Translator:
CKtalon
“The Pirate 3: Crazy Adventurer”...
It looks okay, it should be the kind of popcorn flick that I enjoy...
I look around and make a preliminary decision. I quickly take out my phone and log in to the film review website to check out its score and reviews.
“The aesthetics are shallow...”
“The plot is simple and crude...”
“Other than the special effects and the few actresses, there’s nothing else...”
“The protagonist only knows how to act cool and has zero acting skills...”
“Nothing deep at all.”
“It’s a passable commercial film, but it’s only passable.”
F*ck, reviews like these... I like movies like this. I’m just watching it to kill time and don’t need deep, thought-provoking shows...
I read the reviews and find that it isn’t that bad. I have a rough idea.
The giant middle-school student standing beside me in front of the poster has already left to buy the tickets.
“One ticket for The Pirate 3, the earliest time slot.” I go over only after the middle-school student heads elsewhere in the mall, I don’t want the contrast to be that apparent. It makes me feel inferior.
“There’s still 15 minutes to the next time slot,” the ticket sales staff informs me.
“That’s fine.” I don’t plan on shopping, so I decide to find a place to sit and wait. After all, they’ll allow entry inside very soon.
Of course, before that, I buy a medium-sized iced Coke and a serving of butter popcorn.
I obviously have to match a popcorn flick with popcorn!!
Otherwise, how can it be called enjoyment?
In the past, I rarely watched movies, just to stop myself from overeating!
And now, my weight has returned to my university days, and it’s very muscular.
This is the beauty of life!
Not long after, I enter the venue according to the signs and find my seat.
Even though it’s office hours, there are quite a lot of people in the audience. A large portion of them are clearly students.
Summer vacation. I also want a summer vacation...
I take a sip of iced Coke and put on my 3D glasses.
At this moment, the two-meter tall middle-school student walks along the aisle towards me.
Under normal circumstances, the gap between me and the row in front is sufficient for a person to pass through. However, the figure before me is simply too huge, and it isn’t possible for me to grant him passage by just pulling in my legs.
I have no choice but to stand up and lean back.
The middle-school student successfully passes through. He turns his head and smiles sincerely.
“Thank you, Uncle.”
“...No problem.” I still think I’m young.
This interlude doesn’t hinder me from eating popcorn, drinking iced Coke, and watching the various trailers on the big screen.
Very quickly, The Pirate 3 officially begins. My smile only lasts for five minutes before it stiffens.
It’s not that the movie is worse than I expected, but that the male lead’s fortuitous encounter is from drinking a potion.
The potion gives me the feeling that it’s the Assassin beverage I drank before!
Man... The Assassin beverage is actually a potion? Who produced this movie? Hmm, I remember seeing the dragon logo just now... Hall Film Company? This can’t be a reflection of reality, can it?
I instantly immerse myself in the plot, but there aren’t any other potions later in the film. Instead, it shows the serious side-effects of the potion.
My heart grows heavier as I watch it. I even feel like I’m the male lead.
After the movie, I can’t help but curse inwardly.
Is this guy that clueless?
Three beautiful female pirates are surrounding him, but in the end, he only took a silly boatswain with him!
Seriously! Where’s the treasure they promised, and them heading off into the sunset while accompanied by beauties? Yes, it’s all disappeared off into the sunset...
After watching the easter egg, I pick up my empty Coke and popcorn bucket and walk towards the aisle.
At this moment, a short girl who’s clearly less than 1.6 meters tall suddenly comes over and suppresses her voice.
“Someone is monitoring you.”
Monitoring me... Who?
I subconsciously look around, but I can’t find the suspect.
And the woman who warned me has already followed the crowd and walked to the exit.
For real?
I think for a moment and decide to leave the cinema first before confirming the situation.
There are too many people here, and it’s too noisy. Calling the police wouldn’t work!
...
At the same time, a train stops at a high-speed rail station in the city.
One of the carriages slowly opens, but there are only four to five people inside. They form a stark contrast with the crowd in the other carriages.
Those few people are dressed as if they’re going to a comic convention. After exchanging a glance, they stand up and walk out with heavy footsteps.
