Chapter 836: Sea Route
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In the middle of the azure ocean, the dorsal fins of numerous sharks could be clearly seen forming a triangle of death. They were densely packed and fighting against each other to tear apart the flesh being thrown from the ship.
At the same time, the few unlucky fellows who had been disclosed as the former captain’s trusted aides were cowering in fear as they stood on the gangplank, covered in wounds. In front of them was a sea of sharks, yet behind them were former comrades pointing weapons at them.
There was no doubt that such torture was extremely terrible, but the most frightening aspect was still the psychological pressure.
“Captain, your wine!”
Bill could not wait to deliver a bottle of wine from the ship’s treasure collection. Presently, Fang Yuan was leisurely sitting on a cushioned chair with turkey, as well as a fork and knife, placed before him.
“Not bad!”
While cutting the turkey, he was watching the unlucky fellows being forced to jump into the ocean one by one and letting out ear-piercing shrieks.
Regarding this, all the sailors kept quiet out of fear.
From today onward, they would all be extremely afraid of this captain who smiled as he killed.
Fang Yuan was already the captain of Mockingbird.
He was wearing the captain’s hat that originally belonged to Fred and dressed in a well-ironed trench coat with an exquisite gold-plated commander knife on his waist.
Looking at its design, it seemed to be some navy officer’s beloved item, though he was unsure which pirate had offered it.
As the pirate ship’s captain, Fang Yuan not only had control over the ship and the sailors, as well as the privilege of obtaining more of the loot, he could also order the crew to give him offerings.
The rules on this were basically equivalent to how vassals had an obligation to their lords. Every year, they had to contribute a certain amount of free labor and goods, though only to a certain limit.
Of course, given that Fang Yuan was now the new captain and establishing his authority, unless his subordinates lost their mind, they would definitely only be incessantly currying favor with him.
At last, when Fang Yuan leisurely finished the last drumstick, all the unlucky fellows had already been forced into the sea.
The screams had also stopped. Only large amounts of light red blood and scraps of clothing remained floating on the sea, causing those looking on to shudder in fear.
“Captain!” At this moment, another pirate came forward, stuttering over some of his words. “B-B-Butcher looks like he’s not going to make it!”
“Bring me there!”
Fang Yuan wiped his mouth gracefully with a napkin and got up.
Frankly speaking, Butcher could also be considered as one of Fred’s trusted aides. However, he had intentionally pardoned Butcher.
The reason was simple. Apart from artificially creating barriers among the original pirate team, he also needed someone who could fight.
Otherwise, what would become of him if he, as the leader, was the first one to dash out whenever they met trouble? Was he the captain or the assault leader?
Butcher’s massive body was lying flat on the deck while vomiting blood.
The only ship’s doctor was flustered at the side, his face full of sweat. Unfortunately, there was nothing more he could do.
After all, Fang Yuan’s attack earlier had practically broken Butcher’s sternum into pieces, which had then stabbed into his internal organs. It was already a miracle that he was still alive.
Seeing how Butcher, who was originally the fiercest person, was now in this state, the pirates gained an even greater understanding of Fang Yuan’s strength.
“After some time, you will all know how fortunate you are to have someone like me as your captain!” Fang Yuan said with a deep voice as he scanned his surroundings.
Currently, the pirates only had a deep fear of him since he had solely brought massacre and death to them, without the slightest benefit.
If this continued, Fang Yuan did not have any doubt that when they rested and reorganized at the next port, more than half of these pirates would secretly run away.
The method to manage subordinates was to employ a balance of reward and punishment.
Previously, he had revealed his tyrannical side; now, he should give some favors.
Fang Yuan stepped forward and saw that Butcher’s face was already deathly pale, as though he was going to be in the grim reaper’s embrace at any moment.
“Bill, bring me a pot of water!” he commanded indifferently. Such a small amount of extraordinary power is only a drop in the ocean for the main body anyway!
After taking the waterskin from Bill, a visible orb of white light emerged from Fang Yuan’s hands and entered the waterskin.
“Let him drink half! Pour the other half on his wounds! This is a healing potion I made that can heal heavy injuries!”
After hearing his words, the ship’s doctor’s eyes brightened and was soon in disbelief.
The other pirates also immediately leaned in to take a closer look.
After all, their field of work was tantamount to having their brains stuck to their waistband, where it was common for them to suffer serious injuries.
Bloop! Bloop!
After being fed half of the water, the results were instantly seen. Butcher coughed once and opened his eyes.
“God!”
“Impossible…”
Even though they already knew how frightening Fang Yuan was, the pirates around him still softly cried out in surprise, which clearly showed the extent of shock in their minds.
Next, as water flowed into Butcher’s chest, a series of crackling and rattling sounds were heard. Butcher’s chest, which was originally caved in, was actually recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye.
After a couple of minutes, the burly man turned over and crawled up. He stared at Fang Yuan with mixed feelings.
