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

Chapter 160 Ship Soul Level LV5! (Please read on! Please subscribe!)

Seeing Xia En's questioning look, Joey offered to explain.

"This is also a legend I read in that ancient book."

"It is said that before the Great Flood, there was a mysterious and ancient city called the Emerald City."

"It is the birthplace of the magic rune technology we know today."

—After Shane emptied Duke Nova’s treasury, he obtained many ancient books that could not be found on the market.

On one hand, it was the need of the "scholars" seeking secret paths, and on the other hand, it was personal interest. Joey loved to browse through these ancient books when he had nothing to do.

Now that these rumors are being discussed, she can naturally talk about them at length.

"...However, after a terrible, unexpected volcanic eruption, the ancient city was buried under volcanic ash, and no one in the city survived."

"But it is precisely because of the presence of volcanic ash that the interior of the Emerald City is so well preserved. The buildings, books, and those precious artifacts with magical runes have all remained as they were before."

"For a long time, this city was a treasure trove that archaeologists and explorers flocked to."

"But suddenly, from a certain day onwards, the number of people exploring the ancient city decreased significantly, and now, very few people even know about this site."

"Yes."

Village chief Ruhr chuckled: "The little girl is quite knowledgeable."

"What I want to say is that this [Emerald City] is located in a layer of ice not far from [Ice Island]."

"Huh? Is there such a thing?"

Xia En's heart skipped a beat.

Since he has already cleared Coral City and the rewards thereafter are not high, he urgently needs to find another location where he can stay submerged for an extended period.

This mysterious "Emerald City" might be a good destination.

But the question is, why would the village chief suddenly bring up this ruin?

Seemingly noticing Shaen's confusion, Ruhr offered an explanation.

"Just three days ago, a few young people from our island rashly went out to sea to the Emerald City, and they haven't returned yet."

"If possible, I hope Captain Shane can go to the Emerald City, at least... to confirm whether they are alive or dead."

"In exchange, you can make a copy of the nearby nautical chart."

Upon hearing this, Gray's expression changed slightly, as if he wanted to say something.

But under the village chief's gaze, he still hesitated to speak.

Xia En's expression was also somewhat strange.

Judging from Ruhr's words, there seems to be no problem; it's just a normal "issuing a side quest" process.

But he always felt that Ruhr's attitude was quite strange.

It's as if... the village chief is deliberately luring them to explore the [Emerald City]?
Could this actually be a trap?
After hesitating for a moment, Xia En finally replied, "Deal!"

Even without the sea chart, after learning of the existence of the Emerald City, he felt it necessary to explore that ruin.

As for the risks involved...

Is there anything in this world without risk?
Even if the Emerald City was indeed a trap set by Chief Ruhr, Xia En believed that he could never have guessed the existence of such an extraordinary talent as Deep Sea Diving!
Soon, after obtaining a rough sea chart indicating the location of the Emerald City, Shane left the house.

More accurate and comprehensive nautical charts can only be obtained by completing this "side quest".

The door of the house.

As Shane and his group disappeared from sight, Gray couldn't help but ask.

"Old man, has anyone in our village been to the [Emerald Ancient City] recently?"

"Besides, you know how dangerous that place is... especially those ember monsters..."

Gray recalled the monster's appearance, and a hint of fear flashed in his eyes.

His attitude toward Ruhr was different from that of the other villagers.

The reason is simple: Gray is Ruhr's son, and this house is actually their home.

"Of course I know how dangerous the Emerald City is."

Ruhr said calmly, "Otherwise, I wouldn't have let them go there."

Gray's expression changed slightly: "Old man, you don't mean to..."

"That's right, I'm going to devour them, boat and all!"

A dangerous, greedy desire burned in Ruhr's cloudy eyes as he murmured.

"We've been on this damned ice island for far too long. Isn't a ship capable of sailing far away exactly what we need?"

"And the women on that ship are also quite a trophy."

Gray's expression changed several times. He didn't think much of his father's idea and tried to persuade him.

"What if... the monsters of the Emerald City fail to kill him?"

Ruhr smiled and shook his head: "No matter what, a trip to the Emerald City will weaken their strength."

"At that time, if we launch a surprise attack, no matter how powerful he is, he is destined to suffer a great loss!"

"If they are really strong enough to leave the Emerald City unscathed, we can just pretend nothing happened."

This old man is definitely not a rude and brainless brute.

He possessed both the ruthlessness of a vulture and the cunning of a fox.

In the end, it was Gray who was persuaded by him.

Although Gray felt sympathy for Shane and the others, he was, after all, Ruhr's son and a villager. Logically and emotionally, he should stand on his father's side.

