Night Visitor

This time, even more people kept an eye on Yang Mu when he left. But he did not care. They were merely pirates; when the time came, he could just burn them as firewood.

As he took in the atmosphere unique to pirate civilization, he spotted a shop. Though it stood in the busiest district, few people entered it. Ordinary people could not even notice its existence.

That was because it was a shop run by a supernatural being. Mental suggestion surrounded it, and to ordinary people, the shop simply did not exist.

Yang Mu had not expected to find a place here where he could buy supernatural materials. Having nothing on hand at the moment, he naturally had to take a look inside. He just did not know what currency was used in this world's Supernatural World.

With a jingle, Yang Mu pushed open the door and entered. Hearing the bell, a blonde woman turned around and smiled.

"Welcome."

Perhaps because Yang Mu's attire differed from that of a pirate, the woman froze for a moment. The smile on her face became less professional and more sincere.

"Sir, what can I get for you?"

"What do you use as currency here?"

Yang Mu walked to the counter and picked up a round object resembling a glass bead. It was a Merfolk Tear, a tear genuinely shed by a merfolk, and one of the basic ingredients for brewing magical potions.

"Gold Shields, of course."

Yang Mu glanced at the woman. She was in her twenties, with no traces of magic on her body. In other words, she truly was a young woman in her twenties. No wonder she spoke so naively. She was probably only a clerk, not the real owner.

But what surprised him even more was that the currency used for transactions was actually Gold Shields.

"How many Gold Shields is this Merfolk Tear?"

"Hmm, let me think... Ah, right, thirty Gold Shields."

Yang Mu put down the Merfolk Tear, then pointed at several other items. He discovered that although Gold Shields were used as currency, the prices were extremely high. Even basic materials cost dozens, or even over a hundred, Gold Shields.

Yang Mu selected only a few ordinary materials, yet still spent several hundred Gold Shields. Still, that was quite good. It was far better than spending a great deal of time gathering them himself.

Under Fiona's enthusiastic send-off, Yang Mu left the supernatural materials shop called Seaside Cottage.

As he stepped outside, he bumped into someone. The man was a burly middle-aged fellow with a mass of black beard braided into two black plaits that hung all the way to his chest.

"Uncle Abel, you're here. What do you need this time?"

The moment the door closed, Fiona's voice reached his ears. There was a reason such a shop had appeared here: there were quite a few supernatural beings among the pirates.

The sea held too many secrets. Many pirates gained strange abilities or items for various reasons, thereby coming into contact with the Supernatural World.

It was not strange for other customers to appear. Leaning on his cane, Yang Mu walked into the sunset, preparing to find suitable lodgings. The pirates who had been following him had lost his trail after he entered Seaside Cottage.

But that night, his lodgings still received many visitors.

If pirates truly followed the rules, they would not be pirates.

"Boy, didn't expect this, did you?"

Yang Mu opened his eyes helplessly and looked at the last captain who had lost his entire fortune to him. The man had barged into his bedroom with several others.

"You're already the fifth group. Looks like I need to do something, lest everyone think I'm an easy target."

The moment Yang Mu finished speaking, the Armed Skeletons standing in the shadows like two statues raised their blades and slashed at them.

Bang! The pirate captain who raised his blade to block was forced back several steps by the strike. A scream sounded beside him as well. One Armed Skeleton's bone blade had already sunk halfway into a pirate's neck.

The Armed Skeletons did not bother blocking the shoddy swords and blades hacking at them. Scimitars struck their plate armor with dull thuds, while some longswords easily pierced through the gaps between their bones.

Before the pirate who had pierced an Armed Skeleton could celebrate, the skeleton swung its blade backhandedly and chopped off his head.

"So strong. But Crimson Parker did not earn his name for nothing!"

Rather than retreat upon seeing this, the pirate captain cried out excitedly. A ring on his left index finger suddenly glowed red, enveloping his body in crimson light.

Captain Parker swung his blade. Bang! The pirate scimitar collided with the bone blade and actually shattered the strengthened weapon, knocking the Armed Skeleton backward.

Seeing that he had gained the upper hand, he pressed the attack, continuously hacking at the Armed Skeleton.

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah, yeah..."

Seeing their captain's ferocity, the remaining pirates cheered and swarmed toward the other Armed Skeleton, hacking its black robe into tatters and exposing its true form.

"Th-this... it's a skeleton! He's a black Wizard! Ah! Run!"

The instant they realized they were facing a black Wizard, the ordinary pirates screamed and tried to flee.

Shadow Chains.

Chains spread out from the shadows with a clatter, binding the fleeing pirates tightly. As ordinary people, they had little strength to resist, and the pursuing Armed Skeletons cut them all down.

Seeing that things had gone wrong, Crimson Parker sent the Armed Skeleton before him flying with a slash, then turned and ran toward the window, intending to break through it and escape.

Weakness.

Yang Mu's calm voice rang out again, but to Parker, it sounded like a Devil's whisper. His entire body went limp, as weak as if he had been bedridden for days without eating anything.

Crack! The bone blade struck his spine, producing the sound of bones colliding. The red light around Parker seemed to do more than enhance his strength; it also made his body harder, preventing the Armed Skeleton from taking off his head in a single stroke.

Yang Mu had no habit of tormenting ants, so the Armed Skeleton quickly delivered a second slash and severed his neck.

Yang Mu blocked the spurting blood with his mental power, preventing it from splattering everywhere.

He had the Armed Skeletons hang these men's heads outside the room, while the remaining bodies were naturally burned in a fire.

With their heads serving as a warning, no one should disturb him tonight.

Yang Mu examined the ring removed from Parker's hand. It was silver, and Mithril at that. Strange patterns were engraved upon it, with a ruby set at its peak.

Based on Parker's earlier performance, Yang Mu could not decipher what the patterns on the ring meant, but he knew that they were likely this world's magical runes.