The shabby clothes he had worn since he started following Byron, which he had never been willing to replace no matter how much money he made, stood in stark contrast to the glittering silver coins beneath him.
Who, after all, could resist the temptation of wantonly rolling in a pile of money, especially for a miser?
The others actually wanted to experience it as well, but ultimately they were too ashamed to act on the impulse.
Only the gold-digging rodent Byron had brought along came scurrying out of its waist pouch, squeaking as it stuffed silver coin after silver coin into its bulging cheeks.
Ever since they set sail, the creature had been sound asleep in the pouch, only waking up when it caught the scent of treasure.
Byron stepped forward and casually picked up a silver coin.
He verified that this was not some illusion induced by the Secret Realm, nor was it something that merely looked like a silver coin; it was a genuinely pure silver coin.
The fact that they had stumbled upon such a great find as soon as they landed on the island was indeed surprising.
"However, although they appear to come from various countries and were minted in different eras,
"they all show no signs of use, no stains, no wear and tear, no oxidation, but rather they seem like 'new money' that has been carefully preserved in a vault for a long time.
"It felt as though they did not come from the outside world, but rather as if the island itself had minted them from ingots of silver."
The Sailing Logbook, when they read the History carried by the coins, confirmed this as well.
"Moreover, what's most bizarre is that the purity of the silver in these coins is nearly one hundred percent, completely free of any additional substances.
"Even Mithril, which is commonly found alongside silver in mines, is absent; they're just too clean."
This thought inexplicably made him recall the second rule: "One must restrain one's Greed, be clear about what one wishes to obtain from this island, and understand what to discard. Otherwise, Greed will turn your blood into Gold."
Indeed, unless the silver wasn't extracted from mines but was generated through some artificial means, one could not account for such pure elemental silver. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on NoveI-Fire.ɴet
Otherwise, just the cost of refining and processing technology would probably be more valuable than the silver itself.
Watching as the Sailing Logbook displayed the Decryption Rate of the Mystery of Wealth Increase of Silvergold Island quietly progressing from 32% to 45%, his hypothesis was confirmed.
A thought irresistibly surged within Byron's mind: "Perhaps this rule of blood turning into Gold is not merely metaphorical; maybe there is indeed some unknown Alchemy of Transmutation on this island! Not to mention turning stones to Gold, even the mere idea of turning stones to silver... HISS—!"
Giving someone a fish is not as good as teaching someone to fish.
The highest mountains of Gold and silver will run out one day.
But the methods to create mountains of Gold and silver will never expire.
Perhaps this rule in itself is already the truth behind [the Mystery of Wealth Increase of Silvergold Island], and also the most precious treasure on the entire Silvergold Island!
The treasure that the Great Pirate Flint had plundered in his lifetime suddenly seemed less appealing.
If it weren't for the fact that he still needed to complete the Third Order Promotion Ceremony "Pirate's Chest": "One must overcome the various challenges set by the other party and survive to obtain a piece of treasure that best represents the Glory of a Great Pirate's lifetime in order to advance. And one could step on the name of a predecessor to inherit a part of their legendary status, and perhaps some kind of transcendent ability."
Byron would probably be tempted to shift his focus and wholeheartedly uncover the secret of the Alchemy of Transmutation.
Of course, he was always very clear-headed, knowing that even if the Alchemy of Transmutation was indeed valuable, it still took second place compared to his own Promotion Ceremony.
Without the corresponding Power to protect oneself, even the most precious treasures in one's hands would be easily taken by others.
He tossed the silver coin hiding a big secret back into the pile of money on the ground.
Then he looked towards a piggy bank that was shattered all over, with only half of a distorted Human face remaining.
The speed at which this group of walking piggy banks arrived was just too fast; only now did he have time to examine the information about them.
"Composition: Greedy Human souls, clay, silver coins.
"Silver coins are the cheapest treasures on the island.
"Some who knew no restraint, blinded by greed, forgot the island's forbidden rules and wouldn't even let go of a single small silver coin at the final moment.
"They could only let go of their lives in the end.
"Taboo: Give away your pocket money!
"As long as one still carried silver coins, they would be madly attacked by them, and only by discarding their pocket money could one remained unharmed."
But it didn't end there; the [Nautical Logbook] also gleaned further information from the souls of those who had died due to greed.
"Rule four, Equal Exchange:
"There is no free lunch in the world.
"The Material one can take away from Silvergold Island including water, delicacies, treasures... and so on, must not exceed one's own weight.
"Otherwise, he will become a part of this Silvergold Island as any character depicted in the fairy tales of Xilaralavia.
"Note: The judgment is not made when the island sinks, but the moment one entertains the thought of leaving the island and starts on the way back."
Byron shuddered at the thought of the endless delights mentioned in the fairy tales of Xilaralavia: Roast suckling pigs, roasted geese, chocolate houses... all may have originated from those predecessors who couldn't resist.
"Traps are truly everywhere in this Secret Realm.
"The rules about controlling Greed apparently refer to this; if one unknowingly takes more treasure than they can carry, they could die a grisly death.
"Becoming part of the treasure themselves."
A successful adventure requires caution, courage, Power, luck, Intelligence... and so on. Missing any one of these elements is not an option.
The three rules left by the Great Pirate Flint at the beginning were just basic hints for landing on the island, and far from the whole story.
Those adventurers who came later, although they could not continue to piece together the complete list of taboos of Silvergold Island, became part of the taboo themselves.
Lattercomers could only move forward by "learning from their mistakes".
If the Adventurers, Prophets, or Naturalists in the team lacked deciphering ability and could not interpret the more advanced rules, they might very well face an inadvertent annihilation.
Of course, the greater one's Power, the higher the margin for error.
Throw "Touch of the Kraken" into the mix, and likely all taboos are irrelevant.
But once one could fully comply with, or even exploit, all the rules, even an ordinary person might have a slim chance of surviving the hands of the strongest monsters and Evil Spirits.
Byron was about to share the Intelligence he had gathered with his companions when he suddenly heard a commotion near his ear and found that Gus was up to his antics again.
This guy had somehow really caught a roast suckling pig that could run by itself.
The piglet was roasted to a crispy outside and tender inside, steaming hot, emitting an irresistible fragrance.
He opened his mouth wide, aimed for the roast suckling pig's rear, and was about to take a bite.
"Silvergold Island really gets me, just in time for when I'm hungry.
"Come on, let me show everyone… three bites of a pig!"