Chapter 2926

Fland agreed to the price of 30,000 Demon Sea gold coins very readily; one could imagine the depth of his financial resources.

Changing the price on the fly was something Baha could do, but the reason it didn't do so was that it didn't want to offend Fland, this god of wealth, to death.

Even a Black Curse Crow could kill Fland in an instant, but this vice president of Li Gold Bank could not be killed easily. Killing him would be equivalent to becoming enemies with many high-ranking Imperial officials and Royal Navy generals.

Fland himself knew this very well, but he didn't threaten them, because he knew that the people on this cursed ship dared to do anything.

"So this is the legendary Doom Ship. I haven't lived in vain."

Fland laughed self-deprecatingly, then his face clouded with worry.

"This..."

Fland looked at Baha, not knowing how to address it for a moment.

"Baha."

"Hello, Baha. I wonder if I could meet your captain?"

"You can."

As soon as Baha finished speaking, the door to the captain's cabin opened. Fland tidied his attire, walked past the two rows of Cursed People standing at attention, and entered the captain's cabin.

Upon entering, Fland saw a beauty with long golden hair tied up. In the past, Fland would have taken a few more looks, but at this moment, he just smiled politely and turned his gaze away.

"I am Fland, vice president of the Li Gold Bank on Saint Merrow Island."

Fland sat down as he spoke and continued, "I have no reason to refuse this deal, but... 30,000 gold coins is not a small amount. I need time to raise them."

"Oh."

Su Xiao sat behind the wooden table, which was covered in array diagrams. A broken horn was floating up—this was the Sea King's Horn.

Su Xiao was attempting to analyze the structure of the Sea King's Horn. The internal structure of this thing was quite complex; its principle was very much like a spiritual resonance device.

If the Sea King's Horn were spliced together, the user could inject spiritual power into it to achieve resonance with a specific type of spiritual power.

Just as previously guessed, this thing was used to control a certain sea beast.

"I probably need... 3 days."

Fland spoke tentatively.

"At this time tomorrow morning, I want to see 30,000 Demon Sea gold coins."

"This..."

Fland's eyes showed a look of difficulty.

"Can't do it? Then forget it. I'll take back the nightmare. Consider the potion already injected into your body a gift."

Su Xiao put away the Sea King's Horn, his gaze fixed on Fland.

"A gift?"

Fland felt no surprise, but rather panic. There was no such thing as a free lunch.

"This evening, 30,000 Demon Sea gold coins will be presented."

Fland looked as if he were going all out. To raise so many Demon Sea gold coins in such a short time, he would have to pay a significant price.

"..."

After watching Fland for a moment, Su Xiao pulled open the drawer beside him and took out two bottles of potion. With his level of alchemy, it wasn't difficult to concoct a potion that could permanently improve a normal person's physique.

It only required diluting a small amount of 【Nature's Gift】 and then adding two types of plant-based materials with mild properties, and a potion called 【Vitality Recovery】 would be complete.

【Vitality Recovery (Perfect)】

Type: Permanent buff potion

Effect: After drinking/injecting, stamina attribute permanently increases by 10 points, HP permanently increases by 500 points (effective for stamina attributes below 80 points; repeated use is ineffective).

Perfect grade bonus: Can quickly restore damaged bodily functions. Within the following 3 natural days, it will gradually restore permanent damage to organs such as the heart, liver, and kidneys (effective for stamina attributes below 80 points; repeated use is ineffective).

Su Xiao tossed the two bottles of 【Vitality Recovery】 to Fland, who caught them in a flustered manner.

"This is?"

"The potion you used last night. This thing can..."

Baha began to explain the effects of the 【Vitality Recovery】 potion to Fland. Fland's eyes gradually brightened, and he said:

"This thing... is priced at at least 20,000 Demon Sea gold coins per bottle. Those big shots won't refuse. Let's split it 20/80!"

Fland displayed his merchant nature; even with the captain of the Doom Ship in front of him, he dared to haggle.

"30/70 split."

"Eh?"

Fland was slightly stunned, feeling he might have misheard.

"I provide the potion; you are responsible for everything else."

Hearing Su Xiao's words, the fawning smile on Fland's face disappeared. He hesitated for a moment, as if he had made a decision.

"To sell this kind of potion stably and quickly, the Imperial royal family is the best choice, but that's dangerous. Let me consider it."

"Give me an answer within half an hour."

"Thank you."

Fland walked out of the captain's cabin with long strides, his attitude no longer so fawning. In his view, Su Xiao had transformed from half an enemy into a partner.

Fland considered it for a long time and finally agreed to this cooperation. He was prepared to take a gamble, using 【Vitality Recovery】 and his status as vice president of Li Gold Bank as a springboard to approach the Imperial royal family. What he wanted wasn't gold coins, but power.

Fland knew he didn't have the potential to master extraordinary power. To become a person above others, power was the only path.

Gulp, gulp...

Fland grabbed a wine bottle and poured it into his mouth. At this moment, his chest and belly were exposed, completely revealing the side of him that had once been in the slums.

"Mr. Bai Ye, if I die because of this, will I also become a Cursed Person?"

The drunken Fland laughed. The opportunity was right in front of him, and Fland was not intimidated by the Doom Ship's fierce reputation; instead, he grabbed this opportunity tightly.

"No."

"Why?"

Fland let out a drunken hiccup. Although he was a bit unseemly, he was very measured in his speech and didn't get carried away, after all, he had been struggling in the Demon Sea until now.

