Chapter 377 | The One Who Devours All

A chilling wind swept through the gap in the open vault door, carrying a faint scent of blood, yet it could not disperse the dazzling brilliance of the jewels and the allure emanating from the strange artifacts within.

The Ghost Face Captain stood inside the high-value vault of the entertainment ship, his eyes greedy behind his silver mask as he scanned his surroundings.

Chests of jewelry and precious metals were merely the backdrop; what truly captivated him were the items carefully packaged and emitting strange energies.

The core officers of the pirate ship couldn't help but stare with wide, gleaming eyes.

They were controlled by the captain's tattoos and were eternally loyal to him, yet they were not mindless puppets. Seeing so many treasures naturally stirred their hearts.

However, all of the Ghost Face Captain's attention was currently focused on the ancient book personally presented by the captain of the entertainment ship.

The 《Record of Cultivating Character and Prolonging Life》.

The dark green leather cover was cool to the touch, and its worn corners carried the weight of ages past.

Rumor had it that this item originated from the Tide Auction a few months ago.

The Tide Auction was a secret trading venue on the sea, held only when specific ocean currents converged.

The 《Record of Cultivating Character and Prolonging Life》 was the finale of that auction. It was said to be an ancient cultivator relic salvaged from a deep-sea ruin by a maritime adventure group.

Unfortunately, that adventure group was wiped out shortly after.

After passing through several hands, the 《Record of Cultivating Character and Prolonging Life》 eventually entered the Tide Auction as an item for bid.

As the name suggested, this item was related to longevity and life extension.

When the news broke, countless maritime powerhouses and hidden factions grew covetous. There were even several violent skirmishes on the day of the auction, resulting in numerous casualties.

In the end, the 《Record of Cultivating Character and Prolonging Life》 was bought by an anonymous bidder for an astronomical sum. Afterward, it vanished like a stone sinking into the sea, with no further word.

Many factions on the sea were still tracking its whereabouts, showing just how great the temptation of immortality truly was.

The Ghost Face Captain also had a need for it.

He had expended vast amounts of manpower and resources, even risking an attack on a peripheral outpost of the Tide Auction. After many twists and turns, he finally found the clues pointing to this entertainment ship, which was using the name of the Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop to swindle people.

He had thought it would take a great deal of effort to interrogate the captain, but he hadn't expected that as soon as he subdued him with the ink needle tattoo, this coveted secret manual would fall easily into his hands.

“Hahaha, hahahaha!”

His raspy laughter echoed through the treasure-filled vault, carrying a strange texture like metal scraping against metal, and even more, a sense of uncontrollable ecstasy and relief.

No one knew what kind of anxiety lay hidden beneath his mask.

The power to drive the ink needle tattoos to control others came at a price—not magic or mana, but his own remaining life force, of which he had very little left!

Every use was like burning the oil in a lamp, draining his vitality.

He could feel the ink needle constantly stirring within him, as if it wanted to compete with him for control of his body.

As long as he didn't use the power of the ink needle, the situation wouldn't worsen.

But he couldn't stop; stopping would only mean dying faster.

He was a pirate with a terrifying reputation. Once he showed any weakness, countless people would smell the blood and swarm him, tearing him to pieces.

So he needed to extend his life. He needed more time to plunder, to grow stronger, and to conquer this endless sea.

The Ghost Face Captain took a deep breath to calm his emotions and, with trembling fingers, impatiently flipped open the 《Record of Cultivating Character and Prolonging Life》.

What met his eyes seemed to be ancient characters with a very strange structure.

He shouldn't have been able to recognize these words, but as he stared at them, he inexplicably understood their meaning, as if knowledge were actively pouring into his mind.

But as he understood the text, his ecstatic smile froze on his face.

【Eat Great Excellence for longevity, and your form may be extended; at night without moon or fire, people cannot see me, and my form may be hidden...】

The Ghost Face Captain was stunned on the spot.

Great Excellence? What on earth was that?

Eating Great Excellence could grant longevity?

At night without moon or firelight, others wouldn't be able to see him, allowing him to hide his form?

Based on the literal meaning, that was what it meant... right?

What kind of ghost thing was this!

It was completely different from the longevity secret art the Ghost Face Captain had imagined.

He had thought extending one's life would require mysterious rituals, potion formulas, or the absorption of some supernatural power.

