Above the mage

Chapter 519 "Blue Flame Dungeon" Settlement (Part 2)

Sarah, carrying David's body, forcefully landed in Black Sails City in the form of a hanging lantern, announcing the end of the centuries-old "David Jones" era in Black Sails City.

Subsequently, she swiftly and decisively entered the headquarters of the Crow's Vessel Gang.

Using David's death as a shock and future benefits as bait, they seized control of the Crow's Den gang without bloodshed and won their submission.

After receiving intelligence support from the Crow's Den, she immediately instructed Baozai to organize a team to take over the Bloodsail Pirates' assets throughout the city.

Casinos, taverns, smuggling workshops, gladiatorial arenas, slaughterhouse docks...:

The Crow's Gourd Gang lived up to Sarah's expectations, immediately handing over the Bloodsail intelligence they possessed after choosing to submit to her.

This includes the unusual actions and behavior of Karen, the deputy leader of the Bloodsail.

On the Bloodsail Pirates' side, although Karen had concealed and blocked the news of Davy Jones' death after returning to Blacksail City, and even used Davy Jones's orders to move supplies.

But secrets can't be kept forever. The news that the Fire Knife had landed in Black Sails City with Davy Jones's body immediately became the city's top news, spreading a hundred times faster than the plague.

Upon receiving this shocking news, the members of the Bloodsail Pirates largely shared Karen's idea: grab what they could, and escape as soon as they were done.

As the saying goes, when the tree falls, the kiwis scatter.

Davy Jones was the only towering figure in the Bloodsail Pirates.

With his fall, the Bloodsail Pirates disintegrated at an unbelievable speed.

In the eyes of the Gold Coin Hunters, all of Bloodsail's assets should belong to them, and no one else should be allowed to touch them.

The Bloodsail Pirates' actions of looting the land and preparing to abscond with the loot were tantamount to plundering their property.

Therefore, the bounty hunters were very enthusiastic.

Sarah, seizing the opportunity, dispatched almost the entire Raven Claw Gang to join forces with the eager bounty hunters of the Gold Coin Hunters Group, forming dozens of teams.

They quickly went to the Bloodsail Pirates' various properties to suppress any Bloodsail Pirates members who wanted to abscond with the money.

She herself, along with Baozai and Zunzhu, rushed to Bloodsail Wharf to intercept Karen, who was preparing to escape the Blue Flame Islands with a huge fortune in the Iron Crown.

In fact, Karen could have left much earlier.

Unfortunately, he was too greedy. In addition to taking away a large sum of money, he also wanted to take the Iron Crown.

However, this is understandable, as Karen, as the second-in-command of the Bloodsail Pirates, is also a fifth-circle mage.

The Five Rings Mage's need for money is terrifying. The large sums of money he absconds with are ultimately a one-time thing. If he doesn't find a way to make money, Karen will soon spend it all.

If he could take the Iron Crown with him, he could use it as a base to continue his pirate career.

But it was this greed that slowed Karen's escape.

Because of Davy Jones' death, people were in turmoil, and Cullen's prestige was not enough to convince others.

Therefore, the crew of the Ironcrown had ulterior motives regarding the orders issued by Karen and did not immediately obey Karen's orders to start the ship.

It took him some time and several bloody demonstrations to barely get the crew to obey his orders.

However, the time lost in this process was precisely what allowed Sarah to arrive with her people in time.

However, the Iron Crown was indeed powerful. With the help of the warship's own firepower and the suppression of the magic array, Karen actually withstood the firepower of the three and forced the Iron Crown to leave the Bloodsail Wharf and head towards the Drake Passage.

If the Iron Crown were to actually sail into the Drake Passage and use the return eddies to leave the Blue Flame Islands, given the Iron Crown's speed and the vastness of the ocean, finding Karen at that point would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But Sarah handled it with composure.

She was clear on one point: the Iron Crown was indeed powerful, but it was still just a ship that needed a crew to steer it.

While she was temporarily unable to control the Iron Crown, she could still take action against the crew.

The effect is the same.

Sarah's actions were not actual physical violence.

She used amplification magic to persuade the crew to give up their struggle, abandon their evil ways, and cooperate with them to capture Karen, in exchange for their lives.

Even David Jones died at her hands; any further resistance would only lead to certain death.

The effect is obvious.

With Sarah's killing of Davy Jones as a precedent, any normal person would know who to choose between Karen and Sarah.

