This pirate only wants to farm.

Upon hearing Lynch's calm voice, Elizabeth felt her hair stand on end, and she involuntarily leaned closer to Lynch, tightly hugging his arm.

Feeling the impact of the large white ship, Lin Qi touched his nose sheepishly: "Actually, there's no need to be so afraid. The corruption of the Windless Sea has a cycle. If you calculate the time, it's only the beginning of the incubation cycle right now. It won't have such a serious impact."

"As long as it doesn't exceed one day, it won't have any impact on your health."

"This is the experience summarized by countless pirates on the windless sea, so you can rest assured."

Elizabeth's large eyes were still filled with fear, but hearing Lynch's calm voice, she wasn't as scared as before.

Although she didn't actually hug Lin Qi's arm, she still carefully tugged at Lin Qi's sleeve with one hand.

It was as if only in this way could she feel a sliver of security.

Wangcai, perched on Lin Qi's shoulder, quietly rolled its eyes.

If danger comes, who will protect whom? What a waste of such a big body.

"Um, Captain, is this so-called corruption really that dangerous?"

Lynch, unusually serious, nodded: "It is indeed very dangerous."

"Anyone who is corrupted will display extraordinary power."

"If I had to describe it, a level 5 pirate, once corrupted, would exhibit abilities exceeding level 15."

"Moreover, once transformed into this corrupted monster, it will lose its mind and attack any intelligent creature it sees."

"The most terrifying thing is that this monster is also contagious. The only saving grace is that this contagion only works on humans and other intelligent species."

"Otherwise, if even animals and plants can be polluted, there would be no way for any living people to exist in the windless sea."

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Contagious? Like those infectious diseases?"

Just as Lin Qi was about to say something, the second skeleton in front of him suddenly stopped and swept a patch of lush plants in half with a single sword stroke.

The second skeleton stepped aside, allowing Elizabeth and Lynch to see a pile of bones hidden beneath the plant.

The moment Elizabeth saw the bones, she gasped and pulled her hand off Lynch's sleeve to cover her mouth.

Because the bones were not entirely white; they were covered with twisted black and red patterns, and the bones were twisted and undulated in a way that defied common sense.

It's as if these bones were guided by these patterns to undergo some kind of special distortion.

The skull, which originally belonged to a human, looked as if it had been randomly kneaded and pieced together into a bizarre shape by a giant hand.

Teeth grew around the eye sockets...

Finger bones grew out of his ribs...

Lynch looked calmly at the skeleton: "As you can see, this is corruption and mutation."

Before she saw it, Elizabeth only felt a little scared; she was always afraid of the unknown.

But when she saw it with her own eyes, Elizabeth felt that it wasn't so scary after all; instead, she felt a deep sense of disgust and resistance.

This feeling is like an instinct, indescribable, yet etched deep into the soul.

Is this what humanity looks like after it has become corrupted...?

Perhaps because she was no longer afraid, Elizabeth's eyes became firm. She took a deep breath, stopped grabbing Lynch's sleeve, and instead gently placed her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist.

Lynch noticed Elizabeth's changes.

To be honest, he really didn't understand how this silly girl's brain worked.

Judging from Elizabeth's usual reactions, it's impossible to give her a smart assessment.

But if you call her foolish, she always manages to make the right choice when faced with a decision.

Was it just good luck?

However, Lin Qi could clearly see that what prompted Elizabeth to make the right choice was not just the level six luck that was shining brightly in the skill bar.

It's more of an instinctive choice.

Looking at Elizabeth's appearance, from being timid and cowardly at the beginning to being trustworthy and reliable now, Lin Qi couldn't help but secretly marvel.

So this is what happens when instinct replaces thought, and power connects to the brain?

With that beast-like intuition and instinct, coupled with the protagonist-level luck of level six, if she hadn't been forced onto the Netherworld, she might have returned to the mainland and taken the easy route of conquering all before becoming an empress and establishing her own kingdom.

Just as Lin Qi was lost in thought, the second mate, Skeleton, didn't stop. Instead, he squatted down, picked up the deformed skull, examined it carefully, and then suddenly looked up at his captain.

Lynch noticed the second mate's movements: "What's wrong?"

The second mate handed over the deformed skull, and Lin Qi, without any hesitation, took it. As soon as he picked it up, his brows furrowed.

"This person died not long ago, no more than a month ago..."

Lin Qi was, after all, a half-dead being, and had once been a skeleton himself, so he knew his fellow undead quite well and could tell at a glance how long they had been dead.

Elizabeth, who had just gotten into the swing of things, was puzzled when she saw her captain suddenly become so serious: "Captain, what's wrong?"

Lin Qi didn't answer, but instead looked at the second mate beside him and asked, "Have you noticed any ships nearby?"

The second mate, Skull, shook his head.

Lin Qi frowned: "That's strange. Someone landed on the island a month ago and was corrupted."

"Could it be that the pirates banished people to the island?"

Such incidents are not uncommon on calm seas, and there have been instances where pirates who lacked knowledge of survival on calm seas were wiped out by these small islands.

Elizabeth, standing nearby, was so anxious she was scratching her head and pleading, "Captain, what exactly happened? Tell me!"

Elizabeth was quite adventurous, and this kind of thing, which was obviously linked to mysterious events, made her particularly curious.

Nobody knows how Elizabeth's brain works. How did this girl, who was terrified before, become so curious now?

Lynch sighed: "This is related to the corruption cycle of the Windless Sea."

"The corruption of the Windless Sea has a yearly cycle. The progress of corruption is the slowest in summer, and the longest time is spent on the island, sometimes even more than 10 days."

"Winter and early spring are the times when these islands are most severely corrupted. If a person stays on the island for more than an hour, they may turn into one of these mutated monsters."

"And now it's the end of summer, which means that a month ago, when it was still the height of summer, someone came to the island and turned into this mutated monster."

Elizabeth tilted her head: "Maybe someone who didn't know these rules accidentally wandered onto the island?"

Lynch nodded: "I hope so."

But while he said that, Lin Qi felt it wasn't that simple.

Lin Qi patted Wangcai's little head: "Go on, let's hurry up and find the things first."

Wangcai seemed to realize something was wrong, so it immediately jumped into the ribs of the second skeleton and started pointing out directions while squeaking.

Skeleton Second Lieutenant led the way with Wangcai, while Elizabeth followed beside Lynch, holding Silver Moon in one hand and her eyes scanning the surroundings sharply from time to time.

The wild beasts that occasionally rushed out were no match for this squad, and instead occasionally provided the Underworld with some food.

Lynch also picked some plants along the way that looked like they could be used as seasonings, but unfortunately he didn't find any satisfactory seeds.

The group hadn't walked far when the dense jungle ahead suddenly thinned out. Passing through a few small trees, they saw an empty platform ahead.

The skeleton second mate and Wangcai, who were originally leading the way, were both stunned and stood still. Even Lin Qi and Elizabeth, who followed, opened their mouths wide.

Because there was a ship parked in that open space, and most importantly, the ship's figurehead was emitting a faint light, and the entire ship was shrouded in an almost imperceptible light curtain.

Anyone who isn't blind can tell that this figurehead is definitely a valuable artifact.

But just as they were surprised, several figures with bright red and black spots flashed past in the surrounding bushes.