Chapter 51: Treasure Acquired and the Next Naval Battle Begins~ "..."
"Sylph, look at this." After a long wait, there was finally some movement coming from the cave behind us.
Sang Zhitao turned her head and saw Baron walking out carrying a box the size of her palm.
Sang Zhitao took the box and immediately knew that this was the box containing the treasure map. After carefully examining the patterns on it, she thought for a moment, then pulled out a hairpin from her hair, inserted it into the keyhole, and carefully fiddled with it a few times. The box made a crisp "click" sound, and the lid opened instantly.
"You?" Baron looked her up and down with a surprised expression.
"What's wrong?" Sang Zhitao looked at him strangely.
Baron hesitated for a moment before saying, "Why would a princess like you know how to pick locks?"
Sang Zhitao shrugged indifferently: "Even a princess has her little hobbies."
"A hobby? Lock picking?" Baron felt a sense of absurdity.
"Back then, in order to venture out into the world, I learned some small skills." As soon as Sang Zhitao finished speaking, she gave him a look that said, "Don't ask any more questions."
Baron shrugged, shook his head, and indeed stopped asking questions. After all, he didn't want to know anything that might involve noble secrets.
Sang Zhitao was very satisfied with his attitude. After all, it was really hard to say. The original owner didn't have any hobbies like lock picking. This little skill was something she had learned after leaving the orphanage.
Orphanages typically raise children until they are eighteen, but some orphanages stop raising them once they reach sixteen and are capable of taking care of themselves.
The orphanage she was in was the same, but there wasn't much for a sixteen-year-old girl to do. However, she was lucky enough to meet a kind person who took her under his wing as a "locksmith." But not long after, that person was arrested, and because she was young and a first-time offender, she received no punishment.
She inherited her uncle's tools, but not his job. She used the lock-picking tools to pass the time while doing odd jobs, and eventually she learned how to use them.
"What's inside?" Barron, his mind racing, looked at the opened box and immediately changed the subject, asking, "What's inside?"
Sang Zhitao reached inside and pulled out a palm-sized piece of paper and a guide.
“This is…” Baron looked at the paper, his brows furrowed.
"Does this look familiar?" Sang Zhitao looked up at him.
Baron frowned, staring at the piece of paper in deep thought, before finally speaking: "This is...this is a treasure map!"
"Anything else?" Sang Zhitao continued to ask.
“It’s mine.” Barron’s face was extremely grim.
"To be precise, it's one-ninth of your family's treasure map?" Sang Zhitao placed the piece of paper in Baron's arms.
Baron paused for a moment, then took the piece of paper, staring at it blankly before nodding. "Yes, back then, my uncle rebelled and took the treasure map with him. I thought it was still with him, but during yesterday's interrogation, he said the treasure map was lost. That idiot..."
Seeing the sarcastic smile on Baron's face, Sang Zhitao patted his shoulder reassuringly before saying, "At least one-ninth of it has returned. Perhaps one day you will be able to collect the complete map."
Baron pursed his lips, slowly exhaling the knot in his chest, before saying, "Perhaps."
“This compass is quite interesting; it doesn’t even have a pointer.” Sang Zhitao held the compass in her hand for a long time before tossing it to Baron.
"Aren't you curious about what treasure is hidden in this treasure map?" Baron hesitated for a moment before carefully putting the compass and the piece of paper back into the original box, and then placing the box against his chest.
After placing it down, he looked at Sang Zhitao, his lips slightly pursed and a strange emotion flashing in his eyes.
"Isn't it just a legendary treasure that can grant immortality?" Sang Zhitao said nonchalantly.
"You know?" Baron was somewhat surprised, but looking at Sang Zhitao, he suddenly said, "No wonder, the Holy Spirit Kingdom has existed for so long, it's not surprising that they know these things."
Seeing that he had found a reason on his own, Sang Zhitao stopped making up excuses to deceive him. Instead, she looked meaningfully at the moon in the night sky and said, "Perhaps immortality is also a curse."
"What?" Her voice was too soft for Baron to hear clearly at first.
"It's nothing." Sang Zhitao shook her head, then pointed to the boxes being carried out one by one and said, "We'll count them later, give some to everyone, and confiscate the rest."
Barron looked back at the dozen or so boxes that had already been moved out, and then nodded, "It's fine, don't worry."
Seeing this, Sang Zhitao said nothing more, yawned, patted Baron and said, "Then I'm going back to sleep. You keep an eye on things."
“Okay, goodnight.” Barron nodded.
Since obtaining the first batch of unexpected treasures, Sang Zhitao has never encountered any other opportunities along this route. She can only spend her days bored on the deck, staring blankly at the endless sea.
“Judging from the current ripples, we are still three days away from the Dark Vortex,” Baron said, bringing a compass and a parchment notebook close to her.
"You don't need to look at your calculations anymore. Just look ahead and you'll know we're almost there." Sang Zhitao pushed aside the parchment book that was handed to her and pointed to the sea in front of her.
