Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 288: Chapter 287: The Cursed Death Harbor (Part 1)

Chapter 288: Chapter 287: The Cursed Death Harbor (Part 1)

“This is Soul Bay…”

As the Black Crow Ship slowly entered the dock, Fang Zheng also sharply inhaled a cold breath upon seeing everything before him, and the expressions of the others were not much better.

The reason was simple, everything here was just too horrifying!

Although they had heard from Fox about the brutal war fought over treasures here, which led to countless deaths, it was only hearsay; now, the scene was finally laid bare before their eyes!

Looking around, there were piles of bones everywhere!

After hundreds of years, the bodies had naturally decomposed, leaving only skeletons, and most of the buildings had collapsed, with only some broken walls barely retaining the scenery of the past. The ground was littered with bones and weapons, and all around was deathly silence; there was not even a breath of wind, as if everything had completely perished here.

“Alright, prepare to dock the ship! Get ready for repairs, thankfully we have enough materials on board. With some overtime work, fixing it overnight shouldn’t be a problem!”

After the Black Crow Ship docked at the ramshackle pier, as if to break the eerie silence, Fox clapped his hands vigorously and then shouted loudly. Hearing his command, the sailors quickly got to work, clearly, they did not want to stay here long and only hoped to fix the ship as soon as possible and leave this haunted place.

“Let’s go up and take a look.”

Looking at the dock before him, Fang Zheng hesitated for a moment but quickly made up his mind. He was quite interested in the Magic Item that Nymph mentioned, which could create powerful illusions; coming here was largely motivated by this object.

“Should we go too?”

As an alchemist with a tendency to stay indoors, Nanali was clearly reluctant, but Kuliya seemed quite interested in it.

“Come on, let’s go and see.”

“Eh? But I want to stay and read… It looks so scary down there… don’t pull me…”

Despite Nanali’s strong resistance, Kuliya still grabbed her and took her off the ship. Watching the two leap from the ship, Ogrande frowned, then turned to her companions, quickly issuing orders.

“Some of you help with the repairs, guard captain, please take a few others and keep a lookout around. If there’s any danger, signal immediately…”

“Yes, Young Lady, please rest assured.”

Hearing Ogrande’s order, a middle-aged man solemnly saluted her. Despite Ogrande’s rather difficult character, she had been quite generous to her servants; lately, every time she purchased food from Fang Zheng, she bought enough for everyone. Although some tried to give their portions to her, she invariably refused, citing that as a Young Lady of the Platinum Family, she would not accept food from servants.

Of course, Ogrande’s words were not pleasant to hear, but others did not take them too seriously, as many had served her all the way and were quite aware of the Young Lady’s character—just seeing her resist asking for food when hungry in the middle of the night was testimony enough.

Because of this, although their days were not comfortable, their loyalty to their Young Lady had not diminished. With the Young Lady’s orders, they naturally complied.

“Let’s go, we’ll also see what that annoying man is up to!”

“Cousin, do I have to go too?”

Upon hearing Ogrande’s command, the elegantly dressed man hesitated, then his face turned bitter.

“What? You don’t want to go?”

“Of course, I don’t want to go, who knows what they plan to do. Cousin, are you really going? It’s said that tens of thousands died here back then…”

“Ugh…”

Upon hearing this, Ogrande’s face also showed signs of distress, but as she stared at the receding figures of Fang Zheng and others, thinking of the hardships she had suffered these days, she suddenly couldn’t hold back anymore.

“No, I must see what shady things they plan to do here! Hmm, they’ve been so secretive, they must be up to no good, and I just won’t let them get their way!”

After saying this, Ogrande also hurriedly walked down the gangplank, chasing after Fang Zheng and the others.

“Ah…”

Watching Ogrande leave the dock, the elegantly dressed man revealed a resigned expression, and sighed deeply. Yet in his eyes, there was a hint of a secretive smile…

“Crack, crack.”

Walking along, Fang Zheng felt as if he were walking on a bed of bones, every step crushing fragile skulls. Though a century had passed, the atmosphere here still exuded an eerie feel, and the swords and blades stuck in the walls and ground, though long lost their former luster and turned into rusty iron pieces, were still a horrifying sight to behold.

“This is terrifying…”

Looking at everything before them, Nanali and Kuliya’s complexions turned somewhat pale.

“Why would these people do this… just for some treasures, even forsaking their own lives?”

