Chapter 186: Chapter 185 Damn thief, you stole my treasure
Alright, let’s sort out the thoughts.
First, whether it’s genuinely a drifting bottle still can’t be fully confirmed. But by merely analyzing the material of the bottle, the technological methods already surpass the current Medieval level. So, either a wizard crafted this bottle, or it was made by the legendary Ancient Wizard Civilization. So, in a sense, this can be considered a time-traveling drifting bottle—a Time Capsule.
Moreover, the Drifting Bottle being inside the Giant Squid indicates it was obviously done by human hands, given that squids shouldn’t have a penchant for “inserting odd objects into their bodies.” This indicates that someone wanted to achieve a certain purpose using this method. However, they failed, otherwise the drifting bottle wouldn’t have ended up here.
Typically, the lifespan of a squid isn’t very long, just a few years. For instance, the largest modern-day Earth squid—the Giant King Squid—only lives about 450 days. But considering the unique characteristics of the current world, especially the volume and strength of the giant squid, it is very likely that its lifespan isn’t short, especially since a “young squid” less than a year old could challenge four official wizards, which really seems somewhat unrealistic.
And if the giant squid’s lifespan really is elongated, then it is highly possible that this drifting bottle has also existed for many years, perhaps from when the giant squid was smaller, and the bottle has been inside it all these years, supporting the idea about the “Time Capsule.”
Conversely, maybe the giant squid’s lifespan is short, and maybe its original size wasn’t very large either. But because the drifting bottle is within its body, it exerted a special effect, stimulating the giant squid to undergo changes, ultimately leading to a prolonged life, increased size, and enhanced strength. It is also for this reason that after losing the drifting bottle, the giant squid became enraged and pursued the giant ship.
After pondering for a while, Richard murmured to himself, “So the question is, what exactly is inside this drifting bottle that it needs to be placed within a giant squid’s body to ‘drift’ this way? No matter how you look at it, it all seems a bit incredible.”
As Richard spoke, his gaze fell on the bottle’s cork and watched the sealing wax, his eyes flickering.
Merely guessing and theorizing is useless; to find out what it is, one must open it and see.
Without hesitation, Richard brought the oil lamp closer, positioning the bottle’s mouth near it, trying to melt the sealing wax.
Under the scorching temperature of the flames, the wax began to soften and then slowly dripped, emitting faint smoke and a strange odor.
Suddenly, while Richard held the drifting bottle, his gaze sharpened as he heard faint whispering sounds near his ear as if someone was speaking right into his ear. Yet upon listening closely, he found nothing.
Richard furrowed his brows, holding the drifting bottle, continuing to heat the sealing wax.
The whispering sound reappeared, clearer this time.
The whispering was now distinctly audible.
“Thief, do you know what you are doing? You’re gradually walking towards the Fierce Flames Hell, you’re moving toward the endless Abyss, you will undergo six-hundred-sixty-six kinds of torture, your soul will wail for six-hundred-sixty-six epochs…”
“Sinner, repent, look at your actions! Gluttony, lust, greed, wrath, sloth, sorrow, pride! You filthy soul, you shall ultimately be burnt to ashes in the fierce flames…”
“Villain, won’t you stop now? The chains of Judgment have already wrapped around your neck, the cold blade is now pressed against your chest…”
“Come, let me dig out your heart, to see whether it’s red or black, heh heh heh heh…”
The whispering grew louder until it filled the entire cabin.
The air around twisted.
Richard turned around, only to see a hunched old man with a wrinkled face suddenly appear in a corner of the cabin, staring at him with a resentful gaze; the man’s fingernails were dark and sharp, and in the next moment, he lunged forward.
If it were someone else, they would definitely jump in fright, but what Richard did was… blink.
Close his eyes, then open them again.
The stooped old man had already shrunk back into the corner, but he wasn’t giving up the attack, instead, he had somehow found a knife, stroking the blade with his hand, he looked over and said aloud, “You shameful thief, you’ve stolen my treasure, my treasure! I can’t just teach you a lesson and let it go, I’m going to kill you, kill you!”
“Are you sure you can do it?”
“Of course I can, I’m going to slit your belly open, I’m going to pull out your intestines, and then wrap them around your neck and hang you from the mast!”
“What, you think this is just interesting? Then I must torture you thoroughly. I’m going to carve a thousand, ten thousand cuts on your body, then smear honey over them and tie you up tightly, letting all the ants in the world climb on you, letting them tear you apart, letting them gradually devour your body!”
“It’s getting more interesting, but unfortunately…”
“Unfortunately what?”
“Unfortunately, you’re just an illusion, just a fantasy of my brain.”
“What, I am an illusion? Joke, I exist for real, I’m going to kill you!”
The stooped old man lunged with the knife.
Richard ignored him and turned away.
Hmm, does this count as handcrafting a “Dementia Aura,” adding another member to its ranks?
But these were minor issues, the key thing was to figure out what exactly was in the Drifting Bottle.
Richard looked towards the Drifting Bottle.