A shipwright who, on the brink of death, poured his own soul into forging a ghost ship was every bit as noble as a mother nourishing her infant with her own flesh and blood in the face of disaster.
Cruel as the truth was, it was an answer worthy of all the years Aige had spent searching and waiting.
The question was whether she could accept it.
If she couldn't, a demigod-level undead flying into a frenzy would leave hardly a soul here alive today.
Aige fixed her gaze on Anbaixiu and asked in a low voice, "So by your logic, if I want my father resurrected, I have to die?"
Anbaixiu shook his head. "No. Even if you were willing to sacrifice yourself, it still wouldn't bring him back. What has already transpired cannot be undone. He used his soul to nurture your growth; that is an accomplished fact, and there is no reversing it."
"Is there truly no hope at all?" Aige pressed, her voice trembling slightly.
Anbaixiu felt a twinge of sympathy. Aige had sacrificed far too much for this, and such a brutal reality was undoubtedly hard to swallow.
"To say it is utterly impossible might be going too far. If Ao were willing to help you, the Overgod's power would suffice to grant any wish. However, relying on a mere Wish spell falls far short. Ao never bestows blessings upon mortals. Whether you revere him or curse him, the supreme deity never deigns to look upon the mortal realm. The only beings capable of catching Ao's eye are true gods.
"Captain Aige, you are only a single step away from condensing a godhead. What you lack is an opportunity—and that opportunity may arrive very soon."
Anbaixiu's words brought the light back to Aige's eyes. She said with growing excitement, "You're right! How could I have forgotten that path? Slim as the hope may be, it doesn't matter. I have all the time in the world to strive for it."
Anbaixiu breathed an internal sigh of relief. He had finally managed to calm her down.
"Then what about cooperating with the Raging Tide Kingdom?"
Aige replied dismissively, "Do as you please. I care nothing for that. I've heard you have a knack for playing both sides to make a profit. You made quite a fortune off the elves and dwarves earlier, didn't you? Whatever the Raging Tide Kingdom offers, negotiate it yourself. I have no need for such things."
Anbaixiu instantly grinned ear to ear. "Well, now... you're making me blush."
Aige cut in, "Don't celebrate too quickly. I don't need gold, but I do need to become a god. You know where the opportunity lies as well as I do. When the time comes, you are going to help me!"
Anbaixiu's smile vanished at once. That was no simple demand.
To achieve godhood, one either had to be handpicked by Ao or wait for a vacancy. Gods were immortal, so how could a vacancy arise? Only during a god war, when weaker deities were slain, leaving behind unclaimed godheads.
Yet the problem was that Anbaixiu wanted to become a god too.
If the opportunity presented itself, would he step aside or seize it for himself?
Anbaixiu broached the subject diplomatically. "Captain Aige, you must understand that a godhead is infinitely more precious than the artifact before us. I have no intention of taking advantage of you, but hear me out. Even if a god truly falls, any vacant godhead must be matched to the individual. Our paths are fundamentally different. If we are fortunate enough to obtain such an opportunity, whichever of us is best suited to it should claim it. How does that sound?"
Aige pondered this and saw no reason to refuse. Indeed, one could not assume any mantle of divinity willy-nilly; if a divine portfolio didn't match, one might not even manage to stabilize as a lesser deity, resulting in immediate incompatibility.
Setting aside the fact that they were both undead, Aige's affinities leaned heavily toward the ocean, navigation, and pillaging, whereas Anbaixiu, as a lich, was purely a spellcaster. Their domains were clearly demarcated, meaning there was little risk of conflict between them.
"Fine. I agree."
Seeing Aige accept so readily, Anbaixiu felt a surge of satisfaction.
He was far more than just a lich, and far more than a mere wizard. The number of godheads suited to him was practically endless.
"I'll be taking my leave. As for the Raging Tide Kingdom, I leave them in your hands."
Having concluded their business, Aige had no desire to linger. The colossal ghost ship submerged into the water. Despite the lake being less than twenty meters deep, the spectral vessel blended seamlessly into the depths and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Using a Fly spell to hover in midair, Anbaixiu quickly returned to the shore.
The King of Raging Tide hurried over in excitement. "Is it settled?"
Anbaixiu nodded. "Yes. The Silent Night Pirates promise that for a mere ten million gold coins annually, they will guarantee never again to plunder a ship of the Raging Tide Kingdom. Whether fishing vessels or merchantmen, all may pass freely through their territory."
The king's brow furrowed deep. "Ten million gold coins? That... that's far too expensive!"
The Raging Tide Kingdom was the poorest among the Nine Kingdoms. Ryan could toss around tens of millions on a casual wager, but for Raging Tide, ten million gold coins was an agonizing sum—let alone every year.
Anbaixiu said, "Your Majesty, I know that price is exorbitant, which is why I negotiated with the captain. We need only pay half in gold, with the rest substituted in supplies."
The king countered, "Doesn't that amount to the same thing? Five million gold coins' worth of supplies is still five million gold coins!"
