Tear of the Ghost

Ling Chu's newly acquired passive skill, Soul Perception, let her see souls.

And there happened to be one right in front of her.

She had learned the ghost's name from the Skeleton Henchmen.

Titch had only had two first mates: Lucas, who had betrayed him, and this ghost named Hemlock.

Hemlock had never liked Lucas and often disagreed with him. But he had been fiercely loyal to Titch, so Lucas had cut off his head out of spite.

She had learned all this from the Skeleton Henchmen.

When Hemlock realized Ling Chu was calling to him, he floated over in delight. "You can see me?"

"Yes. It's a special ability of mine."

Ling Chu told him the truth. "As you saw, I brought your companions back, but your skull is missing. I can't revive you right now."

"That's all right. Seeing them brought back is enough to make me happy. Thank you, kind stranger."

Hemlock thanked Ling Chu sincerely, though a faint trace of loneliness lingered in his voice.

"But I can revive you in another form—as a ghost."

Ling Chu changed tack.

Hemlock's eyes widened in surprise and delight.

"But if I revive you now, you won't have a body of bones like your companions."

"There's another option. I can keep your bones until we find Lucas and get your skull back, then revive you as a skeleton."

"Which would you choose?"

As Ling Chu finished speaking, Titch walked over to Hemlock's bones. The ghost fire in his eyes flickered silently as he stared at the empty space above the neck. He dropped to one knee.

"Old friend, did Lucas try to force that secret out of you? You fool. What would it have hurt to tell him? What could matter more than your life..."

Hemlock bristled. "You think Lucas would have spared me if I'd told him? You're the fool. If I was going to die either way, I'd be damned if I let that bastard Lucas get what he wanted!"

"I want to be revived now!"

Hemlock answered Ling Chu without hesitation.

They had been buried here for over a year. Lucas could be anywhere by now, and the sea was vast. Who knew when they might run into him again? Hemlock wanted to reunite with his companions now.

After hearing his choice, Ling Chu activated Ghost Revival.

To everyone else, Ling Chu had been talking to thin air. Then she reached out, and a familiar blue glow blossomed from her hand, sketching the ghost's shape in an instant.

The once-invisible soul became a pale green ghost everyone could see.

Unlike the skeletons, Hemlock still looked as he had in life and could float freely through the air.

The Iron Shovel slipped from Titch's hand.

"First mate!"

"It really is you!"

"First mate, did you come back from the dead, or did you turn into a ghost?"

Everyone crowded around Hemlock.

"Hemlock!"

Titch tried to hug him, only for his bony arms to pass straight through Hemlock's body.

Titch froze. Hemlock caught on and rested his hands lightly on Titch's skeletal shoulders, as if he could really pat them.

"Captain, I told you smoking too many cigars would cut your life short."

"Look who's talking." Titch grinned. "Still, that body of yours is pretty damn cool. Is it too late for me to switch?"

Tears welled in Hemlock's eyes.

He had watched from beside the Wooden Bucket as Lucas stuffed the wounded Titch inside. His hands and feet had been bound, and a rag had been stuffed in his mouth. All he could do was watch helplessly as his captain was thrown into the sea.

He had never imagined he would see Titch again.

Now Hemlock was a ghost and Titch a skeleton. They could not even embrace. But standing before his dearest friend again, trading barbs like they used to, filled Hemlock with an aching excitement he could barely contain.

Tears gathered in the ghost's eyes, turning into tiny, pearl-like beads that fell to the ground.

An idea struck Ling Chu, and she picked up the glowing beads.

[Tear of the Ghost: A special material formed from a ghost's tears. Contains the power of the soul.]

No way!

The Tear of the Ghost she had racked her brains trying to find had come about like this. She had searched high and low, only to stumble across it without any effort at all.

Ling Chu quickly put away the two Tears of the Ghost. Hemlock seemed embarrassed to cry in front of so many old friends; after those two tears, he shed no more.

After reviving Hemlock, Ling Chu could also see his basic information through the Eyepatch.

Hemlock (Ghost Servant, belonging to player Ling Chu)

Constitution: 0

Strength: 0

Agility: 6

Intelligence: 8

Mana Value: 80

Health Points: 100

Luck: Hidden

Charisma: Hidden

Ghostly Form (passive skill): A ghost without a physical body can pass through and possess any object.

Ghostly Constitution (passive skill): Sunlight burns the soul, so the ghost can only move about in shade or at night. Possession protects it from sunlight. Immune to physical attacks and some spell attacks; light and purification spells deal double damage.

Terrify: Passes through a target in ghost form, causing fear. The effect depends on the target's Intelligence.

Ghost Flame: Launches a ball of ghost fire that burns the soul. Costs 10 Mana Value.

His stats differed from Titch's. Both Constitution and Strength were zero, which Ling Chu guessed was because he had become a ghost.

She remembered that Titch had no Mana Value stat, perhaps because he could not cast spells. The skeleton and the ghost complemented each other nicely: one was like a warrior, the other a mage.

Ling Chu dug from dawn until dark and found fourteen sets of bones in the pit.

According to Titch, he had once had over a hundred crew members. The fourteen murdered here had been his closest confidants. The rest might have joined Lucas, or Lucas might have found some way to keep what happened to them hidden.

Ling Chu used up all thirteen Mana Potions, gaining thirteen Skeleton Henchmen and one ghost in return.

She had a whole entourage trailing after her now.

Night was falling. With a powerful giant lizard on the island, Ling Chu could not be sure it would not hunt after dark. Camping there would be unsafe, so she decided to rest aboard her ship and kill the giant lizard at daybreak to claim the Island Core.

With the Skeleton Henchmen in tow, Ling Chu retraced her steps to the shore where her ship was moored.

Her ship was still there, unharmed, and there were no other vessels in the surrounding waters.

But Ling Chu remained on guard.

Most of the day had passed. The person who had taken her bounty should have arrived by now. With no sign of them, they might have spotted her ship and laid an ambush.