Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

"Didn't you notice anything unusual about the soil there just now?" Reina asked with a smile.

Ace, Laco, and Gremory all shook their heads, indicating that they had not found anything unusual.

“That soil just now was completely different from ordinary soil; it was soil from this mountain range!” Reina didn’t keep anyone in suspense and said directly.

"Isn't that obvious? The soil was transported from the foot of the mountain by Gimonri, so it must belong to this mountain range!" Lakyo replied, his face full of exasperation.

“Don’t you understand? Ordinary soil is completely different from the soil of this mountain!” Reina glanced at Lakyo and said.

Lakyo paused, then carefully considered Reina's words before looking at Reina and saying, "You mean... we overlooked the reason about the soil before?"

“That’s right, all the soil on the mountaintop is the same, so we don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. But once you compare the soil of this mountain range with ordinary soil, you’ll immediately see the problem!” Reina nodded and said.

Ace and Gremory, who were standing nearby, suddenly realized what Reina meant.

Chapter 349 Treasure Hunt

After discovering that there was something wrong with the soil in the mountains, Reina decided to start experiments to see if the soil problem caused the mutations in the gorillas and the trees.

But Reina soon realized... he didn't understand it at all!

"What do we do now?" Laqué asked helplessly, looking at Reina, who was completely overwhelmed.

"There's nothing we can do. Now that we know there's something wrong with the soil, we can only tell Murat and the others to be careful and pile all the excavated soil in one place. We'll just have to wait for the doctor to come and figure it out!" Reina replied, looking speechless.

"I wonder where Dad and the others are now! We can't contact the outside world at all!" Ace said with a wry smile.

Since entering the Laru Sea, their Den Den Mushi have been completely unusable, even the Den Den Mushi that Dr. Asie modified on Reina's body has been in a dormant state.

“Well… I’m actually a little uneasy leaving this place entirely to them. Lacjo, you stay here and take charge. We’ll go treasure hunting first, and once we find the treasure, we’ll return and bring the Doctor back from Crescent Moon Island!” Reina said after thinking for a moment.

"How about I stay?" Laco was about to nod in agreement when Ace spoke up, "After all, I'm more familiar with them, and we can communicate better about some things!"

“This…” Reina hesitated. According to Ace, he was indeed the most suitable person to stay, but Reina was not at ease leaving Ace alone. Now he was the target of the whole world. If someone wanted to make a move against Ace, he would be in danger if he was here alone.

"First mate, don't worry. Who else but us, with a permanent compass, could find this place? This is the Laru Sea!" Ace could tell what Reina was hesitating about just by looking at Reina's expression.

“Alright then, be careful here by yourself. When we return from our treasure hunt, I’ll have Lakyo stay here with you!” Reina thought for a moment, then nodded and said.

So after daybreak, Reina and the others set sail again, leaving Ace on the island to oversee the mining operations.

"Navigator... three o'clock, full speed ahead!" After setting sail, Reina didn't hold back and gave the correct direction, telling the pirate ship to go full speed ahead. He wanted to get the treasure as soon as possible and then come over.

One day later...

"First mate, island sighted ahead!" the lookout shouted from the mast to Reina on deck.

"Everyone, prepare to land!" Reina's spirits lifted. The system had given him this direction, but not the distance, so he didn't know if the treasure was on this island. He would only find out after landing.

Soon, after the pirate ship had sailed for some distance, they came across a small island. From a distance, they could vaguely see the buildings on the island, which disappointed everyone.

Since treasures are usually buried on uninhabited islands, the fact that this island has human traces proves that the treasure is not here.

"Let's land on the island first and buy some supplies. Everyone should take a rest!" Reina also felt that the treasure wouldn't be on this small island, so he was already prepared to continue sailing.

However, after the pirate ship entered the harbor, Reina suddenly discovered that the arrow in the system was gone, which could only mean that they had arrived at their target island.

"Wait! Bring the treasure map over!" Just as everyone was about to disembark, Reina called out to them.

"What's going on? You don't mean... the treasure is on this island, do you?" Lakyo asked, looking incredulous.

