Upon hearing that the headband in Alka's hand, originally a bit black and not particularly special even after cleaning, was actually a treasure,
The men instantly relaxed, rising from the gravel where they had been resting and gathering around Alka.
They gazed at the unremarkable headband with curiosity.
"To be honest, it looks rather ordinary," Jason said, looking at the headband in Alka's hand.
If it were dropped on the ground, no one would consider it a treasure.
When treasures are unactivated, they are reserved and don't appear to have any special features.
Unless their appearance is inherently exceptional and beautiful.
For example, Alka's [Mirror] is clearly a precious item simply by looking at its appearance.
Next in line are items like [Frost Nova] and [Dream Catcher].
Even if you don't consider it a treasure, you'll still consider it a very valuable piece of spell equipment.
"My flag is just as ordinary." Lucilia waved her arm, which was adorned with a red cuff.
"Yours is too ordinary. If it were my headband, I'd pick it up. If your flag were dropped on the ground, I'd just kick it away," Jason said, waving his hand.
No matter how ordinary it is, it's not as ordinary as your flag.
"Now is the time to argue about this?" Sofia Daiti said, somewhat speechlessly.
"Why are you acting like a child?"
Julia stepped forward, looked at Alka, and asked, "What abilities does this treasure have?"
He asked the question that everyone was most concerned about.
Hearing this, Alka shook his head. "I don't know. I only know this artifact is called the Ring of Light and is a Holy Grail-level artifact. As for its power, my Dreamcatcher is somewhat repulsive."
"Whoever controls it will know, but now's not the time. Let's explore that steel ship first."
Everyone nodded and turned their gazes away after hearing Alka's words.
Since the artifact couldn't be dropped into a pocket ring, Alka had no choice but to hold it in his hand.
After all, the Dreamcatcher only repelled it, not attacked, and it was a one-sided repulsion.
Pororo looked at the steel ship ahead, turned around, and asked, "Don't you want to rest for a while?"
After all, they had just experienced a fierce battle, and everyone's condition was far from perfect.
"It's okay. Stay alert. There aren't many enemies on that ship."
Alka gave everyone a reassuring look.
There were only three spots of light left on the map: two white and one blue. The two white spots represented the treasure vaults of the two ships.
The difficulty of the blue and white spots on the steel ship was three and four spirals, respectively.
This was enough to indicate that the enemies on the steel ship weren't very strong at the moment.
Furthermore, the noise just now was loud enough that the more powerful ones had already taken advantage of the moment and surrounded them.
Thinking about it, in the battle over ten years ago, the team on the steel ship had gained the upper hand. Under such circumstances, most of their members must have invaded the wooden ship.
That's why the number of enemies on the wooden ship seemed so high back then.
Furthermore, the clothing still remaining on the zombies in the wooden ship clearly showed that they were divided into two groups.
Hearing Alka's words, everyone nodded, and without further hesitation, they reorganized their teams and marched into formation towards the steel ship.
They entered directly through the breach in the center.
The entire steel ship was relatively well-preserved, its biggest damage being the tear in the middle that had split it in two after the fall.
This revealed that the ship had two decks and a lower hold, a standard design characteristic of ships 40 meters and above.
However, due to its height, the interior space appeared relatively spacious, allowing Pororo to navigate by simply lowering his head slightly.
Assuming the area wasn't squeezed.
The entire lower hold was completely empty, save for some completely rotten supplies. There wasn't a single zombie.
The group ascended the relatively intact staircase.
When they reached the second floor, they saw... a body.
"A normal body here?" Jason said, looking at the body not far away.
The flesh of the corpse had long since decayed, leaving only a few yellowed and blackened bones.
From the skeleton, the man's entire left arm was broken, his left leg and right hand were fractured to varying degrees, and three ribs were broken.
But compared to the scattered bones they had seen earlier, it was still relatively intact.
"So why hasn't such a complete body turned into a zombie?" Sofia asked, somewhat puzzled.
They hadn't seen a single normal corpse on their entire journey; all were zombies.
This was the first time they had seen a normal corpse on this island, not transformed into an undead.
Looking at the corpse, Alka pondered for a moment, then approached the bones and carefully examined them.
After only a minute, a possibility emerged based on the corpse's condition.
Those remaining on the boat might have been, like Simon, those whose injuries had been fixed by a special spell.
Since his surviving teammates, even the leader, had perished at the hands of the enemy,
Those in a frozen state, severely injured, naturally died without treatment.
