Wish Compass

After dripping the last drop of potion into his mouth, he smacked his lips and said,

"Mm~ It doesn't taste very good. It reeks of fish. Captain, I don't feel anything. Did you get the wrong one?"

Smack! An orange hit him in the face. He caught it as it fell, and then Jack's gruff voice rang out.

"Shut up. Don't spout nonsense when you don't understand."

"Oh."

Higgs answered with an oh and began peeling the orange by himself, saying nothing more.

Barrel Daddy watched the scene and looked at Yang Mu in confusion. Only after Yang Mu gave him a reassuring look did he continue waiting.

Higgs had just finished peeling the orange and eaten two segments when his expression suddenly twisted. The muscles all over his body began to wriggle and swell.

Amid his screams, his body kept growing larger. Cracking sounds of breaking bones echoed out, blood began appearing on his body, and hard scales sprouted one after another from his flesh. His face twisted and warped continuously.

The entire process was excruciating, like every bone in his body had been shattered and reconstructed, while every inch of skin split open to have scales embedded into it.

Screaming, Higgs plunged headfirst into the swimming pool ahead.

The pirates of the Barrel Pirate Crew grew nervous and were about to step forward, but Barrel Daddy raised a hand to stop them, leaving them where they stood.

About five minutes later, a Fishman climbed out of the pool, now stained red with blood.

"Sea Monster Abel?"

Barrel Daddy stared at the Fishman and spoke in astonishment.

"Captain, I've become so strong! But this form is so ugly. Can I turn back?"

Higgs looked at his webbed, clawed hands and spoke with both excitement and fear.

He craved power, but if the price of gaining it was being stuck in this form forever, he was afraid.

Turn back? Of course he could. Did they really think Yang Mu was one of those beginner bloodline potion makers who only developed unreliable junk?

"Of course you can. Feel the power in your body and draw it back in. Picture your human appearance, and that will do it."

Upon hearing Yang Mu's words, Higgs immediately did as instructed. Before long, he returned to his original appearance.

"Brother, how much are these? Name your price. Your big brother here won't haggle."

After witnessing the entire process, Barrel Daddy could no longer sit still. He jumped to his feet and spoke on the spot.

How could he possibly pass up supernatural power without side effects? Even if he did not use it himself, it would still be good for his subordinates.

As for the price, as long as it was not too outrageous, he would take as many as he could get.

Even the other members of the Barrel Pirate Crew stared at Yang Mu with burning eyes.

Yang Mu did not beat around the bush and held up five fingers.

"Fifty thousand Gold Shield per bottle."

"Fine. Give me ten first."

Barrel Daddy said it almost without hesitation. Yang Mu's mouth twitched. Damn it, he had priced them too low. He should have asked for one hundred and fifty thousand per bottle.

Damn rich bastard.

He cursed inwardly, not expecting Barrel to be so wealthy, but still nodded to show his agreement.

Barrel immediately burst into hearty laughter, looking thoroughly pleased.

"I wonder how many of these you have, little brother. Do you have a sales channel? If not, your big brother can help you sell them. I won't even charge you labor costs—I'll just be doing you a favor. What do you say?"

Even Jack could not stand listening to that.

"Hey, hey, hey! Barrel, don't go too far. Labor costs? We'd be generous not to charge you. Once this stuff hits the market, people will be begging us on their knees to sell it to them. If you sell it, you'll gain who knows how many favors. What, you want us to owe you one too?"

Barrel Daddy was not embarrassed in the slightest. After taking another gulp of rum, he said,

"That's true, but if you want to sell them at a good price, you need good channels too. I don't mean anything else by it—I just want to help. I guarantee that if you let me handle the sales, every bottle can be sold for more than one hundred thousand Gold Shield. If it sells for less than that, I'll make up the difference."

In the end, Yang Mu agreed to Barrel Daddy's proposal. As he had said, having good goods alone was not enough to sell them at a good price.

However, aside from the ten Merfolk Potions Barrel Daddy had purchased himself, the remaining eleven would only be handed over after the money was brought to Pirate Island.

Yang Mu could not possibly entrust goods worth a million Gold Shield to a pirate like Barrel.

Barrel had bought ten bottles at fifty thousand Gold Shield each in one go. It seemed easy, but in truth, that was already all the liquid funds the Barrel Pirate Crew had. Otherwise, he would have swallowed the whole deal rather than sharing the profits with others.

Abel's corpse had produced a total of twenty-two Bloodline Potions, and they were now all sold out.

After obtaining a large sum of Gold Shield, Yang Mu naturally began buying more supernatural materials. With Fiona's eyes practically turning into Gold Shield, Yang Mu nearly bought out every supernatural material in Seaside Cottage.

He also purchased a magical item she had been hoarding, called the Wish Compass, for one hundred and twenty thousand Gold Shield.

The Wish Compass was a single-use item, an imitation of a mysterious artifact. After sacrificing ten people, it could point out the direction of the thing one desired most.

As long as one followed the direction it indicated, one would certainly find what one wanted.

This was exactly what Yang Mu needed. After staying on the island for several days and replenishing their supplies, the Undead set sail once more.

The Undead was now much larger than it had been a few days ago, its length growing from twenty-eight meters to thirty-three meters.

But that was not its greatest change. Its greatest change was the eight tentacles it had grown—sea monster tentacles. While sailing, they would occasionally grab marine creatures from the sea and eat them.

Each tentacle had more than a dozen large mouths lined with spiral teeth. Any creature caught by them would be devoured by those mouths.

Faced with the increasingly bizarre Undead, the crew only grew more excited. Such an Undead was undoubtedly stronger and could even help them directly attack their targets during raids.

On deck, Higgs was showing off his new ability. He transformed into a Fishman and effortlessly lifted several huge barrels full of liquor, drawing repeated exclamations and envious stares from the other crew members.

For once, Yang Mu was not conducting experiments on the middle deck. Instead, he held a blood-red compass and adjusted the Undead's course.

As for Old Jack, he lay on a lounge chair basking in the sun, taking occasional sips of rum.

After the captain appeared, the Undead no longer needed him to lead the crew in controlling its course, because the captain could independently control the Undead's direction.

The Undead, which had been as stubborn as a mule in their hands—refusing to move when pulled and backing up when struck—was as obedient as a lapdog before the captain. It did whatever he told it to and went wherever he said.