Chapter 50: Scoring a Bargain

Leaving the brightly lit streets behind, Dachun once again made his way to the entrance of the mine shaft.

This time, there was no longer a rush of toxic gas greeting him. It seemed the toxic gas was mostly related to that slime monster; now that the monster had weakened, the gas had dissipated as well.

Then, he activated his radar and headed all the way down, following the route where he had discovered the monster earlier that day.

Elaine suddenly issued a warning: "Behind us!"

A blurry little thing appeared on the radar!

Dachun felt his hair stand on end: "A monster?"

Elaine said in a deep voice, "It looks somewhat familiar. It seems to be the treasure-hunting captain's familiar!"

Damn it, the bastard really had been monitoring him on the island the whole time!

Dachun hurriedly asked, "Have you been on guard against it the whole time I was away?"

"Yes, I could ensure it stayed outside a 20-meter radius on the radar. Within that range, even if you were dancing and being surrounded by onlookers, it would be hard for him to see much. But I couldn't guarantee that the blacksmith wouldn't speak too loudly, allowing him to overhear something."

And it was precisely the blacksmith who had revealed so much crucial information!

Dachun was in a bit of a dilemma: "What should we do?"

Elaine suggested, "Anyway, our navigation skill can't be improved any further right now. Why not take this opportunity to talk to him about practicing navigation? And ask him what kind of relationship he has with the Arch-fiend?"

Alright, time to show his hand directly.

So Dachun turned around and shouted, "Is that Captain Villapicour?"

The blurry mass clearly startled, immediately compressed its size, and appeared only as a tiny dot on the radar.

Damn, that's impressive! Could he think I was bluffing, or did he want to figure out how I managed to spot him?

But this also showed that he held a healthy dose of awe toward Dachun's abilities! This would be beneficial for negotiations.

Dachun picked up a lump of dirt from the ground and hurled it right at the radar dot: "Captain Villapicour!"

The dot quietly shifted a few paces backward.

Dachun suddenly felt like laughing. Could he be wanting to witness the accuracy of my Advanced Throwing skill?

So he threw another lump of dirt.

Finally dropping the act, the other party responded: "Impressive! How did you spot me this time?"

Ha!

Dachun had been led by the nose by him previously, but this time he was certainly not going to dance to the captain's tune: "Has the captain been on the island the whole time?"

The captain hastily replied, "No, when the master left, I left too, but then I suddenly noticed very bright lights on the island, and out of sheer shock, I came back to take a look."

I'll believe that when pigs fly!

The other party continued, "This also means other passing ships will eventually discover the anomalies on this plague island. It won't be long before your name is known far and wide."

What the hell?! Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Dachun asked again, "What's the deal with this 'master' you keep mentioning?"

The captain said solemnly, "Regarding the master, I definitely know even less than you do! You will gradually find out in time. The fact that your current level and strength allowed you to spot my familiar twice proves that you are far superior to me, and the master's choice of you was indeed justified. However, I still want to see how you eliminate that slime monster. Even though this slime monster has been weakened by the master, it's still not something I could handle."

Dachun was dumbfounded: "Actually, I'm not confident either. Can you choose not to watch?"

The captain laughed, "Alright, then I won't watch."

Someone who agrees so easily makes me uneasy!

Dachun asked, "So, are we considered colleagues and friends now?"

The captain laughed, "What an honor! Is there anything I can help with?"

Dachun got straight to the point: "After I finish my business here, I want to borrow your big ship to practice my navigation skills."

The captain laughed, "No problem at all, my entire ship will cooperate, and you can even experience being the captain."

Damn! Is he really treating me like the young master and successor to assist?

Dachun asked in surprise, "But I have the plague!"

The captain said in a deep voice, "At worst, we'll just exile ourselves on this island."

Dachun asked again, "But you saw the situation on the island, didn't you?"

The captain laughed, "They probably only appear at night, right? We can just sail out at night to avoid them. Anyway, you go ahead and take care of your business. I'll have the ship pull closer to the shore, and you can come over when you see the lights on the ship."

