Chapter 772 The Sunken Ship at the Lake's Bottom <TOC> Chapter 774 The Earthquake
Translator: SumTLMan
This island, devoid of the natural chain of life, was practically a land of the dead. It hardly seemed a place where one could hide treasures. What could Lucas’ rationale be for choosing to stash his treasures here? And what, precisely, were his treasures? Could it indeed be these ships?
With a mind teeming with questions, Angel ventured into the graveyard of ships.
There were too many vessels to count, stretching as far as the eye could see. Their conditions varied greatly; some even seemed relatively unscathed, appearing as if they could sail forth if not for being marooned amidst this sea of stranded ships.
Angel began his exploration with a ship that had run aground.
“The Winter Hunter.” The name of this exploration vessel was painted on its hull, its prow fashioned into a ferocious octopus with tentacles outstretched as if ready to strike.
The Winter Hunter was severely damaged. When Angel stepped onto its deck, he hadn’t gotten far before his foot plunged through a gaping hole. The ship was utterly deserted, no trace of corpses or bones. It was as immaculate as a ship that had never embarked on a journey.
Following the coastline, Angel inspected several other ships, all sharing a similar fate with the Winter Hunter.
Their holds were spacious and empty, showing clear signs that their cargo had been moved. And again, no bodies… This suggested that many of these ships had not suffered immediate disasters like the Night Elf, leading to significant loss of life. The emptiness of these ships was more likely due to the crew removing the contents themselves.
But where they had gone was a mystery yet to be solved.
After investigating over a dozen ships near the coast, the overall information gathered was more or less the same, but there were a few outliers. For instance, on a ship named “Osenbru,” Angel discovered a ship’s log.
The owner of the log hadn’t noted down their name. However, the entries were primarily daily life occurrences. Judging from the writer’s work status and how they referred to others, it seemed to be the diary of an apprentice sailor.
The log didn’t contain much useful information, but it clearly recorded the process of how the Osenbru arrived here.
“On the second day of the Month of Hibernation, the Osenbru reached the Gear Abyss. Our guide had warned the captain beforehand that the Month of Hibernation was the peak time for accidents in the Gear Abyss, making this route perilous. But Baron Parva, that obstinate, loathsome fat man, insisted on this course just to reach his lover a bit sooner? Ridiculous! …Ah, may the Sea God show us mercy, and may all be safe.”
“Emergency! Emergency! We just experienced a terrifying event! The ship suddenly lost its bearings amidst a thick fog. What’s worse, we’ve arrived in a peculiar sea, a dead sea! And there are so many ships around, so many ships… If I’m not mistaken, this is the graveyard of ships, the legendary burial place. So many ships that had vanished in the past are here, they didn’t fall into the abyss, but came to this dead sea instead.”
“The vessel dubbed the Osenbru was ensnared within a ship graveyard, immobilized. The captain made the decision to disembark, to seek a glimmer of hope. Perhaps he could scout the perimeter for serviceable vessels, and then set sail away from this forsaken place. We all agreed to his plan, all except Baron Parva who, in a fit of cowardice, holed up in his room, hoarding supplies, expecting us to cater to his needs. The nerve of him!”
“No luck… There are no escape routes. This is a closed sea. We managed to find a small boat, only to return to this very spot after navigating into the dense fog out in the open sea. We realized after circling around the fog that this island is the epicenter of this Sea of Death. We’re out of options. We had to return, and it seems we may be trapped here indefinitely… I miss home, I miss my mother so much.”
“Another pallid day begins…”
“Those who explored the island have returned. They say not only is this the Sea of Death, the graveyard of ships, but also this island itself is a death island. The soil is scorched earth, the vegetation, deadwood, and there is no clean freshwater. We’re doomed…”
The following entries in the log were blank for several days until, three days later, the novice sailor picked up his pen once again.
“Today we received the only good news in days, that swine—Baron Parva is dead! It was because of him that we ended up in this predicament. He got what he deserved!… But both the captain and the teacher are worried, who killed Baron Parva? And why was there such terror etched on his face?”
“Life must go on. Although there is no fertile soil here, nor fresh water, we found ample supplies on many of the ships, some even had Moisture Trees planted on them. We should be able to hold out for a while. Hopefully, the god of the sea will have mercy on us and let us escape from this place.”
There was another gap in the log.
“One by one, people are dying. How are they dying? Perhaps it will be my turn next.”
That was the last entry in the log. Angel could imagine the despair and hope, and then the fall back into despair, the poor sailor must have experienced.
The logbook was found in a corner of the Osenbru’s deck. Perhaps the owner of the logbook had accidentally dropped it, or maybe he had intentionally discarded it. But from the dust-laden cover, it was evident that it had been many years since.
He had probably been dead for many years as well, and how he died remained a mystery.
With a soft sigh, Angel continued to search the other ships. On some of them, he found skeletons. Judging from the attire on the different skeletons, they came from various places, and their times varied greatly.
For instance, the Feather Fan was from three thousand years ago, while the Night Elf was a mere three hundred years old.
