We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 168 The Truth Behind the Spontaneous Combustion Curse: Entering the Elven Temple! (Seeking monthly votes! Seeking further subscriptions!)
"Village Chief—Village Chief Ruhr!"

In the icy, bone-chilling seawater, Yan Yan struggled to paddle while shouting loudly.

"Listen to my advice..."

But soon, Yan Yan, who was engulfed in flames, was stunned.

Because the one peeking out from the deck of the Diamond Star was not the village chief of Ice Island, but the captain of the Black Swan—Shane!
With a light leap, Xia En landed on a piece of floating ice on the sea, looking at Yan Yan with a half-smile.

What do you want to do here?

Yan Yan was simple-minded, but also quite clever. Judging from Xia En's expression, she guessed that she was probably late, so she honestly said so.

“When I saw that the Diamond Star was missing from the coast, I guessed that Chief Ruhr might be planning to take action against you.”

"So I followed him, hoping to persuade him to give up."

"But now it seems I was too late."

Upon hearing this, Shane said directly, "That's right, Chief Ruhr and the other villagers have all been captured by me, including that young man named Gray."

"...Do you want to plead for them?"

To Shane, the lives and deaths of these villagers were of no concern whatsoever.

Anyway, once he gets the sea chart, he'll leave this sea area after a few more dives in the Emerald City.

I probably won't see these villagers again.

Aside from the ringleader Ruhr, whom Shane was determined to kill, he didn't care whether the others lived or died.

In contrast, Xia En valued the blazing fireman more—Yan Yan!
If he really pleads with him, Xia En is willing to do him a favor and ask him to help remove the "Extreme Cold Seal" under the icy sea.

But what Xia En didn't expect was...

At this moment, Yan Yan shook her head resolutely: "How could this be?"

"If they hadn't made a move yet, that would have been fine, but now that they've already done so, they've made enemies with Captain Shane."

"No matter the outcome, they have only themselves to blame. Why should I, an outsider, plead for them?"

Upon hearing these words, Xia En glanced at Yan Yan in surprise.

Clearly, this young man, though kind-hearted, also has his own bottom line and principles, and is not an annoying "saintly" person.

"but……"

Yan Yan looked at Xia En and continued, "I do have a request."

"Please say."

"Please, Captain Shane, do not take your anger out on the other villagers on the ice island. Spare their lives."

Yan Yan said sincerely, "Many of them are unaware of Ruhr's thoughts and plans. Now that they have lost so many young and strong men, their lives are already more difficult. There is no need to exterminate them all."

Xia En smiled and retorted, "Do you think I'm the kind of person who would casually slaughter an entire island?"

Yan Yan fell silent.

The sights he had witnessed in the extreme cold storm had left a deep impression on him.

Even storms bow down before this captain. Slaughtering an entire island doesn't seem so exaggerated for someone like him, does it?

Shane: "..."

Although, if necessary, he will also use the most ruthless means to eliminate any remaining threats.

But normally, in his view, killing is merely a means, not an end.

Why does Yan Yan see me as some kind of villain?

"...Am I that scary?"

Xia En's lips twitched slightly, and he took the initiative to change the subject, saying, "As far as I know, you don't have a good relationship with the villagers on the island, do you?"

"Why are you still thinking about protecting them?"

After a brief hesitation, Yan Yan sighed and explained.

"Actually, the spontaneous combustion curse in their village is indeed closely related to me."

"……Um?"

Xia En was stunned. He had only asked casually, but it seemed that he had uncovered some incredible secret.

"This icy island is located in a remote area and the weather is extremely cold."

Yan Yan slowly explained, "The villagers on the island mainly get their food from hunting, fishing, and a piece of farmland in the core area of ​​the village."

"farmland?"

Xia En thought of the relatively warm temperature in the village and guessed that some valuable grain crops or other fruits and vegetables were probably growing in that field.

After all, anyone with a little common sense knows that eating only fish and animal meat for a long time can damage the human body.

This farmland is probably the key factor that has allowed Ice Island to survive to this day.

But what does this have to do with the so-called "spontaneous combustion curse"?
Soon, Yan Yan's words answered Xia En's doubts.

"Hundreds of years ago, a terrible blizzard swept across the island."

"That blizzard was really big. Even though these villagers have special bloodlines, they can't go too far from the village, or they will be frozen into ice sculptures."

