Da Fei recovered his senses and hurriedly said, "Miss, this is an important item of my teacher's, it's his relic… Please, please return it to me!"
Katerina shook her head, smiled, and said, "A scroll of such high-end material is naturally very important, but it will have to wait until you made your decision. However, I need one unit of pearl now, can you help me go to the nearby island and gather them within two days?"
—System Message: Katerina sent you a quest, "Gather one unit of pearl within two days". Do you accept?
—Mission Guide: The beach on Barren Islands has pearl oysters. At the same time, there are also highly dangerous crocodiles and large-size reptiles.
What the heck! This is clearly using my super-powerful scroll to compel me to join the gang! However, now that I'm under her control, what choice do I have? Da Fei could only accept his fate helplessly.
Katerina drank a sip of wine again in satisfaction and said, "Oh right, before departing, you can go to the equipment store on the island to repair your weapons and replace your equipment with better ones. This pearl isn't something that can be gathered by ordinary people. I believe that someone like you who can kill a Great White Shark singlehandedly won't disappoint me, right?"
Da Fei numbly said, "My money isn't enough…"
Katerina smiled insipidly and said, "Go to Barak's store. He snatched your Great White Shark, so no matter what you take from him, he shouldn't have any objection. Leave after you're done preparing, the small ship is already arranged for you at the dock. Don't disappoint me, or else…"
Da Fei's heart tightened and could only nod. "Understood."
…
Leaving the tavern, Da Fei hatefully imagined "pa pa pa"-ing this female pirate a hundred times in his heart! Yup, imagined slapping her face.
What should I do now? Is the scroll important or my future more important? My future is unpredictable, but the scroll is right in front of my eyes!
Become a pirate! Get back the Wisdom Scroll! Seduce this Legendary Hero! And then, sell away this account! Such a high-grade account with dual Classes, dual Specialties, plus a large ship, an Epic Hero, and a Legendary Hero, it would definitely be worth a few million, right? Those large teams and large guilds definitely won't dislike this pirate account, right?
Da Fei made up his mind and immediately logged onto the website to check the current market prices.
But once he logged on the forum, two large top posts instantly blinded his eyes!
—"Warmest congratulations! Blood Sea Studio became a member of Dragon Slayer Guild!"
—"Blood Sea Studio places a bounty on trash player Da Fei throughout the server, kill him every time he's seen! Those that discover his whereabouts will be awarded 100 Yuan!"
What the heck!! So this Raging Sea of Blood's background is not simple! He can actually cooperate with the boss of the Dragon Slayer Guild!
—"Our Blood Sea Studio's slogan is: Wanted throughout the server, kill until Level 0. Loot all his equipment, peel off his skin, kill him until he never logs on again. We only recognize the account and not the user! Reporting is awarded, killing is awarded…"
What the heck! Momentarily, Da Fei clicked his tongue repeatedly from seeing this.
If they only recognized the account and not the user, could his account still be sold? Even if it could be sold, others would definitely lower the price using this as a reason. In the end, his account that could be sold for a few million might only be able to be sold for tens of thousands! Or, maybe this Raging Sea of Blood would send someone to pretend to be the buyer and purchase his account at a low price, benefiting himself from Da Fei's hard work, resulting in Da Fei giving him back what he had taken from Raging Sea of Blood with interest?
Chey! You're ruthless indeed! It's not like I was never wanted throughout a whole server before, this doesn't frighten me! Very well, this also can help to strengthen my resolution. I'm not selling this account anymore! I couldn't bear to sell it away in the first place! What should I do if I'm not selling it? Am I really going to become a pirate under that female pirate's control?
Suddenly, Da Fei's heart jumped.
Wait! Why did she give me a quest? Is this considered a Trial Quest for hiring a Hero? But I didn't fulfill her prerequisite, right? How can it be that she will give me the subsequent quest? Does it mean she was sure that I will definitely give in and become a pirate? No, no, no, impossible. She's an NPC, NPCs have to abide by their programming and logic.
Could it be that the job change to Pirate isn't the prerequisite? Or this quest isn't a Trial Quest?
Never mind, I have no choice now. Let's take a step at a time and see what happens.
…
Barak's store was very big and also very easy to find because it was called "Barak's Store".
Looking at the few words on the store's signboard, Da Fei's eyebrows twitched. Even this kind of big beard was literate, but Katerina was illiterate? Could she be teasing him on purpose?
Da Fei entered the store and saw all kinds of weapons, equipment, pots, bowls, ladles, basins, books, oil paintings, bonsai, statues, clothes, and furniture filling up the entire place like a warehouse. What a large grocery store! Needless to say, he directly sold the things he snatched or robbed here. However, who would come and buy these items?
A few pirates playing cards in the open space glanced over with fierce gazes. "What do you want?"
This was probably the store assistance with the worst service attitude in the world, right? Da Fei hurriedly answered, "Miss Katerina asked me to buy… Take, take some stuff."
"Chey! Take it yourself." All of the pirates scorned, turned their heads, and continued playing cards.
Da Fei could not help but become shocked. That was all? Not bothering about him at all? Let him take the stuff himself? What the heck, this Katerina's words were really effective. Da Fei then picked up a sword beside him and took a look. Then, his eyebrows couldn't help but twitch!
—Sharp Forged Steel Sword: Attack +10, Damage +5, Attack Speed -1, Durability 87/120.
What the heck! This sword gives +10 Attack! Don't scare me! They actually really have good stuff here. This, this, this, this is a supermarket with free items! This is clearly the best paradise in the world! Brouhahaha, I will become rich just by taking a few hundred pieces of equipment and then selling them after getting back!
—"Put down the items you don't need!" A pirate warned coldly without even turning his head.
