Chapter 1: Setting Sail for Survival

It was nearly evening.

The chill at the end of April in the Outer Wild Ocean of the Yuanluan Ocean was still biting.

Snow filled the sky, drifting down in heavy flakes, dyeing the small corner of Giant Serpent Head Island where they docked a stark white.

The Ironwood Turtle mechanism ship, 'Yi-16', belonging to the Four Seasons Trading Firm of the Pingyang Zhang Family, struggled to dock at the pier and furled its sails...

In this world, the sky is round and the earth is square, stretching for hundreds of millions of miles.

The known human civilization consists of four great continents: 'Dongsheng, Xihe, Southern Red, and Beixuan', collectively known as the 'Four Continents of Diyuan'.

Between the continents lie vast, boundless oceans stretching for ten thousand miles, known as the 'Yuanluan Ocean'.

'Yuanluan' is a homophone for 'round egg', meaning a round egg.

The parts of the egg white clinging to the Four Continents of Diyuan are collectively called the 'Inner Sea'.

According to the directions, the sea near Dongsheng Continent is the 'Eastern Inner Sea'.

The sea near Xihe Continent is the 'Western Inner Sea', and so on.

The parts of the egg white far from the continents are called the 'Outer Wild Ocean'.

It contains countless islands.

Among them, a massive archipelago wedged between the Eastern, Western, and Southern Inner Seas, savage and stateless, shaped like fish teeth, is named 'Luan Ya'.

It is divided into three layers: Outer, Middle, and Inner.

The largest island in the 'Outer Luan Ya' near Dongsheng Continent is 'Giant Serpent Head'...

At this moment, the cabin door opened.

A group of wretches who had been braving the wind and rain to make a living at sea crowded out, heads hunched.

Cursing the weather, they took deep breaths of fresh air.

Having been stifled in the cramped cabin for three days, no matter how heavy the wind and snow were on shore, it felt like a great weight had been lifted from their hearts.

Zhang Gui was among the younger ones in the group, looking to be about fifteen or sixteen years old.

He stood about five feet tall, which is just over 1.7 meters by Western calculations.

His features were unremarkable—neither ugly nor handsome, truly ordinary.

Only when his brows were slightly furrowed and his eyes darted about did a hint of indescribable defiance reveal itself.

He was from a branch lineage of the Zhang Family; his mother was not the primary wife and was also of barbarian descent, which meant he was not in the clan genealogy and had no generation name.

He hadn't even managed to get a 'three-character name' with a generation marker, making him only slightly closer to the hired laborers than the others.

Under normal circumstances, even if his luck turned in the future, he would only manage to become a shopkeeper.

But fortunately, Zhang Jiujiang, a childhood friend of Zhang Gui's with whom he had played in the mud, had uncles and brothers who had achieved great success.

This brought Zhang Gui's friend a bright future, and he became a Steward as soon as he reached adulthood.

This dragged Zhang Gui up with him, providing a path to earn a high salary by risking his life at sea.

At this moment, Zhang Jiujiang was standing right beside Zhang Gui.

He was tall and thin, with a youthful face, and his appearance was just as plain as Zhang Gui's.

He belonged to the 'passerby' level, his eyes flashing with naive excitement, unease, and agitation.

However, even so, as the best of a bad lot, being a new Steward, there were still clerks coming over to curry favor.

A sly-looking, sharp-mouthed clerk named Zhang Chun rolled his eyes, stepped forward to block the wind and snow for Zhang Jiujiang, and said with a smile: "Steward Jiujiang, you rarely come to the sea.

The wind and snow on Serpent Head Island in October are vicious; let this little one block it for you."

"Then many thanks, Brother Chun. I have just been appointed Steward of Luan Ya, and according to the rules, I can bring two attendants to run errands.

If you don't mind, how about you become one of them?"

Although an attendant to a Steward is still a clerk, the saying 'a prime minister's gatekeeper is a seventh-rank official' makes it sound much more respectable, and the pay is also based on the schedule of a Senior Clerk.

