Treasure Hunting System： The Ocean Conquerer-Chapter 99 - 98: Return to the Ship

At Jason’s words, the other two quickly turned their heads, looking toward the distant, pitch-black world. On the sea, carried by the breeze, they could discern specks of white light. Judging by the location and distribution of these light spots, it had to be the Sea Fist. The three of them stood up, brushed themselves off, and moved closer to the shore.

Before long, as Alka controlled the Mirror’s reflection to create a focused beam like a searchlight, it illuminated an approaching ship on the sea. It was indeed the Sea Fist. The vessel sailed slowly, and soon it stopped in front of them. With a few powerful leaps, they jumped onto the deck.

Andre, who had been waiting for them on deck for a long time, said, "You’ve all worked hard. Let’s go to the captain’s cabin to talk."

They nodded and followed Andre into the captain’s cabin.

The others were already seated inside, each leaning back in their chairs, occupied with their own tasks. Seeing them enter, Chadite turned her head and smiled. "You’re back. You didn’t run into any trouble, did you?"

Then she noticed Alka’s and Jason’s slightly strange expressions and couldn’t help but frown. Her gaze shifted to Gami. Gami, looking guilty, averted his eyes. As if realizing something, Chadite turned her head back, a hint of red spreading to her earlobes.

Anderson patted their shoulders and said, "Sit down, why are you standing? Tell us what clues you’ve found. You can’t have been on the island for long, right?"

They nodded and sat down.

As the temporary leader, Alka began his account. He described their journey so far, including the most important part: their encounter with the soul of a young girl named Jasmine beneath the manor. He recounted his conversations with the girl’s soul in detail.

After hearing the trio’s story, Andre frowned and began to ponder. The sound of gentle tapping on the wooden table resonated in the room.

Just then, Alka’s sleeve was tugged. Turning his head, he saw Chadite’s slightly flushed face as she quietly leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Did that idiot Gami say something to you?"

Hearing this, Alka looked a bit awkward and chuckled nervously. "No... he didn’t say anything."

"Hmph! You’re trying to lie to me! He definitely said something, otherwise why did you all look at me so strangely when you came in?" Chadite retorted. With that, she reached out and viciously pinched Alka’s shoulder.

Alka winced.

Then, blushing, Chadite explained, "I was young then, you know what I mean? I didn’t know any better back then."

Alka nodded quickly in agreement. "I understand, I understand."

He could understand that; if he were to recall things he had done at thirteen or fourteen in his previous life, he would also be incredibly embarrassed.

As for Jason and Gami, they did their best to look away, hoping Chadite wouldn’t notice them.

At this point, Andre spoke up. "Alright, we’ll head straight to Pavala Island now to quickly retrieve the Sword of Love, and then perform a Soul Crossing for the young ghost. The faster, the better. We should spend as little time in this place as possible."

Hearing this, everyone nodded. Andre then stood up and left; he needed to personally steer the ship. Watching Andre leave, Gami silently followed him.

"Gami!"

Hearing Chadite’s voice from behind, Gami acted as if he had gone deaf, not pausing for a moment and even quickening his pace as he followed Andre out of the captain’s cabin.

It seems Chadite was quite the terror as a child, Alka couldn’t help but think, rubbing his chin.

Seeing Gami had already left, Chadite didn’t pursue the matter further. She turned around and began flipping through the documents in front of Alka. These were the maps Alka had just taken out from his Ring.

Looking at these maps, Chadite’s expression was one of slight surprise. The earlier incident was completely forgotten, all her attention now focused on the maps before her.

"These maps... Your luck is truly incredible!"

Hearing Chadite’s slightly surprised voice, Alka and Jason turned their heads to look at her.

They heard her say, "With these sea charts, one can find a safe passage through the Realm of Pitch Darkness even in the dark."

Fearing they wouldn’t understand, she further explained, "In the Realm of Pitch Darkness, the deadliest aspect for ordinary merchant ships is the oppressive darkness. They don’t know the environment here and have no way of learning about it. Potential hidden reefs or areas with highly unfavorable sea conditions would be disastrous for them."

"But with these sea charts, they can quickly reach the other side by navigating the established channels through the Realm of Pitch Darkness. Its value is simply unimaginable."

Upon hearing Chadite’s explanation, the two men immediately understood. The existence of the Realm of Pitch Darkness hindered exchanges between many factions, forcing their shipping routes to take massive detours, incurring significant additional costs and expenses. If they could pass through the Realm of Pitch Darkness, the distance could be reduced by at least a third, and in some cases, by more than half. Such a reduction in distance is money. Whoever controlled these safe routes could create unimaginable wealth.

"However, their value isn’t as great as you imagine," Chadite said after a moment’s thought.

"Why?" the two asked, puzzled. The maps had seemed incredibly valuable just moments ago. And thinking about it carefully, they indeed felt the preciousness of these sea charts.

"Because these routes have actually been charted for a long time," Chadite explained. "They are merely controlled by a certain power—the Blood Gold Alliance."

