Underwater Voyage

Although he could sense that the captain did not want them to take Fishman Potions, if the crew truly asked the captain and hoped to take them, he felt the captain would not refuse.

Jack actually knew that compared to slowly gaining power through study, the crew would rather take potions and obtain great strength in a short time.

Pirates had no future. Although everyone knew that through study, they could gain even greater power—after all, the captain was proof enough, and his strength was beyond doubt.

But they feared they would not live to see that day. Even someone as strong as Higgs had died in a single battle. Their chances of death were only greater, and they hoped even more than Yang Mu that he would find those Fishmen.

After hurriedly taking away everything useful, Jack came to the middle deck, where Yang Mu was currently crafting magical items.

He had already broken through to become an Official Mage, so the magical items on him naturally needed to be upgraded. Even Apprentice Rank Mixed Magic seemed quite limited in power to him now.

He was carving a deep-sea diamond and inscribing it with magical formation patterns. Since it was inherently a water-element material, Yang Mu did not spend much effort converting its attributes and directly inscribed a water-element defensive formation onto it.

It was called Spiral Water Shield. The name sounded unremarkable, but it was considered top-tier even among First Order water-element defensive spells. It possessed extremely strong defensive effects and also came with a certain healing effect.

Jack watched Yang Mu's movements—elegant, precise, and efficient. He did not disturb him. Only after Yang Mu embedded it into a necklace did he prepare to speak, but Yang Mu spoke first.

"What is it? What did you find?"

Yang Mu knew that Jack would never set foot on the middle deck without something important.

"Captain, I found a sea chart. It marks a place called Merman Island. I suspect this is the Fishman settlement you have been looking for. The Sith Lineage likely relied on the Red Cross Pirate Crew to transport supplies there."

"Oh? How far is it from here?"

Yang Mu raised his head in surprise and used spiritual power to take the chart from Jack's hand. After confirming it, he asked.

"At the Undead's speed, it will take around ten days. But that island is not on a regular route. We need to pass through many currents and reef zones to reach it. The Undead is now a four-masted sailing ship, so entering that area recklessly would be rather dangerous."

"It is no matter. The Undead need not worry about reefs. As for the currents, after devouring that sea monster, it can now travel underwater. Currents are no threat. Set sail. We will first take a look at this Merman Island."

"Yes!"

After Yang Mu decided to go take a look, Jack raised no further objections. He answered and left the middle deck.

Although he was extremely interested in underwater travel, he had no desire to try it. The Undead might be able to go underwater, but who knew what it would be like? Would it create a space for the crew?

It would be fine if it did, but what if it did not? Then they would be in serious trouble.

After confirming their new destination, the Undead naturally stopped wandering around its current route. After devouring several pirate ships, it headed for the target waters.

Yang Mu remained on the middle deck, crafting all sorts of potions and magical items to improve his strength. From time to time, he called Jack down, tossed him several bottles of potions, and had him test their effects.

On the seventh day, they entered a sea region with an exceptionally harsh environment. Violent winds and torrential rain never ceased, and thick bolts of lightning struck down from time to time. The Undead had already been hit several times.

After being struck by lightning for the fifth time, the Undead finally could not take it anymore and took the initiative to dive underwater.

"Hey, hey, hey... Undead, what are you doing?"

"Wah! Wah! Wah! Are we sinking? Did we hit a reef?"

"Boss Jack, Boss Jack, save us! I don't want to die yet!"

Seeing the Undead plunge headfirst underwater, the pirate crew immediately erupted into panicked shouts.

"Shut the hell up, all of you! The Undead can now travel underwater. You won't drown."

Though he said that, Jack looked equally nervous. Watching the sea surface draw closer and closer, he took a deep breath and prepared to hold it.

But once he entered the seawater, he discovered that things were not as bad as he had imagined. Underwater, the Undead formed an enormous air bubble around them, like an invisible transparent barrier supporting a waterless space above the ship.

Cheers immediately rang out. The crew crowded against the railings to watch the fish swimming through the surrounding seawater. Many wanted to reach out and touch the water, but when they extended their hands, they discovered something.

The seawater that looked so close was actually still quite a distance away from them.

Their first voyage along the seabed still left them incomparably excited. Even for Jack, who had spent half his life at sea, the experience was incredibly novel.

After diving beneath the sea, thunderstorms naturally ceased to be a threat. No matter how fierce the wind and rain raged on the surface, the seabed remained calm.

The only problem was that the light underwater was extremely dim, and without the stars in the sky as reference, it was not easy to determine their route. Fortunately, Jack could now be considered a Mage Apprentice. He used Mage's Eye to observe the surface and kept the Undead heading in the correct direction.

Beneath the surface, the reefs were exposed before their eyes, eliminating the risk of running aground.

In truth, even if they did hit a reef, given the Undead's current durability, it would suffer virtually no damage so long as it was not struck repeatedly in a short period.

The Undead traveled underwater for a day and a half before finally passing through that sea region plagued by constant thunderstorms. Without a special method, ninety-nine out of every hundred ordinary ships would be left behind in those dangerous waters.

The only one to survive could only be said to have been lucky.

For the Red Cross Pirate Crew to cross such dangerous waters year after year, they must have possessed some special method. But everything had been destroyed by Yang Mu's single Dark Star, and nothing special had been found aboard their ship.

When the Undead surfaced from the sea, the sky was still dim, but the terrifying storm had vanished. Jack and the others let out long breaths of relief.

Although they had only stayed beneath the sea for a day and a half, once the initial novelty wore off, discomfort soon set in. Darkness surrounded them, and there was no sound besides their own breathing and heartbeats, making it easy to feel claustrophobic.

Now that they had returned to the surface, a sense of openness immediately filled their hearts. After sailing for another half day, they finally reached their destination: an island more than ten kilometers in diameter.