“Very likely! I need to see the treasure map first!” Reina nodded and said.

Lakyo's disbelief was not without reason. Although they had been in the Laru Sea for some time, they had not actually sailed very far. To discover the target island so quickly... even Reina was somewhat surprised.

However, the system is never wrong. Since it has already pointed out that this is where the treasure is located, there shouldn't be any problems.

“Come and see…the shape of this island…doesn’t it look a lot like the treasure map?” Reina said to Lakyo, holding up the treasure map.

Lacjo is also a treasure hunter. The treasure maps on the ship that Reina didn't care about were basically retrieved by Lacjo and the other captains.

“It does look somewhat like it, but… never mind, let’s not worry about that for now. According to the clues on the treasure map, let’s see what kind of place it is first! Maybe it’s a deserted place!” Although Lakio really wanted to say that it probably wasn’t here, since Reina had said so, he didn’t want to object.

Under Reina's command, some of the crew went with Kingudo to buy supplies and inquire about the situation on the island, while he and Laco led the others to find the location of the treasure according to the treasure map.

But after walking and stopping along the way, they finally stopped at the gate of a high-walled compound.

"What...is this?" Looking at the building in front of him, Lakyo was dumbfounded. According to the treasure map, this should be the location where the treasure was buried, but now this is what happened.

“It looks…like a palace? Could this island be a small kingdom?” Reina said, stroking his chin.

"Really? This island doesn't look that big!" Lakyo said with a hint of doubt.

"Forget it, let's not do anything rash. Let's go meet up with Jingudo and see if he's found anything," Reina said, shaking his head.

Left with no other choice, they had to leave and head to the largest tavern on the island, where they had agreed to meet. However, when they arrived, Jin Gudo and the others were not there.

"It takes this long to buy something?" Lakyo found a seat and asked his men to bring him some food and drinks.

After waiting for a while, Jin Guduo arrived with his men to join them.

"So fast? It really isn't here?" Jin Guduo said with a smile when he saw that Reina and the others had already arrived at the tavern and had finished off a lot of the food and drinks on the table.

Reina shook his head and said, "Do you have any news from your side?"

“There are some reports, but they’re all normal!” Jin Guduo shook his head and said.

“Following the treasure map’s directions, we arrived at a place that resembles a palace. It seems we won’t be able to get the treasure this time!” Lakyo sighed after taking a big gulp of his drink.

"No way? It's really here? I just asked around, this place is called Xikou Island, it belongs to the Xikou Kingdom, and the current king is Xikou II!" Jin Guduo said in surprise.

"It really is a royal palace? Then we're doomed. They must have discovered a treasure when they built the palace! Maybe they became the royal family here after discovering the treasure!" Upon hearing this, Lakyo immediately lost all strength.

Lakyo was deeply saddened by missing out on the treasure.

Reina was dumbfounded. Without the treasure, how would his treasure hunt end?

Although it wasn't the first time Lakyo and the others had experienced failing to obtain the treasure, this was the first time for Reina, and he never expected it to turn out this way.

“Since we’re already here, it’s hard to be completely unsure… I’m just not satisfied! I plan to go to the palace tonight and see if I can find any clues!” Reina said after thinking for a moment.

Lakyo's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "I'll go with you!"

"Don't do that, will you? I've heard that the royal family of this kingdom has a good reputation and doesn't treat the residents harshly. You'd better not do anything reckless!" Jin Guduo hesitated for a moment before saying.

The Whitebeard Pirates are different from ordinary pirate crews. Although they are not as strict as the Roger Pirates, there are explicit rules on board that prohibit them from attacking civilians at will.

Although Reina and Laco are planning to target royalty this time, they generally dislike dealing with royalty, especially those countries that have joined the World Government.

"Don't worry, we won't attack them. We're just going to take a look!" Reina winked at Lacjo and said.

“That’s right! It’s just a visit!” Laqué nodded immediately and agreed.

Jingu looked at Reina and Laco with some skepticism; both of them were known on the ship to be greedy for money.

