# Chapter 17: Trap
The sky was overcast with dense clouds. The dock on Skeleton Island was bustling with noise, the smell of sea salt mixed with sweat, cigarette smoke, and alcohol. This place displayed a distorted prosperity, yet the environment was filthy and disgusting.
Pirates were pirates. Even if they had wised up and realized that trade was safer than plunder and brought more stable gold coins, they still wouldn't consider long-term development. Before this Skeleton Dock collapsed into the sea, no one would come to repair it.
Any pirate with the funds and means to repair Skeleton Dock would rather invest that money into their own properties in the Alliance or Saint Lan Kingdom, rather than fix this dock that might be seized by someone else tomorrow.
When Su Xiao reached the street by the harbor, he noticed that most buildings on both sides were two or three stories tall. As evening fell, lanterns hung above the doorways of most shop-type buildings.
"Bai Ye, meet up at the inn later. I'm going to find a friend and see if he's willing to travel with us."
As Platinum Archbishop spoke, he dragged the Red-Eyed Girl away from the grilled fish skewer stall.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. He simply tossed a large money pouch filled with pirate gold coins to Platinum Archbishop. Inside were 100 pirate gold coins. Since Platinum Archbishop, the Red-Eyed Girl, and the Beast Knight were all willing to accompany him to Nightmare Island, he certainly wouldn't let these three be short on funds along the way.
There was one thing Su Xiao had never been able to figure out. Given the strength of Platinum Archbishop, the Red-Eyed Girl, and the Beast Knight, even if they couldn't be particularly wealthy, they shouldn't be this short on money. It seemed the three were completing some task, and that task was very expensive.
Walking along the somewhat muddy street, Su Xiao had just arrived at Skeleton Island but already had some understanding of this place. The island had two major factions: the Merchant Guild and the Beast Hunting Clan.
The so-called Beast Hunting Clan wasn't formed by bloodlines or family ties. All beast hunters on Skeleton Island were members of this clan. The reason they could contend with the Merchant Guild was ultimately their combat power. Their years of venturing deep into the Dark Sea to fight sea beasts had made them fearless of death and gave them battle experience that was astonishingly formidable.
Currently, the trend on Skeleton Island was that pirates were gradually declining while the Beast Hunting Clan was rapidly rising. Though their profession was dangerous, they were self-reliant. Moreover, as long as beast hunters didn't die in the Dark Sea, the Beast Hunting Clan would provide for them in their old age.
This was also why Su Xiao hadn't seen many pirates at the dock earlier.
Night fell quietly. When Su Xiao arrived at the inn in Harbor Town and pushed open the door, the sounds of noisy arguments and loud laughter came flooding out, along with a mixture of alcohol and food aromas.
Looking across the entire inn, only a few ragged pirates sat in the corners drinking gloomily. Those sitting around tables, drinking and carousing loudly, were all members of beast hunting groups.
When Su Xiao and his group pushed through the door, the noise from the patrons on the first floor diminished significantly. Over ninety percent of the beast hunting group members just held their drinks and sat still. Their years of fighting sea beasts had sharpened their senses, but this also had a downside—when they got too close to Su Xiao, they felt a dangerous sensation that made their hair stand on end.
Su Xiao climbed the creaking wooden stairs. After a moment, the first floor returned to its previous liveliness.
A ragged pirate sitting in the corner raised his wooden cup, drained the liquor in one gulp, and even stuck out his tongue to catch every last drop from the cup. This was a pirate—when they had plenty of gold coins, they'd drink half and throw away half. When they ran out of money later, they wouldn't waste a single drop of alcohol or a single bite of food.
This disheveled-looking pirate stared at the corridor at the end of the wooden stairs. The faint purple light in his eyes felt ominous. He reached into his sleeve and touched the tattoo inside—a symbol he had once been proud of, the emblem of the Fury Shark Pirate Group.
The pirate stood up and left the inn. Meanwhile, on the third floor of the inn, in Su Xiao's temporary room, Su Xiao opened his eyes from meditation on the bed and looked at Bubu Wang beside him.
