Chapter 14: Storm
After negotiations, Angry Shark agreed to become the navigator for this long voyage, and under the escort of Amu and Dray on both sides, returned to the third floor of the dungeon.
In the office, Su Xiao looked at the map on the table. To reach Nightmare Island, the nearest route was to first travel overland to the western "Ghost City," set sail from the coast there, then head westward into the sea. This sea area belonged to trade routes, where merchant ships from the Alliance, the Northern Border Empire, and the Saint Lan Kingdom all chose to pass through.
For Su Xiao, sailing here was very safe. Even if he were unlucky enough to sink, with his physique, he could swim back.
Continuing westward to reach the Pirate Sea was not dangerous for Su Xiao either. Pirates were indeed desperados, but the danger these desperados could bring was relative. When encountering Su Xiao, it was they who faced danger, not Su Xiao.
In Su Xiao's plan, he first needed to borrow a ship from the Alliance, but it was unlikely to sail this ship through the Dark Sea. At most, it could reach Skull Island in the Pirate Sea.
Skull Island was quite large, which made it almost an island nation. The Four Sea Kings, meaning the four Pirate Kings, were the owners of this pirate island.
This was also why, even if the pirate crews under the Pirate Kings did not frequently pillage and plunder, they still had plenty of gold coins. However, only two of the Four Sea Kings remained now.
Originally, there were indeed four, but one of them, Angry Shark, had his underlings rob the wrong target, leading to him being locked up in the madhouse. Another Sea King was lured by a big deal and plundered a merchant ship sailing at the border of the Pirate Sea. What this Sea King did not know was that the Northern Border Grand General was on that ship.
From then on, the remaining two Sea Kings began to rarely plunder ships and discovered that developing Skull Island seemed more profitable and much less risky. The job of plundering ships was too dangerous; you never knew who was on the merchant ship you were about to rob.
The reason Skull Island was called the Pirate Nation was that all pirates in the Pirate Sea, whenever they plundered loot, nine times out of ten, they would sell it on Skull Island.
When selling on Skull Island, four to five tenths of the profit would be divided between the two Sea Kings. Why did the unruly pirates tolerate this? The reason was that compared to the pure black market, selling stolen goods to shops under the Sea Kings' names fetched at least 30% higher prices.
Su Xiao's idea was to first reach Skull Island, then purchase a sailboat there. This was the only means to cross the Dark Sea.
A long time ago, some pirates driven mad by poverty formed beast-hunting groups and ventured deep into the Dark Sea to hunt sea beasts. Over time, the gap between these beast-hunting groups and pirate crews became apparent.
Facts proved that the profession of beast-hunting groups, which relied on their own skills, had development prospects. The Four God Cults, the warlocks of the Saint Lan Kingdom, and the Fierce Winter wizards of the Northern Border—these three groups combined had a large population, and they all had a huge demand for materials produced by Dark Sea beasts, especially the warlocks of the Saint Lan Kingdom, who were almost obsessed with it.
Where there was demand, there was a market, and where there was a market, there would be capable people in that field. Generations of beast-hunting groups, at the cost of blood and death, finally figured out what kind of ship was more suitable for sailing in the Dark Sea.
First, metal ships were absolutely not allowed. Under normal circumstances, metal could not float on water, which would inevitably attract the attention of many Dark Sea beasts, stimulating their violent instincts and leading to a siege.
Bone ships were better than wooden ships, wooden ships were better than stone ships, and stone ships were better than metal ships.
This was only natural. Dark Sea beasts would not be interested in bones floating on the surface, even if they were a tightly connected pile of bones; they were just bones after all.
Besides the ship's material, the next was propulsion. Sail propulsion was better than fuel propulsion, and fuel propulsion was better than soul ritual propulsion.
There was a saying in the Dark Sea: Even if you use the oldest fuel engine, which makes a terrifyingly loud noise, do not use silent soul rituals as propulsion. The soul energy emitted during the operation of soul rituals was the favorite of Dark Sea beasts. This was also why the fork hooks of beast-hunting groups had a few soul crystals embedded in their hollow structures.