"During these months of wind and snow, the villagers have been unable to go out hunting, and the village's food reserves have been dwindling."

"Even the farmland was covered by the blizzard, and the crops planted earlier yielded nothing."

“A terrible hunger hung over the entire village like a dark cloud.”

A look of reminiscence and pity appeared on Yan Yan's handsome face as he spoke in a complex tone.

"When people are starving, they are capable of anything."

"Captain Shane, you should be able to imagine that situation, right?"

Xia En nodded, his expression somewhat heavy.

"Seeing that the whole village was about to perish from hunger, I thought of a solution that was not a solution at all."

Yan Yan pointed to himself: "I can survive without eating, my body just happens to be able to regenerate indefinitely..."

His expression was calm, as if he were talking about something trivial.

But Xia En's expression suddenly changed.

Without Yan Yan needing to say anything more, he already understood everything.

If we say that the "Rusty Duke" of the "Rusty Ruins" uses ordinary people as consumables and resources, squeezing out their remaining value.

Yan Yan, just like himself, sees himself as fuel, burning himself to light up others.

Such awareness and courage truly shook Xia En to his core.

Yan Yan gave a wry smile and continued, "But what I didn't expect was..."

“After that, the villagers were afflicted with the ‘spontaneous combustion curse,’ and every few months, someone would spontaneously combust and die.”

"That's why I said this curse is related to me."

Xia En immediately understood the reason behind it.

Within the flesh and blood that never dies and regenerates infinitely, there must be some unique secret power hidden.

This secret power, after entering the villagers' bodies, was passed down from generation to generation. One day, it accumulated to its limit and detonated like a time bomb, igniting the person's body.

This is the truth behind the "spontaneous combustion mystery" on the ice island!

But how can you say that Yan Yan did something wrong?
If it weren't for Yan Yan's sacrifice, this village would probably have ceased to exist hundreds of years ago!
Xia En stared intently into Yan Yan's eyes and spoke with utmost seriousness.

"You did nothing wrong."

"The ones who are wrong are those ignorant and foolish villagers."

"If you ask me, you're amazing... really!"

Looking into Xia En's sincere eyes, Yan Yan felt as if his heart had been struck hard by something.

On the icy island, all he heard were the villagers' reproaches and scoldings; all he felt was disgust, alienation, and fear…

No one has ever said to him, "You did nothing wrong."

No one else has ever praised themselves so sincerely.

At this moment, a complex emotion that Yan Yan had never felt before arose in his heart.

"Don't worry, I never intended to harm the villagers on the island."

Xia En stated his purpose directly: "And coincidentally, there's something else I'd like you to help me with."

……

……the next day.

After the [Submarine Voyage] count was refreshed, Xia En brought Yan Yan to the sea area where the [Emerald Ancient City] is located.

The only two parts of Yan Yan's body not covered by flames were his feet and his head, which allowed him to barely stand on the deck.

Of course, getting too close to other things on the ship still poses a risk of causing a fire.

Without Xia En's reminder, Yan Yan stood in the far corner of the deck, trying to shrink the flames around him, afraid of making a big mistake.

Given his towering 2.5-meter frame, he even looks somewhat "pitiful".

At this moment, the Black Swan and the Diamond Star were sailing one after the other.

Because the damage to the Diamond Princess (damaged) was too severe.

Setting sail rashly would undoubtedly severely slow down the Black Swan's speed.

Therefore, Shane plans to level up the ship to LV2 in the Emerald City first, and then leave this sea area after the ship has healed.

At first, Shane was worried that it would be difficult to control both ships at the same time.

But in practice, it was much simpler than expected.

Under normal circumstances, he only needs to control the front boat, and the rear boat will follow silently behind as if it has an "automatic follow" function.

However, if you want to micromanage the two ships, you must devote yourself wholeheartedly to perceiving the two bonds in your soul.

It didn't take long.

Bathed in the pale sunlight and the cold air blowing across the deck, the Black Swan once again reached the edge of the ice.

In less than two days.

The ice, which was previously full of cracks and holes, has been frozen smooth again, showing no trace of the battle that day.

With the arrival of the Black Swan, some entities beneath the ice seem to be stirring with new ideas.

Xia En had absolutely no interest in dealing with the cloned sea monsters that couldn't grant experience points.

So, after throwing Yan Yan off the bow of the ship, they sailed the two ships to a slightly more distant sea area.