What they see is an extremely modern platform and crowds of people.
—End of the first Installment of the Lord of the Mysteries trilogy—
=================
This chapter is in a way the prologue to the second installment of the LOTM trilogy which will happen about 2 years from now when Cuttlefish’s new book—Embers Ad Infinitum—ends!
Advertising his book! Be prepared for a well-thought out and detailed apocalyptic, cyberpunk world with a setting superseding Lord of the Mysteries!
Take note that the beginning of the story is slow (maybe even slower) like LOTM, but make sure to unlock all available chapters with COINS so that the book is continued! Otherwise, it will be dropped in Trial Reads! Have faith in Cuttlefish! Also, please continue supporting Cuttlefish by unlocking chapters in Coins even if it’s continued!
Synopsis below:
Our protagonist, Shang Jianyao, is crazy—literally crazy, at least that’s what the doctors said. Living in a huge, underground building of Pangu Biology, one of the few remaining factions in this apocalyptic wasteland known as the Ashlands, he acts in unfathomable ways that’s head-scratching, comical, and shrewd. So is he really crazy? Probably.
He has a grand dream: to save all of humanity. Intricately tied to this dream is something everyone in the Ashlands believes in: Deep in a particular ruin buried away by danger and famine, a path leading to a new world awaits. To step into the new world, one only needs to find a special key and open that certain door. There, the land is bountiful, as if milk and honey flows freely. The sunlight is dazzling, as if all coldness and darkness are washed away. The people will no longer have to face desolation, monsters, infections, mutations, and all kinds of dangers. There, children are joyous, adults are happy, everything is fine as they are supposed to be.
Every Antiquarian, Ruin Hunter, and Historian roaming the Ashlands knows: That’s the New World.
1431 Bonus Chapter: That Corner (1)
“There! It’s right there!” A young man with long brown hair and a pirate-like bandana shouted as he pointed at a nearby island.
He was standing on the starboard of a three-masted sailboat. The rolling waves drowned out most of his voice.
A muscular man with a black eye patch reached out to hold the shipboard. He frowned and muttered to himself in shock and suspicion,
“I don’t remember there being such an island on this sea route…”
This was not the first time their ship had plied this sea route.
The young man who had shouted replied excitedly, “This means that it’s usually hidden. It only appears at specific moments.
“There must be treasures on such an island!
“Captain, in the words of that strange monk, a fortuitous opportunity has presented itself!”
He spoke in the Loen language. “Fortuitous opportunity” was a term pieced together by two words.
“That monk spouts words indecipherable to us. Pay no heed to them.” The muscular man wearing an eye patch raised his hand and ruffled his slightly messy short yellow hair. “And I often tell you guys that treasures are often accompanied by danger.”
As he spoke, he pointed at his right eye which was covered by the eye patch.
“That’s the cost.”
The young man with the pirate-like bandana sincerely said, “But, Captain, isn’t this the purpose of our adventure? For treasure!”
They were a group of treasure hunters from different places. Of course, they occasionally worked as pirates and ‘borrowed’ food, drinks, and necessities from passing merchant ships. After all, ideals alone couldn’t feed them.
The captain fell silent for a moment before saying, “Gather four to five people, and we’ll step foot on the island to take a look. The rest of you, prepare to set sail at any time.”
The young man’s eyes lit up.
“You agreed? Captain, you agreed!”
The captain chuckled.
“Weimer, if not for the fact that there’s no other choice, no one at my age would continue to be a treasure hunter.”
He appeared to be in his thirties, but his blue eyes showed signs of age.
“Fine.” Weimer held up his hands. “Whatever you say.”
He immediately became excited.
“I’ll get Ol’ Keaton!”
Ol’ Keaton was the ship’s first mate. He believed in the God of Knowledge and Wisdom and had mastered many languages. If they didn’t bring him along on such an expedition, it was very likely that they would throw away whatever treasures they found as trash.
More importantly, Ol’ Keaton was also very strong.
When the ship docked at the dock that seemed to have long been abandoned, an exploration team of four had already gathered beside the gangway.
