With the return of Marvin, everything in White River Valley seemed to be back on the right track.
The entire territory had high morale after the victory.
But Marvin still had many things to handle.
An invitation from Lavis Dukedom, for example.
Daniela had stayed in White River Valley for quite a long time now. When Marvin wasn't there, this future Ice Empress did a lot on his behalf.
Even if her temper was a bit weird, it was at least reasonable.
Although Daniela couldn't return to the North because of her oath, she still could go elsewhere instead.
But she didn't. She chose to help Marvin.
Marvin wasn't the greedy type. He wouldn't betray her hopes.
He had to make a trip to Lavis Dukedom before the Great Calamity.
Thankfully, he could use Long Distance Teleportation Arrays for this.
Ancestor's Mystery was bound to Marvin's soul, so Lavis Dukedom's people couldn't peel it off even if they wanted to. Only Marvin could fulfill Daniela's oath by going to the Dukedom with her. This could be considered as honoring her promise so that she could return to her homeland.
Marvin didn't intend to keep Daniela forever in White River Valley. It would restrict her abilities.
The distant North was the place where she could best display her talents.
Not to mention, this time, the Lavis Dukedom's Great Duke personally sent a letter mentioning some secrets about Sorcerer bloodline breakthroughs.
Daniela not being able to advance to Legend wasn't due to a lack of talent, but due to an issue with Lavis' heritage.
This problem needed to be settled with the Archdevil's head.
And Marvin would also benefit from solving the issue.
Because ultimately, both sides were Numan descendants. In fact, if everything that Marvin's grandfather said was true, then that Great Duke should also be called Grandfather by Marvin. From a bloodline point of view, Daniela was indeed his cousin.
Although Sorcerers' circles were very complicated, bloodline was very important.
By having close relatives marry, they could guarantee the bloodline's purity. Especially with a great family inheritance, it was normal to marry within the clan.
As for those groups of Sorcerers from Rocky Mountain, they were Sorcerers that had been expelled, so they didn't have a complete inheritance.
Marvin also understood the might of Sorcerers. On his journey, if he didn't have the Shapeshift Sorcerer class, he might have died many times.
This subclass had endless potential. If the people of Lavis Dukedom could really find ways to break through his bloodline shackles and increase his Sorcerer levels, Marvin wouldn't mind cooperating with them.
In the end, Marvin still wanted to know more about his mysterious "grandfather."
Ivan had pointed out that if he really became a Lord of Hell later, who knew what his next step would be?
Thinking about this felt strange, making Marvin very uncomfortable. But he had to prepare for everything.
And returning to his grandfather's clan was the only way.
Besides receiving an invitation to Lavis Dukedom, Marvin still had another thing planned before the Great Calamity.
But this matter needed the help of even more Legends.
That was to rescue Hathaway.
Unfortunately, only Constantine and Madeline were in White River Valley, and they were much weaker than Dark Phoenix.
Hathaway sealing herself in the Black Coral Islands had caused Marvin days and nights of torment.
Countless times, he had resisted the urge to go. In fact, right after he advanced to Legend, he had almost gone alone to the Black Coral Islands to try and save her.
But he still endured.
He hadn't felt that strange sensation in his heart again, so Hathaway should still be fine. Dark Phoenix probably didn't do anything to her yet.
Thus, he could only stay calm and wait patiently.
He would definitely take a trip to the Black Coral Islands, but he had to gather everyone first!
Two days later, a huge wave of Legends would arrive at White River Valley!
At that time, Marvin's plan could be put into motion.
On the eve of the departure for Lavis Dukedom, Marvin set foot on Sword Harbor 1, with Captain Roberts personally piloting the ship.
They left toward the northeast under the cover of the night.
They sailed through the dense fog under the light of the moon and Marvin reached that island once again.
Pearl Island.
Back then, he had found a cursed pearl. After hijacking the Southie, he came to Pearl Island and exchanged it for a treasure, the Sea Emperor's Crown.
With that treasure's help, he saved Ivan and became connected with the Sea Elves.
Although it was a sealed Artifact, sooner or later, it would be freed with a dazzling radiance.
Today, Marvin returned to Pearl Island, and this time, he had the remaining five pearls!
Indeed, during the time he left the territory, Anna and the others had followed Marvin's request and collected all sorts of strange pearls from around Jewel Bay.
