Pirate Island

Felice sat stiffly on the stool as if she were sitting on a red-hot iron. If she hadn't been afraid of upsetting Yang Mu, she would have run away long ago.

Yang Mu cut the steak on his plate while chatting idly with Felice, mainly asking about the Supernatural World and where he could obtain supernatural materials.

The situation in this world was indeed extremely complicated. Werewolves, Vampires, Wizards, witches, Angels, Demons, and more all existed.

It was even said that Heaven and Hell truly existed, though Felice had never been to either. She was merely a Hybrid Succubus. Seducing men and draining their vital essence were what she did most often.

Legend had it that Succubi possessed a promised land of their own called the Fairy Forest, but they had searched for hundreds of years without finding this so-called Fairy Forest.

Many believed it was nothing more than a beautiful legend, just like Heaven.

These supernatural beings formed all kinds of organizations: the Holy Church, which believed in God; the Dark Church, which worshipped Demons; and secret societies devoted to various other gods.

Werewolf families, Vampire clans, technology societies and companies made up of pure humans, Wizard Academies, Witch Covens, and so on—it was utter chaos.

The various factions clashed constantly, while the Supernatural World and the mundane world influenced one another. The emergence of flintlock guns and cannons had also caused a certain degree of upheaval in the Supernatural World, at least at Felice's level.

"What a dazzling world."

After finishing his meal, Yang Mu set down his knife and fork, left behind that sigh, and vanished from the dining hall. Only after he was gone did Felice collapse limply in her chair like a deflated balloon.

"No, I'll go insane if this keeps up. I have to escape. Run."

Felice had considered jumping into the sea several times, but ultimately gave up. If she truly jumped overboard, her chances of survival would be almost nonexistent. Finding an island in the ocean before she starved or died of thirst was practically impossible.

If she encountered a storm, she would certainly die. Even being a Hybrid Succubus would not change that.

Most importantly, Yang Mu did not seem to intend to kill her. At the very least, he needed her to cook for him, and that became her reason to comfort herself.

Her guess was indeed correct. Yang Mu had spared her life partly to learn more about this world's Supernatural World, and partly because he needed someone to handle trivial matters for him.

Although the Dark Forge Meditation did not rely on meditation to increase mental power, meditation still offered great benefits. Aside from increasing a tiny amount of mental power, it could also calm fluctuating mental power.

Yang Mu also needed to carry out some basic improvements to the Dark Furnace Method before throwing it to test subjects to cultivate.

As for Felice, she was not suitable as a test subject.

Over the next few days, Yang Mu and Felice were fortunate enough not to encounter any storms. However, Yang Mu's mental power grew very slowly, almost not at all. This was the normal rate at which a Mage's mental power increased through meditation.

Yang Mu had originally thought that, in this era of rampant piracy, they would soon encounter pirates. He could simply capture them and make them help him find land.

But he had clearly been too optimistic. One night, they were hit by a storm, and the sailboat, already structurally damaged, was easily destroyed.

Felice had long prepared various supplies and placed them in the lifeboat. By the time the larger ship sank, the two of them had already boarded it.

They then drifted across the sea for more than half a month without encountering anything. Aside from the azure seawater, they did not even see a seagull.

They had no way of determining where land might be. They were not on any known shipping route, lost in a desert called the ocean.

A man and a woman sat in the lifeboat. Their food was nearly gone, but that was not a problem. If a Mage lacked food at sea, he might as well smash his head against something and die.

As for fresh water, although Yang Mu was a Necromancer, he still knew some basic water spells. Among the zero-level cantrips was Water Vapor Gathering, which could easily produce water balls.

Before leaving, they had deliberately put on robes that covered their entire bodies to avoid being burned by ultraviolet rays.

Yang Mu had wanted to find a large whale to pull them along. Whether it was fast or not did not matter; what mattered was that it would look cool. However, there seemed to be no whales living in these waters.

Another storm arrived. A mental barrier formed around him, and Yang Mu, who had been meditating, opened his eyes. In the distance, amid the lightning, the shadow of a massive creature appeared, so enormous that its head reached into the thunderclouds.

It looked somewhat like a Thunder Dragon, and Yang Mu heard a deep roar, as if it were guiding him.

Yang Mu looked at it without fear, because it was not in the same space as the current world. For some unknown reason, the two spaces had connected, resulting in this phantom.

It was an extremely powerful creature, roughly equivalent to a Third Order Official Mage. In some worlds with gods, creatures of this level were called legends or Demigods.

However, Yang Mu heard goodwill in its roar, so he made his undead dolphins and sharks change direction and head toward the phantom.

The sea was especially violent on that stormy night. The lifeboat seemed to be leaping through mountains, jumping from one wave crest to another.

When the storm finally stopped, an incredibly tiny black dot appeared in the view of the Mage's Eye above him. Yet it remained there, unwavering.

At last, a smile appeared on Yang Mu's face.

A Holy Corruption Arrow instantly pierced Felice's forehead, and the Flame of Annihilation burned her into nothingness.

She was no longer useful.

Though a mountain could exhaust a horse when viewed from afar, the dolphins and sharks Yang Mu had turned into undead did not need rest. At full speed, they dragged Yang Mu and the lifeboat onward in a mad dash. The lifeboat raced over the water like a speedboat, its bow lifted high.

After a day of racing, Yang Mu finally drew close to the island. Before he had fully approached, he had already seen many ships coming and going, and a smile appeared on his face once more.

When he saw that pirate flags flew from those ships, Yang Mu's smile became even brighter.

This was actually a Pirate Island. Very good.

When the lifeboat sped into the harbor and came to a stop, the surrounding pirates all cast curious looks at him. After all, a boat that could move without oars was quite eye-catching.

After stopping the boat, Yang Mu did not bother with the lifeboat at all. The shabby little boat had no value whatsoever. As for the undead sharks and dolphins, he cared even less. Could anyone possibly seize control of them from him?

Ignoring the pirates gathering around him, Yang Mu released two Armed Skeletons in advance and began strolling around the Pirate Island.

The buildings here were all very low, and there were almost no gaps between them. Taverns, casinos, and restaurants were the main businesses here.