With the whispers of the specters, the concentrated power of death quickly spread in the tent.White foam overflowed from the two guards" mouths, seeming like they would die at any moment.
Rolisa"s face was ghostly pale, clearly having encountered something extremely horrifying.
Of course, the witch herself was the most severely affected.
Greenish-black veins emerged on her face and darkened continuously, even rotting straightaway.
"It"s indeed the power of death… Now I sort of believe that this Specter s.h.i.+p sails across the boundary between the netherworld and the mortal world," Fang Yuan murmured as a veil of fog emerged on his body.
The emblem of the Dream and Armament Master s.h.i.+ned brightly on the witch"s chest, releasing circles of power.
Keke!
The specters screamed, the illusion in the tent disappeared, and the chilling aura quickly broke down.
"Your… Excellency…"
The witch gazed afar and pa.s.sed the crystal ball into Fang Yuan"s hand.
There was now a thin streak of white fog at the core of the crystal ball, just like a column of rising smoke.
"The location of Specter s.h.i.+p isn"t fixed, but this crystal ball can indicate its location accurately when it"s within a thousand nautical miles of the s.h.i.+p… It"s yours."
The witch smiled madly, her face looking a bit more lively.
"Very well. This is your reward!"
Fang Yuan kicked Rolisa, who was beside him.
Flus.h.i.+ng with embarra.s.sment, this female subordinate immediately got up from the ground and prepared to take out some money.
"No need!" the witch said in a hoa.r.s.e voice, stroking the Dream and Armament Master emblem on her neck with a zealous expression. "This is sufficient."
Anyone with an extraordinary profession had to be interested in the past rulers of the world.
This was especially true for people like witches, fortune tellers, and sorcerers.
Their high levels of psyche and awareness allowed them to interact with these kinds of beings more readily and hear their whispers.
Of course, there were many taboos about things like Demon G.o.ds.
It was hard to tell what would happen if she continued studying them.
Perhaps, losing her mind was already a relatively good ending.
"This witch knows its real value!"
Fang Yuan nodded and left the tent inconspicuously.
As for whether she would believe in the Dream and Armament Master or do something else, Fang Yuan could not be bothered to find out.
…
After a while, in a bar.
At this place, pirates who had drunk too much rum finally forgot about their fear of Specter s.h.i.+p and started to quarrel.
Fang Yuan seated himself at a bar counter. Soon, he saw Bill bringing an old man into the bar.
"Boss… sorry. Those kinds of precious materials are very rare, and a large amount of gold coins is needed to build even the simplest extraordinary s.h.i.+p. Materials suitable for building s.h.i.+ps are quickly sold out once they appear in the market. I searched through the entire port and dock and only found this person… Jeeps!"
Bill pulled the old man to the front of Fang Yuan. "This is the only s.h.i.+pwright I found for now who has experience in building extraordinary s.h.i.+ps… Jeeps, this is our boss, the captain of the Purgatory Pirates, the great Arcane Trickster, Mr. Roche!"
"Jeeps?"
Fang Yuan frowned. This guy named Jeeps looked almost identical to any other old pirate, and he had a big red nose.
After sitting down, he kept staring at Fang Yuan"s wine gla.s.s. Then he said in an unclear voice, "Yes… great pirate captain, as long as I have wine to drink, I"m very willing to serve you!"
"No problem!"
Fang Yuan snapped his fingers and ordered lots of high-quality alcohol.
Jeeps" eyes glistened when he saw the alcohol. He drank the wine in a hurry, as though he were drinking water.
Fang Yuan stared at this s.h.i.+pwright and said slowly, "I want to build an extraordinary s.h.i.+p!"
"Impossible!" Jeeps continued drinking, squinting his eyes slightly. "The cost of building a first-level naval wars.h.i.+p is at least a hundred thousand gold coins! And even the cheapest extraordinary s.h.i.+p is worth more than a million gold coins! Do you understand the difference?"
"Of course… If a pirate governor had a million gold coins, he"d probably choose to retire. This amount is sufficient for him to purchase a legitimate ident.i.ty and even a n.o.ble t.i.tle in any country and live a carefree life!"
Fang Yuan nodded. "I don"t have so many gold coins, but fortunately, I don"t have to pay the full price in one go… I"m very confident in my ability to earn money."
"However, even if you"re determined and have enough gold, you might not be able to build an extraordinary s.h.i.+p smoothly… because the materials are hard to find, and those rare materials are bought up by all those great pirates and governors as soon as they appear."
Jeeps shook his head. "Without truly top-level materials, it"s impossible to build s.h.i.+ps with extraordinary powers."
"In this aspect, I think I happen to have a trump card…"
Seeing this, Fang Yuan smiled.
