He Had Come to Seek Refuge with Maud!

Heaven-Sent Treasure Chest.

Such fortuitous encounters were not uncommon in the pirate world.

But to casually fish up a fish, only to find a treasure chest hidden inside its belly that had neither corroded away nor been expelled...

All one could say was that this was absurdly good luck.

Beli stared at the wooden treasure chest and pondered for quite a while.

"Bones, do you think... if I run into something this lucky, it'll shorten my lifespan?"

"Yohohoho."

Brook rubbed his chin with his finger bones and said seriously, "That depends on what's inside the chest, Mr. Beli."

"True."

Beli slowly nodded, his expression solemn. "Then I'll open the chest right now and see what's inside!"

As he spoke, he walked over to the treasure chest.

The surface of the chest had been badly corroded by seawater, making it look quite old.

On closer inspection, one could see slender golden lines half-obscured by grime across the chest. Directly beneath the lock was a row of red agates, arranged from top to bottom and large to small, their lower portions covered in mud.

Beli was clearly uninterested in the chest's features. He reached out and tried to open it.

Unfortunately, the lock was completely rusted shut, while the chest's seal and hardness were extraordinarily tough.

Even after putting some strength into it, Beli still couldn't pry the lid open.

If he hadn't been worried about whatever unknown thing was inside, he might well have resorted to dismantling it by force.

"Mr. Beli, let me open it."

Seeing that Beli was at a loss, Brook volunteered and drew the Soul Reaping Sword.

Beli froze.

He looked at the Soul Reaping Sword in Brook's hand, then at the sea fish that had been cleanly sliced in half by a single stroke.

"..."

After