After all, a spell that locked a person's state couldn't last long, and it also required a constant drain of mana.
So...
At that moment, Alka was stunned.
Seeing that Alka seemed to have a thought, everyone stopped talking, waiting for Alka to think and come to a conclusion.
"So, why is that person still alive?"
Alka muttered to himself.
Yes, it's been over ten years. No matter how outrageous the spell's power, it couldn't have lasted that long without mana and the user's supply.
It's impossible to imagine a simple spell that could freeze a person's injuries and state.
Such a spell must be powerful enough, which is why Simon's frozen state had lasted for ten years.
Alka narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Let's go take a closer look inside."
Everyone nodded and followed Alka forward.
Then they came upon four wooden beds in a room with a warped ceiling, covered with sheets and quilts completely stained black and yellow.
On top of the beds lay the skeletons of only two, with two more scattered on the ground. Judging from their postures, they seemed to have struggled before death; one had even reached the door.
These skeletons, too, had not been infected by the undead.
Alka walked over to take a closer look.
None of the four bodies was intact; they all suffered various injuries, the kind that would have been fatal without swift treatment.
Under these circumstances, these four crew members must have been frozen in time, hence their placement on the beds.
Now they were all dead, and the effects of the spells that had frozen them had worn off long ago. The reason they weren't turned into zombies was probably because they weren't affected by the enemy's suicidal attack.
‐‐ Perhaps their frozen state dissipated after the attack, and after that, they must have tried to save themselves.
‐‐That's why these corpses are scattered everywhere.
‐‐"Be alert! Everyone, move closer together and pay attention to your surroundings," Alka said decisively.
‐‐ Although they didn't know why, everyone nodded and moved closer together.
Facing the inquiring glances, Alka explained, "Remember what I told you about my conversation with the still-living person in my dream last night?"
Pointing to the remains on the bed, Alka said, "These people were placed in a state of stasis ten years ago due to severe injuries.
According to the still-living person, this state of stasis ensures their injuries remain stable until the crisis is resolved.
Their crew members can then continue to provide treatment to save their lives."
"But now they're all dead. Without the magic power and the user, such a spell should have vanished long ago."
"But the person in my dream last night said he's still in that state."
After hearing Alka's simple explanation, everyone immediately understood why they needed to be vigilant.
However, Alka remained optimistic. After all, if he truly wanted to harm them, the best time would have been when they were surrounded.
If he had attacked them suddenly at that moment, he would have definitely inflicted severe damage. Once they cleared out the zombies, there wouldn't be another such opportunity.
The group maintained their formation and advanced slowly.
They saw more corpses along the way, some leaning against the walls or sprawled in the middle of the road.
The postures of some of the corpses suggested they had been crawling before death.
The aisle was streaked with various blackened bloodstains, the result of the wounded's last acts of self-rescue.
Finally, up ahead, they came upon a large area of corpses, conservatively estimated at over a dozen, surrounded by three zombies.
As they arrived, they slowly rose from the ground.
These zombies bore various wounds.
However, their strength was only three spirals, and they were easily dispatched by Alka and his team.
Looking at the situation around them, Alka became more certain of his suspicions.
These wounded men emerged from their frozen state, likely after the effects of the enemy's attacks wore off.
These wounded men had even fought these zombies while near death.
Then, Alka lifted an object gleaming with blue light from beneath a corpse.
With his touch, the blue light vanished.
It was a knife, similar to a throwing knife, only two fingers long, thin and sharp.
After a brief rinse, the knife's original form was revealed.
It was a pale white, with bone-like markings on it; it was actually bone.
"Good stuff?"
Alka turned and saw that it was Jason who had spoken.
He nodded. "This should be a good spell weapon, a throwing knife."
He waved the small bone knife in his hand. "This equipment suits me very well. I'll take it."
Everyone nodded, without the slightest objection.
After all, Alka seemed to have gained nothing during their exploration, and Alka was the only one among them who could throw objects from a distance.
Even if they were given the opportunity, they wouldn't be able to throw accurately.
When they reached the upper deck, they were met by a zombie with a constructed arm.
It had reached the power of four spirals. There was blood around it, but no corpse.
Alka couldn't help but look back at the path they had taken.
So that's it.
The wounded who were still alive must have stayed on the lower deck to avoid this zombie.
No wonder there were so many corpses piled up on the lower deck.
The zombie didn't stop in one spot, as they had seen it before. Instead, it wandered through the hallway, slowly moving forward with its back to them.
