Improvement

The deck was in chaos as sailors lined up to get closer to Chen Yuanzhi.

"Second-in-command, I have three here, write them down!" the bald crew member shouted at the top of his lungs, as if afraid that others wouldn't hear him.

Mud Monkey squeezed through, his crotch soaking wet. "I have one too. I nearly killed that drowning ghost earlier!"

Luo Meng kicked the mud monkey in the butt, "Get out of here! Your piss has soiled the deck! This one was clearly cut down by me!"

Chen Yuanzhi pinched his nose and used the pen handle to brush the mud monkey away. "Stay away from me with your piss. You're making the account books stink."

……

Xu Hao leaned against the main mast, tossing a small bag of dark Yin Soul Crystals in his hand.

As soon as he got his hands on it, the black blade Devouring Sea on his back started buzzing and trembling as if it hadn't eaten for eight hundred years, with the hilt rubbing against his back incessantly.

promising.

Xu Hao pulled the knife out with his other hand.

The moment the blade touched the bag, half of the Yin Soul Crystals inside were gone.

The Devouring Sea Blade seemed to burp, and a strange purplish-black halo appeared on its blade. The originally extremely cold aura was now imbued with a chilling cold that went straight to the heart.

Xu Hao casually twirled his knife, and a mournful, ghostly wail faintly echoed in the air.

Xu Hao carried the remaining half-bag of Yin Soul Crystals and strolled down to the lower deck.

The extremely cold forging pool was still filled with churning, dark blue icy water.

Xu Hao tore open the bag and poured in all the remaining crystals.

The moment the pool water came into contact with the Yin Soul Crystal, it was like cold water being poured into a hot oil pan, exploding into a cloud of black mist with a loud bang.

The originally deep blue pool water quickly turned into an indistinguishable black color, and the surface of the water no longer frothed, but instead bubbled up with thick black bubbles.

A chilling current, ten times colder than before and imbued with pure resentment, rushed out of the lower deck.

"Luo Meng, bring your men down here to take a bath," Xu Hao shouted from below.

Before long, Luo Meng led a dozen or so shirtless men running down excitedly.

Since following the brothers Zhenshan and Zhenhai, they've always been able to eat meat and drink soup with them, and now they obey their leader's every word.

"Boss, you've added something new?" Luo Meng looked at the dark pool water and rubbed his hands together. "It looks exciting."

"If you're feeling energetic, soak a little longer." Xu Hao pulled up a chair and sat down.

With a few splashes, a group of people jumped into the pool one after another.

As soon as he entered the water, Luo Meng's expression changed.

It wasn't cold at all; it felt like countless icy needles, filled with resentment, were piercing my bones through my pores. My mind was in turmoil, with paper effigies screeching and drowning ghosts vengeful me.

"Boss, there's a ghost in the water!" The bald man was so cold that his eyes rolled back, and he grabbed the pool wall with both hands, trying to climb out.

Xu Hao drew the Sea Devouring Blade and tapped the tip of the blade against the edge of the pool.

"Anyone who dares to come up here, I'll dislocate their leg."

The only sounds in the pool were the grinding of teeth and suppressed groans.

The pool water, mixed with Yin Soul Crystal, not only tempered their skin and bones, but also used a bone-scraping knife to hone their spirit and will.

After a short while, Xu Hao waved his hand.

The bald man was the first to climb up, his whole body was blue from the cold, but the aura he exuded was completely different.

His once honest and simple eyes now revealed a fierce and clear-headed glint, like those of a wild wolf.

The black mist that was originally unsettling around them now drifted in front of them without even causing a ripple.

The massive Zhenyuan continued to cut through the waves in the deathly black fog.

Half an hour ago, the deck would have been shrouded in gloom, and even breathing would have been a struggle.

But now the atmosphere has completely changed.

The sailors who crawled out of the frigid forging pool did not hide in the lower decks; instead, they lined up neatly along the ship's side, peering into the black water.

Mud Monkey changed into a pair of dry, coarse cloth trousers, clutched a gleaming short knife in his hand, and leaned half his body out of the ship's side.

