Chapter 54: The Strongest Witch?
In the West Sea region, the Doom Number had its sails furled and was anchored, waiting for Octopus Bro to return.
After waiting less than an hour, Octopus Bro returned. It brought back five items. This wasn't friendly sponsorship; Octopus Bro had also become interested in the Primordial Water. It planned to seize some as well, drinking a small amount to see if it could restore its original size.
Once on land, Octopus Bro's combat effectiveness was questionable, so it chose to invest. If successful, it only wanted 10 milliliters of Primordial Water.
Octopus Bro knew one thing: drinking too much Primordial Water was definitely not good, but drinking a small amount would bring endless benefits. This was the origin energy of the Demon Sea.
Su Xiao took out [Source (Water Attribute)], while Kaisa produced a ring, a lump of rotten flesh, and half a gemstone. These items all shared the same characteristic: the aura they emitted was either twisted, malevolent, or dark.
The half-gemstone Kaisa took out contained darkness that was heavy and profound, its aura like the Abyss itself. Even Su Xiao couldn't help but take notice.
The five items Octopus Bro brought all had the same trait: they all possessed disguise capabilities. There was a hooded black robe, a pair of black gloves made from sea beast hide with a texture as soft as fabric, and an earring.
This earring was half-alive, called the Deceiver. The remaining two items also had significant origins.
Winnie carried a large pile of items into the captain's cabin, closed the door tightly, and began to change clothes. A few minutes later, Winnie walked out of the captain's cabin.
Profound darkness surged, mixed with the icy cold of the water attribute. Just by standing there, Winnie seemed to have tendrils made of black water behind her, stretching, twisting, and splitting.
Looking at Winnie's current appearance, she wore a black robe with a hood, the edges of which had dark gold patterns. The darkness within the hood only allowed a vague glimpse of her features.
Under the hood, Winnie's pupils were crimson, her lips thin, the skin on her chin fair, and on her right ear was a silver earring—the Deceiver.
"This woman."
The cursed people on the ship all showed surprise in their eyes. Mad Dog Quirk in the iron cage was jolted awake, looking at Winnie Wanda with full vigilance.
"Not enough."
Su Xiao spoke. Hearing his words, Octopus Bro was shocked.
"Not enough?! If I didn't know this woman's background, seeing her like this, I'd definitely turn and run."
"Not enough."
Su Xiao decided to add more items. With Octopus Bro's Deceiver present, the chance of losing items was very low. The Deceiver was the insurance.
Su Xiao pondered for a moment and decided to go all out. He took out several small bottles strung together, unbuttoned Winnie's clothes, and tied this string of bottles to the inside of her clothing.
The blood in these small bottles belonged to the Moon God, Dominator Sotos, Dark Source Azathoth, Nightmare God Nigadi, the Archbishop, and the Blood God—a total of six Ancient Gods' divine blood.
The aura of [Source] was water-attributed and not frightening, but it had strong compatibility, able to merge and combine the auras of 'dead objects.'
Su Xiao took out a piece of armor shard, a souvenir from his battle with the Black King, and placed it in a small pocket inside Winnie's undergarments. The power of Dead Silence also joined in.
This wasn't the end. Su Xiao took out another small bottle containing [Writhing Tentacles]. With [Source] present, these things would be isolated from Winnie, so adding more was fine.
"Bai Ye, how about we stop here for now."
Octopus Bro looked like it was ready to jump into the sea at any moment. Even knowing what was going on, Winnie's current aura was too terrifying.
"One last item."
Su Xiao placed the highlight in Winnie's bosom. This was a small charcoal box containing a short root of the Flourishing Wild Frenzy. At this moment, the charcoal box was only opened to the width of a hair. With this level of aura leakage, [Source] could still handle it. The energy contained within [Source] was extremely vast; if the rank wasn't enough, quantity made up for it.
At this point, Winnie's aura was dark, profound, twisted, ominous, and frenzied...
"Take two steps."
Baha, perched on the main mast, spoke. It was better not to get close to Winnie now.
"O... okay."
Winnie took two very slow steps, but her pace was quick. She was frightened by her own aura to the point of weak legs.
"This won't do. She's about to faint from the fear of her own aura."
Octopus Bro spoke from beside the ship's railing. No one wanted to get close to Winnie now. The cursed people had all detached from the ship and turned into shadow forms in the nearby sea.
Seeing this, Su Xiao took out three bottles of potions. After Winnie drank them in sequence, her expression gradually calmed, and her legs stopped trembling.
