OPTC Chapter 181: Night Watch Duty Belongs to You
To test if Tom was really that abnormal, Ye Yan grabbed another pennant demon out of the flag—this time Golden Eye—and just like Swift Ear, he was soon doubled over retching.
Ye Yan gave Tom a full-body inspection, making the poor cat blush in embarrassment, but he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. In the end, he turned his puzzled gaze toward Zhang Da Ye.
"Well… if someday Tom suddenly whips out one of your pennants in a fight, don't be surprised. Just have your pennant demons cooperate with him." Zhang Da Ye had no way of explaining Tom's strange ability, so he chalked it up to "anything is possible."
"I see…" Ye Yan stroked his chin, then suddenly put on a sly grin. "Hey Tom, want to become one of my pennant demons? You'd get immortality, you know~"
"What the hell are you thinking?!" Zhang Da Ye smacked him on the back. "Trying to trick an innocent little cat? And besides, Tom isn't even a demon—how could he be a pennant demon?"
"Demons are all just cultivated that way." Ye Yan pointed toward the deck. "Even those fools turned into demon kings. Tom's bones are extraordinary—he could easily train into a legendary great demon."
Zhang Da Ye shook his head. "Even if Tom had the potential to become a great demon, why would he ever want to degrade himself into a pennant under your command?"
Ye Yan answered without hesitation. "Obviously because of my charisma!"
"Pah!"
Ignoring him, Ye Yan turned back to Tom. "So? Think about it. The benefits are great~"
Tom yawned, shook his head, and padded off to his room for a nap. Being a demon meant scrubbing decks anyway—where was the joy in that? Staying a cat was much happier.
Shark Chili also left the dining room to give the pennant demons some technical guidance for scrubbing the deck.
Ye Yan tagged along. He knew his pennants well—without him supervising, they'd slack off instantly. And besides, he wanted to observe Shark Chili more closely. His next performance art theme was "robot," and he needed material.
Meanwhile, Rui Meng Meng and Artoria cleared the dishes into the kitchen to wash them.
Zhang Da Ye went to the laundry room. The clothes they had gotten drenched in the morning rain needed washing and airing, or they'd get moldy. A normal person's life required clean clothes, after all. He couldn't wear his red tunic forever.
Since there was no washing machine, everyone took turns with laundry duty—though only outerwear. Today happened to be Zhang Da Ye's turn.
Next time it would be Tom's. Tom didn't really understand why he had to join the laundry rotation since he barely wore clothes, but he didn't complain. Whenever his turn came up, everyone felt guilty about making a cat do it, so it turned into a group activity.
Honestly, seeing Artoria roll up her sleeves and copy Rui Meng Meng's motions on a washboard… was kind of adorable.
Shark Chili was even funnier. Since his normal form wasn't suited for chores, he always had to transform into his "super mode" for fifteen minutes and rush through tasks like crazy. The sight was hilarious.
If Zhang Da Ye were him, he would have saved that once-a-day super form for emergencies at sea. But Shark Chili seemed totally unconcerned, using it casually.
Right then, Zhang Da Ye decided he would switch Shark Chili's shifts. Out at sea, unexpected things could happen at any time.
Tom, however, wasn't much for washing. His true specialty was ironing. In his paws, the iron became a master's tool. A shirt took him only seconds to press flat and perfect. Even the iron itself seemed surprised at its own power.
Carrying freshly washed clothes outside, Zhang Da Ye was shocked to see Ye Yan actually working up a sweat alongside the pennant demons. "You're scrubbing yourself? I thought you'd dump all the work on your pennants."
Before Ye Yan could respond, one pennant demon stopped to explain: "Boss, you might be mistaken about our master. His success isn't just because of talent—he's also the hardest worker in his clan. For necessary daily tasks like this, if he has the time, he usually does them himself."
Summoning one pennant was easy. But to summon more, a watchman had to endure unimaginable effort and training. Talent only meant higher potential, not less hardship.
Another pennant punched him. "Don't think I don't know you're just flattering the boss to slack off!"
A third punched the second. "Don't think I don't know you're wasting time scolding him just to slack off yourself!"
A fourth chimed in, and soon all six pennants were brawling, scrubbing tools turned into weapons.
Ye Yan finally exploded. "You idiots, get back to work!"
The pennants settled down, falling back under Shark Chili's direction.
Ye Yan turned back to Zhang Da Ye. "Art comes from life. How often does one get to experience being a sailor? It'd be a waste not to try."
"Then good luck." Zhang Da Ye, who didn't get "art," silently hung his laundry. "By the way, did you bring any spare clothes? Don't tell me that mushroom outfit is all you've got."
"I have a school uniform too… but seriously, where do you buy clothes at sea?" Ye Yan had come with a small bag, holding his gong, hammer, pennants, and one spare outfit.
"You'll have to wait until the next island. I'll loan you some. We stocked up before leaving—bought plenty of sets. You look about my size anyway."
"Thanks, man!" Ye Yan grinned and went back to enjoying the "sailor experience" of deck scrubbing.
When the deck was finally clean, the pennant demons slipped back into their flags. Years of demon survival told them—never hang around the boss idly, or there'd be endless chores.
They were right. A new task came immediately.
Shark Chili checked the time. "Almost time to set sail again."
Unlike running a tavern, they couldn't take half a day off and only travel a couple hours.
Zhang Da Ye called for Artoria and Rui Meng Meng, and the crew hauled up the cat-paw anchor and unfurled the sails. Tom, still asleep, was left alone. They had enough hands for now.
The ship sailed smoothly through the afternoon. Once underway, only one person was needed at the lookout and another to check the log pose regularly. The rest could read, train, or relax. Of course, the one handling navigation definitely couldn't be a certain three-sword swordsman.
After dinner, Zhang Da Ye clapped Ye Yan on the shoulder. "By unanimous decision, the glorious duty of night watch goes to you, our dear watchman."
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