They had spent a huge amount and received seventeen pearls that might meet Marvin's requirements.
And five among them were the keys to solving the curse of Pearl Island.
Marvin took the five pearls and walked casually along the island.
Staying away from the island's frightening cursed pearls, Marvin arrived at the small pond from last time.
He threw the five different pearls into the pond and it didn't take long before the water started moving.
The little fish from last time appeared again and broke through the surface. Then there was an otter, a seal, a crab, a frog, and a seashell.
They all faced Marvin and said to him in Common, "We didn't expect that someone would be able to lift this eternal curse."
"Are you prepared to receive the wealth of the ancient Pirate King?"
Marvin nodded.
The six small creatures hopped out of the water and suddenly became six people!
They took a few glances at each other and were filled with emotion at the passage of time.
They were all great figures from the past who had been cursed to be sealed in pearls. Now, someone finally broke the curse.
Pearl Island also had a new owner.
The six led Marvin to a door in the depths of the cave.
They pressed their palms in specific spots and the entrance opened!
A fierce gold light burst out from inside as if a powerful energy had erupted!
Marvin could feel the entire island starting to shake.
On the peaceful sea, the crew of Sword Harbor 1 was looking toward the island, feeling worried.
Suddenly, the sea began to shake.
Some old sailors were quite superstitious and thought it was Pearl Island's curse flaring up!
They prayed in low voices.
Only a few people who firmly followed Marvin berated them, "Don't talk shit, Lord Marvin has never done something he wasn't certain of…"
But they had yet to finish their words when a strange yellow light shrouded the island.
A rumble came from the seabed and as everyone watched in astonishment, the whole island covered in yellow light… sank!
The island sank underwater but the seawater didn't reach Marvin.
The faint yellow light blocked the seawater as Pearl Island sank all the way to the seabed.
The light darkened somewhat, making it look like there was a huge bubble wrapped around Pearl Island. Those inside could easily breathe.
Marvin knew that with the curse gone, Pearl Island would be a seafloor Sanctuary.
These six people were the followers of the founder of Pearl Island. Because they made some mistakes of varying degrees, Pearl Island's founder, who was the first Pirate King that stole on behalf of the Sea God, sealed them and cursed the whole island while hiding all his wealth there.
Only by removing the curse could one obtain the gifts.
After sinking to the bottom of the sea, Marvin learnt from the six that he couldn't just freely take all the treasures from Pearl Island.
The first time, he could take three treasures.
Then, each month, he had one chance to take a treasure until got all twelve treasures. This included the Sea Emperor's Crown.
Thus, strictly speaking, he could get the eleven remaining treasures in nine months.
But this was only for the rare treasures.
The gold and silver and other things on the island could be taken out as Marvin wished.
But these things wouldn't be too useful during the disaster, because at that time, a ton of gold wasn't even as precious as a pouch of grains.
Only by establishing order again would these metals have worth.
After Marvin casually took some gold, he went to the treasure room.
He took three items from within that he had already thought about.
The first was a Summoner Emblem.
This Summoner Emblem could summon six Golems to work for him. With the disaster approaching, it was time for White River Valley to build some fortifications along the periphery.
But with River Shore City, the Adventurer Camp, and the Sha village, the territory in Marvin's hands was already very huge.
Ordinary artisans simply couldn't do so much work before the Great Calamity.
But these Golems could. They possessed the innate magic to alter the terrain. They only needed a steady flow of Earth Essence and they could work without rest.
Earth Essence was an item refined through alchemy. Although it was not normally too expensive, the huge volume needed would definitely add up to be a great expense.
But Marvin had already ordered people to start collecting it when he had decided on picking this item. With the Summoner Emblem, he should be able to create some elementary defenses around the territory before the disaster occurred.
He didn't need anything high-level. Marvin had already arranged for the rest.
The second item was a box, with three scrolls bound within.
'Three scrolls. Wish, Destruction, Holy…'
The three scrolls came from the hands of a nameless Ancient God and were extremely effective. The Divine Power inside was so vast that once used, even a God with a lot of Divine Power couldn't handle it.
This was a real treasure which required Divinity to activate. Marvin met the requirements, or he wouldn't have chosen it.
During the Great Calamity, White River Valley would likely be in need of those scrolls.
As for the last thing, Marvin chose a seemingly average bottle.
This bottle was called the [Eternal Bottle].