But the things written in the 《Record of Cultivating Character and Prolonging Life》 were barely coherent, carrying a kind of absurd simplicity that was difficult to comprehend.

Just as doubt began to rise in his heart, making him wonder if this was a fake or a joke from the ancients...

“Captain, this is bad! Something strange is happening outside!”

A trusted officer burst through the vault door in a panic, his face filled with the terror of having seen a ghost.

“So many brothers... I can't tell them apart! I really can't! Who is real and who is fake? Suddenly, there are so many identical companions!”

“Some brothers are trapped on the stairs in a loop, unable to go down or up. And...”

The Ghost Face Captain's gaze sharpened, instantly suppressing his doubts.

Regardless of whether this manual was real or fake, now was not the time to dwell on it.

He decisively tucked the 《Record of Cultivating Character and Prolonging Life》 close to his body, the cold manual pressing against his chest through his clothes.

“Let's go.”

He gave a low shout and led the officers who had been by his side out of the vault.

The scene outside was even more bizarre than he had anticipated.

In the corridors, on the decks, and even by the gangplanks, pairs and even groups of pirates could be seen everywhere.

They wore the same clothes, had the same faces, and even the fresh scars on their faces and the bloodstains on their bodies were identical.

At this moment, these people were excitedly accusing, pushing, and cursing each other, all claiming to be the real one and the other to be the imposter.

“Hank, did you steal my Purple Mood last night? And did you use two of them at once?”

“Bullshit! Can a pirate's action be called stealing? That was borrowing!”

“I'm the real one! I'm the ship's communal toy! You all love coming to me every night! Look at this scar if you don't believe me!”

“I have it too! I'm the real one!”

The arguments were deafening as the pirates, at a loss, could only use shouting to vent their fear.

The entire entertainment ship seemed to have turned into an absurd pageant of multiples. Twins were just the basic model; there were triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, octuplets...

One could guess without even thinking that only one of these multiples was real, and the others were fakes.

The Ghost Face Captain frowned beneath his mask, but he did not panic.

He had the most direct method of identification: every member of the Ghost Face Pirates had been personally tattooed by him with a ghost face.

This tattoo was not just a mark; it was also a brand he left on his subordinates, a means of controlling them.

He raised his right hand, and the skin on his index finger writhed and elongated again, instantly transforming into a bluish-black ink needle.

Without any extra movement, he made a stabbing motion through the air toward several pirates who were arguing the loudest, while simultaneously activating the power contained within the tattoos.

Buzz.

An invisible ripple spread out.

Among the arguing Hanks, one of them suddenly stiffened. A flash of dull submissiveness appeared in his eyes, and he stopped his movements, turning toward the Ghost Face Captain and bowing his head slightly.

The other Hanks, however, had no reaction. They continued to roar and argue angrily, even showing confused expressions toward the suddenly silent Hank.

The Ghost Face Captain's heart sank.

He quickened his movements, his ink needle tapping repeatedly as the invisible power swept over the groups of pirates in his line of sight.

Real pirates would respond.

One, two, three... Not even one in ten produced a response or could be successfully influenced by him!

The vast majority of the pirates, no matter how angry, terrified, or bewildered they appeared, had no reaction to the Ghost Face Captain's control.

What did this mean?

It meant they didn't have the ghost face tattoo he had inscribed on them at all.

It meant they weren't his crew members at all!

In fact, some pairs of twins who were arguing fiercely both showed no reaction to his repeated probes!

Both of them were fakes!

The key was that tattoos could also be seen on these fakes, but they were all false tattoos that could not respond.

This conclusion was like ice water poured over his head, sending a sudden chill down the Ghost Face Captain's spine.

He was used to the bloody slaughter of the sea, but this silent and eerie phenomenon still made him break out in a cold sweat.

It was too grotesque.

Perhaps startled by the Ghost Face Captain's probing, or perhaps realizing they had been exposed.

In the next moment, the fake pirates who had shown no reaction to the ink needle, regardless of what expression they had a second ago, all stopped their movements at the exact same time.

The arguing, roaring, and pushing all came to an abrupt halt.

They stiffly turned their heads, over a hundred faces turning toward the Ghost Face Captain's direction.

The rich human expressions on their faces were wiped clean, as if by an eraser, leaving only an empty, cold void.