Er! So there are still rules to follow. Da Fei put down the sword and asked smilingly, "Excuse me, is there a full set of ballista's spare parts?"
A pirate coldly said, "No, ballista is not for sale!"
What the heck! They really treat ballista as a treasure. What should I do if there is no ballista, I was placing my hopes all on it! They actually don't even allow ballistas to be repaired. As expected of these poor pirates with no money, their playing field is small and has no future!
Da Fei was unwilling to accept and asked, "What about the arrows? There should at least be ammunition for sale, right?"
The pirate impatiently said, "Red chest, at most 100 rounds!"
It will do. At least ammunition is somewhat replenished. After Da Fei packed the arrows, he circled around the warehouse. There was still no Pikeman weapons. As expected, no one used pikes when going out to the sea. After he chose a full set of fine armor consisting of helmet, body armor, handguard, belt, and shoes, his character's Defense increased by a total of 30 points. Juan's +3 tattered armor could finally retire officially. However, no matter how rubbish the retired equipment was, there was a market for it. Rich Overlord players could purchase it for their soldiers to equip.
30 Defense was the Human's Level 7 unit, Angel's base Defense. If the opponents were 0 Attack skeletons, according to the Attack/Defense calculation formula, 30 Attack/Defense difference would reduce 60% of Damage. He really felt like a changed person now. Basically, as long as he didn't encounter BOSS-level creatures, he could still accomplish many things.
—"Are you done? Hurry up and leave if you are done!" The pirate shop assistants began to chase him away already.
Damn, although they are seemingly unmindful, they are actually watching very closely. I can't even take one extra item.
Da Fei reluctantly left the store. Then again, this kind of free equipment supermarket felt really good. However, this also illustrated a problem—the things that pirates robbed had no method of selling, even the good stuff could only be stacked up like garbage. This proved again that being a pirate had no future.
Suddenly, Da Fei's heart jumped! This was a chance, right? If he could maintain a good relationship with the pirates, he could help them sell their loot, right? Could he use this as a reason for them to let him off?
No matter if he was successful or not, he must give it a try. And before that, he must complete the beauty's quest to accumulate her favorable impression of him. She was an important character, he mustn't waste the opportunity.
Da Fei came to the dock and, as expected, there was a small ship with a few pirates sitting on it.
"Let's go!" The pirates didn't waste any words and began to row the ship after raising the sails.
Haha, she even gave me a few soldiers? Da Fei excitedly said, "Are you guys here to assist me?"
They coldly replied, "Dream on, settle it yourself."
What the heck, so they are here to monitor me in fear of me escaping.
Barren Sea had many islands. After half a day of rowing, they reached their destination. It was a large island with many trees at the most outer of the archipelago, Crocodile Island. What the heck, so there really exists a Crocodile Island, that plump shopkeeper wasn't joking? And then, the small ship reached land.
A pirate took out an hourglass and coldly said, "Starting from now, you have 2 days. If you can't complete it, we will leave without you!"
Da Fei got a shock. "Seriously?"
All of the pirates laughed loudly and said, "Unless you're willing to join the gang, you can fend for yourself on the island!"
One of the pirates said, "Wherever there are crocodiles, there are pearl oysters. Also, the crocodiles here are very strong, and there are also many ferocious beasts on the island. However, since you can catch a big shark yourself, it definitely isn't a problem for you, right?" Then, all of the pirates laughed loudly, not minding Da Fei anymore and started drinking and sleeping.
Da Fei instantly had a bad feeling. Could it be because he soloed a shark BOSS, she felt that he was especially capable and so issued a super difficult quest to force him to give in?
Very soon, Da Fei's worry became reality.
In the shallow waters in the distance, there was really a large group of huge crocodiles drifting around. Also, these crocodiles were all called Barren Island Large Man-eating Crocodile! Those monsters whose names could be seen directly were definitely those that had their information disclosed on the official web.
—Barren Island Large Man-eating Crocodile: Large-size leader reptile creature, Attack: 30, Defense: 50, Damage: 85-110, Health Points: 900, Attack Speed: 8, Movement Speed: 14, EXP: 15,000, Special Skill: Camouflage, Ambush, Rampage, Crippling Bite, Plague Resistance.
Barren Sea was where pirates were rampant, causing countless deceased to drift near the surrounding islands here, breeding very savage and huge crocodiles as a result. Their skins were hard and thick like armor, and even though they were very lazy and normally just stayed still like a log, once they attacked, the speed created from their large strides was beyond a human's imagination—no one could escape from their pursuit!
Da Fei was so shocked his jaw dropped! They were BOSS monsters, all of them! So many BOSSes together at one spot was definitely a quest scene, right? Under normal circumstances, how could BOSS monsters possibly be distributed in groups? Such a high amount of Health Points and Defense, such a shocking Moving Speed, it was definitely not something his 8 HP Ballista could handle! Even if his Ballista was in full health, it wouldn't be able to withstand so many BOSSes. One unit of pearl was 100 portions, which meant he had to harvest 100 pearls! Did it mean he would have to kill all of the crocodiles here? Was that even possible? He couldn't even kill a single crocodile!
Even the ballista couldn't deal with it. He, a Pikeman, was even more unable to settle it, right? Use Hidden Movement to go underwater and steal the pearls? What a joke. No matter how awesome Hidden Movement was, it wasn't possible to not stir the water at all when trying to swim. It was not like he was a ghost!
Basically, these crocodiles definitely couldn't be killed through brute force.
However, since this was a gathering quest, killing monsters was never the main point. Being a professional, Da Fei began to ponder deeply about all the seemingly impossible gathering quests that had ever happened in history. Momentarily, he felt a deep aching in his balls…