Chapter 18: Winnie Questioning Her Life
The sea surface was calm, the sails of the Doom Number half-furled as it sailed at a slow pace. Everything seemed peaceful.
Inside the captain's cabin, Winnie Wanda sat before a square dining table. The black tabletop faintly showed wood grain, with over a dozen plates piled high with food. It was decently abundant, but not to be expected to be too delicious.
Winnie Wanda held a turkey leg in both hands, several rows of teeth marks visible on it. Winnie swore that turkey meat was one of her least favorite foods—too dry, rough in texture, and the saltiness was predictable given it needed to be preserved for long periods at sea.
"I... I can't eat anymore."
Winnie swallowed the turkey meat in her mouth, choking so hard she rolled her eyes. She was so full she couldn't stand up.
"How can a fish live in sand, unless..."
After Su Xiao said the word "unless," he set down a glass of water and pushed it with his finger, letting it slide across the table to Winnie Wanda.
Winnie Wanda didn't hesitate to pick up the glass and down the water in a few gulps.
"What comes after 'unless'?"
"I... remembered it just now. After being startled, I kind of forgot."
Winnie lowered her head, avoiding Su Xiao's gaze. Having drifted at sea for so long, she naturally knew that this was the time to negotiate terms.
"Is that so? What do you want? Power? Freedom? Wealth? Or a stable life on land?"
"I want a stable life on land, and I also want power."
As Winnie Wanda said this, her heartbeat quickened. She temporarily ignored her aching stomach and rapidly thought about how to continue negotiating with Su Xiao.
"All of that is possible. What else do you want?"
Su Xiao smiled at Winnie Wanda, the gold coin flipping between his fingers moving a bit faster.
"I also want..."
"Amu, kill her."
The moment Su Xiao finished speaking, Amu, standing behind Winnie Wanda, raised the Dragonheart Axe in his hand, poised to strike down.
"Unless the seawater drowns the sand!"
Winnie Wanda practically shouted this. Hearing this, Su Xiao raised his hand, and Amu's descending Dragonheart Axe halted, the blade humming softly.
"Huff, huff..."
Winnie gasped for breath. In just an extremely short time, sweat soaked through the clothes on her back. Just moments ago, she had been negotiating smoothly with the enemy, and then he suddenly turned hostile, ordering a minotaur to split her in half without a second word. Hearing that, Winnie's scalp went numb.
Winnie's breathing was still rapid. Only now did she realize there had been no negotiation at all. Over a dozen minutes ago, the man sitting across the table had ordered the slaughter of an entire ship of pirates—no provocation, no warning, no negotiation, just total extermination.
Winnie realized she had been too naive just now, actually thinking she could negotiate with the captain of the Doom Number.
"Seawater drowning sand? I need more specific information."
"Wait... wait a moment. My heart is racing. Let me calm down."
Winnie let out a long breath, calmed herself for a moment, steadied her nerves, and figured out what to do next. She said:
"Seawater drowning sand was an idea from a witch many years ago. Cursed people are bound by the Demon Sea and cannot set foot on land. So why not turn the land into sea?"
"That makes so much sense, it's like saying nothing at all. If the Demon Sea could flood the islands, why would we go through all this trouble to find you?"
Baha's gaze toward Winnie grew unfriendly. Her words reminded him of the Ouroboros Stone Tablet.
"I've tried water-based array diagrams. The effect was minimal."
Su Xiao dipped his fingertip in water and drew an alchemical array diagram on the table. The humidity in the air began to rise. With his level of alchemy, this was easily achievable.
"The important thing isn't moisture, it's the ocean. That witch's idea was to use an object as a medium. This object must have the aura of the Demon Sea. Using it as a core, create a movable range of activity."
After Winnie's somewhat incoherent description, Su Xiao understood the concept.
First, obtain an item with Demon Sea properties. Use it as the core to create something akin to an aura ability, and install this item on the Doom Number.
Once the Doom Number docked, this "Demon Sea aura" would cover the land. Thus, cursed people could move freely within the range of this "Demon Sea aura," effectively allowing them to land on the island.
Su Xiao felt that compared to permanently solving the issue of cursed people being unable to land, this temporary solution was more feasible and would require less time.
Su Xiao had already considered this idea. It was similar to his method of setting up water-based alchemical array diagrams. The difficulty wasn't in the concept itself, but in the core item that constituted the "Demon Sea aura."