No verbal communication was needed. Bubu understood immediately.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked once, then blended into the environment to track the enemy.
Su Xiao took out a dozen ring-sized metal circles and used Spirit Shadow Threads to suspend them, letting them hang naturally. The slightest breeze would make them sway and bump into each other.
However, even when these faintly purple-glowing metal rings collided, they made no sound. These weren't produced in the material world but were made from materials from the Nightmare Region.
This was something Su Xiao had obtained from the World of Paintings, a world nearly swallowed by the Nightmare Region.
Su Xiao tossed the remaining metal ring into his mouth and bit down on it. This was a characteristic of Nightmare Sound—it couldn't be conducted through the air of the material world but could be transmitted through bone conduction.
With the metal rings hanging above him, Su Xiao continued meditating on the bed. He had already sent Dray, Silver Mask, and Veronica to contact local beast hunting groups, offering 3000 to 5000 gold coins to purchase a three-masted bone ship to venture deep into the center of the Dark Sea and reach Nightmare Island.
From the earlier notification, Su Xiao had confirmed that the Nightmare King was the informant. He now had three choices: lure the Nightmare King here and kill him on Skeleton Island—this would be the most time-consuming with the lowest success rate, but the advantage was lower combat risk.
A more dangerous option was to engage the Nightmare King after entering the Dark Sea. If victorious under these conditions, the bounty from the Hunt List would be adjusted to 700 ounces of Space-Time Power.
The most dangerous was to set foot on Nightmare Island, the Nightmare King's lair. Killing him in his own nest would net 1500 ounces of Space-Time Power. This bounty equaled that of the Betrayer.
It could be confirmed that the Nightmare King on Nightmare Island would have a significant power boost. So much so that the Nightmare King on his home turf should be harder to deal with than the Betrayer.
This conclusion came from balance assessment. No matter where the Betrayer was, his bounty was a solid 1500 ounces of Space-Time Power—a reflection of his strength. The Nightmare King, however, was only worth 1500 ounces of Space-Time Power on Nightmare Island.
In other words, one was strong anywhere, while the other would immediately weaken upon leaving Nightmare Island. Therefore, the Nightmare King must be terrifyingly powerful on Nightmare Island to be worth 1500 ounces of Space-Time Power.
When Su Xiao meditated until the middle of the night, he suddenly heard the crisp clinking of metal collision. The sound was both ethereal and somewhat eerie.
Su Xiao opened his eyes, dispelled all the Spirit Shadow Threads in the room, and grabbed all the falling metal rings in one hand. The big fish had taken the bait.
Su Xiao spat out the metal ring from his mouth and flicked it with his thumb. The ring silently embedded itself into the wooden wall beside him. Being close to the nightmare, the purple glow on this metal ring was more pronounced. Excellent. The shark next door had most likely had his mind dragged into a nightmare.
Regardless, this shark had once been one of the Four Sea Kings. Even if he had been locked up in the asylum for a long time, his ruthlessness and decisiveness wouldn't be so easily worn away. Given the slightest opportunity, this shark would bite down hard.
Su Xiao had brought this shark along, not intending to use him as a navigator from the start. But now, this shark could serve that role perfectly. Moreover, with this navigator, the journey would certainly be dangerous but ultimately safe.
Bubu Wang appeared silently and let out a low bark, meaning the pirate he had been tracking had suddenly vanished—not teleported away, but had all his presence and aura disappear instantly.
Su Xiao now understood the situation. It seemed he had just arrived at Skeleton Island, but the enemy's methods were already at work. In the room next door, the sleeping Fury Shark was most likely trapped in the Nightmare Domain and had defected to some powerful entity.
As for who that powerful entity was, there was no need to think—it had to be the Nightmare King.
For this reason, Su Xiao was certain that the journey to Nightmare Island would be exceptionally smooth. What could be confirmed now was that although the Nightmare King was powerful, he couldn't control the sea beasts in the Dark Sea. Otherwise, a horde of sea beasts would have already attacked.
In other words, if the Nightmare King could control all the sea beasts here, these beasts would be his power, and he wouldn't allow the Beast Hunting Clan to exist.
