Chapter 91: Boarding the Future

"These two trades are not equivalent; you can add some conditions." After the deal was sealed, Beiernadai added another sentence.

"The ship's propulsion seems to have a problem; can you transport the people on board to a nearby port?" Rekton said without thinking.

"Are you sure you want to add this condition?" Beiernadai didn't answer immediately, but asked again.

"Hmm, let's go with this condition." Rekton nodded in confirmation.

Beiernadai said nothing more; the pea vines in the room began to vanish one by one, and everything returned to its previous state.

"Go to the deck and find Ouf; he'll arrange for you to board the ship." Beiernadai's figure disappeared along with the surrounding pea vines.

Rekton and Song stood aside, while the silent Tu Ba Ge exchanged a glance.

"Let's go! Pack our luggage; we're changing ships." Rekton said.

Packing the room's luggage into a leather suitcase, Rekton, with Tu Ba Ge, prepared to go to the deck to find Ouf.

On the deck, Rekton saw a middle‑aged man dressed as a pirate, with a sailor's knife and a revolver hanging from his waist, a pirate hat with two upturned points, and a thick, full beard.

He was negotiating with the ferry staff; the pirate‑dressed man was speaking while the ferry workers listened meekly, nodding repeatedly.

On the side of the deck, a person somewhat familiar to Rekton was also seated.

A middle‑aged man in a dark brown coat, overweight, dark‑brown skin, and small eyes—the extraordinary one Rekton had brushed past at Sevia Port.

He was enveloped in a strong aura of rot, cold, and death, his complexion pallid as a living corpse.

"He's the extraordinary one who never shows his face! It seems the negative effect of that sealed item is severe; even the extraordinary one of this path can't withstand the erosion of the death aura," Rekton thought to himself.

His gaze briefly passed over the corpse collector path extraordinary one corroded by the death aura, then turned to the pirate‑dressed middle‑aged man negotiating with the ferry staff; Rekton was unsure whether he was Ouf.

"Stop looking; I'm Ouf. Wait a moment; after I deal with these people, I'll take you away," the pirate‑dressed middle‑aged man shouted toward Rekton in a rough voice.

Rekton nodded knowingly, led Tu Ba Ge past the pallid, corpse‑like extraordinary one, and leaned on the rail, gazing at the massive sailing ship on the sea, the famed five‑seas vessel "Dawn".

"Why did you clash with that group of pirates? Did they come at you?" Rekton, after withdrawing his gaze, asked the grim corpse collector path extraordinary one curiously.

Because the death aura had corroded him so severely, the corpse‑like extraordinary one was stunned for a while before reacting.

He opened his mouth, his voice hoarse and weak, and said, "No, I just happened to be in the cabin when those pirates hijacking the ferry showed up. They discovered the mysterious item on me and tried to seize it, and then we clashed."

"That mysterious item has a huge negative effect; even though I have decent resistance to the death aura, I couldn't avoid it, so I sought your help at the time," the other, seeming frightened that Rekton also cared about his mysterious item, quickly added.

"Are you a corpse collector?" Rekton thought the other looked so weak, unlikely to be a higher‑rank grave digger.

"Yes! I was originally planning to return my teacher's relic to the Southern Continent, but now—" The corpse collector's words trailed off.

Rekton said nothing; in a sense, the corpse collector was indeed unlucky. Innocently caught by pirates, after risking his life to deal with them, he then encountered even stronger pirates.

While Rekton was speaking with the corpse collector, the pirate‑dressed Ouf had already finished negotiating with the ferry staff.

The staff quickly dispersed, leaving only two people trembling beside Ouf, too scared to speak.

"The captain and first mate on this ship were all taken care of by that group of pirates. They operate under the banner of the Undying King and are very skilled at this! Hmph!" Ouf stepped a few paces closer, his tone still disdainful toward the pirates.

"So they really aren't under the Undying King? Then why does the Undying King allow this group to flaunt his banner?" Rekton asked, somewhat puzzled.

"These guys don't stick to just one banner; whichever pirate king's name sounds more lucrative, they use it. The Undying King doesn't care about these matters, so most of the time they operate under his banner for plundering," Ouf explained the pirates' practice.

