Tear of the Ghost

Ling Chu's newly acquired passive skill, "Soul Perception," allowed her to see souls.

And conveniently, there was one right in front of her.

From the Skeleton Henchmen, she learned the ghost's name.

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

Hemlock had never liked Lucas and often clashed with him, but he was utterly loyal to Titch. That was why Lucas had singled him out, chopping off his head in a fit of rage.

All of this she had learned from the Skeleton Henchmen.

When Hemlock realized Ling Chu was calling out to him, he immediately floated forward in surprise and delight: "You can see me?"

"Yes, it's a special ability of mine."

Ling Chu answered honestly: "As you can see, your comrades have all been revived by me, but you're missing a head. I can't revive you right now."

"That's alright. Just seeing them come back to life makes me happy enough. Thank you, kind soul."

Hemlock sincerely expressed his gratitude to Ling Chu, but there was a faint trace of melancholy in his tone that was hard to detect.

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

Ling Chu shifted the conversation.

Hemlock's eyes widened in shock and joy.

"However, if I revive you now, you won't be able to have a skeletal body like your comrades."

"There's another option: I can store your bones for now. Once we find Lucas and retrieve your head, I can revive you as a skeleton then."

"Which one do you choose?"

As Ling Chu finished speaking, Titch walked over to Hemlock's skeletal remains. His Ghost Fire silently flickered as he stared at the empty space where the neck should have been, then he knelt down on one knee.

"Old friend, did Lucas interrogate you about that matter? You fool, why not just tell him? What's more important than your life..."

Hemlock, as if stung, retorted angrily: "You think telling Lucas would have spared me? You're the fool. Either way, I was dead, and I'd never let that bastard Lucas have his way!"

"I want to be revived now!"

Hemlock said to Ling Chu without hesitation.

They had been buried here for over a year. Lucas had long since vanished to who knows where. The sea was vast; running into him again would take ages. He wanted to reunite with his old crew right now.

After getting his consent, Ling Chu activated the Ghost Revival skill.

From an outsider's perspective, Ling Chu had been talking to thin air. Suddenly, she reached out her hand, and that familiar blue glow blossomed, instantly outlining the ghost's form and silhouette.

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

Unlike the skeletons, Hemlock still retained his living appearance and could float freely in the air.

The Iron Shovel in Titch's hand dropped in shock.

"First mate!"

"It's really you!"

"Did you rise from the dead or turn into a ghost?"

The group crowded around Hemlock.

"Hemlock!"

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Titch wanted to give him a hug, but found his hand bones passing right through his body without resistance.

Titch's movement froze. Hemlock reacted, pressing his hands faintly against Titch's bony shoulders, as if he had truly patted them.

"Captain, I told you before—smoking too many Cigars will shorten your life."

"We're even," Titch grinned, "but hey, your body is pretty cool. Is it too late for me to switch?"

Hemlock's eyes brimmed with tears.

When Lucas stuffed the wounded Titch into the Wooden Bucket, Hemlock had been watching right there. His hands and feet were bound, his mouth gagged with a rag, and he could only watch helplessly as his captain was thrown into the sea.

He never thought he'd see the day he reunited with Titch.

Though he was now a ghost and Titch a skeleton, unable even to embrace, standing before his closest friend again, bantering and teasing like old times, Hemlock's heart swelled with uncontrollable emotion—a mix of excitement and bitterness.

Tears welled at the corners of the ghost's eyes, turning into crystalline droplets like pearls that fell to the ground.

Ling Chu's heart stirred, and she picked up one of the glowing beads.

[Tear of the Ghost: A special material, formed from a ghost's tears, imbued with soul energy.]

!!!

The Tear of the Ghost she had been racking her brains to find turned out to come from this. Truly, "breaking iron shoes in vain, yet finding it with no effort at all."

Ling Chu quickly stowed away the two Tears of the Ghost. Hemlock, seeming embarrassed to have cried in front of so many old acquaintances, shed only two tears before stopping.

After resurrecting Hemlock, Ling Chu saw 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: 100 Luck: Hidden Charm: Hidden

Ghostly Form (Passive Skill): A ghost without a physical body, can pass through and possess any object.

Ghostly Constitution (Passive Skill): Soul will be scorched in sunlight; can only move in shadows and at night. Possession state is unaffected by sunlight. Immune to physical attacks and some spell attacks. Light and purification spells and skills deal double damage.

Intimidation: Passes through the target as a ghostly body, causing them to enter a state of fear. Effect depends on the target's Intelligence value.

Ghost Flame: Throws a spherical ghost fire that can scorch the soul. Consumes 10 Mana Value.

His stat block was a bit different from Titch's. Constitution and Strength were both zero. Ling Chu guessed it was because he had become a ghost.

She remembered Titch didn't have a Mana bar. Maybe it was because he couldn't use spells. This skeleton and ghost were actually quite complementary in their stats—one was like a warrior, the other like a mage.

From dawn until dusk, Ling Chu found a total of fourteen skeletons in the Deep Pit.

According to Titch, he once had over a hundred crew members. The fourteen buried here were his most trusted confidants. The rest were likely absorbed by Lucas or hidden away by some other means.

Thirteen Mana Potions were consumed by Ling Chu, exchanged for thirteen Skeleton Henchmen plus one ghost.

When she walked, she was dragging along a whole entourage, a mighty procession.

Now that it was getting dark, and there was a powerful Giant Lizard on the island, Ling Chu wasn't sure if it would come out to hunt at night. Camping on the island wasn't safe, so she decided to return to the ship to rest first, and kill the Giant Lizard to seize the Island Core when daylight came.

Ling Chu led her group of Skeleton Henchmen back along the same path to the island shore where her boat was moored.

Her ship was sitting safely in place. Looking around, there were no other vessels on the nearby sea.

Ling Chu's vigilance never let up.

Half a day had already passed. Logically, the person who accepted her bounty should have arrived. With no movement now, it was very likely they had seen her ship and were lying in ambush.