They were Captain Gray, First Mate Ol’ Keaton, Boatswain Parvi, and Veteran Seaman Weimer.
“No one…” Parvi looked into the distance and muttered regretfully.
The weather in the Berserk Sea today wasn’t bad. Visibility was extremely high under the blue sky, and the small port hid no secrets from her.
This place was incomparably quiet as if it had been dead for many years.
“It’ll be more terrifying if there were people!” Weimer added.
It implied many things if such a hidden island remained inhabited.
Parvi was wearing a white shirt and brown pantaloons. She had a pair of beautiful light-blue eyes and a slightly androgynous appearance.
She glared at Weimer.
“You want to stay behind and clean the deck?”
Weimer shrugged and shut his mouth.
Having become a boatswain as a woman, she needed to manage many unruly crew members; she would never go easy on her threats.
Captain Gray, who was surveying the area, gave an order.
“Let’s get ashore!”
He then exhorted, “We’ll do it the old way. During the first exploration, don’t touch anything. Just look and listen.”
“No problem!” Weimer was the first to rush out of the ship and run down the gangway to the dock.
He jumped up excitedly mid-run and glided to the ground like a big bird.
The sound caused by his actions spread out in all directions, mixed with some echoes.
Behind him, Gray, Ol’ Keaton, and Parvi followed carefully.
“If you continue that recklessness of yours and act on your own like an uncivilized wild dog, I’ll tie you up and hang you at the stern to fish for sharks!” Parvi quickly walked to Weimer’s side and warned him in a hushed voice.
Weimer nodded solemnly and muttered, “Girlboss, with your personality, you should join the Church of Storms instead of believing in the Evernight Goddess…”
Parvi didn’t say anything. She looked around and followed Captain Gray and First Mate Ol’ Keaton.
The port was not big. There was only a lighthouse, two simple docks, five warehouses, and a few buildings that served as a hotel, restaurant, bar, and police station. It did not take long for the four of them to circle the area.
Apart from the fact that there was no one around, everything seemed normal.
Weimer looked at the tables in the house facing the street through a relatively clear glass window and did not speak for a long time.
His expression was a little solemn given his personality.
Inside the house, on the dining table, there was a cup with brownish-black liquid and two pieces of moldy toast.
Next to them were several neatly folded newspapers.
It looked like the owner was about to enjoy breakfast when he suddenly encountered an emergency and had to leave in a hurry. He did not even have time to flip open the newspapers.
He never returned.
It would be considered normal if there was only one such example. After all, accidents were unavoidable. However, the entire port was in a similar situation. It was inevitable that it would make one’s hair stand on end and imagination run wild.
In that instant, all the local residents, no, all the living creatures, seemed to have evaporated.
“They haven’t been gone for long…” Captain Gray’s slightly hoarse voice broke the team’s silence.
Parvi subconsciously replied, “Indeed, if this port has been abandoned for a long time, the food will not just be moldy.”
It seemed like only a few days or weeks had passed since the bizarre incident had happened.
Ol’ Keaton retracted his gaze from the street and nodded gently.
“That’s what the plants here say.”
There were obvious wrinkles at the corners of the First Mate’s mouth. His hair was already mottled with natural curls. He was wearing a white robe and brass-framed glasses.
“Ah?” Weimer was momentarily slow to react.
He then looked at the place where Ol’ Keaton had sized up and quickly understood why he said that.
There weren’t many weeds in the harbor. There were some plain or gorgeous mushrooms growing sporadically on the wooden buildings. They seemed to have existed all along.
The natural world had obviously not had enough time to invade this place.
Ol’ Keaton saw Weimer’s enlightened expression and didn’t explain further. He turned to Captain Gray and solemnly said,
“I’m worried that something might happen if we stay here for too long.”
“What might happen? Could it be that we will also disappear into thin air…” Before Weimer could finish speaking, a tanned palm appeared over his mouth.
This palm pushed his head and pressed him against the wall.
“There won’t be a next time!” Parvi glared at Weimer and warned under her breath.
Weimer nodded with difficulty, indicating that he understood.
When Parvi released him, he muttered softly, “This isn’t like you, Girlboss. You actually didn’t slam the back of my head against the wall…”
Parvi chuckled.
