Deep, dark swells rolled across the sea, ripples shimmering beneath the moonlight as a mysterious black ghost ship glided slowly into view.
The massive sailing vessel was comparable in length to the cruise ship. Its black sails hung torn and hollow, and its hull cast a dull luster under the moon like a dark monument forged by countless storms. It inspired both a dread that urged one to flee and a mystic allure that made it impossible not to explore.
The crew and film personnel stood upon the deck, staring silently at the uninvited phantom ship.
Not a single light flickered aboard the ghost ship—only endless, suffocating darkness. Its arrival cast an eerie, unnatural atmosphere over the previously tranquil waters.
Yet what stirred among the onlookers was far more than fear.
Greed loomed much larger.
Put another way, a powerful thirst for adventure had awakened in everyone.
Drawing on folklore and sea experience, the crew speculated that this ghost ship was a wrecked pirate vessel that had once been swept onto an unknown island by disaster, only to be set adrift once more by the ocean winds.
A pirate ship meant treasure. With wealth delivered right to their doorstep, there was no reason to let it slip away.
At the captain's orders, the deckhands turned on searchlights and assembled a ten-man treasure-hunting party. Donning life vests, they leaped into a lifeboat and rowed toward the ghost ship.
Director Wallace was the most excited of all. Shouting at the top of his lungs, he demanded to join the expedition so he could bring a crew aboard to shoot several scenes for the film.
A ghost ship was not only a massive gimmick to boost box-office numbers; it was also a free set. Just imagining cutting these shots into his movie sent thrills coursing through Wallace.
It was more thrilling than sleeping with the second female lead the previous night.
The captain earnestly tried to dissuade him, warning that the ghost ship had been in disrepair for ages and that a single misstep could cost lives.
Wallace wouldn't hear of it. He was a director with artistic ambitions. Far more than death, he feared living an unremarkable life, dying without a single masterpiece that posterity would remember.
"As a director, the first half of my life has been far too ordinary! I haven't fought in a war, I haven't met pirates at sea, and earthquakes, tsunamis, violent storms—I haven't encountered a single one!"
"Other directors survive near-death experiences and burst with inspiration to create timeless classics, while I'm left with nothing but envy! I'm not inferior to them; I just lack an opportunity! No matter what anyone says, I'm not letting tonight's chance slip through my fingers!"
Ignoring all attempts to stop him, Wallace rallied his film crew into a lifeboat. The captain and the first mate had to scramble after them, driven nearly mad by this reckless director.
Meanwhile, Wayne slipped toward the stern while everyone was gathered on the main deck. He dived into the ocean and swam underwater toward the ghost ship.
Channeling water elements to cast a spell, he moved through the depths with remarkable speed. Before the lifeboats had even drawn near, he had circled around and climbed aboard.
At this moment, Wayne had no time to worry about whether there were mages on the cruise ship or if his spellcasting might be detected. He caught the dense scent of dark aura—there was treasure on this ghost ship.
Magical treasure.
*Treasures of heaven and earth belong to those destined to hold them;*
*Refusing heaven's gifts brings misfortune upon oneself;*
*He who passes up a bargain is a total bastard.*
Wayne could recite over a hundred such virtuous aphorisms in a single breath. In short, leaving treasure in anyone else's hands was a waste; only in his possession could its value be realized to perfection.
The ghost ship's deck was decrepit and drenched in moisture, as though it had just been dragged from the sea floor. The rotting wood crumbled beneath the slightest step.
Shielded by the night and avoiding the cruise ship's searchlights, Wayne followed the dark aura straight to the captain's cabin, quickly putting his hands on a palm-sized coffer.
Prying open the rusted latch, he found a dark ring radiating a faint, eerie glow inside the wooden box.
"This ring looks awfully familiar!"
Wayne narrowed his eyes.
It might have been an illusion, but the ring looked strikingly familiar—remarkably like the one in the asylum director's collection.
Wayne imagined an evil, black-bearded pirate captain who had stirred up waves across the high seas with this dark ring. Whenever navies came to hunt him down, they had been crushed by its power, allowing him to roam free for years and amass endless riches.
Later, a shipwreck had sent the once-arrogant vessel to the bottom of the sea.
As for why this ring bore such an uncanny resemblance to the one in Director Planck's possession, that was understandable. If there could be two Death Knights, why not multiple magical rings from the Goddess of Darkness?
There had to be a pair of them, or perhaps even more, and the director had merely stumbled upon one.
Reasonable, logical, and entirely plausible. Wayne convinced himself on the spot.
*Creak—!*
A tread upon the wooden floorboards came from behind. Wayne raised a brow and turned slowly around.
Before him stood an armored skeleton undead enveloped in black mist, white flames dancing in its eye sockets. All it lacked to be a complete Death Knight was a horse and a blade.
*Gave me a start—I thought it was the Dark Knight!*
"A ghost?"
Wayne gripped the dark ring with one hand, black mist swirling around his knuckles. The dark ring had given him quite a fright, making him suspect the Dark Knight had tracked him down.
