Da Fei logged back in, and the divine glow of the "Divine Protection" offline shop item vanished, the wreckage of the sunken pirate ship and the corpse of the great white shark still in good condition. Truly worthy of being an artifact that can stop time.
----System Prompt: A new day at sea has begun for you, gaining +100 sea training Experience.
This must be the daily Experience point that the Navigator profession gives. Speaking of which, "Navigator" is just one character different from "Sailing Skill", that's the distinction between profession and skill, there's a real difference in class. So would Attack Skill possibly have a hidden profession called "Attacker", and might Defense Skill also have a profession counterpart called "Defender"? Heh.
In any case, the Flying once again began drifting on the high seas.
Now there's no one to row the boat, how long will it drift? Has my trial mission been completed? There's no more assessment after this, whatever happens, happens, and it's down to a real fight. If it comes to a real fight, as a Commander with nothing up his sleeve, I can only leave the fate of this ship to luck.
----A day in the game passed. Da Fei didn't sleep well last night, and having drunk some sullen drinks at noon today, a wave of drowsiness hit him. He turned the system alarm to maximum and wrapped himself in his helmet to nap.
Who knows how long later, the alarm woke up a napping Da Fei!
----System Prompt: Reconnaissance Skill alarm! Three unidentified ships are approaching you! Please be on alert!
Da Fei was startled and quickly took out his telescope for a look. Pirates! Pirates again! It's over, the ship is finally done for!
Da Fei shook his head with a wry smile. After all, the trial ship giveaway was just a gimmick. How could the system be so generous as to really gift a newbie player such a big ship? There would always be an excuse to take it back, it was just a false hope.
Fight on? What's the point! Of course, it's time to hurriedly pack up the Crossbow Cannon and prepare to bail, save what I can save.
----Da Fei hastened to the Gun Cabin to dismantle the Crossbow Cannon. The pirate ships were also getting closer. Finally, with a clang, the ships collided, and boarding began! The pirates shouted and swarmed aboard.
Footsteps clattered from above, Da Fei felt relieved as he packed the last component.
Thud! Thud! The pirates jumped into the cabin one by one. Da Fei heaved a deep sigh, and with a resigned gesture said, "Kill me if you will! I am the Captain!"
Several pirates rushed forward, their knives to Da Fei's neck, and shoved him onto the upper deck. Huh? Why didn't they just kill me directly? Aren't their statuses clearly hostile red names? Could it be that I've triggered some plotline?
----On the deck, a burly big-bearded man puffing on a pipe glanced at Da Fei and said coldly, "What crew are you with?"
Da Fei's eyebrows twitched! What crew? Is this some kind of gangster code? Do I look like a pirate? This couldn't be another trial, could it? No way, is this trial ever going to end? The system ain't no charity.
Da Fei had no choice but to respond, "I'm a newbie, not with any crew." Telling the truth and leaving it to fate.
The big bearded man's eyes flashed coldly, "Is this your ship?"
Ask about a watermelon and soon it'll be your ship! Da Fei had to respond, "I am the Captain."
The big bearded man asked again, "Did you kill the shark?"
Da Fei replied woodenly, "I killed it."
The big bearded man laughed heartily, "Drag it away!"
And so, the three pirate ships began to tow Da Fei's ship with chains on the return journey. The pirates also took over the Flying and started handling the sails. For a moment, the fleet made headway through the waves on the high sea.
There's a difference when the sailors are many. But Da Fei was even more puzzled—it didn't seem like they were enemies. Could it really be that he had triggered a storyline? Maybe it's best to ask something, although those who talk too much usually end up getting whacked.
Da Fei then asked, "Where are you taking me?"
The big bearded man laughed heartily, "You'll know when we get there." Then with a wave of his hand, a pirate put a black hood over Da Fei's head, making everything pitch black for him. Alright, I get it, you're taking me to your lair. It seems like there's no trouble, otherwise why all the talk instead of just killing and robbing?
Since it's dark anyway, might as well go to the official website to look up information on pirates.
Hero Continent is full of islands, an excellent habitat for pirates, so piracy thrives. Players focused on maritime development won't have trouble finding good places to level up. And there are several major pirate forces, namely the Innocent Pirates, Blood Raider Pirates, Blood Sail Pirates, Desolate Barbarian Sea Pirates, and Pirate King Red Beard's New Caribbean Pirates, who've established power in the New World. These major pirate forces have extremely hidden hideouts, with even the large national navies not daring to pursue them lightly.
Pirates are enemies to all ships at sea, and the forces fight amongst themselves. The fact that someone like me survived encountering pirates likely indeed triggered a plotline. Nothing to do now but take it one step at a time.
Who knows how long passed, raucous shouts and laughter came from over the sea. Da Fei's vision brightened, the hood was lifted. An island port appeared before him, with a dense group of pirate ships, and on the shore a dense array of wooden houses. Da Fei looked around and saw small islands spotted all over the place. Is this the pirate's lair?
