Chapter 2924

Late at night, windless, the main sail of the Doom had been furled, and it was anchored on the sea.

In the captain's cabin, Su Xiao was tallying the casualties of the Cursed Ones and the Black Curse Crows. The cost of taking Shipwreck Island was not as high as imagined, but during the siege of the female spellcaster, Eva, the casualties among the Cursed Ones and Black Curse Crows were not small.

Li elements were a type of elemental power that the Sage of Mages, Seraphina, had spent years artificially synthesizing specifically for combat. Although its effect against Law-Breakers was not great, its lethality was equally astonishing.

Of the original 400 Cursed Ones, 103 died in battle, and 5,180 Black Curse Crows died.

During the battle, it seemed as if many Black Curse Crows had died—at least one-fifth of their total number—but in reality, this was not the case. Their base number was large, which created this illusion; their actual casualty rate was not even one-tenth.

Originally, Black Curse Crows were not used for combat, but under the bonus of the War Lord, the survival rate of the Black Curse Crows was not weak.

Conversely, the Cursed Ones had a survival rate several levels higher than the Black Curse Crows, yet their casualty count exceeded one-fourth. The reason was that the Cursed Ones were too fearless of death during combat.

If they were ordinary soldier-type units, this would be a good thing, but the strength of the Cursed Ones approached that of elite units; being too fearless of death only increased the number of casualties in vain.

Regarding the lifting of the second stage of the Doom's seal, it was already imminent. Only by lifting the second stage of the seal could the consciousness of the Cursed Ones become clearer.

By then, the Cursed Ones would know how to cooperate with each other and avoid unnecessary damage, significantly increasing their overall combat effectiveness.

With the current Cursed Ones, they were completely insufficient to go head-to-head with great pirate forces like the Duke or the West Sea King, even with the addition of the Black Curse Crows.

Unless it was a critical moment, the Black Curse Crows could not participate in battle. The War Lord's bonus was triggered by the number of Black Curse Crows; once too many Black Curse Crows died, the War Lord's bonus would be reduced, thereby weakening the strength of the Cursed Ones, who were the main combat force.

Unless the battle was nearing its end, Su Xiao would not consider letting the Black Curse Crows charge into the fray to deliver the final blow to the enemy.

There were 297 Cursed Ones left on the Doom. To replenish the scale of the Cursed Ones to 400, he had to return to Min-Guang Island; there were a large number of Cursed Ones within the black fog of Min-Guang Island.

Within the black fog of Min-Guang Island, whether they were Cursed Ones or Black Curse Crows, they were in a state of absolute confinement, but once they reached the Doom, they gained a certain degree of freedom.

At the moment, he could not replenish the number of Cursed Ones, but the Black Curse Crows could be replenished.

The way to replenish the Black Curse Crows was to find the old woman on Min-Guang Island. She was the Fog Guardian and controlled all the Black Curse Crows on Min-Guang Island.

To replenish the number of Black Curse Crows from the old woman, one had to pay Magic Sea gold coins. That old woman was actually also trapped on Min-Guang Island, and the Magic Sea energy within the Magic Sea gold coins could not only lift the Doom's seal but also help the old woman escape her predicament.

The old woman did not crave freedom, but rather release. After leaving Min-Guang Island, she would vanish into thin air, but this was what she craved. The old woman's own words were that her life fire had already burned out in the Great Whirlpool, and what remained now was just a pile of residual ash. Residual ash did not crave freedom, only to be scattered by the wind.

As for how to replenish the Cursed Ones on the Doom, the old woman did not hide it: besides her, there was another Fog Guardian, who was currently sealed in a wooden house on Min-Guang Island, controlling the Cursed Ones within the black fog.

After Su Xiao paid the Magic Sea gold coins to help the Cursed Ones and Black Curse Crows escape their predicament, these Cursed Ones and Black Curse Crows would no longer have anything to do with the two Fog Guardians, but would instead work for Su Xiao.

