Transformed into a heartthrob's simp, every day is a battleground.

Chapter 197 Immortality

With some time still to go before midnight, Yan Xun looked at Ke Lun, who was slumped over the edge of the upper bunk, and simply bombarded him with all his questions—

“Gao Wen said there were still some candies and chocolates in the warehouse.”

He looked at Coron. "Is this for the crew?"

“This is what the whale whisperer told us to prepare,” Corren said. “He said it would bring good luck.”

He was somewhat dismissive of it, perhaps thinking that adding some candy and chocolate wouldn't hurt, so he didn't pay much attention.

"Are you interested in those?" Corren asked.

"I'm just a little curious," Yan Xun said.

"I thought there would only be spirits and tobacco on the ship."

Koren was amused by Yan Xun's statement. He leaned on the edge of the bed and laughed, "You think we're all drunkards?"

Yan Xun didn't speak, but his expression said it all.

Corren shrugged. "It won't spoil."

He rolled out of bed and went to Yan Xun's lower bunk. He then bent down and patted Yan Xun's legs, which were wrapped in the blanket, to signal him to make way for him.

Yan Xun moved slightly further inside, and Ke Lun sat on the narrow lower bunk.

“I sense you have other questions,” he said. “You can ask them all at once.”

Yan Xun glanced at Kolen a few times, trying to determine whether his words were true or false.

Koren feigned annoyance and slapped Yan Xun's leg a few times, "While I'm willing to tell you."

“I saw a portrait in the captain’s cabin,” Yan Xun asked the safest question. “Who is he? I mean the man in the portrait.”

"he?"

“He was the captain’s benefactor.” Corren said this quite frankly, probably not thinking it was a secret. “The older crew members all know this.”

"The captain is always at sea, either to catch whales or to find treasure for his patrons."

“It’s said to be priceless,” Corren said after a moment’s thought, “but none of us have ever seen it.”

"We only managed to spot a few whales before we had to turn back..."

"The captain said last year that the thing might be inside the ice wall."

Yan Xun was surprised that even the veteran crew members knew that the captain was searching for something else.

Indeed, since the system has introduced a hidden mission, it's impossible for it to have only one such demanding completion condition—most likely other players who enter the captain's cabin, become curious about the portrait, and ask the old crew members will also get similar answers.

"What's on the other side of the ice wall?" Yan Xun asked. "I mean... I thought this was something from a dream."

He looked at Coron and said, “I lied to you. I also dreamed of ice walls and whales. I was just very scared, so I didn’t tell you.”

He was referring to his answer when Corin asked him that morning.

Koren didn't pay attention to such details; he simply answered Yan Xun's question.

“The ice wall doesn’t just appear in dreams; it’s real,” he said to Yan Xun. “Didn’t that gold tooth guy say that red dolphins and whales appearing in dreams are bad omens, that they’re all evil spirits in disguise?”

Noticing Yan Xun's gaze, Coren smiled and made a "shh" gesture. "I did listen outside for a while."

"If he hadn't threatened you, I probably wouldn't have come in."

He was explaining why he suddenly appeared when Gold Tooth was threatening the new crew members.

"So it really was an evil spirit in disguise?" Yan Xun asked.

“Maybe,” Corren said. “Every time a crew member dreams of red whales and dolphins, someone ends up dying.”

"It is indeed an ominous sign."

"As for the ice wall, none of us have ever been that far."

"They say the ice wall's location isn't fixed," Corren said. "Even if we sail at full speed and find the right direction, it will still take us half a month..."

"It is said that unlucky people may not be able to find the location of the ice wall even after half a year."

Perhaps suddenly seized by a passion for storytelling, Corin told Yan Xun, "I've also heard a legend about an evil spirit on the sea."

"An unlucky whaling ship encountered a storm and accidentally came to the vicinity of the ice wall, where countless evil spirits were said to be guarding some kind of treasure."

"That sponsor probably heard about this, which is why he wanted the captain to try his luck near the ice wall."

“This year will probably be the same,” Corren said. “We’re too far from the ice wall, and nobody knows the right course.”

"We should return after we catch the biggest whale I've ever seen."

He looked at Yan Xun and said, "Don't worry, we'll get back safely."

Meanwhile, Gao Wen and his roommate were also in the cabin.

His roommate, the bald crew member, was sharpening his dagger, occasionally brandishing it. Gawain lay on the lower bunk... He watched the bald man's back for a while, "What's the story behind that portrait in the captain's cabin?"

The bald man turned around and looked at him.

“A madman,” the bald man said, giving a mocking laugh. “A madman who wants to never grow old.”

Gawain was surprised by this answer. He sat up slightly and asked, "What's his relationship with the captain?"

"The captain was hired by him to complete a mission; he wanted to find some treasure that would allow him to live a very long time." The bald man turned back to sharpen his dagger. "The captain is a madman too."

"He wanted to go near the ice wall."

Gawain was surprised to get information about the ice wall from the bald man. "What's at the ice wall?"

“A corpse,” the bald man said.

"Countless corpses."

“Every year, people try their luck at the ice wall,” he said. “I’ve heard that there’s a secret to eternal youth there, and besides whaling ships, expeditions also go there.”

"But nobody knows what it is."

"It's just a legend."

The bald man added, "Both the captain and that madman believe there's a secret medicine there."

"We won't go to our deaths with him."

Gawain had sensed before that the bald man was very dissatisfied with the Whale Whisperer and had a subtle attitude towards the captain. He didn't expect the bald man to tell him his thoughts so directly.

This is not a good sign.

He certainly couldn't be so naive as to think that this was a sign that the bald man trusted him.

The bald man simply believed that the dead cannot speak.

At the same time, a similar conversation took place in Moon Won-jung's room.

His roommate seemed very interested in the fact that he had been to the captain's cabin.

"Did you see the captain's letters?" his roommate suddenly asked.

Wen Yuanzheng was unsure of his meaning, so he could only carefully reply, "I saw it, but I don't understand it."

“I don’t understand it either,” my roommate said, scratching his head. “But the man in the portrait does look crazy.”

Wen Yuan was desperately calling out to the old man in his mind, but received no response. After a while, the old man finally arrived.

'You asked him who that person was.'

Wen Yuanzheng did as instructed.

"Him?" My roommate shook his head. "I don't know either."

“But Corren told me that the man was pursuing immortality.”

Soon, his roommate lost interest in chatting, and no matter what Wen Yuan was asking, he didn't continue.