Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Sparks flew!

Yang Yi, piloting the Penitent’s Armour, struck the exquisite metal lock with powerful blows, but aside from leaving deep scratches on its surface, he couldn’t break it. Instead, the Ironbreaker (Imitation) ended up with a fresh nick — fortunately, it didn’t affect the greatsword’s combat effectiveness.

Unable to cut through the lock, Yang Yi settled for a compromise: he started hacking at the table instead, hoping the contents inside wouldn’t be damaged. 

He first cleaved through the table legs, each as thick as three fingers, then lifted the table, shook it to shift the contents to one side, and began prying open the drawer with brute strength.

Suna clearly disapproved of Yang Yi’s violent approach to “box-opening”, but given their urgent need for information, she couldn’t think of a better alternative.

As for finding the key… It had probably already been blown away by the decaying whale and hunting it down now would be no different than looking for a needle in a haystack.

After several minutes and more than twenty strikes, a corner of the drawer was finally forced open. Yang Yi reached inside and felt something like a piece of silk. He pulled it out.

It turned out to be a scroll of parchment, though whether it was truly made of sheepskin was hard to tell. Judging by the visible skin texture, Suna had reason to suspect it was actually made of human skin. Kept locked inside the drawer, it had been well-preserved. The writing, or more precisely, the tattoos, were clearly legible: “Usage and Taboos of the Salt Wedge”

The scroll featured both text and illustrations.

“The Salt Wedge must be stored strictly in a crystal container. Personal possession is strictly forbidden. No living being may come into contact with the Salt Wedge unless necessary.”

“Upon receiving official orders, whaling fleets may carry the Salt Wedge to hunt decaying whales at sea...”

Having quickly skimmed the scroll, Yang Yi finally understood what those salt beings really were. Their formal name was People of Salt, derivatives of the Salt Wedge, which essentially was a superweapon, comparable to a nuclear bomb, under strict control. It was only approved for use against decaying whales or other extremely difficult-to-kill super life forms.

Its sole function: to convert any pierced lifeform into sea salt. That salt would then take humanoid form as People of Salt, which would continually extract moisture from surrounding life.

If misused, it could cause a catastrophic disaster. It was a terrifyingly dangerous object.

As for its origin? The scroll didn’t say. However, it did contain usage instructions. To kill a decaying whale, one had to pierce the Fruit of Bounty with the Salt Wedge. That would completely terminate the whale’s life.

But judging from the current situation… It appeared this team had failed. They hadn’t managed to kill the whale completely, and the Salt Wedge's whereabouts were unknown.

According to the diagram in the scroll, the Salt Wedge resembled a short spear. Ordinary humans who approached it would quickly have their flesh desiccate and die within a minute. Only a specially designed crystal crossbow could launch such a superweapon. To ensure accuracy, the fleet would enter the whale’s body to locate the Fruit of Bounty and fire from close range. Otherwise, a failed shot could wipe out the entire crew in moments.

“So that’s how it works…” Suna murmured.

With the scroll, the truth behind the decaying whale had finally been fully uncovered.

The human-skin scroll was carefully stored in the armor’s boot compartment. Along with it, Yang Yi packed away the books, and the metal lock still attached to a piece of wood.

Since the armour couldn’t examine item details the way a human could, he still didn’t know exactly what some of those things were.

With that task finished, Yang Yi resumed digging.

He cleared out all the sea salt in the room, revealing the full layout. It appeared to be a captain’s cabin, with a bed, a table, chairs, and several cabinets. Inside were some ruined clothes and a few rusty weapons. Most of the items were of little value. After a thorough search, Yang Yi found nothing useful and left the room. 

At that point, most of the ship had emerged. It was a three-masted sailing ship nearly 50 metres in length. Overall, it remained fairly intact, but cracks and remnants of white sea salt covered it throughout.

Another sandstorm struck, carrying away huge amounts of sea salt and shredding the newly emerged People of Salt. Without salt to support it, the ship tilted sharply to one side. 

Yang Yi, still piloting the armour, reacted quickly, he dropped the greatsword and grabbed the doorway of the room, barely avoiding being thrown off the ship. By the time the next wave of salt figures appeared, the bottom of the cavern had finally come into view. It was cracked, dark-gray earth, dusted with a thin layer of sea salt, making it appear gray.

With a swing, the armour landed solidly on the ground. Yang Yi picked up the Ironbreaker (Imitation) from the side and used it like a shovel, digging fiercely into the ground, revealing the dark soil beneath, similar in texture to the decaying whale’s surface. It indicated that it had nearly expelled all the sea salt from its body. The little remaining salt condensed into People of Salt, continuing their relentless assault.

"That should be about it. If I use the Third Eye, I can completely avoid their attacks and enter the interior for exploration," Yang Yi concluded, preparing to act.

"Wait! Look at the ground closely!" Suna interrupted, warning him.

To their shock, the salt layer on the ground was thickening, the decaying whale’s desiccating body was transforming into sea salt! The phenomenon extended up to the walls of the cavern, climbing more than a meter upward. New salt grains continuously formed and fell from the walls.

Another gust of wind swept through, carrying away both the salt and the People of Salt with it. But in the next second, new salt appeared, and with it, new Salt People emerged. It was a war the decaying whale could never truly win!

Yang Yi looked deeper into the cave. He noticed subtle variations in the rate of salt precipitation on the ground. By observing the speed of color changes on the surface and the density of the Salt People, he could roughly determine the location of the Salt Wedge.

If he used the Third Eye, he could almost certainly pinpoint its exact position.

"I know what I have to do!" Yang Yi made up his mind to kill this decaying whale and harvest its endlessly regenerating flesh. After all, even the weapon had been prepared for him.

"Be careful!" Suna reminded him.

Yang Yi temporarily handed control of the armour to Suna, who entered the ship's inner cabin to check for any remaining valuables worth retrieving.

Meanwhile, Yang Yi was ready.

After replenishing himself with enough freshwater, his withered left arm had fully recovered, and by then, the salt content in the airflow was nearly negligible!

In the next second, he transformed once again into a werewolf, assuming a similar posture as the armour, driving the Ironbreaker into the fleshy wall to slow his descent. However, he had forgotten the greatsword wasn’t so much a blade as it was a blunt instrument. The descent wasn’t smooth at all.

So, he quickly switched tactics, using his wolf claws to pierce into the flesh. With all four limbs, he began sprinting downwards along the fleshy wall, as if he were running across flat ground.

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