“I’m afraid that the commotion will be too great and awaken up the bizarreness hidden here.”
Captain Gray didn’t care about their little bout. He took out his silver-white pocket watch and opened the lid.
“We’ll return to the ship in another fifteen minutes.
“If everything remains normal, we’ll prepare a second exploration tomorrow.”
“Alright!” Weimer was the first to agree.
The four of them maintained a fine battle formation as they skirted the buildings in front of them and headed for the edge of the port.
There was a slightly stained steam locomotive parked here. The two tracks extended deep into the island.
Parallel to the tracks was a cement road.
This was exactly what Gray and the others had imagined. After all, the port bore the responsibility of loading and unloading goods, traveling passengers, and connecting other towns with convenient road traffic.
However, to their surprise and confusion, the railway was only one to two hundred meters long. At the end of it stood a sizable town.
Even though they were still at the edge of the port, the four of them could see the situation there with their naked eyes.
“Wh—” Weimer could not express his feelings in words. He could only curse under his breath. “If I were the owner of this island, I would definitely tie up the bastard who suggested such repairs at the stern to fish for sharks!”
Based on their experience in many ports, this arrangement was simply abnormal.
The town 100 meters away had to be closer and connected to this side to form a port city, or it should be a few kilometers away and be independent, unlike now!
“There might be a deeper meaning,” Ol’ Keaton said with a frown. “This might have something to do with the bizarre happenings here.”
After he finished speaking, no one responded for a moment.
After a few seconds, Weimer looked at the town not far away and said, “Captain, do we head over to take a look?”
Captain Gray nodded.
“Sure. Twelve minutes left.”
They then walked along the cement road toward the small town.
On both sides of the road, weeds flourished and mushrooms dotted the area. The closer they got to their destination, the more it was like this.
Before long, the four treasure hunters arrived at the edge of the town.
There was a wooden board erected there. On it was a word written in Loen: “Utopia.”
“This place is called Utopia,” Weimer muttered to himself as he cast his gaze at Ol’ Keaton.
Ol’ Keaton shook his head slowly, indicating that he had never heard of it.
It was the same for Parvi and Captain Gray.
They observed the situation inside from the edge of the town and confirmed that the streets were also empty. It was so quiet that even the wind seemingly found it unbearable to pass.
As they walked forward step by step, the four of them saw the Iris Hotel, Utopia’s Telegraph Office, and many buildings. However, without exception, the interior of these buildings revealed that their owners had left in a hurry and never returned.
There were also cups with some water left, dry clothes that were halfway through their washing, cutlery that had been laid out, musical instruments that had not been put away, books that had been flipped through, carriages that had stopped by the roadside without any horses… These things all reconstructed the appearance of the town before the bizarre situation happened.
“I keep feeling that something is missing…” Weimer couldn’t help but whisper when he saw the municipal square in sight.
1432 Bonus Chapter: That Corner (2)
Parvi shot him a glance.
“People are missing!”
“No, no, no, that’s not it. I know that.” Weimer shook his head seriously.
His eyes lit up.
“I know what’s missing!”
“What?” Captain Gray and First Mate Ol’ Keaton asked in unison.
Weimer laughed.
“Money, notes, and gold coins!”
He straightened his back and continued explaining, “Although we haven’t entered the houses to conduct a detailed search, according to my experience, even if we just look from the outside, we should be able to find some. However, there’s nothing at all!”
“Perhaps it’s just that the people here aren’t very rich and don’t have the habit of leaving their money around.” Parvi didn’t agree.
This was not an important problem. The four of them quickly diverted their attention. After entering the municipal square, they looked at the tallest building.
It was a black-spired cathedral.
Mushrooms tenaciously grew out of the cracks in the bricks of the cathedral. They were either simple and plain, or gorgeous and colorful. They strung together, showing a presence that couldn’t be ignored in front of the green vines.
“This place feels like it’s been abandoned for even longer.” Parvi paused before saying, “From the architectural style, this looks like the cathedral of the Goddess. Do the people here also believe in the Goddess?”
She found this rather peculiar.
