Captain of the Pirates: My Fleet's Limitless Upgrading-Chapter 47: Nautical Log, Crystal Skull

"This looks like the bridge." Lilia stepped forward and pushed the door hard, but it didn’t budge.

The door seemed to be locked from the inside.

"Could there be survivors?" Anna asked, confused.

No one said anything. From the state of the ship, it had been floating on the sea for at least several years, maybe even decades. If there were survivors, they should have starved to death a long time ago.

"Back up, I’ll handle it." Lilia told the others to step back, then kicked the door hard.

Crack!

The rotten wood broke under the force, instantly splitting apart. Then came a loud rushing sound, and seawater poured in.

The bridge was also destroyed. There was a big hole in the bottom of the ship, and water was constantly flowing in, but the ship didn’t sink.

The group stepped in to take a look.

The bridge was empty. No human bodies.

Leo looked down at the big hole on the floor and saw the deep sea below. The door was locked from the inside. No one was here. The only possibility was that a monster had broken through the bottom of the ship and attacked from inside.

Everyone was curious about what kind of monster it was.

"Leo, this is the nautical log!" Anna shouted, having found a black, slightly damaged notebook on the control panel.

The notebook was made of parchment and was still mostly intact.

Leo turned the pages with curiosity.

[Light Era 1403, April 4th. We were ordered by King Akran to sail out to find The Fountain of Immortality. We prepared well and were confident we could reach the Lost Island and find The Fountain of Immortality...]

"1403? King Akran?" Lilia did some quick math and said in surprise, "This is over three hundred years ago!"

Leo nodded. From the time, it was around when Holl had just returned to the mainland and brought back the news about The Fountain of Immortality.

The Akran Empire was a great power, just as strong as the Glan Empire.

Leo kept reading.

[Light Era 1403, October 6th. We met another big storm. That wasn’t the worst part. We got lost in this sea, even the greatest navigator on the ship couldn’t find the way. I miss home. I miss my wife and little daughter...]

[Light Era 1404, January 1st. Today is New Year, maybe. After more than half a month of storms, I can’t even remember the time anymore. All I want now is to go home, to hell with The Fountain of Immortality...]

[Light Era 1404, January 5th. The fog disappeared. We thought we were near land or an island, but it was still all sea. There’s a good news and a bad news. The good news is we found our direction. We’re heading straight for the Lost Island. The bad news is our food and water are almost gone. We can only last another two weeks.]

[Light Era 1404, January 27th. The God of Light above, forgive your faithful servant. I had to do this. The sailors rebelled. We were starving, so we had to kill them. The worst part is we found a small island that night, hahaha.]

...

[Light Era 1405, May 13th. We finally decided to leave the home island, but the group of over four hundred people was now down to thirty-four. None of us wanted to find The Fountain of Immortality anymore. We all agreed to go back to The Akran Empire.]

"Why is there more than a year missing from the notes?" Leo looked at the time between the two entries and noticed a gap of over a year.

"It was torn out." Anna also looked through the notebook and frowned.

The missing parts seem to have recorded something about that home island. What was there that made them stay for a whole year? And from the records, they could have left the island, but they didn’t, until the very end.

"Check the rest of the notes." Lilia urged.

The group kept flipping through the notebook, looking for more information.

They lost their way again, trapped in the fog, and faced storms and attacks from strange sea monsters.

[Light Era 1405, December 14th. I feel like everything is a dream. We accidentally found the Lost Island. We laughed, then cried, not sure if it was joy or sadness. Immortality? Who could say no to such a big temptation?]

[Light Era 1405, December 19th. The island wasn’t safe. We found huge beasts. Monkeys as tall as mountains, snakes stretching thousands of meters, and even small insects were as big as cows. We guessed they drank from the Fountain of Immortality and never died...]

"Are there really that big monsters?" Ava looked at the notes and asked, confused.

She had heard about the biggest life on Earth, the blue whale, but even that wasn’t the size of a mountain or thousands of meters long.

Leo was also confused. He kept reading.

[Light Era 1406, January 17th. We found the Fountain of Immortality. The cost was seven of our friends dying. But it was worth it. The twenty-eight of us filled our containers with the Fountain of Immortality and left the island in joy.]

"Wait, twenty-eight people? Where did the extra one come from?" Lilia pointed at the number in the note, confused.