"No one questions them?" Rekton was a bit confused.

"Question? They only raid ferries, never touching heavily guarded cargo ships."

"And using the pirate king's name is just to intimidate their victims; it doesn't mean they're a bunch of scum. Their leader also possesses seventh‑rank strength," Ouf explained.

He added, "Of course, to those with some strength, they are indeed a bunch of scum."

Rekton nodded, having a general understanding of the situation.

"When do we set off?" Rekton was more concerned about when he could board the Future.

"We need to wait a bit longer; the people on this ship will pay our craftsmen to repair the ferry. Don't worry, it won't take long. The ship's propulsion system is fine; those pirates only damaged the control system and the people who can command and repair the vessels, which our craftsmen can fix quickly," Ouf explained the current situation in detail.

Rekton simply began chatting with Ouf about sea rumors; as a pirate who has long roamed the oceans, Ouf knows far more detailed information than the Knowledge Church provides.

Soon, the ferry staff arrived on the deck carrying a sack of collected paper money and gold coins. Ouf took the money without looking and tossed it to the subordinate behind him, then led a few Dawn crew members behind the staff into the cabin.

Rekton watched Ouf's practiced dealings and felt that he had done plenty of opportunistic raids at sea.

As Ouf said, repairing the ferry's control system was quick; after about half an hour, Ouf returned to the deck with a group of people.

"You all, take this guy who's about to turn into a corpse onto the ship," Ouf said, pointing at the corpse collector sitting on the deck, his face pale as a living corpse.

Then he walked to Rekton's side and said, "Hold onto my shoulder; we're departing right now."

Rekton froze for a moment, recalling an ability: "Spiritual Realm Transit".

He wasn't planning to board the Dawn, but to go directly to the Future!

"Stay perched on my shoulder," Rekton warned the Tu Ba Ge on his shoulder, then reached out and placed his hand on Ouf's shoulder.

The surrounding environment rapidly stretched and shifted, becoming like a richly colored oil painting. The Spiritual Realm Transit didn't last long; the scenery changed again, and Ouf had already brought Rekton to a reef island.

After three consecutive Spiritual Realm Transits, Rekton found himself on a pirate ship anchored on the sea.

Under Rekton's Secret‑Gazing Eye, the pirate ship's sails, hull, and sides were covered with numerous intricate mysterious symbols that interlinked, forming a whole with strange effects.

"Ouf? Why are you here? Did the queen send you?" a lady's voice called out, sounding startled and excited.

A lady in a purple long dress edged with embroidered gold, wearing gold‑rimmed glasses, her skin pale and smooth, small ears, and slightly deep‑purple black eyes, flashed swiftly amid starlight.

Rekton gave the future hermit lady a quick glance, then withdrew his gaze.

"I was following the queen's orders, bringing this young man onto your ship for a while; I don't know the rest. You can ask him directly— the queen still has business, so I'm leaving now," Ouf said, and his figure quickly faded away.

Rekton hadn't expected Ouf's explanation to be so blunt; he had thought Ouf would assign him a role, at least to stay on the Future.

After Ouf left, Star General Jia De Li Ya's gaze fell on Rekton, a faint violet halo shimmering in her eyes, clearly examining him with her Secret‑Gazing Eye.

In Jia De Li Ya's view, Rekton's spiritual aura was fairly normal, but the blue, green, and red spiritual radiance emanating from the rabbit perched on his shoulder was dazzling.

Jia De Li Ya slightly furrowed her brows, unable to understand why someone would place so many magical items on a cultivated animal they kept, while she herself possessed only a few spirit‑imbued items and nothing else.

If Ouf hadn't given a brief explanation, she might even suspect that the rabbit on the shoulder was the true body.

"Hello, I am Al Tains. I made a deal with the mysterious queen to have her send me to the Future for a while. I have some experiments and would like the assistance of your first mate, Frank Li."

Rekton saw that Star General Jia De Li Ya made no move to speak first, so he began his own introduction.

When hearing Leiketon say that he needed Frank Li's help, Gadeliya's expression on her face became strange. The experiment that needed Frank's help, she was very worried about the Future's future.

(End of chapter)