Treasure Hunting System： The Ocean Conquerer

"Someone lives here."

This was something they could confirm, because the fish meat hanging above was still very fresh—it couldn't have been there for more than a day.

And obviously, only intelligent life would do such a thing.

Chadite glanced warily toward the stern of the boat and couldn't help but ask, "So where is he now? Out searching for food?"

Just then, a splashing sound came from the sea behind them—it was very faint, but in such utter silence and darkness, it instantly put both of them on high alert.

They whipped around at once, and Alka even raised the Locking Device directly.

Thanks to having Dark Vision,

they immediately saw what was coming up from the bottom of the sea, about a dozen meters away.

It was a Fisherman—a shark-headed sharkman, even bigger than Sang Kaka.

The difference was mainly in his physique—Sang Kaka could be described as muscular, with beautiful lines of muscle.

This sharkman in front of them, however, was round all over, looking a full size fatter.

He walked over, holding a long spear made of wood.

Seeing the sharkman, the two instantly tensed up, almost ready to strike, but managed to hold themselves back.

"Humans? Here to hunt for treasure in the Realm of Pitch Darkness again? Did your ship wreck?"

Apparently, Alka and the others' arrival wasn't strange to him; judging from his questions, it seemed visitors to this island were no rare occurrence.

Seeing how tense the two of them were, he didn't approach recklessly, but rather stood about five meters away from Alka and Chadite.

This Fisherman seemed open to communication.

"Our ship wrecked and drifted to this island," Alka explained briefly.

The Fisherman in front of them nodded. "Of course, of course. Otherwise, why would you come to such a deserted island?"

The island was so small it could make you cry, with not a single thing of value to lure anyone here.

Even lingering beside this island was a waste of time.

Alka stabbed the Locking Device into his thigh and pulled Chadite back a few steps.

Trying to show that they meant no harm.

The Fisherman finally nodded, looking somewhat satisfied, and stuck his wooden spear into the sand.

He stepped forward two paces.

As he got close, he immediately sensed something off.

"Are you friends of Sang Kaka? Wait!"

He seemed to sense something amiss and rushed forward in two or three strides, instantly putting both of them on guard.

They jumped back twice, dodging the sharkman's movement, and again drew the Locking Device, aiming it at him.

The Fisherman quickly raised his hands to show he meant no harm, and said, "Sorry, I got a little excited—why do you have fish scale tattoos on you? What happened to Sang Kaka?"

Hearing this, Chadite couldn't help but glance at the scale tattoo on her shoulder.

Alka had the same thing on him.

"You know Sang Kaka?"

"Of course I do! You were brought here by Sang Kaka's current ship, right?"

Though they didn't know what exactly the Fisherman meant, it did seem like he meant no harm for the time being.

So Alka answered his question: "When we were running from a hunt, Sang Kaka placed these on us. It's this thing that helped us get to this island."

The sharkman nodded, lowering his hands and asked, "So you're with the Blue Fist Treasure Hunting Team? All right then, relax—I suppose you could call me Sang Kaka's cousin."

Alka thought about it briefly, decided to trust him, and let his arm fall to his side.

This meant Sang Kaka had purposely sent them to this island because he knew his cousin was here.

"Who killed him?"

Hearing what the sharkman said, Chadite got a bit agitated and hurriedly said, "He might not be dead yet!"

The Fisherman looked at Chadite and shook his head regretfully. "No, he's already dead—the fish scale tattoo on you told me so."

Even though they'd had a bad feeling all along, hearing it from this Fisherman was still painful.

They didn't know exactly what the fish scale tattoo meant, but it was almost certainly some special Fisherman technique, presumably for passing on information.

Sang Kaka had imprinted fish scales on them, both as protection and as a means to bring them to this island using a special ability. The purpose was for them to meet this very sharkman.

Alka opened his mouth and said, "It was the Prayer for the Dead."

"Prayer for the Dead? What's that?"

Hearing Alka's answer, the Fisherman raised a hand and scratched his head, asking in confusion.

"A Pirate Gang with Treasure."

"You sure have gotten yourselves into trouble—a real mess."

The Fisherman shook his head helplessly, and then walked right up.

But he didn't seem afraid, just a bit annoyed at the hassle.

He glanced at the tattoo on Chadite's arm, then at Alka's, finding the one over his collarbone.

"I need to touch these tattoos to confirm something. Don't worry, I've no intent to harm you."

As he spoke, he raised both hands under their watchful eyes, then cut a finger each and pressed it to their tattoos.

They both felt their whole bodies heat up slightly, but nothing else happened.

The tattoos remained on their skin.

The Fisherman, however, closed his eyes, arms falling to his sides, and stood there in a daze.

"What's wrong with him?" Chadite asked in confusion.

Alka shook his head.

"Blood of Inheritance—that's the inherited blood of the Fishermen. Kin of the same tribe can inherit abilities or knowledge from peers or elders, as long as the transfer was set up willingly beforehand."

"So the so-called blood of inheritance is something like these tattoos?"

Lucilia explained to Alka through the pendant, making sure Chadite could hear as well.

Chadite was surprised, turning to stare at Alka.

Alka blinked and said, "She's a very knowledgeable lady."

At that moment, a stream of water rose up around the sharkman, coiling around him.

Finally, a tattoo appeared on his arm like flowing water, until it completely sank beneath his skin.

"Whew."

He let out a breath and opened his eyes.

"Really troublesome. Let's get to know each other, you two."

"My name is Pororo the Sharp Tooth—a sharkman, strength Two Spirals."

Alka and Chadite introduced themselves too, though they didn't understand why the Fisherman was so clear about his strength.

"Through the tattoo my cousin left, I now know some things he wanted to pass on. So, I need to help you."

"And I need to avenge him, of course. That hammerhead sharkman—I'm going to tear his head in two. I hate those ugly bastards most."

As he spoke, Pororo bared his sharp teeth, his eyes glinting with a trace of red.

Then he went inside the ruined hull, sat down on the sand, and beckoned Alka and Chadite over.

"What are you spacing out for? Come sit! We're a team now."

Alka and Chadite glanced at each other and walked over.

They found a seat inside.

Pororo grabbed a large piece of fish from the rack and handed it to them.

"Eat something? Don't worry, this fish is perfectly safe raw—and it's a specialty of the Realm of Pitch Darkness."

Alka was about to reach out and take it, but upon hearing it was from the Realm of Pitch Darkness, he hesitated a bit.

But he still took it.

"Thanks."

After taking it, Alka summoned a metallic card, split it in two, and handed half to Chadite beside him.

Even as Chadite shook her head, Alka forcibly pressed it into her hand.

Share joy and hardship alike.

Watching this, Pororo said, "Humans are so fussy. Relax, okay? Fish like these can live in these dark seas and not be affected by the energy here—there's a reason for that."

"So there won't be any issues. I'm a Fisherman, sure, but my body isn't so different from a human's."

Hearing this, Alka slowly sliced a thin piece off the pink fish and popped it into his mouth.

He started to chew slowly.

The taste was actually good, with a slight sweetness too.

Chadite noticed this as well.

"See? Told you, it's pretty nice."

Pororo chuckled smugly.

Alka said as he ate, "We're still being hunted. The Pirate Gang can track my location and direction, so we'd better find a ship."

"More sailing? Ugh, what a pain."

Pororo scratched his head helplessly, thought for a while, then sighed. "But I have no idea where we can get a ship."

Alka spread out his hand, revealing a map.

The detailed nautical chart of the Realm of Pitch Darkness.

"Do you know where we are on this map?"

Pororo took the map and studied it for a bit.

After a while, he pointed to a spot at the edge. "We should be here right now."

Alka looked where he was pointing.

"Are you sure?" He sounded a bit surprised.

The place they were now was way too far from where they'd been attacked previously.

They hadn't noticed traveling such a long distance when following the water's current.

If they'd been sailing, the journey here would have taken at least two days—but as far as they could tell, it'd only been less than a day.

"Of course. I haven't been in the Realm of Pitch Darkness long, but I've stayed here for half a year."

Now that their location was certain, Alka began to look at the small islands nearby.

This map, given to them by Jasmine, clearly marked what every island was used for and what functions it had.

"What are you looking for?" Chadite scooted over to ask.

"I'm looking for an island that might have a decent ship."

Hearing this, Chadite searched the map as well and soon pointed to one of the islands. "There's probably a lot of ships there."

Alka turned to look at her, "Why?"

"Because I've studied it," Chadite replied with a sigh.

Gazing out at the sea, she said, "I'd planned on coming back to the Realm of Pitch Darkness for treasure hunting someday—having a map would've been a shame to waste."

Alka opened his mouth, unsure what to say, and changed the subject: "Is there anything special about this island?"

Alka hadn't found any special markers for the island on the map.

"There are a lot of shipyards here. One of them had amazing craftsmanship. Four hundred years ago, the Sea Fist was made there."

"Not made four hundred years ago, of course, but this shipyard was on the outskirts, so it escaped the disaster. The shipwrights and the boss all fled."

"They later worked as shipbuilders for the Church."

Hearing Chadite's explanation, Alka finally nodded in understanding.

"Grandpa Hibroke used to tell stories about his ancestors—how they escaped in a hurry, leaving most things behind on the island."

"He also told me some things about this island."

As Chadite spoke, Alka mentally calculated the distance.

He turned to look at Pororo.

Though they'd barely known each other an hour, they were already working for the same goal.

He spoke up. "From here to there—can you carry us, swimming across?"

At Alka's words,

Pororo looked at him as if he couldn't believe his ears.