This was why the Cursed Ones were willing to follow the orders of the captain of the Doom; compared to the pitch-black fog, the Doom was the place they dreamed of.

Su Xiao had a method to have disobedient Cursed Ones re-sealed back into the black fog, so he did not worry about whether the Cursed Ones would follow orders.

Su Xiao's Charisma attribute kept the base loyalty of the Cursed Ones above 70 points, and with the Doom's bonus, the loyalty of the Cursed Ones was fixed between 95 and 98 points.

As for reaching the 100-point maximum, that was not worth considering; most of the Cursed Ones were pirates before they died, so having loyalty above 60 points was already quite rare.

The number of Cursed Ones could not be replenished for the time being, which was why Su Xiao was eager to lift the second stage of the Doom's seal.

After seizing the 【Sea King's Horn (1/3)】, Su Xiao also became an enemy of the great pirate, the West Sea King. The other party would come knocking in the near future, so he had to be prepared.

Lifting the second stage of the Doom's seal required at least 30,000 Magic Sea gold coins. After Su Xiao took the castle, he obtained a golden skull, which was equivalent to 16,000 Magic Sea gold coins, and after looting Shipwreck Island, he obtained another 1,300-plus gold coins.

Including the gold coins Su Xiao originally had, he was still short 12,500 Magic Sea gold coins to lift the second stage of the Doom's seal.

For these missing Magic Sea gold coins, Su Xiao decided to get a portion from Rear Admiral Murray. The other party's 'final payment' hadn't been settled yet; if the other party was unwilling to pay, he would let Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang go get it, and bring along a mental distress fee while he was at it.

For the remaining portion, Su Xiao prepared to obtain it in the fastest way possible: continue to raid pirate islands. He was not doing this to uphold justice or punish pirates, but because pirate islands would store large amounts of Magic Sea gold coins, unlike imperial forces that deposited Magic Sea gold coins into imperial banks, allowing the silver and copper coins issued by the imperial bank to have stable purchasing power.

Su Xiao was curious about one thing: which faction had minted the Magic Sea gold coins? The Magic Sea energy within the gold coins was too pure, pure to an unbelievable degree.

Setting these thoughts aside for now, he just had to wait. According to Baha's reconnaissance, in the evening, Rear Admiral Murray's fleet and the Duke's pirate fleet had clashed, both sides fighting for Shipwreck Island.

In this battle, Rear Admiral Murray had an 80% chance of winning; this guy had been prepared for a long time. When Su Xiao occupied Shipwreck Island, the other party's fleet was in the surrounding waters.

Su Xiao didn't have to wait long. At 11 PM, Baha returned with news: Rear Admiral Murray had won, and the Duke had been repelled.

Su Xiao walked out of the captain's cabin and stood at the bow. The Doom submerged into the sea and headed straight for Shipwreck Island.

When the Doom arrived in the waters near Shipwreck Island, several Royal Navy ships came to meet them from ahead, clearly having been waiting for a long time.

The Doom docked at the pier of Shipwreck Island, which made the Royal Navy soldiers on the pier somewhat nervous. They were not afraid of pirates, but when facing the Cursed Ones, the Royal Navy soldiers on the pier felt weak in their hearts.

A small portion of the navy soldiers, upon seeing the Doom, had their gazes become exceptionally sharp. They had clashed with the Doom before; the arrogant, wild laughter of the Cursed Ones and the cawing of the crows filling the sky seemed to still echo in their ears, making them recall that great naval battle in the waters of the Wandering Souls.

Rear Admiral Murray and several of his confidants walked over from the town on the pier. These people walked onto the Doom along the planks laid by the navy soldiers and entered the captain's cabin.

In the captain's cabin, Rear Admiral Murray took a seat. He was as composed as ever, as if the previous naval battle meant nothing to him.

"This place is cleaner than I imagined; at least I didn't see any barnacle parasites on the walls."

