Chapter 253: Section 41: Landing on Magnetic Island
The horizon gradually began to brim with masses of dark shadow.
“I see it!”
“The Magnetic Island Group spotted!”
The lookout’s cry echoed throughout the Justice.
The Justice, the Little Bird, and the Rapids had been sailing from New Moon Port for a week now. En route, they had made a stop at Bagen Port where they recruited over two hundred sailors, fully replenishing their crew.
The Dragon-man youth pushed open the captain’s cabin door and stood by the railing, his gaze piercing into the distance.
Simultaneously, Zong Ge aboard the Little Bird and a figure clad in grey on the Rapids raised their monocular telescopes.
As the distance closed, the Magnetic Island Group loomed into clearer view.
It was a desolate place, covered in pitch-black rocks with scarcely any vegetation.
The terrain on the islands was steep and rugged, with strangely shaped peaks and hills, and the air significantly hotter than at sea.
In the armory, various weapons including sailors’ knives clanged and rattled.
The Magnetic Island Group, as the name implied, was constantly emanating a strong magnetic force. Most metals were greatly affected.
About three thousand years ago, a golden galleon had gotten stranded here.
The owner of the golden galleon was an Elf Clan’s magnate merchant, surely among the world’s top three in wealth at that time. The merchant dealt in high-interest loans and resorted to martial oppression against those who couldn’t pay their debts. The fifth-generation Pirate King, who descended from Elf Nobles, had been crippled by a massive debt to this magnate merchant. Captured and enslaved, his family’s assets were devoured by the magnate.
The youthful fifth-generation King of Pirates escaped his shackles with courage and luck. Cast adrift, he became a pirate.
When he came of age, he stood out and became a pirate captain.
He started his revenge by continually plundering the magnate merchant’s fleet.
The magnate merchant, indulging in extravagant pleasures, had built seven cruise ships made of silver, gold, agate, pearl, jadeite, diamond, and crystal.
Each ship was a match for the most lavish Noble estates, complete with every imaginable pleasure.
The fifth-generation Pirate King enriched himself at his enemy’s expense, growing stronger with each plunder.
The magnate merchant counterattacked, but the fifth was cunning and plotted with great care.
During one encounter, the fifth feigned defeat and fled to the Magnetic Island Group. The pursuing gold cruise ship was weakened by the magnetic forces. Seizing the opportunity, the fifth launched a fierce attack and sank the gold ship among the Magnetic Islands.
The gold cruise ship, fundamentally constructed of gold, couldn’t be salvaged by the Pirate King due to the magnate’s arriving fleet, leaving him with no time for the task.
When he returned later, the gold ship had vanished without a trace.
It was speculated by the world that the galleon, nearly made of gold, had been pulled deep into the Magnetic Islands by the magnetic forces. Thus, generation after generation flocked here, hoping to find the golden galleon.
However, to this day, no one has discovered this vast treasure.
More than a thousand years after the sinking of the gold ship, the Magnetic Islands became the battlefield for a life-and-death struggle between two legendary warriors.
The combatants were one from the Barbarians, the fallen Druid Liao Ye, and another from the Beast Race, then the High Priest Hao Song.
The two were evenly matched and ultimately both died here.
According to rumors, they each left behind their legacies. Before dying, they made a pact to use their legacies to train exceptional successors, who would then duel to determine the true victor.
After this battle, the Magnetic Island Group became a frequented hotspot again, attracting Transcendents annually who hoped to inherit the legendary legacies.
These are the two most valuable treasures known regarding the Magnetic Island Group, but there were numerous other pieces of information varying in the value of the treasures involved.
The Dragon-man youth, this time in New Moon Port, had exchanged some of this treasure information.
The three ships gradually approached the Magnetic Island Group.
Still at some distance from the shoreline, the three pirate ships halted progress.
Although wood was the main material of the pirate ships, they also contained metal nails and other items. Getting too close could cause damage.
“Final check on the gear, don’t bring any metal objects!”
The Dragon-man youth and others boarded the landing boat, joined by figures such as a man in grey, Cang Xu, Big Guy, Di Lou, Sanda, Lan Zao, and Little Bird.
Zong Ge remained aboard, in command of the overall situation.
The landing boat quickly reached shore, and the crew of the Justice Pirate Group officially set foot on this extraordinary land.
Stepping on the glossy black magnetic stones, everyone immediately felt heat transferring up from the soles of their feet.
After a brief stop on the coastline to acclimate, the group began to move deeper into the islands.
The journey was initially tranquil, but it wasn’t long before they received a “welcome”.
Bang.
A black rock suddenly shot towards the group.
Little Bird and Sanda, scouting ahead, hastily dodged.
Following were a series of bangs, as numerous black rocks, like cannon bombs, were hurled at them.
The Big Guy lifted a giant wooden shield and knelt in front of Captain Dragon-man, blocking three black rock bombs.
“Don’t panic,” ordered the Dragon-man youth sternly, “Old Zhong!”
Cang Xu immediately channeled his Mana, tore open a Magic Scroll, and with mental manipulation, created a semi-transparent barrier.