"You are too weak."

"Uh~"

Fland seemed a bit struck, then laughed again.

"Mr. Bai Ye, you know, I've been troubled since I was a child. In my house, besides money, there's nothing else. Sigh~."

"..."

Su Xiao signaled Baha to take Fland away and send him back to Shipwreck Island. Baha was responsible for taking over those 30,000 Demon Sea gold coins; it could fly, making it convenient for actions on the sea.

Only Su Xiao remained in the captain's cabin. Having reached a cooperative relationship with Fland, he would get a large sum of Demon Sea gold coins by evening. Not only that, there would be relatively stable income in the future.

Baha couldn't be responsible for this all the time; at critical moments, it still needed to fight. In this way, Caesar became the best candidate to liaise with Fland.

Caesar was still trapped on Min-Light Island at this time. That guy was a typical "no profit, no early rising" type. If Caesar participated in the 【Vitality Recovery】 potion trade, he likely wouldn't want a split, but rather something more critical, such as extra profits generated during the trade.

With Caesar's slick operations, he would definitely be able to reap a huge benefit, but that was Caesar's own ability, and Su Xiao wouldn't interfere.

Su Xiao wasn't worried about Caesar being trapped on Min-Light Island. That guy could leave nine times out of ten; even a slick operation like "buying on credit" could be pulled off, so leaving Min-Light Island shouldn't be too difficult for Caesar.

And a certain decision by Fland made Su Xiao feel that this person would be one of the big shots on the Demon Sea in the future.

Fland's decision was to share 30% of his profits with the Royal Navy general, Rear Admiral Murray.

In this way, Su Xiao would take 70%, Rear Admiral Murray 20%, and Fland 10%. All other extra profits would belong to Caesar. Don't think Caesar was losing out; if operated properly, Caesar's profits would be second only to Su Xiao's.

In this interest chain, Su Xiao was the potion provider, Rear Admiral Murray provided the network, Fland was responsible for negotiating prices, and Caesar roamed between all parties, acting as a stabilizer.

With the dual identities of Doom Ship captain and Royal Navy rear admiral pressing down, even if the trading party was the Imperial royal family, they wouldn't dare to easily move against Fland; the price was too high.

After successfully building this interest chain, Su Xiao was more confident in completing his subsequent plans. For now, steady development was fine. When he appeared again, he would first deal with the West Sea King, then the Twin Towers Empress, and finally the Duke. If the Great Pirate Black Witch also became an enemy, he would deal with them all together.

"Woof!"

Bubu Wang rushed into the captain's cabin and barked.

"What's wrong?"

"Woof!"

"A sea beast is approaching the Doom Ship?"

Su Xiao got up and walked out of the captain's cabin. This was very unusual; sea beasts shouldn't dare to approach the Doom Ship at all.

Arriving at the ship's side, Su Xiao discovered a huge shadow swimming under the sea—it was a giant sea beast.

"Hum..."

A long and deep sea cry came from underwater. This was an extraordinary giant whale, its body length even longer than the Doom Ship, at least 50 meters or more.

Su Xiao stomped on the deck beneath his feet, and the Cursed People who had merged into the ship's hull scattered in the water, turning into black shadows and rushing toward the extraordinary giant whale.

Thud!

The Doom Ship's hull was struck, and fresh blood dyed the nearby sea surface red—it was the blood of that extraordinary giant whale.

This extraordinary giant whale's strength was quite formidable. Even if it wasn't a true overlord-level unit, it was a secondary overlord-level unit. The sea was its home field; as long as it was in the seawater, this extraordinary giant whale's injuries would recover at a speed visible to the naked eye.

For a time, the Cursed People couldn't do much about this extraordinary giant whale; its body was too large. Some Cursed People had already broken through the extraordinary giant whale's body and gone deep inside, but even so, this behemoth wouldn't die so easily.

Thud!

Another heavy impact, and the Doom Ship tilted on the sea surface, its hull durability dropping by a small chunk.

A gale swept in, and a dozen pirate ships sailed from afar, totaling fifteen three-masted ships and one four-masted large ship. The total length of this large ship was at least 90 meters, more than twice the size of the Doom Ship.

On this large ship, a pirate captain wearing a black pirate hat and a full beard stood at the bow. The beard on his chin was braided into several thin pigtails. Just by looking at him, one could feel his ruthlessness and brutality. The West Sea King, one of the four great pirates, had come knocking.

"Found you, Doom Ship."

The West Sea King raised his hand. On his index finger was a simple, ancient ring. A fluctuation spread from this ring, affecting a large area of the sea.

This fluctuation swept over the Doom Ship, and Su Xiao immediately received a prompt.

【Prompt: You have suffered the "Fate Sacrifice" effect. Luck attribute has been reduced to -12 points (this is a constant debuff). After leaving the designated area, this effect will be lifted.】

【Judging...】

【Hunter's luck attribute has not reached 50 points and cannot exempt this effect.】

【Warning: Enemy leader-level unit has activated the "Sea Battle Encouragement" effect. All enemies will receive buffs: Strength, Agility, and Stamina real attributes +12 points, Luck attribute +8 points, HP increased by 4600 points.】

【Prompt: When the enemy's morale exceeds 85 points, all enemy units have a probability of awakening "Sea Hatred" when attacking, causing the attacked unit's body energy to stagnate, thereby causing a 0.5–1.2 second immobilization effect.】