Chapter 400: Pirates!

Life at sea is far less interesting than one might imagine.

Kelin knows this well.

Today is the third day since the *Black Gull* set sail.

Thanks to his Uncle Padi's connections, he had come aboard as an apprentice sailor, expecting to do battle with surging winds and waves, sing heartily through nights filled with the aroma of fine wine and food, and wield a sharp blade to fight pirates to the death, just as the bards described.

In reality, however, these past three days have left him with nothing but endless, never-ending chores.

Mending ropes, hauling sails, scrubbing the deck, pumping out bilge water...

The high-intensity workload left Kelin so exhausted that on several occasions, when he returned to the straw mat tucked into a crevice of the cargo hold, he simply passed out from fatigue.

It was much like that experience of coming face-to-face with a Goblin at close range—the one that had extinguished his longing for the life of an "Adventurer."

The cruel reality of life aboard the *Black Gull* shattered his fantasies about "sailors" and "seafaring."

A youth's enthusiasm comes quickly and goes just as fast.

But he was not a young master from a noble family; even though he had grown up as the second son, pampered by his parents and older brother, he was, in the end, just an ordinary person from a small village.

Kelin would not slack off or throw a tantrum simply because reality differed from his imagination.

He became even more diligent, showing a sense of responsibility rare for his age, doing his best to complete the work assigned to him.

He did it to earn the recognition of his peers and because he did not want to lose face for Uncle Padi, who had taken such good care of him.

To be honest, Kelin knew he was already being well looked after on the ship.

As an apprentice sailor, he didn't have to clean the latrines or eat leftovers like the other newcomers, nor was he ever bullied by the veteran crew.

Several sailors, rumored to have nasty temperaments and a penchant for playing pranks on newcomers to relieve the boredom and pressure of the voyage, were always smiling when they dealt with him and never lost their tempers.

Kelin knew clearly that his uncle, who ran a grocery store, could not possibly achieve this on his own.

The reason he was shielded from bullying was entirely due to his connection with Mr. Xia Nan.

Kelin hadn't gone out of his way to advertise it, but sailors who spent their lives at sea were no fools.

Ever since Xia Nan greeted Kelin on the day he boarded, their relationship had become common knowledge on the *Black Gull*.

Even though one could guess from the frequency of their interactions after setting sail that Xia Nan and Kelin were not particularly close, the crew still acted with unanimous caution when dealing with an apprentice sailor who clearly knew the ship's professional guard.

Xia Nan himself did not mind this.

If relying on his connection could spare the boy some unnecessary torment on the ship, he was more than happy to see it.

To a certain extent, his view on seafaring life was actually the same as Kelin's.

Coming from the interior, this was his first time traveling far by ship.

At first, just after leaving port, he marveled at the vastness of the ocean and the spectacular sight of the red sun on the horizon at dawn and dusk.

But no matter how magnificent, one eventually tires of seeing it.

Xia Nan gradually grew accustomed to the seascape and even found it somewhat boring.

Conversely, Alton, the Halfling with his incredibly rich travel experience, always appeared full of zest.

Sometimes he would just sit on the deck, watching the seagulls circling overhead, for an entire afternoon.

He showed an extraordinary enthusiasm for everything about the voyage.

In between, he even used recipes he had learned during his travels to prepare a few extra meals for Xia Nan, who had grown tired of the ship's monotonous fare.

The presentation was a bit lacking, somewhat sloppy, but the taste was excellent—not inferior to the food from tavern kitchens in town made specifically for profit.

"I wonder if the little guy is cooking tonight. The butter-roasted chicken he made yesterday was so fragrant. I should ask him where he learned it when I get the chance."

Pondering the wonderful taste he had enjoyed at the table yesterday, Xia Nan stepped out of the cabin.

It was early morning, but the deck was already quite lively.

Several young men, looking like sailors, including Kelin, were cleaning stains off the deck;

Alton the Halfling had dug up a fishing rod from somewhere and was sitting by the railing, fishing with high spirits.

Besides them, the three members of the "Silver Claw Osprey" squad were also up early, gathered on one side of the deck, discussing something.

Their angle faced the cabin exit, so they naturally spotted Xia Nan walking out of the cabin immediately.

Nick, the squad leader, squeezed out a smile and waved at Xia Nan from afar. Compared to their first meeting three days ago, the stiffness in his smile had lessened significantly; clearly, he had made some adjustments.

Gagu, the thick-headed and low-IQ Orc, was the same as ever, his thoughts completely exposed on his face. One could still see the resentment on his ugly features, but with Nick's restraint, he clearly didn't dare to actively look for trouble with Xia Nan.

As for the female Half-Elf Archer named "Letitia"...

Perhaps because the killing intent Xia Nan had displayed during their first encounter was too piercing, this Half-Elf, who was usually quite cold and arrogant, still didn't dare to meet Xia Nan's eyes, even three days after leaving port.

Whenever his gaze swept over, she would subconsciously lower her head.

Nodding to Nick in acknowledgment, Xia Nan couldn't be bothered to entangle himself with these people.

With a turn of his feet, he walked toward Alton.

As a devout believer of Xing Yun Nv Shen and a suspected God-Favored of the Lady of Smiles, the little guy's performance while fishing was quite in line with Xia Nan's stereotypes of such lucky individuals.

There was almost no technique to speak of, let alone professionalism.

He didn't care about the weather or the fishing spot; he just sat down wherever he found a place by the ship's side. The bait was dried meat torn into shreds from the kitchen, and his cast was so weak the hook almost just swung into the sea.

He didn't even need to be focused; holding the rod, his eyes would be slightly squinted, enjoying the sunlight, looking completely relaxed and lost in thought.

Yet, in this absent-minded, amateurish posture, his hook seemed like a magnet specifically targeting the fish in the sea.

Cast, bite, catch...

Cast, bite, catch...

The longest wait in between was only five minutes, and that was when Alton had left his rod to run to the galley for some honey tangerines.

Not only that, Xia Nan had witnessed with his own eyes that after one catch, Alton discovered he had hooked a common sea bream that had appeared many times before.

Alton muttered something with a hint of disappointment.

The very next cast, he caught an incredibly bizarre, silver-white anglerfish with glowing tentacles on its forehead.

According to the experienced old sailors nearby, it was a rare species that lived in the deep sea and only surfaced under extremely rare circumstances.

It made the little guy very happy.

It also made Xia Nan wonder if, should Alton really want to, he could even catch a whale or some other massive sea monster unique to this world.

Standing nearby and watching for a long time, seeing Alton catch one after another as if he were treating the ocean like his own backyard pond,

Xia Nan felt his own hands itching.

However, after a tentative inquiry, the other party jumped up with a smile and shoved the rod into Xia Nan's hand.

"I'm just a bit tired of fishing, here you go!" ===== CHAPTER 401 =====