871 Evil Demon Island

Whoosh whoosh!

A ship was speeding across the sea.

Even without its sail raised, its speed was phenomenal.

There were many secrets to treasure maps. A particular symbol, a few lines of poetry, or a riddle could all be crucial clues. They could even be the key to finding the treasure.

The treasure map of the Soro Pirates was no different, and it hid many secrets within.

One of which was a few lines of poetry in the bottom left corner. Coupled with the sea route, the map revealed an undiscovered current.

Of course, it was a stretch to call it undiscovered. At the very least… the Soro Pirates had learned to make use of it.

"The region we just passed had numerous fatal hidden undercurrents. Normal ships go to great lengths to avoid it… Who would have thought that someone could pass through it completely unharmed by riding this current?" Blackbeard exclaimed.

Every truly safe sea route was the result of generations of sailors' lives.

For instance, the Golden Sea Route was the safest and fastest route currently known.

Even the slightest change would require immense amounts of effort, along with incurring huge losses.

As for this new route that used a current to pass through the undercurrent-filled region safely, there would surely be an uproar if news about its existence leaked out.

This was because those unexplored regions were filled with opportunities. Of course, there was plenty of danger as well.

Naturally, the voyagers of this era did not care much for the dangers.

The only things that would make them put their lives on the line were their excitement of the world and amazing treasures.

"By riding this current, our speed surpasses even the steam-powered ships. If we can maintain this speed, we'll be able to reach the location of the treasure in a few days…"

Fang Yuan checked the compass to confirm his direction.

Then he snapped his fingers. "Bill… take good care of our guest!"

"Understood!"

A few newly-promoted Ocean Warlocks were cooperating to control the ocean water.

Bloop! Bloop!

A massive black silhouette appeared from a big whirlpool filled with bubbles. It was a sea monster that looked like a whale.

Its entire body was made of blue crystals, as if it were a mountain.

Then it roared in a certain direction.

A sea monster appeared in that direction. Surprisingly, it did not dare to fight with this huge whale and swam away, so they avoided some trouble.

"Extraordinaries that can control the ocean…"

Blackbeard was completely unfazed by what had just happened. Instead, he looked in Fang Yuan's direction.

Although Blackbeard had had some Extraordinaries under his command, exerting such control over them would have been impossible.

Only Fang Yuan, who was able to turn an ordinary person into an Extraordinary using the smallest amount of resources, was entitled to command them at will.

After all, making an Ocean Warlock did not require any stringent conditions to be met, and some simple preparations were enough.

Even if the formula eventually leaked to the world, Fang Yuan would have amassed a terrifying force by then.

This alone made him worthy of becoming a pirate governor.

Combined with his abilities and ambitions, he was destined for greatness.

…

A few days later.

"Here we are!" Fang Yuan said after seeing a large island through his spyglass.

The pirates immediately erupted in cheers.

"It really is the island marked on the Soro Pirates' treasure map!"

As they approached the island, Blackbeard and even the pirates were able to recognize it.

Part of the reason was that the island was extremely strange.

There were two volcanoes, one on the east side and one on the west, that looked like the horns of a devil. Even though they were not erupting at the moment, they gave off a feeling of extreme danger.

"Finally, Evil Demon Island!" Fang Yuan rolled up the treasure map. "Where the Soro Pirates' treasures are! And the likely home of Sun…"

Due to the lack of a dock, Fiery Lotus was unable to come close to the island. They had to anchor Fiery Lotus far away and lower lifeboats to approach the island.

The pirates sang pirate songs as they padded orderly toward their target.

Numerous coconut trees grew haphazardly on the island. Further into the island was a rainforest.

"Let's go! Be careful!"

Fang Yuan opened the treasure map and pointed in a direction.

"There's no problem. The worst that this island has to offer are merely poisonous bugs and beasts!"

Butcher went forward casually and carved out a path with his cutlass.

All kinds of twisted vines and saw-like grasses melted away at his touch.

He was like a tank that was carving out a road by crushing everything.

"Light your torches! Be on guard!"

After entering the forest, the light grew dimmer and dimmer. Fang Yuan's expression also became serious.