After receiving Sarah's assurance, almost immediately some crew members on board made a decision, pledged their loyalty, and disarmed the Iron Crown's protective array.

His action was like toppling dominoes, prompting the other crew members to follow suit, afraid of being a step too slow and missing their chance to shine.

Under Karen's horrified gaze, the Iron Crown, which had just sailed to the Blood Sail Wharf, came to an abrupt stop on the sea. Its protective magic array vanished, and like a giant beast that had shed its shell, it was exposed to Sarah's eyes without any defense.

Before Karen could even express her anger or teach these betraying crew members a lesson, Sarah had already raised her wrist and pulled the trigger on the [Topaz Annihilator].

The trigger.

Karen didn't struggle for long.

Although Sarah was unable to cast spells due to her soul damage, she was able to overpower Karen with the [Topaz Annihilator].

Not to mention that there's also Baozai, whose combat power is equally stronger than Karen's, and Zunzhu, whose strength is no weaker than Karen's, assisting and restraining them.

Karen was killed by Sarah without much effort; a dragon scale bullet pierced his chest and turned him to ashes.

After eliminating the biggest troublemaker of the Bloodsail Pirates, other fronts also reported successive victories.

Bloodsail's casinos and taverns have been successfully taken over, the cannonballs and gunpowder in the warehouses have been inventoried, and the arena, black market, and docks are also under control.

Most of the Bloodsail Pirates members who were surrounded by the Gold Coin Hunters and the Crow Jar Gang surrendered without resistance.

Although some troublemakers fought to the death, they were all suppressed, causing only minor disturbances.

When Sarah led her men back to Bloodsail Dock, most of the Bloodsail Pirates had already been brought there, awaiting Sarah's decision on what to do with them.

Sarah's expression turned slightly cold as she faced the dark mass of panicked Bloodsail Surrenders on the dock.

She already had a general plan in mind for how to handle the situation.

"We registered and questioned them one by one about their roles and main responsibilities within the Bloodsail Pirates, and had the Crow's Secret Service assist in cross-checking the information to ensure that no one was making things up."

"Then, based on their original functions, they were completely disbanded and assigned to the Bloodsail Industries that we took over, as basic personnel."

In Black Sails City, everyone is inherently driven by a desire for power and profit, and few people value loyalty and righteousness as they do in other places.

With David dead, these people readily surrendered to Sarah without any psychological hindrance; in fact, they were eager to prove themselves.

This also greatly facilitated Sarah's takeover of the Bloodsail Pirates' assets.

As the biggest overlord of the Black Sails, the Bloodsail Pirates have too many businesses under their name, while the Gold Coin Hunters have relatively too few members.

If they don't accept the surrender of these Bloodsail pirates, they simply can't swallow them whole.

Of course, even though the overall situation is now settled, it will still take a long time to stabilize the situation and gradually take control of Black Sails City like David did, or even surpass his former prestige.

In the Upper Town, in a tavern that originally belonged to the Bloodsail Pirates.

Sarah handed God a beautifully crafted crystal bottle that could block mental detection and magical fluctuations.

"What is this?" Gao De asked, taking the crystal bottle from a distance.

He had seen this bottle before.

This is the loot that fell from Case.

After Case was hit by Sarah's Topaz Annihilator, his body turned into dust and dissipated.

However, his personal belongings were unharmed and fell to the ground, including this crystal bottle, which Baozai picked up casually.

However, Gao De didn't know what was inside the crystal bottle.

As he asked the question, he curiously opened the bottle and peered inside.

Among them was a single drop of viscous liquid, constantly spinning and as deep as the starry sky.

Countless tiny silver specks of light swirl and float within the liquid; if you gaze intently for a few seconds, you might truly feel a dizzying sensation as if you were in a vast galaxy.

"The magical essence extracted from the blue pouch of the rarest sea beast in the Blue Flame Sea, the Zhuo'er Fish, was also the grand finale of this year's Anling Festival auction. It was bought by Case for three times the starting price," Sarah said casually. "He always carried it with him. After I killed him, Baozai took it first. Now that he has some free time, Baozai handed over all the Luke and Case's relics that he picked up to me. I did a quick check and found that this thing was still there."

"I don't use it much anymore, but it should still be very useful to you."

"The grand finale treasure is actually this..." Gao De murmured.

He left Blue Flame Auction House after bidding for the Siren Salt Swamp Elixir and did not participate in the subsequent proceedings.