A three-masted ship made of sea beast bones cost at least 1600 to 2000 pirate gold coins. Converted proportionally, one pirate gold coin was equivalent to 10,000 to 10,800 Gulang. This large denomination, hard-to-change currency was inconvenient, but the beast-hunting groups only accepted this type of gold coin.
Su Xiao did not lack channels to exchange for pirate gold coins. What he lacked now was Gulang. This trip to Skull Island required at least 5000 pirate gold coins, meaning he needed 50 million Gulang to exchange.
Of course, Su Xiao had ways to quickly obtain 50 million Gulang, but the subsequent troubles would definitely outweigh the benefits of the Gulang. Therefore, obtaining Gulang through legitimate channels would ultimately cost less time. If he had Bubu steal from the Merchant Alliance Bank or something to get these 50 million Gulang, then all the knowledge he had accumulated over so long would truly be wasted. Knowledge could not only derive power but also wealth.
Su Xiao took out a piece of recipe parchment that looked high-end but was actually made of ordinary material, along with an antique-style quill pen and a bottle of semi-dried ink, and began to write an alchemy recipe.
Based on the materials of this world and the vast alchemy knowledge in his mind, he conceived a recipe for a potion that nourished internal organs and enhanced vitality activity within half an hour.
The effect of this recipe was average, but its strength lay in the simplicity of preparation. As long as the process was strictly followed, it could be mass-produced on a small scale. After some operation, brewing over a hundred bottles a day was no problem.
Su Xiao picked up the phone, pondered for a few seconds, and chose to dial Mayor Perth's number.
After the call ended, Su Xiao took out a full set of tools and began to age the recipe. This was not to deceive anyone; the recipe was absolutely real and effective, and its effects were solid. However, regarding its origin, it was better to be prepared, after all, yesterday, Vice Dean Yesinger had just been poisoned to death by the Dark God Cult.
Soon, a manager from the Golden Bank came to the madhouse to take the recipe for appraisal. Mayor Perth naturally did not participate in this business and could not participate either. He acted only as a recommender. The result of the negotiation was that Su Xiao provided the technology and ensured the relevant departments opened their doors wide, while the Golden Bank president provided the funds and corresponding talent.
Although this cooperation was good, Su Xiao did not plan to participate deeply. With a potion that nourished internal organs and enhanced vitality activity as the core product, this business would definitely become a money tree once it developed. But this required time, and Su Xiao did not have that much time. The final result was that the Golden Bank president bought out the usage rights of this potion recipe from Su Xiao for 65 million Gulang, plus a 30% share of subsequent profits.
After confirming the recipe issue, the matter was quickly settled through Eileen's agency. However, what Eileen sent to Su Xiao was not 65 million Gulang, but 6500 pirate gold coins, plus a Dark Sea chart worth over 200 pirate gold coins. This chart was clearly a gesture of goodwill from the Golden Bank.
After the whole matter was handled, the final result was that the Golden Bank would take 80% of the profits from this business, Su Xiao would take 10%, and Eileen would take 10%.
Giving Eileen a 10% share of the subsequent profits was only natural. Not to mention that Eileen had been busy with this matter, she had also taken a clear stance in dealing with Vice Dean Yesinger and the criminals in the underground prison, always standing by the new Dean Su Xiao.
Under such circumstances, if Su Xiao did not offer some tangible benefits, it would really be hard to justify.
Su Xiao opened the large leather suitcase on the office desk, which was filled with stacks of pirate gold coins sealed in oil paper. He snapped open a stack with a crack, and dark gold pirate coins stamped with a skull rolled into his hand. Throughout this entire matter, Su Xiao had only studied the Mysterious Eye in his office and signed a transfer contract sent by Dray. This was the convenience brought by mastering enough knowledge.
Putting the pirate gold coins back into the large leather suitcase, the most basic funding problem was solved. Su Xiao began to consider the personnel. Amu definitely had to be brought along. If they really got lost in the Dark Sea, Su Xiao felt that even if Angry Shark lost his direction and was confused, Amu could find the way. Amu was a tough cow who had swum out the ability [Swimming Mastery Lv.20] through his own training.