And it was just this?
If you're a Death Knight, then who am I?!
"We meet again, Wayne. How's the welcoming gift? Do you like it?"
The skeleton undead dispersed the power of death around itself, revealing Planck's stern, white-bearded face. He remarked admiringly, "Truth be told, you've got guts. I thought I was going to scare the wits out of you."
"You did startle me..."
Wayne weighed the ring in his hand, speechlessly exasperated. "Director Planck, with all your free time, why are you pretending to be a ghost on the open sea? Is the asylum having a team-building retreat?"
By that point, he already had a rough idea of the answer.
"I promised the High Priest that I wouldn't meet with you. A man must keep his word..."
Planck shifted back into his skeletal undead form. "It's been so many days. Have you thought it over? Are you interested in joining our Free Mages Alliance?"
*Interested? You have no idea!*
"To be honest, not particularly,"
Wayne said, furrowing his brow. "My teacher has talked to me a great deal lately. Joining the Free Alliance would mean betraying her, and I don't want to let her down."
"Just don't let her find out. You don't speak, I don't speak, and nobody will ever know."
*As if! Anyone can see you're totally unreliable, you old rogue!*
Rolling his eyes, Wayne spoke frankly. "Director Planck, your invitation is full of sincerity, and you did save my life once. It's truly hard for me to refuse you, but my teacher has treated me..."
"Hold on a moment. Since you brought up the High Priest, I must mention her husband, Mr. Landau."
Planck had clearly come prepared. He said with a chuckle, "Mr. Landau made me an offer I couldn't refuse. He wanted me, in my capacity as director, to diagnose you with mental illness and claim you urgently require institutional treatment—preferably long-term hospitalization, keeping you at the Red Leaf Forest Asylum for the rest of your life."
Wayne: "..."
A little surprising, yet not entirely unexpected. That was certainly the style of that certain someone.
"Don't worry, though. I only agreed on the surface..."
Planck outlined his plan: he would gift the dark ring to Wayne, and when Auston came pressing for answers, he would claim Wayne had been tainted by darkness.
That way, Planck would pocket the research funding, Wayne would receive a magical item, and Wayne would be spared from Auston's relentless harassment—a win-win move where none of them had a bright future.
"That won't hold up for long. He's no fool; one test by his subordinates will blow the cover right off."
Wayne shrugged, seeing right through Planck's true scheme. "At the end of the day, you're just looking for a scapegoat to trick me into the Free Mages Alliance without offending my teacher."
This punctured Planck's pride. That had indeed been his intention. Wayne's calm reaction caught him completely off guard; he had assumed that invoking Auston would send Wayne leaping to his side without hesitation.
Seeing Planck tugging at his beard in silence, Wayne sighed. "Director Planck, I'm willing to join the Free Mages Alliance. But please keep your mouth shut and don't let my teacher be disappointed in me."
Planck was puzzled. Had Wayne been swayed by his sincerity?
"Whatever the case, you are a revered legendary mage, and you saved my life. I can turn you down once, but I can't keep turning you down forever." Wayne sighed repeatedly, laying out his helplessness—how he held a steadfast faith in the Goddess of Nature and remained devoted to his teacher, joining the Free Mages Alliance only under duress.
A mutual agreement had been turned into unilateral coercion, and a win-win partnership had become strictly business without sentiment. The more Planck pondered it, the stranger it felt.
On second thought, why fret over details? Wayne was willing to join the Free Mages Alliance; his goal was achieved.
"Of course, I have one condition that I hope the director will agree to."
"Let's hear it."
"As for Mr. Landau, stop trying to deceive him. He's a sharp man; whether I've been tainted by darkness won't escape him, so that plan is pointless." Wayne urged Planck to revise his strategy and adopt stalling tactics instead. Whenever Auston asked, Planck should just say it was coming soon, almost ready, any moment now.
Planck hesitated slightly. Doing that meant he wouldn't get his hands on the funding.
"He's not just sharp, he's also ruthless when it comes to getting what he wants. A failed trick will only bring down crazier retaliation. As you can see, I'm still just a mage apprentice. I have neither the time nor the skill to play cat-and-mouse with him." Wayne expressed just how hard his life was. He only wanted to pursue magic, perhaps fool around with magical girls on occasion, and certainly didn't want to squander precious time on his future father-in-law.
Thirty years east of the River Thame, thirty years west of the River Thame—once he grew strong, there would be plenty of time to trade moves with the old father-in-law.
For now, keeping out of his way was the wiser choice!
After a moment of inner conflict, Planck had no choice but to say, "Mr. Landau is indeed a troublesome adversary. I'll make a concession: you keep the ring, and we split the funding in half."
*I'm definitely keeping the ring, and I won't say no to money either. But why are you in such a rush to share the spoils—or rather, share the blame?*
*A legendary mage still has to dance to his tune? You really are begging for scraps on your knees!*
*Does that old schemer's reach stretch that far?*
Wayne was inwardly astonished. Hearing the helplessness in Planck's tone, he reevaluated Auston's standing in the world, guessing it had something to do with the Tulip Families and the Windsor royal family.
