"This...this is a golden anchor?"
When Zhuang Rui's gaze pierced through the mountain of gold coins, he froze, because he discovered that a gold anchor, about the size of an ordinary ship anchor, was lying quietly at the very bottom of the gold coins.
After a brief silence, Zhuang Rui erupted like a volcano, lunging towards the small mountain of gold coins. He frantically pushed the coins aside with both hands, his target being the gold anchor at the bottom.
Although Zhuang Rui was not very knowledgeable about foreign history, piracy was an unavoidable topic in the development of many countries, and pirate stories were very interesting, so Zhuang Rui had a considerable understanding of the history of piracy.
To understand this golden anchor, we must go back to the 14th century. In the latter half of the 14th century, piracy was rampant in Northern Europe, with countless "independent" pirates going their own way. Almost all of them came from the ports of Northern Europe.
At that time, a savage pirate crew familiar with the sea was enough to make all ships traveling on the ocean flee at the mere sight of them. Along the coast of Northern Europe, almost no ship engaged in maritime trade could be forgiven after resisting them.
At that time, under the strong expansionist desires of Queen Margrethe of Denmark, countless Norwegians and Swedes died tragically. As a result, the residents of Stockholm had no choice but to turn to pirates to resist the Danish invasion.
In support of the Swedish port city, the Duke of Mecklenburg issued a proclamation in the name of the King of Sweden: "All those who engage in piracy, robbery, theft, and arson in rebellion against the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kingdom of Norway, but who at the same time provide assistance to Stockholm, may obtain a license in Wismar and Rostock."
This effectively legalized piracy. The issued licenses enabled many pirate captains from the north to break through the blockade and provide essential food to the besieged and starving residents of Stockholm, thus creating what the pirates called the "food brothers" alliance.
After the battle, armed with this "legitimate document," the pirates not only plundered Danish ships but also began to plunder every ship engaged in trade at sea. The participants of the "Grain Brothers" even began to develop their organization into a "nation."
The Klaus that Zhuang Rui mentioned is named Klaus Stoltbeck, one of the most daring pirates in the "Food Brothers" alliance.
Klaus was born in Wismar, Germany. He commanded fifty ships for many years to plunder in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. To some, he was a fearsome sea wolf, but to others, he was the "Robin Hood of the Sea." He plundered the rich and then gave the looted wealth to the poor.
As the pirate ships of the "Grain Brothers" became increasingly brazen in the North Sea, King Richard II of England and Queen Margrethe of Denmark decided to unite in order to combat piracy and fight against the enemy together.
In the summer of 1401, while Krauss was sailing against the wind in a zigzag pattern on his usual seas, he was ambushed by English ships. After a fierce naval battle, the pirates suffered a crushing defeat.
In this battle, 73 pirates, including Klaus Stoltbeckl, were imprisoned, and 40 pirates were killed. The pirate captain was then sent back to his homeland of Germany for trial, where he was sentenced to beheading.
One day in October 1401, after being arrested, Klaus and his 73 pirate brothers were taken to Glasbrook.
As the noose was about to be placed around their necks, the pirate leader made a deal with the Hamburg councilor: he promised to offer a beautiful gold anchor chain, as beautiful as a garland, countless gold coins, and a gold church bell tower roof to Hamburg in exchange for the pirates' freedom.
However, the officials flatly rejected the request, and 73 pirates were beheaded. Their bloody heads were then nailed to wooden stakes and displayed to the public.
The Hamburg councilors were convinced that they would find Stoltbeck's treasure no matter what they did, but they were wrong. To this day, all of the German pirate captain's property remains missing.
Of course, only the location of the treasure is unknown, but the contents of the treasure that Klaus possesses have already spread throughout the world.
The most authentic legend is that, in order to transport as much of the stolen gold and silver treasure as possible, Klaus specifically captured a blacksmith and melted down a large amount of gold to cast a gold anchor chain, which he then hid inside the mast.
With the deaths of Klaus and his pirate brothers, the whereabouts of his treasure have remained unknown for over six centuries, and it has yet to be found. The famous story of the golden anchor continues to circulate.
Therefore, after seeing the golden anchor, Zhuang Rui immediately guessed who the owner of this pirate treasure was.
Upon seeing the golden anchor, Zhuang Rui went berserk. He no longer cared about the legendary curse and charged straight at the gold coins.
For nearly seven hundred years, countless people have searched for this treasure but have never seen it. Unexpectedly, it has appeared on this deserted island.
Countless gold coins flew through the air and then fell to the ground with a crisp sound. Zhuang Rui no longer cared about those things; his hands were already gripping the golden anchor.
"Get out here!" With a forceful pull of both hands, Zhuang Rui dragged the massive golden anchor out of the mountain of gold coins, bit by bit.
"My God, how did they get them in here?"
Looking at the golden anchor, which was the same size as any other ship, Zhuang Rui was filled with astonishment. With the strength of his arms, which weighed hundreds of kilograms, he could only pull but not lift the anchor, whose chain was made of gold.
After chuckling and touching the golden anchor for a while, Zhuang Rui finally turned his attention elsewhere. In truth, the golden anchor was less valuable than a luminous pearl on the wall.
