Chapter 572: Hidden treasure trove
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
After chasing away the school of swordfishes, the Dingyuan valiantly sailed forward while utterly ignoring all submerged reefs; if gods were blocking the way then it would run down gods, if buddha blocks the way then it would run down buddha.
On this very night, after voyaging for five days; a pitch-black island silhouette finally emerged within the spyglass horizon of the lookout.
In a flash, this report was transmitted throughout the entire ship.
Cheers erupted from the pirates alongside avaricious expressions.
A treasure island was right ahead!
The treasures of the legendary Black Pearl pirates! Abundance of gold like the sand, silver like the dust. Riches that appeared like unvaluable pebbles. Yet most importantly, their captain was an exceptionally generous man!
After selecting twenty agile pirates adept at close range combat, Sheyan climbed ashore with his buddies. Obviously, the few cores like Taitish, Blacksail and Bigbeard Davies also went along, while Philip and Ol’Seadog remained to safeguard the ship.
The other pirates weren’t afraid of the venturing party embezzling all the booty, because the ship was the only way out of this island.
The movie painted a scene of easy access to the Black Pearl’s treasure trove. However, that was because Jack Sparrow and Barbossa were exceedingly familiar with the route. Instead, Jiejie divining out the coordinates of the island itself was already an arduous accomplishment. It was impossible for occult magic to act with satellite radar precision after all.
Prior to this, Sheyan was reflecting back on the time he interacted with Jack Sparrow. It wasn’t that Sheyan didn’t plan to draw his blood. Instead, it was because Captain Jack Sparrow was constantly on the alert, probably because he had been betrayed previously.
Moreover, many curses in this world of witchcraft were related to blood. He didn’t wish to enrage Jack and to deceive him for his blood, he reckoned only an enchanting maiden like Elizabeth Swann could accomplish it.
When the pirates first sighted the Isla De Muerta, they weren’t in a rush for the Dingyuan to approach the shore. Instead, they steered the Dingyuan round the island while surveying it carefully first.
Through that, they realized that this island was approximately 6-7 square kilometers large. In another perspective, the island couldn’t compare to large scale residential areas in the present world. Despite so, its terrain appeared relatively complex.
Naturally, they also investigated for traces of the Black Pearl. According to the movie storyline, if the Black Pearl had successfully abducted Lady Elizabeth Swann, they would’ve been through here already; before realizing that though the Aztec gold on her was real, she wasn’t the true inheritor of it. Therefore, her blood failed to revoke the curse, and thus prompted them to begin a new manhunt.
To Sheyan’s knowledge, this present period should be when the Black Pearl was pursuing Elizabeth Swann and the true Aztec gold inheritor, Will Turner.
In his contemplation, if the Black Pearl realized their lair had been raided during the course of pursuit, they would inevitably fall into an impasse. Nevertheless, thinking in Barbossa’s perspective, Sheyan believed he would definitely swiftly deal with the closer issue first.
Still, the pursuit of speed may not bring one to one’s destination. Although Jack Sparrow should be presently imprisoned in the Black Pearl, the other ship still had Will Turner, Joshamee and the witty Elizabeth Swann. Thus, they should suffice to win extra time for the trio! This was the current plan in Sheyan’s heart.
This island wasn’t an island formed over time like a coral reef island or a volcanic island. Instead, it was a mountain island.
To explain it, if the seawater surrounding dries up, one would discover that this island was actually the summit of an underwater mountain range standing along the seabed. It was extremely stable. If one were to explore this treasure island, it shouldn’t need an excessive amount of time to do so theoretically.
After the flock of humans ascended onto the treasure island, they realized the abundance of flora species present. After jumping off the springboard, they immediately felt a soft texture beneath their feet. Upon glancing down, they realized algae that appeared like those hair of the deceased, were intertwined along the shore.
Faint green shrubs could be seen growing within the greyish mist, at the region freed from the seawater. Shrubs covered their vision to the left and the right. As it turns out, these nameless shrubs had leaves that were withered by the greysih environment, but refused to shed even after withering.
Under such circumstances, the pirates traversed in winding fashion as they made their way around the disorderly arrangement of trees, venturing through greenish foamy puddles and muddy mires. Travelling on such a terrain, it was inevitable the movement speed of the pirates were affected.
"It seems like this place experiences frequent rain." Taitish suddenly blurted out. "The stench of rot is dense here."
