The female crew member’s expression changed instantly. She kicked over the dining table, drew a dagger, and lunged at Luo Ren.
At the same time, crew members from outside filed into the cabin, tightly surrounding the two.
Su Sheng’s face darkened as he prepared to act, but Luo Ren stopped him with a hand.
Turning to him with a smile, Luo Ren said, “Let me handle this.”
In that moment, Su Sheng clearly saw a flash of killing intent in Luo Ren’s eyes.
Luo Ren caught the incoming dagger between two fingers, gave a slight tug, and sent the female crew member stumbling forward in a clumsy fall.
“You’re not a mage?” Ao Lai exclaimed in shock upon seeing this.
Luo Ren planted a foot on the woman’s back, forcing her back down to the floor just as she tried to rise. He sneered, “When did I ever say I was a mage?”
Ao Lai’s expression shifted several times before finally settling into a calm, sinister grin. “It’s no big deal if you’re not a mage. Hand over all your valuables, or else…”
Ao Lai let out two sly, cold laughs.
Luo Ren looked at Ao Lai with contempt, his expression seeming to say, “You think you’re a match for me?”
Understanding Luo Ren’s look, Ao Lai glared at them with venomous intensity, his face twitching slightly with rage. Just as Su Sheng thought he would attack, a strange calm flickered in Ao Lai’s eyes. He clapped his hands and said, “So what if one’s a knight and the other a mage? Tu Suo, it’s your turn.”
Outside the window, a dark shadow flashed past, followed by a loud thud as something landed on the deck.
Immediately after, the roof was blown off. Su Sheng looked up to see an undead bone dragon, a chain around its neck, glaring viciously at him.
Undead bone dragons had the ability to suppress magic, no wonder the captain was so confident.
Ao Lai looked at them triumphantly and warned, “If you don’t hand them over, you’ll become Tu Suo’s next meal.”
“And let me remind you,” he added, “if a fight breaks out, can this ship withstand it? Ending up at the bottom of the sea wouldn’t be ideal, would it?”
Luo Ren casually drew his sword and flicked the blade. “I’m curious, with your level of skill, how did you manage to tame this demon?”
Ao Lai bared a mouth of smoke-stained black teeth, the long scar on his face twitching like a writhing centipede. He laughed maniacally, “Of course, it was a gift from the Demon King. I’ve offered my soul to him, and he protects me.”
Luo Ren suddenly let out a derisive laugh. Without another word, he flipped his sword and drove it downward, piercing the hand of a crew member who had been struggling on the floor to retrieve a dagger.
The crew member let out a piercing scream.
“Behave,” Luo Ren said with a smile.
Seeing their defiance, Ao Lai’s face twisted with fury. He turned and barked an order, “What are you waiting for? Attack!”
The bone dragon soared into the sky before diving straight toward Su Sheng, spewing a stream of blue, heatless flame.
Su Sheng frowned slightly. Many mages were helpless against ghostfire, as it naturally countered magic. Once touched, it was impossible to shake off unless one died.
Luo Ren swiftly drew his sword and leaped upward. His first swing dispersed the flames, and as he raised his sword again, the blade clashed with the bone dragon, producing a clear, resonant ring.
Then Su Sheng saw that before Luo Ren had even exerted his full strength, inexplicably, the dragon whimpered, tucked its tail, and fled.
Su Sheng: “…”
Ao Lai: “…”
The crew members present: “…”
Who could tell them what had happened?
Just as Luo Ren was about to move again, Su Sheng swiftly grabbed him, subtly shaking his head at him, and whispered, “Don’t.”
Luo Ren paused, glared coldly at the opposite side, tucked his sword back at his waist, and leisurely walked behind him.
Ao Lai retreated a few steps with a pale face, muttering, “Just a knight… how could…”
Su Sheng didn’t give them time to breathe, slowly scanning these people, and said, “Do as I say, and I won’t kill you.”
Those people trembled and bowed: “Yes, respected Mage.”
Ao Lai immediately looked left and right, seeing no one supporting him, his face twisted with anger: “You… you dare betray me!” As he spoke, he drew the curved blade from his waist and lunged toward Su Sheng.
Everything happened in an instant, but Luo Ren was faster than him. Luo Ren flung his sword, the blade piercing through Ao Lai’s body, dragging Ao Lai backward. When everyone turned their heads, they saw their captain already pinned dead in the cabin.
The people in the cabin were subdued.
