Not long after, Kadi returned from outside, loudly calling out, “Captain Anthony, sorry, I couldn’t find that hat you mentioned. Are you sure you remembered correctly? Should I go look again?”
Hearing this, Sules raised an eyebrow and looked back at Anthony.
Anthony looked a bit embarrassed, forced a dry laugh, and said, “It’s fine, I thought you just went to the restroom. Didn’t expect you to actually go look for something for me.”
As soon as Kadi came in, he saw Sules standing in the middle and his eyes brightened.
“Captain Su, you’re finally awake! That’s really great!”
Su smiled at him.
“I’m fine now.”
After speaking, she turned to Anthony, this time with no mercy.
“I already said, the treasure isn’t in my hands. Can we hurry back now? Or do you want to keep wasting time here?”
Anthony’s expression darkened. After a long pause, he waved his hand.
“Let’s go, everyone. Since Captain Jam is dead, his ship should be considered ownerless. There are only three captains left now. We can sail you all back. As for how to divide the rest, we’ll figure it out when we get back.”
“Hey! Wait!”
Just as Anthony finished speaking, someone stepped forward to object.
Su recognized him—he was one of Jam’s bound crew members.
Since Jam was dead, he could no longer swear allegiance to any captain.
His face was pale, clearly devastated by Jam’s death, but he insisted, “Captain Jam belonged to the Albatross Guild, and that Level 6 ship was sponsored by the Albatross Guild as well. Everything should be handed over to the Albatross Guild once ashore. How can you just split it among yourselves?”
As soon as he finished, several others stood up in support.
They were old crew members under Anthony, and if the guild intervened, they would obviously stand to gain more.
Seeing so many people opposing him, Anthony’s face lost some face.
After coughing heavily twice, he smiled and said, “Yes, yes, yes, I didn’t think it through carefully. Then we’ll wait until we get back and let the guild decide.”
Su took advantage of the moment to check the system panel.
She still remembered that before fainting, the system said the task was complete.
She needed to quickly check the reward, so she wouldn’t repeat the mistake she made before—killing the shark but still having to go back for treasure.
Seeing this, she immediately thanked herself for having a good memory.
The reward had already been credited, and it was a simple sentence—
“The treasure is hidden inside the monster’s mouth at the bow.”
Su immediately used the restroom as an excuse to slip away from the crowd and went to retrieve the treasure alone.
The treasure turned out to be five talismans, each drawn with strange patterns.
“How do I use these things?”
Su wondered silently.
The system remained silent, clearly not intending to tell her.
Fine, Su took it in stride, packed the talismans, and returned to the group.
Together, they left the ghost ship.
Back on their real ship, everyone finally exhaled in relief.
The whole trip took less than half a day, but their numbers had dropped from over a hundred to fewer than forty.
The losses were not insignificant.
The day had grown late, so the nearly forty survivors rested together on the main ship for the night.
At dusk, Su didn’t sleep. Instead, she got up and wandered out onto the deck.
Under the faint moonlight, she took out the small sculpture from her bag.
Before fainting, she had deliberately placed this sculpture in the next room, and sure enough, no one had found it.
This treasure was very powerful, but for now, Su couldn’t use it openly.
It was fine to have it in hand—there would be opportunities to use it in the future.
She put the sculpture back and opened the system again.
Earlier, she discovered that her captain talent was no longer usable, and her head had been throbbing.
She hadn’t checked why.
In the captain talent section, the ability that had originally been displayed in green had now turned gray.
She asked the system in her mind, “System, what’s going on? Why can’t I use my ability? And why does my head keep hurting?”
The system immediately replied, “This is a consequence of mental exhaustion. Until your mental energy fully recovers, you cannot use any abilities.”
“When will it be fully recovered?”
“One month from now,” the system answered.
“Due to mental exhaustion compounded by previous system assistance, your abilities are sealed for a month. However, the headache symptoms will disappear after three days, so don’t worry.”
This consequence wasn’t too serious; Su could accept it.
She thought for a moment and asked, “How will I know next time if using my ability will cause mental exhaustion?”
The system said, “When you start feeling a headache, it means your mental energy is at its limit. Continuing to use abilities will cause exhaustion.”
With that question settled, Su gazed silently at the water’s surface.
From her past life to this one, today was the day she had killed the most people.
Roughly calculating, she had killed over thirty people at once.
Though she didn’t show it, Su was a bit uneasy.
Was what she did really right?
Killing so many people for a little profit—was that truly justifiable?
She had always known she wasn’t a good person, but her previous misdeeds had been confined to the business world, never to the extent of treating people like grass and weeds.
After standing alone in the sea breeze for quite some time, Su felt a sense of relief.