The Doom Number set sail, heading straight for the Duke's territory. The Doom Number could submerge into the sea, so it wasn't worried about being detected by the Duke. As for how to find the Duke himself, that was even simpler.
After sailing for three hours, underwater, inside the captain's cabin of the Doom Number.
"Remember everything I just said."
Su Xiao sat on a wooden chair, looking at Winnie two meters away.
"Mm-hmm."
Winnie nodded repeatedly. Although her current aura was terrifying, she wasn't getting cocky. She knew where this aura came from. She felt like a toy in the hands of a madman, with two possible outcomes: either being broken or seizing the chance to become stronger, potentially becoming a big shot in the Demon Sea in the future.
"Winnie, don't fear anyone. You now represent all of us. If negotiations break down on your end, we'll start attacking the island."
Baha spoke. Hearing this, Winnie stopped and turned to look. She saw Su Xiao with glowing red eyes, Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, Octopus Bro floating in mid-air, and cursed people emerging from the walls with their upper bodies.
If she had seen this scene half a month ago, Winnie would have collapsed to the ground in fear. But now, she felt courage surging from her heart. The legendary great pirate Duke didn't seem so impressive anymore.
"I will definitely succeed."
Winnie stepped onto a piece of cloth. The next instant, she appeared on land. The noisy sounds of people came from a hundred meters away. It was a very prosperous town, the Duke's temporary residence.
Winnie stepped forward. When she walked onto the street, the street fell silent. All pedestrians froze in place, some even fainted with their eyes rolling back. A few children by the roadside were so scared they couldn't even cry. Pale yellow liquid trickled down their pants, gradually pooling at their feet.
Crack, crack, crack~
Black ice crystals spread on the walls and windows on both sides. As Winnie moved forward, the black ice crystals on the buildings on either side continued to spread.
The sunlight in the sky seemed to lose its color. A few cotton-like gray objects drifted with the wind.
Several dozen meters away from Winnie, an old pirate holding a smoking pipe stood up with a gasp. His teeth chattered uncontrollably. The fierceness in his heart made him grip the sailor's knife at his waist, but his hand trembled uncontrollably.
"Do you want to cut me?"
Winnie stopped, her eyes narrowing under the hood, the corners of her mouth curling into a dangerous arc—charming yet perilous.
"Of... of course not, madam. Is there something you need?"
The old pirate swallowed. In his entire life, he had never encountered such a bizarre person. The fear in his heart kept spreading, as if at any moment he would go mad and lose his reason.
"I want to see your captain. I heard he's called... I forgot. I've been trapped under that island for too long."
Winnie looked at the old pirate, then lost interest after a moment.
"Your soul is very impure. I have no interest in eating it."
"!"
The old pirate took several big steps back. In just two sentences, the woman had revealed some terrifying information. It seemed that for this woman—no, this was definitely not human—for this being, souls were merely food. Fortunately, his soul was filthy, and she had no interest in eating it.
"You, you want to see our captain? The Duke is not on this island."
"Lies."
Winnie reached out, and black tendrils extended. It looked like she was about to devour the old pirate's soul.
"This esteemed lady, please wait. This damned pirate has deceived you. Our captain is on the island."
The Duke's trusted subordinate, Tongue Hunter Zuodi, was now standing on the roof of a stone building not far away. Behind him were over a hundred elite pirates, all on high alert.
Meanwhile, in the captain's cabin of the Doom Number, a projection device cast the image onto the wall—Winnie's first-person perspective.
"Say, she's actually putting on quite a show. Coming up with words like 'impure soul.' Boss, did she see you eating Soul Crystals and get traumatized, so she said that?"
"..."
"Look, she's already entered the reception hall. The Duke is about to appear."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang hugged a bucket of popcorn, staring intently at the projection on the wall.
At the same time, in the reception hall of a manor on the island, a group of pirates stood by the wall. The Duke sat imposingly in the main seat. A few meters opposite him, Winnie sat on a tall chair woven from dark tendrils. Mist drifted from this chair, and ghostly heads struggled to break free, wailing silently.
The Duke looked at the witch before him. His mood was terrible. He had been racking his brains for the past few minutes, trying to remember when he had provoked such a thing.
Now this bizarre being had come knocking, and judging by the posture, it clearly intended to wipe out the Duke's Raiding Group? Thinking of this, the Duke felt a surge of frustration. This was simply an unprovoked disaster.