Volume 11: The Submarine Evil God Temple - Chapter 4: Passage and Treasure

As Xuan Yu led his troops away from the waters of the Evil Sanctuary, Abel and his companions had already finished resting. Abel summoned a fresh cohort of Death Sanctuary Murlocs to serve as cannon fodder.

Water Moon Tianlian used the newly acquired Eye of Death to scout the surrounding area, and a fairly detailed map was soon spread out before everyone.

Pointing to several locations on the map, Water Moon Tianlian said, "Entering through this grand gate leads to a corridor with a total of twelve doors on either side. The secret chambers behind these doors will randomly feature mechanisms, treasures, or bosses. If we prefer not to fight, we can bypass them. This is the intelligence gathered by the Eye of Death; take a look for yourselves."

Abel and Tentacle Monster looked closely. The map clearly marked that doors number 1, 7, and 12 concealed bosses; doors 2, 3, and 5 contained traps; doors 4, 6, and 10 held treasures; and the remaining three doors were entirely empty.

Without a second thought, Tentacle Monster shouted aloud, "What is so difficult about this? We can just charge straight into the secret chambers with the treasures and take them!"

"That is impossible," Water Moon Tianlian said slowly. "Simply opening one door will randomly trigger another door to open. If it happens to be a trap door, that is fine—we simply won't enter. But if it triggers a boss door, we will have to face a boss bursting out of its chamber."

Hearing this, Abel suddenly asked, "Do the bosses grow stronger when they leave their secret chambers?"

"Indeed," Water Moon Tianlian nodded. "If we fight a boss inside the secret chamber, we have at least a fifty percent chance of winning. But if we let them out into the corridor, our chances of victory drop to a mere twenty percent."

"Once a door is opened, how long does it take for a boss to emerge?" Abel asked with a frown.

"About a minute."

"Water Moon Tianlian, what do you think of this plan?" Abel considered his words for a moment before speaking. "I will deploy all my cannon fodder troops outside doors 1, 7, and 12. We will open door number 6 first. If it isn't a boss room, nothing happens. But if it is a boss room, my cannon fodder troops will immediately charge in and stall the boss for a while, giving our main force enough time to arrive..."

"I think that's a brilliant idea," Tentacle Monster immediately chimed in with approval.

Seeing that Tentacle Monster agreed with Abel's proposal, Water Moon Tianlian offered no further objections. They organized their forces and swiftly entered the corridor beyond the main gate.

Dividing his cannon fodder troops into three groups and stationing them outside doors 1, 7, and 12, Abel and the others gathered in front of door number 6, which was directly opposite door number 7.

The three of them stood nervously outside door number 6. Water Moon Tianlian glanced at Abel and Tentacle Monster, gritted his teeth, and said, "I am going to open the door. Are you both ready?"

Abel and Tentacle Monster remained silent, their gazes darting back and forth between doors 1, 7, and 12. Seeing this, Water Moon Tianlian pulled the door handle hard, and door number 6 swung open with a loud rumble.

As door number 6 opened, door number 11—directly opposite door number 12—also sprang open. The sound of the door opening startled Abel, who had been laser-focused on door number 12, momentarily making him think that door number 12 had been randomly triggered.

Once they confirmed that no boss was coming out, the boulder in their chests finally settled. Water Moon Tianlian even laughed and said, "Abel, we owe this to your clever idea. The last time I came here, I opened a treasure door and attracted a boss that hunted me down. By the time I reached the main entrance, every single one of my troops had been wiped out."

"Alright, let's not linger here. Let's go see what kind of treasures await us. That little stunt just now nearly scared me to death," Tentacle Monster said loudly, hopping excitedly into the secret chamber.

Water Moon Tianlian smiled at Abel, grabbed his hand, and charged into the chamber with him. At that exact moment, countless golden lights flashed before their eyes.

Before them lay a massive mountain of gold—a mountain piled entirely with gold coins. Perched right at the peak of the golden mountain was a standard-sized golden dragon. Its eyes, crafted from fist-sized rubies, glowed with an alluring light; its entire body was scaled with embedded platinum, and its claws and fangs were meticulously carved from pure crystal.

Draped across the dragon's body were numerous jewels, the most captivating of which was a black crown resting upon the dragon's right claw.

"Good heavens, what are we looking at? A Money Dragon, the Black Divine Crown, and all that glittering treasure. Even if I were to die right now, I wouldn't regret it," Water Moon Tianlian said excitedly.

As for Tentacle Monster, he dove headfirst into the mountain of gold, frantically waving his tentacles to scoop up the coins.

Abel stood there in a daze for a long time before finally uttering a single sentence: "I'm just wondering what kind of things the next few treasures will hold."

Abel's remark instantly quieted the two companions who had been nearly driven mad by greed. Water Moon Tianlian pointed at the items and said, "Let's divide these spoils first, and then we'll go open the next treasure."

"Water Moon Tianlian, you are more familiar with these items. Tell us what we have here," Abel said, golden light still dancing in his eyes.

"That's simple. We'll split the gold coins evenly. That Money Dragon is a tier-three treasure; placed in a city hall, it increases the city's daily income by 3,000 gold coins. The Black Divine Crown is a quest item for advancing to a Black Crowned Knight—the requirement is that Purgatory, Darkness, and Undead-type knights must reach level 17 before they can accept it. Both of these are top-tier artifacts. If someone wanted to buy either of them, it would cost at least one hundred thousand gold coins," Water Moon Tianlian explained casually.

"Then how much would you estimate all the gold coins and jewelry here are worth?" Abel kept his eyes fixed on the Money Dragon and the Black Divine Crown.

"At least one hundred thousand gold coins," Water Moon Tianlian replied. As a seasoned pirate, a single glance was enough for him to estimate the approximate value.

"Then I will forfeit twenty thousand of my share in exchange for the Money Dragon and the Black Divine Crown," Abel stated decisively.

"Of course," Water Moon Tianlian smiled triumphantly, casually counting out a pile of gold coins and handing them to Abel. "Here are seventy thousand gold coins for you to take first; Tentacle Monster and I will split the rest."

"Wait, I also want that black cat statue," Abel said, pointing to a discarded black cat statue lying in a corner of the golden mountain.

Water Moon Tianlian took a look, and finding nothing particularly special about the statue, he let Abel have it. After packing the three items and the seventy thousand gold coins into Karwu's Mechanical Wagon, a weight in Abel's heart finally seemed to lift.

Though he couldn't understand why he felt that way, Abel carefully surveyed his surroundings. However, he saw only Water Moon Tianlian and Tentacle Monster arguing over the division of the gold coins, and nothing else caught his attention.