After killing Smith, Sules wandered around the ship a bit more.
The treasures on an eighth-level ship were far more than just the Sea God’s secret treasure.
For a small captain like her, casually taking a few things could bring considerable benefit.
Only after stuffing both the bag in her hand and the backpack on her back full did Sules leisurely return to the cabin.
At this moment, everyone was still locked in a standoff with “Jam,” and quite a few were running out of patience.
The moment “Jam” saw Sules return, his eyes lit up, and he shouted loudly, “If you kill this girl and bury her with me, I’ll tell you the secret.”
He thought it through clearly.
Sules had killed a fifth-level martial artist; she must have some unique ability.
It was just that things had happened so quickly and suddenly that he hadn’t noticed.
But no matter how strong she was, as long as he could ignite conflict between this girl and the other crew members, they would end up at each other’s throats, and that would be his only chance.
Sules had seen through his intent and had deliberately left earlier.
She hadn’t expected that after being gone for so long, she’d still be entangled by this guy.
Realizing all eyes were on her, Sules didn’t bother playing the emotional card.
Instead, she boldly challenged, “I can take down a fifth-level martial artist—do you really think I can’t handle you? If you want the treasure, you should first consider whether you even have the life to take it.”
At her words, everyone hesitated immediately.
None of them knew exactly how Sules had killed that fifth-level martial artist earlier, but the fact that she could kill him was undeniable.
A woman with power comparable to a fifth-level martial artist was obviously not someone they could mess with—even if, on the surface, she appeared just a powerless captain.
Seeing their hesitation, “Jam” grew anxious.
He had forgotten this crucial point.
He had initially thought that Sules would leverage the life-saving debt to stop internal strife.
While that might have persuaded a few, the East Sea was full of villains; self-interest trumped everything, and many would ignore a debt of life for profit.
But unexpectedly, Sules had directly threatened them with force, successfully intimidating the others.
Seeing his plan unravel, “Jam” grew desperate and pleaded, “That woman can’t possibly have the strength of a fifth-level martial artist. Otherwise, why didn’t she just kill that fifth-level martial artist directly instead of letting someone take the hit for her?”
At his words, the crowd reacted immediately and started to stir restlessly again.
“Jam” pressed on, “A treasure capable of killing a fifth-level martial artist in one strike can’t be used infinitely. It’s likely a one-time use or limited to once within a short period. Don’t be afraid of her—just kill the woman, and the treasure I hold will guarantee all of you rise to glory together.”
Faced with such enormous temptation, a few couldn’t hold back and quietly approached Sules.
They believed what “Jam” said: how could a captain have such high combat power?
She must have used some tool.
If that treasure could kill a fifth-level martial artist, it surely couldn’t be used repeatedly.
To them, Sules had just been bluffing and was already out of tricks.
If they killed Sules, they would not only get the treasure “Jam” promised but also possibly obtain the items she carried—a win-win situation.
Why wouldn’t they?
Sules understood exactly what was on their minds.
She sneered coldly.
If this were on land, she might really be at a loss.
But here in the water, she was virtually invincible.
Controlling the surrounding seawater, she transformed it into blades encircling her body, then strolled leisurely toward the crowd.
With each step she took, those close to her suddenly felt as if their bodies were pierced by countless knives, sharp pain radiating through them.
They uncontrollably collapsed.
Trying to clutch their stomachs, they found their hands covered in fresh blood.
“You… you…” one person struggled to lift his hand to grab Sules’s clothes, but just before touching her, he lost all strength and collapsed.
Blood rose around Sules like a dark aura, making her look like a grim reaper emerging from hell to reap lives.
The cool green in her eyes now deepened into a shadowy dark green.
However, while outsiders saw Sules calmly harvesting lives, she was actually in great pain.
In her mind, she questioned the system: “System, what’s going on? Why does my head hurt so badly?”
In truth, Sules’s head felt like it was about to explode, and only her willpower kept her from showing any sign of suffering.
The system responded with a hint of exasperation: “Your mental strength isn’t sufficient to sustain such prolonged, large-scale use of the captain’s talent. Your headache is caused by mental exhaustion.”
Sules collapsed inwardly and asked desperately, “But you never told me this before! I thought the only limitation on my ability was its range. How could there be a mental strength restriction too?”
The system answered, “This was originally introduced in Return of the Navigator. The player just didn’t pay attention. Strictly speaking, it’s not the system’s fault. However, to make up for this small oversight, you may continue using the ability for one more minute, after which you will faint from mental exhaustion. Please use your time wisely.”
Hearing this, Sules breathed a slight sigh of relief and didn’t argue over whose fault it was.
