Chapter 496: The Promising Sea

"Fountain of Unaging? Will you really gain eternal youth if you drink

it?" Donna widened her eyes and asked curiously.

She didn't have any feelings of anticipation, because she was still

young enough.

Elland didn't answer at once, and instead, he forked a piece of fried

murloc rib meat, tore into it in two bites, and took a sip of Sonia

wine.

*The sweet and smooth taste has completely nullified the cloyed taste of

fried oil...* His eyes were half-closed, and he looked like a

gourmet.

After pondering for a few seconds, he slowly answered Donna's question,

"I don't know if there's a Fountain of Unaging, nor am I certain if the

King of Immortality, Agalito, drank its waters. I only know one thing,

and that is, that when I was very young, I heard the legend of this

pirate king. It's just like how King of the Five Seas, Nast, seems to

live forever."

"Their beards must be very long, extending beyond than their chests!"

Denton gave his opinion.

"In fact, the King of the Five Seas, Nast, has a beard that only reaches

below his neck. He sits on the deck, draped in a black splendid robe

with silver ends. He wears a crown that's two times taller than his head

and overlooks everything like a deity..." Elland's tone gradually

lowered as though his memories had entered a quagmire, and he was unable

to extricate himself.

"Uncle Captain, have you ever met the King of the Five Seas?" Donna

asked excitedly.

This was the most legendary pirate. His name traveled through the sea,

and even the children of the port cities knew his name.

Whole generations of people grew up listening to stories about him!

*In a sense, many people view Nast as the true pirate king... I remember

one of the conditions for advancement for Black Emperor is to equate

one's name with "emperor," entrenching it deep in the hearts of the

people... Is this an early or simplified version of an attempt? I wonder

what Sequence the King of the Five Seas is at now...* Although

Klein was focused on sampling the murloc meat, his mind whirled as a

result of the group's discussion.

Faced with Donna's question, Elland said with a sigh, "At that time, I

was still very young and serving on the William V. Once, our fleet tried

to cross the Strait of Calamity in the Berserk Sea and encountered the

Black Emperor's ship there.

"In those few minutes, everyone, including the fleet Captain, lost the

will to fight. Fortunately, Nast didn't give the order to attack us."

"Very cool!" the boy Denton cheered, his eyes shining.

Elland didn't continue the topic. He smiled and said, "As for King of

Immortality, Agalito, I've never met him in real life. I only know that

his bounty notice depicts a pale middle-aged man. How pale? Let me give

an example you can understand. It's like he's been dead for some time, a

corpse which is just beginning to rot."

When Donna and Denton heard this analogy, they subconsciously looked at

the badly mutilated murloc's corpse and involuntarily quivered their

throats.

"Of course, the most important thing in a bounty notice isn't the looks.

It's the bounty reward. In Loen alone, Agalito is worth 100,000 pounds.

And his bounty is the lowest among the four kings." Elland diverted the

topic and said, "Let's continue the stories about treasure. Ranked third

is the inheritance of the Solomon Empire. In the Fourth Epoch, when that

massive empire was dissolved and destroyed, the royalty brought

treasures that even the gods would be jealous of onto a ship. They

steered it deep into the Fog Sea, awaiting the opportunity to rebuild

their dynasty. However, five hundred years passed, a thousand years

passed, and fifteen hundred years passed, but it ultimately didn't

appear."

"Rumor has it that the King of the Five Seas, Nast, inherited parts of

the Solomon Empire's inheritance. No one knows if he's a descendant of

the real Black Emperor," Cecile added with interest.

"Fog Sea? Western shore of the Northern Continent?" Donna thought back

to her geography.

"Right," Cleves responded simply.

West of the Northern Continent was the Fog Sea; to its east was the

Sonia Sea, south was the Berserk Sea, and north was the North Sea. The

east and west sides of the Southern Continent were similar to the

Northern Continent, while south of it was the Polar Sea. Together, they

formed the Five Seas.

The Loen Kingdom was backed by the Hornacis mountain range and the

inland Midseashire. Its eastern face was the Sonia Sea, and it stretched

south to Desi Bay. It occupied several of the excellent entrances to the

Berserk Sea, but it didn't involve the Fog Sea.

"Is that so..." Donna didn't have much interest in the faraway treasure,

so she switched focus and asked, "What about the fourth treasure?"

"It belongs to the last empire of the Fourth Epoch, Trunsoest. Rumor has

it that they built a huge ship the size of a city, and they transferred

all their treasures onto it. Funny enough, their escape was of no use.

Although the predetermined passengers and crew didn't fail to arrive at

the port in time, none of them survived.

"However, that ship vanished by itself. Up to this day, people often

claim to see a gigantic ship sail by them silently in a foggy night.

It's been called the Specter Empire, and it appears across the Sonia

Sea. Heh, this is the conclusion from all those stories." Elland looked

up at the red moon hanging high in the sky as he said with a tone of

mockery, without any disguise of his longing.

