Chapter 554 – Real Treasure

Chapter 554 – Real Treasure

“Of course it’s real treasure!”

Aquina was quite excited too. “After all these years, someone has finally found the real treasure! I always said my Sunken Ship Treasure Platter contained real treasure and that it wasn’t a scam! It’s just that all my previous customers had terrible luck and never drew the grand prize.”

Mo Lan was startled. “Really?”

She had actually dug up the real treasure?

Their voices drew over some Merfolk servers and customers to watch.

“Of course!” Aquina tipped the key out of the bottle. “That’s right, this is it! If I’m not mistaken, you found it in the jellyfish apes’ territory, didn’t you?”

“Mm.” Mo Lan nodded. “It was buried at the very bottom of the jellyfish apes’ glass bottle mountain.”

“Then that checks out. A hundred years ago, I was a Witch who had just graduated not long before. To save money, I had no choice but to go borrow glass bottles from the jellyfish apes to use as containers for drinks. That’s when I encountered a jellyfish ape that had been struck by a death curse, clutching this wine bottle in its arms. This key was dangling from its tentacles.

After checking that neither the wine bottle nor the key had any curses on their surfaces, I ‘borrowed’ them home to study.

Back then, the bottle wasn’t empty — the wine inside carried the aura of a curse.

A razor-billed albatross that loved to drink and always came to mooch drinks off me snuck a sip of the wine I’d poured out for testing when I wasn’t looking. From that day on, it lost the courage to fly up into the sky.

The final test results confirmed it — the bottle contained an aged magical wine that could rob a person of their courage.

Legend has it that some shipwrecked vessels, under certain conditions, transform into ghost ships and set sail again. The old items aboard also undergo a metamorphosis.

Ghost ships may deliberately lose some ‘tickets’ imbued with the aura of death during their voyages.

If you hold the ticket and wait alone by an abandoned dock at night, you’ll eventually see the ghost ship come to pick you up.

This bottle of wine very likely came from a ghost ship, and this key should be the ghost ship’s ticket.

But I’m not skilled in Curse Magic or Necromancy Magic, so I didn’t dare go looking for the ghost ship, and I just set it aside.

Later, when I was creating the treasure maps for the Sunken Ship Treasure Platter, I thought of it.

But the wine inside was too dangerous — I was afraid it would harm customers — so I poured it out and only carved that line of text on the bottle cap to add to the treasure-hunting atmosphere.

Then I put the key inside and sent it back to the jellyfish apes’ glass bottle mountain, waiting for a fated customer to come and claim it.

I never expected it would take until now for someone to draw that treasure map and find them.”

Aquina was deeply moved. She even turned to the onlooking customers and said, “See! I told you there was real sunken ship treasure! An entire ghost ship! Even if it was originally just an ordinary cargo vessel, once it becomes a ghost ship, everything aboard turns into precious magical items.”

The customers: “…”

That was a ghost ship! They wanted to get rich, not to court death!

Even Merfolk would flee if they encountered a ghost ship!

How could they — humans who could only dive into the sea thanks to Merfolk bubbles — possibly dare board a ghost ship that was very likely cursed!

“A ghost ship! Aquina, do you know if there are any abandoned docks near Moon Harbor?” Mo Lan asked.

The other customers: “!!!”

Good heavens! Was she actually planning to go find the ghost ship?

What was this Witch’s background!

Aquina wasn’t surprised by Mo Lan’s boldness. She was a Sorceress, after all! With limitless All-Element Magic talent, neither Curse Magic nor Necromancy Magic would pose a problem for her.

Others feared the ghost ship’s curses, but a Witch skilled in Curse Magic had nothing to fear.

“Follow the coastline south, fly for about a day, and there’s a pearl oyster farm. There’s a small dock outside it. That farm went out of business ten years ago, so the dock should be abandoned by now,” Aquina said.

Mo Lan noted the location, planning to check it out later.

Just not right now.

Her Curse Magic and Necromancy Magic were both only at the Advanced level at the moment.

Ghost ships were different from ordinary transcendent beings and magical beasts. Mo Lan wanted to be a bit more cautious.

This trip to Moon Harbor had originally been about finding a place with nice scenery to study and practice magic for a while — to consolidate the mage magic she had learned at the Imperial Magic Academy, as well as the Witch Magic she hadn’t had a chance to practice in a long time.

Once she had reviewed all the mage magic in her memory palace and improved her Witch Magic a bit more, it wouldn’t be too late to explore the ghost ship then!

But since she was already here today…

“One Sunken Ship Treasure Platter, to go!” Mo Lan said.

She didn’t hold out much hope of drawing another real treasure like a ghost ship ticket, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to eat the Sunken Ship Treasure Platter one more time.

“Coming right up!” Aquina waved her Wand, and the kitchen utensils moved even faster.

Mo Lan switched her broomstick to flying carpet mode and brought out a small table to set up.

As soon as the Sunken Ship Treasure Platter was ready, it was delivered to her little table.

After paying, the flying carpet headed north.

If she didn’t leave soon, the Merfolk song festival would be starting again, and she had no desire to waste Mana and psychic power contending with the Merfolk’s Voice Magic.

The flying carpet flew on autopilot while Mo Lan enjoyed her Sunken Ship Treasure Platter.

Her Communication Card showed new message notifications — from the “Sorceress’s Home” group chat.

The photos she had taken last night of the Merfolk Tavern, along with the ones she’d taken this morning of the house and the scenery outside, had all been sent to her companions with a letter. They had finally received them.

【Vasida: So much delicious food! If I’d known, I would have stayed in Moon Harbor for a couple of days before leaving!】

【Sylph: Ahh! Late-night food attack! Why doesn’t the Card Shop have such amazing gourmet cards? @Moira, please add new ones!】

【Moira: I don’t have a deep understanding of Valen’s cuisine, so I can’t make food with these kinds of special effects yet. The tavern’s dishes are all Aquina’s exclusive secret recipes. She hasn’t uploaded them using a Management Card, so I can’t make gourmet cards like these.】

Of course, she could also have the Book of Cards absorb a ready-made tavern dish to create a gourmet card, but that would be infringing on Aquina’s interests.

She could do that to other races, but she didn’t want to do it to a fellow Witch.

【Vasida: How about trying the Dragon cuisine from Delicacy Island? I’ve uploaded quite a few Dragon dishes. The taste is absolutely beyond reproach — they’re just not as fun as what Moira posted.】

【Sylph: I’ve tried them all. Too much meat, I’m getting a bit tired of it.】

【Lilith: Am I the only one who noticed the Merfolk in the background? They really do live up to their reputation — the looks of giant trolls simply can’t compare to Merfolk! By the way, Moira, could you get me some processed Merfolk blood to make {Merfolk blood cards}? Merfolk never come to the Land of Chaos. My blood catalog is only missing Merfolk now.】

【Moira: I’ll ask Aquina about it. She has a lot of Merfolk employees working for her. If that doesn’t work, I’ll think of another way. Oh, and I found the Sunken Ship Treasure treasure map. The treasure is a ghost ship ticket. When I leave Moon Harbor, I’ll go check it out.】