The Abyss

Tap... tap... tap...

Underground, at a depth no one knew, there was nothing but the sound of their footsteps. Though no monsters sprang from the darkness, the heavy sense of oppression and tense atmosphere gradually built in the subterranean gloom, leaving them feeling slightly suffocated.

Accompanied by the pirates' increasingly heavy breathing, the group reached another spacious underground hall.

Its overall layout differed little from the previous hall, with corpses scattered across the floor.

Three open stone doors still stood in three different directions.

Before Grant could speak, the impatient Feishman was the first to ask, "What, did you empty this place out too, Captain Grant? Did you invite us here to feed us your scraps?"

"What's the rush? Everything so far was just worthless junk. The real treasures are farther ahead. If the things here were so easy to get, why would I have invited you?" Faced with the somewhat irritable Feishman, Grant remained composed as he answered.

Feishman understood that perfectly well, but the underground surroundings were oppressive to begin with. Though Grant, who was leading the way, kept saying this stretch posed no danger, they were all pirates. They all knew what sort of people they were, so how could they trust him so easily?

Though the facts had now proven that Grant had been honest on this point, everyone had remained on edge throughout the journey.

On top of that, they had gained nothing after all this time, so the impatient Feishman finally lost some of his reason and could not help challenging Grant.

In the end, Feishman snorted coldly and said no more.

This time, Grant led them to the stone door on the left. Only when they reached the doorway did they discover that there was no path beyond it!

There was no floor inside the doorway. By the faint torchlight, they could see a bottomless abyss below, pitch-black, with no bottom in sight.

Before anyone could ask, Grant hurled his torch toward the other side. It sailed across in an arc and landed squarely on the ground.

The torch lit up a small area on the other side, allowing them to faintly make out a platform across the abyss. Only then did Grant explain:

"All right, everyone. Now it's your turn."

"I tested this abyss before. I threw a stone down, and even after more than ten minutes, I still hadn't heard a sound. So there's no point even considering going down."

"I've already searched every inch of this side of the doorway and found nothing suspicious."

"So I suspect there might be some sort of mechanism on the other side."

Everyone fell silent at Grant's words. Looking at the torch still burning on the other side, they could tell the distance was at least several dozen meters. Even the second-tier professional most skilled at jumping could cover only a dozen or so meters at most, nowhere near enough to cross.

Though Dunn could cross using Geppo, it was still inadvisable to step forward in a situation like this.

For one thing, the situation on the other side was unknown. Dunn had not forgotten that Angry Whale Jaeger was still somewhere inside, his condition unknown, along with whatever might have kept Jaeger trapped here for months.

Even with Dunn's combat strength, going across alone would be no different from throwing his life away if he encountered it.

Besides, there might not actually be a mechanism on the other side. After all, this place had belonged to the former Pirate King. A gap of several dozen meters could stop second-tier professionals like Dunn and the others, but it would pose no difficulty at all for a fourth-tier professional.

It might not even stop a third-tier professional. They had seen no sign of Jaeger anywhere along the way, so he had most likely already crossed to the other side.

"What about the other two rooms? Did you search them thoroughly before?" Astor suddenly asked Grant.

Grant scoffed at Astor's question. "We're pirates. Forget those two rooms-we dug up the entire hall. Anything we could dig out, we took. If you don't believe me, feel free to look."

"Heh, then I won't stand on ceremony." With a sinister chuckle, Astor was about to lead the crew over to investigate.

"Wait." Just then, Engels spoke up, stopping Astor and the others. "There are a few protrusions on the other side. We should be able to secure ropes to them."

Engels's class was [Ranger], and its career ability considerably enhanced his eyesight. Even at this distance, the faint firelight allowed him to see things the others could not.

Engels's words immediately drew everyone's attention. Grant looked delighted. "Then what are we waiting for? Get to it."

Of everyone present, only Engels had the ability to send a rope accurately across, and only he could make out the details on the other side. They could only count on him to do it.

"All right." Engels agreed immediately, then suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to Dunn. "What do you think, Captain?"

So now you finally remember I'm your captain. Why didn't you think to ask me when you first spotted something? Dunn narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Engels, then smiled faintly. "I'll leave it to you, Engels."

The pirates quickly took out the ropes they carried and secured them to specially made arrows.

Everyone then withdrew beyond the stone doorway to give Engels room to work.

Engels took the finely crafted longbow from his back and nocked an arrow with a rope attached. After taking brief aim, he loosed it, and a sharp crack rang out.

The arrow struck the wall and fell. The pirates behind him immediately hauled on the rope, pulling the arrow back.

With only the faint light of that torch, the other side was simply too dark. Even Engels, a [Ranger] who specialized in archery, could not hit the mark so easily, especially with a rope attached to the arrow.

But Engels was a professional, after all, with decades of experience in archery. After several attempts, and after another torch was thrown across when the first one went out, he finally achieved a result.

The arrow streaked across the abyss and into the darkness opposite. Even with Dunn's eyesight, he could only vaguely see it pass through something, then stop and swing around a few times with its momentum.

Engels seized the rope at just the right moment and gave it a hard pull. A faint sound came from the other side, and the rope instantly snapped taut.

At the sight, the pirates could not help bursting into cheers.