Magic Sea Chart

Hawkins's consciousness virus had been parasitizing Tom and James's minds. He clearly sensed their consciousness being struck by another force and scattering into ashes.

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 remove 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 eventually merged with the ultimate consciousness of the ultimate parallel universe, so it could not be considered real 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 that would live forever in the ultimate parallel universe would never obtain this portion of consciousness from this universe.

If Hawkins's consciousness were annihilated, that too would be true death.

Moreover, because 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-and-only existence.

"Could this be the soul attack described in novels?"

"Jordas has kept his sword raised the entire time. Is that the condition for activating her ability?"

"Attacking Bride... physical attacks might not work, and they might not even kill her. Jordas seems more like the weak point instead."

With his brain in an overclocked state, Hawkins could generate hundreds of millions of thoughts every second. Fortunately, the storm not only brought rain to cool him down, but also drastically lowered the temperature around him, extending the time his brain could remain overclocked.

Bride drifted past James and Tom and had already floated before him. Her transparent left hand trailed a string of blood droplets as it reached directly for his head. If it struck him, his head would surely be punched through with a huge hole, just like James's and Tom's.

At that moment, Hawkins raised his left hand. It rapidly turned to charcoal, while dazzling electric light erupted from it.

The pirates all wore various accessories, and he had a ring on his left hand. Amid the electric glare, a laser beam instantly struck Jordas aboard the ship, blowing her head apart in one shot.

Jordas's entire brain was blasted to pieces. Her face was so twisted that no expression could be discerned as she 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 sorts of software, but Hawkins could access the backend and control the computer—his body—from its very foundation.

Though he had paid the price of one arm, he had not truly lost out. After all, he could regrow an arm like a lizard, while Jordas could no longer threaten him.

"This world is truly interesting. I'm looking forward more and more to what I'll encounter next. Haha... hahahaha..."

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, yet he did not care in the slightest.

The Black Knife was completely dark, as silent as a grave.

The bound pirates were tied in strings beneath the masts, and most of them had already stopped breathing.

Hawkins climbed from the bow onto the deck. Seeing the bound pirates, he frowned slightly. They had not died of suffocation; hunger and cold had claimed their lives.

"Even if I'm not the original Hawkins, I'll be in quite a bind if everyone is dead."

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 possessed Hawkins's memories, Hawkins had been extremely dependent on a navigator.

The Black Knife's navigator was a frail middle-aged man, likewise tied beneath a mast. Even the sturdy combatants had died, so naturally he had not been spared.

Although Hawkins knew quite a bit about navigation, there was no guarantee it would apply in this world. Even unscientific things like ghosts had appeared; who knew how many other 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.

As for the cook and doctor, Hawkins could fill both roles himself. Whether it was 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 except 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. Several marines were resting. Though raging winds, torrential rain, and towering waves churned outside, they could not stop the exhausted marines from resting.

Who was easiest to control?

Those who were asleep and those who were unconscious!

Hawkins walked over and tapped each marine between the brows. The consciousness viruses he created directly invaded them, controlling them in their sleep.

Next, he repeated the same trick and took control of all the marines aboard 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. Furthermore, because of his 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.

A seal had been pasted over the captain's cabin door of the Black Knife. It prohibited ordinary marines from entering, lest valuable items be pocketed for private gain.

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 trench coats hung on the wall. The bookshelf in the upper-left corner was filled with old books. Beside it, an aged fish-skin sea chart lay spread over the desk, with a compass polished smooth by countless turns weighing it down.

From the room alone, it was clear that the original Hawkins had not been a brainless 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 fish-skin sea chart, thinking to himself.

Both Hawkins and Blackblade called this chart the Magic Sea Chart. Its function was simple, yet remarkably magical: it marked the location of treasure. Once the previous treasure was found, 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 maps. Thus, even knowing the treasure's approximate location, one still had to spend enormous time and effort searching for it.

The reason the Blackblade Pirates had attacked the village on Vitalia Island was precisely because the sea chart's latest marked treasure location was on Vitalia Island.

But Hawkins knew after only one glance that the original Hawkins had searched entirely in the wrong place.

The original Hawkins's memories contained the appearance of modern maps. With only a slight comparison, Hawkins knew the treasure was not on Vitalia Island, but on Little Will Island.

The island was extremely small, with an area of roughly one hundred square kilometers. On a sea chart, it was only 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. This was enough to show that the Magic Sea Chart was either incredibly ancient, or some mysterious power had forcibly separated Little Will Island from Vitalia Island.

"Being alive truly is wonderful."

Hawkins sat in the chair before the desk, treating his wounds as he looked at the sea chart and smiled 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 one day blossom and bear fruit, just like the evaporation of black holes he had observed. Their 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 the original meaning of that saying, but not everyone who had seen the sea would disregard 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 desire to become a god or founding ancestor, and held no interest in power, fame, wealth, or women. He merely wanted an unknown adventure, and this sea chart suited his tastes 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 even better.