Bubu Wang and Baha would naturally come along too. The three members of the assassination squad could also be considered. Veronika's sniper cannon was more powerful than a kinetic ship cannon, Silver Mask had exceptional perception, and as for Dray, in the assassination squad, smooth sailing relied on Veronika, headwinds relied on Silver Mask, and desperate situations still relied on Dray.
Besides these candidates, although Eileen was also a combat powerhouse, she had to stay behind to guard the madhouse to prevent any issues here.
The three from the Sun God Cult could be invited to join as well. Platinum Archbishop, Red-Eyed Woman, and Beast Knight were all combat powerhouses.
Finally, adding Angry Shark, and after arriving at Skull Island, recruiting a few members of the hunter group there, the success rate of reaching Nightmare Island would be even higher.
"Boss, the Platinum Archbishop is here, waiting for you at the main gate."
Baha, flying in through the window, spoke. Hearing that the other party did not come in, Su Xiao roughly guessed what it was about. He did not expect them to be so efficient. It seemed necessary to invite these three to join.
Su Xiao and Baha left the madhouse together and got into the Platinum Archbishop's car.
"White Night, has the Council House been giving you trouble lately?"
The Platinum Archbishop spoke while driving. The car he was driving was loud everywhere except the horn.
"Why would the Council House give me trouble?"
Su Xiao sat in the bumpy passenger seat, holding onto the car door with one hand. It was not that he was unstable, but he felt that the door and the seat under him might fly out. As the Dean of the Dusk Madhouse, he could not afford to lose face like that.
"You dealt with Vice Dean Yesinger yesterday. No follow-up trouble?"
"Who said I dealt with Yesinger?"
"Hmm~, right, it was the Dark God Cult that assassinated him."
The two chatted for a while. Under Su Xiao's conversational skills, the car soon fell into silence until they reached a spot dozens of kilometers outside the city, where the car stopped.
Su Xiao got out of the car carrying the door, and amidst the Platinum Archbishop's exclamation, he threw the thing into a ditch. Before the Platinum Archbishop could speak, Su Xiao had already tossed a car key to him.
"The Alliance departments are really rich. But speaking of which, where is this car parked? It's not in the city of Kuss, is it? That would be far."
"No,"
"That's good."
The Platinum Archbishop tossed the key in his hand, delighted to have acquired a new car.
"It's parked in the Holy Capital."
"Damn, that far?"
"There's a teleportation array."
"That's better. I'll use the teleportation array later. Where is the teleportation? It won't charge, will it?"
"Third floor of the madhouse, free."
"Be sure to let me use it."
Hearing the Platinum Archbishop's words, Su Xiao paused in his steps, turned his head to look at the Platinum Archbishop, and said nothing. It was indeed the first time he had encountered someone who wanted to actively use the teleportation array he had set up.
When the two arrived at an abandoned manor, they could faintly hear roars coming from inside. Hearing this sound, the Platinum Archbishop coughed lightly with slight embarrassment.
"White Night, that wyvern egg is developing very fast, so fast that it makes one suspect this creature was born for battle and war. But now there's a small problem."
"Speak directly."
"Cough, for some reason, Red-Eyed Woman and that wyvern can't stand each other. I reckon it might be because Red-Eyed Woman woke up to find herself in the wyvern's stomach."
Hearing this, Baha, perched on Su Xiao's shoulder, chuckled, "Red-Eyed Woman has such a good temper."
The group walked into the bloated, swollen castle. The first thing they saw was a series of gold-white chains binding the Demon Flame Dragon. At this moment, the bound dragon, unable to breathe fire, was glaring angrily at Red-Eyed Woman ahead.
Red-Eyed Woman sat gracefully on a chair, positioned just half a meter away from where the Demon Flame Dragon could bite her. She was currently reading a book, but upon closer inspection, the book was upside down. Compared to reading, it was more fun for Red-Eyed Woman to anger the Demon Flame Dragon until its dragon eyes bulged.