They weren't human!

With just one look, the Ghost Face Captain reached this conclusion.

They watched the Ghost Face Captain silently, their gazes devoid of any emotion, containing only a non-human scrutiny and a malice that chilled one to the bone.

Even the Ghost Face Captain, with his infamous reputation for murder, couldn't help but take half a step back when being stared at by so many non-human eyes simultaneously, his skin crawling with goosebumps.

“Trying to scare me with tricks!”

After the brief shock came the anger of being offended.

The Ghost Face Captain roared, forcibly ignoring the chill in his heart, also to reclaim his authority.

“Tear these ghost things apart!”

The core officers beside him were the first to follow him and were the strongest bandits. Although they were also terrified, their loyalty to the captain outweighed everything.

They roared as they drew their weapons, unleashing power and speed far beyond that of ordinary people as they lunged at the fake pirates.

The battle immediately became a one-sided affair.

It couldn't even be called a battle; it was a one-sided crushing.

The reactions of the fake pirates were nowhere near as agile as the real ones. Their movements were stiff and slow, and their strength was mediocre, like ordinary people with no combat experience.

They were easily torn apart by blades and had their bones shattered by heavy blows. No blood flowed when they fell; their bodies simply disintegrated, rapidly evaporating and dissipating like smoke.

“They're all just paper tigers.”

One officer cut down three fake pirates with a single strike, a look of contempt appearing on his face.

He had indeed been frightened just now. Having familiar companions silently replaced was enough to make anyone's skin crawl.

But since he could kill several of these strange things with one blow, his fear vanished.

The Ghost Face Captain, however, did not relax at all; instead, his frown deepened.

Too weak. Abnormally weak.

The source capable of creating such a large scale of near-perfect duplicates definitely wasn't simple.

Yet the combat power of the duplicates themselves was pitifully low. This didn't follow logic.

Unless the appearance of these imposters themselves carried some deeper, non-combat meaning.

“Interference? Stalling for time? Or just mockery?”

Many thoughts that made him extremely uncomfortable surfaced.

They couldn't stay here any longer!

This ship had become a dangerous place, filled with unknown supernatural phenomena.

Those lackeys, those who had lost contact and might have already been replaced or trapped somewhere, were no longer important.

“Let's go. Abandon this place.”

“Everyone, retreat to our own ship immediately!”

The Ghost Face Captain made a decisive call, his voice firm.

The officers did not hesitate, immediately surrounding him as they moved quickly toward the direction of the gangplank connecting the two ships.

Along the way, they encountered many more arguing pirate multiples. These pirates, unable to tell real from fake, also wanted to follow the captain.

But the Ghost Face Captain didn't even look at them. The useless pirate lackeys were simply abandoned; he would only take the time to identify those who were valuable.

But the more they hurried to leave, the stronger that feeling of wrongness became.

The corridors seemed to have become exceptionally long, and familiar corners failed to appear.

Even though they were following the shortest path in their memory, they always inexplicably ended up back at a place they had already passed.

The view outside the portholes was sometimes normal and sometimes distorted. Once, they even looked through a window and saw the backs of their own group walking on the deck below!

Space-time distortion.

“Captain, we seem to be walking in circles.”

An officer's voice trembled as he pointed to a sword mark on the wall that he had personally made just moments ago.

The Ghost Face Captain stopped, his expression dark.

He tried to sense the direction of his own pirate ship, but the faint connection established through the tattoos had become flickering and unstable, as if separated by a constantly undulating curtain of water.

“Damn it!” he cursed under his breath, his last bit of patience exhausted.

As a pirate captain, he was no pushover. Since the normal path wouldn't let them out, he would use the most brutal method.

He raised both hands, and the tips of all ten fingers transformed into ten even darker ink needles.

The needle tips pointed toward the side wall of the cabin. Clearly, he intended to use violence to tear a hole in this cursed entertainment ship.

To hell with treasures and secret manuals; he would get back to his own ship and leave this cursed place first.

Ominous and surging energy gathered at his fingertips, and the surrounding air began to warp.

Just at this critical moment...

A light voice rang out in his ear.

“This ship is mine now.”

“No damaging my property.”

The voice was flat and gentle, with a hint of laziness.

The Ghost Face Captain's movements suddenly froze.