We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 11 Ember Treasure
Shane initially thought this thing was a bit strange, but after seeing the prompts on the panel, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

[Statue of the Storm Goddess (Damaged)]

Quality: Poor

Type: Statue

[Description: The goddess of storms wields power over the sea and protects its inhabitants. This statue tried its best to save this ship, but it failed.]

Placing it on a ship will increase its "Mysterious" attribute!

May the storm bless you.

"The Goddess of Storms?"

Of course, Xia En had heard of this goddess's name.

In this era, the ocean surrounds all of human civilization, and the power of the Storm Goddess has been enhanced like never before.

The Deep Sea Church, which believes in Him, is one of the most powerful churches in the Seven Seas Federation.

Even in a remote place like Duke Island, there are many followers of the Storm Goddess.

What caught Xia En's attention even more than the name was another sentence in the description.

"Enhance the mysterious attribute..."

Xia En seemed to be deep in thought.

This is a world where extraordinary powers exist, and many things possess mysterious qualities. Strictly speaking, the so-called "ship soul" is something from the mystical realm.

The addition of mysterious attributes may grant the Black Swan some incredible abilities.

"It won't grow strange tentacles, or turn into a ghost ship emitting will-o'-the-wisps, will it?"

Shaking his head to clear his mind of distractions, Xia En took out the idol and placed it on the table in his captain's cabin.

[Black Swan: "Mysterious" +1!]

At that moment, Xia En vaguely felt that a hazy veil was shrouding the entire ship's exterior.

It seems to offer some form of protection.

As the mysterious attribute increased, [Captain's Majesty] also fed back into Shane's body.

However, unlike the feeling when the [Sturdiness] attribute is improved, the changes it brings to the body are not obvious; there is only a cool sensation flowing through the mind.

Xia En curiously stroked his chin: "Speaking of which, what attribute of mine does 'mysterious' correspond to?"

He didn't care that he couldn't think of an answer for the time being, and turned to look at the opened black box.

Just now, Xia En noticed that there were two books pressed under the statue.

One of them is "The Storm Bible".

This is a must-read classic for followers of the Storm Goddess.

Xia En glanced at it only once and then ignored it.

The other book, however, was a nautical logbook.

Although there is a saying that "no decent person keeps a diary", at sea, a nautical log is still very important.

Especially in some unpredictable sea areas, a ship's logbook is crucial in preventing a ship from getting "lost".

Since there was nothing else to do, Xia En opened the diary out of curiosity.

The preceding content is mostly normal, consisting of things that ordinary ships experience at sea.

But starting from a certain page, the contents of the log gradually became strange.

[April 3rd, Federal Calendar]

[...We have arrived in the sea area where Coral City is located. According to the treasure map, the legendary Ember Treasure is somewhere in Coral City.]

However, the authenticity of the treasure map is still uncertain, and I cannot gamble my entire fortune on this treasure.

However, with Anil and Andrei from the merfolk tribe as salvage crew, there should be some unexpected gains.

Goddess above, may the storm shelter us.

April 5th (Federal Calendar)

[...Today is the first day of the diving salvage operation. The two merfolk seem very excited; perhaps they prefer life in the sea to life on the ship.]

According to Anil, they found an ancient, dark door at the location marked on the treasure map.

Could it be that the Ember Treasure lies behind the door?

April 8th (Federal Calendar)

[...Today, only Anil came back.]

Moreover, his expression was one of extreme terror, as if he had witnessed a horrific sight at the bottom of the sea, and he kept urging me to leave the area.

But that's an ember treasure! Should I give up this hard-won opportunity?

April 9th (Federal Calendar)

I give up. [Treasure is tempting, but you need to be alive to claim it.]

A small captain like me shouldn't even try to get my hands on treasures that don't belong to me.

Let's explore the area behind the door another time.

Anil seemed relieved after learning of my decision, but, perhaps it was just my imagination, he seemed a little strange.

He began to hide in a corner, talking to himself, his expression one of blissful gazing at the sea, whispering in a language I had never heard before, like an ancient ballad.

But when I asked him, he said he had never sung.

The log suddenly breaks down here.

Several pages of the book appeared to have been torn out, and the recorded content became somewhat fragmented.

[...The third victim appeared on a stormy night.]

Like the previous victims, their heads were missing, leaving only gnawed, headless corpses.

The crew members began to suspect each other, with Anil being the prime suspect. He became increasingly taciturn, and his eyes grew colder. Sometimes I even wondered if he was no longer Anil, but rather the embodiment of some sinister being.

What should I do?

Goddess, please guide me in the right direction.

[...I executed Anil.]

He is the murderer, and also the source of the curse!

When I cut off his head, I felt a strange sense of pleasure I had never experienced before.

It's all over now; we can return home safely.

……

[…No, it's not over yet!]

[A storm is coming! Another headless corpse has appeared!]

[The fourth one! The fifth one!]

I've gathered the crew in the captain's cabin; I'm going to find the real culprit!

……

[...A sailor heard me singing? How could that be? He must be crazy!]

Why are they all looking at me with such fear? They're crazy! They're all crazy!

It's another strange fault line.

Xia En flipped to the last few pages before he saw a few lines of crooked text.

[A curse, the curse of the Ember Treasure!]

The outcome was already decided the moment we opened that door.

We will all die!

[Die! Die ...

In the end, the logbook was filled with only a page of the word "death" written in blood and messy scribbles.

It is clear that the captain's mind had completely collapsed when he wrote these words.

A chill ran down Xia En's spine.

The information recorded in this log vaguely revealed to him the tragedy that had occurred on the sunken ship.

This also made him understand the reason for the many headless corpses in the captain's cabin.

But the deceased are gone, and the deaths of these people whom he had never met could hardly move Xia En.

In contrast, he was more concerned with what was mentioned in the nautical log…

Ember Treasure!

As is well known, countless treasures are buried beneath the sea, and the Ember Treasure is a rather special type among them.

Legend has it that in the last era there was a king known as the "King of Cinder" who buried his secret treasures in the corners of various cities in order to preserve the flame of civilization.

Those treasures were not gold and silver jewelry, but the culmination of the highest technology and secret techniques of that era.

There are even extinct species, lost magic books, and historical records of ancient civilizations.

It can be said that the discovery of each ember treasure is enough to advance the technology of the Seven Seas Federation by decades.

A glimmer of light left behind by a civilization that has been completely submerged.

Therefore, it is called "ember".

Such a treasure naturally held immense allure for Xia En.

He quickly flipped through the pages of "The Storm Bible" and found a yellowed treasure map.

(End of this chapter)