With that, the familiar withdrew from the tunnel.

Dachun continued walking forward, but his mood was anxious: "Elaine, do you think there's any chance he's luring me onto the ship to kill me and loot my artifact? After all, he tricked me into finding the Arch-fiend for a job change earlier, and now he's tracking me..."

Elaine was stunned: "Though that's a possibility! But aren't we all colleagues under the Arch-fiend now? Would he really go that far?"

Isn't backstabbing colleagues par for the course? Dachun sighed, "He might not do it himself, but he could put on an act. He could get a few underlings to act disgruntled about my plague, stage a mutiny to kill me, and then take my artifact ring and escape in a small boat. He could completely wash his hands of it, offer me apologies and all sorts of guarantees, leaving me speechless—and wouldn't I still have to beg him to let me practice sailing?"

Elaine was astonished: "I've learned a lot!"

Dachun was torn between tears and laughter: "I asked you to come up with a solution!"

Elaine replied in surprise, "If you're really that worried, just leave the artifact with that blacksmith for safekeeping."

Well, the solution was as simple as that! He always had to find someone he could trust. The difficulty lay in the fact that this was a game, and what if NPCs didn't have this "safekeeping" mechanic?

Dachun remained irritated: "Still, for them to self-exile onto the island, it's obvious they've set their sights on our magic gold and plan to use this island as a base, right?"

Elaine laughed, "You could figure out a way to turn them into your underlings. Even if they don't become your underlings, it doesn't matter; surely that's easier than trying to conquer Fafnir's heart, isn't it?"

Dachun was taken aback: "How on earth is that easier?"

Elaine smiled, "Think about it, if they all became your loyal underlings, you'd have to worry about their health, terrified that they might die of the plague—how troublesome would that be? If they aren't your underlings, it's much more convenient: you can boss them around however you like, and whether they live or die doesn't matter. How much simpler is that!"

Damn! This sounded an awful lot like contract dispatch workers at a corporation! No need to pay their social insurance, just work them to the bone...

Elaine continued with a chuckle, "Besides, since he can use his familiar to disguise it as the Sea Queen's bitchy persona, it means he not only has seen that bitch, but also gotten quite close to her. You can leverage his connection to seize this opportunity!"

Uh? That's true too. Previously it was a beauty trap, but now it was definitely an option worth considering!

Dachun perked up: "He's clearly a subordinate of the Arch-fiend, yet he can get close to the Sea Queen. That means the Arch-fiend sent him to infiltrate the pirates!"

Elaine said, "The pirate world has many different factions too, none of which outsiders like us understand. Rumor has it that some nobles even started out as pirates."

Dachun was stunned: "Who?"

"I have no idea either; I only ever caught fragments of conversations among the lords down below while performing on stage. Actually, looking at your Black Flag Token, its color and style don't seem particularly noble or elegant, and the Lord of Black Flag Island isn't exactly beloved by the citizens. Who's to say the Black Flag Token didn't originate from pirates?"

Damn! Dachun was shocked: "The Black Flag Token obviously corresponds to Iron-Black City, right?"

Elaine scoffed, "And who knows what the earliest ancestors of Iron-Black City were up to?"

Fine, if one were to draw parallels to real-world history, it actually made some sense. Besides, if there were no pirates left, how would the navy collect protection money? How would they secure their budgets? Things inconvenient for the navy to handle could simply be outsourced to pirates. If the game followed this logic, then this Sea Queen was truly a high-end route that he simply had to conquer!

As they spoke, Dachun was getting closer and closer to the lowest level, and he could already hear the sound of dripping water ahead.

Dachun concentrated fully, stepping forward cautiously. Even on the radar, the mist ahead could be detected, clearly indicating he was getting closer to the boss.

With another step, the sound of splashing water echoed from the ground.

