Chapter 328

The hunger continued to torment Xia De, and even the scent of perfume on Miss Princess beside him could entice his appetite at this moment.

But this intense desire to eat also masked other sensations brought about by venturing too deep into the ship's hold. He had never felt such hunger; if it weren't for the fact that eating anything only exacerbated the hunger, Xia De would have eaten his own clothes by now.

"So, why can these crew members, who are clearly not from our era, speak standard Delarion common language?"

As they continued forward, Xia De still had the presence of mind to ask about this. Miss Princess was very worried about his condition and answered his question in a low voice:

"In fact, most 【Relics】 that can communicate with us can use contemporary languages. Relics are related to Whispering elements, and Whispering elements are the darkness of civilization; they can also draw power from civilization. Xia De, you..."

She bit her lip, not knowing how to thank Xia De for risking danger to let her walk with him.

After leaving the doorway of the room with the black pot, the two continued deeper into the ship's hold. More and more skeletons appeared underfoot, and the human bones fused with the fungal mat on the walls became increasingly hideous and terrifying. Later on, the filth of blood plasma left on the walls even connected into patches, forming disgusting, strange runes that, together with the ship, affected the souls of the living.

Seeing that Xia De's state was very poor, Miss Princess walked in front to lead the way. To guard against accidents, she also summoned her Destiny Ring, and Xia De thus saw Miss Princess's core spiritual runes.

The core runes were three: 【Writer】, 【Princess】, and 【Acting】, which were very similar to a certain friend of Xia De's. This five-ring sorceress also explained her low-fourth-ring sublimation words to Xia De in a low voice, which were "The 【Sleeping】 【Princess】 gains 【Peace】 in 【Reality】 and 【Illusion】."

"Stop."

After walking about thirty steps from the cabin where the cook was, Miss Princess stopped. Looking ahead, a wooden box flickering with golden light was placed brightly in the center of the corridor, as if all the light nearby had gathered on the box, tempting people to investigate what it was.

They absolutely did not want to touch something that was clearly a trap at first glance. But that large box was placed in the center of the corridor, and because of the thick fungal mat on the walls, the already narrow cabin corridor was completely blocked off.

"Watch me."

The blonde girl said, pulling a rolled-up piece of parchment from her dress pocket. After tossing the parchment into the air, it burned automatically. She took a deep breath, and green light spots flew out from her hair, slowly condensing into a very blurry figure carrying a bow and arrow beside her.

Miss Princess was also a Ring-Ringed Ringed Shushi proficient in Enlightenment elements, skilled at drawing power from fairy tales and stories. And the casting materials for this type of miracle were usually stories copied by the caster themselves.

The archer, whose body was exceptionally blurry, bowed slightly to Miss Princess and then walked toward the treasure chest flickering with light.

The moment it reached out to flip open the box, the box immediately "sprang" up. This description was not quite correct; it should be said that two slender legs under the box supported it as it stood up.

Slender arms also extended from both sides of the box body, and at the same time, the lid opened, revealing sharp teeth and a thick, bright red tongue inside. Using the two slender legs as legs and the treasure chest itself as the body and teeth, this humanoid creature opened its mouth and wanted to swallow the archer.

Miss Princess in the distance clenched her fist abruptly, and the cancellation of the miracle caused the archer to scatter back into green light spots and disappear. At the same time, she took out a new roll of parchment, tossed it into the air, and after it burned, a solid figure with the same appearance as Miss Princess appeared.

This figure was wearing a blue princess dress and a silver crown on her head.

For the archer's miracle just now, she had probably only used one spiritual rune, which was why the archer's figure was blurry. But the second story was constructed based on the sublimation of the low fourth ring, and thus was as real as the "Little Match Girl" of Miss Lu Yisha, who was about to succeed.

That princess who walked out of the story held a golden spindle and approached the mimic that had already rushed over with a hazy and illusory smile.

"Stall it for a moment."

Miss Princess said.

"Okay."

A silver arc of light flew past the princess's cheek like a sharp blade. Even a monster dared not take it head-on and could only crouch down to return to the appearance of a treasure chest.

With a *clang*, the Silver Moon strike hit the treasure chest, but it only left an inconspicuous mark.

And taking advantage of this opportunity, the princess holding the spindle had already approached the treasure chest. When the treasure chest reverted into a monster, she directly stabbed the spindle toward the monster's bright red tongue.

*Poof—*

The princess and the spindle disappeared together, while the monster collapsed to the ground. As the treasure chest opened and closed slightly, emitting weak breathing, it fell into a deep sleep.

This was even more powerful than Doctor Shi Nai De's hypnosis; the doctor's hypnosis, when used on a Ring-Ringed Ringed Shushi, required direct contact, and it absolutely would not have such an effect on non-human creatures.

