Hawkins's Mind Virus had been parasitizing Tom and James's consciousnesses. He clearly sensed that their consciousnesses had been struck by another force and directly scattered into ash.
Strictly speaking, the two of them had not truly died before. They had merely been completely controlled by him.
It was much like a computer being completely taken over by a hacker. Other than pulling the plug and reinstalling the system—killing it—there was no way to lift that control.
But killing and annihilation were not the same thing.
The former was not true death. After death, consciousness entered the quantum realm and ultimately merged with the Final Consciousness of the ultimate parallel universe, so it could not be considered true death.
But when Bride killed someone, their consciousness was directly annihilated.
That was true death. In other words, no matter how many parallel universes existed, they would have nothing whatsoever to do with that fragment of consciousness. The consciousness destined for eternal life in the ultimate parallel universe would forever be unable to obtain this portion of consciousness from this universe.
If Hawkins's consciousness were annihilated, that too would be true death.
Moreover, since he was an outsider, he was not even sure whether his consciousness existed in the parallel universes of this world. Perhaps his consciousness existed only in this universe, a one-of-a-kind existence.
"Could this be the soul attack described in novels?"
"Jordas has kept his blade raised the whole time. Is that the condition for activating his ability?"
"Attacking Bride, physical attacks might not work, and might not even kill her. Jordas seems more like the weak point instead."
Under Brain Overclocking, Hawkins could generate hundreds of millions of thoughts per second. Fortunately, the storm not only brought rain to cool him down, but also greatly lowered the surrounding temperature, extending the duration of his Brain Overclocking.
Bride drifted past James and Tom and arrived before him. Her transparent left hand trailed a string of blood droplets as it reached straight for his head. If it hit, his head would definitely be punched through with a huge hole, just like James's and Tom's.
At that moment, Hawkins raised his left hand. His arm rapidly turned to charcoal, while dazzling electric light burst forth.
The pirates all wore various accessories, and Hawkins had a ring on his left hand. Amid the electric light, a laser beam instantly struck Jordas aboard the ship, blowing his head apart in a single hit.
Jordas's entire brain was blasted to pieces. His face was so distorted that no expression could be made out, and his whole body stiffly toppled over.
Sure enough, after Jordas died, Bride's body directly turned into nothingness and vanished.
"Looks like my human electromagnetic cannon is still faster!"
Hawkins smiled, then turned and weakly walked forward.
Ordinary people used computers through all kinds of software, but Hawkins could enter the backend and manipulate the computer—his body—from its very foundation.
Though he had paid the price of one arm, he had not really lost out. After all, he could regrow an arm like a lizard, while Jordas could never threaten him again.
"This world is truly interesting. I'm looking forward more and more to what else I'll encounter later. Hahaha... Hahahahaha..."
He laughed as he walked along the chain, his low chuckle gradually turning into booming laughter. His charred arm was snapped off by the gale and fell into the sea, but he did not care in the slightest.
The Black Knife was completely dark, dead silent.
The bound pirates were tied in strings beneath the mast, and most of them had already stopped breathing.
Hawkins climbed from the bow onto the deck. Seeing the bound pirates, he frowned slightly. These people had not died from suffocation; hunger and cold had claimed their lives.
"Though I'm not the original Hawkins, if everyone dies, I'll be in quite a bind."
Hawkins glanced back at first mate Jon, who was still slowly wriggling along the iron chain like a caterpillar, and could not help grumbling inwardly.
He could not possibly handle a medium-sized sailing ship alone. He definitely needed several sailors and a helmsman. Besides, although he had Hawkins's memories, Hawkins had been extremely dependent on navigators.
The Black Knife's navigator was a frail middle-aged man, likewise bound beneath the mast. Even the strong combatants had died, so naturally he could not escape misfortune either.
Although Hawkins knew quite a bit about navigation, the problem was that it might not apply in this world. Even such unscientific beings as ghosts had appeared—who knew how many more unscientific things existed in these seas?
A medium-sized sailing ship needed at least one helmsman, one navigator, dozens of combatants who also served as sailors, as well as a cook and a doctor.