"The Blood Gold Alliance?" Alka asked, puzzled by Chadite’s words.

"Yes," Chadite affirmed. "You know the Blood Gold Alliance was established 400 years ago, right?"

The two men nodded.

Subsequently, Chadite smiled and said, "Guess when the Realm of Pitch Darkness was formed?"

"It was also 400 years ago," Alka said. He had specifically researched this.

The moment he said it, Alka mentally slapped himself. With Chadite’s hint, both he and Jason instantly understood.

The formation of the Realm of Pitch Darkness hadn’t completely destroyed the two nations involved. Only the central area and the regions adjacent to the center suffered devastating blows. The destruction of these core areas decimated most of the two nations’ high-ranking officials, causing them to directly lose their leadership cores. Most of the people in the outlying areas managed to escape. This was by no means a small number of people.

Thinking about the establishment of the Blood Gold Alliance and their current operational methods, Alka couldn’t help but ask, "The Meiniche Alliance?"

Chadite shook her head. Looking at the two of them, she said, "Not just them. It also includes the Vastin Empire."

"Ah?" This puzzled Alka. Weren’t those two mortal enemies? They fought each other countless times, ultimately leading to mutual destruction.

After the two powers were annihilated, their survivors, along with local factions, joined together to form the Blood Gold Alliance.

One must admit, it’s quite ironic and fascinating.

With these factions combined, undoubtedly, many survivors from both original sides knew these routes; some even possessed maps identical to the ones they now held.

Chadite helplessly shook her head and smiled. "I don’t understand it either, but that’s indeed how it is. However, handing these maps over to the Church would still be a significant contribution from us."

This would allow the Church to get a slice of the pie from the Realm of Pitch Darkness, helping to expand the Church’s influence.

Hearing this, Alka didn’t pay it much mind. He pulled out one particular map from his hand. The name written on this map was Pavala Island.

He blinked. Innumerable specks of light appeared on it—at least twenty white dots and five blue ones.

No doubt about it, no Treasure Hunting Team has been to this island yet, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many white dots. Given how Treasure Hunting Teams operate, they would leave at most a few hard-to-find spots, not this many.

Alka looked at the map, his finger tapping the blue dots. Sure enough, four of them were Magic Treasures. And the sole remaining one was their target, located in the area marked as the ’church district’ on the map.

[Holy Mother’s Tools]

[Difficulty: Holy Mother Follower Warrior (Two Spirals)]

[Fame: 1.45 billion]

[Treasure Information: A weapon used by the Holy Mother’s Deputy – Meniyex during her time in the mortal realm, left behind upon her return to the Holy Sanctuary. A Holy Artifact of the Holy Mother Church, it was stored in the Pavala Church, which was destroyed hundreds of years ago during a pilgrimage of grace.]

What stunned Alka wasn’t anything else, but the incredibly absurd Fame.

1.45 billion? What kind of bizarre number is that? Alka momentarily suspected the system was malfunctioning. Alka frowned, pondering how the Fame of this item could be so high. It wasn’t that Alka underestimated it; rather, considering the world map he’d seen before... In this world, which is over 90% ocean, could the total land area of its islands even support a population of 1.45 billion? Clearly not.

This Fame was likely due to the records in the Holy Mother Scripture, specifically the Chapter about Saintess Meniyex’s time walking the mortal realm. That Chapter repeatedly mentioned the weapon she used: the Sword of Love.

In other words, the Holy Mother had 1.45 billion followers—and that was just counting those who had read the scripture. This didn’t even include the countless illiterate people who couldn’t read, though that didn’t prevent them from believing in the Holy Mother. The actual number of believers must be even greater.

The question arose then. Where did so many believers come from? Alka felt as if he had stumbled upon something truly significant. However, he had no more information for now. After pondering for a moment, he reined in his thoughts and focused on other important details, such as the Difficulty rating.

"Holy Mother Follower Warrior" implies that combat will require the Holy Light Element. This means there are definitely Evil Spirits, Skeletons, or the like on that island. And the "Follower" part probably means the challenge is geared towards, or requires one to be, a follower of the Holy Mother. "Two Spirals" indicates the required level of strength; enemies of this caliber are waiting on the island.

Fortunately, Andre is at that strength level and is also a follower of the Holy Mother. A perfect match.

With these thoughts, Alka stood up and headed outside. "We’re not far off; we’ll be landing on the island soon. I’ll go make some preparations; a battle is highly likely."

Hearing Alka, Jason also stood up and slapped his head, suddenly remembering the situation they had just encountered on the previous island. "Right, I also need to prepare."

Chadite looked at Alka and Jason. Her group had just reached their designated island and had only explored the immediate area for a short time when they received Alka’s message and returned to the ship. Therefore, her group hadn’t encountered any combat on that island.

Thinking about the battle Alka’s group had described, the number of enemies on the island where the Sword of Love was located would surely be even greater. It was highly likely that even more Skeletons and undead awaited them. With this thought, Chadite also walked out of the captain’s cabin.