Anbaixiu smiled conspiratorially and lowered his voice. "Your Majesty, the undead never come ashore. What could they possibly know of market prices? If we take two million worth of goods and report it as five million, they will be none the wiser. However, to keep those undead from growing suspicious, the first year must be settled entirely in gold. In subsequent years, we can offset part of it with supplies."
The king stared in astonishment, genuinely caught off guard by the scheme.
After a moment's hesitation, he murmured, "Seven million gold coins? That price... is not entirely unacceptable."
This figure struck precisely at the kingdom's bottom line. From Mengge Grayriver's memories, Anbaixiu had reviewed their military expenditures and the costs incurred over the years combating the Silent Night Pirates. After careful calculation, he knew seven million gold coins was the absolute limit the Raging Tide Kingdom could tolerate.
Any higher and they would dither indefinitely, and Anbaixiu had no time to waste here.
With the artifact in hand, his real priority was slipping away and returning to the Emerald Dream Forest.
Anbaixiu's calculations proved immaculate. Upon returning to the palace, the king conferred with his domestic ministers for quite a while, running the numbers until they confirmed the deal would save them money before giving his official approval.
Though this violated the dogmas of Talos, the balance sheet showed that Raging Tide would still spare itself several million in annual losses. For the sake of the realm, they simply had to swallow their pride.
Naturally, another reason things went so smoothly was the display of overwhelming power Aige had put on.
Having witnessed her terrifying might firsthand, the King of Raging Tide realized how infinitesimally small their chances of victory were. With Ariel standing firmly by Anbaixiu's side, the king naturally opted for compromise.
Anbaixiu casually produced a contract, claiming it had been prepared by the Silent Night Pirates, and had the King of Raging Tide sign his name. Just like that, a transaction built entirely on deception was sealed.
The shadow that had hung over the Raging Tide Kingdom for a full millennium suddenly evaporated. The king felt a strange sense of loss, as though he had abruptly stepped into a different era.
Unconcerned with their sentiments, Anbaixiu immediately volunteered, "Your Majesty, there is no time to lose. I shall personally take the gold coins into the deep sea to complete the transaction with the undead."
It was time to make his getaway. He had been away for nearly eight days, and far trickier matters awaited his attention.
Whether Naomi had mastered the ability to transform into a giant dragon, and how this artifact hourglass was to be utilized so she could grasp the power of time—those were the tasks that would demand the most time.
Anbaixiu was eager to bolt, but the king had no intention of letting him go.
"Does delivering gold coins require a hero such as yourself to go in person? I can dispatch just anyone to handle the delivery. Mengge, your routine duties are already demanding enough. Do not squander your time on such trivialities."
In the wake of this crisis, the King of Raging Tide was thoroughly impressed by Anbaixiu's capabilities. He was now scheming to rush through the marriage between him and Ariel so they could produce a worthy heir for the kingdom as soon as possible. After all, Mengge Grayriver was already in his forties and fast passing his prime reproductive years.
Anbaixiu sensed something amiss. If he didn't flee now, real trouble would catch up to him. He hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, this is the very first time in a thousand years we are cooperating with the Silent Night Pirates. I would only feel at ease if I oversaw it personally. Furthermore, my voyage this time is not merely to seek out the pirates; I must also make another trip to the Emerald Dream Forest."
The king asked in surprise, "The Emerald Dream Forest? What for? Those druids have never seen eye-to-eye with us."
"Your Majesty, with your keen intellect, you must have noticed that the landscape of the Nine Kingdoms is shifting rapidly. The City of Alchemy has fallen, Ryan has seized half of the dwarves' desert, and the dwarves have been forced to retreat to where the City of Alchemy once stood. The elves have closed their borders, and the Emerald Dream Forest has been preparing for war for years... Your Majesty, a great war is on the horizon, and even out here in the island chains, we will hardly be able to escape it.
"Before this grand war erupts, we need more allies. Word has it that the Elven Queen, Catherine, is currently a guest in the Emerald Dream Forest. The elves and druids have always enjoyed good relations, and they are undoubtedly discussing an alliance. This is our finest opportunity. If I serve as the Raging Tide Kingdom's envoy to the Emerald Dream Forest, we might just be able to forge an alliance with both realms in one stroke."
Anbaixiu spoke with such earnest conviction that the King of Raging Tide fell deep into thought, thoroughly swayed once more.
The king voiced his concern. "Yet our relations with those druids have always been strained. How could they possibly agree to an alliance?"
Anbaixiu pressed on, "That was in the past. Now that Ryan has swallowed half the desert, their next target is obviously the Emerald Dream Forest. We may have had our squabbles with the druids, but compared to state affairs, what do petty grievances matter? The Raging Tide Kingdom has no intention of contesting their territory; Ryan is their greatest enemy.
"Furthermore, our Raging Tide Kingdom sits right at the Emerald Dream Forest's rear. Once war breaks out with Ryan, if we were to harass them from behind, the druids would find themselves in dire straits. Besides, Your Majesty, we just lost millions of gold coins to the undead. Shouldn't we recoup that from the druids?"
Chapter 188