"Release its restraints."
As Su Xiao spoke, he walked toward the Demon Flame Dragon. Without any visible movement from the Platinum Archbishop behind him, with a snap, all the gold-white chains turned into liquid. These gold-white liquids quickly gathered and merged into the ring on the Platinum Archbishop's finger.
As soon as the restraints disappeared, the enraged Demon Flame Dragon bit at Red-Eyed Woman. Just as its jagged fangs were about to sink into her, the Demon Flame Dragon's movement abruptly stopped.
"An unrestricted soul is hard to control, but its growth potential is indeed better."
After observing the Demon Flame Dragon for a moment, Su Xiao manipulated it to return to its original position. The reason this Demon Flame Dragon was so irritable was that it had been endowed with an ownerless lord-level soul. This was one of Jila's core abilities.
The insect race's leader-level units, such as the Demon Flame Dragon Barbatos and the insect race scientists, were all leader souls derived from Jila's abilities. However, these leader souls were mentally connected to Jila and were her subordinate individuals.
As Jila's subordinate leader-level units, if they were in the world where the insect nest headquarters was located, all their abilities would be greatly enhanced. But once such a leader-level unit was summoned alone to another world, its abilities would immediately decline.
Beast-type bosses were ranked: Head-level, Leader-level, Lord-level, Overlord-level, World-Destroying-level.
For example, Barbatos, in the world where the insect race headquarters was developed, could single-handedly confront the Overlord-level units of that world. But once summoned by Su Xiao to a world without the insect nest headquarters or Jila, Barbatos could no longer even burn Lord-level bosses with its dragon flame, let alone Overlord-level creatures. It was more often used as a flying mount.
Because of this, Su Xiao had Jila exhaust her long-accumulated reserves to construct an ownerless lord-level soul, which was the current soul of this Demon Flame Dragon.
The downside of this ownerless soul was that this Demon Flame Dragon would not follow the instincts of an insect race unit. The upside was that no matter which world this unit went to, its power would not decrease, as it was an independent entity.
Su Xiao certainly would not create an uncontrollable beast. Therefore, on the soul of this Demon Flame Dragon, he had imprinted a soul mark, which was the most direct and effective means to control it.
Although the current Demon Flame Dragon could be used as a mount, it was not very useful. So Su Xiao needed to enhance it. To be precise, the current form of this Demon Flame Dragon was just the most basic template. Its body was not yet worthy of its lord-level soul.
Su Xiao took out a core, named [Drive Core: Storm Lord (Origin-level Item)], which he had obtained from opening the third layer of the [Steel Box]. It seemed like a mechanical drive core, but it was not. It was a biological core. The valuable part was not the outer mechanical shell, but the Storm Biological Core obtained after completely dismantling the shell.
Back in the World of Paintings, the craftsmen had repaired this thing vigorously, fixing the outer shell to the point where the item's overall rating dropped from 3000 points to 2359 points.
After observing it earlier, Su Xiao took out a core repair tool—a hammer—and smashed the mechanical shell part of this thing with two blows. Since the craftsmen had already repaired it to such a state, how could he continue to repair it?
Su Xiao had always been self-aware. He could not even figure out the Mysterious Eye now, let alone this drive core left from the Second Era: Alchemical Civilization. So he directly used the hammer to smash it, see what materials came out, and sell those materials.
After Su Xiao smashed the shell with two hammer blows, the intact Storm Biological Core inside fell out. After stabilizing on its own, its rating returned to 3000 points. This made one marvel at the skill level of the craftsmen in the World of Paintings. How exactly did they repair the outer mechanical shell to drag the rating down so much? A typical negative gain.
A blue light gleamed in Su Xiao's eyes. Under the numbing effect of the soul mark, the Demon Flame Dragon crashed to the ground. Su Xiao stepped forward, a crystal layer climbing onto his hand, forming a blade shape on the underside of his palm. With a hand strike, he cut open the Demon Flame Dragon's chest.