The terrain before them was analogous to a marsh.
Everyone’s feet were lodged within luxuriant reeds, dead succulent greens and slimy water plants. Every step would trigger spurts of decomposition odour, where the rich muddy stench assailed their noses.
After advancing for close to a hundred metres, mushy decaying black sludge crept up to their calves, as though icy cold hands were pinching their feet. Gradually, their pinches became tighter and firmer. As compared to flat ground, one had to expand ten folds of energy here.
Blacksail suddenly uttered.
"We can’t proceed further. Mayhaps the swamp ahead be impassible."
Blacksail had travelled extensively to many places, his words did much to convince others.
After pondering a little, Sheyan decided to split the team into three people groups before scouring around the region.
However, that was to no avail where the deadly swamp could even devour the lives of some pirates. If not for the emphasis of bringing ropes beforehand, there would surely be some crippled pirates by now.
Facing such an awkward scenario, a feeling of ‘entering the treasure mountain but leaving bare handed’ welled up within the crew. While the pirates were feeling at a loss, Taitish suddenly suggested.
"Wait a moment, why do I constantly feel uneasy at a certain area. The disruption of my occult magic here seems rather excessive."
Back at the shore, Taitish stood for a brief while before calling for men to pull the shore algae towards her. After carefully inspecting them, she ordered for shrubs to be chopped before setting them on fire.
Speaking of this, it was rather mysterious. The shrubs appeared rather dry but igniting them was still relatively challenging. Fortunately, the pirates were individuals of arson and murder, preparing necessary lethal tools like gunpowder and oil. Those vegetation finally combusted after supplementing oil and gunpowder onto them. At this instance, they finally realized a abnormality.
Within the phantom isles sea, visibility was greatly impaired due to the constant fumigation of mist and fog. The trio was aware that the greatest rival of mist was wind. As such, the wind here was rather stale.
Instead, as the shrubs combusted with spiralling thick black fumes, those black fumes appeared as if a strong wind was blowing against it. The fumes surged parallel to the ground, quickly and violently, it drifted towards a particular direction
"Indeed!" Taitish declared joyously. She immediately led the pirates in chase of the wafting black fumes. Every time the black fumes dissipated away, the same process of chopping shrubs and igniting them would occur.
As the followed the trail of the black fumes, they finally arrived at a location. Over here, the black fumes no longer diverged but surged straight up towards the sky!
Taitish stood still with a solemn expression. With the assistance of Blacksail, she stood holding onto the crystal bought in Tortuga. Then, she shut her eyes and started chanting an incantation. Her chanting speed was extremely fast and her pronunciation clear. Only, no one could fathom what she was chanting. Except, they could sense a humming in her voice as though it was resonating with their innards!
All of a sudden, a glow flickered within the crystal ball. Like a convex lens, it was concentrated into a deep red beam as it shone straight upwards the combusting shrubs. Within a split second, the flames turned richly dark before frying with a million glitters within an instance. It was as if the entire the ashes within the flames had experienced a soundless explosion!
As the glitters swiftly condensed in midair, it interweaved incessantly before forming into a densely packed net. Every grid of the net was flickering with ember like glows, where the glitters would gradually condensed upwards.
Taitish reached out her hand and seized the condensing glitters as though she was grabbing a doorknob. Then, she exerted great force to pull. Although Blacksail wanted to assist her, Taitish refused his aid.
At this moment, the whistling of wind could be heard blowing in from an unknown far distance.
The initial strands of the blowing wind felt almost non-existent. However, as the winds started blowing in unison, they started to revolve in a circle. Furthermore, their momentum was slowly building up.
Not only that, the pirates felt the ground tremoring continuously, as if an unceasing team of furious horses were galloping unhindered across the solid earth. This wasn’t the feeling of an earthquake. This queer surreptitious experience was rapidly corroding away the mental fortitude of the pirates on scene.
As the winds raged stronger, its whistling also turned stranger. As though 5-6 magnificent black tornadoes had formed around the surroundings, greedily and ferociously sucking in air. Such uncontrollable vehement sucking, released an impression of threatening to extract one’s soul as well!
Taitish suddenly executed a fierce pulling action before she released her grip, and staggered several steps to the ground.
Panting with huge gasps, she quickly drew some of her personally concocted drink to regain some energy. Nevertheless, her countenance appeared rather unpleasant, as though she had gorged herself with food even after vomiting several times.