Pirate Kingship

Even though Byron and Violet no longer regarded the silver and gold on the island as their goal, the sight of such enchanting opulence before them made them forget about camping, and they both arrived at the orchard.

In both pairs of azure eyes, the brilliant golden light gradually painted a golden hue.

Mostly silver coins appeared in the outer layer of the rainforest, but here, it had suddenly upgraded to Gold!

If Catherine were here, she would probably go mad on the spot.

Even with the killing rule hanging over their heads like the Sword of Damocles, there was a chance she would cling to those apple trees and not let go.

Although the majority of them only had their veins turning gold, very few had actually transformed into pure gold.

Byron raised his hand, and a fierce wind swept two heavy golden apples, along with more leaves veined in gold, into their hands.

They caressed the charmingly lustrous fruits and couldn't help but sigh again.

"Even if in this vast apple orchard, only an extremely small number of trees have leaves and fruits that have turned into real Gold," Byron mused. "It is undoubtedly a staggering fortune. It's just a matter of spending a lot of time meticulously searching through this orchard that probably has hundreds of thousands of apple trees."

"Nobody would reject such a 'bitter task'."

"Even as wealthy as we are, we might have struggled. If we hadn't known the rules about weight load, upon reaching this point, we probably would have found it hard not to take the Gold and turn back."

Faced with so much Gold, who in this world could remain unmoved?

Even the High Sequence Transcendents who appeared detached from worldly matters were only so because the price to move them was not high enough.

Violet shook her head.

"It's a pity that although Silvergold Island is full of silver and Gold, very little can be taken away. As more and more people arrive on the island, this golden apple orchard will probably someday truly live up to its name. Then, all its apple trees will turn into Gold."

Hearing the gold-digging rats still squeaking beneath them, they casually threw the heavy golden apples to the ground and took a few more steps forward.

They discovered that in the orchard, aside from the gleaming golden apples, many trees had also grown luxuriantly colored garments.

This corresponded to a passage in the story of Xilaralavia:

"The leaves on the trees were either Gold Coins or silver coins; if you wanted them, you could just knock them down with a stick. Stranger still, on various unnamable trees in the great forest, all kinds of clothes would grow. There were vests, skirts, gowns, short jackets, overcoats, cloaks, trousers... every kind, every color imaginable."

Silk, ribbons, lace, furs, Crystal High Heels, elegant gowns woven with gold thread and gems... The island had it all.

And the designs of these clothes were so exquisite they seemed not the work of human hands, but the natural artistry of the world itself.

Among them were many priceless garments in Tyrian Purple.

You must know, the Artisans of today's world have not yet solved the technical challenges of purple dye. All purple dyes come from a certain type of special shellfish. Only the tiny glands inside these shellfish contained minute quantities of "Tyrian Purple." About 10,000 shellfish were needed to extract just 1 gram of purple dye, making this royal purple color incredibly precious.

Even Gold paled in comparison, and Spices would lose their luster before it.

In the high society of the outside world, an entire purple garment was almost unheard of. Even a mere ribbon, or a strip of purple pattern on clothing, could instantly make the wearer the center of attention. Even the King might see you in a different light.

Violet's eyes couldn't help but change from blue to gold, and then from gold to purple, her breathing becoming slightly heavier.

"Beautiful, so beautiful!"

Clearly, this island was trying all sorts of ways to trigger the various desires of treasure hunters.

Gold, fine wine, delicacies, beauties, beautiful clothes... anyone who came for treasure always had some weakness that could be exploited. By laying out traps on the road to treasure, there would always be a time when they couldn't hold on.

Everyone has a love for beauty, especially Violet, a stunningly beautiful girl in her own right.

The most important thing was, if there were no audience, then fine; beautiful clothes weren't for dressing oneself up. But Byron was right here.

The idea that 'women dress for those they wish to please' took root the moment it appeared. Her desire to dress up extravagantly grew stronger and harder to suppress.

"It's all too beautiful! I want this one, and that one... I want them all!"

Anyone with a girlfriend knows that a woman's wardrobe is always missing one piece of clothing: the next one!

