"The passage here is blocked by standing water."

"It seems that the depth of this ruin is very wide, and I haven't found the bottom ...... after walking for so long."

"Maybe we should have chosen to go up in the first place."

"Are you worried that all the downward pathways are blocked by standing water? Not...... Theoretically, this is a possibility. ”

Time went back to a little earlier, Duan Qing and Xue Lingphantom Ice had just set off, and they encountered the problem of seawater infusion in various choices of the way forward. The passages that have been inspected are covered with traces of artificial chiseling, and the stone steps and abandoned fire platforms at your feet also prove that there was once a human population in this place, but due to the stagnant water, these traces full of history have also been soaked to the point that even ordinary identification is very difficult. There were still many ghost-like scratches on the rock walls around the passage, some of which could vaguely form readable characters, but due to the light, Duan Qing couldn't confirm what these people who had stayed here wanted to express, the roar from the surrounding sea and the deepening darkness also made him have no heart to think about these, he just wanted to find the answer he wanted in this complex and inseparable passage.

"The road we came on was a downward path, and there was no room to go up." Duan Qing turned around and muttered, "Maybe the platform we arrived at before...... It is already the highest place in this harbor. ”

"But it's also possible that they dug a road straight to the surface." The snow spirit phantom ice in the back held his long sword: "So there may be an upward path." ”

"Don't forget how we got down, this place must have enough air pressure if this confined space is connected to the outside world...... We are long drowned now. Duan Qing explained helplessly: "Besides...... We're here to find the treasure, what are we looking for those escape routes? ”

"It's better than being stuck here all the time, right?" Xue Lingphantasm frowned slightly: "Otherwise, where should we go?" ”

"Hmm......"

Looking around at the narrow cave in front of him, Duan Qing fell into contemplation again, and it wasn't until the Snow Spirit Phantom Ice behind him was about to turn around that he said lightly: "We...... How about diving through here? ”

"What?" The woman couldn't help but scream: "I don't know how many areas this passage has been flooded, and you still want to go down?" And we have encountered so many pathways before, why choose this one? ”

"Because the water here is very special." Duan Qing pointed to the stagnant water in front of the two people: "Compared to the sea water in other channels, the sea water here does not have any traces of fluctuations, and it has not fallen with the ebb of the tide, indicating that this road is different from other paths that may be connected to the sea...... It's not connected. ”

That is to say...... Is this road in front of us a dead end? Xue Lingphantom Ice said angrily: "Then what are we going to do down?" ”

"A path without fluctuations can be a dead end, or it can lead to some end point of the only existence." Duan Qing explained in a low voice: "If I were a pirate and discovered and occupied this natural secret harbor, I would definitely find a way to make this place airtight, and at the same time try to maintain the safe operation of this place with my own conditions...... ”

"Hey, what are you talking about?"

"Well, pirates are a bunch of reckless men who don't use their brains, and they don't have the intelligence to build such a huge project." Duan Qing pointed to the up, down, left and right sides of this space: "They won't even dig this place together with the substructure to build a good traffic environment, because they are just a group of robbers, and they don't have such patience at all." But in the minds of pirates, there are some things they are bound to have, such as the lookout I just mentioned, and ...... Some kind of captain's room for big people to live in. ”

"You want to say...... The platform we just found is the lookout? Xue Lingbing replied helplessly: "And the road in front of you ...... Is it a command room or something? ”

"Pirates are cautious by nature, otherwise they would have easily died in the belly of a fish." Duan Qing smiled and nodded: "The captain who is in power must not only live in the highest place, but also live in the safest place." ”

"So you veteran players...... They all like to play psychology. ”

Sullenly said this, Xue Lingphantom Ice took out his water stone: "Then let's go over together, anyway, you can come back if you find the wrong one......"

"Trust me, it's definitely not a waste of time." Duan Qing made a gesture of please: "Under this kind of speculation, the more dead ends we have, the more we have to try, as long as there is a place where we guess......"

"We're going to be able to uncover a lot of valuable things."

The aqua blue light shone again under the control of a certain woman, gradually surrounding the figures of the two people, and then after a period of time, it slowly submerged into the water in front of them, and after a while, on the other side of the passage, the blue light mask appeared again like a bubble, but this time the air they were facing seemed to be more tense than the previous air: "It seems that ...... We weren't looking for the wrong place. ”

"Since it's the highest level of security room...... There won't be any mechanism here, right? ”

"Ladies first, so ...... You can go ahead and have an interview a try. ”

"Hmph...... Do you think I'm going to be scared? ”

The heavy sound of landing appeared in a small space as this sentence fell, it was the movement of a certain stone door after being pushed down by Xue Ling's Phantom Ice, and the woman whose arm was still in the air didn't seem to expect such a result, and didn't make any other sound for a while: "......"

"It seems...... This place is a few years old. Duan Qing behind him poked his head and looked at it for a while, and finally quickly retracted it before the woman on the side of his face was about to go crazy: "Even the gate made of stone has no quality assurance." ”

"Or maybe it's because they don't do a good job, as you say." Xue Lingphantasm patted his shoulder: "It's really an extremely 'safe' place." ”

"It's a shame that there is no shining treasure waiting for us." Duan Qing also stepped into the door: "Other...... There really are magic lights in this place. ”

"You can choose to take one later." Snow Spirit Phantom Ice replied expressionlessly, "What lighting will we need for our future exploration...... It's up to you to provide it. ”

The small room was illuminated by a firefly on the wall, and a conference room-like place was displayed in front of the two people, surrounded by stone tables and chairs, and a bed full of debris was placed in the center of the room, which gave the place an eerie atmosphere. There seemed to have been some map-like things pasted on the uneven walls because of the scrawling, but due to the erosion of time, there were only a few fragments of markings left there, and the flags standing behind the stone seats were also fragmented, except for the various pattern fragments that could not be distinguished, only the flagpoles that were placed diagonally behind the seats, still kept themselves intact like those stones.