However, since this thing is a legendary object, in the words of the antique trade, it has a clear provenance. It is a work of art and cannot be simply measured by the value of gold. That is why Zhuang Rui took a different view of it.
After leaving the pile of gold coins, Zhuang Rui walked up to the two boxes. However, the large box was so rotten that it fell apart as soon as Zhuang Rui touched it, and countless pearls rolled out.
"Damn it, how am I supposed to walk like this?"
Zhuang Rui realized he had made a huge mistake; hadn't he just made things difficult for himself?
Most of the items inside were pearl and gemstone necklaces. Due to their age, many had lost their luster. Zhuang Rui glanced at them briefly in the large, broken box and lost interest.
"Since we've come all this way, let's grab something as a souvenir..."
Zhuang Rui found a gold necklace about the thickness of a chopstick inside. At the pendant of the necklace was a skull about the size of a thumb, made of pure gold. It looked quite mysterious. Zhuang Rui reluctantly took it out and hung it around his neck.
Chapter 839 Spiritual Qi Advancement
After looking at the large box, Zhuang Rui turned his attention to the smaller deerskin box and twisted open the completely rotten iron lock with his fingers.
With a "clack," the iron lock hit the ground, and Zhuang Rui opened the box lid. A bright light suddenly came into Zhuang Rui's view.
"Holy crap, what... what is this thing?"
Zhuang Rui habitually closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his eyes were wide open, and he refused to look away.
This is a skull the same size as a real human skull. The only difference is that the entire skull is almost completely transparent, and you can clearly see the box on the other side from the skull.
With Zhuang Rui's eye for antiques and jade, he could tell at a glance that it must have been carved from a single piece of crystal.
The skull's jawbone is neatly set with two rows of teeth, the eyes are adorned with round crystals, and the nasal bone is made of three crystals. The proportions of the facial features are exactly the same as those of modern people.
Zhuang Rui was filled with shock at the sight of the "Crystal Skull," a shock far greater than the discovery of the treasure's origin using the Golden Anchor. The legend of the Crystal Skull was far more mysterious than any pirate treasure.
The most famous legend about the crystal skulls is the explanation in "The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls". Legend has it that there are 52 crystal skulls in total. The Maya have 13, and the others are scattered in sacred places all over the world, including many other indigenous tribes in the Americas, as well as Tibetan and Australian Aborigine tribes.
The book states that the mandibles of 12 of these skulls are movable, known as the "singing skulls," and contain a wealth of knowledge, which are said to be gifts from extraterrestrials to Earth from the Sirius constellation.
Among the Native Americans, there is an ancient legend: in ancient times there were 13 crystal skulls that could talk and sing. These crystal skulls contained information about human origins and death, and could help mankind unravel the mysteries of life in the universe.
Pirate treasures are limited to humans, but the crystal skull involves mystical theories. Looking at this thing, Zhuang Rui dared not rashly use his spiritual energy to investigate it.
This crystal skull is so exquisitely crafted; the carving is something that couldn't have been achieved centuries ago.
In Zhuang Rui's opinion, the junction of the teeth and jaw of the crystal skull would be very difficult to make even with modern machines. Perhaps that is why it is said that this thing was made by aliens?
Zhuang Rui carefully lifted the crystal skull out of the box with both hands. Under the reflection of the luminous pearl, the entire skull became ethereal and exceptionally bright. Zhuang Rui knew that only crystals of extremely high purity could achieve such an effect.
Leaving aside the artistic value of this crystal skull, the almost completely transparent crystal itself is a priceless treasure.
High-purity white crystals, which are colorless, will reflect the same brilliance regardless of the color they are placed against. Therefore, the price of top-quality white crystals is many times higher than that of colored crystals.
The skull in Zhuang Rui's hand emitted completely different glows when placed under different colored luminous pearls, with iridescent light surrounding the entire secret chamber.
Zhuang Rui suddenly felt a moment of disorientation. In that instant, he felt as if the thing had come to life, and its empty pupils seemed to radiate a wise gaze.
As if drawn by something, the spiritual energy in Zhuang Rui's eyes involuntarily overflowed for the first time, completely enveloping the crystal skull.
As a wisp of spiritual energy seeped into the crystal skull, an indescribable feeling returned to Zhuang Rui's mind.
The feeling was like that of a baby in the womb, warm all over, and no longer needing to breathe through the mouth and nose. Zhuang Rui felt as if he was surrounded by something, unable to move at all, but it was very comfortable, and he didn't want to break this feeling.
This feeling was somewhat similar to the power of faith that Zhuang Rui encountered in Tibet, but it was much greater and purer. Zhuang Rui's originally golden spiritual energy gradually deepened in color as it merged with the crystal spiritual energy.
The invisible and colorless spiritual energy connected Zhuang Rui with the skull, and the spiritual energy in Zhuang Rui's eyes was constantly increasing in both quantity and quality.
Time passed second by second, and Zhuang Rui seemed to have lost all intuition, simply holding the crystal skull in his hands, standing there blankly.