Working for a few years might even lead to becoming a 'Head Clerk', which is the life goal of many small clerks.

Zhang Chun's heart jolted. He looked back at the corners of Zhang Jiujiang's smiling mouth and his sincere gaze, confirming he wasn't joking.

His knees went weak, and he actually knelt down: "Thank you, Steward, for the promotion! Thank you, Steward, for the promotion!"

Zhang Gui, the instigator and abettor on the side, watched secretly, thinking silently to himself:

"Power really is the universal 'daddy-maker' tool in the multiverse. Comrade Jiujiang just showed a hint of it, and a small fry is already kowtowing.

That's quite dog-like."

He thought this, but he deeply sympathized with the bottom-tier class, who had no freedom, and their longing for opportunity and awe of power.

On these wild overseas islands, a Steward in the camp is equivalent to a government official. Haven't you heard of 'the magistrate who beheads, the prefect who wipes out families'?

At this time, Zhang Jiujiang had already reached out to help Zhang Chun up, reacting according to 'Situation Three' that Zhang Gui had predicted:

"Brother Chun, don't be like this.

With the wind and snow so heavy, let's not go to the town today.

The pier on the shore is risky, and we won't stay there either.

I heard there's an old cave a few miles away. Before Blackwood Town was built, we lived there when we were mining. Let's go bother them today."

The pier had houses, stoves, charcoal, and beds.

Although Blackwood Town was far, if they gritted their teeth and persisted, they could have a nice hot bath to drive away the fatigue and cold once they arrived.

Climbing up to a mountain cave in this half-baked state was ridiculous; it was simply insane.

If Zhang Jiujiang had said this before promoting Zhang Chun, someone would definitely have objected.

But once power is revealed and realized, it naturally generates magic.

Zhang Chun had only blocked the wind and snow and was promoted to a close attendant of the new Steward.

Suddenly, the thought, 'Why can't I curry favor if he can?' rose in everyone's heart, leaving them unable to object.

The opportunistic small fry Zhang Chun slapped his thigh and exclaimed: "I used to hear people say, 'A scholar knows the affairs of the world without stepping out of his door,' and I didn't believe it.

Now I'm convinced.

In this weather and at this hour, it is indeed best to settle down in 'Old Tai Cave'.

It's not strange for us old hands at Luan Ya to know this.

But for you to know it the first time you arrive at Giant Serpent Head is truly remarkable."

His opening caused those around him to curse inwardly, but they couldn't say anything else; instead, a few people echoed:

"That's the truth. Steward Jiujiang is truly remarkable."

"Exactly, exactly."

"Steward Jiujiang, if we set off now, we'll arrive at Old Tai Cave just in time for sleep."

"Exactly, exactly."

"Steward Jiujiang is only in his teens and is already a Steward, and he's one of the family's own. In the future, he might even become the Guardian of our Blackwood Town."

Once this was said, the surroundings went quiet.

Only the fat man who kept saying 'exactly' continued to say 'exactly, exactly,' but he was gagged by a clerk he was close to.

In such a sudden situation, Zhang Jiujiang couldn't handle it freely and couldn't help but turn his head toward Zhang Gui.

Zhang Gui immediately said with a smile:

"I heard that Senior Steward Zhang Yan has been in Luan Ya for a long time, painstakingly managing the firm for the Pingyang Zhang Family and creating such a great situation.

It is only right for Steward Jiujiang to learn from him. Let's go, let's go, the sky is getting dark, let's set off quickly."

He took the lead, braving the wind and snow, and walked toward the distance.

Giant Serpent Head Island is famous for its size, with an area comparable to an ordinary province of the countries in Dongsheng Continent.

With a gourd-shaped basin landscape, it's unknown why it's named 'Serpent Head'.

The Pingyang Zhang Family caravan walked along the stone path into the mouth of the gourd, and the howling wind and snow suddenly lessened significantly.

The group carried wind-proof lanterns and walked for another half an hour before finally arriving at their destination, Old Tai Cave.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 2 =====