"It's ...... Some kind of mystical ritual? Xue Lingphantasm Bing frowned and said, "A group of flags around a bed? ”

"It probably wasn't a bed, it was a makeshift table that was used as a conference table." Duan Qing reached out and picked up a piece of shard, and then easily crushed it: "There may be a wooden board on it, and something like a wine glass......

"So...... Are people here in a meeting? Xue Lingphantasm Ice shook his head: "And then ...... Because of someone's temporary backlash, all of them died here? ”

"I've watched too much with the movie, right?" Duan Qing squinted his eyes and shook his head: "What about the white bones?" What about the traces of the battle? Judging by the current situation...... There's never been a death here. ”

“……”

As if feeling a little frustrated that the imaginary plot didn't happen, Snow Spirit Phantom Ice fell silent as she walked to the center of the room, but it didn't take long for the pattern on the flags to catch her eye again: "Skull Flag...... They're all pirates. ”

"Follow the clues provided by a pirate and come in search of the pirate's treasure...... If you find something that has nothing to do with pirates, then it's really hell. Duan Qing sighed helplessly: "But...... Judging from the situation in front of them, these pirates, who were sitting here for a meeting, had indeed left here in a peaceful way. ”

"They didn't even take their own pirate flags with them." Duan Qing muttered, "Could it be ...... This is where that event in the account took place? ”

"What event?"

“……”

In the voice of the woman turning her head to ask, Duan Qing, who was bowing his head and muttering, did not react, because at this time, he just happened to drop his eyes on the banner of one of the pirate flags, and then walked over slowly: "...... Parin Purece, the Breez of Liberty Pirates? Strange ......"

"What's wrong?"

"The name...... I seem to have heard it somewhere. ”

Ignoring Xue Ling's question, Duan Qing turned around and came to the front of another broken banner: "There should be other places too...... Hmm, Captain Tiffany, the King of the East China Sea Pirate Regiment, such a domineering name, aren't you afraid of being attacked by others? ”

"Dallas Kempareira, the Blackheart Pirates...... The name is good, and the flag is well preserved, but I haven't heard of it. ”

"Medoff Starim, the Medov Pirates...... It seems to be a self-made pirate group, and even the name of the group is named after himself...... Hey? ”

Squatting in the middle of a stone chair, Duan Qing repeated the name just now in a low voice: "Starim, Starim......"

"Are you...... Where have you heard of it? Xue Lingphantom Ice on the side didn't care about Duan Qing's attitude and ignored him, but reminded softly: "For example, the record you mentioned before? ”

"There is indeed a record of mentioning several of these names." In the eyes that surrounded him, Duan Qing replied in a low voice, "But that record ...... It has nothing to do with pirates. ”

"Looks like it's really a hell today."

Checking the names left on the seats of several flags again, Duan Qing pinched his eyebrows and stood up, his originally relaxed face became solemn with these discoveries: "Starim, Kirk, and Van Dahl...... These names, and that family history......"

"So what exactly did you find?" Xue Lingphantasm asked helplessly, "Can you explain what surprised you first?" ”

"These names are all names that have appeared in the history of the city lord of the Free City, and they are all families that once stood at the top of the Free City." Duan Qing replied in a deep voice, "And now they are in the pirate's lair...... Isn't this secret powerful? ”

That is to say...... The successive lords of the Free City were actually a group of pirates? A flash of surprise flashed in Xue Ling's eyes: "They are the masterminds behind the group of villains who occupy the East China Sea?" ”

"No, there's something we haven't figured out."

Checking the surroundings of this place again, Duan Qing muttered a little distractedly: "Since it is from that Void Library, then I will first assume that those two records are true, but if you want to make sense of these two histories, there is something missing in the middle......"

"We also need something to support, or rather...... Evidence. Duan Qing's gaze stayed on a corner of this room: "According to the habit of this game...... Such evidence should be obvious. ”

He stepped forward, stopped at the pile of sawdust scattered in the corner, and then, after a long leaning search, pulled out a quaint little box. Perhaps due to the use of a special material, this box did not turn into powder in the past, so when Duan Qing opened the box, the contents also appeared intact in front of Duan Qing.

"This is ......" Xue Lingphantom Ice behind him whispered, "A letter? ”

"A contract, to be exact."

Standing up with the box in his hand, Duan Qing's eyes gradually brightened, but a systematic prompt sound sounded one after another at this critical moment, pulling the consciousness of the two people back from the path of exploring the secret. The two of them hurriedly opened the system prompt bar and focused on the life status of the team members, where the lives of Teacher Zhou Xue, who had formed a team with them before, were being emptied one by one, and then turned into a state of death.

"Such a fast speed...... It can't be a collective suicide, right? Duan Qing took a deep breath: "It seems that there is some trouble." ”

“…… And guess what? ”

"We didn't encounter any monsters along the way, so we had to be other players."

In the eyes of the two people looking at each other, Duan Qing let out a low laugh: "Judging from the death speed of those three people, the strength can be several levels higher than the ......"

"There are probably only two or three possibilities."