Chapter 14: The Sea One Longs For

Chapter 14: The Sea One Longs For

“The Fountain of Youth? If you drink from it, can you really stay young forever?” Donna widened her eyes and asked with curiosity.

She did not have much anticipation, because she herself was still young enough.

Elland did not immediately answer. He forked a slice of fried meat from the murloc’s side ribs, tore it apart with two bites, swallowed it, and then sipped a little Sonia Blood Wine.

“The sweet and smooth taste completely washes away the greasiness of the fried food…” he said with eyes half closed, looking every bit like a gourmet.

After savoring it for a few seconds, he slowly answered Donna’s question.

“I am not certain whether the Fountain of Youth exists, nor can I confirm whether the Immortal King Agalito has truly drunk its waters. I only know one thing: when I was very young, I had already heard legends of this pirate king, just as the King of the Five Seas Nast seems to have lived forever.”

“Their beards must be very, very long. Longer than their chests!” Denton offered his opinion.

“In truth, the King of the Five Seas Nast’s beard only reaches below his neck. He sits on the deck, draped in a gorgeous robe of black with silver trim, wearing a spired crown twice as tall as his head, gazing down at everything around him like a deity…” Elland’s tone gradually deepened, as though he had sunk into the mire of memory and could not free himself.

“Captain Uncle, you have seen the King of the Five Seas?” Donna asked excitedly.

He was the most legendary of pirates. His name circulated throughout the seas, and even children in harbor cities knew it.

Generation after generation had grown up listening to stories about him!

In a certain sense, in the understanding of many people, Nast was equivalent to the true pirate king… I remember that one of the advancement conditions for the Black Emperor pathway is to link one’s own name to the title of “emperor” and engrave it deeply into the hearts of the people… Is this a preliminary, simplified attempt? I wonder what Sequence the King of the Five Seas has reached… Although Klein was focused on tasting the fried murloc meat, everyone’s conversation still drew out his thoughts.

Facing Donna’s question, Elland sighed.

“At that time, I was still young and still serving aboard the King William V. Once, our fleet attempted to pass through the Calamity Strait of the Berserk Sea. There, we encountered the Dark Emperor.

“For those few minutes, everyone, including the fleet commander, lost all will to resist. Fortunately, Nast did not order an attack on us.”

“So cool!” the boy Denton praised, his eyes shining.

Elland did not continue on that topic. He smiled and said, “As for the Immortal King Agalito, I have never actually seen him. All I know is that on the wanted posters, he is a middle-aged man with a pale face. How pale? I will give you an example that is easy to understand: like a corpse that has been dead for some time and is just beginning to rot.”

Hearing that comparison, Donna and Denton subconsciously glanced at the murloc’s corpse, which was already riddled with cuts and holes, and their throats moved involuntarily.

“Of course, the main point of a wanted poster is not appearance, but the bounty. In Loen alone, Agalito is worth one hundred thousand pounds, and he has the lowest bounty among the Four Kings.” Elland steered the topic away. “Let us continue with the stories of treasure. Ranked third is the Legacy of the Solomon Empire. During the Fourth Epoch, when that vast empire was carved up and destroyed, its royal family boarded ships with treasures that even gods would envy and sailed into the depths of the Fog Sea, waiting for the chance to rebuild their dynasty. Yet five hundred years passed, a thousand years passed, fifteen hundred years passed, and they never appeared again.”

“It is said that the King of the Five Seas Nast inherited part of the Solomon Empire’s legacy. No one knows whether he is truly a descendant of the Black Emperor,” Cecile added with great interest.

“The Fog Sea? West of the Northern Continent?” Donna recalled her geography knowledge.

“Yes,” Cleeves answered succinctly.

To the west of the Northern Continent lay the Fog Sea; to the east, the Sonia Sea; to the south, the Berserk Sea; and to the north, the North Sea. The two sides of the Southern Continent were similar to those of the Northern Continent, while to its south lay the Polar Sea. Together, these were known as the Five Seas.

The Kingdom of Loen had the Hornacis mountain range and the inland sea at its back, faced the Sonia Sea to the east, and reached the Desi Bay to the south. It occupied several fine ports leading toward the Berserk Sea, but did not involve the Fog Sea.

“So that is how it is…” Donna had little interest in treasures too far away and instead asked, “What is the fourth treasure?”

“That one belongs to the final empire of the Fourth Epoch, Trunsoest. According to legend, they built a colossal ship equivalent to a city and moved all their collections and all their wealth onto it. Ridiculously, their attempt to escape failed to take effect. The scheduled passengers and crew were unable to reach the harbor in time, and not a single one survived.

“However, that ship disappeared on its own. Even today, people still occasionally claim that, on certain mist-filled nights, they have seen that enormous vessel sail past in silence. It is called the Ghost Empire, and the places it appears cover the Sonia Sea. Heh, that is what has been summarized from those stories.” Elland lifted his head to look at the red moon high above. His tone carried a touch of mockery, yet also concealed an unmistakable longing.

