?”
“Of course.”
“Then forget it.”
Su Xiao placed the small bottle he was holding back on the wooden shelf and walked toward the door.
He temporarily named this cabin the Black Crow House. The reason was that to set a curse stone on the [Black Crow Ring], he had to come to this Old Hag. She also had a significant connection to the crow flocks on Dim Light Island.
From this deduction, if he lifted the seals on the other cabins, might he find people related to the cursed ones? Leader-level cursed units?
Leaving the Black Crow House, Su Xiao walked deeper into Dim Light Island, entering the endless black mist.
As soon as he stepped into the mist, Su Xiao sensed many cold presences nearby. As the captain of the Doom Number, he felt no waves of emotion. Cursed people? Lately, while sailing the Doom Number, the ship’s hold was full of them. He was already used to it.
After advancing about a hundred meters, Su Xiao stopped. Far ahead, there was an exceptionally massive and powerful presence. It felt like it wanted to devour everything. Approaching that thing now would be dangerous.
“Roar!!!”
Layers of black soundwaves spread from ahead, scattering all the cursed people in the surrounding mist.
Clang— The sound of chains being pulled came. Judging by the noise, the chains in the distance were very thick; otherwise, they wouldn’t produce such a heavy sound.
The thing ahead was likely something that required the Doom Number to be restored to its strongest state before it could be summoned from Dim Light Island to assist in battle. Moreover, this thing wasn’t very obedient. While its combat power was explosive, it was also extremely difficult to control.
Su Xiao walked out of the black mist. He had already confirmed the basic situation. As long as he dealt with the next matter, he could attack Sunken Ship Island.
Returning to the dock, over a dozen cursed shipwrights were still busy on the Doom Number, fixing the Furious Shark Ram to the bow.
Leaping onto the deck, Su Xiao entered the captain’s cabin. For him, Dim Light Island was a safe zone, and being in the Doom Number’s captain’s cabin was even safer.
This was quite good. If he was injured after fighting an enemy, he could sail the Doom Number back to Dim Light Island and recuperate in the captain’s cabin.
The oil lamp’s flame flickered. Su Xiao sat cross-legged on a small wooden bed and took out the [Black Crow Ring]. As long as he could adapt to this ring, he could summon 15,000 Black Curse Crows from Dim Light Island.
The combat power of the Black Curse Crows was still unclear. But once they were recognized as soldier-type units, the War Lord title’s effect could be triggered.
Starting with 15,000 Black Curse Crows, the War Lord title’s bonus was: