Treasure Hunting System： The Ocean Conquerer

After setting their target, the Swallow had been navigating the sea for a long time. However, with the charts previously obtained from Jasmine and the incredible speed of their Spell Ship, they followed the safe route and quickly reached the central area. This trip was about half as long as their first journey to the Realm of Pitch Darkness, which had taken them nearly two months. Following the route, they quickly headed toward the island.

However, since there were only three of them on board and the Spell Ship had limited functions, they had to take turns at the helm. It wasn't as relaxed and enjoyable as their time on the Sea Fist.

"We should be almost there," Chadite said, looking at the chart in her hand. Although she didn't know why Alka wanted to go to this particular island, she didn't press him for details. The way they had acquired this Spell Ship had already revealed some of Alka's extraordinary abilities.

Some things are understood without being spoken. Voicing them can lead to problems. Chadite understood this well. Alka's casualness about it showed he trusted her, and perhaps, given the circumstances, it was simply how things had to be. All she needed to do was keep it to herself and remain silent.

As for Pororo, he didn't care at all what Alka and Chadite were doing or planning. His sole focus was on ensuring their safety. To put it simply, this fishman had a somewhat one-track mind and could only concentrate on one thing at a time.

As the searchlight beam cut through the darkness, the black silhouette of an island appeared before them. It was of moderate size, a typical habitable island.

They steered the ship towards the harbor. A small port there was already crammed with vessels. Several large ships floated silently on the water, while many smaller boats lay shattered, some washed ashore, obstructing the area.

Reluctantly, they maneuvered the Swallow onto a nearby beach and, working together, pushed it ashore. Thanks to the Swallow's elongated shape and narrow beam, beaching it was their best option for storage. They used some vegetation and vines to hastily camouflage it. With only three of them, leaving someone behind to guard the ship would have significantly diminished their combat strength.

"So this is the central area of the Realm of Pitch Darkness? It's truly a dangerous place, especially for ordinary humans," Pororo remarked, surveying his surroundings. With his innate Dark Vision, this environment was no different to him than the outside world.

Alka approached, holding a map of the island. "Be careful," he said. "There are skeletons and Evil Spirits on this island."

"This place has things like that? How interesting," Pororo grinned upon hearing Alka's words. He had spent half a year in the Realm of Pitch Darkness but had mostly stayed in the outer regions, never venturing into the central area. Consequently, he was unfamiliar with the conditions here. Alka and Chadite knew far more than he did.

Alka consulted the map, comparing it to their current location at the port, then waved to the others and took the lead.

Neither Alka nor Chadite wore lenses over their eyes now. Due to a shortage of materials, Alka had been deliberately avoiding using the stock of cards he had previously created. He was conserving resources whenever possible, preferring to use his Magic Power to cast Spells directly. After all, Magic Power could regenerate, but the materials needed for his cards were currently irreplaceable. So, both of them were now using the Dark Vision Spell itself to see in the darkness. Fortunately, this Spell didn't consume much Magic Power; although it was a constant drain, it was manageable.

As they stepped into the ruins of the small town beyond the port, skeletons began to emerge continuously.

Seeing this, Pororo eagerly strode forward. With a casual flick of his hand, the skeleton before him shattered into pieces.

He looked at his hand, then at the pile of bones, and shook his head disdainfully. "I thought they'd be a bit tougher. These things feel weaker than even a child."

The "child" Pororo referred to was clearly not a human child.

Seeing the horde of skeletons beginning to surround them, he simply clenched his fist and punched out forcefully.

An aqua-blue ripple rapidly expanded, slicing through the skeletons' necks and heads like a blade. The groups of skeletons were reaped like stalks of wheat.

After these two swift actions, he had a clear measure of their strength, and an expression of boredom crept onto his face. He couldn't help but lose any anticipation for the so-called Evil Spirits. Too weak. They weren't even enough for a warm-up.

Following the path through the ruins, they arrived at a structure at the far end of the small town that resembled a factory. This building was clearly in much better condition than the surrounding town structures and remained remarkably well-preserved. Even its outer walls hadn't collapsed; at most, some of the surface plaster had peeled away. The group reached the main entrance of the building.

Chadite lightly tapped the ground with her foot. Silver ripples, like those on water, spread out from the point of contact and sank into the earth. Then, she shook her head, indicating she hadn't detected any immediate danger inside.

This type of detection ripple could only sense living beings; it had no effect on Evil Spirits. So, they remained vigilant.

Alka then drew a metal card and sliced through the rotten, broken lock. He pulled open the two large, iron-clad wooden doors.

The moment the doors creaked open, a gust of dusty, rotten air assailed them. With their Dark Vision, they could instantly see the interior clearly.

Immediately, a dark green Evil Spirit phased out from a wall, appearing right before Alka. This Evil Spirit bore no resemblance to its living form. Its two slender, withered claws, covered in dry skin, were exceptionally sharp. It was draped in a tattered, gray-black robe, its lower body devoid of legs, and it floated towards them, charging.

As it rushed forward, its gaping mouth emitted an ear-piercing magical screech, assaulting their minds.

Facing the charging Evil Spirit, Pororo, who had been eager to test the strength of such creatures, shot past Alka and Chadite, meeting the Evil Spirit head-on. Streams of blue water surged from his hands, enveloping his body and emitting a faint glow. His scarlet eyes flared once more, leaving two streaks of blood-red light in the dim surroundings.

His hand, wreathed in aqua-blue water, punched straight through the Evil Spirit's chest. Simultaneously, his other hand shot out, grabbed the Evil Spirit's arm as it tried to slash at him, and with a powerful twist, ripped it clean off. The severed arm dissolved into green ash and scattered.

A large hole gaped in the Evil Spirit's chest as the aqua-blue energy pulsed and then erupted within it. The blast instantly tore the Evil Spirit into fragments, which dispersed as wisps of dark green smoke before vanishing into the darkness.

Watching the Evil Spirit disappear, Pororo turned his head and asked, "So, is that considered eliminated?"

Alka nodded.

The water wreathed around Pororo was clearly different from ordinary water, Alka mused. It must contain some unique Elemental Power. Otherwise, he couldn't have grasped the Evil Spirit so easily, nor would it have had such a strong suppressive effect.

"That Evil Spirit's strength wasn't bad; it was at the One Spiral level. But it seemed mindless," Pororo commented.

Alka found himself agreeing. The more deformed an Evil Spirit becomes, the less sanity it retains. This was a pattern he'd noticed during his previous operations with Andre and the others. The closer an Evil Spirit's appearance was to its living form, the more of its former power and rationality it retained, and vice versa. The Archbishop and those Knights were prime examples. In contrast, the completely mutated Priests they had encountered were mindless and easily dispatched. This particular Evil Spirit, completely mutated and frenzied, hadn't even bothered to use Invisibility, just charging out in the open. It was beyond just having a faulty mind; it had lost all reason.

With the Evil Spirit's demise, quiet returned to the building. Alka moved further inside and spotted a pile of withered bones collapsed beside a workbench. Any clothing that once adorned the bones had long since disintegrated. Vines, emerging from cracks in the floorboards or walls, now sprawled over the skeletal remains.

These bones likely belonged to the Evil Spirit they had just encountered, Alka thought. It was quite possible this was the Engraver, the owner of the treasure.

"Let's look around," Alka said. "The presence of an Evil Spirit means this person was likely a 'toucher' when alive. There should be some valuable items in this room."

Before Alka could say more, Chadite had already begun her search. Pororo started casually rummaging through things nearby as well.

Watching Alka and Chadite ransack the place, he couldn't help but complain, "Is this what a Treasure Hunter's job is all about? Just rummaging through abandoned, uninhabited places?"

Neither of them answered, merely glancing at him before continuing their search.

Finding himself ignored, Pororo just shrugged and joined their efforts.

"Whoa! A gold nugget this big?" Pororo exclaimed, holding up a chunk of gold roughly half the size of his fist.

However, Alka and Chadite merely glanced at it before looking away, their gazes not lingering on the gold for even a second.

Witnessing their reaction, Pororo seemed to grasp something and couldn't help but pout. "Damn Treasure Hunters! You don't even care about stuff like this?"

A piece of gold this large must be worth several Golden Sails, yet those two are completely indifferent!

Finally, after a thorough search of the building, Alka discovered a metal cabinet buried under a collapsed bookshelf. After dragging it out with some effort, he saw it was indeed a safe—and a large one at that. The safe looked incredibly sturdy, with thick steel plating for protection, but he couldn't make heads or tails of its lock.

Alka felt a bit awkward and asked, "Can either of you... open this?"

Chadite shook her head. Pororo, however, scoffed, "Open it? Why bother? Just smash it!"

As he spoke, Pororo placed his hands on the large safe. He tried to bend and rip off the iron door with his bare hands, but it was clearly no use.

"It's this tough, huh?" he muttered. Then, Pororo stepped right up to it, opened his enormous, blood-red maw lined with razor-sharp teeth, and bit down hard.

A harsh, CRUNCHING sound echoed as a corner of the metal safe was bitten open, leaving a twisted gash. Then, Pororo stuck his hand into the gash and forcefully pried the door further apart. With another grating, twisting SCREECH, the heavy metal safe bent out of shape, revealing a portion of its interior and its contents.

The whole process was utterly brutal.

Through the opening, Alka caught sight of an item inside with a blue border. He also saw neatly stacked and wrapped bundles of various materials, along with some documents in the lower section.

A smile couldn't help but spread across his face at this sight.

Just as he'd hoped! he thought. Being an Engraver, the previous owner's treasure indeed contained a good amount of materials. This would be enough to solve his pressing shortage. After all, card creation wasn't overly picky about materials, especially for inscribing the Runes on them. As long as they could conduct Magic Power, they would do.