Chapter 9: Port
Dark clouds shrouded the sky, and a cold, thin mist drifted across the sea surface, dimming the light even further. This was the Ghost Ship Sea, a place even pirates were unwilling to come.
Unfazed by the eerie, ghostly scene, Baha crouched on a crossbeam of the mast. Bububu, however, was different; it was huddled in the lower hold beneath the deck, cautiously peeking out, its nerves stretched taut.
Suddenly, something touched Bububu. It was a Cursed Man, its body half-sunk into the wooden wall of the hold.
Bububu’s body trembled. Realizing it was just a Cursed Man that had bumped into it, it bared its teeth at the creature, as if to say, ‘You scared the heck out of me.’
The Cursed Man retreated back into the damp wooden wall, while Bububu continued to stand on the wooden ladder, peeking out onto the deck with a tense expression. In truth, Bububu hadn’t considered one thing: Cursed Men were far stronger than ghosts. To a Cursed Man, a ghost was nothing more than a meal delivered to its doorstep.
The Ghost Ship Sea couldn’t trap the Doom Number. Or rather, the reason this sea was the way it was, was precisely because of the Doom Number.
The surrounding mist gradually dispersed. The dim, yellow light of dusk reflected from the horizon. One by one, Cursed Men crawled up from below the deck. They stood on the deck, staring blankly at the setting sun on the horizon.
“My homeland… is over there.”
A Cursed Man raised a deathly pale hand, pointing towards the horizon. The clothes on its body had long been soaked and tattered by seawater, but one could vaguely make out the uniform of an Imperial Navy officer.
There were two types of crew enslaved by the Doom Number: those who had once served as sailors on this ship, and those who had died because of it. This Royal Navy officer belonged to the latter.
On the collar of this naval officer’s uniform was a rusted metal tag—an identification tag, used to prevent bodies from being unrecognizable due to the brutality of naval battles.
Su Xiao gestured for the Cursed Man, who had once been a Royal Navy officer, to come forward. With a flick of his Realm Severing Thread, he hooked the identification tag off.
Using a small knife, he scraped off the barnacles and rust, revealing a few words: Amance Murray. The first part was the given name, the latter the surname.
Besides the name Amance Murray, Su Xiao also saw a blurred insignia below it—a Baronet’s crest.
In the Empire’s domain, the title system had been abolished centuries ago. Even when it hadn’t been, a baronet held little real power. They were titles bestowed after valiant battles at sea. True high titles were hereditary.
Among the 37 Cursed Men, five were former Imperial Navy officers. This was good news, as it could be used to make contact with the Empire’s forces.
The Empire in this world had no specific name, nor could it have one. The reason was the countless islands on the Demon Sea. All islands under the Empire’s rule were essentially individual duchies. What was called the Empire was, in reality, a collective formed by many duchies uniting under the pressure of pirates.
For now, the Empire’s authority seemed relatively unified, but that was none of Su Xiao’s concern. He wasn’t looking to contact the Empire’s bureaucratic system, but its naval system.
On the Demon Sea, the Imperial Navy was the true power faction. Without them holding the front line, pirates landing on the islands would initially cause catastrophic consequences, until the Four Great Pirates took over those territories.
Su Xiao looked at the five rusted identification tags in his hand. His purpose in contacting the Imperial Navy was simple: to acquire a large sum of gold coins, and then use the Demon Sea energy within those coins to break the seal on the Doom Number.
There was another problem: Cursed Men couldn’t set foot on land. To attack Sunken Ship Island, this issue had to be resolved, at least temporarily, allowing the Cursed Men to land and fight for a period of time.
Unbeknownst to them, night had fallen. The sea surface was pitch black. A lantern hung from the bow of the Doom Number, swinging left and right, emitting a creaking sound of metal friction. The scene was somewhat terrifying.
Several nautical miles away.
“Meow~”
Beini lay on her back on the ice, all four paws fully stretched out. During the day, she had thought she was done for. Encountering an Eighth Rank Violator, in that situation, she might not have even had the chance to use the [Sanctuary Gem]. For some unknown reason, the Violator had muttered to itself for a while and then left.
Creak.
The sound of wood rubbing. Beini slightly raised her head and saw a lantern approaching in the distance. She immediately sprang up from the ice, her tail bristling.
“Woo~”
The sea breeze seemed to wail. A dark shadow passed beneath the ice. A cold energy drifted around, completely suppressing Beini’s perception. She couldn’t even sense Amu beside her anymore, feeling helpless and pitiful.
Ripples spread across the seawater beside the ice. A dog head slowly rose from the water…
Five minutes later, Beini sat sulkily under the mast of the Doom Number, surrounded by Bububu, whose face was covered in claw marks.