The girl couldn't help but step forward, her hand reaching out to caress a gorgeous gown hanging from a tree. It featured an off-shoulder, backless design with a large purple bow at the waist. It was both graceful and cute, captivating the heart and mind.

Byron was just about to speak to stop her.

However, the moment Violet touched the purple dress, it abruptly faded in color. Then, the girl turned back and gave him a playful smile. She gently wiped her own clothes with her hand.

SNAP! She snapped her fingers.

A flash of an Alchemy Array sparked, and her clothes instantly transformed to look exactly like the dress on the tree. The only difference was that the precious shade of purple had transferred from the tree to her.

Bathed in Moonlight, the already perfect figure of the lovely girl became so stunning it took one's breath away.

Lifting the hem of her skirt, she spun in a circle in front of Byron, then cocked her head. "Do I look good?"

Byron silently extended a thumb with his left hand, while his right hand formed a six. "Awesome... and six-six-six!"

The core ability of an Artisan at the Third Order, Alchemy, found it difficult to circumvent the principle of Equal Exchange during Material Transformation. It couldn't generate purple pigment out of thin air. However, if it was just a physical change in form, it was as simple as eating and drinking. For a Grand Artificer to alter the form of their clothing at will was a piece of cake.

And the mere few grams of purple dye, at most, could be replenished by eating a bit more dry food in the evening.

Violet truly lived up to her Pirate family heritage; she had brought the art of fleece-pulling to a whole new level. By expending just a few grams of load, she easily utilized Alchemy to put on an entire fashion show courtesy of Nature. If she were transported to Byron's previous life, every merchant there would have gone bankrupt on the spot.

And indeed, a girl from an art academy is different. She stood before Byron brimming with excitement, changing one outfit after another. Each one was as fitting and stylistically beautiful as if the top master tailors had custom-made them for her.

She took her own beauty, already close to a ten, and elevated it to a twelve.

It even made Byron's heart beat a little wildly.

A growing desire to possess this beauty all to himself soon welled up within him, his eyes turning slightly red.

Get her, get her...

But at that moment, his body jolted. The Sailing Logbook had extracted a new rule from the Golden Apple Orchard:

"In the secretive darkness, a person's dark desires will be continuously amplified. The longer one stays on the island, the stronger their possessiveness grows. Eventually, it breaks through the bonds of reason and the Anchor, consuming both oneself and others completely."

However, although Byron's desires were continuously amplified, maintaining propriety was his bottom line.

Her Royal Highness the Princess, you're wonderful, but we're not quite right for each other just now.

After admiring Violet's stunning fashion show, he nonetheless didn't do anything out of line, unlike the previous "streaking Sword Saint."

Of course, even if he did step out of line, he... wouldn't be able to beat Violet. The only question was whether the artistic young lady would resist if faced with that situation.

Violet finally changed back into her practical adventuring attire. Hearing Byron share the fifth rule, she couldn't help but feel a lingering fear. "Luckily, we're greedy enough.

"The one who designed Silvergold Island's rules is simply a Devil. The path to the treasure cave in the island's center isn't so much a treasure hunt as it is a trial of one's greed.

"The greedy live, the content die!

"The greedier you are, scorning ordinary silver coins and Golden Apples in your desire to press on, the later you'll hit the weight limit.

"The more content you are, wanting to grab a handful of treasure and leave while you're ahead, the faster you'll die.

"After all, while a hundred pounds of silver weighs the same as a hundred pounds of Gold, their values differ a hundredfold. If quality is lacking, one cannot simply make up for it with quantity; no one could escape disaster that way.

"Of course, deterring those who aren't greedy enough also indirectly protects the treasure cave at the island's core."

Just as the two were about to return to their treehouse with a few grams of Tyrian Purple, a chorus of loud shouting suddenly erupted from another direction in the Golden Apple Orchard:

"Put down the Golden Apples! All the Gold here belongs to me!"

"Eat shit! It's all mine!"

"Kill, kill, kill! Once you're all dead, all the treasure will be mine!"

"Wipe out everyone on the island!"

Byron and Violet immediately grew stern. "It seems... there's infighting among the Humans. Other people's possessiveness has erupted."