Seeing Jason raise his gun, ready to strike, Alka quickly pressed his own.
Seeing Jason's puzzled look, Alka raised his own hand and waved the bone knife he had just acquired.
"Let me try it."
He had already briefly explored the weapon's uses, and now an enemy was just trying it out.
With that, magic flowed through his arm and into the pale blade. With the influx of magic, the blade immediately began to move.
A dense mass of tiny spikes appeared on its surface, and Alka hurled it with force.
The bone knife transformed into a streak of white light, instantly piercing the enemy's back.
But it didn't penetrate. As half of the blade sank into the flesh, the small, two-finger-long blade instantly expanded.
The sharp spikes on the blade suddenly protruded, spreading from a small notch in the spine to all around.
These bone spurs pierced the corpse's back, turning it into a honeycomb.
Bororo walked over, his hips bent, and took in the corpse's appearance.
He couldn't help but wipe the goosebumps from his arms.
"This weapon is truly cruel."
Everyone looked over and saw that the corpse's front had been pierced by at least twenty or thirty thin white bone spurs.
These bone spurs protruded from his chest, densely packed and extremely creepy.
Alka walked over and turned the corpse over, then placed his hand on the small raised handle on the back.
Magic power gently surged in, and the bone spurs instantly retracted, transforming back into the tiny blades they had been before.
Clear water gushed out, washing away the dirt and shaking it.
Alka looked at the bone knife in his hand with unusual satisfaction.
"From now on, you'll be called Bone Piercer."
As he spoke, a precision hand appeared on Alka's hand, quickly carving four words onto the bone knife.
Satisfied, he put it back into his pocket ring.
"Let's go, let's continue."
However, they had only advanced two or three meters when Julia froze in place, her brow furrowed.
"What's wrong?" Seeing Julia suddenly stop, Alka and Jason behind her immediately stopped, alert to their surroundings.
The two men in front also engaged in combat.
Julia pointed diagonally ahead: "There, there's a high-energy object."
Everyone turned to look.
Alka shook his shoulder gently.
The two small figures instantly vanished into the shadows nearby, quickly scouting over.
In such a small, complex ruin, the two of them were the perfect scouts, able to maneuver through every crevice and hide in the shadows, remaining undetected.
It wasn't long before Zero returned alone.
"It's a person, a living one, and the master is beside him."
Hearing this, everyone immediately thought that the living one was most likely the owner of the dream bubble.
"Lead the way," Alka said, and he and the others followed Zero forward. They climbed over a shattered metal plate and entered a room.
Then Zero pointed to the collapsed, piled, and squeezed wall ahead and said, "Behind this, everything is sealed off, with only a few small gaps."
Alka looked around and knocked on the metal debris before him, identifying a weak spot.
Cut it out so that the surrounding area wouldn't collapse again.
A silver card appeared in his hand. With the influx of magic power, the card was used.
A sharp silver light flickered around.
Alka slowly carved a small door in front of him, then slid it aside, revealing the path inside.
He walked in first, followed closely by the others.
It was a small room. The door leading into it was completely twisted and sealed, and the adjacent wall was blocked by collapsed objects.
As the lantern's light flickered, Alka took in the situation.
A blood-stained man lay in the corner. His left arm was completely missing from the shoulder, and his right arm, from the elbow down, had completely turned to pulp, with only a protruding bone fragment and some skin clinging to it.
The man's hands were essentially useless.
He had his eyes tightly closed, his medium-length hair hanging loose, covering his face.
A faint grayish-white membrane enveloped his entire body. This must be the spell that had frozen him.
Alka had seen this man's face before; it was Simon.
Alka frowned at the sight.
He was still frozen. He hadn't lied to himself, but how had he managed that?
All his teammates had lost the effects of the spell due to a lack of mana.
And yet, his had remained frozen for so long, for ten years.
It was truly incomprehensible.
"Is this the man you were talking about?" Jason asked, looking at the miserable man before him.
He remembered Alka saying that the living man was in poor condition.
But the man before him was no longer in poor condition; he was practically on the verge of death.
Alka nodded.
Then he walked over, and when he got close enough, Alka finally felt something emanating magical energy.
He tilted his head and saw a gap behind him, against the wall at his waist. A finger-like structure was pressing against his skin, supplying him with magical energy.
So it was this thing that was maintaining the effects of the spell on him.
What kind of thing could last for 10 years?
Thinking of this, Alka narrowed his eyes slightly and began to carefully examine the details of the exterior.
Could this thing be...