*Perhaps we will see it pass us by tomorrow night,

no---tonight!* Donna thought with anticipation and excitement.

Klein finished up the rest of his food, drank his black tea, and

listened with interest to what Elland had to say about the rest of the

treasures.

"The fifth is the Lost City of Newins. Rumor has it that at the bottom

of the Fog Sea, there's a civilization with intelligent creatures.

Around that patch of sea, seafarers and adventurers often find special

items which all point to the Newins of ancient times. However, the

members of this civilization have yet to appear. It's like it has been

lost to this world." Elland drank the remaining of his Sonia blood wine

and said, "That is an inheritance left behind by a civilization. The

magnitude of its wealth is absolutely unimaginable."

After pausing for two seconds, Elland put down his glass and laughed.

"In fact, the treasure I look forward to the most is one which has more

accounts than legends, the Sunken Laurel. More than a century ago, it

carried gold, jewelry, and various valuable items that the kingdom

obtained from East Balam. As it steered away from the sea route, it sunk

in an unknown area somewhere between the Berserk Sea and Sonia Sea. It

hasn't been found to this day.

"It's said that the items onboard are worth millions of pounds!"

"Millions of pounds?" The number caused Donna to blurt out in

astonishment.

As a merchant's daughter who had been educated for many years, she had a

vague understanding as to what this number represented.

In Loen, a millionaire was a genuinely rich person, second only to the

top noble families and tycoons!

*Millions of pounds? As a member of the National Atmospheric Pollution

Council, a major shareholder in the Coim Company, Mrs. Mary, who allowed

me to join the Quelaag Club for free, is only worth a few hundred

thousand pounds, and even so, she's rich enough even in the circle of

aristocrats and merchants. She's a popular divorced lady, and there are

even aristocratic children who proposed to her...* Klein quickly

found a target for comparison.

Elland sighed with a smile.

"If I can find the Sunken Laurel, then I don't have to be a captain

anymore. I'll head to Backlund and become a philanthropist. I'll

purchase land and donate to political parties and get a hereditary

aristocratic title!"

*I've heard Talim mention before that a baronet costs about 300,000

pounds and about 800,000 pounds for a baron... If you manage to get your

hands on the treasure, the titles of viscount and even earl is something

within the limits of imagination... Millions of pounds!* Klein

helped Elland perfect his plan.

"If it were me, I wouldn't do that. I'll buy a huge manor." Cecile also

began to imagine her life after finding the treasure. "I want to hire

many servants and helpers, plant large tracts of wheat, build vineyards,

make wine for myself... Also, I want to have a room where I can

sunbathe; have leisurely moving cows, sheep, and horses; and have bread

from my own mill, just like a beautiful picturesque scene..."

Elland laughed when he heard that.

"Ma'am, do you know how much a manor like this is worth?"

"No, I don't." Cecile shook her head.

"It's only a few thousand pounds. If you find the Sunken Laurel, you can

buy a thousand of those manors!" Elland used exact numbers to illustrate

the value of the treasure.

A thousand manors? Cecile couldn't help but raise her cup and

drink a mouthful of black tea.

Before this, she had known that several million pounds was a lot of

money, but she hadn't expected it to be this much!

In order to alleviate the shock in her heart, she looked at Cleves and

said, "Boss, if you find the Sunken Laurel, what do you plan on buying.

No, what sort of life do you wish to have?"

Cleves fell silent for a moment before saying, "Return home. I'll hug my

wife and children, telling them that I no longer need to go on an

adventure out at sea again."

Not a bad guy... Klein nodded slightly.

Donna looked at him curiously.

"Uncle Adventurer, what about you?"

Klein replied expressionlessly, "Tell myself not to sleep anymore. Hurry

up and wake up."

Pfft... Donna spat out the sweet iced tea she'd just drunk,

but fortunately, the fried fish on the table had already been eaten.

At this moment, Klein sighed inwardly.

*Even though I know it's basically impossible to find the treasure;

otherwise, the various churches would've already done it with all the

powerhouses they have. But when discussing such topics, I couldn't help

but get excited. This is the charm of treasure! Even if it was just a

legend, it can attract many adventurers!*

Donna wiped her mouth and sat down like a lady, as though she wasn't the

one who had lost her composure.

The little boy, Denton, asked, still eager for more, "Are there any

other legends of treasure?"

Elland looked at Cleves, indicating that he should answer.

Cleves calmly drank a mouthful of black tea and said in a deep voice,

"There are countless treasures at sea. The hidden lands of the elves,

the missing pirate ships in the depths of the fog, the underwater city

sealed with powerful monsters, the last secret trove of Emperor Roselle,

and so on."

*Ah? The Emperor had already reached the level of leaving treasures and

legends for others... If it's true, would there be Cards of Blasphemy in

it? How many would there be? The legend of the Key of Death might help

Mr. Azik regain more of his memories...* Klein thought with

curiosity and anticipation.