Big Beard burst into laughter: "Newcomer, welcome to Desolate Island. I'll take you to meet our boss, Captain Rock. When the boss asks you something, you just answer honestly, unless you want to suffer, haha!"
Captain Rock! Desolate Barbarian Pirates! A major force indeed! Damn it, what kind of act is this now?
The fleet lowered the sails to dock, and a large group of pirates excitedly crowded around, chattering: "Haha, we actually captured a large ship!"
"This time Barak has struck it rich, huh!"
"Eh, such a big shark?"
Big Beard waved to the crowd: "Lads! Drag the shark up. We must skin it cleanly!"
The crowd responded with a thunderous cheer: "This shark skin is definitely top-notch! It can be made into excellent leather armor!"
Big Beard and his men took Da Fei ashore, walking through the streets. Da Fei looked around this fascinating island town, noting shipyards, blacksmith shops, equipment stores, taverns—everything. The taverns all over the streets, especially, were filled with the raucous laughter and wild music of the pianos.
Truly a tiny place with all its essentials.
Soon, Da Fei was pushed into a large house by Big Beard, who didn't bother knocking and just flung Da Fei inside, shouting, "Boss, brought you something fun."
Upon entering, Da Fei saw a man of colossal stature with a bare muscular upper body and face full of knife scars lounging on the big sofa in the hall. A few scantily-clad beauties were serving him wine, while several others knelt on the plush carpet in front of the sofa, giving him a pedicure and massage. Compared to his bear-sized body, these petite women seemed... This kind of size difference, is it even usable...
This scar-faced man was, of course, the leader of the Desolate Barbarian Pirates mentioned in the official information—Rock. No doubt about it, a tYPical Epic Hero.
Rock laughed heartily: "Barak, I heard you seized a big ship on this trip?"
Big Beard shook his head: "Not yet, only came across an interesting fellow, this guy here."
Rock gazed at Da Fei and laughed aloud: "Kid, you've got potential. So young and you've already caused quite a stir, and have a big ship too. It'd be a real pity if you didn't become a pirate. What say you, join us. I'll groom you into the finest pirate, living the most carefree and comfortable life!"
—System Prompt: Pirate Leader Rock will offer to change your profession to the hidden main hero profession "Pirate". Do you accept?
—Basic Pirate: The uncrowned king of the oceans, increasing your navy's damage by 10% per level and the ship's speed by 5%. This effect stacks directly with Attack Skill and Sailing Skill. Each level grants one free attribute point and one automatically assigned attack attribute point.
Professional Specialties: Can train the naval combat unit pirate warrior. Learning this specialty consumes one Skill Point.
—Pirate warrior: Attack 10, Defense 2, Damage 6-10, Health 35, Attack Speed 14, Move Speed 12, Special Skills: Sailing Skill, Throwing Axe, Agile Evasion, War Plunder.
—Beginner's Tip: Once you change your profession to a pirate, you will become an enemy to all kingdoms. Please choose carefully.
Only then did Da Fei come to a sudden realization! The reason they didn't kill me is that I'm a newcomer who hasn't chosen a formal profession yet, and I'm also infamous with a red name, meeting the criteria for becoming a pirate! Who would have thought players could join this hero profession; I thought it was unique to NPCs. During the open beta, although there were players who made a living by robbing at sea and claiming to be pirates, that wasn't really being a pirate, just common red names.
Now that's a problem. This is a main hero profession, not some part-time sailor. I could wash off a red name, but once a pirate, always a pirate!
I don't want to be a pirate. That would mean being at war with all the players and NPCs in the world! Although I loved doing such things in the past, I am now a professional gamer looking to make money selling Gold Coins. Not to mention, how could I, a big red-named pirate, trade Gold Coins with the intermediary customer service of the website? Ask the level 1 customer service newbie to meet up by the beach after a series of turns? Not even worth considering.
Moreover, with all the fighting and repairing, will the robbed money even cover the expenses? Do you think pirates lead a carefree life? If that were true, they wouldn't be holed up on this island. Lions in Africa, although they are the kings of the savannah, still often go hungry. Prey isn't that easy to catch. Lions who die under the horns of African buffalo are far more numerous than the buffalo lions eat. An injured lion is as good as dead. Similarly, for pirates, a profession that relies on ships, once the ship is damaged or destroyed, that's it, game over.
Not to mention, I've taken on an Epic Quest. As a pirate, I can't even enter a city, let alone meet with Duke Makar. The Epic Quest would be ruined.
In short, I won't become a pirate. There's no future in it. I am a law-abiding citizen, positively charged through and through.
Da Fei immediately chose to refuse: "I will not become a pirate." Worse comes to worst, kill me—I doubt NPCs can completely wipe a player out to level 0.
Big Beard was furious: "Kid, do you have any idea how you kept your ship?! Don't get too cocky!"
Rock waved his hand and laughed: "No worries, let him wander around first. He'll come to me once he comes to his senses."
Big Beard snorted coldly: "As the boss says, take your time playing." Then, he picked up Da Fei, carried him out of the room, and threw him away like trash, and left strutting away.