Leo noticed it too and quickly flipped back. The record said they had only thirty-four left when they left the home island. They lost seven people on this trip, so there should have been twenty-seven left. But here it said twenty-eight.

"Did they make a mistake in counting?" Ava asked, confused.

Leo shook his head. That kind of mistake was unlikely.

But why was there one more person?

The group couldn’t figure it out, so they kept reading.

The rest of the notes were simple. They faced storms, strange sea creatures, and kept going until the last few pages.

[Light Era 1406, June 5th. We saved a beautiful Fishman, a Fishman with horns.]

"Fishman with horns? Like Marina?" Anna got interested and kept reading.

But the next entry was two years later.

[Light Era 1408, August. We offended the gods. We deserved to die...]

The notes ended there. The group was completely confused.

"Offended the gods? What did they do?" Anna asked, confused.

"Could it have something to do with the horned Fishman?" Ava thought of her grandfather’s words. Horned Fishmen brought curses.

Splash!

Suddenly, water splashed, and a figure burst out from the hole in the ship’s bottom.

"My God!" The girls screamed and ran behind Leo.

"It’s me." the person said quickly.

"Marina, you scared me to death." Ava said, putting a hand on her chest, still shocked. She looked at the notebook beside her.

But Leo quickly put the notebook away. He didn’t want Marina to see it.

That woman was already very sensitive, and he didn’t believe the disaster came from the Fishmen.

"Marina, did you find anything underwater?" Leo asked curiously.

"I did. Come with me." Marina said, then dived back into the water.

The group followed her.

The sea floor was dark. Marina pointed at the ship ahead.

On the broken ship, red letters were carved: "Those who offend the gods will die!"

What?

Leo thought back to the last entry in the notebook. It said they had offended the gods and deserved to die.

Could the ship’s destruction be related to the gods?

But did gods even exist in this world?

Leo’s doubts grew deeper.

Splash...

Suddenly, a loud crack echoed above them. The broken ship cracked open, seawater rushed in, wood splintered, and giant planks fell toward them.

Leo’s face darkened. He quickly signaled Marina to protect Lilia, then dodged the falling wood and swam toward the surface.

Lilia had just learned to swim, and she was the least skilled in the water.

But the big ship was already rotten and weak. The planks were fragile, and the group managed to dodge easily.

What?

At that moment, a wooden crate slid past Leo and dropped into the water.

He hesitated for a second, then lunged, grabbing the crate.

It wasn’t very big—less than a meter in length and width. He could barely lift it and swam toward the surface.

"Sir, grab the rope!" On the big ship, Biggy and Secondy threw down ropes, pulling the group up.

"All right!" Anna sighed in relief, lying on the railing, grumbling, "It sank so quickly. I wasn’t even done exploring yet."

"It’s okay. I got the nautical log and the map." Leo said, then placed the crate on the deck.

"Leo, what’s inside?" Anna asked, curious, and the others quickly gathered around.

"Could it be The Fountain of Immortality?" Ava suddenly thought, her voice full of excitement.

"The Fountain of Immortality?" Marina and Biggy looked confused. They hadn’t seen the nautical log.

"There’s no such thing as The Fountain of Immortality." Lilia said, trying to kill the excitement.

"Even if it’s not the Fountain, it could be treasure. Let’s open it." Anna rubbed her hands together, eager.

"Princess, let me do it." Lilia stepped forward, stopping her. The ship was too strange, and she was worried about danger.

Leo, on the other hand, wasn’t worried at all. His danger warning hadn’t gone off.

Lilia pulled out her sword and cut through the rusted iron lock on the crate.

Clang!

The lock was already corroded and easily broken. She pried the lid open, and the group leaned in, curious.

"What is this... a crystal skull?"

Leo looked inside and saw a clear, beautiful crystal skull. There was also a piece of parchment.

He picked up the parchment and looked at it. It was a map. At the bottom, there was a small line of text: Collect seven Death Relics, and you will gain immortality.

Again... immortality? 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Leo raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are Death Relics?"

The others looked at each other, shaking their heads. None of them had ever heard of such a thing.

"Quick, look! There’s more small text!" Ava pointed, her voice trembling.

A line of red text appeared and disappeared in an instant, but Leo caught it: Those who offend the gods will die!

That was the same message carved into the ship’s body.

The girls felt a chill run down their spines.

Ava whispered, "Sir, this thing is too weird. We should just throw it away."

Leo frowned, looking at the crystal skull. A prompt appeared in his mind.