62: Chapter 62 Maiden Voyage Destination

The soul ferry boat silently docked at a pier built of pale white bones and black reefs. The hull lightly brushed against the ribs of some unknown giant beast, producing a faint, grating sound that set one's teeth on edge.

The pier was deserted, save for a Human Skin Banner swaying in a yin wind carrying the moisture of the Styx. The four blood-red characters for "Netherworld Ferry Crossing" seemed to flow slowly. Further away, twisted, humanoid shadows wandered across the desolate black earth, letting out intermittent, soul-piercing wails. However, they seemed to harbor a certain dread of the pier and the soul ferry boat, not daring to approach.

Lin Chen was the first to step onto the Bone Pier, the bones beneath his feet feeling cold and hard to the touch. Su Qingyu followed closely behind, her hand tightly gripping the hilt of the short sword on her back. Her knuckles were white from the force, and her breath condensed into white mist in the freezing air. This deathly silent, eerie, and unimaginably bizarre scene before them was far more real and terrifying than any horror movie.

Zhang Hao commanded fifty Yin Soldiers to disembark in single file, silently lining up to guard behind Lin Chen. The soul fires in the Yin Soldiers' eye sockets seemed to burn a bit more vigorously on this nether soil. Being products of the Netherworld themselves, they felt a sense of being in their element upon arriving here.

"Ma... Master, what are we doing now?" Zhang Hao leaned in close to Lin Chen, pulling his head into his shoulders and keeping his voice extremely low, for fear of disturbing something that shouldn't be disturbed. This place made every cell in his body scream of danger.

Lin Chen didn't answer immediately. His gaze swept across the desolate crossing, finally settling on a Black Stone Tablet at the end of the pier that was half a person's height and had a surface as smooth as a mirror. There was no text on the stone tablet, only some constantly shifting, twisting patterns of eerie light, like flowing colorful ribbons.

He walked up to the stone tablet and placed his hand on it.

[Welcome to the Netherworld Ferry Crossing, living one.]

[Detected "soul ferry boat" authority. Available routes and services can be queried.]

[Current tasks available for acceptance/posting:]

[1. Collect "ferrymans dragon bone" (0/1) - Location: Styx Shallows, at the remains of a wandering ancient Ferryman. Risk: High. Reward: None (Quest Item).]

[2. Collect "styx river water" (0/1 standard unit) - Location: Along the banks of the Styx, self-collection required. Risk: Medium. Warning: Styx water contains extremely strong properties of annihilation and oblivion; it cannot be carried in non-specialized containers. Reward: None (Quest Item).]

[3. Clear the unrest of the "Faceless Wedding Dress Shop" (Optional) - Location: Outskirts of the Netherworld Ferry Crossing, Lost Alleys. Risk: Unknown. Reward: ???]

[4. Post a request for help: Searching for the lost "soul suppressing pagoda core fragments" (No response yet)...]

Lines of information flowed into Lin Chen's mind—the core materials required by the system prompts to build the soul ferry boat, as well as an additional optional task.

"ferrymans dragon bone, styx river water..." Lin Chen repeated in a low voice, his gaze falling on the first and second tasks. These two were the primary objectives.

As for the third one, the "Faceless Wedding Dress Shop"? It sounded ominous, and the reward being a question mark meant there could be extra risks or gains. Lin Chen temporarily listed it as an alternative.

He withdrew his hand and looked at the Styx, which flowed with a deathly silence and was as thick as ink, then looked at the wandering shadows in the distance.

"We'll go to the Styx Shallows first to find the 'ferrymans dragon bone'." Lin Chen made his decision. The keel was the core skeleton for building the soul ferry boat and had to be obtained first.

He raised his hand to summon the soul ferry boat again; traveling by water was undoubtedly the fastest way to reach the shallows.

However, just as his thought moved, the Skeletal Dragon Head of the quietly moored soul ferry boat opened and closed again, and a dry voice rang out:

"Short-distance ferry to the 'Styx Shallows'."

