Spoils

"Now, tell me what you think!" Dunn said sternly, looking at Hawkins, who knelt ramrod straight before him.

"I wouldn't dare have any thoughts of my own, Captain Dunn. How you deal with me is entirely up to you. Whatever you want me to do, I won't object!" Hawkins immediately responded fervently upon hearing Dunn's words.

"In that case, just kill him!"

"Aye, Captain!"

Hawkins jolted in shock at Dunn's words. Before he could speak, the two pirates beside him immediately drew their blades and stepped forward, ready to act.

Seeing this, Hawkins hurriedly begged for mercy. "Wait, Captain Dunn, spare me! I can still be useful to you!"

This was not how he had expected things to go. For a moment, Hawkins could not help bitterly regretting his attempt to be clever.

A trace of amusement appeared in Dunn's eyes at this, and he signaled for the two pirates to stop. "Oh? Tell me how you can be useful."

Seeing Dunn's interested expression, Hawkins dared not try any more tricks this time, afraid Dunn would simply kill him if he said the wrong thing. "There are still several hundred pirates outside right now."

"Of course, I know you have more men, Captain Dunn, but every captain left at least one class holder outside. That means there are at least four or five class holders out there now."

"Of course, these people are nothing to you, Captain Dunn, but if that many people descend into chaos, I'm afraid they'll inflict considerable losses on your men."

"But with me, things will be different. As long as I lead my men in joining you, the other three ships, already at a disadvantage, will have even less chance of standing against us."

After hearing Hawkins's argument, Dunn considered it briefly before saying, "That sounds somewhat reasonable. I suppose I'll reluctantly take you in."

"Thank you for your generosity, Captain Dunn." Hearing Dunn relent, Hawkins was overjoyed and immediately thanked him profusely.

"However..." Dunn spoke again, looking straight into Hawkins's eyes and abruptly cutting his joy short. "If you're thinking of trying anything, remember Engels. I'll be watching you."

"I wouldn't, I wouldn't! Rest assured, Captain Dunn. From now on, if you tell me to go east, I'll never go west." This brief back-and-forth had already left Hawkins drenched in sweat. At least at this moment, he absolutely dared not harbor any other intentions.

"Mm."

Dunn gave a noncommittal grunt, then turned and left.

Everything had been dealt with. It was time to look at his spoils.

After awakening Conqueror's Color Haki in the consciousness space and obliterating the Ancient Pirate King's consciousness, Dunn had absorbed all his memories, gaining a general understanding of everything about him.

The Ancient Pirate King had been a Fourth Tier Wizard. Yes, the New World had once had Wizards too. Tens of thousands of years ago, the Wizards' reckless experiments had opened the Abyss Gate, resulting in a demonic invasion of the entire New World.

Well... the Wizards of the Old World had done the same thing.

But unlike the Old World, which was entirely under the Wizards' control, the New World had a unique class, [Monk], whose practitioners as a whole were no weaker than Wizards.

After driving out the demons, the Monks saw their devastated homeland and could endure no more. Joining forces with other class holders, they either expelled or exterminated all the Wizards, then banned all knowledge related to them.

This was how the New World had lost the Wizard class entirely.

The exiled Wizards could only flee overseas, where resources were scarce at the time, and eventually faded from the New World's history.

The Ancient Pirate King could be considered one of the New World's last Wizards. As a Wizard specializing in soul spells, he had already reached the threshold of Legendary during his lifetime. Unfortunately, he had ultimately perished for certain reasons.

Fortunately, he had made contingency arrangements before his death, allowing him to cling to existence in these ruins until now.

Dunn walked up to the stone throne. Looking at the Ancient Pirate King's remains, he expressionlessly reached out and pulled the crown off his head, then flung the corpse aside.

After tapping and knocking on the throne a few times, he removed a stone slab, revealing an exquisite box beneath it.

These two items were the most valuable things in these ruins, and the greatest spoils of Dunn's trip.

He opened the box, and a somewhat dazzling light immediately filled his vision. Even though the glare made his eyes uncomfortable, Dunn did not look away, staring fixedly at the delicate glass bottles inside, each filled with liquid of a different color and shimmering with iridescent light.

At this moment, Dunn had only one thought. I've hit the jackpot!

Although he had already learned about them beforehand through the Ancient Pirate King's memories, Dunn still could not help swallowing, his throat bobbing.

The contents of the box were Attribute Potions. Each bottle could raise one of the drinker's attributes by one point, provided it was below Transcendent.

There were six Attribute Potions in the box, in two colors: blue and purple.

According to the information in the memories, the blue ones were intelligence potions, and the purple ones were perception potions, with three bottles of each.

These were a contingency the Ancient Pirate King had left for himself, so he could quickly regain some ability to protect himself after possessing a body.

Originally, there had been more than these few bottles, but to lure people deeper inside, the Ancient Pirate King had left some in the two earlier halls as bait.

Without a doubt, those had been obtained by Grant and Jaeger, and Jaeger had even used them to advance to Third Tier.

No wonder one had risked offending the Pirate King by skipping the Captain's Council, while the other had gathered so many men, both determined to come here at all costs.

After all, even the cheapest Attribute Potion cost several thousand gold coins.

Potions such as intelligence and perception, which were in great demand even among wealthy Wizards, cost over ten thousand gold coins.

As for the crown in Dunn's hand, it was an ocean treasure. Unlike Transcendent items, treasures were naturally born of the world. Dunn's Devil Fruit, for instance, could be considered a kind of treasure.

This ocean treasure was called the Calamity of the Sea. It could slightly influence the weather within a certain area at sea. Although its influence was only slight, its effects could grow stronger over time.

For example, the storm shrouding the entire island and the surrounding waters outside was the accumulated effect of the Calamity of the Sea over many years.

This was a strategic-grade treasure.

The Calamity of the Sea crown alone could sell for at least tens of thousands of gold coins.

Obtaining these fine things put Dunn in an excellent mood, dispelling much of the gloom from his several earlier brushes with death.

"Captain, is it really all right for us not to go after Fisherman?"