A photo was tossed beside Beini. Beini turned her head to look, and upon seeing its content, she nearly fainted from anger. The photo showed her standing upright, her paws raised as if in a terrified surrender.
Ignoring Bububu and Beini, who were now fighting until their fur flew everywhere, inside the captain’s cabin, Su Xiao was examining a sea chart by the orange-yellow light of a lantern.
This sea chart was carried by one of the Cursed Men. It was made from the hide of some kind of supernatural sea beast, recording about a third of the Demon Sea’s islands and sea routes.
This was a sea chart from several hundred years ago. Its accuracy was a major issue, but having it was better than nothing. After searching for a while, Su Xiao’s attention was caught by ‘Saint Eld Port’ on the chart.
It wasn’t far from his current location. At the Doom Number’s speed, they could reach ‘Saint Eld Port’ around two in the early morning. This was one of the three continents of the Demon Sea World, an area far larger than any island could compare to.
More importantly, several hundred years ago, this place was a dividing line, separating the territories of pirates and the Empire. One could imagine how many Royal Navy ships were stationed at Saint Eld Port.
The sails of the Doom Number were lowered, and its speed reached its limit, heading straight for ‘Saint Eld Port’.
……
The moonless night was very dark. The bustling ‘Saint Eld Port’ had quieted down for the day. The oil in the lighthouse burned brightly.
In a nearby wooden watchtower, a sailor wearing a tricorn hat was nodding off. Meeting his lover during the day had left his legs weak, and now he had to stand guard at night. His strong body was struggling to hold up.
A wave of coldness drifted by. The sailor on the watchtower suddenly jerked his head up, looking down from the light of the lighthouse above. There was nothing.
“This damn weather.”
The sailor in the watchtower took out a small iron box, scooped out some of the oily substance inside with his fingertip, and smeared it between his nose and upper lip. The pungent smell perked him up.
What this sailor didn’t notice was that, a hundred meters in front of the dock, beneath the seawater, a three-masted ship with dark red sails was submerged.
Su Xiao walked on the pitch-black dock. He didn’t know much about ‘Saint Eld Port’, but having experienced many worlds, he knew a way to quickly meet the high-ranking naval officers of ‘Saint Eld Port’.
After passing the dock piled high with all kinds of goods, Su Xiao arrived at a port town. He began looking for a building with a lantern hanging by its door.
Soon, he found a two-story stone building with a lantern hanging in front. Amu stepped forward and knocked on the door. After about half a minute, footsteps and a muttering, cursing voice came from inside.
“Which blind fool is it? It’s already the middle of the night…”
The slightly balding innkeeper pulled open the door. Seeing Amu, who was over three meters tall and had arms thicker than his own legs, the innkeeper’s attitude, though not warm, became quite polite as he led Su Xiao and his group to a room on the second floor.
“Sorry for the late-night disturbance. I appreciate your trouble.”
As Su Xiao spoke, he tossed out a small piece of gold. Gold had value in this world, but exchanging it for gold coins was impossible. The preciousness of gold coins lay in the Demon Sea energy contained within them.
“No trouble, no trouble. It’s already the middle of the night. Are you guests hungry? I’ll wake my wife and have her make a midnight snack for you distinguished guests.”
“No need. I want you to help me find someone.”
“Find someone…” The innkeeper’s face showed difficulty. He was an ordinary person who knew a lot of people, but that was his only skill.
“I need someone who knows a little bit about everything and can get their hands on some ‘little trinkets’. Preferably, that person should have connections with the Royal Navy.”
“This…”
Hearing Su Xiao’s words, the innkeeper hesitated. The piece of gold in his hand suddenly felt hot.
“Please wait a moment, guest. I happen to know such a person. It’s my nephew.”
The innkeeper hurried away. About ten minutes later, chaotic footsteps came from outside the inn. Shortly after, the rapid sound of running and stomping on the floorboards came from outside the room door.
Bang!
The wooden door of the room was kicked in. Three naval soldiers holding flintlock muskets stood outside the door, all three one-meter-long muskets aimed at Su Xiao.
Su Xiao stood up from the bed. The Royal Navy’s efficiency was decent, faster than he had expected. As he walked forward, he raised his hands. With a click, iron-black shackles were locked around his wrists.
“What is your purpose in coming to Saint Eld Port?”
A clean-shaven naval officer spoke, gesturing for the others to stop pointing their guns at Su Xiao. These things had a high chance of misfiring and were only used to intimidate ordinary people.
“I am a pirate.”
“What?”
The naval officer was momentarily stunned. After asking again and receiving the same answer, he ordered Su Xiao to be escorted to the port’s prison.