Spirit Shadow Threads sank into the Demon Flame Dragon's body, wrapped around the Origin-level Storm Biological Core, and merged into the Demon Flame Dragon's heart. Then, the Spirit Shadow Threads dissipated into energy.
Su Xiao took out an arm-thick metal syringe and pressed a forearm-length potion tube into it from the side.
Soon, Su Xiao injected three doses of potion. The first was the power source of the Ancient God: Feather God, without any Ancient God characteristics, purely a power source of storm and feather traits. The second potion was an extremely enhanced Storm Dragon's Blood. The side effect of this was severely draining life force, to an extremely terrifying degree.
The third potion was concentrated dragon race life energy, which had even formed tiny crystals.
Dark Feather, Storm Dragon, and Life Force—these three traits were applied to help this Demon Flame Dragon better integrate the Origin-level, full-rated Storm Biological Core. Combined with its powerful soul, it would undergo a super transformation, leaping to become a Ninth Rank Overlord-level unit.
If this transformation succeeded, Su Xiao's risk in dealing with Black Rose and Sand King later would be significantly reduced.
Su Xiao walked out of the castle. Seeing this, the Platinum Archbishop and the others also came out. Soon, the entire manor was covered in a black crystalline substance, forming a giant crystal egg a hundred meters in diameter. Upon closer inspection, it was actually composed of nearly two-meter-long, very tough dark blue-black feathers.
They walked all the way back to the city of Kuss and then took a bus train back to the neighborhood near the madhouse. Over ten minutes later, Su Xiao and the others returned to the office.
Su Xiao pushed open the bedroom door. The Platinum Archbishop, Red-Eyed Woman, and Beast Knight all walked in. The Platinum Archbishop, walking at the front, observed the teleportation array on the ground with surprise: "White Night, this teleportation array is quite special. I've never seen a teleportation array with this kind of ritual."
"..."
Su Xiao did not speak, only gestured for the three to stand on it, and they could begin the teleportation.
When all three were standing on the teleportation array, just before departure, Su Xiao said, "I'm going to Nightmare Island soon. If you're interested..."
"No problem. I've taken so many potions from you. Going to Nightmare Island is just a small matter. But you need to get money to buy a bone sailboat. If the ship sinks in the Dark Sea, none of us will come back."
"Mm."
"You need to prepare at least 300 pirate gold coins. Don't think it's too much. 3 million Gulang is indeed not a small amount, but the bone ship bought with 300 pirate gold coins is smaller than you imagine."
"I'm prepared."
As Su Xiao spoke, he activated the teleportation array.
"Wait!!"
The Platinum Archbishop's eyes widened. Because of the excessive movement, the mask on his face tilted, showing that he had already sensed the seriousness of the situation.
Boom.
With a dull sound, the Platinum Archbishop and the others disappeared. Seeing this, Su Xiao nodded. His teleportation array technique was becoming more refined.
Everything was ready. They could set off early tomorrow morning. Just then, Su Xiao suddenly felt an unprecedented tremor from the Dragon-Slaying Flash at his waist. It was the Blade Demon Spirit completely digesting the source energy of the Indestructible Trait: Abyss Spawn, thereby completely destroying it.
[Tip: Dragon-Slaying Flash has completed this special upgrade and will gain the following basic enhancements.]
[Dragon-Slaying Flash's durability permanently increased by 50 points.]
[The maximum quality cap Dragon-Slaying Flash can reach permanently increased by 10% (including Supreme Blade bonus, total increased by 60%).]
[Tip: This bonus has absolute priority.]
[Tip: This effect is not activated.]
[Blade Demon Spirit's strength increased by 17 points. After the Blade Demon Spirit's strength is enhanced, the initial hibernation time after killing an enemy will be reduced. When the Blade Demon Spirit reaches sufficient strength, the maximum kill limit will be increased.]
[Tip: Due to this devouring of the Indestructible Trait: Abyss Spawn's source energy, traitless source energy has been obtained. You can use the remaining traitless source to grant Dragon-Slashing Flash one of the following three permanent enhancement effects.]