The archer appeared beside Miss Princess again, nocking an arrow, but the shot arrow could not penetrate the monster's skull.

Miss Princess looked at Xia De, and Xia De nodded. He reached his right hand into the air and then slowly pulled out that holy silver two-handed greatsword.

Coming before the mimic monster, he raised the sword with both hands and then thrust it fiercely along the gap of the treasure chest. No strangely colored blood flowed out; those slender arms and legs and the treasure chest itself turned stone-gray, and then scattered into a pile of dust like a sand sculpture.

However, with the death of the monster, a black light actually darted along the holy silver greatsword into Xia De's body.

"Hm?"

【The greedy shall pay the price; when the greed in the heart gathers, they themselves will become a part of what people crave.】

【Relic - Mimic, has given you a brand new power.】

【Outlander, you have gained some insight into 'Greed'.】

"What does that mean? It's not a miracle, not a curse, and not a spiritual rune?"

【The creature you killed is extremely special and can be seen as a creature born of pure greed. By killing it, you have inherited its greed. This is both Enlightenment and Whispering, but it is not enough to constitute a spiritual rune.】

"Understood, which means that as long as I gain more insight, the probability of obtaining the 【Greed】 spiritual rune will greatly increase."

Xia De summarized, and then clutched his stomach again. As the battle ended, his attention returned, and the feeling of hunger surged up, making him miss the feeling of being full once again.

"Are you okay? I saw black light just now; is that a curse?"

Miss Princess also walked over. She directed the archer beside her to push away the gray dust on the ground carefully, ensuring they would not return to their original state.

"I'm fine, it's not a curse. The mimic just now wasn't something from this ship; it was a Relic itself, and I just touched its power."

Xia De suddenly twitched his nose and then looked at Miss Princess. After the latter blushed slightly, he said:

"Let's keep moving. I want to leave here as soon as possible. Whether it's Lengshuigang or a restaurant in Tobeisi, it doesn't matter; I'm starving."

"When we leave, I'll treat you to a late-night snack."

Perhaps it was a characteristic of this dilapidated pirate ship that the length of the straight cabin corridor was actually longer than the ship itself.

Before reaching the stairs leading to the next cabin level, Xia De and the girl beside him encountered two cabin rooms they could enter. Inside were sailors with fish heads and human bodies playing cards, and a small boy standing in the darkness with his back to the cabin door, crying.

The two chose to believe the cook's words and did not pay attention to any of the crew members in the rooms. And when the fungal mat under their feet was so thick that they couldn't feel the floorboards at all, the dark space ahead, illuminated by the silver light from their fingertips, finally revealed a staircase leading downward.

But as the two gradually approached, they both saw a figure sitting on the third step of the stairs with its back to them. Cautiously slowing their pace, they saw that, judging at least from the back, it should be a man with curly black hair wearing a short-sleeved sailor shirt.

But what the front looked like, Xia De and Miss Princess could not guess.

His whole body was dripping water downward, and the ticking sound could only be heard after getting close. A cold, chilling feeling emanated from him. The interior of this ship, located in eerie, dark waters, was not warm to begin with, but after approaching the staircase, the temperature plummeted to below freezing.

The most direct manifestation was that the breath of Xia De and Miss Princess could already form white mist in the air.

The figure with its back to them sat in the center of the stairs, and it was impossible to go around. Looking at the completely unguarded back, Xia De, who was already starving, really had the urge to swing his sword at it. Fortunately, he still had his reason, and Miss Princess signaled again that she would solve the problem:

"Don't underestimate a five-ring sorceress. Although I don't have your powerful mental resistance, I won't lose in a head-on confrontation."

The girl, whose hair had mostly turned red, let Xia De wait in place, while she deliberately made her footsteps louder, then continued forward and stopped five steps away from the staircase.

"I..."

The figure sitting on the stairs spoke at this moment, with a slow and hoarse voice, like an elderly gentleman:

"I fell into the sea."

The sound of dripping water became louder and louder. Xia De made the light at his fingertips brighter to help Miss Princess illuminate what was in front of them.

"Then, the ocean swallowed me, swallowed my body and soul. Even though the captain took me in, a part of my soul and body still remained in the sea forever."

The sorceress looked down at her feet; water stains were spreading over, reflecting the moonlight from Xia De's fingertips. Only then did the two discover that the fungal mat covering the corridor did not spread to the staircase, and the floorboards were already exposed ahead. The water stains seemed to be spreading toward here because of the constant dripping from the person sitting on the stairs. But the person with their back to them was sitting on the third step; there was no reason for this water to spread to such a high position.