…
After drifting on the ship for several days and nights, they finally found the so-called “Dead Sea.”
A massive vortex on the sea surface seemed capable of devouring all living beings. It was slowly moving across the sea and gradually growing.
Su Sheng’s expression was solemn as he carefully observed this vortex. After finding it almost identical to the description in the books, he confirmed that the “Dead Sea” before him was the key to entering Dragon Island!
Su Sheng cast a magical shield over the ship, then ordered them to sail toward it.
One of the crew members protested.
Su Sheng surveyed the group and said, “This is the only path to Dragon Island. I know you are all afraid, but trust me. With me here, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
The ship plunged headfirst into the vortex. Protected by Su Sheng’s magical shield, it passed through the vortex intact.
Not far away was an island. Everyone cheered, their gaze toward Su Sheng now filled with admiration, no longer defiance.
At this moment, he cleared his throat publicly. After the crew members looked toward him, he said, “I will cast a concealment spell on each of you to prevent detection by the island’s creatures. You will live along the island’s edge for a few days until we return.”
“Remember, you must not approach the center of the island,” he slowly scanned the crowd, emphasizing.
…
The island was surrounded by mountains. The path leading into the island was filled with carnivorous flowers and toxic miasma. Fog enveloped everything like a maze. The narrow, crisscrossing paths were flanked by tall, dense shrubs. Looking up, the sky was invisible; looking forward, the end was unseen. Occasionally, fierce beasts would dart out. These creatures were raised here by the dragon race as stored provisions.
This path was originally opened for humans entering the island. Now overgrown with thorns, walking on it clearly indicated it had been abandoned for many years.
After breaking the 101st magical barrier and truly entering, it had already taken a day and a night.
After traversing the maze-like path, a dark stone gate appeared at the end of the passage. Carved on it was a black dragon, with green diamonds embedded in its eyes, looking fierce and menacing.
It exuded a dark aura.
Su Sheng halted, his gaze fixed on the ferocious black dragon with bared fangs carved into the center of the stone gate. Seeing this, Luo Ren beside him asked, “Why have you stopped?”
“Something’s off,” he said. “It doesn’t match the records in the Sanctuary. The ruler of Dragon Island is the White Dragon King, Bi Ya. This should have been a white dragon.”
Luo Ren scoffed. “The Sanctuary’s records aren’t necessarily all correct. Maybe this was always a black dragon.”
Su Sheng replied calmly, “The Sanctuary may not always be right, but decades ago, the White Dragon King once invited Sanctuary staff onto Dragon Island.”
Su Sheng stepped forward first, speaking as he walked. “This might be related to the severance of ties between Dragon Island and the Sanctuary over a decade ago.”
Beyond the stone gate, the scenery was completely different from the outskirts. Floating conical rocks in the air held semi-circular dragon nests of varying sizes, which from a distance resembled stone cocoons cut in half.
It was said that dragons hid their treasures in their nests, likely the reason so many still ventured to Dragon Island despite its extreme dangers.
Su Sheng knew the purpose of this journey was to find the White Dragon King; everything else was irrelevant. But Dragon Island was vast, and locating the White Dragon King was no easy task.
Luo Ren, plucking a flower to sniff, noticed his distress. He crushed it underfoot with a lazy demeanor. “What’s there to worry about? Just hunt a dragon. Like this flower.”
Su Sheng glanced down and remarked, “You might be the only one who treats a man-eating flower as ordinary.”
Hunting a dragon, he had considered it, of course. But coming from a prince who had never seen a dragon, it sounded as casual as eating or drinking, which felt odd.
“Hunting a dragon is indeed a good method,” he said, glancing at Luo Ren. Yet, without Luo Ren’s suggestions along the way, they might still be wandering in a maze.
Ever since setting foot on Dragon Island, Su Sheng had felt a strange sensation about Luo Ren, as if he had been here before.
But no one on the continent had ever been heard to return safely from Dragon Island. The only one who could come and go freely was likely the Demon King.
Still, no matter how bad things got, they couldn’t be worse than the possibility that “Luo Ren is the Demon King,” right?
And for some reason, the thought stirred a faint sense of rejection in him.
After all, this person was just a companion, wasn’t he?
Not far away, Luo Ren plucked another flower, this time an ordinary wild rose. He carefully trimmed the thorns from the stem, his posture focused.
Seeing this, Su Sheng couldn’t help but pause, his heart giving a slight flutter.