Chapter 117: The AI That Follows Rules

"Request?" Feng Xue raised an eyebrow, pondering the word. Sara nodded and said:

"Yes. According to analysis, the pirate has been fully controlled by you and is identified as your lawful spoils. Per the interaction protocol, I cannot act against your spoils without your consent."

Hearing Sara say this, Feng Xue felt a flicker of relief—but also sensed he'd been emotionally manipulated by this AI.

No way, this sounded exactly like: "If not for the protocol, I could crush you and your spoils at will."

Fine, maybe Feng Xue was overthinking—but he figured it was better to overthink now.

Still, since Sara had caught up, this escape plan was over. Feng Xue sighed inwardly but still had no intention of killing Bloodeye; instead, he turned to Sara and said:

"By the way, can you pilot this ship?"

"A classical sailing warship, with pre-civilization intelligent sail assistance, requires only two people to operate." Sara made Feina display a "piece of cake" expression. Feng Xue immediately nodded:

"There are eight pirates in the cabin, currently under illusion—but I don't know how long it'll last. Go deal with them. Uh… do you know how?"

"I know. Pirates who pose an objective threat have no human rights." Sara spoke in a hollow tone, turning and descending into the cabin. Feng Xue seized the chance to command Mo Ying:

"Use Ghost-Mesmerize!"

Bloodeye, already in a state of mental collapse, was instantly ensnared. Feng Xue locked the term floating above his head, then had Mo Ying ease its mental pressure and asked:

"Why did you attack that woman? Was the island raid meant to capture her?"

"No. Our original target was the slaves and pre-civilization relics on this island. Her appearance was accidental. Before setting sail from the Blue Lake Archipelago, we saw a bounty posted online: 25 million for capture, 3 million for a corpse." Bloodeye replied clearly. Feng Xue wanted to retort, "Your pirate crew's worth two million at most—how dare you take on a bounty worth tens of millions?" But with time limited, he suppressed the comment and said directly:

"What secret does she carry? How powerful is the Reide family?"

"We don't know. We only saw the public bounty on the Blue Lake Archipelago's darknet. But based on her surname, we deduced she's the sole survivor of the Luobo family, wiped out a month ago. As for the Reide family—they're one of the Twelve Families of the Blue Lake Archipelago… now eleven. They rule one-fifth of the Jade Island Chain's seas alongside the other ten families."

"I see." Feng Xue nodded. "Was the Luobo family destroyed or absorbed by the Reide family?"

"We don't know. But after the Luobo family's fall, the greatest beneficiaries were the neighboring Reide and Yeger families—and this bounty came from the Reide family."

Perhaps due to the combined effects of Ghost-Mesmerize and Ghost- possession, Bloodeye had suppressed his subjective cognition, offering answers as objectively as possible. Feng Xue welcomed the ease, gaining deeper insight into Feina's identity.

"Classic fallen prince… oh, princess revenge drama, huh? But now this princess is withdrawn, wanting to kill herself…"

Feng Xue was pondering whether to exploit Feina's identity when his fingertip, Seeing Liu Yunxi, suddenly trembled.

Feng Xue instantly understood: Feina was approaching. He turned his head and said:

"Perfect timing. Have her send you the sea chart to the Free Archipelago—we're leaving now!"

Hearing this, Sara, who had just poked her head out of the cabin, immediately interrupted:

"I recommend returning to the island instead. The pirate attack has been largely neutralized—we annihilated the entire crew. We deserve sufficient reward. The pirates in the cabin can be handed over to the islanders. Their technology is useless to us but may not be to them. At worst, it earns goodwill."

"You're right," Feng Xue nodded, then frowned:

"But what if the Weather Goddess repays kindness with betrayal? My agreement with her only covers crisis response and reward. Once we get the reward, she can just attack again."

"Don't worry. I found this." Sara pulled out a small metal sphere, her tone peculiar:

"Intelligent divine power staining technology—originally developed by the pre-civilization for visualizing divine energy. I never expected someone would think to use such a crude method: blackening divine energy structure within a short-range area. But with this, escape is no problem."

Feng Xue stared at the metal sphere, which appeared pitch-black in his Qi-Sight. He didn't fully grasp it—until Sara roughly explained the principle, then he understood:

If forced to compare, this was like the dyeing process used when observing cells under a microscope. The pre-civilization developed staining tech to visualize divine energy. This sphere, however, amplified it—turning a tool meant to help the blind see into one that blinded everyone.

With this device as backup, Feng Xue relaxed somewhat. He personally verified that the eight pirates were tightly bound and deeply unconscious, then retrieved her wireless earpiece (Note ①) with Sara before returning to the ship to rest.

…

Though this rain hadn't lasted two or three days, it rained for sixteen straight hours. By noon the next day, clouds cleared and rain ceased. As sunlight returned to the island, the previously blackened votive light regained its clarity. Far off, Feng Xue gazed at the canopy-like sky, dragging eight pirates tied in a chain down from the ship. Bloodeye, still under Ghost-Mesmerize, remained aboard. As for Sara, she had not yet unpossessed the body—perhaps because of Bloodeye's presence.

"Respected guest, the Goddess has informed us of your and your companion's contributions…"

Seeing Feng Xue and Sara, the islanders' demeanor shifted dramatically. Facing their burning stares, Feng Xue—the social anxiety sufferer—shuddered, quickly handed the rope of pirates to the priest, and invoked "the Goddess's divine decree" as an excuse to pilgrimage to the Shengshan.

Hearing it was the Goddess's decree, the islanders immediately averted their gazes. Under the Chief Priest's guidance, they dragged the eight pirates and the earlier "survivor" back to the temple. The priest previously possessed by the Goddess stepped forward voluntarily, leading Feng Xue and Sara toward the Shengshan.

Though theoretically Feina should have awakened from her coma, her body was still controlled by Sara. Yet Feng Xue faintly felt—this dog, while possessing a body, seemed unnervingly human…

(End of Chapter)