The Next morning Max woke up from him sleep and got refreshed then ate some breakfast and moved out of the ship cabin to the ship deck.
After reaching the front deck, max found there is slight increase in the wind speed in his surroundings flustering the sails of the ship, if he hasn't kept his ship anchored, he could move on the ocean smoothly without expanding any magic power to control the movements of the ship.
Then Max walked laboriously to the control center of the system and checked it for the update the system had reported.
As soon as the system informed him, Max's ship control panel displayed an additional map showing his current location and the island he must reach within a month to assist the island master in passing the survival test, a crucial challenge for everyone in the region.
Max realized that the ship was already facing the direction of the island, thanks to the wind blowing that way. All he needed to do was remove the anchor, and the ship would automatically move toward the destination without him having to expend any energy.
While he could make the ship move faster by properly controlling the sail and reducing the travel time, Max decided against it.
He figured it would take about two weeks to reach the island, and he didn't want to risk attracting sudden attacks from ocean monsters, as fast-moving objects on the water surface were more likely to become targets, and he will have plenty of time to prepare to help the island lord after reaching the island.
While traveling, Max decided to keep a low profile and hunt as many monsters as possible to gather treasure chests and resources needed to upgrade his ship. If he collects enough currency before reaching the island, he might be able to imprint all the arrays onto the ship, making his journey to the island much easier. He prefers this approach to avoid hunting near the island and relying entirely on the island lord, as depending too much on someone can either help development or hinder it entirely.
If possible, Max decided to let others handle the first imprint, as he didn't have enough time to learn the alchemy arrays. However, he planned to take care of the subsequent upgrades himself and see if he could either purchase alchemy books from the island lords or find them in treasure chests.
If he could acquire alchemy knowledge, he could create arrays and potions to sell to the ship captain without any conditions, earning their goodwill and gaining an extra friend in the process.
After deciding on his next move, Max used his magic to control the console, unfurling the sails and lifting the anchor. He then steered the ship toward the island, filled with anticipation for the bright future ahead.
As his journey started, the wind in the area grew stronger, propelling his ship swiftly toward its destination.
As the ship raced toward its destination, Max noticed numerous monsters emerging from the depths of the ocean and chasing after the vessel. However, the ship's speed left most of them behind, with only a few managing to keep up. As soon as they entered the 50-meter range of the ship, crossbows fired, injuring and slowing them down. This gave Max plenty of time to escape the pursuing monsters, hunt down the variety of creatures blocking his path ahead and haul their bodies and treasure chests onto the deck.
After opening the treasure chests, Max discovered that the chests he obtained from hunting monsters only provided basic resources needed to upgrade his ship. Unfortunately, they did not contain any props, blueprints, or books he had hoped to acquire.
Max felt it was crucial to balance the power between the island lords and the ship captains. They would only receive basic resources for each monster they killed; otherwise, the market could be flooded with surplus goods, potentially causing the island lords to lose opportunities to make business deals with the ship captains. Only by maintaining this balance of power could the region progress positively, avoiding one-sided dictatorship.
Max opened the chat channel and realized that many others hadn't encountered the monsters he had faced. Curious, he began investigating the reason and discovered that his talent was the key—it always attracted treasures in the ocean. As a result, the system had classified the monsters as treasure monsters, and he constantly found himself attacked by them.
Max managed to find balance by deactivating his talent while resting and only turning it on when he was ready to face challenges. This made his journey smoother and allowed him to gather more resources, filling both his ship's resource cabin and his inventory.
Two weeks had passed, and Max was just 100 kilometers away from the island. He had stopped his ship before entering the domain of the island lords, waiting for Sophia to arrive as she had requested, they move to the island together.
After thinking for a few minutes, Max agreed, informed her of his location, and learned that she was nearby and would arrive in a few minutes.
While waiting for Sophia to arrive, Max opened the regional chat channel and discovered that many had reached the island within just a few days, as their proximity to the location made travel easier.
Meanwhile, several others who were still in the raft stage and far from the island had enlisted participants in the region to tow their rafts alongside ships to reach the island as quickly as possible. However, some were still quite far away and would need at least a week or two to arrive at the destination.
Max also discovered that many people in the region who neglected upgrading their rafts by gathering resources ended up drowning in the ocean after a monster attacked and destroyed their rafts. Max felt sad upon hearing about the deaths, but he couldn't do much to help others since he was barely self-sufficient himself. He couldn't donate his resources freely, as it might make others think he was doing charity and lead them to ask for more help whenever they faced trouble.
Maybe those who couldn't upgrade their rafts but somehow reached the island can actively surrender to the island lord, or they might not survive the subsequent journey on the ocean to regain power and wealth.
As he was thinking, a ship shas appeared near his ship and slowed down and stopped right next to his ship.
Max walked over to the side to see who it was and spotted a beautiful lady standing on the deck. He immediately recognized her as Sophia, having seen her picture after adding her as a friend on his friend's panel.
Max waved his hand in greeting, and she responded with a wave of her own. She immediately pointed toward the island, making it clear to Max that she didn't want to talk just yet but preferred to head straight to the island to continue the conversation there.
Max nodded in agreement, asked her to follow him as he unfurled the sails, and together they made their way toward the island.