Chapter 179: What Was That Treasure?

A sight of unimaginable wealth and wonder greeted my eyes. The pirate's secret treasure trove lay before me, a glittering sea of gold and shimmering magic items. The chamber was vast; its dirt wall didn't even take away its richness.

Golden coins were scattered in abundance, forming great piles that glinted in the faint light that seeped through hidden crevices. Jewels of all colors adorned the treasure. Many magic items of many Levels lay on the ground: swords, spears, armor, and even some [Teleportation Gems].

Cecil and Crane must've taken a lot from people in the Sin Kingdom and the Virtue Kingdom to accumulate these kinds of wealth. That was why Cecil also played hard to get and loved to hoard treasure and try to dominate me because she liked me.

'They will be a good addition to my inventory.'

Among the treasures, my eyes were drawn to a simple table upon which an extraordinary flute-like magic item rested. Its slender form exuded an aura of mystique, adorned with a scale of sea monsters.

'That must be it, the magic item to control sea monsters and can even call the Boss-rank monster Scylla.' I thought as I saw Crane approaching the table on which the flute sat.

It was clear that the flute was his goal in coming here. Stopping in front of the table, he stretched his hand toward it and grabbed the flute.

"Let's go."

Crane turned around and walked away, not even sparing a glance at the excited Ara or the other treasure. The Elf girl looked around for a while before running away after him, and then they closed the door of this secret treasure trove.

Time wasn't on his side as the merchants they apparently left behind would catch up soon, and I knew he planned to use that magic item to rob them.

But, to think they would leave that fast... It was outside of my expectations. I thought he would bang that girl inside this room, which would be the best time to kill him.

'Not that I plan to kill him, as I still need him to be the villain, though. That was unless he did something out of my plan.'

As a result, I was left inside. I couldn't take over that ship then, but I got something better than that ship in this room.

"Alright."

I muttered as I appeared from the shadows. I used <Light> from Lv 1 <Holy Magic>, and a small ball of light appeared on my palm.

The room lit up immediately, illuminating the treasure, and my lips curled into a grin.

"Let's loot this room."

***

The way back to the ship was faster than when I followed Crane, as I could use my fast speed and easily dodged all the traps inside the forest. About the treasure trove, I just destroyed the door and jumped out.

I had already taken all the treasures inside, so that place was useless anyway. A big red dot right under me made me a bit confused and worried. The dot even covered the island and even the docked ship, indicating how big the monster under us was.

'What is it? I don't think it's Scylla, but... this monster should also be a Boss-rank if we just look at its size. I hope nothing out of the ordinary would show up.'

As a result, I could slip onto the quarterdeck and observe my surroundings. With my enhanced senses, I could see the 10 ships in the distance approaching with just the help of moonlight.

A person atop the crow's nest of the first ship seemed to shout loudly to those below. The bearded sailor who made a deal with Cecil looked enraged as he stood on the bow, his leg raised, uncaring about the strong wave hitting his body.

He seemed to shout some curses, but I ignored him and turned my attention to the island.

It seemed like they had already noticed Crane had scammed them and brought them to this place to rob them. Their way back was also filled with sea monsters again, making them unable to leave. That could explain their late arrival, even though the quality of their ships was similar to this one.

Crane and Ara appeared from the forest. The minotaur guy immediately looked in the distance in the direction of the merchant ships before running back to this ship.

"Throw a rope for us!"

"Aye!"

One of the thugs... or rather the pirate crew now that Crane apparently recognized them, took the rope on the ground and threw it down, helping Crane and Ara to climb the rocking ship by pulling them.

The dot in my radar moved slightly, engulfing all red and even pink dots that belonged to Cecil. That... I see. So that was how it was? I was a bit... an idiot to forget that magic items in Sins Paradise were different from those in Horizon Online.

There existed a few magic item types that worked completely differently from those present in Horizon Online. For example was the [Teleportation Gem]. Something like that didn't exist back in the deathly game, so I had no stock of those Gems in my inventory.

Astro also didn't forget me even after he didn't see me for 3 days. Meaning the system was also different. I needed to stop connecting both and made it my habit.

I knew the company that made both games were the same, one being a VR and one being a normal PC game, and so the system was really similar. But there was bound to be a difference between both games.

And I was in reality, created by that person behind the system, so there was also something different from when this world was just a game called Sins Paradise.

'I should have explored the markets more to collect more magic items from this world.' I lamented and heaved a sigh.

And that flute was one type of magic item that wasn't present in Horizon Online. I wasn't someone with <Magic Item Appraisal>, so I couldn't appraise magic items I hadn't touched or held yet like the earring from back then. It was different from a normal <Appraisal> skill I had.

The fact the red dot moved as that flute moved only meant one thing.

'The dot indicating my enemy is the flute itself. That flute is Scylla in a magic item form, not a magic item. That's why even low-Leveled pirates like Crane and Cecil can use it! As a monster that turned its body into a magic item has no Level restriction to be used. But I am not sure yet because I can't appraise it for some reasons.'

Based on what I heard from Isabelle when she met Scylla, the environment was vastly different. Was it truly Scylla that turned its body into a magic item to be used by humankind?

If so, then it should still be recovering from whatever happened that made it resort to its last choice of recovering its MP through slumbering as a magic item.

The Quest description would also make sense. And the quest was actually a trap to make me fight this magic item's true form.

'And it only rewards me 20 Sins for that?! How stingy!'

Anyway, it seemed like Crane was preparing to use that flute to rob the merchant now. He even commanded the crew to load the cannon after they raised the anchor.

They immediately moved, and Crane also went back to the helm, controlling the ship to face the merchant. With the flute in his hand, he had a fearless grin on his face.

"Let's take all their treasure and their ships! We will bask in the glory!" He shouted loudly, and the few crew that heard him shouted with full spirit.

Calling them pirate crew when there were only 6 people in total was strange, but again they were stronger than people on Earth, so taking care of this ship was easy with just a few of them.

"Hoist the color!!"

Crane shouted loudly once again, raising his hand high.

"Aye, captain!"

Ara shouted back and took a black flag from the crow's nest, tying it at the highest spot of the ship. The flag had the jolly roger of the pirate crew, a skull with large horns protruding on the side of its head.

Crane laughed maniacally as the flag flapped uncontrollably from the wild sea wind. The ship was rocking wildly, and in the middle of the laugh, shout, and the sound of waves crashing against the hull was Cecil's moan from inside the captain's cabin.

'She's still masturbating?!' I shouted in my mind. 'What a good girl. I'll shower her with some love and treasure later. A treasure called pleasure.'