The blazing sun beat down.
Wearing only a pair of shorts, Dylan sprawled out on the aft deck in a big star shape. With the salty, humid sea breeze blowing over him, he felt just like a salted fish… one that was almost dried up.
The scout in its backpack mimic form was leaning against the shade cast by the sterncastle. Its mana reserves were still full today, so it hadn’t needed to draw from Dylan.
The sound of leather shoes scraping against the deck came closer. A dark-skinned, one-eyed burly man carrying a sack walked onto the aft deck. He immediately saw Dylan’s “performance art,” but clearly, he had long gotten used to it.
“Sunbathing again, eh, Dylan? You just never get any darker.” Tossing the sack over the stern, the one-eyed man continued, “Oh right, didn’t I tell you that you could sunbathe on the foredeck? Some of the planks back here haven’t been replaced yet.”
As he said, one of the planks beneath Dylan was broken off at the end.
“Jialong, dumping trash again?” Dylan cracked an eye at the first mate stepping over him, then sighed helplessly. “The foredeck is full of sailors running back and forth. If I lie there, I’ll just be in the way. Even if they don’t complain, I’d feel embarrassed.”
“You…” Jialong shook his head and left, quickly heading back into the cabin.
Dylan went back to lying flat, staying that way until dusk, fully recharging the next few days’ worth of mana.
He then found the ship’s second mate and requested a bucket of fresh water.The second mate was a water mage. For thirty silver coins, Dylan could get one bucket of water from him each day.
In fact, any halfway reliable ship would have someone who could produce fresh water. On higher-end vessels, there might even be a priest skilled in healing. But on this ship, there was only an ordinary surgeon.
Setting aside the drinking portion, Dylan put Puji into the bucket. Once Puji had absorbed its fill, Dylan used the remaining water with a towel to wipe down his green, mossy body after canceling [Mimicry].
Through the window, he watched as the three moons rose one by one, mentally calculating their journey.
It had already been more than twenty days. At this pace, they should reach Siren Island in less than a week.
Though it wasn’t his final destination, Silversand Bay, ships traveled frequently between the islands. From Siren Island, it would be easy to find passage to Silversand Bay.
Once there, he would immediately seek out the local information brokers.
During the voyage, Dylan had thought a lot about himself and his daughter. The continent’s situation was growing increasingly tense. War could break out any day now.
When he found Bella, perhaps he should tell her everything. He could take her to hide in the dungeon, or at the very least stay in a rear-line town like Yafeng. That way, she wouldn’t risk getting swept up in war.
With their boss as backing, safety was much more guaranteed.
Of course, letting Bella be parasitized like himself was out of the question. Never! Aside from everything else, Bella was naturally beautiful. How could she be turned into a grotesque mix of flesh and fungal threads like him? And turning green? Absolutely not!
Dong dong—dong dong—
The unfamiliar sound of gongs outside interrupted Dylan’s thoughts.
What happened?
Strapping on his backpack, he opened the cabin door and saw that others were also stepping out.
“It’s the Blood Shark!” From the lookout’s repeated shouts, Dylan immediately caught the name.
Blood Shark?
Sounded exactly like a name a pirate ship would take.
“Hard port! Catch the west wind! They’ve got a lateen sail—side winds make them faster than us!” For once, the usually invisible captain was on deck himself, barking orders. “Rowers, down! Get rowing, now!”
Dylan hurried to the side and scanned the horizon. Soon, he spotted the triangular sails of the ship chasing them, with a black flag fluttering faintly on the mast.
Unlike the Windfeather, which was still trying to organize its rowers, the other ship’s black oars were already rising and falling in unison with the waves.
Dylan thought, even if Windfeather went full speed, they might not escape. The time needed just to accelerate would likely let the enemy catch them.
“How… how are they so fast?” a sailor muttered in disbelief.
The captain seemed to realize something. “Damn it! They’ve got a wind mage on board!”
He then turned to the passengers emerging from the cabins, shouting, “Any wind mages among you? If there are, stand up now! If the pirates catch us, none of you will escape unscathed!”
The passengers exchanged glances. No one spoke up.
Naturally so. This was just a cargo ship carrying eight or nine passengers for convenience. Wind mages? Hardly. Perhaps not even any mages at all.
“Back inside! All of you, back to your cabins! Don’t clutter up the deck!” Seeing no wind mage appear, the captain immediately shooed them off. He had no time to fuss with passengers now.
Some lingered nervously, but Dylan returned to his room.
“Would a diamond-rank really become a pirate?”
Inside the fungal network, Lin Jun asked directly.
From this distance, he couldn’t see the enemy ship’s panels yet.
“Not many, but yes, some do,” Dylan analyzed at once. “For them to dare chase us alone, there have to be multiple gold-rank combatants. At the very least, the one boosting their sails with wind magic is definitely gold rank.”
Multiple gold ranks…
If that knight they killed before was the standard for gold rank, the scout could handle one easily. Two would take time. Three would be a tough fight.
And that’s not even counting a horde of pirate grunts.
Fortunately, Windfeather wasn’t without its own strength. The captain was a level-42 warrior, and the first mate had level 35 strength. If it came to a fight, they could share some of the pressure.
But still…
“Dylan, would the pirates kill everyone once they board?”
In Lin Jun’s mind, even in medieval times, only the most vicious pirates killed without leaving survivors every time.
Some large pirate groups that controlled regions even transformed into toll-collectors instead. But the one chasing them clearly wasn’t of that sort.
“Kill everyone? Probably not. But Boss, most likely they’ll take everyone as slaves…”
Didn’t the leaders of these islands clamp down on this sort of trade-wrecking behavior?
Or maybe they just couldn’t control it?
There wasn’t much time to think. The sound of the pirate ship drawing alongside was already audible from the window.
The backpack form wasn’t suitable anymore. If the pirates searched bags, it would be hard to explain. Lin Jun didn’t want to be the one to stick out. Win or lose, too much would be exposed. If the pirates just wanted money, he’d rather stay out of it.
Controlling the scout Puji, he quickly shifted its mimicry. The backpack turned into a solid wooden stool, all its tendrils retracted within.
“Quick, put me somewhere inconspicuous on deck.”
The reason was simple—if he stayed too far from Dylan, he might not be able to react in time if something happened.
When Dylan carried the scout out, he suddenly felt something strange. The ship seemed to be slowing down.
Looking up, he saw a white flag hanging from the mast…
So the captain was that pragmatic—seeing escape was impossible, he surrendered at once?
Setting down the scout, Dylan saw the pirate ship already pulling alongside.
“Nobody move!” A shout, thick with a local accent, rang out as grappling hooks bit into their railings. Within moments, more than thirty pirates leaped onto Windfeather’s deck.
At their head, a scar-faced man twirled his scimitar, grinning as he swept his gaze over the passengers.
Meanwhile, Lin Jun pulled up the panels of every single pirate.
Three gold ranks.