After ruling out this worst-case scenario, things became much easier. As for Fury Shark being turned by the Nightmare King in his nightmare, this was exactly what Su Xiao wanted to see. To be precise, he had brought Fury Shark here specifically to let the enemy turn this pirate.
Without even thinking, Fury Shark, once one of the Four Sea Kings, must have had some connection with the Nightmare King. Skeleton Island was at the edge of the Dark Sea. As one of the former pirate kings here, whether willing or not, Fury Shark would inevitably have some relationship with the Nightmare King.
Now that Su Xiao had entered the Dark Sea, he was basically certain that the Nightmare King on Nightmare Island had already sensed his arrival. This was confirmed by Reincarnation Paradise's notification. Among the earlier prompts was this one:
[Prompt: You have entered the Dark Sea region. This area is occupied by the Nightmare King (Informant).]
Based on this prompt, Su Xiao roughly deduced the Nightmare King's degree of control over this sea area. But this was only a preliminary guess. What truly confirmed that the Nightmare King knew he was here was the metal rings from earlier.
Because these metal rings originated from the Nightmare Region, once there was any nightmare aura or nightmare-type ability nearby, these rings would react like metal attracted to a magnet—floating toward the direction of the nightmare invasion and emitting purple light.
With this, Su Xiao confirmed that the room next door was being quietly invaded by nightmare. And in that room were Amu and Fury Shark.
Which of the two would be turned by the Nightmare King? There was no need to think about it. Or rather, the Nightmare King wouldn't drag Amu into the Nightmare Domain to avoid exposing this matter.
Fury Shark originally had some connection with the Nightmare King, and combined with his current situation, he was exactly the target the Nightmare King was looking for.
Why did Su Xiao allow all this? Because he wanted to reach Nightmare Island through the Dark Sea as quickly as possible.
When the Nightmare King, one of the traitors, sensed that a Law Destroyer had come, he would first be shocked and angry, then assess and probe. Upon learning that this Law Destroyer hadn't fully matured yet and still had gaps compared to the Ancestral Law Destroyers, the question was: would the Nightmare King try to lure this Law Destroyer to Nightmare Island, use his power there to kill him, or let the Law Destroyer retreat due to the dangers of the Dark Sea, wait until he fully matured, and then come to Nightmare Island?
The Nightmare King would definitely choose the former. This created a marvelous situation where the Nightmare King wanted Su Xiao to reach Nightmare Island even more than Su Xiao himself did.
Under these circumstances, it was inevitable that the Nightmare King would choose to turn Fury Shark, using him as a navigator to sail the bone ship carrying Su Xiao and his group to Nightmare Island, where they would all be eliminated.
Meditation made time pass quickly. At around 3:30 AM, there was a knock at the door. It was Dray. Through an intermediary introduced by the old dean, he had finally found a three-masted bone ship. The seller was asking 4600 pirate gold coins and wouldn't negotiate.
"Buy it. Set sail in half an hour."
"Understood."
Dray and Silver Mask carried travel bags filled with pirate gold coins and left. Barring any accidents, the transaction would be completed within half an hour. Buying a ship on Skeleton Island was simple—just pay the money.
Su Xiao led Bubu Wang out of the room and entered the adjacent room. He found no lingering aftertaste of nightmare here. It seemed the Nightmare King was cautious.
"Fury Shark, prepare to set sail."
Hearing this, Fury Shark, who had just woken up, showed a hint of anger in his eyes. His acting was quite good—if he had been too compliant at this moment, it would have aroused suspicion, given his pirate background.
"Dean Bai Ye, it's 3 AM. Are you planning to set sail for the Dark Sea at this hour? If so, you might as well send me back to the asylum. I don't want to die yet."
Fury Shark picked up a bottle of water and gulped it down.
"Wait here. Someone will come to take you back in 10 minutes."
Leaving these words, Su Xiao walked toward the door. He was making a final confirmation. He wouldn't stake everything on his deductions alone. Compared to inference, the enemy's inability to conceal their actions was the most accurate way to measure a situation.
