"Chang Long, why are we running away?"
Aswa shouted, trying to be heard over the roar and the crashing trees.
"Uh—no idea. Regroup. We're running to regroup!"
Chang Long replied, and once they had run far enough to regroup, it seed that the King of Reptile was no longer pursuing them.
"It's not chasing us anymore. Weird. I an, it's probably not tired—it just started chasing us a minute ago."
"That thing must be the guardian beast of the path. I think we just moved out of its territory. If we step back in, it'll probably chase us all over again."
Siegfried offered his opinion, and it seed everyone agreed. They tried sneaking back into the King of Reptile's territory again—and ended up being chased out just the sa.
"I… I'm tired."
Chang Long complained. Everyone was panting heavily outside the territory of the King of Reptile. They had tried luring it away from the temple to create an opening to reach the temple and find a way up to the Heavenly Avian Temple—but no matter what, it was not falling for the bait or stepping out of its zone.
"It really won't take the bait."
Siegfried exhaled and took a sip from his water bottle.
"An A-rank quest, tough right from the start. No wonder hardly anyone has completed it."
Captain Hicks sighed and laid back on the ground, completely spent.
"I think we'll have to team up and take that thing down. Otherwise, there's no hope of even getting close to the path up."
Aswa proposed. If they kept trying to lure it like this, they would be dead from exhaustion before it even took the bait.
"No. It's not ti for such a desperate move yet."
Chang Long cut in quickly. Aswa and the others turned to look at her with interest.
"Chang Long, do you have another plan?"
Captain Hicks asked with curiosity.
"Provoking it. That thing's patience isn't very high. We just need to spice things up, push it into a frenzy—make it so furious it loses itself and just wants to gobble us up at all costs. That's when we'll be able to lure it away from the abandoned temple."
Chang Long replied with full confidence, leaving the young n with their mouths agape.
"C... Chang Long, you an drive it into berserk mode, right?"
Siegfried asked knowingly. He knew Chang Long's ways well, having traveled with her many tis.
"That's suicide. Everyone knows that a berserk monster attacks anything in sight."
Captain Hicks paled as he heard Siegfried's words.
"Exactly—that's the goal."
Her response, along with a satisfied smile, made the already pale young n turn even paler—almost translucent, like a bunch of ghosts.
"You're serious!"
Aswa stared at Chang Long without blinking. Was there anyone in this world who could think like her? A direct fight might still offer a better chance of survival than triggering a berserk. But Chang Long seed thrilled at the idea of provoking the King of Reptile. He definitely was not foolish enough to try stopping her—that would only make her mad at him instead. He had no choice but to go with the flow. Otherwise, he would be the one who would die—by the hands of the woman he loved, even before the King of Reptile got to him.
.....
After the system announced that one slot for the Pirate King heirs was now vacant, the ga world buzzed with renewed excitent. Guilds began summoning their mbers, and even independent players sprang into action, all racing to be the first to uncover the initial clue. And that first clue was an old man behaving suspiciously near the docks. Each island had one or two major system-run ports, not including the extra docks purchased by the Mariti Association from the bank to serve as private berthing zones. These were expansions built beyond the original system docks. There were also separate docks used by local fishern. The players did not overlook those areas either, combing through them in search of the old man. But it seed the old man knew that players were looking for him. He kept a low profile and never showed himself—despite the players having searched every nook and cranny of the docks.
Since the search had yet to succeed, the players had no choice but to rely on news. And the source that seed to be most popular among players at the mont was none other than the news from the Journalists and Writers Association. Even though the information they received was sotis true and sotis not, which did not exactly help illuminate the path any further, in the end, players stopped buying newspapers and resud searching for the old man themselves.
However, just at the perfect mont, the Reaper's Whisperer newspaper went back on sale. Although this ti it did not feature any mysterious or sensational stories like in previous editions, the highlight that had players scrambling to get a copy was none other than the clue about finding the old man at the port.
