Chapter 12 The Pirate's Trove

[Main Quest Completed]

As Feng Bujue unlocked the metal treasure chest with the Pirate's Golden Key, the system prompt sounded. The task in the quest bar, "Go with the flow, find and open the pirate's treasure," was also checked off.

"Hmm... let me see..." Brother Jue said as he opened the chest with both hands, a delighted expression on his face. "Whoa... there's quite a bit..." After a quick glance, he looked up and called out, "Is this everything?"

"Yes," said the Dian He King in a rather depressed tone. "I've moved all the high-quality items in this script that you can take away into this chest... a total of six pieces of equipment, four consumables, one miscellaneous item, and two skill cards." When it got to this point, it hesitated slightly before adding, "That miscellaneous item is the... 'treasure of the pirate world' I mentioned."

"Oh? Is it the one_piece?" Feng Bujue said, looking down and rummaging through the chest.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." the Dian He King replied. "The treasure I'm referring to is..."

"Oh... it's this." Feng Bujue interrupted, taking out a large, silver-plated goblet from the chest.

[Name: Blackbeard's Skull]

[Type: Other]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Effect: Opens Blackbeard's Treasure]

[Note: Some say that after Blackbeard's head was cut off, it circled the Adventure many times before disappearing forever into the depths of the sea. Others say that Lieutenant Maynard hung the severed head on the bowsprit of his warship and took it back to Virginia. A week later, they boiled Blackbeard's head, wrapped it in silver foil, and made it into a goblet, which was used in taverns. Until one day, a group of people who coveted Blackbeard's treasure but had no clues set their sights on this silver-plated pirate skull... Soon after, it mysteriously disappeared from the east coast of the United States and has not been heard from since...]

As Brother Jue picked up the goblet, he waved for his teammates to come over and watch, so they all saw the item description.

"Hmm... even though the quality is legendary, it feels like... there are a lot of things I don't understand..." Buu said after reading it.

Ou Bu also chimed in, "Yeah, it says it can open Blackbeard's treasure, but it doesn't say where the treasure is specifically... and I don't really understand the things mentioned in the note... what's the Adventure, Lieutenant Maynard..."

"Hmph... you're so ignorant!" Feng Bujue suddenly raised his voice and shouted, "You don't even know this basic stuff! Can you even be considered pirates?"

"I'm sorry! Captain! We've let you down!" Buu and Ou Bu replied almost in unison, both looking ashamed.

"Hey—why are you apologizing! You guys aren't pirates to begin with, are you!" Xiao Tan was shocked to see this. "And... why did the title change from 'Teacher Jue' to 'Captain'!"

"Uh... yeah..." Buu mumbled somewhat dazedly.

Ou Bu reached out and wiped the sweat from his temples, chuckling dryly. "Hehe... it's because Teacher Jue is too imposing, I couldn't help but..."

"Listen up, you guys!" Feng Bujue, still acting as if he were in character, continued from where he left off, speaking as if he were teaching, "Blackbeard, also known as Edward Teach... was the villain of villains, the pirate of pirates. From the moment he stepped onto the Queen Anne's Revenge, he became famous throughout the seven seas in less than two years, inspiring fear wherever he went. But... after a brief period of glory came destruction. In the end, Blackbeard was wiped out in an encirclement by two British naval warships... the Adventure was the name of the pirate ship he was on before he died, and Lieutenant Maynard was the man who led the soldiers who surrounded and killed him."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Actually, strictly speaking, the real cause of Blackbeard's death was... a hangover. In that battle... if he had been sober enough, the sailors wouldn't have had any chance against him at all. But... there are no ifs in this world." A hint of regret appeared in his eyes as he sighed and said, "After the battle... the soldiers found a total of twenty-five knife wounds and five gunshot wounds on Blackbeard's body... That madman fought like Dian Wei possessed until the very end."

At this point, he put on a mysterious look. "After the fierce battle, Maynard ordered Blackbeard's head to be cut off and his body thrown into the sea to feed the sharks. From then on, legends about the head began to circulate... and the two most famous versions are the ones mentioned in the item's note." He paused, intentionally lowering his voice as he continued, "It is said... that the Royal Navy searched Blackbeard's fleet but only found 145 bags of cocoa beans, 11 barrels of wine, 1 barrel of indigo, and 1 bale of cotton; no gold, silver, or treasure maps...

With Blackbeard's death, the whereabouts of the large amount of treasure he had plundered also became unknown. Just like he said in his lifetime - only the devil and I myself can find the location of the treasure."

"Wow~ so amazing~" Xiao Tan, Buu, and Ou Bu all stared at Brother Jue with admiration, nodding and sighing in unison.

At some point, the three of them had sat down... and were sitting cross-legged around Brother Jue.

"Anyone who didn't know better would think we were having a kindergarten class here..." Xiao Ling squinted, looking rather helpless at the four male players in front of her.

"Sigh... what kindergarten teacher would tell these kinds of stories to children..." Ruo Yu shook her head, supporting her forehead.

Little did she know... when Feng Bujue was a volunteer, he told similar stories to some children. Of course... the result was that he was successfully blacklisted by many organizations (including law enforcement agencies, social welfare agencies, and some non-profit organizations).

"Is story time over?" At this moment, the Dian He King's voice rang out again. "Feng Bujue, I have shown my 'sincerity', shouldn't you state your position too?"

"Hehe... what's the rush, I still have one thing to ask you." Brother Jue replied with a smile.

"After the transaction is completed, I will naturally tell you everything about 'that pearl'," the Dian He King replied. "But not now... you haven't agreed to anything yet, how could I..."

"I know~ I know..." Feng Bujue interrupted. "The thing I want to ask is not that." As he spoke, he winked and gestured to his teammates, signaling them to quickly take out the items in the box and distribute them. "What I want to ask is... after reaching an agreement with you, can we still clear the game?" He spread his hands and said, "You should also be very clear... the main quest we have left, which is this script's first main quest - [Find 'My' Remains], is undoubtedly a quest that targets you and will guide us to eliminate you. If we become allies with you, wouldn't that contradict the conditions for clearing the game?"

"You can rest assured about that," the Dian He King replied. "As long as you follow my instructions, you can take the 'hidden plot' route to clear the game, and the main quest will change."

"Oh? Such a good thing?" Feng Bujue raised an eyebrow. "Alright then, I'll give up the deal with Zun-ge and ally with you."

"Uh... Teacher Jue, isn't that too lacking in contractual spirit..." Buu, who was standing not far away, couldn't help but say honestly.

"Brother Jue, isn't that too lacking in integrity..." Xiao Tan also said.

"What are you nagging about!" Feng Bujue turned around and winked back. "I'll take responsibility if something happens."

Seeing this, the teammates all understood that Brother Jue had his own plans. So, no one said anything more.

Anyway... if anything really happened, it would be Feng Bujue who offended someone (a Main Universe Boss-level NPC). Those Zuns and Kings... would look for him for revenge.

"Then, let's sign the contract." After a few seconds, the Dian He King's voice rose again.

At the same time, a white light flashed, and a piece of parchment appeared out of thin air, falling in front of Brother Jue.

"Huh?" Feng Bujue picked up the paper and said, "Is this going to make me transform into a magical girl... or is it going to give me a geass or something..."

"It's just an insurance policy for our transaction..." the Dian He King replied. "One minute ago, you could betray Zhuan Jie Zun, and one minute later, you can betray me too... We are all smart people, I believe... you can understand."