What should be used as this core item required extensive searching and experimentation. A total of five witches, over 319 years, had only just figured out the best material for setting up the "Demon Sea aura." This thing was the core, an absolutely indispensable core.
"So, what is the core?"
"It's a... type of ore."
Winnie hesitated inwardly, unsure whether to reveal what kind of ore it was. If she didn't, her subsequent treatment wouldn't be good. If she did, she feared being silenced.
"..."
Su Xiao took out a sea chart and looked for the nearest trade island, one under the Empire's rule.
Soon, Su Xiao found an island called "Danga" on the sea chart. Danga Island's port was a gray area, guarded by the Royal Navy, and did not prohibit pirate ships from docking there.
Although pirates plundered and killed at sea, trading with them brought high returns. Driven by profit, the Royal Navy officers on Danga Island chose to turn a blind eye. Every time a pirate ship came to sell loot, they had to pay 30% of the proceeds to the local navy, euphemistically called docking and maintenance fees.
"You'll disembark at Danga Island. Buy that ore within five hours. I'll pay you in advance in gold coins."
As Su Xiao spoke, he took out a small vial of black-red blood and used it to trace a mark on the table. If one studied this mark closely, they would feel drowsy, as if being dragged into a dream.
This black-red blood was the divine blood of the Nightmare God, Nigadi, an ancient god skilled at dragging beings into dreams, ultimately slain by Su Xiao.
"Even if you give me gold coins, I..."
Before Winnie could finish, with a slap, Su Xiao tossed a large bag of gold coins onto the table. The bag's tie loosened, spilling dark gold coins, about 300 in total.
Seeing these gold coins, an unnatural flush appeared on Winnie's face. She picked up one coin, placed it in a water glass, dipped her finger in the water, licked it with her tongue, and tasted a slight salty-sweetness. It was genuine Demon Sea gold coins.
"Leave it to me. Danga Island is a trade island; it definitely has that ore."
Winnie skillfully tied up the bag, hugged it to her chest, and put on a very greedy expression. In reality, Winnie did indeed crave these gold coins, but not to the point of risking her life for money.
She had already decided that once she got off the ship, she would lie low on Danga Island. After all, the cursed people of the Doom Number couldn't land, and the captain's time on the island was limited. As for buying that ore, Danga Island did have it, but Winnie didn't plan to buy it. This was her only bargaining chip. If she were caught again later, she could use this to survive.
Two hours later, the Doom Number docked at Danga Island's pier. Winnie jumped off the ship, repeatedly promising she would buy that ore within five hours, then disappeared into the crowd.
On the town's streets, Winnie hid in a small alley, peeking out cautiously. Confirming no one was following her, a smile gradually spread across her face.
"What captain of the Doom Number? Still going to be eroded by the curse. And he wanted to chop me up, huh~"
Winnie took a deep breath of free air. The air was exceptionally fresh, as if carrying the fragrance of earth and wood.
In a cheerful mood, Winnie walked down the street. For some reason, things before her eyes began to blur, and her head spun.
Thud.
Winnie collapsed on the street. In a daze, she had a "dream." In the dream, she was facing a life-threatening crisis and needed to obtain something to save herself. She spent a lot of money to buy the life-saving "antidote," then remembered nothing else.
After an unknown amount of time, Winnie slowly opened her eyes. She looked around in confusion and found herself back in the captain's cabin of the Doom Number!
Winnie looked down. In her arms, she was holding a wooden box, and beside her foot was most of the bag of gold coins.
"Huh?"
Winnie had no idea what had happened. Hadn't she gotten off the ship? Why was she back in the Doom Number's captain's cabin? Was everything just now an illusion? Had she never actually gone to Danga Island?
Winnie was completely bewildered. Before she could figure out what was going on, Baha flew over, snatched the wooden box from her arms, and placed it on the table in front of Su Xiao.
Su Xiao opened the box. A dozen or so deep blue ores were arranged inside. This stuff was expensive. Even with Baha bargaining during the transaction, it cost 105 gold coins to buy these ores.
With a snap, Su Xiao closed the box lid and looked at Winnie across the table. "Good work."
"?"
Winnie, as if somewhat broken, tilted her head. There was nothing in her eyes but confusion. She was pondering one question: what exactly had she just done?!