“So? Swear allegiance to me and I’ll grant you life. Refuse me and you can continue being a corpse!”
Fang Yuan haughtily looked at him in the eyes, with no sign of fear.
“I swear allegiance to you! Captain that transcends life and death!”
Butcher moved his lips. Finally, he bent down on one knee and kissed Fang Yuan’s boot.
“Very good!” Fang Yuan drew his saber and tapped Butcher’s shoulders. “Henceforth, you shall be my assault leader!”
He looked at the pirates around him. “I am a generous and benevolent person. Anyone who fights gallantly in battle but sustains injuries can receive the opportunity to be treated by me! Moreover, I can also bestow upon you all sorts of powers!”
The ceremony to become an Ocean Warlock was still in his mind.
Perhaps to the previous Donald, killing a sea monster was risky. But for a pirate team, hunting a small-sized sea monster was not without any possibility.
Rumble!
A huge commotion broke out among the pirates.
Seeing this, Fang Yuan’s lips curled up slightly at the corners.
The loyalty of pirates was a joke in itself. As long as he revealed sufficient means, he could totally build his own team with this group of people.
At the moment, this should already be good enough. Next, it would be to ruthlessly rob and obtain a glorious victory to let them know the vast difference between the former captain and him.
Of course, pirates are just like a group of dogs. You have to feed them flesh but yet can’t let them eat too much…
With some thoughts in mind, Fang Yuan returned to Fred’s captain cabin.
The living conditions on the ship were absolutely incomparable to that of on land. However, as the highest-ranking, the former captain still had a cabin to himself.
Of course, everything naturally now belonged to Fang Yuan.
Fred’s cabin had an ordinary layout. There was no order in the way he arranged some of the loot he had plundered, giving off the air of a parvenu.
Fang Yuan sat down in a cushioned chair. The first thing he did was to flip open the captain’s journal and the ocean map in front of him.
A captain’s journal was the most important information medium for a captain. In Fred’s journal, he accurately recorded down every major event that had happened on the pirate ship and even explored a few potential sea routes.
Sea routes were all treasures brimming with opportunities and dangers. Those who thought that they were simply straight or curved lines were no different from an idiot.
A true voyage had to take into consideration trade winds, ocean currents, seasons, and even the migration of sea monsters, as well as the effect and changes caused by all kinds of mysterious responses.
If any one of the items above was omitted, a route that was originally safe would immediately turn into a vortex of death.
The few routes that Fred had recorded were merely sea routes within coastal waters, and he did not have complete confidence in them.
Otherwise, he would have stopped being a pirate long ago and become a sea merchant, which would also earn him a fortune.
This was the norm in this world’s ocean.
Perhaps due to the migration of some sea monster colonies, a route that had been validated to be safe for decades could be completely turned into a route of death and cause people to lose everything they had.
This was precisely why the Golden Sea Route that led to the East had such importance.
It was so important that numerous countries and legendary pirate teams worked together to safeguard and maintain this endless gold mine.
In the past, the Mockingbird Pirate Team did not even dare to think about the Golden Sea Route and could only roam around coastal waters.
“World ocean map!”
Fang Yuan was deep in thought as he closed the captain’s journal and opened the ocean map.
This ocean map was very sketchy. In fact, it only gave others an impression of the big picture. If someone really sailed according to the directions on the map, it would be no different from a death wish. This map was at most only an ornament.
On the map, Ettoman and the bordering continent was in the absolute center.
There were multiple oceans surrounding this continent, and they could be roughly divided into several geographic regions namely—the Nightmare Ocean, the Golden Ocean, the Devil Ocean, and Star Clusters Archipelago.
Starting from Ettoman, followed by the Nightmare Ocean, the Golden Ocean, Pirate King City, the Coral Ocean, Spice Archipelago, and ending with the mysterious Eastern Empire, was the legendary Golden Sea Route.
Apart from this, there were also a few sketchily drawn continents on the edges of the Nightmare Ocean and Star Clusters Archipelago, which were labeled with dwarves, elves, midgets, et cetera.
“This world is an ocean world, and the expanse of the ocean is infinitely vast. Although more and more continents are being discovered, there hasn’t been any ships nor explorers able to find the end of the world! Furthermore, a single sea area here is practically bigger than the Eurasian continent in my previous world.”
Fang Yuan stood up and strolled around the captain’s cabin.
As the captain possessed the right to pick his loot first, Fred had indeed collected some good stuff for himself.
However, in Fang Yuan’s view, there was practically no item that was truly useful.
“This world… is a world where mysterious powers exist after all. On the sea routes where conflicts are the most intense, the frequency of Extraordinaries emerging is much greater than on land. Maybe there are a few treasures in Fred’s collection?”
With the mindset of rummaging through trash, Fang Yuan started his search for treasure.
In reality, he was skeptical that Fred would have any good stuff. Otherwise, he would have used them when going against him earlier.