“Perhaps tomorrow night—no, tonight—we will see it sail past beside us!” Donna imagined, both expectant and excited.

Klein finished the remaining food, took a sip of black tea, and listened with considerable interest as Elland described the remaining treasures.

“The fifth is the Lost Newins. Legend says that at the bottom of the Fog Sea, there is a civilization belonging to intelligent life. Navigators and adventurers in that region often find strange items, all of which point to Newins of ancient times. But members of this civilization have never appeared, as though they vanished from this world long ago.” Elland drank the rest of his Sonia Blood Wine. “The legacy left behind by an entire civilization must be unimaginably abundant.”

Elland paused for two seconds, put down his glass, and laughed softly.

“In truth, the treasure I yearn for most—the one that is more reality than legend—is the Sunk Laurel. More than a century ago, it carried gold, jewelry, and all kinds of valuable items the kingdom had obtained from East Balam. Because it deviated from its route, it sank somewhere in the Berserk Sea or the Sonia Sea, and to this day, it has never been found.

“It is said that the items aboard were worth several million pounds in total!”

“Several million pounds?” The number caused Donna to blurt out in astonishment.

As a merchant’s daughter who had already received several years of education, she had a vague understanding of what that number represented.

In Loen, a millionaire was absolutely a rich person, second only to the very top nobles and magnates!

Several million pounds? Mrs. Mary, who allowed me to join the Cragg Club for free, is a member of the Kingdom’s Atmospheric Pollution Investigative Committee and a major shareholder of Coim Company, yet her net worth is only several tens of thousands of pounds. Even so, in the circles of nobles and merchants, she is wealthy enough and quite a popular divorced lady, to the point that noble youths have sought to marry her… Klein swiftly found a point of comparison.

With a smile at the corner of his mouth, Elland sighed.

“If I could find the Sunk Laurel, I would no longer be a captain. I would go to Backlund. I would become a philanthropist. I would buy land, donate to political parties, and obtain a hereditary title!”

I heard Talim mention that the title of lord—that is, baronet—costs roughly three hundred thousand pounds, while a baron is around eight hundred thousand… If you salvage that treasure, then a viscount, even an earl, would be imaginable… Several million pounds! Klein inwardly helped Elland refine his plan.

“If it were me, I would not do that. I would buy a very large manor.” Cecile also began to imagine life after obtaining treasure. “I would hire many servants and helpers, plant vast fields of wheat, establish vineyards, and brew wine just for myself… There would also be rooms filled with sunlight, cows, sheep, and horses moving about leisurely, bread from my own mill, and scenery as beautiful as a painting…”

Elland burst out laughing when he heard that.

“Madam, do you know how much a manor like that is worth?”

“No, I do not.” Cecile shook her head.

“Only several thousand pounds. If you salvage the Sunk Laurel, you could buy a thousand manors like that!” Elland used concrete numbers to illustrate the treasure’s value.

A thousand manors? Cecile could not help picking up her cup and taking a sip of black tea.

Before this, she had known that several million pounds was a tremendous amount of money, but she had not imagined it could be tremendous to such a degree!

To ease the shock in her heart, she looked toward Cleeves.

“Chief, if you found the Sunk Laurel, what would you buy? No—what kind of life would you live?”

Cleeves was silent for a moment before saying, “I would go home, embrace my wife and children, and tell them that I no longer need to go out to sea and risk my life.”

A decent fellow… Klein nodded slightly.

Donna then looked at him curiously.

“Adventurer Uncle, what about you?”

Klein answered without much expression, “I would tell myself: stop sleeping. Hurry up and wake up.”

Pfft… Donna sprayed out the sweet iced tea she had just drunk. Fortunately, the fried fish on the table had already been finished.

At that moment, Klein sighed inwardly.

Although I know there is basically no chance of finding treasure—otherwise, the many powerful figures of the major Churches would have found it long ago—when we were discussing the subject just now, I still could not help feeling my blood heat up a little. That is the charm of treasure! Even if it is only a legend, it can attract countless adventurers!

Donna wiped her mouth, sat properly like a lady, and acted as though she had not been the one who lost composure just now.

The little boy Denton, still not satisfied, asked, “Are there other treasure legends?”

Elland looked toward Cleeves, indicating for him to answer.

Cleeves unhurriedly took a sip of black tea and spoke in a low voice.

“The legends of treasures at sea can never be counted. The hidden settlements of elves, pirate ships lost in the depths of fog, underwater cities sealing powerful monsters, Emperor Roselle’s final secret trove, and so on and so forth.”

Ah? The Emperor has already reached the level of leaving treasure legends for others… If it is true, would there be Cards of Blasphemy inside? How many? Right, the previous legend of Death’s Key may be able to help Mr. Azik recover more memories. I should write to tell him later… Klein thought with both curiosity and expectation.