At that exact moment, the radar flashed brilliant red. Dachun's foot was suddenly snagged by something sticky like glue and dragged down, while a torrent of liquid poured down from above like a torrential rain:

——System Prompt: Warning! You have been ambushed by the "Plague Devourer"...

Dachun didn't have time to react at all; he rolled deep into the mine pit as if swept away by a flash flood!

Damn it! Why didn't the scavenger's purification skill trigger a warning? Or was the target currently so clean that it lacked even a speck of filth? If so, how was the scavenger supposed to fight it?

Elaine urged anxiously, "Quick, activate the Tuna Sea Soul!"

Activate!

Dachun was once again enveloped by a cluster of bubbles, which barely allowed him to stabilize his posture.

The radar detected a large body of water ahead, roughly resembling a prison water dungeon formed by seeping seawater.

With a splash, Dachun rolled into the pool, only to find it was a pool of extremely viscous sludge. At this point, the scavenger finally issued an alarm: —-Warning! Purification has detected a massive amount of filthy toxic gas. You may use Purification to cleanse it!

Elaine immediately reminded him, "Down there, at the very bottom, there's a heavily concentrated mass! Detection range: 100 meters!"

Damn! Were they betting on the fact that I couldn't dive 100 meters deep into the sludge? Actually, I should have worn that heavy steel diving suit, but it would slow me down too much—unless someone could carry me over. But that wouldn't show off my skills or establish my authority...

Elaine said, "Use all four Sea Souls!"

My thoughts exactly!

As the four Sea Souls activated, Dachun felt like a fish flying through the water! A mudfish darting through the sludge! A long series of system notifications flashed across the screen:

——System Prompt: Your muscle memory has restored Intermediate Swimming Level 1. You have gained additional achievements: Stamina +6, Spirit +1.

——System Prompt: Your muscle memory has restored Advanced Swimming Level 1... Spirit +1.

...

Dachun was thrilled. Had he known the four Sea Souls were this OP, he should have spent some time practicing swimming before returning to the island!

Bring it on, then! His avatar had even practiced swimming up to Expert level in the fires of hell!

Perhaps sensing Dachun's approach, that massive cluster actually started to run away!

Damn, it can run? Wearing the steel diving suit really would have been useless!

The only option was to push the Tuna Sea Soul to its maximum output!

Yet, watching his stamina plummet rapidly, Dachun hesitated again. Even if he caught up, could a full-power purifying strike combined with the ring's bonus kill it in one hit?

He caught up!

Dachun channeled all his stamina to form a charged vortex, but the slime monster didn't plan to go down without a fight, instantly forming a pouch-like maw to swallow him whole. A powerful wave of water pressure instantly forced Dachun inside!

Right at that moment, a flash of light appeared before Dachun's eyes—System Prompt: Your "Treasure Perception" skill has discovered a treasure.

What is this? As a familiar, I found a treasure?

Elaine was thrilled: "This must be its core! Once it weakened, it became exposed!"

Then strike it down!

Dachun threw a punch, unleashing a glowing, roaring vortex that blew the obstructing sludge and adhesive completely to dust...

——System Prompt: Congratulations! You hit the fatal weakness of the "Plague Devourer" and successfully killed the super boss, Plague Devourer. Your level has increased to Level 13. You have obtained the item "Adsorption Core", and you have been rewarded with the kill achievement "Weakness Strike".

Adsorption Core: Gem, Artifact-grade material. When used, it can activate a gravitational field, consuming stamina or mana. When stamina and mana are exhausted, it can temporarily consume other comprehensive attributes of the user; the higher the user's comprehensive attributes, the stronger the gravitational field. Weight: 100.

Weakness Strike: Passive skill. When attacking an enemy's lowest defense area or wound, there is a certain chance to unleash extra multiplied damage. Can stack with warrior skills like Fatal Strike, mage skills like Critical Hit, etc.

——Plague Island Regional Announcement: Player Dachun has successfully killed the super boss slime monster, Plague Devourer.

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