Just as Su Xiao was about to step out, Fury Shark, whose eyelids were twitching, turned his anger into a smile and said, "Dean Bai Ye, isn't this for everyone's safety? The Dark Sea is more dangerous at night than during the day. We need at least five days of sailing. We should avoid traveling at night as much as possible. It would be safer to set sail in the morning."
"What did you say?"
Su Xiao stopped at the door and turned his head to look at Fury Shark.
"I said we should set sail tomorrow morning."
"One sentence before that."
"Oh, we need at least five days to reach Nightmare Island. Dean Bai Ye, the cargo ship we took here was Alliance-made. It's much faster than a sailboat, so we reached Skeleton Island in one day. With an ordinary cargo ship, it would take at least three days."
When Fury Shark mentioned ships, his eyes lit up.
"Five days..."
Su Xiao turned back and sat down in the room. Seeing Su Xiao frown, Fury Shark felt something was wrong.
"If we take a cargo ship back to the Alliance tomorrow morning, we can return by evening."
Su Xiao's words made Fury Shark's heart nearly skip a beat.
"Since it takes five days to sail, there's no rush to deal with the Nightmare King. Let's go back and deal with other enemies first. Baha, contact the cargo ship. Tell them we're going back tomorrow morning. They can name their price."
"Understood. I'll handle it."
"Dean Bai Ye, what are you—"
Fury Shark was a bit dumbfounded. He felt this asylum director was somewhat insane, doing whatever came to mind. They had come all the way to Skeleton Island, and now he wanted to go back? Postpone the trip to Nightmare Island? How could this be? He had made a contract with the Nightmare King in the Nightmare Domain. If they didn't go...
Seeing Su Xiao and Bubu Wang leave the room, Fury Shark leaned back against the headboard, looking like he was going back to sleep, indifferent to everything. In reality, he was about to enter the Nightmare Domain to find the Nightmare King and ask how to handle this—the Law Destroyer had changed his mind and wasn't going to Nightmare Island anymore.
One hour later.
Knock knock knock~
There was a knock at the inn door. In the room, Su Xiao opened his eyes from meditation. Bubu Wang opened the door to find Fury Shark under Amu's watch.
Fury Shark walked into the room and sat down calmly. He paused for a few seconds before speaking: "Dean Bai Ye, I've actually been keeping a secret. The reason I became one of the Four Sea Kings was because I..."
"Skip the nonsense. Get to the point."
Su Xiao, still meditating, kept his eyes closed, maintaining a slight meditative state.
"I have a special route and a special sailing method. One day. Give me one day, and I'll take you to Nightmare Island."
"Name your price."
"Hahaha, Dean Bai Ye is straightforward. After we return, transfer me from the third level of the dungeon to the first."
"Deal."
Su Xiao opened his eyes. He knew the Nightmare King couldn't sit still after hearing he was about to abandon this voyage.
Fury Shark tentatively asked: "So we set sail this morning?"
"Now."
"Whatever you say. We'll set sail now."
Fury Shark spoke with a fake smile, deliberately showing the arrogance he had as a pirate.
While the sky was still pitch black, Su Xiao and his group arrived at the dock. Unfortunately, the friend Platinum Archbishop had found declined the invitation for this voyage. According to Platinum Archbishop, his friend was a fortune teller.
At the dock, Su Xiao looked at the three-masted bone ship ahead. The entire vessel was black, constructed entirely from sea beast bones. The keel was made from the spine of a medium-sized sea beast, the hull from bone plates. There was no lower cabin—only the deck and captain's quarters. The lower part of the hull was filled with a resin that solidified with enough buoyancy to keep the ship afloat.
Jumping onto the bone ship, Su Xiao felt its ferocious aura. Although it didn't have the feeling of the old Doom Number, this ship could no longer be considered entirely inanimate.
Whoosh! The sails were raised. The dozen or so hired beast hunting group members skillfully set sail. When they left the coastal waters of Skeleton Island, Su Xiao looked at Fury Shark at the helm from the deck.
