The Rise of the Black Plain - Chapter 2685: The Reality of Pirate Island
When they docked at the natural harbor on the south side of the island, the group of over 30 people on Minos’ boat hesitated for a moment to get their feet off the boat and actually enter the island.
In this group, counting the two corpses next to Minos and Abby, there were now 6 Supremes, 3 of them level 115, two level 116 and one level 117. But even so, few of the various high-level Sovereigns there were brave enough to be the first to advance.
Minos smiled at the hesitation of his people and took the lead. Fortunately, his skills from the Nautilus’ Compass were passable. He sensed the surroundings of the area and knew exactly which was the best possible route.
Ignoring the rocks where the sea was constantly pounding, making a noise that certainly reached the entire island, Minos headed towards the small strip of grass just ahead of him.
“Let’s go ahead. You can leave the boat here without any problems. Just leave her formations in operation.” Minos ordered, making it clear to the Director what was to be done.
Their vessel could become invisible and untraceable when positioned within a certain distance of the cultivators. And given the location of this port indicated by Walkas, it would be difficult for anyone to get close enough to spot it.
Minos saw this with his new skills, realizing that it would be a waste to leave men to watch their vessel for trouble that might come to them. Following ahead of his group, soon his wives and the Supremes of his crew moved too.
Walkas and Wenni had thoughtful looks on their faces, seeing the arrival area of their desert island, with no sign of intelligent living beings nearby. This was a good sign, but it reminded them of the times when they had filled this island with fellow pirates and partied.
On the hill that Minos was climbing ahead of the group at the moment, they had once made a large camp, where a great celebratory barbecue had taken place tens of thousands of years ago to commemorate his marriage to Wenni.
Walkas sighed as he caught a whiff of the scent of scrub and dead earth characteristic of this area, while he didn’t need to tell Minos which was the best way to go.
Their pirate island had several dangers. Among them were quicksand, sentient and carnivorous plants, underground caves with the presence of geysers and some beings native to the island, slugs and underground worms that were difficult to deal with.
But he and Wenni had a safe route in mind, where neither the island’s natives nor special phenomena capable of harming newly promoted Supremes could afflict them.
Minos sensed his surroundings, feeling as if he were walking through a minefield. One wrong step and he would land his feet in a beast’s den, a dormant plant root or provoke a natural reaction from the area that would result in terrible problems for the crew.
In addition to the natural dangers there, Minos also identified a dozen special formations, which he thought belonged to Wenni’s group or any other group that may have passed through the island in the last few thousand years.
“This place is full of traps.” Minos looked to the horizon, seeing almost the entire island, a small place of extremely rugged terrain, with several peaks, slopes and forested areas mixed with quarries and a waterfall in its center. “Were you setting these traps up ahead?”
Feeling Minos’ gaze on him, Walkas dismissed the nostalgic thoughts from his mind and nodded positively. “Yes. It seems that no one has been here since our end.”
“That’s strange, isn’t it?” Gloria questioned as she narrowed her eyes.
“Not necessarily.” Wenni said with the look of someone who would teach an inattentive junior. “You see, not everyone has our navigation experience or the Nautilus’ Compass that now belongs to Minos. We got here after avoiding a lot of trouble and having to use our strength to the limit in some situations, even with all that time. But what about those who have none of that?” she asked as she gestured with both hands.
“Well, for most of these cultivators, death is what they would encounter long before arriving here.” Wenni continued, “Out of every 10,000 challengers in these seas, about 40 of them would make it to where we are. However, besides our small island, 500 other islands similar to this one exist in the dark Violent Sea.
And for most creatures, there is no possibility of choosing where to go. They simply accept the directions the sea has given them and accept their fate.”
Walkas added, pointing to Minos. “There are also those who do not wish to venture onto the islands of the Violent Sea without devices to guarantee their safety. Anyway, in the end, getting here is difficult even for the Supremes of this sea, so it’s not as strange as it seems.”
“I see.” Gloria looked thoughtfully at her surroundings, inspecting the special plants and tiny insects native to it, creatures she had never seen before.
“What now?” Ruth looked at Walkas, eager to know how this place would help them.
“Now you profit from the riches we’ve built.” The man laughed bitterly, never having thought that all the hardships he had gone through in life would bring him to this moment when he would simply give everything to other people.
Wenni said, “We have sailed the Violent Sea for millennia, a long period in which we have had many enemies and many allies. At the peak of our history, we had 384 pirates on our ship, 90% of them high level Sovereigns and 10% were Supremes.” Her eyes lit up at this point. “Back then, we fought every week, and it wasn’t uncommon for us to raise riches capable of feeding Supremes.”
Walkas continued what his wife had started, “We used many of the resources and riches we collected. Parts of them are certainly in different parts of the great Violent Sea, in sunken ships or other outposts where we hide emergency resources.
But here, in this place, is most of what we’ve conquered, from consumable resources to weapons and special formations. Please follow us. We’ll show you what will take you to your next levels.”