Ch. 357 - Breaking In

Another week passed.

The Nightmare Star followed its planned route, preparing to head for Cook Island.

Yang Yi pushed open the door of the captain's cabin and came onto the deck. He used a Changshou-brand lighter to roast the charred giant worm ring.

After being thoroughly heated, the worm's surface began making the sound of fat popping. Its body wriggled constantly, and it even let out cheerful-sounding squeaks of “squeak, squeak, squeak.”

The unpleasant smell of something burning drifted across the deck for a long time without dispersing.

The reason Yang Yi had come onto the deck to roast it was simply that the smell was too strong.

Ten minutes later, after the smell had mostly dissipated, Yang Yi returned to the captain's cabin.

Tricia was in her own room. She had said that she couldn't stand Yang Yi's sense of fashion and had decided to make her own clothes. She was currently working on them.

Yang Yi was more than happy with that arrangement. He had directly given her a rat-fur trench coat and a bottle of Dark Core grinding solution, letting her modify it herself.

The reason she needed to use the Dark Core grinding solution was that Tricia's skin was too bright. Without using the grinding solution to dye her skin black, the clothes would easily be illuminated through by her body, unless she made the clothes exceptionally thick...

Yang Yi glanced at Suna's room next door. It was pitch-black inside.

That woman had been acting mysteriously lately and was often nowhere to be seen. If Yang Yi hadn't checked several times and confirmed that her sanity was normal, he would have already intervened.

He went to the desk, where the two books he had been reading recently were placed: The Vanished Duchy of Kambar and The One and Only Great Existence: The Goddess of Radiance.

The first book had probably been written by an archaeology enthusiast. From various ruins and books, the author had discovered that a country called Kambar had once existed in this world.

Back then, the area of the Sea of Miracles had been much larger and had even bordered the Special Sea Regions.

The Duchy of Kambar existed during that era. Relying on its powerful alchemical technology, it had established itself in the Sea of Miracles and, together with the Holy Radiant Church at the time, governed the entire Sea of Miracles.

But later, this country disappeared overnight, as if it had never existed at all. Evidence of its existence could only be found in tiny details scattered throughout certain ruins.

The Holy Radiant Church definitely knew the truth, but they never mentioned it and treated the subject as something deeply taboo.

Yang Yi had once seen and used one of this country's legacies—a replica of the Spear of Salt.

There was no need to say much about how powerful that weapon was. The original version was undoubtedly even more formidable.

A country capable of sending out fleets to regularly hunt Rotten Whales could never have been weak.

The half-dead Rotten Whale he had encountered near the Abundant Sea Region back then had most likely been deliberately arranged by the system...

As for the other book, it was filled with praises of the Goddess of Radiance.

She bestowed light, drove away darkness, and protected all living beings...

Yang Yi stopped reading after only one-third of it. He estimated that only devout believers would actually read such a boring book.

After hesitating for a moment, he chose between continuing to read and checking what Suna was up to.

He chose the latter.

So he left the room again and headed toward the stern.

After entering the cabin, Yang Yi discovered that Xiao Ji was standing guard outside the door of the Witch's Laboratory like a sentry. The door behind it was tightly shut, which immediately made the whole thing look suspicious.

“Captain Yang Yi, what brings you here?” Xiao Ji's indicator light flashed.

But Yang Yi ignored it and walked straight toward the laboratory...

“Wait, Captain Yang Yi! You can't go in right now!”

Xiao Ji immediately tried to stop him.

However, it was merely putting on a show. It stretched out its two mechanical arms and spread them wide to block his way.

Taking advantage of his height and long legs, Yang Yi simply stepped over its head and arrived at the door of the Witch's Laboratory. After hesitating for a moment, he pushed the door open directly.

Then he froze in shock at the scene inside.

Suna had somehow obtained a strange, revealing outfit. Her body was covered in patterns, including her face, and she was striking one strange pose after another, as if she were performing some kind of dance.