Dwelling on matters far out of reach was useless. Wayne nodded in agreement. Keeping the ring and half the funding, the two joined forces to pull a grand swindle on Auston.
"However!"
Wayne's tone sharpened. "I'm bearing the risk here. Merely adding money won't do. You must give me something to enhance my strength, Director."
"Didn't I already give you the ring?"
"The ring is just an aid; true power lies within oneself. I'm merely a mage apprentice. Even if you handed me a divine artifact, it wouldn't make me a legend."
Wayne's face turned dead serious in an instant. "I need the four elements. I need to bypass the beginner stage as fast as possible. Only when I become strong myself can I withstand Mr. Landau's endless schemes."
"That's no problem at all,"
Planck agreed readily. It was just the four elements; he had hoarded plenty, so giving Wayne a little was nothing.
Small change, hardly worth mentioning.
"No, this is a massive problem. My rate of accumulating elements is terribly slow..."
Wayne's brow knotted deeply. "There seems to be an issue with my constitution. My teacher poured an immense amount of effort into helping me meditate, even setting up a magic circle specifically to gather the four elements..."
Wayne rattled off a long explanation in rapid succession, which only drew chuckles from Planck.
*Young man, your horizons are still far too narrow!*
In Planck's view, Wayne's teacher was merely a Golden mage whose tier had not yet touched higher realms. She didn't realize the four elements had other uses, nor were her gathering methods particularly sophisticated.
Planck was different. He was a legendary mage; the four elements were no obstacle to him. He could supply as much as Wayne could ever want.
"Wayne, your constitution is indeed unusual, which caused a transformation in your life essence. Otherwise, you couldn't have endured the backlash from multiple faiths. Likewise, a potent life essence demands vastly more of the four elements. It's completely reasonable. Your teacher couldn't satisfy you, but our Free Mages Alliance can."
Planck believed this without a shadow of a doubt. What he valued was precisely Wayne's bizarre constitution—or rather, his bloodline. As he spoke, he reached into his robe and pulled out an ancient silver coin, extending it outward.
"This silver coin is..."
Wayne had seen an identical one in Auston's hands.
"It is a token of the Free Mages Alliance, possessed by only a select few. I'll lend it to you for a time," Planck said generously.
He explained to Wayne that the Free Mages Alliance had once captured a grey space where a collapsing world was returning to the primordial origin, releasing vast quantities of the four elements in mind-boggling amounts.
Serving as a spatial conduit, the ancient silver coin could transmit the four elements to its bearer.
Wayne could feast to his heart's content. The grey space offered endless nourishment, far beyond anything his small appetite could exhaust.
"What is a grey space?"
Suppressing the wild joy in his chest, Wayne took the ancient silver coin. The Free Mages Alliance was truly dependable—and as for his father-in-law, another round of thanks was due for the assist.
Gifting a daughter, a wife, a mansion, a butler, and constantly feeding resources and equipment for his cultivation—even going so far as to play the clown himself. Wayne swore that once he rose to greatness, the old man would have wonderful days ahead.
"It is a fallen miracle, proof that gods are not eternal..."
Planck gave a mysterious smile. Seeing Wayne grow even more curious, he shook his head. "It's too early for you to know. You only need to remember one thing: faith need not be absolute, for the gods do not care. The true essence of the world is magic, never gods!"
Wayne nodded. He had his own opinions regarding gods, but he wasn't about to argue with a legendary mage; there was no harm in listening to the experience of a senior.
With the deal struck, Wayne joined the Free Mages Alliance, securing a dark ring and an ancient silver coin. He couldn't wait to return to his cabin to cultivate.
Having successfully swayed Wayne, Planck was equally satisfied. The two descended into the hold and slipped into the sea together.
By this time, the expedition party of crew members had just climbed onto the ghost ship's deck, enthusiastically kicking off their treasure hunt.
Director Wallace also set foot upon the ghost ship as desired, filming precious shots under the protection of several crewmen.
***
Night.
The full moon hung high.
Wayne sat cross-legged on the sofa in his cabin, holding the ancient silver coin to open the transport conduit leading to the grey space.
Unlike the elemental space of the Lord of the Void, Wayne looked through the conduit to see a hazy, grey world—a world in the midst of collapse...
This world contained breathtaking architecture, grand mountains, lush forests, flowing rivers, and vast seas. Yet every single thing was disintegrating, saturated with staggering amounts of the four elements.
Occupying their respective corners with astonishing density, the quantitative buildup sparked a qualitative shift, materializing into the earth, fire, water, and wind visible in the natural world.
A giant eyeball opened. Locking eyes in recognition, the fire elements charged forward, howling madly.
A smirk curled Wayne's lips. If the Lord of the Void had a spirit in the underworld, seeing someone inherit his legacy would surely make him smile in his grave.
Say no more—time to grind!
Chapter 91