……

……

at the same time.

Shane has already led Joey and the others back to the shore.

This time, however, he didn't see Yan Yan, who was like a torch; perhaps she was quietly hiding in some corner, withdrawing into herself.

Shaen had no choice but to return to the Black Swan and head towards the location of the Emerald City, following the rough nautical chart.

The ruins are indeed not far from [Ice Island], coupled with the [Black Swan]'s high speed.

Just one day.

A thick layer of ice appeared before Xia En and the others.

"Is the Emerald City located beneath this layer of ice?"

Joey looked at the ice surface curiously: "This ice doesn't seem to have anything special about it?"

"Furthermore, there appears to be no other ships anchored nearby."

Xia En stroked his chin, pondering, "So it really was just an excuse?"

Joey was stunned: "What do you mean, 'as expected'? What excuse?"

Feiya, who had come to the island with them earlier, had already noticed something and said, "That village chief's excuse was terrible."

"Or rather, this is actually a blatant conspiracy."

"After all, upon hearing the news that the Emerald City is nearby, any ambitious captain would probably want to take a look."

Upon hearing this, Joey belatedly realized what was happening, and her beautiful eyes widened slightly.

"So the village chief was planning to harm us!?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Joey blushed slightly.

She quickly realized that she was the last person to realize this.

In fact, before becoming a crew member on the Black Swan, Joey was very wary.

But after following Xia En, perhaps because he was too well protected, his vigilance naturally relaxed a bit.

Joey composed himself and asked, "Captain, what do we do now?"

The other crew members also looked at Shane, waiting for his orders.

Xia En chuckled and said, "Since we're already here, we can't leave empty-handed."

"But before that, I need to do some preparations."

"You all stay on deck and keep watch. If anything unusual happens, notify me immediately."

After saying that, Shane returned to the captain's cabin.

Sitting in the familiar captain's chair, Shane closed his eyes.

"Submarine flight, start!"

Consciousness penetrated the cool, clear seawater, and wisps of chill seeped into the soul.

next moment.

Xia En opened his eyes.

A magnificent underwater world beneath the ice appeared before his eyes.

Sunlight from above penetrated the ice crystals on the sea surface, creating a texture resembling a misty haze.

In addition, the exceptionally clear and transparent waters of the Cold Sea add a touch of dreamlike atmosphere to this sea area.

Beneath them, a desolate, gray-black city sat quietly, awaiting the arrival of outsiders.

"This is the [Emerald Ancient City]?"

Xia En thought to himself.

Judging from its appearance alone, the city has no connection with "emerald" at all; the surfaces of the buildings are covered with a layer of gray-black solid material.

That was most likely volcanic ash that buried the city.

This dust is insoluble in water and naturally solidifies in the absence of ocean currents.

But after observing for a moment, Xia En frowned slightly. "Something's not right here..."

The most unusual thing is that this area of ​​the sea is almost too clean.

This "cleanliness" refers not only to the seawater, but also to the marine life within it.

Looking around, there was no trace of any sea creatures in the surrounding waters, not even a small fish!
The ocean is a place that nurtures life; even the cleanest seawater should contain life.

unless……

Something has wiped out all life!
Xia En became extremely cautious and swam towards the city below.

A moment later, he arrived above a street.

Thick layers of volcanic ash covered the buildings, making it difficult to discern their outlines.

Before Shane could manipulate the seawater to disperse the volcanic ash on the building's surface...

A dark red light gradually appeared in the dust not far away.

Immediately, a dark red figure rose from the volcanic ash and walked step by step toward Xia En.

Its body was made entirely of ash, and it was still twisting and writhing.

Inside its body, a dark red flame burned.

Even the cold seawater cannot extinguish it!

And from the ashes floating in the sea, faint, continuous, and overlapping murmurs could be heard.

"I don't want to die..."

"Someone, please save me..."

"Mother……"

These eerie sounds pierced through the seawater and reached Xia En's ears directly, sending chills down his spine.

To this day, Shane has encountered quite a few strange beings.

However, this burning ash monster still secretly alarmed him.

In just a short moment.

The murmurs and cries for help emanating from the ashes turned into a cacophony of roars, mixed with venomous curses.

"It's a living person..."

"Why is he still alive?"

"Kill him! Kill him!"

These ember monsters clearly harbor a strong resentment towards the living.

In the streets and alleys, more and more ashes and smoke were writhing and rising, and dark red flames were rising from all directions, aggressively attacking Xia En.

Xia En drew his Blood Demon Sword and tentatively slashed out.

laugh!
The greatsword, as always, carried immense force, tearing through the seawater and ripping apart the bodies of the Ember Humanoids.