It wasn't until she saw Yang Yi that their eyes met, and she froze in place.

“What are you doing?” Yang Yi looked at her suspiciously, as though he were staring at a mentally ill person.

For once, Suna became visibly annoyed. A flush spread across her face as she snapped angrily, “Who told you to come in? I clearly...”

Her gaze shifted, and she happened to notice Xiao Ji the robot, standing behind Yang Yi.

However, Xiao Ji was already lying on the floor, looking as though it had gone through a fierce battle and, unfortunately, been defeated...

But the neatly arranged supplies around him were enough to prove that Xiao Ji was only pretending to be dead.

“Robots with souls really are unreliable...” Suna muttered under her breath, but every word fell clearly into Yang Yi's ears.

“What exactly are you doing?” he asked again.

“Practicing alchemy. The book says that during the alchemical process, in order to ensure that everything goes smoothly, an alchemist sometimes needs to paint special patterns on their body, perform specific movements, and make corresponding sounds. It also requires coordination with an alchemical magic array.”

“I see...”

Yang Yi's eyes wandered around as he thoroughly took in the current state of the laboratory.

Apart from the Vitality Sardine at the entrance, which had its mouth wide open, all the other samples had been moved to the lower level, freeing up enough space for Suna to practice alchemy.

At present, there were suspicious magic arrays drawn everywhere on the floor and tables with alchemical magic ink. Some had only been drawn halfway, while others had simply been crossed out and discarded...

“Uh... It's getting late too. It's almost eleven. If you get tired from dancing... no, I mean, practicing, remember to take a break.”

Yang Yi gave an awkward yet polite smile and scratched the increasingly thick hair on the back of his head. Before Suna could change her expression, he turned around and left, moving much faster than when he had arrived.

It wasn't until he reached the deck that he finally let out a long sigh of relief. The image of Suna dancing was still lingering in his mind.

“She has to dance before doing alchemy too? What kind of logic is that? I've never heard of anything like it.”

He complained.

But those movements really were strange and eye-catching.

“Could it be to attract the attention of some kind of existence and increase the success rate of alchemy?”

Yang Yi didn't understand it, nor did he want to figure it out, so he simply made a wild guess.

He hadn't even opened the door to the captain's cabin when he received a private message from Suna, her tone carrying a hint of coercion.

“1 million Seashell Coins, or come to my laboratory again. Pick one.”

Yang Yi stood outside the captain's cabin, hesitated for more than ten seconds, and finally chose to transfer the money.

After selling the remaining dozen or so sets of rat-fur outfits to Yu Dawei, he had earned nearly 500,000.

His current balance was a little over 3.12 million. Giving Suna 1 million to support her alchemy studies wasn't a bad idea either.

Yang Yi transferred 1 million, then returned to the captain's cabin and checked the time.

10:45. There were only fifteen minutes left until trading time.

He had been relatively free recently. He wasn't buying or selling many things, so he spent more time browsing the forums and making posts.

A few days ago, Yang Yi had posted information about the Sea of No Light, causing a huge uproar on the forum.

How exactly this world was structured had temporarily become the focus of discussion among all the players. Some players were no longer satisfied with staying active in the Sea of Miracles.

Although the Sea of Miracles was relatively safe, the rewards were much lower. Moreover, many of the islands had indigenous inhabitants. Recklessly cutting down trees and gathering resources would only bring danger.

Therefore, going to the Sea of No Light to explore ruins and islands had become a better choice, although it was also much more life-threatening.

Fortunately, several players who had been sailing in the Sea of No Light for a long time, represented by One-Eye, provided useful references.

If one prepared a Container of Light, enough food, and an Explorer's Guide, while also possessing powerful firepower or combat strength, then venturing into the Sea of No Light was also an option.

There were far fewer concerns over there. Even if someone blew an entire island to pieces, no one would condemn them. In fact, no one might even know about it.

The Iron Brotherhood was preparing to officially enter the Lightless Sea.