The residents of such a hidden island and strange town seem to believe in the Evernight Goddess…
Ol’ Keaton stared at it for a few seconds before saying, “Seems so.”
Then, he immediately added, “It feels like the closer we get to the square and the cathedral, the longer it appears to be abandoned.”
Be it the weeds on the road, the green plants on the surface of the buildings, or the mushrooms of all kinds, the closer they got to the center of the town, the more numerous they became. And the cathedral seemed to be covered in a green coat with many speckled holes.
After a moment of silence, Parvi suggested, “Let’s go to the cathedral. As long as the Goddess is still watching this land, there won’t be any particularly serious problems there.”
Captain Gray and Ol’ Keaton didn’t object, but the former reiterated the rules of this exploration.
“After entering the cathedral, you can only use your eyes to see and ears to hear. Don’t do anything else.”
“No problem.” Weimer walked towards the cathedral at the side of the square.
This left Parvi with no choice but to gesture a circle on her chest and simply ask for the Goddess’s protection.
As there wasn’t much time left, the four of them sped up and quickly arrived at the cathedral’s entrance.
They were in no hurry to push the door open and enter. They “sized up” their surroundings individually.
“Very quiet,” Captain Gray concluded.
The other three also expressed that they did not find any problems.
The black cathedral’s door was ajar. After Weimer exerted force with his hands, it slowly opened.
The bottom of Captain Gray’s black eye patch immediately lit up, helping him see the scene inside clearly.
There were no tables or chairs in the hall. There were windows on both sides that shone with light, and it was dark red above.
Drip, drip, drip. Drops of viscous, pale-yellow liquid fell from the sky and hit the ground like rain, giving people the feeling that the dome was severely damaged and was facing a storm.
Before Gray could speak, he saw the viscous, disgusting liquid dissolve into puddles.
The puddles rolled and bubbled endlessly.
The bubbles popped, and deformed babies with moist skin and pale yellow dirt crawled out.
As these babies grew rapidly, they dripped more viscous yellow liquid, creating more puddles and stirring more bubbles…
“Waaa! Waaa! Waaa!”
They began to cry.
Just seeing this scene caused blood to flow from Gray’s eyes. The eye patch turned dark red as if he was moved to tears by the birth of life.
His mind was blank. He felt that every part of his body was nurturing a new life.
The sharp pain snapped him to his senses, and he instinctively took a step back.
The scene in front of Gray returned to normal. It was still the empty cathedral hall with wide windows that lacked maintenance, and a tall and magnificent dome. There was no viscous liquid that fell like rain, nor were there countless deformed babies and puddles everywhere.
“Huff, puff” Gray panted heavily.
The next second, he turned around and shouted as he ran, “Run!”
Thud thud thud! Gray rushed out of the municipal square.
He did not care about Parvi, Ol’ Keaton, and Weimer at all.
He was already considered a responsible captain for still remembering to warn his teammates under the current circumstances.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Gray didn’t dare stop at all. Relying on his amazing physique despite his blurred vision, he ran all the way out of the strange town, back to the crude port, and onto his ship.
Ol’ Keaton, Parvi, and Weimer rushed back in less than ten seconds.
“Set sail!” Gray ordered.
Gray waited until the ship set sail before he bothered to check his injuries. He raised a hand to his eye and instantly felt moisture.
However, when he brought his hand to his eyes, he realized that it was not blood—just tears.
As he ran, he kept crying.
Grey’s brows knitted together, startled and suspicious.
Soon, he confirmed that he was not injured at all.
“What did you guys see?” He turned to look at Ol’ Keaton and the others.
Weimer looked at the captain. His eyes were red as if he had just cried.
He said with lingering fear, “I saw fireball after fireball.
“They fell from the roof with a whoosh and then exploded!
“Light. My eyes were filled with light. I felt like I was going blind. No, I’m already blind! Then, I felt like I was melting. It hurt. It really hurt.”
Weimer heaved a sigh of relief.
“Fortunately, Captain woke me up at that moment.”
He rubbed his eyes and said in confusion and relief, “I’m fine now. It’s just that I kept crying at first, but then I got better. It was like a bad dream.”