She was always good at comforting herself; after all, humans were a species skilled at finding excuses for themselves.
This era naturally treated human lives as worthless, valuing profit above all. If she still bound herself by modern societal standards, she might as well be buried at sea with the title of a gentleman.
If she hadn’t acted decisively today, the treasure in her hands would have been lost, and she might have been framed by Jam and the others.
After all, Jam intended that anyone who did not submit would die—not exactly a good person.
Having come to this realization, Su exhaled and turned back to her cabin. Level 6 ships also had cabins, and everyone slept below the deck.
Compared to above, it was obviously quieter down there.
However, just as she approached a room, she suddenly heard faint voices inside.
Who was chatting at this hour?
Something felt off, so she pressed her ear to the door and started eavesdropping.
“Captain Anthony, is this really okay?”
Su recognized the voice clearly—it was the bound crew member who had objected to Anthony earlier.
It seemed this was a conversation between him and Anthony.
“If we don’t have someone to take the blame, the guild will hold us all responsible, and each of us will get less. I don’t mind, but you bound crew…”
Anthony didn’t finish his sentence, but everything was implied.
Su twitched the corner of her mouth and quickly pulled out a recording stone she had bought before setting sail.
Originally, it was for dealing with the annoying Tyler, but now it came in handy.
The man said, “But if we just say Captain Su killed so many people, I doubt the guild will believe that, right?”
Anthony gave a sly laugh.
“Well, there’s also Kadi, that fool. With his intelligence, he won’t last long at sea anyway. I might as well send him off. They are the only two survivors among those people. It’s only natural for us to think they’re the killers, don’t you think?”
Su had to admit—Anthony was a veteran captain.
When it came to scheming, he was in his element. His words clearly laid out an escape route for himself.
They planned to frame the two of them for killing Jam and the others.
If later proved otherwise, it could be explained away as a misunderstanding.
After all, the environment they were in was suspicious.
Fortunately, Su had heard the plot and recorded it.
Now she wasn’t afraid.
But there was still one problem: what if they were controlled or the recording stone was found during this time?
It wasn’t paranoia; Anthony was indeed clever.
Controlling them early would benefit him more, and there was no ruling out that he might try.
Thinking this through, Su made a firm decision—she couldn’t stay on this ship.
She would rather be cautious and take extra trouble escaping than rely on luck and risk her life.
She resolved to leave tomorrow.
Every day she delayed was another day of danger.
As for why not today, naturally, she still had some things to do.
***
Early the next morning, Su first found Kadi and told him about Anthony and the others’ conspiracy.
Their previous interactions made it clear to Su that Kadi was naive but not foolish.
Sure enough, Kadi didn’t impulsively demand to confront Anthony face to face.
Instead, he asked, “So what do we do?”
Su gave her answer: “Escape.”
Her previous plan with Anthony came into play perfectly.
“This place is very close to the Alvis family’s territorial waters. We can swim there and seek help.”
Kadi hesitated, “Then what do we do afterward?”
Su took out the recording stone.
“I’ve recorded their frame-up evidence. Once we reach the Alvis family, we’ll send this evidence to the guild to clear our names. Then we can come back safely.”
“Then why don’t we just go back with the ship?”
Kadi asked again.
Su patiently explained, “It’s not safe. You never know what Anthony might do along the way. If the recording stone gets stolen, we’ll be truly helpless.”
Kadi bit his lip and finally nodded firmly.
Gratefully, he said, “Captain Su, thank you for telling me about this. And thank you for agreeing to escape with me.”
Su shook her head.
“You saved me first. If it weren’t for you, I might already be dead.”
Kadi blushed slightly and scratched his head.
“My mom says saving a life is worth more than building seven pagodas. I didn’t think much at the time—I just jumped in.”
Su smiled and patted his head.
Although Kadi was actually a tall guy over 1.8 meters, at this moment he looked like a child.
“Don’t think too much. We leave tonight. Pack your things and bring the water-repellent beads. The rest just follow my lead.”
After saying goodbye to Kadi, Anthony sought out Su.
His face wore a smile, completely hiding the scheming look he had shown last night when plotting to make her a scapegoat.
“Captain Su, this voyage has been thrilling. Luckily, we all survived and don’t have to fear Jam’s threat anymore,” he said with some emotion.
Feigning cordiality was easy.
Su put on an official smile and replied with a laugh, “Yes, now we don’t have to be afraid. It’s just a pity for Captain Jam and his group, who died right there with no one to find the culprit.”
For some reason, Anthony felt there was more meaning in her words.
But he wouldn’t give up until he reached his goal.
He deliberately lowered his voice, “Captain Su, the Sea God’s treasure is in your hands, right? You don’t need to hide it from me—I’m here to help you.”