Leaving behind that final word, Vieri, with a sense of relief mirrored in his smile, vanished entirely into specks of light.
In the bay, only Mu You and more than three hundred ghost pirates were left.
All the pirates were still kneeling on the ground, anxiously watching Mu You.
Their place of death was on the Ghost Ship; strictly speaking, they were not trapped on the seabed, but aboard the ship, and were unable to venture too far from the Ghost Ship.
The reason for constructing this space and shielding the ship as much as possible was to make the ship seaworthy one day, allowing them to see the light of day.
But at this moment, their fate lay in the hands of others.
This stranger was now the captain of the Ghost Ship. He could cast off the skeletal remains on board and abandon the ship at any moment. Then they would be imprisoned forever in the ocean depths, continuing to suffer endlessly.
All the ghosts anxiously and fearfully gazed at Mu You, awaiting his verdict at this moment.
Mu You observed the crowd of kneeling ghosts, pondered for a moment, and then declared, "Ten years... all of you, serve aboard the Ghost Ship for ten years, and I will absolve you of your transgressions and grant you your freedom."
Ten years was the stipulation that Mu You had come up with after thoughtful consideration. This was a timeline the ghosts could easily accept, while for Mu You, he would no longer need the help of a crew of ghostly sailors after ten years.
By then, he wouldn’t care whether the gang of ghosts wanted to rest in peace and reincarnate or wanted to break free from the Earthbound restriction, and continue existing as free spirits roaming the world.
The ghosts below exchanged glances upon hearing this. As Mu You speculated, this was a condition they could accept.
While they were not freed directly, at least they could leave the dark seabed. And compared to the seven centuries of suffering they had endured, what did a mere ten years signify?
The pirates started voicing their consents one after another, linking their voices in solidarity.
Once confirmed that all the ghosts had given their consent, Mu You pulled out the Blood Covenant scroll he had previously taken from the goblins.
"If you agree, then sign this contract."
Mu You took out a feather pen and wrote the terms on the contract. The conditions were straightforward, from that day forward, the ghost crew would serve him for ten years aboard the Ghost Ship. After completing ten years of dedicated service, he promised to grant them their freedom.
All the ghosts signed the contract without any hesitation. With such assurance, they were rather relieved. This way, they wouldn’t be tricked out of their agreement. They all rushed forward eagerly, imprinting a piece of their soul in the scroll as evidence of signing the contract.
After all ghosts had completed the contract, Mu You could now fully command these three hundred and twelve ghost crew members. The Ghost Ship was becoming a true "Ghost Ship."
Only then did Mu You find the time to approach the massive ship, which had split in the middle to survey the insides through the fractured hull.
The once water-logged compartment of the ship, now stuck in the sand for years, had been drained, but it still reeked of rot and decay. Rust and dirt had grown recklessly throughout the hull.
The decks and the various compartments were filled with skeletal remains of the crew strewn about.
The ghosts followed Mu You into the hull, each anxiously scrambling to their own remains and crawling inside. Immediately after, a throng of skeletons seemingly came alive. They rose from the ground amidst a clamor of colliding bones, loosely forming ranks in front of Mu You.
"Captain, what is your command? What should we do next?" asked one of the skeletons on behalf of the crew.
Mu You pondered for a moment before asking, "Is the carpenter onboard?"
A skeleton hurriedly broke through the crowd and approached Mu You.
"How do we repair this ship?" questioned Mu You. The ship had suffered such severe damage that it was cleaved in two, and it clearly couldn’t set sail straightaway.
"__Captain sir, the fractures in the Ghost Ship can be easily managed. You can bring us any scraps you find, and we can restore it. The biggest problem, however, is the central hull. Currently, we need a sufficiently robust piece of Divine Wood to repair the broken keel," responded the carpenter skeleton.
"Divine wood, huh..."
Mu You frowned. The Divine Wood the skeleton mentioned didn’t refer to a specific type of wood but magical-quality timber highly treasured. However, finding such woods was far from easy.
Well, he would address the issue later...
Shaking his head, Mu You checked the time. It was 9:20 pm and almost closing time; he undoubtedly wouldn’t resolve this matter today.
"Are there any treasures onboard?" Mu You asked, turning towards the skeletons again.
The ghostly crew quickly led Mu You to the treasure room hidden at the bottom of the ship.
This small room was filled with heaps of gold, silver, and jewels. However, with a glance around the room, he realized that they were all common collectibles, most rusted and tarnished from years of corrosion under the perennial gloom, having lost their luster.
These ordinary treasures weren’t alluring to Mu You; he needed magic items.
After rummaging through the treasure, he only found two gemstones qualifying as magic items.
[Bloody Gemstone: Install in an equipment slot. It grants the wearer the effect of automatically regaining health at a rate of one HP per second.]
[Stamina Gemstone: Install in an equipment slot. It enhances the stamina of the one wearing such equipment by five points.]