"Brother Luo, why isn't the black water moving anymore? Where's the water ghost from before? Paper figures will do too, bring a few more so the brothers can have some fun." Mud Monkey swallowed hard, rubbing the knife hilt in his hand.

Luo Meng slapped the mud monkey on the back of the head: "Having your first taste of meat? Where's the energy you had when you wet your pants? If it weren't for the pool water the boss gave you, you'd still be drawing maps on the deck right now."

A burst of laughter erupted around them.

The mud monkey, its face flushed red, retorted with its neck stiff, "My trick definitely works! It's just that you won't let me use it... Right now, my qi and blood are brimming, even if ten more drowned ghosts come, I'll cleave them all into Yin Soul Crystals with a single strike!"

The bald man, while wrapping strips of cloth around the blade, chimed in, "Come on, if they really come, don't try to steal mine. I'm only two Yin Soul Crystals short of exchanging them for the sharkskin arm guards sewn by Miss Luo. I was chopping too fast earlier and didn't manage to grab many."

"Bullshit, it's all about skill!"

The deck was noisy and bustling; there was no trace of the panic one might feel in a trench where bones are hidden.

Xu Hao transformed this group of pirates into a pack of hungry wolves.

……

These past two days, muffled thuds have been coming from the interrogation room in the lower deck from time to time.

What followed was thick, yellowish-green smoke that was even more pungent than before, carrying a strong stench of decay and a sour smell, billowing out through the cracks in the door.

Luo Meng, who had just climbed out of the extremely cold martial arts forging pool and was feeling refreshed, was hit by this smoke and immediately gagged.

"Second Master! Are you going to blow up the ship? Or are you going to poison us all to death!" Luo Meng shouted, covering his mouth and nose, outside the interrogation hall.

Chen Yuanzhi emerged from the thick smoke.

After his disguise, his sallow face was blackened by soot, his hair was messy, but his eyes were surprisingly bright.

He was clutching several rough bamboo tubes in his hand. The ends of the tubes were sealed tightly with sea animal skin, and the surface was coated with a layer of moisture-proof glue, which was obviously Luo Ying's work.

"Boss, it's done." Chen Yuanzhi ignored Luo Meng's jumping up and down, walked straight to Xu Hao, and handed him a bamboo tube.

Xu Hao didn't take it, but instead used the Sea-Devouring Blade to poke at the bamboo tube. "What's the deal?"

"Bone-Melting Poison Smoke." Chen Yuanzhi's eyes revealed a manic excitement. "This stuff contains part of the corpse water collected from the bodies of the drowned ghosts, mixed with the residue of Yin Soul Crystals. The other part is made by boiling several potent herbs from the Thousand Poisons and Ten Thousand Gu Scripture in a large iron pot. The bamboo tube on the outside was made with the help of Luo Ying."

Luo Meng, who was listening nearby, grinned and said, "Second Master, it's not that I, Luo, look down on you, but what good is this broken bamboo tube? If you really run into a tough opponent, they'll chop you and the tube in one slash."

Chen Yuanzhi glanced at Luo Meng without saying a word.

He led the group onto the deck, where in the corner lay piles of the mangled remains of a drowned monster that hadn't been properly cleaned.

He pulled out the wooden stopper from one end of the bamboo tube and threw it violently at the pile of corpses in front of him.

laugh--

A thick cloud of yellowish-green toxic smoke exploded instantly, engulfing the pile of corpses.

There was no fire or loud noise, only a chilling hissing sound.

In the blink of an eye, the poisonous smoke dissipated.

The drowned, mangled corpse on the deck, bones and rotten flesh, had turned into a bubbling pool of yellow water, corroding the wood grain of the deck until it turned black.

The sailors watching the commotion gasped in shock and instinctively took three steps back.

Luo Meng stared wide-eyed at the puddle of yellow liquid, then at the remaining bamboo tube in Chen Yuanzhi's hand, his Adam's apple bobbing laboredly. "Second Master, does this thing even recognize its own kind?"

"I don't acknowledge it." Chen Yuanzhi dusted off the dust on his sleeves. "If the wind is blowing in the wrong direction or the wrong plug is pulled, you'll be the first to melt."