Because of the appearance of these corpses, Angel obtained many iron box necklaces, and also found captains’ logs from some ship cabins. By integrating and comparing the information obtained from these searches, he noticed a commonality among all the ships.
Nearly all ships find their way to this place from the Gear Abyss, while some come from the Stormy Demon Sea, the Mist Zone, and the Outpost Shipping Route, albeit in lesser numbers. The majority still come from the Gear Abyss.
Angel isn’t unfamiliar with the name Gear Abyss. Helen had once narrated to him the legends of the Gear Abyss. She spoke of how ships would sink into its unfathomable depths from time to time, the reasons for which remained a mystery to all. However, the frequency of these disappearances wasn’t high, making the Gear Abyss one of the navigational options.
Hovering in mid-air, Angel gazed at this endless graveyard of vessels, thinking to himself, “Perhaps, as that apprentice sailor suggested, the ships disappearing in the Gear Abyss don’t actually sink into the abyss but end up here.”
Angel searched a few more ships, the clues mostly aligning with what he had found before. However, within the skeletal grip of a corpse on an exploratory ship, he discovered a partial map of the Devil’s Sea.
The incomplete map detailed only a localized region, incidentally close to the Gear Abyss.
When Angel carefully outlined the routes of the fallen ships, he noticed something surprising: these sea areas were all concentrated within a particular region.
Stormy Demon Sea, Mist Zone, Outpost Shipping Route, and Gear Abyss were all within a close-knit maritime area.
At the heart of this region, Angel spotted a familiar name — Silver Palm Island.
The island is encircled by the Leviathan.
Angel didn’t jump to the conclusion that the Leviathan was related to this dead sea. After all, the Leviathan had only recently made its way to Silver Palm Island, while these ships had been sinking here for thousands of years.
However, Angel did suspect that something was amiss with Silver Palm Island. The Leviathan occupied it, and it was also at the center of this area where ships frequently met with accidents. Could it be that Silver Palm Island concealed some earth-shattering secret?
Unfortunately, even if there were secrets, Angel had no intention of uncovering them. He hadn’t even figured out the mysteries of this peculiar little island.
Angel continued to skim over the ship graveyard. There were too many ships to inspect individually, so he had to rely on chance.
Suddenly, amidst the ship graveyard bobbing on the ocean’s surface, he spotted a familiar-looking cargo ship.
From its structure, it bore a striking resemblance to the Cloud Conch. When Angel stepped onto the ship’s deck, recognition flashed in his eyes at the sight of the familiar symbol.
It was indeed a ship from the White Pearl Shipping Company! Even a ship backed by a wizard had fallen here!
A thought struck Angel. The crew member on the Night Elf had noted that he had vaguely seen a mysterious person named “Tyrant King.” Could it be the wizard stationed on these wizard-backed ships?
By using water-based tricks, one can manipulate water. Food-based tricks can create magical bread, and transcendents can live for a long time.
Nonetheless, one could conjecture that the “Tyrant King,” having survived hundreds of years, possesses exceptional capabilities—perhaps even reaching the pinnacle of an apprentice’s power.
As for becoming a fully-fledged wizard, it wasn’t something Angel had considered. Most wizards have the ability to open planar passages, making escape relatively straightforward.
If there truly was an apprentice still alive here… perhaps Lucas’s treasure had already fallen into their hands.
Angel found himself aboard this cargo ship belonging to White Shell Shipping Company, intending to look for information about the wizard who guarded this vessel. According to usual circumstances, the resident wizard would be found on the fourth level above the deck.
As Angel flew in, he abruptly halted his steps upon entry.
The room was immaculate, cleaner than any cabin he had previously been in— a characteristic of White Shell Shipping Company vessels, where the resident’s rooms would have a self-cleaning effect.
What made Angel hesitate, however, was the figure seated behind the desk directly in front of him.
A wizard’s robe obscured his features, and at first glance, it seemed like someone was sitting there with their head bowed.
But upon closer inspection, Angel realized there was no trace of a living presence. His Magic Hand reached out and quietly lifted the figure’s hood, revealing a pallid skeleton.
Could the resident be this skeleton? Angel’s eyebrows furrowed deeply. If it was indeed the skeleton, then his previous speculation would have been incorrect.
With his doubts, he began to examine the skeleton. The wizard’s robe was indeed a product of Sky Mechanical City; it remained pristine after so many years, and the cleaning function on it had not vanished.
The skeleton itself emitted faint energy fluctuations. Along with the one-time spatial capsule carried by the skeleton, Angel could almost confirm that this skeleton was once an extraordinary being.
Without any unexpected circumstances, he should have been the resident of this ship.
But how did he die? Anyone capable of guarding a cargo ship should have learned water-creation and food-production spells. Under such worry-free conditions, how could he have died?
The death of an extraordinary being should inevitably result in the birth of a soul, but there were no wandering souls in the vicinity, were there?
Just as Angel was deep in thought, an unexpected event occurred.
Chapter 772 The Sunken Ship at the Lake's Bottom <TOC> Chapter 774 The Earthquake