What he meant was that the dream was very real. There were still lingering fears when he woke up, but he would be fine after a while.
Captain Gray nodded and carefully examined Weimer’s eyes.
After confirming that there was really no problem, he looked at First Mate Ol’ Keaton.
“What about you?”
Ol’ Keaton looked at the distant coastline and the shrinking port and said in a reminiscent tone,
“The entire cathedral collapsed. I fell to the ground with the surrounding pillars and stone bricks.
“It was bottomless. Moreover, my head, my flesh, and my skin fell at different speeds. They began to pull at each other. It hurt, it really hurt…”
The slightly loose skin and deep wrinkles on Ol’ Keaton’s face trembled as if he didn’t want to recall any more of the incident.
He exhaled and said after a while,
“My entire body was about to be torn apart. Then, it was as if there were invisible hands around me. They pressed my hands, legs, head, skin, flesh, and bones to my internal organs with great force…
“I wished I could die as quickly as possible. Fortunately, I woke up the next second thanks to you, Captain.”
Weimer sighed with emotion.
“This is even more painful than what happened to me. If you hadn’t woken up in time, you might have seen yourself turn into a blood-colored meatball.”
Parvi listened quietly and said thankfully, “I wasn’t in that much pain.
“I saw darkness—darkness that made me feel at ease.
“Then, I fell asleep. It was like I was back in my bed until I was woken up by you, Captain.”
Captain Gray nodded slowly.
“From the looks of it, what we encountered or experienced is different. Moreover, we are left without any injuries.”
“It’s just some stress.” Ol’ Keaton affirmed the captain’s statement.
He then voiced his guess.
“Perhaps we were under an illusion or hallucinated for some other reason. And because everyone has different personalities and experiences, what we saw and experienced were different.”
Before Ol’ Keaton finished speaking, Parvi blurted out, “Mushrooms! Could it be those mushrooms? Those mushrooms were the strangest!”
“Yes, definitely!” Weimer agreed after being momentarily taken aback.
It was common knowledge that one could be poisoned and end up hallucinating after eating certain mushrooms. In such a strange place, it was reasonable for one to be affected just by approaching the mushrooms.
Captain Gray seriously recalled for a moment and said, “That’s possible. There was a very faint, sweet smell in the air… The fragrance of some mushrooms?”
…
In the middle of a small town called Utopia, on the surface of the cathedral that was suspected to belong to the Church of Evernight, mushrooms suddenly became active.
They squirmed and crazily spewed out large amounts of spores. Before the spores landed, they had already grown into different mushrooms in the air. Then, they continued to create more spores.
And in the gap between the black bricks occupied by the mushrooms and green plants, pale-white, tiny, baby-like deformed palms squeezed out.
Silently, the entire cathedral collapsed, and a bottomless pit appeared in the ground.
The huge pit spread out, pulling the buildings over and shattering them into pieces.
Elsewhere in the town, the large number of houses that had originally stood tall had long disappeared, leaving behind large pieces of colorful glass-like traces.
In the depths of the ground, muffled sounds came one after another.
In just a few seconds, the place had completely fallen silent.
Buildings rose from the ground one after another, and the town quickly recovered as if it had a vitality of its own.
The furnishings in the houses were almost the same as before, but there were certain differences in their details. What was left had switched to the right, and what was far became close.
…
Late at night, on the ship.
Weimer, who could not sleep because of what happened during the day, came to the deck and breathed in the moist sea breeze.
“You’re still awake?” He saw the boatswain, Parvi.
Parvi was still wearing the clothes she wore during the day. She looked at the dark sea in the distance and said,
“I was going to sleep, but I suddenly recalled some details after I closed my eyes.”
“What details?” Weimer asked curiously.
Parvi’s face reflected the red moonlight as she said, “There’s something else under the darkness I saw in the cathedral…”
Without waiting for Weimer to ask, she muttered to herself dreamily,
“There were many skeletons, some children’s and some babies’. Some of them were normal, while others looked like monsters. It was packed with them, everywhere.
“Also, there seemed to be a raven hidden in the depths of the darkness.”