Lacourrell was the one on the ship who loved treasure hunting the most, and Reina never missed any opportunity to make money, so King Gudo didn't really believe what the two of them said.

But to be honest, Kingo really doesn't care about such a small kingdom on a small island. Given Reina and Lakuyo's personalities, the two of them will at most take some treasure and won't really do anything to the royal family. If things get really bad, they'll just rob and run. Isn't that what pirates do?

As night fell, Reina and Laco changed into black clothes and quietly approached the palace.

"Why are we dressed like this?" Lakyo asked, puzzled.

"Idiot, this way we can blend into the darkness better and not be discovered so easily!" Reina said with a look of disdain.

This was the most popular night-clothing in his ancient homeland in his previous life; he wouldn't normally take it out!

"Let's raid the royal palace's treasury!" Lakyo said excitedly as they arrived at the palace gates.

"Huh?" Reina was taken aback and asked, "You're not planning to break in and steal, are you?"

"Isn't that what you were planning? Then why did you come here?" Lakyo asked, taken aback.

Not only him, but also Jingudo, who was resting at the hotel, thought that Reina and Laquero were going to steal the palace treasure tonight.

“Nonsense… Of course I’m here to find treasure! I came here based on a treasure map, not to steal from the royal palace!” Reina said with a matter-of-fact expression.

Laco gave Reina a thumbs up and said, "Awesome! No wonder you're the first mate... even your excuses are better than ours! You're right, we're not here to steal anything, we're here to reclaim our treasure!"

Reina's face darkened. He knew that Lakyo had misunderstood him, but he was too lazy to explain. As long as he got the treasure, that was all that mattered. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to complete the mission in his system, which would be terrible.

Chapter 350 Laqué's Disappearance

Dressed in black night clothes, Reina and Laco secretly sneaked into the palace. Reina then began searching for the treasure according to the treasure map, which surprised Laco, who admired Reina's skill... If you're going to put on an act, you have to go all the way.

After hiding for a while, the two finally found the approximate area indicated by the treasure.

“It should be over there! But… because the buildings here have changed the surrounding environment quite a bit, I’m not sure!” Reina said softly, pointing to a building.

"Are you really here to search for treasure?" Laqué asked in surprise after hearing Reina's words.

"Nonsense...why would I be here if not to find treasure? To steal?" Reina rolled his eyes and said.

“But… a palace has already been built here, the treasure must have already been taken!” Lakyo said, puzzled.

"You didn't even try... and you already know the treasure has been taken?" Reina rolled his eyes and said.

"Fine, you're the boss, you call the shots! Now what do we do? Blow up the building in front of us?" Lacjou was too lazy to argue with Reina and asked directly.

“Blowing it up is out of the question… Let’s go check it out first! Hopefully it’s not some king’s bedroom!” Reina shook his head and said.

Although the palace had many guards, it was practically useless to Reina and Laco, so they easily evaded the guards and successfully approached their destination.

“There are definitely more guards here! It must be an important place. What if it’s some princess’s bedroom… Reina, we’ll have to rely on you!” Lakyo said with a sly laugh.

Reina glanced at him, too lazy to even acknowledge him.

“We can’t get around the guards ahead… knock them out one by one!” Reina winked at Lacjo and whispered.

Lacjo nodded, then flashed behind the guard and knocked him unconscious. At the same time, he saw that Reina had already knocked out the other guard.

"The door is locked... Check them for keys!" Lakio gently pushed the door, only to find it locked.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, it seems this isn't a princess's bedroom after all!" Reina chuckled and said.

"Hurry up, someone's coming!" Lakyo rolled his eyes and said.

Reina took the key from the guard, tossed it to Lacjo, and the gate opened without any trouble.

But when the two went inside, they were immediately dumbfounded, because it seemed to be... a prison cell!

"Are you sure this is where the treasure is buried?" Laqueo asked, glancing at Reina.

“That’s possible! Maybe the royal family here captured some notorious thief, and the thief buried the treasure in the prison before he died!” Reina shrugged and said with a smile.