Treasure Hunting System： The Ocean Conquerer

”How is that possible?” Alka shook her head. ”How could it be like this? This understanding is too superficial. For the mayor of a small town to hold a Scepter-level Treasure, and the strongest person on the target island to be an expert carrying a Crown-level Treasure... that’s impossible, no matter how you think about it. It would make them seem too cheap.”

Simon, after thinking for a moment, added, ”The Staff Holder represents the Fourth Stage. This might indicate that controlling a Scepter-level Treasure requires reaching the Fourth Stage.”

This was a fairly reasonable and correct guess. Of course, Pororo’s speculation wasn’t impossible either; it was just difficult to accept.

”So, that means the person overseeing this town has at least Fourth Stage strength, while the one overseeing this island could be even stronger—perhaps the Fifth Stage, or maybe even higher,” Juanlu said.

Jason nodded. ”That’s right. And we can’t even be sure that the person overseeing this town is *definitely* at the Fourth Stage. The information I gathered states that a ’Staff Holder’ is *at least* Fourth Stage, but the strongest person in this town might not *only* possess Fourth Stage strength.”

Simply put, if they caused too much of a disturbance or became too conspicuous because of the treasure, they would very likely break the laws of this island. It was just as the navy officer who inspected them had said when they first arrived. According to that navy officer, Treasure Hunting Teams must have tried this on the island before and subsequently been discovered. With such precedents, it was impossible for them not to be vigilant.

And based on their understanding, the population on this island was considerable. Even the wilderness areas weren’t truly desolate backwaters. After all, this island boasted a city, four towns, and several villages. Even though the island was large, once these settlements were distributed across it, there was essentially no such thing as complete wilderness. Virtually the entire island, in every location, was an inhabited area. They were very likely to encounter ordinary civilians living there.

The main reason for this caution was still that they were too weak. To put it bluntly, they didn’t even possess the ability to protect themselves—a Treasure Hunting Team composed of individuals who hadn’t even reached the Third Stage. Even when excavating treasure on the island, they had to avoid contact with strangers to prevent their own peculiarities from being discovered. There was absolutely no room for arrogance. At this stage, avoiding any contact with strangers and reducing the danger to an absolute minimum was the top priority.

Thinking of this... Alka looked at the map in her hand and promptly closed it. ”Don’t worry,” she said, ”for now, our focus won’t be on this island.”

”You have other targets?” Jason asked curiously.

Alka nodded, then told everyone about meeting Balazs that day and what they had discussed.

”A treasure with a large amount of wealth? At this stage, it’s indeed worth a visit,” Chadite murmured after listening.

The funds on their ship were indeed insufficient, mainly because their haul from the ruins of Vastva was from too long ago. Moreover, the Magic Items they had obtained from the Superimposed Space were too precious; they didn’t want to trade them away at all. Every single piece was useful.

Speaking of which, Alka remembered something and said to everyone, ”Then, while Balazs is handling other matters in the next few days, we should also get our own tasks done.”

”Chadite, how much is left in the ship’s public funds?”

”About 300 Golden Sails left.”

Alka nodded. That’s enough for a short time; there won’t be any issues.

”Dispose of all the remaining valuable items in the Treasure Vault, excluding precious metals and Gemstones.”

Precious metals and Gemstones were hard currency and could be exchanged anywhere, so there was no rush. Besides, both were also materials. Moreover, Gemstones had now become rations for one of the crew members. In the future, Jason’s share of any treasure might have to be converted into Gemstones for him. As for those valuable items that were clearly more decorative and aesthetically pleasing, it would be too wasteful to melt them down. Selling them on an island like this, with a large population, established powers, and even nobility, would clearly fetch a greater fortune. Besides the ship’s public funds, everyone should still have roughly 100 to 200 Golden Sails each.

”Jason, tomorrow, go register and arrange to have the Sound of Dawn hauled up for maintenance.” After all, the Sound of Dawn hadn’t been hauled onto the island for hull maintenance since she first set sail. Although she was a Ghost Ship and considerably sturdier than others, she still needed proper maintenance to sail further. At sea, they didn’t have the means, naturally, but once on an island, they couldn’t afford to be stingy. The Sound of Dawn was also an important member of their team.

Jason nodded. ”No problem, I’ll get it done tomorrow.”

”I don’t know if you’re interested, but while I was walking through the town, I saw people buying and selling knowledge related to Spells,” Julia suddenly interjected.

”But the prices aren’t cheap, ranging from 1 to 100 Golden Sails,” Lucilia added from the side.

Those prices indeed weren’t cheap. However, knowledge was priceless, after all. Moreover, the practice of selling knowledge related to Spells also existed on the Homeland Sea. It was just that on the Homeland Sea, these ”touchers” were clandestine entities. Such trading could only be witnessed during certain specific gatherings when they came together.

”If buying is possible, does that mean selling is too?” Jason suddenly asked.

”That, we don’t know. We haven’t specifically asked, but it should be possible.”