King Kong's roar echoed through the cave again, but this time, he received no response from Zhuang Rui. Enraged, King Kong began to pick up stones and repeatedly smash them against the cave entrance.
Zhuang Rui was unaware of all this; he was simply immersed in that wonderful feeling, his entire body floating as if in a dream, his eyes radiating spiritual energy that coursed through his body, soothing his already strong physique. ...
A dark night passed, and as the sun rose over the sea, Zhuang Rui suddenly "woke up" because he saw the sun, the sun radiating intense light, slowly rising from the sea surface.
Then, Zhuang Rui "saw" countless bats in the cave. Countless bats hung upside down in the cave, which was frightening to behold. However, this time, when Zhuang Rui's spiritual energy passed through, he did not feel that the amount of spiritual energy had decreased.
Turning his gaze back, Zhuang Rui "saw" the Vajra in the cave. The Vajra, somewhat listless, had blood on both hands and was hugging a large rock, repeatedly banging it against the hole he had crawled through.
"King Kong, stop smashing it."
Seeing King Kong's miserable state, Zhuang Rui felt sorry for him. This big guy must have thought he had been injured and was in a hurry to enter the mountain.
King Kong, who was in the midst of a berserk rage, suddenly stopped. It seemed to have heard Zhuang Rui's voice and looked around in confusion.
Zhuang Rui, inside the secret chamber, was also taken aback. How could Vajra hear what he was saying in his mind? Wasn't this the telepathy among the Five Supernatural Powers?
"King Kong, are you hungry? Do you want some barbecue?"
Zhuang Rui tried saying it in his mind, but to his surprise, he immediately "saw" Jin Gang nodding his big head repeatedly, pounding his chest, and making a very aggrieved expression.
"Holy crap, it really works?"
Zhuang Rui was surprised that Jin Gang could actually hear him, and muttered to himself.
However, this sentence was obviously a bit profound. King Kong scratched his big head and looked around in confusion. He was a little puzzled as to why he could hear the voice but not see Zhuang Rui.
"King Kong, go catch a goat, we'll roast it later..."
After his initial excitement, Zhuang Rui was now a little hungry. Judging from the rising sun outside the mountain, he realized he had probably been standing there like an idiot all night.
However, Zhuang Rui did not feel tired at all. Instead, he was full of energy. Even if Zhuang Rui were to wrestle with King Kong, he probably wouldn't be afraid.
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, King Kong excitedly pounded his shoulders and then bent his arm in a pose, completely unconcerned about the blood flowing from his hands.
"Wait, let me treat you..."
King Kong wasn't afraid of pain, but Zhuang Rui felt sorry for him. He quickly released a large ball of spiritual energy and enveloped King Kong's hands. When the purple-gold spiritual energy flowed into King Kong's hands, the wounds from the stone immediately began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Huh?"
Zhuang Rui suddenly realized a problem: his spiritual energy had just come into contact with the Vajra body, but why hadn't it penetrated into it?
Could it be...? Zhuang Rui quickly conducted an experiment, and the result filled him with ecstasy. The spiritual energy that would normally seep into a living organism upon contact had now changed.
It seems that spiritual energy will only seep into the other person's body if Zhuang Rui wants it to; otherwise, the other person will not feel anything upon contact.
"Damn, this isn't like you can just look at whoever you want, however you want, or anything like that?"
Suddenly, a filthy thought popped into Zhuang Rui's mind. It's no wonder, because Zhuang Rui usually can't pay attention to these things due to the nature of spiritual energy, but now... it seems a little different.
Now Zhuang Rui was certain that his spiritual energy had indeed changed after coming into contact with the crystal skull. In addition to its color evolving from golden yellow to purplish gold, it also gained the ability to communicate with the crystal skull telepathically, and its control over it became more flexible.
"Calm down, calm down, I'm a good guy... Well, it's okay to glance at it occasionally..."
After seeing the Vajra leave, Zhuang Rui's gaze sharpened as he looked out of the mountain. He wanted to test whether the spiritual energy, which had now turned into a purplish-gold color, could extend its detection range even further.
Before this, Zhuang Rui could release spiritual energy up to a distance of about 500 meters, but when he saw the cave where the Vajra was, Zhuang Rui knew that the detection range of spiritual energy had increased.
The invisible spiritual energy penetrated the mountain and gradually spread into the distance. The tomb of the Vajra ancestor, the forest from which he came, the cave where he lived, and the ruined village all passed by Zhuang Rui's eyes.
Coconut groves, sandy beaches, salt flats, and a pool of water connecting to the sea all came into view for Zhuang Rui. However, when he entered the sea about three or four hundred meters away, Zhuang Rui finally felt exhausted and his vision became blurry.
Even so, Zhuang Rui was overjoyed. He knew that the cave where he lived was seven or eight kilometers away from the sea, and with his current location, the range of his spiritual energy was probably over 10 kilometers.
"Honey, it's a real treasure! Damn, maybe it really was made by aliens..."
Looking at the crystal skull in his hand, Zhuang Rui felt that the thing was incredibly cute. However, when he released his spiritual energy into it again, he no longer felt the same as before. He could only find a misty cloud of spiritual energy inside.