“Who knows? Plus… I suspect there’s more to it.”

“More to it?”

Hearing this, Kuliya was stunned and quickly asked.

“What’s the issue, Mr. Fang Zheng?”

“Haven’t you noticed? We’ve seen hundreds of bodies along the way.”

“Almost, but… is there a problem?”

“Of course.”

Fang Zheng glanced around, then clapped his hands.

“Do you all remember what Captain Fox’s story said? He mentioned that everyone who stayed here died. In fact, nobody really knows what happened at that time. It was only the later arrivals who, after coming to the dock, learned about the events from the sailors’ diaries and dock records, right?”

“That’s right…”

“So, here’s the problem.”

At this point, Fang Zheng narrowed his eyes and scanned the surroundings.

“Assume that there was indeed a fleet that returned here. Do you think they would’ve ignored the bodies lying around? Even if they couldn’t handle them all due to lack of manpower, they would at least clean up the bodies and burn them, right? After all, leaving so many corpses could cause a plague, and… have you noticed, there’s another issue in that story?”

“What issue?”

By now, Nanali was curious too.

“It’s simple, where is the treasure?”

Fang Zheng spread his hands, his expression turning into a cold sneer.

“Don’t forget, the story said these people were killing each other over countless treasures. But why didn’t the people who came later kill each other? Assuming Captain Fox was telling the truth, after reading the journals and dock records, those people would definitely turn the dock upside down to look for those treasures. But why is there no sign of that here?”

“Are you saying that Captain Fox was lying? He dared to deceive us?”

At this moment, Ogrande, who had caught up from behind, heard Fang Zheng’s words and suddenly exclaimed. Hearing the young lady’s voice, Fang Zheng looked at her as if she were an idiot.

“How could that be? For Captain Fox, it was just a story; he never came here himself, why would he deceive us? Besides, it’s been over a hundred years, who cares about a cursed place like this? If we hadn’t come here and seen the situation with our own eyes, we wouldn’t have doubted the story, right?”

“Ugh…”

Hearing this, Ogrande was momentarily lost for words; she glared fiercely at Fang Zheng, who did not take her seriously at all. Seeing Fang Zheng’s demeanor, Ogrande felt a fire rising inside her; back in the Platinum Family, so many talented youths were totally submissive to her—a mere glance from her would have them running over. This man had no sense of chivalry at all to be so rude to her… Ogrande was not stupid; she could tell from Fang Zheng’s tone that he treated her like a fool.

Though she admitted that her previous question had been somewhat foolish, but… couldn’t he have shown a bit of chivalry?

Hmph, and as for those treasures, maybe they were still out here somewhere.

As she let her thoughts wander, Ogrande looked around curiously, and just as she turned her head, a flash of gold suddenly caught her eye!

There was something there!

Seeing the golden light, Ogrande immediately got excited; she hurriedly rushed forward with speed, peering into a hole in the wall, and sure enough, there in the ruined cellar under the broken wall, lay a pile of shiny jewels and gold coins!

“Hey, come and look, I found the treasure!”

Seeing this, Ogrande was also thrilled; she turned around and waved vigorously at Fang Zheng and the others.

“Oh?”

Hearing Ogrande’s voice, Fang Zheng and the others also curiously came over.

“Where? Where? Did you find the treasures?”

“Of course, right here… Huh?”

As Fang Zheng approached, Ogrande stood straight and proudly pointed, but the next moment when she looked again, she was shocked.

There were no treasures where Ogrande was pointing, just a weed-infested hole. NovelFire.Côm-cσ๓

Where’s my treasure? There was a huge pile just there, why has it disappeared?

“Where are the treasures?”

Tilia, Nymph, and Black Katie remained calm, but Kuliya couldn’t help herself; she came closer, looked carefully, again and again, then turned to Ogrande.

“There’s nothing here at all?”

“But I clearly saw it just a moment ago, a huge pile…”

At this, Ogrande was also dumbfounded, gesturing with her hands not knowing what else to say. Seeing her expression, Fang Zheng said nothing, but he cast a meaningful glance at the hole, then turned and walked away.

“Let’s move on.”

“It was right there just a moment ago…”

Watching everyone leave, Ogrande was a bit defiant; she couldn’t understand how the treasures she had clearly seen a moment ago could have vanished in the blink of an eye.

What kind of sorcery is this?!