Baron raised an eyebrow, then looked up and his expression darkened slightly: "Why are there so many?"
Sang Zhitao held a pair of binoculars, looked at them for a moment, and then handed them to Baron with a somewhat grim expression, saying, "Take a look at this one too."
Seeing her expression, Barron frowned, raised his binoculars to his eyes, and looked at the flamboyant sails of the pirate ships in the distance. His face suddenly turned ugly.
“Redhead, Victory Goddess, Ghost, these three are all here. And look, a few more from the south are here too.” Sang Zhitao frowned slightly. In her original book, she hadn’t written that these groups would come to chase this not-so-large dark vortex.
However, she quickly stopped thinking about it, after all, there were many major plot changes in the previous two worlds as well.
"What do you think? Give up?" Baron thought for a moment and looked at Sang Zhitao, his eyes full of worry.
Sang Zhitao shook her head. This time the dark vortex was indeed not large, but she had written in the original book that the fragments of the Baron family's treasure map were also inside, and she was determined to get them!
Baron was not surprised to see this. He sighed deeply and said, "In that case, let's keep going. And Lady Luck might be on our side."
Sang Zhitao shook her head dismissively, then thought for a moment before saying, "Let's approach slowly and have someone clever find out what these big shots are doing here."
"Yes, don't worry, I know." Baron nodded in agreement.
Holding binoculars and watching the fleet of pirate ships in the distance, Sang Zhitao sighed deeply. She knew that once these big shots arrived, the other pirates would swarm in like vultures to carrion.
"Are you worried?" Eureka suddenly came up from behind.
"Ouch! That scared me to death." Sang Zhitao rolled her eyes at him before nodding.
Eureka shrugged indifferently: "That's how pirates are, they die today and live tomorrow. If you want to be a pirate, you have to be prepared to throw your life to the wind."
Sang Zhitao raised an eyebrow, looking at him in surprise, and said, "You can actually say such philosophical things?"
Eureka hissed and then said speechlessly, "What image do I have in your eyes?"
Sang Zhitao thought for a moment before cautiously asking, "Are you sure?"
Eureka narrowed her eyes, her expression full of skepticism, and said, "I'm sure! Tell me!"
Sang Zhitao pondered for a moment before saying, "Baron said you traded your brains for force."
“Baron!” Eureka gritted her teeth and spat out the two words.
Sang Zhitao patted his shoulder casually, suppressing a laugh that almost escaped her lips, and coughed lightly, saying, "It's fine."
"Sylph!" Eureka turned around, glared at her back, and then quickly ran towards Baron.
Sang Zhitao looked at John, who had been assigned to sit next to Barron, and carefully instructed him, "Tell anyone who looks for me that I'm sleeping, especially First Mate Barron."
Although John was puzzled, he nodded emphatically.
Baron naturally wanted to talk to Sang Zhitao about this, after all, he had been severely punished by Eureka.
But loyal John wouldn't let him in no matter what. Helpless, Barron could only cover his bluish lips, gasp for breath, and stare at Sang Zhitao's tightly closed wooden door for a long time before turning and leaving.
A day later, the Anling encountered other fleets.
"Hey, where did this little one come from? Hurry up and go home to your mother. Adult matters are not suitable for you."
"Hahahaha, the baby should go back to drinking milk!"
A fleet of pirate ships adorned with a large red sword pattern watched the Anling ship mockingly.
Sang Zhitao was sound asleep when she was awakened by a series of mocking voices. She rolled her eyes, got dressed, and then trudged out the door.
Just before leaving, she glanced at the iron rod beside her, narrowed her eyes, thought for a moment, picked up the iron rod, and then went out.
"What's going on?" Sang Zhitao asked with a cold face as she looked at Little John who was bringing over breakfast.
John was startled by her cold, sharp eyes and expressionless face. He had been following Sang Zhitao for some time and had never seen her with such an expression before.
"It's...it's a pirate ship we encountered. They...they had a dispute with our crew." Little John took a few steps back in fright before stammering.
Sang Zhitao coldly replied, "Hmm."
He then picked up the iron rod and walked quickly forward.
Seeing her furious expression, John's face turned pale. He quickly put the breakfast in the room and ran to Eureka's room.
At this moment, Eureka was about to kill someone with a large knife, but Baron held him back and tried to persuade him to stop.
"First Mate! First Mate!" Little John rushed in, startled by the mess in the room, before saying after Barron frowned, "The captain took a stick and went to find the Red Blade!"
"What!" Baron was so surprised that he let go of her hand and was pushed away by Eureka.
"Eureka!" Baron called out to him as he ran out.
Eureka waved her hand dismissively and said, "Don't delay any longer, or she'll wipe them all out."
Baron looked at him, held his breath, then exhaled heavily before glaring at him and saying, "Alright! I got it!"
Without saying a word, the two of them grabbed their weapons and ran outside.
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