"An additional payment of five thousand nether talismans is required."

Lin Chen paused, his brow twitching slightly. Good grief, it's just a short distance and you want five thousand? This Ferryman really is a money-grubber, even in death.

He said nothing and directly transferred the funds. For urgently needed materials, this bit of "travel fare" was nothing.

Once payment was complete, the grey mist around the soul ferry boat spread out once more, enveloping everyone. The hull trembled slightly and did not fully leave the shore; instead, it glided silently along the surface of the Styx, heading upstream toward a certain direction.

The scenery along the banks of the Styx flashed past in the grey mist. Black desolate land, twisted shadows, and occasionally, huge, pale white skeletons could be seen half-buried in the mud along the riverbank, emitting an ancient and decaying aura. The cold and moisture in the air grew heavier, and the erosion intended for living beings—originating from the Styx itself—acted upon Su Qingyu and Zhang Hao like invisible needles, forcing them to circulate their own weak power to resist.

Only Lin Chen seemed to have an invisible barrier around him, isolating him from all discomfort. He even had the leisure to observe the dark, viscous water of the Styx, as if evaluating something.

After traveling for about fifteen minutes, the speed of the soul ferry boat slowed down.

A relatively flat area appeared on the riverbank ahead, and the flow of the water seemed slower, revealing a large expanse of black, porous tidal flats. This was the "Styx Shallows."

And on this shallow beach, the most eye-catching thing was a massive, mountain-like, forest-white skeleton!

The skeleton was elongated in shape, with most of it buried in the black mud. The exposed part alone was dozens of meters long, with thick bones showing a greyish-white color that had weathered countless ages. Its skull was strangely shaped, somewhat like a bird and somewhat like a fish, with empty eye sockets facing the dim yellow sky. From the morphology of the bones, one could vaguely identify that this had likely been an ancient existence that had ferried on the Styx for endless years.

This was the mission objective—the ferrymans dragon bone!

However, this massive skeleton was not a dead object.

Surrounding the skeleton were swirls of black resentment so thick they wouldn't dissipate! Within the resentment, countless painfully twisted faces could be vaguely seen screaming silently. These were a collective of lost souls who, over the long years, had failed to be successfully ferried or had fallen into the Styx, their resentful thoughts ultimately attaching to the Ferryman's remains! They instinctively guarded this skeleton, viewing it as their final resting place.

At the same time, at some key nodes of the skeleton, such as the spine and rib connections, strange plants like black vines were growing. They wriggled, absorbing the residual netherworld energy from the skeleton and emitting a nauseating, corrosive aura.

"Hiss—" Zhang Hao sucked in a breath of cold air, his face turning green. "Master, this... this thing doesn't look easy to take!"

Su Qingyu also felt her scalp tingle; that dense resentment and the bizarre parasitic plants both emitted an extremely dangerous aura.

Lin Chen looked at the massive skeleton entwined with vengeful spirits and parasitic plants. Instead of gravity, his face actually showed a hint of... satisfaction?

"Hmm, the quality is good, and the energy residue is quite sufficient. It's excellent material." He nodded, as if evaluating a newly unearthed antique.

Then, he raised his hand toward the skeleton.

It wasn't an attack, nor was it a defense.

He directly opened the scanning function of the nether domain asset system and locked onto the "ferrymans dragon bone," as well as the "appendages" surrounding it.

[Discoverable recyclable resources: "ferrymans dragon bone (Remains)", "Howling Vengeful Spirit Collective", "Styx Corrosive Vines"...]

[Perform bulk recycling? Estimated nether talismans obtainable: Keel (120,000), Vengeful Spirit Collective (30,000), Corrosive Vines (8,000)... Total approximately 158,000 nether talismans.]

The system's prompt was cold and objective.

Lin Chen looked at the estimated total of 158,000 nether talismans, then looked at the troublesome scene before him that would require effort to clear to obtain the materials.

He hardly hesitated and directly chose—

Bulk recycling!