The next morning.
When Avril woke up, she found that her and White were lying in a small room.
She hurriedly got out and looked back. It turned out that a simple little cabin had somehow been added to the hull!
"Wow, Captain, did you make this?!" Avril excitedly got out of the hull and looked back and forth.
"If not me, was it you?" Raine asked faintly.
"Great, sleeping in at night won't be so cold. And it'll keep the wind and rain out during the week. Great Captain, you're so nice!" Avril was as happy as a bouncing bird.
Raine didn't bother to pay any attention to her.
"Captain," Avril leaned over the bow and looked mysteriously at it, "I used to think you were mean, but you're not that cold, are you?"
"Nope! I was only afraid you'd get sick, and I'd lose my crew!" Raine said without a smile, "If you guys are done getting some rest, we'll go to the nearest trading market!"
Avril immediately became serious and saluted to the bow, "Aye, Captain! Crew mate Avril is ready to go!"
As she said that, White came bounding out of the cabin and barked from the bow, "Woof woof!"
"Hm, good. Now that we're all set, let's go!"
A small boat and lone human and dog sailed slowly across the ocean.
As far as Raine could remember, the average boat could reach speeds of 10 knots or more. Some could reach 15 knots or even 20 knots or more. Whereas right now, his maximum boat speed was only 3 knots, and he was not currently at his full boat speed.
Currently, his boat speed is 2 knots, equating to 3,600 meters an hour.
Raine didn't blame Avril either. She was doing her best. He was satisfied that a little minion with 0.5 combat power could achieve this shipping speed.
Eight days later, Raine's radar alerted him. It spotted a large number of ships and humans!
"We're almost at the nearest trading market." Avril said, "Captain, I think I'll be in charge of communication when the time comes. It might be a bit inconvenient for you in this state."
Raine naturally had no problem with this.
As Raine slowly approached, he noticed that many ships had gathered not far ahead, and a floating market had been erected on the sea.
The market was lined with interlocking roads, with many people hurrying back and forth. The voices of the people rising and falling.
"This isn't a small trading market," Raine said. He had never seen anyone build such a large facility on the sea in all his life.
"This is a small one. A big market is almost like an artificial island." Avril sectioned for Raine, "Captain, now don't say anything. Someone is already watching us. Just tell me secretly if you have anything to say."
On quite a few of the ships, people saw a new boat coming and looked at the small vessel strangely.
"It's brought a lot of wood."
"Such a small boat. It's here to sell wood, isn't it?"
"That woman is really good-looking."
"Really? Give me the binoculars!"
A sense of danger was pervasive all around, but no one dared to make a move here. The white three-masted warships moored in the distance were intimidating all the ships.
Raine looked at the white battleship. Was this the Navy's battleship?
The battleship was about 40 meters long overall, ten times his length. Its sails were currently retracted, although the tall pole indicated how huge it would be when its sails were open.
The battleship's hull is at least 20 meters high, with many cabins and a row of black holes on the side. If you look closely, you can see the muzzles of the cannons that look very intimidating.
The ship's bow is shaped like a sword, and an artillery design is emblazoned on the hull. This is the same design as the flag on the ship, which may be a naval ensign.
There were at least ten guns on the side and probably another row on the other side.
Twenty guns, what a battle it could have been if the ships had fought!
Raine thought, 'I wonder when I'll be able to evolve into this kind of battleship.'
From time to time, crew members walked around on the naval ships. They wore uniform clothing with naval designs on them. Not only that, but there were people in the marketplace wearing the same clothing. And Raine noticed that the others were very respectful when they saw them.
The Navy seems to symbolize status and strength, even if it is just a naval crew.
"Just wait. I will surpass you all sooner or later!" Raine thought in his mind resolutely.
But no matter what, Raine didn't dare to offend this behemoth right now. Because of the Navy, a small ramshackle ship like his hauling a load of timber was doing so safely. And those who coveted Avril's beauty only moved their lips but did not dare to make any moves on them.
"Captain, let's go to the mission posting location and see if there are any suitable transport missions."
Raine sailed slowly to one specific side of the trading market, where many small boats were docked.
Many of the boats had people standing on board, waiting anxiously for something. Before long, a large and bare-chested man walked up to these boats with a stack of papers. He waved the papers and said, "Here are the missions. I'll read them out loud. Anyone who wants to take on one of them has to sign themselves up."
"Transport timber must reach the Sel trading market within three days. At the same old price, 100 timbers for 1 white pearl! That's 500 in total."
"Goldwell, look here! I'll do it! I'll do it!"
"I can run it too."
A group of men said eagerly. Avril hastily raised her hand, "We'll take it!"
Raine thought to himself, 100 timbers are only worth 1 white pearl. The price for the transport task is too low.
But Avril was a veteran, and since she took it, the price should be reasonable. Raine didn't say anything.
Goldwell looked at the few boats that had signed up and casually named five, "You, you, you... the five of you go to the back and register. Someone will follow the boats."
Those who were named went happily to register.
Sadly, Avril was not selected.
"Next mission, metal ore. The task requires a load of no more than 2 tons. It has to be transported to the Baikal trade market and arrive within 2 days. The price is 2 white pearls. Four ships are required."
Only a few large ships took up the task this time. Raine obviously couldn't meet the requirements and had to give up.
"Next, transporting clay. Requesting a load of 2 tons, transport to the Mississippi trading market and finish the journey in 4 days. For 3 white pearls, asking for two ships."
...
Several missions followed all of which Avril had to abandon due to Raine's inability to meet the minimum load requirement.
After a few missions being called, the task list in Goldwell's hands was getting smaller and smaller, and there were fewer and fewer ships around...
"Last mission," Goldwell couldn't help but glance at Avril. It was rare to see a beautiful woman here. He couldn't help but look at Avril a few more times too. This woman only grabbed the next mission at the beginning. There hadn't been much movement behind her.
"This is a search and rescue mission. The location is vague, about 15 nautical miles from here. The required search diameter is one kilometer."
When they heard about the mission, many people around were very disappointed.
"Ah, a search and rescue mission. This is the most troublesome. If you can't find it, you don't get paid."
"Yeah, forget it. We'll withdraw if we don't have a transport mission."
Goldwell did not care about these people and continued, "This morning, a fishing boat sank. There were three people on board, a man and two women. The man is thirty-five years old, and the women were seventeen to eighteen years old. Take the task and I can give a portrait of the missing people. Find someone alive to get 1 white pearl, dead for half a white pearl. Anyone who is willing to take it?"
This was the first time there had been a cold spell.
"Goldwell, this price is too low! The live ones used to be at least 2 white pearls."
"The boat owner is a small businessman, so he borrowed the boat and paid the maximum price. You can take the mission if you like, but don't say shit if you won't!"
The man lowered his head, embarrassed, and muttered unconvincingly, "If that's the price for a search and rescue mission. Only a fool would take it."
A female voice suddenly rang out at that moment, "I'll take it!"