Nightfall

After the quietness settled on this side of the dock, several figures hurriedly appeared. The old man from earlier in the day led a few people sneakily to the seaside, uncovering the cloth covering the small boat.

Because it used to be a pirate ship, it naturally could not stay at Mandela's dock and instead was anchored on a nearby island. Their current task was to take the small boat to that island to transfer.

There were several other people accompanying them, "customers" that the old man had previously contacted. Bexia sat among them, and none of them spoke a word, but from the feeling, not a single one seemed to be an ordinary person.

This small boat was a magic speedboat, and it was quite fast. After about half an hour, the outline of a small island appeared in front of everyone, and as they got closer, they could see the huge ship docked on the shore.

This pirate ship has probably been around for quite some time. It looked worn and aged on the outside. After stepping onto the gangway, it made a continuous creaking sound, filling the air with a strong stench of decay.

"Welcome to those of you who are the final group to arrive. We will be leaving tonight. Please hand over the money. I believe you all knew this before you came!" A man with a scarred face stepped forward. He was the first mate of the ship, endowed with powerful strength. His explosive muscles, paired with a shark tattoo on his chest, made him look extremely ferocious.

No one said a word. They each took out the prepared bag of money and handed it over to the first mate, who weighed them one by one in his hands and nodded in satisfaction after confirming the weight.

"One-Eye, arrange them to the second level and tell them the rules on the ship. Otherwise, they won't know why they're being fed to the sharks later." The first mate waved his hand and called a thin one-eyed man. Half of his face was marked with a huge claw, seemingly scratched by some creature, making him appear very fierce.

Bexia didn't know if it was just an illusion, but this pirate ship gave him the feeling of a real island ship, especially these crew members who seemed even more pirate-like than real pirates.

But Bexia was mistaken. These people were not exactly good people, but they weren't the typical pirate characters either. They were involved in illicit business, which is why they were arranged here. Naturally, they had to appear vicious, as it was easier to pretend to be a pirate ship that way.

Bexia and the others were led by the man called "One-Eye" down to the second level beneath the deck. The place smelled even more damp, and the lighting was poor, with only dim moonstones emitting a white light.

"The environment here is not very good. I believe you should have been mentally prepared before you came. As for the things to pay attention to, there's nothing much. You can move freely on this ship, except for the bottom level. The rest of the areas are up to you!" Although One-Eye looked fierce, he spoke quite kindly.

"The third level is already full. There are still some rooms available on the second level. You can choose freely!" One-Eye remembered something and added, "Also, don't disembark without permission, or we won't take any responsibility for the consequences."

After explaining some things in a scattered manner, One-Eye yawned and left, leaving everyone in the corridor on the second level. There were no excessive words exchanged. All the people quietly left, not having much interaction to begin with. Moreover, since they were smuggling to Anzu, they didn't want others to know too much.

Bexia also didn't say much. He turned around and prepared to find an empty room. After walking a few steps, he suddenly saw a figure approaching in the hallway. Upon closer inspection, it was a person wearing a black robe, completely concealing everything except for the black robe itself.

"Seems like I've seen this person somewhere?!"

Although it was just a fleeting encounter, Bexia felt somewhat familiar with this person in the black robe. It was as if they had met somewhere, but for a moment, he couldn't remember. He rubbed his head and decided to let it go.

The rooms on the ship were quite unbearable, but luckily, Bexia still had the equipment prepared for outdoor camping from the previous time, which came in handy now. After using magic to remove the smell in the room, it was still suitable for resting.

That's how they spent the night. When dawn broke, the ship finally departed from the island. Due to the aging ship and other reasons, everyone was informed that it would take approximately five to six days to reach the Kingdom of Anzu. This caused many people to complain since under normal circumstances, two days would suffice.

But complaining is useless. The first mate silenced those guys with a remark of "If you don't want to sit, you can get off the ship!" Of course, the main reason is his strength, otherwise it wouldn't be that easy.

The old ship was slowly moving on the surface of the sea. Bexia didn't like the dim environment inside the ship. Sleeping was bearable, but staying inside for too long was unbearable. Therefore, he chose to go up to the deck. After all, it was his first time sailing at sea, and it was also nice to see the scenery.

The scenery at sea was acceptable to Bexia, although a bit dull. After all, there was only the endless blue sea, occasionally with some birds flying by.

The wind that blew carried a salty taste of the sea. Bexia stared into the distance, thinking about Anzu. He wondered what expression Long Momo would have when she saw him. Perhaps she would be surprised and delighted!

As he was lost in thought, the sky gradually turned dark. The ship's sunstone had absorbed the sunlight throughout the day and began to work. However, for some reason, a faint sea mist rose from the surface of the sea.

Originally, it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't surprising for fog to appear on the sea, and it was even quite common. However, the fog this time seemed unusually dense. They couldn't see anything even a little further away.

"Damn?! Could it be that thing?" Bexia heard a crew member next to him say, curious he asked, "What happened?"

"Have you heard of the legend that has been circulating at sea?" The crew member knew from Bexia's expression that he didn't know, so he continued, "It is said that a long time ago, there was a powerful pirate group. They burned, killed, and plundered, committing all sorts of evil. They plundered countless treasures, and it is said that their wealth could rival a nation's!"

"But this powerful pirate group, for some unknown reason, all died overnight. Their bodies floated on the ocean, with the terrified expressions of their faces, as if they had encountered something extremely horrifying!"

"And the most noticeable thing is that the pirate ship loaded with their wealth disappeared into thin air, along with some important pirates on board!"