Deep Sea

Charles instantly perked up and hurriedly checked Wu Duo Duo Mall.

Sure enough, besides Delis, who had already disappeared from view, there was now another merchant.

Isata Academy Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice: Wood.

It really was Wood. Among this group, Wood was the only one Charles knew.

Charles had only seen the other wizard apprentices from afar.

He knew Wood because Wood had tested his spiritual power, and after boarding the ship, Charles had also bought his middle-deck cabin from him.

As Charles considered this connection and looked at the merchant interface, a faint suspicion formed in his mind.

So, for these merchants to appear, they at least needed to have interacted with Charles or have some sort of relationship with him.

The Succubus Delis was the same. They had already gotten deeply acquainted—there could hardly be a deeper relationship than that.

Watching Wood's back disappear into the upper-deck cabins, Charles hurriedly checked the goods in his shop:

Wood's Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice cultivation insights: 50 Soul Coins

Wood's Third-Rank Wizard Apprentice cultivation insights: 30 Soul Coins

Apprentice spell: Wood's Insect Repelling Hum cultivation insights: 10 Soul Coins

Wood's Acid Missile cultivation insights: 10 Soul Coins

Wood's Malice Intuition cultivation insights: 10 Soul Coins

Compared to Delis, Wood had far more goods.

And many of them made Charles salivate.

Cultivation insights for apprentice spells and the like were not what Charles needed right now.

It was like buying gas from a station when he did not even have a car.

On the other hand, wizard apprentice cultivation insights were exactly what Charles needed.

The only problem was that Charles had no money.

He had gotten Delis's goods through buy-now-pay-later and a one-time refund-without-return scheme.

But once those two newcomer benefits were used up, they were gone.

Besides that, he had a fifty-Soul-Coin coupon from the ten-billion subsidy.

But the coupon could only be used as a deduction; he could not use it to pay the full price.

If Charles had even one Soul Coin on hand right now, he could buy Wood's Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice cultivation insights.

But his pockets were completely empty, without even a cent to his name. There was simply nothing he could do.

Sitting atop a mountain of treasure yet returning empty-handed was agonizing.

Charles still had not figured out how Soul Coins were obtained, but he already had a guess.

Soul Coins were surely inseparable from souls. Perhaps he would have to kill someone.

Speaking of killing.

Anyone who killed often knew how to do it.

But Charles did not. Being able to use tricks to get rid of Qiaosuo, who had been plotting behind his back, was already him performing beyond his limits.

Having him do it himself was still difficult, and now that the wizards had returned, supervision on the ship would likely become much stricter.

Charles stared longingly toward the upper-deck cabins, yet he did not have the slightest solution.

For now, all he could do was rely on his extraordinary talent to cultivate the Basic Meditation Technique as quickly as possible and advance to a Third-Rank Wizard Apprentice.

When he returned to his quarters, he heard someone shouting next door before he even entered. "Can I switch rooms? Why does this room stink so badly?!"

"Who the hell took a dump in here?!"

"Stay if you want. If not, get lost. Magic Stones are nonrefundable!"

"I'll stay, I'll stay!"

The sea ship left the harbor and continued toward the deep sea.

Though these ships were all made of wood, they had clearly been enhanced with magic. Each one was built as large as a medium-sized cruise ship,

and each carried quite a lot of people.

Half a month had passed since they left the harbor. Charles had cultivated the Basic Meditation Technique to the thirtieth basic rune.

By his estimate, he would need at most another half month to condense all the basic runes and become a Third-Rank Wizard Apprentice.

But from today onward, the rest of the voyage would no longer be peaceful.

Just looking down from the deck, he could see that the sea had turned dark. They had clearly entered the deep sea.

No one knew how deep it was beneath that dim surface.

Charles had barely taken a few more looks from the deck when a Great Knight's voice sounded behind him. "The wizard has issued an order. Starting today, no one is allowed on deck, even during the daytime!"

"After eating, everyone is to return to their quarters immediately and lock their doors and windows. No matter what happens outside, do not open the door!"

Like Charles, all the newcomers who had been on deck obediently returned to their quarters.

From that moment on, Charles felt a growing sense of urgency.

Everything about the ship clearly indicated that, as it entered the deep sea, danger might arise even with the wizard aboard.

There were no wizards or knights protecting the lower and middle decks.

But the upper deck was different. It was closer to the wizards and wizard apprentices, and those allowed up there surely had better talent.

Even if danger struck, the wizards would effectively protect these gifted seedlings.

Having realized this, Charles did not dare slack off in the slightest. He hurriedly took out a set of light armor from his luggage.

It was a set of metal armor made from fairly good materials, with decent defensive power.

Heavy armor was obviously unsuitable for studying on the Wizard Continent, but for his son's safety, the Count had still made Charles bring a set of light armor.

Previously, it had been tossed in a chest beneath his bed, gathering dust.

Now, its time had finally come.

Charles decided that for the coming days, he would wear the armor every day without taking it off and treat it as weighted training for his knight's method.

It would be tiring, but it might save his life.

In the dining hall, Charles did not waste a single morsel. Now that he knew danger might be lurking, he needed to eat his fill and maintain his strength.

Charles was not the only one who sensed danger. Quite a few others felt it too.

Those in the lower-deck cabins were better off, as several people shared each room. There was strength in numbers.

The middle-deck cabins were all single rooms. If danger came, they would have to face it alone.

So many people were now making arrangements to form groups, hoping they could look after one another if danger arose.

Charles had no intention whatsoever of joining them.

Faced with an unknown danger, especially in a supernatural world of wizards and knights, a bunch of weaklings huddling together might not be a good thing.

Joining a group of weaklings might not be safer than being alone.

As he ate, Molly carried her tray over and sat beside Charles.

Seeing the light armor beneath Charles's gray robe, Molly's eyes lit up. She hurriedly asked, "Charles, do you want to join our group?"

"Things definitely won't be safe lately. We've already formed a group of seven. There are two knights and three knight attendants among us. You'll definitely be safer with us than by yourself!"

Charles glanced at Molly and said, "No need. I think I'm better off alone. You guys have fun."

After finishing his last bite, he got up and left.

Behind him came the voice of one of Molly's companions. "Who does he think he is? Molly invited him because she wanted to save him!"

"When he runs into danger, don't any of you go save him!"