Chapter 244: The Second Bonus Map Journey
Richie Burke had once been the subordinate of the famous pirate "Treasure Expert" Sidney, serving as the first mate of the Myrny Rooster and carrying a bounty of 5,000 Vecktas. His captain, Sidney, was none other than the star of the Wiltshire Miracle—son of Storm Wilt and Overalls Jaquin.
Five years ago, Captain Sidney led Richie Burke and the others on an expedition into the Sea of Mists.
They had come across a sailor's logbook in a compendium of Northern historical records—a sailor who had once served on the ship of a certain Falric emperor. As a shaman, Captain Sidney possessed the rare skill of reading and writing. Using the logbook as their guide, they retraced that emperor's route through the Sea of Mists, discovering the Island of Giants, Dragon Island, and even islands not mentioned in the logbook—such as those inhabited by the remnants of the elves, the avian race, and other extraordinary peoples.
Eventually, they found the emperor's first stash of treasure on a small island. Among the loot were some riches, a sword, an item called the "Lucky Clover," and a map that supposedly led to the legendary Great Treasure.
Relying on the Lucky Clover, they managed to navigate through the dangerous currents deep within the Sea of Mists and reached an unknown island. There, they not only found more treasure but also stumbled upon grand ruins, within which they discovered a book. As a shaman and a reader, Captain Sidney was deeply fond of the book and intended to take it with him. But once the Lucky Clover's time expired, Sidney suddenly went mad, mutating into a monstrous creature with the ability to unleash floods and lightning, and attacked the crew.
Fortunately, Richie Burke acted quickly. He and the other sailors took turns using the Lucky Clover, barely managing to escape Sidney's assault and flee to the Myrny Rooster moored at the island's shore.
Although Richie Burke, as first mate, had always been at odds with second mate Aaron Ingersoll, the deadly crisis forced them to work closely together. In the process of repeatedly using the Lucky Clover, they discovered its greatest flaw—if the same person used it repeatedly, their luck would gradually weaken while their bad luck would steadily increase.
By strictly taking turns in a set order, they endured countless hardships and finally made it back to land. But the moment they docked, Aaron Ingersoll tore off his mask of civility. While his luck was up and Richie's misfortune was peaking, he declared himself the new captain, exiling Richie according to Northern pirate custom. Richie and his small crew were given only a gun, a sword, and a bottle of liquor before being thrown off the ship. The Lucky Clover, now seen as a burden, was tossed to him as well.
Now, driven by his desire for revenge on Aaron Ingersoll, Richie Burke's greatest goal was to find the treasure Captain Sidney had once mentioned—loot stolen by Sidney's father, Storm Wilt, from a treasure ship out of Lavendel, hidden deep within a cave in the Allsop Swamp.
The problem was, Aaron Ingersoll had the same idea. Word had it the Myrny Rooster had already been spotted in nearby waters.
Compared to finding the treasure, Richie considered his grudge with that terrifying young man a minor issue—besides, he wasn't confident he could win in a fight. Sure, pirates lived by the code of vengeance, but a Northlander knew the value of bending before breaking… Richie sighed to himself.
…
After sending off Richie Burke and his slightly Pirates of the Caribbean-esque crew, Zhou Ning had no interest in lingering at the bar with John and XB, and the three of them left.
As a normal young man, he was tempted to meet a few girls and have a fling in this foreign port, but with players around, he had to maintain his image—so that option was off the table.
XB was still stuck on the earlier card game, ranting to the livestream chat: "I mean, how was I supposed to know the main guy would hit a royal flush? I had a full house, and the odds of him getting that were only one percent! Out of seven hands, he pulled five royal flushes—like some gambling god. When I saw that last royal flush, I was stunned. Fine, fine, I'll owe you the brain-food for now. It'll taste better when we have enough to share."
So XB's tradition of "owing brain-food" started all the way back here… Zhou Ning almost couldn't keep a straight face.
If nothing else, before Zhou Ning's last trip across worlds, XB had owed enough "brain-food" to open a sizable internet café.
At the inn's entrance, Zhou Ning declined John's invitation to visit the red-light district. With a trace of regret, he said his goodbyes.
He'd only taken a few steps when John called after him:
"Wait, one more thing—you remember the investor I mentioned last time? He's agreed to sponsor our Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament. This weekend, take some time to come back to campus, and I'll introduce you. I guarantee he's the perfect backer you could imagine." John grinned.
"Alright." Zhou Ning, intrigued by the prospect, readily agreed.
When he returned to the inn, the other four players had also come back. Hearing XB describe his earlier encounter—which sounded suspiciously like a hidden quest—they all regretted not going with him.
Zhou Ning excused himself, returned to his room, and read for a while, fulfilling the daily reading quota needed to maintain his clan ability. Then he suddenly frowned—he'd forgotten something important.
"Crap!" Zhou Ning slapped his forehead. He'd nearly made a fatal mistake—he'd forgotten to buy the Spider-Man template!
This was the template he hadn't been able to afford during his last journey. Today had been so busy he almost let it slip again!
He quickly opened the travel simulator. Since buying a template required a trip, he checked his travel coin balance. The Hall of Curiosities reward had given him 50 coins, his travel refund was 136, and with the 2 coins from overnight, he now had a grand total of 188.
Without hesitation, Zhou Ning selected the BONUS map to continue his journey.
[Preparing for travel… Travel Coins -180]
[Please select travel mode…]
[1. Direct travel.]
[2. Travel using a parallel-world template.]
[3. Travel using a random template.]
Zhou Ning hurriedly chose the second option, and when he looked inside—holy crap, that was close! He'd only bought the Golf Master Zhou Ning template earlier, and the timers for Spider Sense Zhou Ning and the hidden One Piece Zhou Ning template were about to expire.
It was already 12:50 AM—only twelve minutes remained before the precious Spider-Man template would be wiped. And this was the perfect moment to exploit the "Lucky Clover" bug.
The price for the template was 600 coins. Without hesitation, Zhou Ning topped up 5,920 Vecktas and bought it.
Then he instantly locked onto the One Piece Zhou Ning hidden template and began the journey.
On the card, the version of himself wearing a dark red coat sharpened into focus, standing tall with a cold gaze fixed on the horizon.
Behind him, a towering black ship cut through the waves, charging forward!