She strode quickly to “Jam’s” side, grabbed the bloodied man stabbed by the water blades, tore open his chest and abdomen with bare hands, and pulled out a white bone to purify.
After she finished purifying, no one remained unharmed on the scene except for herself and Cardi.
The others, having been too close to Sules, were already stabbed and covered in wounds by the water blades.
They lay on the ground, wailing in agony and begging Sules to save them.
But to her, her captain’s talent was her greatest secret, one she could never allow to be exposed.
Without hesitation, she finished them off one by one.
In the end, only Cardi remained, unconscious.
Sules bit her lip, unable to bring herself to finish him off, and soon fell into unconsciousness as well.
On the verge of fainting, she heard the system’s prompt: “Ding, mission completed.”
Sules curled the corners of her lips, then calmly passed out.
It was a dream.
In endless darkness, a towering silhouette stood ahead.
Sules tried to approach but couldn’t move.
“Sea God, even I…”
A chaotic voice, neither clearly male nor female, sounded, causing her eardrums to vibrate and her mind to grow even hazier.
“Huh?”
The figure seemed to sense Sules’s presence and waved a hand, plunging her consciousness back into darkness.
Just before losing consciousness, she faintly heard the voice: “You shouldn’t be here.”
***
“Sules, are you awake?”
In a daze, Sules felt someone pushing her.
She struggled to open her heavy eyelids, but a sharp pain stabbed through her head.
After a while, Sules finally opened her eyes, groaning, “Ugh… what’s going on?”
“Captain, you’re finally awake! Luckily, you’re okay!” a male voice answered.
Sules looked up and saw it was Anthony.
“What happened while we were unconscious? Cardi said you were all fighting the undead on Captain Jam’s body together. How did everyone else die, and only you remain?”
“Yeah, yeah! What happened exactly?” others behind him chimed in.
Sules glanced behind her and saw two or three dozen people standing there.
She blinked feigning confusion.
“What’s wrong? All I remember is ‘Jam’ suddenly roaring in anger, and then I fainted. I don’t know what happened afterward.”
She struggled to get up and immediately saw the chaos around her.
Since they were underwater, the seawater had already washed away the blood, leaving only a floor strewn with corpses.
Sules covered her mouth in horror and whispered in disbelief, “They… they’re all dead, aren’t they? Or just unconscious?”
Anthony was a seasoned player and didn’t believe Sules’s ignorance at all.
In fact, he suspected the mastermind behind all this was the small-looking girl before him.
“Don’t bother looking—they’re all dead.”
But since Jam was dead now, Anthony saw only benefit and no harm.
He didn’t dig deeper.
What concerned him more was another matter.
“Captain Sules, hand over the treasures you found on the ship.”
Sules was taken aback.
Had someone discovered she had gotten the Sea God’s secret treasure?
But then she thought again and found that unlikely—everyone except Cardi should have been killed by her.
Had Cardi leaked the secret?
That foolish kid would probably spill everything under any questioning—it wasn’t surprising.
But without solid proof, she wouldn’t admit to anything.
In a flash, Sules made up her mind.
She bit her lip and shook her head confusedly, “What treasure? I don’t think I found anything particularly strange.”
Anthony sneered, “Stop pretending. Cardi has already told us everything.”
As her suspicion was confirmed, Sules felt a pang of frustration and was about to hand over the Sea God’s secret treasure.
The treasure was valuable, but compared to her life, it was insignificant.
She had just felt that she couldn’t use her captain’s talent anymore; whenever she tried, her head felt like it would explode.
Without her talent, she definitely couldn’t handle so many people.
So handing over the treasure seemed like the safest option.
Just as she was about to speak, Sules suddenly realized something: “Where’s Cardi?”
Cardi was not present.
Anthony’s eyes flickered.
“Cardi went to the bathroom, will be back soon. Don’t change the subject—hand over the treasure, or we won’t be polite!”
The crowd behind him began clamoring, pressing Sules to surrender the treasure.
But Sules lowered her head, the corner of her mouth curling slightly.
They deliberately had Cardi leave—that was clearly a trick.
Though she didn’t know why Cardi hadn’t revealed her possession of the treasure, she wasn’t about to waste the opportunity.
Sules raised her head and said firmly, “I’ve told you—I have no treasure. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and search me!”
With that, she stretched out her arms, showing she had nothing to fear.
Her boldness caused the others to doubt their earlier assumptions.
In fact, some had already searched all the corpses earlier, including Sules’s.
Don’t misunderstand—they were just searching, not that cruel to violate an unconscious girl underwater.
There was nothing on Sules’s person, and Cardi knew nothing either.
That was why this entire ruse was possible.