Immediately afterwards...

"Submarine flight, start!"

A dark and deep projection appeared like a ghost in the cold seawater.

Soon, Xia En saw the flames, which looked like torches, not far away.

The bright flames were very conspicuous in the dim seawater.

But perhaps it was a biological instinct, the sea creatures around them, who should have never seen fire in their entire lives, subtly showed a sense of awe.

So much so that not a single sea creature dared to approach him.

"Do fish in the sea also fear fire?"

Xia En felt a little strange and quickly swam towards Yan Yan.

"Ugh...ugh!?"

It was clear that Yan Yan was startled upon seeing Xia En's projected form, seemingly unable to discern what this humanoid shadow was.

No wonder.

As the [Mystery] attribute increases, Shane's true form on the ship still possesses a handsome appearance, making his charm greater than his mystery.

But the projection of a body beneath the sea surface is already indistinct, and its increasingly mysterious aura naturally makes it easy to frighten people.

If someone with a high level of intuition were to glance at him, they might experience some kind of delusional hallucination, leading to all sorts of wild imaginings.

At this moment, Shane was becoming more and more like the figure in the ghost story of the "Shadow Without a Face".

"I am Xia En."

Using her ability to communicate underwater, Xia En spoke decisively, quickly calming Yan Yan down.

'So this is what Captain Shane looks like beneath the sea...'

'Or is this some kind of special secret ability?'

While Yan Yan was still in surprise, he saw Xia En's figure already diving down first, and immediately followed closely behind.

Soon, the Emerald City, buried under volcanic ash, came into his view, surprising him.

But Xia En did not stop at all and went straight through the ice layer under the ancient city.

The elven city beneath the ice layer broadened Yan Yan's horizons, and he secretly admired it.

"Captain Shane is truly amazing that he was able to find such a hidden city!"

Their descent naturally attracted the attention of the sea creatures beneath the ice.

But perhaps because Yan Yan's flames were too special, even these demonic sea beasts hesitated and dared not approach.

"Come on!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xia En immediately led Yan Yan to the front of the Elf Temple.

"Go, go and melt this layer of ice!"

Yan Yan nodded emphatically and quickly swam towards the temple, opening his arms towards the ice.

Before anyone knew it, the fairy Tracy appeared beside Xia En and murmured something.

Do you think he can succeed?

Xia En said confidently, "It definitely can!"

Yan Yan ultimately did not disappoint Xia En's expectations.

The moment his body touched the solid ice, the strange flames immediately spread across the ice, the inextinguishable fire flowing like water around the temple.

Flames erupted from Yan Yan's body, engulfing the gate, the stone pillars, and the murals...

Flames crisscrossed like a net, rising from the walls like breaths.

Click...

With a soft cracking sound, a crack first appeared in the ice.

Immediately, the crack expanded rapidly, covering the entire temple in the blink of an eye.

What surprised Xia En even more was that part of that icy power seeped into Yan Yan's body and gradually neutralized his flames.

Let him be separated from the flames.

For the first time, that charred, flesh-tipped skin was truly exposed to the seawater.

Yan Yan himself was also very surprised, but he quickly revealed an expression of ecstasy.

"……This is?"

Xia En's heart skipped a beat.

This situation is almost like a reward given to Yan Yan by the "Extreme Cold Seal," which is really hard to explain as a coincidence.

Could it be that his previous guess was correct?
Is Yan Yan the "key" that was prepared in advance to unlock this seal?
squeak-

Just then, the gates of the Elven Temple slowly opened.

Xia En looked up and saw that the interior of the temple was both dilapidated and empty. The floors and walls had withstood the test of time, as if they had survived a fierce battle.

A goddess statue whose face is obscured stands at the far end of the hall.

For some reason, the statue gave him a very familiar feeling.

As if possessed, Xia En subconsciously walked into the main hall.

Fairy Cuiqian and Yan Yan naturally followed along.

next moment.

"Click" sound.

Xia En looked at his palm in astonishment. He had taken out a pocket watch named "Fleeting Time" at some point.

At that moment, the hands of the pocket watch, which had been moving continuously, suddenly stopped and froze at that instant.

In the silvery-white glow.

Xia En's vision went black as countless bizarre and fantastical images flooded his mind.

When he opened his eyes again, the world was completely different!

(End of this chapter)