The black rocks striking the shield were all repelled; although the shield was thin, it only rippled without breaking, appearing quite sturdy.
Seeing the invaders hold their ground, the native inhabitants of the Magnetic Island Group began to emerge.
They were humanoid in shape but made of earthen and stone constructs, varying greatly in size.
“Earth Element!”
“And Earth Element mutations—the Magnetic Earth Element!” the pirates whispered among themselves.
The Earth Elements were brownish-yellow, while the Magnetic Earth Elements were dark gray.
They possessed the ability to manipulate soil and rocks. With palms open, they bent down and directly dug out chunks of black stone, then stood proudly, flinging the stones with a vigorous swing of their arms.
The stone bombs had no effect, so the largest among the Earth Elements began to cast magic.
Earth Magic—Earth Spike Technique!
However, no Earth Spikes materialized.
Cang Xu tore open another scroll, reinforcing the ground beneath everyone’s feet.
But defense alone could not bring victory, so the old scholar shouted, “Attack quickly!”
The Dragon-man youth, Little Bird, and One in Gray had already rushed out of the protective shield.
They were each wielding Alchemy Crossbows.
In the next moment, Alchemy Arrows struck the Earth Element group, erupting with bursts of thunder, as well as splashes of water and flames.
When the dust cleared, the first wave of probing attacks had yielded results.
The Dragon-man youth found that the usually powerful Thunder Element Alchemy Arrows had almost no effect, and the potency of Water and Fire Element Arrows was reduced by about half.
The youth was not surprised; this had been within his expectations.
Earth Elements had outstanding defense, being best at defending against Thunder Element spells, with the power of other spells directed at them nearly halved.
The defensive advantage of the Earth Elements was not limited to spell resistance; they also excelled at withstanding hard strikes from swords and the like.
The Dragon-man youth then personally charged into the enemy ranks, lashing out with his Dragon Claws.
He was a Silver Fighter, but even killing the Black Iron Level Earth Elements proved difficult. It often took ten claw strikes to down one Black Iron Level Earth Element.
The Earth Elements themselves also cast some innate magic.
In addition to throwing stones and Earth Spikes, there was the bothersome Slowing Technique.
The Dragon-man youth was hit by the Slowing Technique, greatly reducing his movement and attack speeds, which plummeted his slaughtering efficiency.
The weak were overpowered by the strong.
The Earth Elements were numerous, but their highest level was only Black Iron, and there were only three of them.
However, it still took the group a full half hour to completely clear out these Earth Elements.
And that was after using a large number of Alchemy Arrows.
When the fight was over, there were no casualties, but Little Bird, One in Gray, and the others looked somewhat pale.
“This won’t do, Captain Long Fu.”
“Indeed, no wonder the Magnetic Island Group isn’t a popular spot for treasure exploration.”
The Dragon-man youth nodded slightly, knowing that Little Bird and One in Gray were talking about the cost issue.
Alchemy Arrows were expensive, and the consumption in this battle was too high.
Although there were also spoils of war.
After being killed, the Earth Elements had a certain chance to condense Earth Element Essence from their remains.
This was a common casting material for Earth Magic spells and also a frequent ingredient in alchemy; its market price was quite low.
Beyond the essence, the Magnetic Earth Elements could consolidate some magnetic stones.
The price of these magnetic stones was slightly higher than that of the Earth Element Essence but still very limited.
The input was not proportional to the output.
Nevertheless, the Dragon-man youth was resolute: “Keep moving forward and do not fear consumption. Alchemy Arrows are meant for combat.”
Since the boss had spoken, One in Gray, Little Bird, and the others could only follow orders. After all, they weren’t the ones paying for the Alchemy Arrows.
After three battles, the exploration of the small Magnetic Island they had landed on was complete.
The Dragon-man youth was about to board a boat to the next island when he quickly discovered it was unnecessary.
The Magnetic Island he stood on was drawing closer to another.
Soon after, the two islands collided with a bang, temporarily merging into a larger landmass.
This was a peculiar feature of the Magnetic Island Group.
These islands were all mobile, repelling and attracting each other through magnetic force.
Thus, mapping the Magnetic Island Group’s topography was extremely difficult, as the terrain was constantly changing. In the span of a week, the landscape could undergo drastic transformations.
The Justice Pirate Group set foot on new land and cleared two more groups of Earth Elements, gaining some Earth Element Essence and magnetic stones of various sizes.
Such exploration continued until evening.
Little Bird, secretly calculating the cost, felt a heavy weight in his heart. The gains were too meager; it was a severe loss.
Under normal circumstances, the group could use metal weapons to attack the Earth Elements. Although still inefficient, the cost would at least be bearable.
But on the Magnetic Island Group, fighters hardly used their equipment, significantly reducing their regular attack capabilities.
For the sake of efficiency, resorting to Alchemy Arrows was quite costly.
Little Bird, One in Gray, and Di Lou couldn’t help but admire the Dragon-man youth internally; the captain remained unfazed throughout.
“My lord, there’s a discovery!” Towards evening, a pirate scout brought different news.
The exhausted group’s eyes suddenly lit up.