"This island is really big, almost the size of two or three Ettoman counties…" Blackbeard seemed to have thought of something. "We still need half a day to a full day's worth of traveling left before we can reach our destination. This place has plenty of food and fresh water, so it should be enough for some big animals to…"

Poof!

While Blackbeard was speaking, Fang Yuan squinted.

Several small darts instantly appeared in front of the crew.

Butcher grunted as a couple of darts landed on his shoulder.

"Damn bastards!"

He growled. A blue glow seemed to emanate from his cutlass as he slashed toward the left, forming a crescent.

It left a trail of destruction as he severed vegetation and ambushers. Blood and guts spewed onto the ground.

After that, Butcher's mountain-like body instantly fell over.

This extraordinary strong man, someone who had promoted to Extraordinary, fell to just a couple of darts.

"You… chase the ambushers away!"

Fang Yuan went to Butcher and lifted his eyelids. He nodded. "He only fainted. It looks like it was a high-dose tranquilizer…"

In fact, if such a high-dose tranquilizer was injected into a normal person, immediate death by overdose was possible. Only someone with the physique of Butcher could survive without harm.

As the pirates surged forward while roaring, Fang Yuan saw the faces of the ambushers.

Dark skin, barely clothed, and various colors on their faces and bodies⁠—they were the aboriginals of the Golden Ocean.

According to legend, they were a cruel and lazy bunch. They would make meals of prisoners and top it off with spices.

They were lazy, sometimes not even working for an entire day. Due to the nature of the climate here, any seed thrown into the ground could be harvested after a year. Even if they did not plant anything, the fruits in the forest and fish in the sea were enough to fill their bellies.

As a result, Blackbeard looked down on these aboriginals, and they were cheap when sold as slaves.

As the biggest slave trader in the Nightmare Ocean, Blackbeard was very familiar with these aboriginals. "These aboriginals believe that the souls of their people will continue to remain with them after death if they eat their bodies! As such, many aboriginal tribes accept cannibalism…

"Additionally, they worship their ancestors and heroic spirits. Naturally, there is also a mysterious existence… Necromancers like them a lot. Therefore, the power hierarchy is often very complicated in big aboriginal tribes. And the chief, priest, and warrior captain will have conflicts with one another.

"Generally speaking, these aboriginals are very territorial. Once you trespass into their territory, you become their prey and enemy for life."

…

Blackbeard did live up to his name as a professional in the slave trade.

With a mere glance at the prisoners and their equipment, he had estimated that this aboriginal tribe consisted of well over a thousand men!

A tribe of this size had enough resources to support either a witch doctor or a priest. A witch doctor would be able to provide poison to help them hunt better, whereas a priest would have been able to communicate with certain benevolent beings.

"A tribe of over a thousand?!" Fang Yuan found this information strange. "The Soro Pirates must have cleared the entire island before choosing this place to hide their treasures, right?"

"There's another possibility. He left behind these aboriginals on purpose to act as guards or… clues!" Blackbeard smiled

"This is…" Fang Yuan went forward with a glow in his eyes.

The aboriginals could not put up a resistance against the pirates' techniques. It was not long before they started telling them the truth with dazed expressions.

Unfortunately, Fang Yuan and his crew were really unskilled with the aboriginals' language.

It did not take a genius to figure out that living on such a remote island, with ties cut off from the world for hundreds and even thousands of years, would result in some truly queer languages.

Luckily, Blackbeard was with them. He could put bits and pieces of their speech together and figure some things out.

As they continued to question the aboriginals, Fang Yuan's patience wore thin. He grabbed a prisoner and made him lead the way to their tribe.

The tribe was in a place called 'Qikenunude' in their tongue, meaning place of magical manifestation.

According to the unlucky prisoner, the stone huts that they lived in all used to be home to gods.

Naturally, Fang Yuan and his crew scoffed at the idea.

However, when they finally arrived at the settlement, they could not help but exclaim.

Their field of vision suddenly opened as they left the rainforest.

In front of them was a huge, continuous building cluster. Exquisite stone blocks formed equally elegant palaces, and even the roads were made of flagstone.

The moment they saw the palaces, the pirates concluded that the aboriginals could not have possibly built this place!