The Old Man and the Legend of the Pirate King
The mysterious old man that players were searching for didn't seem all that different from a regular NPC at first glance. Without knowing his distinct traits, most players would likely walk right past him without paying the slightest attention. Many mistook him for a system sailor, a fisherman returning from sea, or a drunken old man who couldn't find his way ho and ended up sleeping by the seaside dock instead. At this point, players probably started to catch on. Naturally, there's a special trick to finding the man you're looking for. And there's more than one person at the port who fits the bill. What follows is a complete, no-holds-barred guide to finding the real old man—thanks to the generous spirit of one heir to the Pirate King.
The first thing you players need to know about the old man is that he's plump, wears a striped shirt like a sailor, ragged shorts, has a ssy beard and hair—and is a heavy drinker. Many players have likely walked past soone like this, and they'll know he's not the only one. Therefore, what you need to do to get him to reveal his secret identity is to befriend him. And the best way to do that—guaranteed—is to offer him alcohol. The stronger the better. Pour him a drink and make small talk. This takes a bit of patience. And if you plan to drink with the old man, be sure your tolerance is up to the task—or you'll pass out before you learn any truth.
The signal that the old man is the one you're looking for is to observe the bottle. If he's had more than half, his behavior will change as follows:
He begins to look more sober than drunk and stops guzzling liquor like water. Instead, he starts swirling the drink in his hand and staring at it thoughtfully.
When he closes his eyes and listens to the sound of the wind and waves at sea, he'll begin to speak of legends—tales of traveling alongside great n upon the seas. At first, it'll just be his own ramblings, about the ti he journeyed with the Pirate King. You'll need patience and focus to listen.
After finishing his own tale, he'll ntion that he was entrusted with hiding a treasure map. That is the quest—but he won't give it directly. He'll circle back to his story, then pose a question to you. If you answer wrong, he won't give you the map's location. But don't worry—you can get him drunk again tomorrow. The old man is terribly forgetful.
Even if you receive the hint about where the map is hidden, it doesn't an you'll find it right away. Players will have to follow a trail of clues until they uncover the map themselves. Once found, they'll be automatically returned to him.
We hope this article proves useful for all players feeling out of options. Whoever ends up with the treasure of the last Pirate King—may they use it well, and for the greatest good.
Article by
Kimhant
"Whoa, that's seriously detailed! At this rate, all the drunken old n at the docks are going to be getting free drinks for days."
Peach Blossom said after finishing the article in Reaper's Whisperer, turning to Valentine.
"Yeah, Kimhant gave such a thorough breakdown—makes you wonder if he's up to sothing."
Valentine comnted, speculatively.
"I just want my newspaper to be the number one source of news. Deep, accurate, and telling you what you never knew."
Kimhant grinned broadly as he walked up to the two ladies, clearly in a great mood. After all, Reaper's Whisperer had been selling out everywhere. No matter where you walked, players were shouting out for copies of the newspaper.
"That slogan sounds really familiar. Anyway, how are you even printing newspapers when the print shop isn't finished yet?"
Peach Blossom asked, tossing so food to Hachi, who was peacefully coexisting within one ter.
"Yes. I asked them to build only the parts we needed first. The reception area and such can be finished later—it doesn't affect the printing process."
Kimhant sat down next to Peach Blossom. Felon, who had been standing still on his shoulder like a doll, leapt down onto the table where a bowl of colorful candy was placed.
While the three of them were chatting happily, Felon began tasting the first piece of candy. He licked it gently, curious, then popped it into his mouth and began shifting it left and right, until a little round bulge appeared in his cheek. Once the candy had fully lted, he let out a satisfied "Ah~".
Having confird that the colorful candy was absolutely delicious, Felon no longer intended to share. He lifted the glass bowl—heavier than himself—and happily poured the rest of the candies into his mouth. Unfortunately, the first piece that touched his tongue this ti was an extra-sour lemon flavor, shocking him so much that he spat all the candy out with force. Kimhant and the two girls were startled and stared at one another—then burst into laughter when they saw Felon's dejected face, having spilled the entire bowl of candy into a ss.
.....