"Captain, I told you before—there was no need to hire sailors or use sails. But you didn't believe me. I need to summon my partner now. I hope you won't misunderstand. To reach Nightmare Island in one day, I need my partner."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak, letting Fury Shark do as he pleased. Seeing this, Fury Shark dabbed some seawater that had splashed onto the railing and drew on the deck with it. After a moment, he tapped the ring shackles on his neck and said, "Captain, loosen the restraints on my abilities a bit, or I can't summon my partner."
"..."
Su Xiao signaled Baha to handle it. Baha flew forward, adjusted the ring shackles on Fury Shark's neck with his talons, reducing them from full power to 70%.
A presence like something from the deep sea emanated from Fury Shark. He smiled, showing his full mouth of shark-like teeth, and cracked his neck. Then, he pressed one hand onto the circular formation drawn with seawater.
Thump~
An invisible shockwave spread out. A few minutes later, the seawater beside the bone ship bulged as something massive rose from the seabed. Upon closer inspection, what surfaced was a giant shark. Any whale would look like a small fish compared to it.
"Old friend, long time no see."
Fury Shark threw down the bundle of ropes tied to the bow. A minute later, the entire ship suddenly lurched forward and began being towed at high speed.
"Captain, I told you I wouldn't disappoint you. What we need to do now is make sure my old friend isn't attacked. That's a bit difficult..."
Plop! Amu jumped into the sea. Under Fury Shark's astonished gaze, he swam ahead and soon dove underwater.
A dozen minutes later, a large patch of blood floated to the surface ahead. As the bone ship sped past, the blood attracted a horde of sea beasts that devoured the headless sea beast Amu had killed.
After sailing for an hour, the entire bone ship suddenly tilted. A dark shadow passed diagonally beneath the vessel. Su Xiao, meditating on the mast, opened his eyes and pointed diagonally downward. A large amount of blood energy gathered and compressed at his fingertip, causing it to emit a bloody glow.
Boom!!
A Blood Smoke Cannon blasted into the seawater diagonally below, sending water splashing everywhere. By the time the bone ship had passed, fragments of the sea beast's body floated to the surface.
Sensing that more and more sea beasts were approaching, Su Xiao stopped restraining his aura and released his blood energy. From then on, no more sea beasts attacked. Sea beasts were violent, not suicidal.
The sky over the Dark Sea was perpetually overcast and oppressive. After Su Xiao, Platinum Archbishop, the Red-Eyed Girl, the Beast Knight, Amu, Baha, and Silver Mask all released their auras, no more sea beasts attacked during the more than ten hours of sailing.
When the bone ship slowed down, Su Xiao jumped down from the mast: "Fury Shark, have your partner retreat. Get it dozens of kilometers away, or it'll be tonight's dinner."
Hearing this, Fury Shark released a mental wave. Nightmare Island was right ahead, shrouded in purple mist. The giant shark was no longer needed to tow the ship.
"Fury Shark, you have 10 seconds to tell me the details of your cooperation with the Nightmare King and everything you know about him."
Su Xiao took out a timer and pressed the start button.
"What... what do you mean? Cooperate with the Nightmare King? If you want to kill me, just say so. No need to make up excuses..."
Time was up. Su Xiao pressed the pause button on the timer. Seeing this, Amu picked up his Dragonheart Axe. Silver Mask and Veronica pinned Fury Shark down on the deck.
Amu stopped beside Fury Shark, raised the long-handled battle axe above his head with both hands, and swung down. He was about to chop off Fury Shark's head.
"Wait!"
Fury Shark roared, but Amu paid no attention. However, the next instant, the axe that had cut slightly into Fury Shark's neck stopped abruptly, its blade humming sharply. Amu stopped because Su Xiao had raised his hand.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
Fury Shark, eyes wide, gasped for air. He knew clearly that this was a real attempt to cut off his head, without a moment's hesitation.
"The Nightmare King contacted me through nightmares. He told me to bring you to the island and eliminate all of you."
"Continue?"
Su Xiao tapped the Dragonheart Axe with his fingertip. Amu lifted the axe.
"That's it. Nothing else. He contacted me last night."
