The Rise of the Black Plain - Chapter 2675: Riches Left Behind

Minos took the metal box in his hands, enveloping it in a glowing aura from his wings. He tried to open it, but a powerful mechanism prevented him from succeeding in his attempt.

With a glance to the side, his senses spread out in all directions, searching this and other compartments of the ship for a key that would fit that item.

Minos sensed his companions collecting storage items, armor, and weapons from the corpses above where he and Abby stood. Simultaneously, below their position was an area that caught his eye, with coffin-like urns tightly closed.

‘I’ll see those coffins in a little while.’ He continued to probe the wooden ship, passing rooms, bathrooms and special areas, similar to cultivation rooms or preservation and resource areas.

One room made him shift his gaze once again, noticing an 18 cubic meter compartment he couldn’t feel the inside. ‘Another place to inspect.’

Before he could finish what he was doing, his heart beat differently and something popped into his mind. Feeling Izan ducking into a compartment opposite to where he was, Minos felt the only item with any apparent compatibility with the box in his hands.

“Old Izan, I may need the key in your hands,” he said as he walked 20 feet in a single instant, appearing in the place where the old navigator was finishing collecting what he thought was valuable.

In what appeared to be an old kitchen, with various rusty metals and rotten food, long degraded by time, Izan saw his leader showing him a hand. Without a second thought, the man tossed the metal key in Minos’ direction, while looking at the metal box in the hands of this long-haired white human.

“What is this?”

“I don’t know yet, but we’ll find out in the future. But as you said yourself, it’s best not to invest too much time in this vessel,” Minos said as he put the key and the small box away in his spatial ring. “Go back to our ship and get the group ready to leave. Abby and I will check out just two more sites and we’ll join you.”

“All right, boss.”

The old man left while Minos and his beautiful blue-haired wife made their way to the location of the urns, three to be exact, that he had just sensed a few moments ago.

In what appeared to be a damaged refrigeration chamber with a broken door, there were three silver urns of the same size, 3 meters long, 50 centimeters wide, and 40 high. Of the three, one was open, revealing its padded interior, but also a mark, as if something or someone had occupied it for a long time.

Abby glanced at the open urn and remarked, “Someone has been here. He was here not long ago.” Her eyes narrowed as she sensed a distinctive residual energy emanating from the urn’s white interior.

“The ghost?” Minos didn’t have Abby’s abilities, but he could see through his Bright Eyes a remnant similar to that of the being his black hole had swallowed.

“That seems to be the case.” She looked at the two remaining urns, set parallel to each other, with enough space between them for one person to stand between them at a time.

Minos tried to see what was inside the urns, but like the room he had sensed earlier, he couldn’t see through these rectangular boxes.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked as she looked at her husband.

“That this could have the same creature that created that ghost? Yes, that crossed my mind.” He laughed bitterly as he realized his wife’s concern.

“If we take them with us, there’s a risk that we’ll have enemies on board,” she warned.

“I know. But if we can make them obey you, we’ll have experienced sailors of the Violent Sea under our command.” Minos knew the risks, but anything that had the potential for big returns was dangerous. “We could risk another high-level battle, or we could achieve something that could guarantee the safety of our group further down the line.

I don’t want to be pessimistic, but we started this trip badly. If it’s this awful now, what will it be like when we’re halfway through, in two years’ time?”

That worried her too, making her look at those coffins and take a deep breath. “You’re right. We’d better take them with us and find out what they are later. Ghosts don’t form suddenly, so maybe we can interfere with their formation or even prevent it from happening.”

He collected the two closed coffins, as well as the open one, which was not easy for him to abandon. There were certain properties in that artifact that were interesting to study.

They made their way through the wooden vessel, ignoring the sounds of wood echoing through the surroundings, along with the dank smell of death from this structure.

Arriving in front of a large metal door, with a lever and safe combination, the two stopped in silence, considering the possibility that it was locked. If it was, they would hardly be able to open it, given the fact that they couldn’t even feel what was inside.

Just then, the sound of footsteps caught their attention, followed by the appearance of Tiolos.

“We finished collecting the resources from this vessel, and all the men returned to our ship. In a few more moments, our unconscious companions should start to wake up and we can continue our journey,” said the level 116 man as he frowned, looking at this 18 cubic meter chest.

“What’s that?” he asked as Minos touched its lever.

When they heard a click, Abby and Tiolos took a deep breath, luckily finding this vault open.

Upon opening the large door, 3 meters high, 70 centimeters thick and 2 meters long, Minos revealed its inside, where metal walls had shelves on them, with some materials visible even before they entered the vault.

Books and a map were the first items that caught their eye, but then, as the three of them entered the large vault, they came across special herbs, stones and a completely black staff, apparently made of ivory.

Tiolos’ eyes opened wide as he pointed one of his fingers toward that black ivory item. “That…”

“Unexpected. A Supreme grade absorbable weapon!” Abby murmured as she clenched her fists, feeling a distinct energy vibrating within that staff floating 2 centimeters above the shelf it was on.