novelraw Chapter 71: Flower Sea Island
Chapter 71: Flower Sea Island
In the small boat house, the ship's lamp emitted a soft glow, adding a touch of warmth to the interior. Chen Qi bent down and pulled out a bottle of alcohol from under the table, handing it to Pelu. He was quite curious about how she had managed to find clues about the Flower Witch.
Pelu downed the bottle and began recounting her experiences over the past three days. Based on the information provided by the Newsstand Elder and Chen Qi, the Flower Witch had flowers growing on her head, which meant she had to find a way to conceal her appearance. However, in a place like Moonstone City where extraordinary talents gathered, people hiding their appearances weren't uncommon. Walking down the street, at least one in ten people concealed their looks. And there were plenty with builds similar to the Flower Witch's.
So Pelu took to the streets under the guise of conducting interviews. During these "interviews," she would suddenly yank off people's cloaks and masks. Faceless ones, Heart Thieves, Ghost Brides, Soul-Stealing Clowns, Piggy Heroes... anyone hiding their appearance - she unmasked them all!
Finally, through her relentless efforts, she spotted a cloaked figure outside an herbal shop who immediately bolted upon seeing her. "This actually worked..." Chen Qi's eyes widened in disbelief. He never expected Pelu's method for finding the Flower Witch would be the legendary brute-force approach. Most surprisingly, this crude method had actually succeeded.
At this point, Pelu lowered her head and frowned: "Unfortunately, she still got away! Not only that, because I exposed so many masked individuals' true appearances, my bastard boss called me in for a talk, accusing me of disrupting commercial district security and violating numerous people's portrait rights. This also made me miss the best window for pursuit."
"Well... considering you were ripping off people's disguises, not getting beaten up is already lucky," Chen Qi couldn't help but comment.
"What choice did I have? I'm not as lucky as you, bumping into the Flower Witch in a dimensional rift," Pelu scowled. "But fortunately, after leaving detention... I mean, after friendly discussions with the authorities, my informants provided intel about a thin, cloaked woman who boarded a Flower Sea tourist boat heading to an island at the near sea's edge. This person is highly likely to be the Flower Witch. I plan to set out tonight to give her a little surprise!"
"..." Chen Qi was speechless. After all that, they were still relying on the Press's vast intelligence network! He had to admit, Moonstone City's Press was indeed a formidable organization.
Chen Qi asked curiously: "Which island?"
Pelu paused her eating, giving him a slightly surprised look: "You... want to find the Flower Witch? Aren't you afraid she'll turn you into fertilizer?" Legends said the Flower Witch was the madwoman who buried an entire army of 100,000 corpses to cultivate black soil. Although intelligence suggested this current Flower Witch wasn't the legendary one, most people, influenced by these tales, dared not seek her out despite the substantial bounty. Who knew if their corpses might become flower fertilizer?Of course, from Chen Qi's perspective, the past was the past, and the present was different. In her current goofy state, the Flower Witch was far from reclaiming the glory of the legendary witches. Before reaching fourth rank, not becoming fertilizer herself would already be an achievement.
Chen Qi said excitedly: "With that much money at stake - providing just some clues could net one and a half million Shell Coins! That's an overnight fortune."
"True, this is faster than those players trying to marry rich women. For a chef, you're quite bold!" Pelu thought for a moment before smiling. If she brought Chen Qi along, wouldn't that mean having a traveling chef for the journey? She lightly tapped the table: "Near sea's edge - Flower Sea Island."
"Near sea's edge..." Chen Qi was slightly startled. This journey's destination was farther than he imagined. The Witch Sea's waters could roughly be divided into near seas, rift seas, mist seas, and the lightless seas beyond the New Sun World's edge. Countless islands dotted these waters - too numerous and scattered for centralized management, compounded by the perpetually weak navy. These islands had become pirate hideouts. One could say Beiguo's control over waters beyond the near seas was effectively zero. This was precisely why Beiguo's leadership recently reorganized their navy, establishing admirals to reclaim dominance over the Witch Sea.
For ordinary people, the near sea's edge was extremely dangerous. Chen Qi looked at his palm, clenched his fist, and thought: "By now, I should have the strength to venture to the near sea's edge."
"Delicious!" Pelu finished the Moonlight Fish. "I'll depart tonight by white pigeon. The night's too dangerous for you - you can leave tomorrow morning. But be careful. There are many treasure legends about Flower Sea Island, and with recent rift appearances, numerous travelers have headed there. On the bright side, that place lacks meat supplies - the food must be terrible, so your chef business should do well!"
"Hmm..." Chen Qi nodded. After eating her fill, Pelu left the small boat house.
After Pelu departed, Chen Qi closed the doors and windows, taking out both the Ice Demon Pirates' nautical chart and the Deep Sea Hunters' treasure map. Before heading to Flower Sea Island, there were things he needed to confirm. Why had the Flower Witch gone to Flower Sea Island? As a protagonist of the Witch Sea, she certainly wasn't there for tourism. Her journey must be for something important.
Chen Qi unfolded the nautical chart. According to the Ice Demon Pirates' chart, Flower Sea Island's location was marked with both a treasure chest and flowers. Was the Flower Witch after medicinal herbs or treasure? Chen Qi rubbed his temples. Back in the hunting grounds, he'd sensed she might also be seeking the hunters' treasure. All signs indicated the Deep Sea Hunters had left more than one copy of their treasure map in these seas! And apparently everyone knew about the Deep Sea Hunters' treasure!
Chen Qi ran his finger down the Deep Sea Hunters' treasure map. Midway down, Flower Sea Island's coordinates were clearly marked. So this place also had treasure buried by the Deep Sea Hunters... His gaze drifted to the coordinate's far left, checking the treasure's difficulty rating. Unexpectedly, there was no difficulty indicator - just a simple clothes doodle and coordinates, with no other hints!
"Why?" Chen Qi was momentarily baffled. No difficulty rating - did that mean the treasure posed zero difficulty, or had they simply forgotten to note it? "Can't figure it out." He shook his head, putting away the charts and stepping out of the boat house.
Under a starry sky, the night sea breeze ruffled his black hair. He gazed at the merchant ships ahead, the bright lighthouse, the moon in the sky, and the endless horizon beyond. Chen Qi reached toward the moon, grasping at empty air. By now, he'd grown familiar with this world and become a proper first-rank super. After this trip, he could consider his unique principle - advancing to second rank.
"Flower Sea Island..." Chen Qi felt both excitement and apprehension. The New Sun World's high randomness meant that even with rift strategies and considerable strength, unexpected encounters were inevitable. A world fraught with dangers. But without braving the storms, his progress would remain sluggish, never reaching the forefront of these turbulent tides!
"The sea and stars..." Chen Qi looked toward the distant horizon, eyes filled with anticipation.
...
...
The next day, daylight burned across the sky, illuminating the dark city. The small boat house departed the harbor, speeding toward the distant island.