Fury Shark swallowed. Death had been far too close.
"Then you're useless. Amu, chop him."
Su Xiao walked toward the island. Amu raised the Dragonheart Axe again.
"Wait... wait! I also know the Nightmare King's weakness."
Fury Shark's words finalized Su Xiao's plan. He looked at the island shrouded in purple mist. In this battle, he had a 90% chance of victory.
"Only I and another of the Four Sea Kings know this. The reason we could climb to this position is that we both used to work for the Nightmare King. He's the ruler of this sea area. Especially on Nightmare Island, no one can kill him."
"Nonsense. We've killed Abyss Spawn before."
Baha spoke. Hearing this, Fury Shark explained, "On Nightmare Island, the Nightmare King stays within his Nightmare Domain. This domain can't be breached from the front. It's a domain similar to a contract or restriction. Although it can't be broken from the front, there are three Boundary Stones that absolutely cannot be brought into the Nightmare Domain. You need to destroy these three stones on the island to temporarily dispel the Nightmare Domain. After a few hours, the domain and the stones will reform. This is the main reason the Nightmare King is so powerful on Nightmare Island."
After saying this, Fury Shark sighed, resignedly lowered his head, and adopted an attitude of "kill me if you want."
"So you know where these three Boundary Stones are?"
"Only the general direction. Of course, you don't have to believe me."
At the end, Fury Shark let out a self-mocking cold laugh.
"Where are the approximate locations of the three Boundary Stones?"
Su Xiao picked up the lantern on the ship. This was the key to victory in this battle.
"They're in..."
As Fury Shark spoke, he used water to draw a rough map of Nightmare Island. A few minutes later, Su Xiao looked at the simplified map and said:
"Platinum Archbishop, Red Eye, you handle the first stone. Rhode, Silver Mask, Knight, you handle the second. Amu, Baha, you two handle the third. Bubu, Veronica, and I will go to the island's center to deal with the Nightmare King."
Su Xiao's allocation was reasonable. The three teams sent to destroy the Boundary Stones were all strong enough. And his fourth team, tasked with dealing with the Nightmare King, had melee, ranged, and Bubu Wang as support.
"You. Come with me."
Su Xiao glanced at Fury Shark, then jumped off the ship first, walking into the purple mist. Bubu Wang followed behind him, then Fury Shark, and finally Veronica. If Fury Shark made any suspicious moves, she would shoot him directly.
The purple mist spread around them. The environment was cold, damp, and eerie, making Bubu Wang behind Su Xiao a bit nervous.
After venturing deep into Nightmare Island for nearly an hour, Su Xiao encountered no enemies. It wasn't until over two hours later that a massive door with a strong nightmare aura blocked their path. Inside should be what Fury Shark called the Nightmare Domain.
Crack, crack...
Cracks appeared on the massive door, indicating that one team had already destroyed a Boundary Stone. Su Xiao stood before the door and waited. Over half an hour later, the door was covered in cracks, on the verge of collapse. In just a few seconds, it would shatter.
The wick inside the lantern flickered and went out. Seeing this, Su Xiao lifted the lampshade, took out half a candle, lit it, placed it inside the lantern, and lowered the shade.
The candlelight provided very poor illumination, somewhat dim. Seeing this, Su Xiao raised the lantern and said to Fury Shark beside him, "Hold this."
Fury Shark took the lantern casually, but his eyes were fixed on the massive door ahead.
Boom!
The massive door shattered, meaning all three Boundary Stones had been destroyed. But the next second, the Nightmare Domain behind the door suddenly expanded, enveloping Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Veronica. Worse still, after expanding, the Nightmare Domain immediately sealed itself, isolating them from the outside. Even if Platinum Archbishop and the others rushed to reinforce, they couldn't enter.
Within the purple mist ahead, a tall figure walked forward. This was the Nightmare King.
"You've come to die, Law Destroyer."
As he spoke these words, the Nightmare King's voice carried some satisfaction. For so many years, he had worried about a new Law Destroyer appearing and coming to take revenge. Today, all of this would be resolved.