Therefore, Gao De had no idea what the last item in the auction, which Mi Di claimed was worth more than the final item in last year's auction, was.

Unexpectedly, I not only know about it now, but I even possess it.

To describe this thing, you only need a name; you don't need much else.

Because it is so famous.

The tuatara is a rare marine mammal that has only been found in the Blue Flame Sea so far, and it is also the representative marine mammal of the Blue Flame Islands.

Even in the taverns of Black Sails City, it is a "legendary sea monster" that sailors and mages occasionally mention.

Despite having the word "fish" in their name, the tufted ...

They are a type of giant cephalopod and whale-like marine mammal that lives in the Blue Flame Sea near the Drake Passage Trench.

Adult tarantulas can reach a length of 100 meters, with a body resembling a giant whale covered in a deep purple shell, but with dozens of huge tentacles swaying behind them, emitting a ghostly light.

Its skin can change color and texture according to its mood. It usually hides in the deep ocean trenches, blending into its environment, and is completely undetectable to others.

Its most distinctive feature is a large, translucent, luminous sac below its head—the "blue sac".

When the tarantula is active, this organ beats continuously like a heart, and countless silvery spots inside vibrate, resembling a miniature galaxy.

This green pouch is not only beautiful, but also the energy core and the most important extraordinary organ for hunting and defense of the tuatara fish.

It can absorb the original magical energy in the surrounding environment and convert it with extremely high efficiency, with very little waste.

Therefore, a tarantula can remain in a quiescent state for weeks without "feeding" because it is constantly "feeding" in the primal magic of its environment.

This also means that they rarely appear in front of outsiders.

Of course, its rarity is not enough to make it so famous in the Blue Flame Islands. What truly makes the Zhuoer Fish famous is its Green Sac. Within its Green Sac lies the original power that allows it to efficiently absorb and transform energy. Using it as raw material, one can extract the priceless Zhuoer magical essence, which is invaluable to mages.

After consuming the Essence of the Orb, a mage can choose to imbue one or more of their spell models with its power, thereby permanently and significantly reducing the mana cost of casting that spell and slightly reducing the time required to cast it.

If Blue Flame Crystals are a specialty of the Blue Flame Islands, then the Essence of the Zhuoer Spell is a secret treasure of the Blue Flame Islands.

However, the difficulty of both catching the tarantula and extracting its essence is enough to deter 99% of sea hunters.

The tarantula is no ordinary creature, and conventional methods of hunting sea monsters are meaningless; a special set of tools and methods are needed to capture it.

In addition, a professional team is needed, including at least one high-ring mage specializing in illusion magic to locate the tarantulas hiding in the trench, a specially made hunting boat, an experienced harpooner and navigator, and so on.

Even if you were incredibly lucky and managed to catch a chubby fish, extracting its magical essence from its blue pouch would be an extremely difficult task.

The green pouch must be extracted while the Zhuoer fish is still alive and the initial processing must be completed instantly; otherwise, the energy will quickly dissipate into the void.

This requires a professional extractor to use specialized tools to stand directly on the giant head of the tarantula, avoiding all major blood vessels and nerve bundles, and precisely cut off the entire pulsating sac. This process cannot be flawed in the slightest.

The moment the green pouch is removed, it must be immediately placed in a pre-prepared stable container to "freeze" the energy state of the green pouch and prevent its energy from dissipating.

Subsequently, under highly controlled conditions, through a series of complex potion processing procedures and corresponding techniques, the Qingnang tissue was carefully separated to extract the most essential drop of pure essence.

This process can take weeks, requires a continuous input of large amounts of magic and consumes even more precious catalysts, and any disruption could lead to failure.

The final extract is then sealed in a specially made, insulated crystal bottle.

Only then is the priceless "Zhuoer Qingnang Essence" finally complete.

The dual challenges of capturing and creating meant that even in Black Sails City, it often took more than a decade for a single piece of Zhuoqi magic essence to appear.

"This essence of the Luminous Spell is of good quality. It should have come from a fourth-tier Luminous Fish. It can be used to cast one third-level spell or four second-level spells," Sarah added.

This is also why Sarah said she doesn't use the essence of the Zoar spell very often.

For a fifth-ring peak mage like her, her main spells are fourth-ring spells, and her main source of damage is [Topaz Annihilator].

An item that at most amplifies third-circle spells is not even icing on the cake for her.