But such physical attacks could not extinguish the flames burning in the ashes.

In a mere instant, the ash from the volcano solidified again into a human shape, charging forward while letting out painful roars and screams.

"Isn't it true?"

Xia En's heart sank slightly.

He had previously speculated that these ember monsters might not be able to be killed with conventional physical attacks.

The current attempt has proven this conjecture.

Frankly speaking, the current situation is quite unfavorable for Shane.

This kind of physically immune enemy is actually a great counter to his fighting style.

Simply put, it's like a monster with amazing stats encountering a monster with amazing mechanics!
Unless Shane uses a special skill like the [Sword of Judgment], he really has no way to completely kill them.

"Then... what about the [Chaos Runes]?"

Xia En had a sudden thought, remembering his newly acquired talent.

Just do it if you think of it.

As Xia En focused his mind, ice-blue magic patterns quickly appeared on his body.

He reached out and gently tapped forward.

In an instant, dark blue ice crystals formed in the seawater, quickly freezing one of the ember humanoids.

Then, Xia En cleaved the ice crystal and the ember humanoid figure into pieces with a single sword strike.

The eerie flames within its body were extinguished!
[Slay the Ember Doll!]

[“Secret Sea Crystal” detected within the corpse. Absorb?]

Xia En's eyes lit up when he saw the text appearing on the panel.

"effective!"

Moreover, these monsters can also drop experience points!
Xia En's expression changed instantly.

He looked at the city full of ember monsters as if they were giant experience packs, his mouth watering.

But right now, there is a serious problem...

The good news is that the Chaos Runes are extremely effective against the Ember Doll.

The bad news is that the magic runes on Xia En's body didn't store much secret power at all!

After all, he had only just acquired this talent and hadn't even had time to cultivate it to the [ordinary] quality.

Having just eliminated three [Ember Dolls], the icy secret power within Xiaen's magic runes was already completely exhausted.

Looking at what lay before him, countless swarms of ashes surged forth like a tidal wave!
"hiss……"

In this critical moment, Shane remained remarkably calm, and a bold idea suddenly came to him.

"The essence of the Chaos Runes is to draw upon other secret powers and release them when necessary."

"Since the icy secret power can be absorbed, can the strange flames on the [Ember Humanoid] also be absorbed?"

Normally, Xia En would never have dared to try this.

But right now, the threat of the Ash Wave is imminent.

Furthermore, even if the absorption fails, it will only cause some suffering to the projected body.

Thinking of this, Xia En did not hesitate and reached out to touch the nearest ember humanoid.

A burning pain immediately came from the palm of my hand.

At the same time, a small amount of residual power was absorbed by the demonic runes in his body.

All of a sudden.

A surge of heat swept through Xia En's body, quickly spreading throughout his entire being.

This was a feeling he had never experienced before.

It was as if the illusory blood, muscles, bones, and even the smallest constituent units within the projected body were ignited by this mysterious force.

The immense, excruciating burning pain clearly affected Xia En's body, leaving his mind blank and unable to think at all.

However, since his body was not truly made of flesh and blood, it did not actually burn.

[Ship Soul Power - 3!]

[Ship Soul Power - 2!]

【…】

The only evidence that the projected body was continuously suffering terrible damage was the power of the ship's soul falling off the panel.

Amidst the intense pain, Shane's consciousness gradually returned to normal.

"So this is what it feels like to be ignited..."

At this moment, he seemed to empathize with the pain of these ash-humanoid beings.

At the same time, he also developed a sincere admiration for Yan Yan.

Xia En gazed at the surrounding embers, his pupils blazing with crimson flames, and murmured.

"Since that's the case, let me grant you liberation."

He opened his arms to the endless ashes.

The surging heat flowed into Xia En's body through all the orifices of his body.

The chaotic demonic runes began to glow, widen, and extend, from the main body of the chest to the limbs, to the head, and then to the fingertips at the ends.

[Talent: Chaos Runes (Inferior) → (Normal)!]

[Common → Rare!]

It's not just the quality of this talent that's constantly improving.

As one Ember Doll after another transferred their heat to Shane, the embers within them were extinguished, thus being converted into experience points.

[Ship Soul Experience +0.2%!]

[Ship Soul Experience +0.8%!]

[Ship Soul Experience +0.3%!]

【…】

Although each humanoid provides little experience, their sheer number makes up for it.

I don’t know how much time has passed.

With a deep hum, it was as if some invisible barrier had been broken through.

[Ship Spirit Level: LV5 (0%)!]

(End of this chapter)