In fact, Hawkins himself could fill in as both cook and doctor. Whether in cooking or medicine, he stood at the pinnacle. The problem was that he could not possibly waste his time serving others.
As a pirate ship, the Black Knife had no doors on any rooms other than the captain's cabin, and all of them were furnished with hammocks. Once battle broke out, everyone could react quickly.
Hawkins entered the combatants' quarters, where several marines were resting. Though outside the wind howled, rain lashed down, and waves surged sky-high, that could not stop the exhausted marines from sleeping.
Who was easiest to control?
People who were asleep or unconscious!
Hawkins walked over and tapped each marine between the brows. The Mind Viruses he created directly invaded them, and they were controlled in their sleep.
Next, he repeated the same trick and controlled all the marines aboard the ship before heading toward the captain's cabin.
His injuries were not serious, but some wounds had to be treated as soon as possible, or they would affect the growth of his new arm. Moreover, because of Brain Overclocking, he needed to eat a great deal, especially to replenish sugar quickly.
The place that best represented a person was surely the room where they had lived for a long time.
The captain's cabin of the Black Knife had a seal pasted over its door. This prohibited ordinary marines from entering, lest valuable items be quietly pocketed.
Hawkins tore off the seal and opened the door. Perhaps influenced by the original owner, he did not find the room unfamiliar.
In the dim room, several worn Dark Trench Coats hung on the wall. The bookshelf in the upper left corner was filled with old books, while a worn fishskin Sea Chart lay spread across the desk beside it, with a compass polished smooth by handling resting on top.
The room alone showed that the original Hawkins had not been a mindless brute. On the contrary, he had been quite studious.
"So this is the Magic Sea Chart from Hawkins's memories?"
Hawkins stepped forward and gently stroked the fishskin Sea Chart, musing inwardly.
Both Hawkins and Huo Blackblade called this chart the Magic Sea Chart. Its function was singular yet extraordinarily magical: it marked the locations of treasure. Once the previous treasure had been discovered, it would reveal the location of the next one.
The problem was that the Magic Sea Chart was far too ancient and no longer quite matched modern charts. So even knowing the treasure's approximate location, they still had to spend enormous amounts of time and effort searching for it.
The reason the Blackblade Pirates had attacked the village on Vitalia Island was precisely because the latest treasure location marked on the Sea Chart was on Vitalia Island.
But Hawkins knew with a single glance that the original Hawkins had searched in entirely the wrong place.
The original Hawkins's memories contained the appearance of modern charts. With only a slight comparison, Hawkins knew that the treasure was not on Vitalia Island, but on Little Will Island.
The island was extremely small, covering roughly one hundred square kilometers. On the chart, it was merely a tiny dot.
Little Will Island lay at least one hundred and eighty nautical miles away from Vitalia Island, yet on the Magic Sea Chart, it was still part of Vitalia Island. That was enough to show that the Magic Sea Chart was either incredibly ancient, or some mysterious force had forcibly separated Little Will Island from Vitalia Island.
"It's truly wonderful to be alive."
Hawkins sat in the chair before the desk, treating his wounds while looking at the Sea Chart and smiling happily.
As long as one was alive, one could always encounter all kinds of interesting things. Even a wait of hundreds of millions of years would eventually bear fruit and bloom. Just like the black hole evaporation he had observed, its beauty and terror were beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
Hawkins remembered a saying from his previous life: "How could a woman who has seen the sea be content with a stream?"
Hawkins could not be bothered to understand what the saying truly meant, but not everyone who had seen the sea would overlook streams and lakes.
Hawkins had seen many vast and magnificent sights, yet he was still thoroughly enjoying himself in this world, grateful that he had come to this mysterious place.
He had no intention of becoming a god or founding a legacy. He had no interest in power, fame, wealth, or women. He only wanted an unknown adventure, and this Sea Chart suited his taste perfectly.
If this Sea Chart held endless treasures, then he would have endless adventures.
But going on adventures alone would be far too dull. If a few interesting souls could accompany him, that would be better still.