Evidently, this s.h.i.+pwright had some real talent. Fang Yuan was unconcerned about other things and had the bartender continue serving wine for Mr. Jeeps to enjoy himself.
Fang Yuan said slowly, "What do you think of the Sea G.o.d"s skin?"
"It"s of course a legendary divine material. Even the oil extracted from it is the best glue for s.h.i.+ps, and it can deter sea monsters!" Jeeps" eyes glistened. "Sea G.o.d was built using the Sea G.o.d"s skin. Do you have a part of it?"
"Not yet, but soon!" There was nothing to conceal about this, so Fang Yuan admitted it frankly.
"Since that"s the case, it"s possible to build the s.h.i.+p. With the most important material, the Sea G.o.d"s skin, we just need a few other auxiliary materials…" Jeeps frowned. "Although I can"t build a legendary s.h.i.+p like Sea G.o.d, I can definitely build a simpler extraordinary s.h.i.+p."
"Are there differences among extraordinary s.h.i.+ps?"
Fang Yuan grasped this key point.
"Of course!" Jeeps rolled his eyes. "Extraordinary s.h.i.+ps are superior in every aspect to all six levels of naval wars.h.i.+ps… Even a first-level naval wars.h.i.+p may not be able to defeat an extraordinary s.h.i.+p, and extraordinary s.h.i.+ps are typically the flags.h.i.+ps of great pirates!
"If they"re cla.s.sified, there are roughly three cla.s.ses. The first cla.s.s is legendary s.h.i.+ps like Specter s.h.i.+p, King"s Throne, and Sea G.o.d, each of which is a real legend! Even pirate kings and governors may not possess them!
"The second cla.s.s is famous extraordinary s.h.i.+ps like Monster and Wanderer. Although they"re inferior to the first-cla.s.s legendary s.h.i.+ps, they can defeat any first-level royal naval wars.h.i.+p, and they"re typically the flags.h.i.+ps of pirate governors and great pirates.
"And while s.h.i.+ps in the third cla.s.s are called extraordinary s.h.i.+ps, their abilities might not be very powerful. Nevertheless, some abilities bring a lot of convenience, such as Holy Spring, which provides an endless supply of clean water, and Mermaid, which can descend underwater… If you can provide the Sea G.o.d"s skin and collect some other precious materials, I"m confident I can build a third-cla.s.s extraordinary s.h.i.+p…"
"Not a second-cla.s.s or first-cla.s.s s.h.i.+p?" Fang Yuan asked.
"No…" Jeeps burped. "Even if you can find top-level materials, that"s still totally beyond my ability!"
"Very well. You"re honest, so I"ll employ you!"
Fang Yuan nodded. Bill stepped forward immediately and waited for his instructions.
"Invite Mr. Jeeps onto our s.h.i.+p. If he has any family members or disciples, let them come together. And prepare enough rum for him to bathe in!"
After giving his command, Fang Yuan felt the situation a bit regrettable.
It seems that building my own s.h.i.+p will take too long, and the result may be unsatisfactory. I"d rather give up on this method… It"s more convenient to get an existing s.h.i.+p directly.
Moreover, after resting at this port and recruiting all the crew members, it"s time to promote one or two subordinates to Ocean Warlock!
Bill and the others who had been following him since the beginning had proved their loyalty through their actions.
Furthermore, what he would do next was mostly dangerous, so he had to have a few loyal and capable subordinates.
Displaying such ability at this point in time could better unite his crew.
…
A group of people left the bar and walked on the dark street.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew past, almost extinguis.h.i.+ng their torches.
"Who"s there?"
With a movement at Rolisa"s waist, a black whip emerged on her hand. She gazed at a shadow.
"You"re surrounded by an ominous fate… I think you need a professional witch to pray for blessings from the G.o.ds and curse your enemies!"
A figure who had an emblem on her chest walked out slowly from the darkness. It was the witch that Fang Yuan had visited earlier.
"Oh? The reason isn"t bad, but unfortunately, it"s not good enough…"
Fang Yuan shook his head.
The witch"s expression changed a few times before she finally told the truth.
"This emblem you gave to me is connected to a great being, but given my current spirituality, I may lose control when hearing his voice. I don"t want to be driven crazy…
"Since you gave me the emblem, I hope to complete this divine exploration with the help of your power… Of course, it would be best if I can acquire divine knowledge. I"m willing to serve you using my ability in return."
Fang Yuan thought about it and realized that his crew was short of extraordinary people in this aspect.
"Deal!"
What about the rumor that said that allowing women on board a s.h.i.+p would cause misfortune?
He himself was repelled by the world. Furthermore, Elizabeth and Rolisa were both women, and he would not mind another one on his s.h.i.+p.
"I, Ca.s.senia, will serve you!" The witch revealed her black teeth as she smiled madly and knelt. "I swear in the name of that being that I will be loyal to you!"