Bang! A dull sound came from two meters beside Su Xiao. Fury Shark leaped sideways. Mid-air, he tore off the ring shackles around his neck. This guy had long since broken free.
After landing away from Su Xiao, Fury Shark instinctively wanted to throw away the lantern in his hand. But he found that numerous energy threads had appeared on the lantern, firmly binding it to his hand.
"You... behind you!!"
The Nightmare King in the purple mist suddenly roared.
Fury Shark, holding the lantern, stood frozen in place. Two hands with pitch-black, long nails, slender and pale fingers, reached out from both sides of his neck.
Crack!
Fury Shark's head was twisted 180 degrees, allowing him to see what was behind him.
A female face, pale to the extreme, appeared before his eyes. Her red lips were eerily red, her eye sockets pitch black, her long black hair flowing loose, and she wore a splendid white robe stained with blood. This was... the Candle Woman.
The moment his eyes met the Candle Woman's, Fury Shark's vision changed. He found himself dragged into a lake of corpse water filled with human heads. The heads near him, like piranhas attracted by the smell of blood, began gnawing at his body.
Even more terrifying, Fury Shark felt his body rapidly regenerating, only to be devoured again. This pain lasted for 1 minute, 10 minutes, 1 day, 10 days, 1 year, 10 years...
Fury Shark's eyes suddenly regained clarity. Everything before seemed like an illusion. But the pain erupting from every part of his body caused his flesh to crack like ceramic.
The Candle Woman's long black hair spread toward Fury Shark. His expression was already terrified to the extreme. The next second, he was enveloped by the black hair. Gruesome chewing sounds came from within the black hair, accompanied by Fury Shark's piercing screams. It was hard to imagine that a ruthless criminal like him could let out such a miserable wail.
Why was this? Because what Su Xiao had lit and placed in the lantern was:
[Semi-Melted Fat Wax]
Origin: Void Crevice
Category: Strange Item
Effect: When lit, attracts the Candle Woman.
Description: The Candle Woman is a Void anomalous existence. Her existence is accompanied by numerous mysteries. She wanders in the crevices of the Void. Most Void anomalous beings are unwilling to come into contact with her. Only beings like the Flourishing Madness and the Lord of the Old Days can match the Candle Woman. She is the embodiment of eeriness. She can appear wherever there is candlelight, flame, or burning residue. She has no physical form and is nearly impossible to destroy.
Price: Can be sold, can be traded, cannot be destroyed.
...
From beginning to end, Su Xiao was certain of one thing: compared to himself, Fury Shark would definitely prefer to cooperate with the Nightmare King. The reason was that Su Xiao wouldn't give him freedom. He could have Fury Shark locked up on the first level of the dungeon, but he would never release this criminal.
Cooperating with the Nightmare King would give Fury Shark what he wanted most—freedom. As for the three Boundary Stones, that was complete nonsense. The Nightmare King didn't want to face Su Xiao, Platinum Archbishop, and the others all at once, so he had Fury Shark come up with this story.
Su Xiao actually wanted to see this situation even more than the Nightmare King did. He couldn't bring more teammates here. If not for fear of arousing the Nightmare King's suspicion, he wouldn't have brought even Bubu Wang and Veronica. He would have come alone.
The reason was that if too many people came, the item he used would be less effective. This item was obtained from a World-Class Chest. Although its effect was top-tier, facing the Candle Woman required caution. Using it together with Bubu Wang and Veronica wouldn't be a problem. This item was:
[Holy Candle (Single-Use Item): When lit, it dispels darkness, evil entities, etc., within a 5-meter radius and forms an absolute holy sanctuary area with a diameter of 5 meters, lasting until the candle goes out.]
Su Xiao held the already lit Holy Candle in his hand. Since the Nightmare King wanted so badly to trick him into coming here for a one-on-one fight, Su Xiao would grant his wish. However, this wish was fulfilled with a slight deviation. The one fighting the Nightmare King one-on-one wasn't Su Xiao, but the Void anomalous existence, the Candle Woman. He hoped the Nightmare King would be satisfied with this opponent.