The third evening in the Pirate World.
"Are we... are we really going to rob that ship?" Genta, the Vice-Captain, sounded a little panicked.
In the distance, a behemoth was slowly lumbering across the horizon. As far as pirate ships went, its design was pure malice—pitch-black and radiating an overwhelming sense of dread. The rows of cannon muzzles lining its hull were enough to kill any desire to get close to it.
"It's not 'we.' It's 'me,'" Tsuneo decided the moment he laid eyes on the vessel. He had to have it.
Compared to this ship, the Surrey, the starter pirate ship the game had gifted them was practically garbage. Ruth's prior intelligence had been off; it didn't have a mere dozen cannons—there were easily thirty of them!
"Maybe we should just forget it?" Ruth suggested from a distance. Seeing the Surrey's silhouette shift as it drew closer made his heart skip a beat. This wasn't a ship you messed with. It was in a completely different league from the small-time pirate crews of twenty or thirty men they had encountered so far.
"Genta, go back and tell the crew we set sail tonight!" Tsuneo ignored Ruth's concerns. This system-provided NPC was great for many things, but he was far too timid.
"I—I understand!" Genta nodded and sprinted back toward their settlement.
"Ruth, can you find any more friends willing to head out to sea?" Tsuneo asked after a moment of thought.
He was leading more than twenty children, but most of them weren't even ten years old. They couldn't exactly operate a heavy-duty warship on their own.
"I know some old-timers I can trust, but..." Ruth trailed off, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together.
Unlike him, those men weren't loners. They had lives and families; money mattered to them. If they were to abandon their normal lives to board a pirate ship, the compensation had to be right.
That, however, was a problem.
Their Captain had indeed plundered two small pirate groups, but all that gold had been spent on supplies. The pittance they had left wouldn't be enough to convince anyone to risk their lives. Not everyone was willing to chase a dream for free.
"Captain, I'll be honest with you. Even if you gave them a mountain of gold, they wouldn't follow you to rob the Surrey," Ruth added quickly, not waiting for a reply.
"I'll give you five hours. Bring your old friends to the settlement. I'll pay them triple the standard wage," Tsuneo said, turning to him. He added as an afterthought, "Make sure they're people with some semblance of a moral compass. There are children on this ship, after all."
"That shouldn't be a problem, but... we don't have that kind of money." Ruth scratched his head, wondering if the Captain had missed his hand gesture earlier. According to custom, a deposit was required before setting sail.
"You don't need to worry about that."
Tsuneo watched the Surrey draw closer, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. He predicted that as soon as those pirates hit the shore, they'd buy a massive haul of supplies and then drown themselves in barrels of rum.
One might wonder: if there was plenty of booze, why was there no "pleasure"?
Tsuneo had been curious about that himself. He had spent the last two days scouring the island and hadn't seen a single business of that nature. It was likely that those types of entertainment venues had been scrubbed from the game. Or perhaps, because this version was designed for children, certain "features" had been removed.
Of course, if the game ever hit the commercial market, it wasn't out of the question that some "strange" patches might appear to fill in those gaps...
"A pirate's life like this is incomplete. Let me send you on your way and end your suffering..."
"Hehehe..."
Seeing his Captain let out such a deviant laugh, Ruth instinctively took two steps back and swallowed hard.
"I'll go find the men first."
The veteran sailor turned and bolted. Even if they couldn't pay up in the end, the worst he'd get was a few insults from his friends. Completing the Captain's orders was the priority.
Several hours later.
The night grew deep.
To his credit, Ruth had managed to round up fifteen men. All of them were roughly his age, between thirty and forty.
"I say, Ruth, what's the deal with these kids?"
In the courtyard stood over twenty fair-skinned, oddly dressed children. It looked less like a pirate crew and more like a child-trafficking ring.
"They are..."
Ruth didn't know how to explain it. With Tsuneo absent, he could only push Genta forward. "Uh, let me introduce you to our Vice-Captain."
"The Vice-Captain?!"
The fifteen men looked at each other in disbelief. They were certain Ruth was playing a joke on them.
"Ahem. Welcome to the Light Pirate Crew, everyone!" Genta steadied his nerves and addressed the crowd.
The children gathered behind him shouted in unison, "Welcome!"
Between the high-pitched, youthful voices and the innocent, cute faces, the men felt like they had walked into the wrong venue.
"Fine. I don't care how many kids are on board. Ruth, is it true they're paying triple?" one of the men asked, cutting to the chase.
Normally, the market rate was three gold coins per month. Nine gold coins was an astronomical salary—enough for a family to live comfortably for an entire year.
"Of course," Ruth nodded repeatedly. He had to keep them settled until the Captain returned. "By the way, if you have family or friends willing to board, the rate is the same. Women are welcome too; we need people to help look after the children."
Ruth remembered Tsuneo's instructions and added the offer. At this point, he was all-in on the Captain's vision.
Genta looked at Ruth and nodded in approval. Honestly, between this sailor and the Captain, it was hard to tell which one was the NPC... An NPC working this hard to complete a player's task was a rarity in gaming history.
Midnight.
While Ruth was busy recruiting a small army, Tsuneo had knocked out a passerby, swiped a set of black clothes, and successfully slipped onto the Surrey.
Thwip!
Covering a guard's mouth with one hand, he drew his blade across the man's throat. The guard, who had been boredly counting stars, went limp instantly.
Not a single drop of blood spilled. Instead, the man simply slumped to the deck.
Because this was the "Minor Version," there were no gory visuals. Players had health bars, and enemies had health bars. If you emptied the bar, you won. Even the bodies would vanish automatically after three minutes.
The reason children could even compete with adults in this world came down to equipment. Clothes, accessories, and weapons all boosted stats. For instance, the children at the settlement had a minimum of 100 HP. Someone gifted like Genta had a starting health of 150 and much higher strength—a natural-born Vice-Captain.
"Heh..."
Tsuneo crouched in a dark corner, waiting for the guard's body to dissipate before continuing.
To him, these pirates were just "little sprouts" with 300 to 500 HP.
Did they have any idea what kind of level a "Boss" with 5,000 HP was?
The Boss was on board.
[Chapter End]
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 30 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[pat*eon*com/DaoistRoeoNQ]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"