The plan to reach the Heavenly Avian Temple was laid out simply. Everyone prepared themselves to run for their lives to lure the King of Reptile into a chase. The second phase of the plan was nothing more than making it so angry that it would go berserk and rampage blindly, forgetting its duty to guard the temple path altogether. The plan had ten participants: Chang Long, the erald-green dragon Little Jade who had awakened from slumber, Hisa-chan and Devi-chan—two of Chang Long's spirits, Siegfried and his pet Lycanth, Aswa, Captain Hicks, and two reluctant ghost allies—Heaven and Rogy.
Chang Long opened the assault by hurling a large rock at the King of Reptile's head—and it worked beautifully. It charged at them, causing the whole group to scatter in all directions. This ti, they did not just run away as before, but kept provoking it, making it angrier and angrier until it entered berserk mode.
The ghosts seed to be the most useful. They appeared and disappeared at will, greatly irritating the King of Reptile. At last, what everyone had hoped for ca true: the King of Reptile went berserk and started attacking everyone indiscriminately. As the largest and most visible of the group, Little Jade beca the main target and was chased by the beast.
Even though they were exhausted from running for hours while luring the King of Reptile, Chang Long's group still had to reach the abandoned temple—the path to the Heavenly Avian Temple. But the path was not easy to find. The temple was rather large, and they had to spend several more minutes searching for the way up.
"This way, everyone. Looks like there's a bird symbol over here."
Captain Hicks called everyone over from a room. It was a rectangular room about a ter and a half wide and five ters long. In the middle was a 50-centiter groove, inside of which lay a round stone plate that fit snugly into the groove—more than one, in fact.
"What is that?"
Aswa asked, confused.
"This seems to be the only room still intact. The others we checked were either collapsed or had nothing worth checking out."
Captain Hicks observed.
"Look, there's an inscription. I'll try translating it. Maybe we'll get another clue."
Chang Long said as the others looked around. She began deciphering the inscriptions on the wall with her Ancient Script Reading skill, which was only at level three, so it took her quite so ti to accurately translate even one word. But then…
"I think the translation's over here."
Siegfried's words made everyone snap their heads around. They saw a translated version of the inscription Chang Long had been struggling to decode. The young woman rolled her eyes in exasperation and joined the others to read the already-translated text.
"That stone plate really is the way up—but how does it work? Maybe once you stand on it, a beam of light shoots down, like a mass-transport system or sothing?"
Captain Hicks speculated jokingly.
"Maybe not. But that idea's actually kind of interesting."
Aswa seed to agree as he noted the plain-looking round stone plate.
"It says to jump onto it hard. That's when the stone plate will activate."
Chang Long read aloud, then turned to inform everyone.
Thuddd.
"What was that?"
Captain Hicks turned toward the source of the sound, startled.
"Looks like our berserk friend is heading back this way."
Siegfried said.
"It's probably snapped out of its frenzy. Co on, before we get chomped!"
As soon as Chang Long finished speaking, she jumped onto the round stone plate in the center of the groove. As pressure was applied, the stone plate bounced up from the ground—more than two feet high—making Chang Long's heart skip a beat as she almost tumbled off face-first.
What was even more shocking was that, once the stone plate lifted off the ground, sothing that resembled tal blades unfolded from beneath it. They were iron wings that began flapping, lifting Chang Long swiftly into the air—so fast that she could not help but scream in shock at the top of her lungs.
"Yaaaah. I'm gonna nosedive into the ground!"
"Hahaha. Chang Long has this side to her too? That's hilarious."
Captain Hicks laughed in delight.
"This isn't the ti to be laughing—look, that giant's coming!"
Aswa pointed to show Captain Hicks the King of Reptile, which was now charging toward the abandoned temple. Though it had cald from its berserk state, it still seed absolutely furious. The young man did not just talk—he kicked Captain Hicks up onto the stone plate too, causing the young captain to go through the exact sa experience as Chang Long. Even though the two of them lost their balance while standing on the winged stone plate, they did not fall off. That was because the plate had suctioned the soles of their feet tightly. No matter how badly they failed to keep their balance, they would never fall off the stone plate.
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