Ch. 336 - Slave Mark

Yang Yi and Suna prepared to return to the deck.

Along the way, the Light Fairy, Tricia, was much more obedient. She would occasionally glance at Yang Yi, but did not say a single word throughout the journey.

Because Yang Yi had rejected the Old Dad’s suggestion—to place a slave mark on the Light Fairy as well.

.............

A few minutes earlier.

Inside a tent somewhere within the treasure ship, Yang Yi, Suna, and the Old Dad were talking.

Not far away, a dwarf was also busy. He was drawing a magic circle on the forehead of the unconscious Cyclops.

It was the slave mark.

“The treasure ship is fine. But if you leave the treasure ship and the merchandise escapes, don’t expect me to compensate you.”

The Old Dad spoke up and suggested placing a slave mark on Tricia as well, so that she would not run away.

“No need.”

Yang Yi shook his head and pushed the terrified-looking Tricia back down, declining the Old Dad’s goodwill.

When purchasing living merchandise from the Golden Merchant Association, they could provide a slave mark free of charge. However, whether to use it depended on the buyer’s intentions, because the slave mark would affect the “quality” of the merchandise to a certain extent, making them appear dull and stupid, like puppets.

For Light Fairies, their recovery abilities would decrease drastically.

But for the defective Tricia, it did not matter. She did not possess that ability in the first place.

As for what exactly the slave mark was and how it worked, Yang Yi had already more or less figured it out.

It was a type of biological magic, a control-type spell that relied on a special species.

Suna wanted to see the process of creating a slave mark, so Old Dad took the two of them to watch.

The process was as follows:

First, the target had to be subdued. Then, a large amount of anesthetic was injected into its body, causing it to completely lose the ability to resist.

Next, a pink slug-like creature with tentacles was placed on the target’s face. During this period, the target could not resist; otherwise, the process would have a hard time succeeding.

Eventually, the slug would crawl into the mouth, nose, or ear canal, invade the brain, and grow together with the target’s brain.

The entire process took approximately two hours.

Once it was complete, the caster would carve a slave mark onto the target’s forehead, creating the effect of enslavement and control.

However, the one actually controlling the target was the slug.

Suna developed a strong interest in the slug and the control magic. She bought ten of the slugs, which, together with the magic circle on the Cyclops’ forehead, would be enough for her research.

The price was 10,000 Seashell Coins. After the 20% discount, it was only 8,000.

These slugs were quite cheap.

Then, all the other living creatures, except for the Cyclops and Stone Men, escaped this fate.

Because Suna wanted a more complete brain, she even bought another Cyclops head, just in case.

As for the Stone Men, these things were magical constructs powered by magic stones. They did not have brains at all and could hardly even be considered living beings.

At least, these Stone Men could not.

Yang Yi received a private message from Suna containing information about the slugs.

They were generally stored in dark-brown glass bottles and could be fed and bred using flesh.

【Name: Brainworm】

【Description: A gelatinous parasite capable of invading a target through openings such as the mouth and nose. After reaching the brain, it parasitizes the target and eventually grows together with the host’s brain.

It changes its own size according to the host’s body size, discarding parts of its body.

After parasitizing a host, it will control the host and make it travel to the Brainworm nest, where the host becomes a breeding ground for Brainworms.

Special magic can be used to control it, causing the Brainworm to stop developing and allowing the Brainworm to be manipulated, thereby controlling the host. However, this will cause the host to suffer from reduced intelligence, rigid thinking, and arrested growth.

A high Mentality attribute provides resistance against Brainworms. Forceful resistance will make it difficult for the Brainworm to establish a parasitic connection and may even cause the parasitism to fail.

Brainworms cannot parasitize creatures without brains, nor can they parasitize creatures whose brains possess offensive capabilities. Their combat strength can be considered negligible.

A scholar once proposed a hypothesis that Brain Eaters were mutated forms produced by Brainworms parasitizing brains. However, not long afterward, the scholar himself rejected the hypothesis, believing that Brainworms were far too low-level and could not be compared with Brain Eaters.】

Ten minutes later.

Yang Yi and Suna were already close to leaving the cabin.

During this time, Yang Yi kept an eye on his Exposure Level. It had already risen to 46%, an increase compared to before.

However, the rate of increase had slowed considerably.

This showed that acting alone and reducing interactions with the natives was an effective countermeasure. During the early stages, when he lacked common knowledge about this world, it could effectively slow the growth of his Exposure Level.

He recorded this experience, including some pictures, planning to post them on the forum once trading unlocked at 23:00 that night.

“.....Interacting and communicating with the natives can sometimes also cause the Exposure Level to increase. This time, it happened aboard the Golden Merchant Association’s treasure ship. But I’m not the first player to come into contact with the Golden Merchant Association. None of the other players have mentioned anything about this. So I should be an exception. I estimate that one of my actions was too conspicuous and attracted the attention of some existence, which caused my Exposure Level to continue increasing.”

“It was probably caused by purchasing a large amount of basic supplies. That behavior was simply too suspicious......”

Yang Yi stopped recording because they had arrived at the Magic Item Shop.

There had been no changes here compared to before. A large number of crystal display cases were arranged throughout the shop, containing magical items with their prices listed beside them.

Customers could open the display cases themselves to inspect the items, but they were strictly forbidden from wearing or using them. They could only touch and look at them. Violators would have to purchase the item at its listed price, and any damage caused would also have to be compensated at the full price.

Yang Yi inspected the items and discovered that all the magical items on this floor were below the Rare quality tier. Their prices ranged from several thousand to one million Seashell Coins.

The most expensive item was a set of heavy plate armor decorated with golden patterns. It appeared to have been produced by the Holy Radiance Church.

The radiant, spherical pattern on its chest was particularly eye-catching, emitting a faint glow.

Its listed price was 1.5 million Seashell Coins, and its name was Dreadnought Knight Armor (Full Body).

The armor was displayed inside a two-meter-tall glass display case, making it extremely conspicuous.

Yang Yi was also curious about its attributes.

This piece of equipment should not have been available for purchase in the Sea of Miracles.

Items such as the Light Fairy, the Vessel of Light, and the Core of Darkness were all considered contraband.

But in the Sea of No Light, there were no such restrictions at all.

That could be considered one of the advantages of this region.

He opened the display case and carefully examined the armor before trying to touch it.

A faint, almost imperceptible change flashed across his face.

This armor was actually a counterfeit.

It seemed that even the Golden Merchant Association openly sold fake goods!

Without revealing anything, he closed the crystal display case and sent a message to Suna.

“Be careful. There are counterfeits here too. No wonder they don't allow customers to use them. Wouldn’t the fake ones be exposed immediately if someone actually wore them?”

【Name: Dreadnought Knight Armor (Counterfeit)】

【Type: Treasure】

【Quality: Fine】

【Description: A replica produced by a highly skilled craftsman and decorated with fluorescent paint, making it extremely difficult to detect any flaws.

To pursue a convincing texture and increase its deceptive qualities, a lighter, low-density alloy was used in its construction. Its actual defensive capabilities are questionable.

When worn, it feels almost weightless, creating the illusion that one’s physical attributes have increased. In reality, it provides no attribute bonuses whatsoever.

The Dreadnought Knight Armor is one of the standard armors worn by Holy Church Knight Commanders, with an emphasis on defense. The other set is the Judgment Knight Armor.】