Rear Admiral Murray spoke half-jokingly. It was clear he was in a very good mood, having just taken Shipwreck Island into his hands.

"According to our prior agreement, after you occupied Shipwreck Island, there was a 5,000 gold coin reward. 1,500 coins have already been paid to you; here are the remaining 3,500."

As soon as Rear Admiral Murray finished speaking, several navy soldiers carried two iron boxes into the captain's cabin. Unexpectedly, Rear Admiral Murray had actually kept his word.

"I have a business deal worth 50,000 gold coins. Shall we talk?"

Rear Admiral Murray smiled and was about to continue when Su Xiao raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Not interested."

Su Xiao knew what Rear Admiral Murray was going to say. 50,000 gold coins to deal with the Duke's pirate fleet—this looked like a big deal, but in reality, he wanted to hire cannon fodder.

Rear Admiral Murray had fully drawn the Duke's hatred. The Duke not only lost the opportunity to obtain the 【Sea King's Horn】 but also lost Shipwreck Island. The former was unknown to outsiders, but the loss of Shipwreck Island would soon spread throughout the pirate forces.

Great pirates cared very much about face. Regarding the Shipwreck Island incident, even if the Duke couldn't eventually retake it, he couldn't just let it go. That would be showing weakness. At that time, the 'hyenas' hiding in the shadows would smell the 'blood' on the Duke, thinking the Duke was afraid of Rear Admiral Murray, and the 'hyenas' would swarm in. This was the world of pirates.

"50,000 gold coins. I want the Duke's life. Not to annihilate his pirate fleet, but to take his life alone."

Rear Admiral Murray's phrasing was very tactful. In reality, going to kill the Duke was equivalent to going to war with the entire Duke's pirate fleet. A great pirate of the Duke's level would never go out alone; there were too many people who wanted his life.

"Not interested."

Su Xiao would not actively go to war with the Duke now. Another great pirate, the West Sea King, was waiting for him to deal with, and if things went poorly, he would also have to go to war with the Twin Towers Empress.

Of the four great pirates, three were already hostile to Su Xiao. The pressure of dealing with three great pirates simultaneously was too great. With the Doom's current combat strength, the chances of winning against the West Sea King's pirate fleet alone were very low.

"Since that's the case, let's leave it at that. If you change your mind, come find me anytime."

Rear Admiral Murray was somewhat disappointed. He took his men and left the Doom, soon disappearing among the navy soldiers on the pier.

"This male fox wearing a wig just gave up? Boss, this guy isn't plotting against us, is he?"

Baha was somewhat worried. Rear Admiral Murray appeared peaceful, but he was actually a ruthless character.

"He isn't."

Su Xiao was not surprised by Rear Admiral Murray's attitude. Rear Admiral Murray was about to face retaliation from the Duke; avoiding hostility with the Doom at this time was a very wise decision. The 3,500 gold coins the other party brought out meant exactly that.

"Xiang Bubu."

Out of caution, Su Xiao had Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang follow Rear Admiral Murray.

"Woof."

Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang blended into the environment and went to track Rear Admiral Murray. A dozen minutes later, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang sent back news: Rear Admiral Murray was meeting with someone. From the content of their conversation, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang discovered that Rear Admiral Murray was very polite to that person. Although he wasn't fawning, his words revealed a sense of intimacy, while that person was very respectful to Rear Admiral Murray, looking flattered.

After eavesdropping for a while longer, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang understood what was going on. Rear Admiral Murray's distinguished guest was the 'God of Wealth' invited by the other party. It was precisely because of this God of Wealth that Rear Admiral Murray was so generous, willing to take out 50,000 Magic Sea gold coins to buy the Duke's life.

In the captain's cabin of the Doom, Su Xiao weighed the situation. The God of Wealth invited by Rear Admiral Murray had a significant background. Even so, this was an opportunity.

Su Xiao decided to 'invite' that God of Wealth to the Doom to 'talk'.