Chapter 126: 125 Wind Magic and Water Magic

The scorching sun blazed overhead.

Wearing only his underpants, Dilan lay sprawled in a starfish shape on the rear deck; mixed with the salty sea breeze, it made him feel like a salted fish, one that was nearly dried out by the sun.

The Scout's Mimicry backpack leaned against the shadow cast by the sterncastle; today, mana was still abundant, so it had not drawn any from Dilan.

The sound of leather shoes scraping against the deck approached; a one-eyed, dark-skinned burly man carrying a bag arrived at the aft deck, spotted Dilan performing his "performance art" at a glance, though he clearly found it nothing out of the ordinary.

"Basking in your sunbath again, Dilan? You really don't seem to get any darker." He tossed the bag in his hand from the stern, then the one-eyed man continued, "By the way, didn't I say you could sunbathe on the foredeck? Some planks on the aft deck haven't been replaced yet."

Just as he said, the plank beneath Dilan was indeed broken in one section.

"Garon, come to dump trash at the back again?" Dilan opened his eyes, glanced at the First Mate stepping past him, and said helplessly, "The foredeck is full of sailors coming and going; if I lie there, I'd be disturbing others. Even if they don't say anything, I'd feel too ashamed."

"Hey, you..." Without lingering long, the First Mate quickly returned to the cabin.

Dilan continued lying down, staying there until evening, fully charging the mana for the next few days.

He found the ship's Second Officer, requested a bucket of fresh water, and returned to his room.

The Second Officer was a Water Mage; for thirty silver coins, Dilan could collect one such bucket of water from him daily.

In fact, any reasonably reliable ship would have someone capable of producing fresh water; higher-tier vessels would even have a healing priest, but this ship had only an ordinary ship's doctor.

After setting aside the portion for drinking, Dilan placed Puji into the water bucket; once Puji had absorbed enough, Dilan used the remaining water and a towel to wipe down his green, oily body after canceling the 【Mimicry】.

Through the window, Dilan watched the three-colored moons rise one by one, calculating the journey in his mind.

It had already been over twenty days; he estimated less than a week remained before reaching Siren Island.

Although not Dilan's final destination, Silver Shawan, ships traveled frequently between the islands, so finding a vessel to Silver Shawan from Siren Island would be easy.

Upon arriving at Silver Shawan, he would immediately seek out the local information broker.

Along this journey, Dilan had thought much about himself and his daughter; the situation on the continent seemed increasingly tense, and war might break out at any moment.

After finding Bella, perhaps he should confess the current situation and take Bella to hide in a dungeon, or at least stay in a rear-area small town like Mute Wind Town, to avoid being drawn into war someday.

With the Big Boss backing him, safety would certainly be more assured.

Of course, having Bella parasitized was something Dilan absolutely refused; setting aside other concerns, Bella was naturally beautiful; how could she become a grotesque mixture of flesh and mycelium like himself? Turning green was even more unacceptable!

Dong-dong—Dong-dong—

The unfamiliar sound of gongs drifting through the window interrupted Dilan's thoughts.

What was happening?

Shouldering his backpack, Dilan opened his cabin door and found others were also stepping out of their rooms.

"It's the Blood Shark!" As soon as he exited the cabin, Dilan heard sailors on the crow's nest shouting repeatedly.

The Blood Shark?

It sounded like a name a pirate ship would choose.

"Hard to port! Catch the westerlies! They have lateen sails; they'll catch the side wind much faster than us!" The captain, usually unseen, was now personally shouting orders on deck, "Oarsmen, get down! Get down! Start rowing!"

Dilan ran to the ship's side, looking around, and soon spotted the lateen-rigged ship trailing behind them; faintly, he could even see the black flag hanging from its mast.

Unlike the Wind Feather beneath his feet, which was still organizing its oarsmen, the black oars on both sides of the opposing lateen ship were already rising and falling in the sea.

Dilan felt that, regardless of whether the Wind Feather could outrun the opponent at full speed, the opposing ship would likely catch up during the time it took to accelerate.

"How... how can they be so fast?" one sailor exclaimed in disbelief.

The captain also seemed to realize something: "Damn it, they must have a Wind Mage!"

He then turned to the group of passengers who had emerged from the cabin to observe the situation and shouted loudly, "Is there a Wind Mage among you? If so, step forward immediately; if pirates catch us, no one will fare well!" The passengers looked at each other, no one stepping forward.

Indeed, this ship was originally a cargo vessel; the passengers were merely along for the ride, totaling only eight or nine people; among them, let alone a Wind Mage, there might not even be any mages at all.

"Everyone back to the cabins, back to the cabins! Don't cause trouble on deck now!" Seeing no Wind Mage, the captain directly ordered everyone back; he had no time to deal with these passengers now.

Some passengers, uneasy, refused to return, but Dilan went back to his room.

"Would a Diamond-tier go become a pirate?"

Inside the mycelial network, Lin Jun asked directly.

The two ships were not yet very close; Lin Jun could not see the status panels on the opposing vessel.

Dilan immediately analyzed, "Not many, but there are some; daring to attack a ship alone, they must possess at least multiple Gold-tier combatants. At the very least, the mage capable of blowing the sails must be Gold-tier."

Multiple Gold-tiers, huh...

If the previously slain knight served as the standard for Gold-tier, a Scout could handle one steadily, two would take some time, and three would plunge into a bitter struggle.

If a horde of pirate grunts were added, it would be even more troublesome.

Fortunately, the Wind Feather was not without combat power; the captain was a level-42 warrior, and the First Mate possessed level-35 strength; if conflict arose, they could share some of the pressure.

However...

"Dilan, after the pirates board here, will they kill everyone?"

In Lin Jun's memory, even during medieval times, only the most vicious pirates would leave no survivors every time.

Some organized pirates controlling a region would even transform into types that merely collected tolls, but that was getting too far afield; the one behind them was clearly not that kind.

"Kill everyone? Probably not. But Big Boss, pirates will likely capture everyone on board to become slaves..."

Such behavior disrupting trade; wouldn't the leaders of those islands in the archipelago intervene?

Or were they unable to manage it?

There was little time to think; from outside the window, the sound of the pirate ship catching up from behind could already be heard.

The backpack's appearance was no longer suitable; if pirates inspected the backpack later, it would be hard to explain. Lin Jun was reluctant to be the one to draw attention; regardless of whether they could win, many things would be exposed. If the pirates were merely after money, Lin Jun did not intend to get involved.

Controlling the Scout Puji to re-mimic, the backpack soon transformed into a solid wooden stool, with all tentacles hidden inside its body.

"Quick, quick, place me somewhere inconspicuous on the deck."

The reason for placing it on the deck was fear that if it stayed too far from Dilan later, it might not react in time to any incident.

When Dilan carried the Scout out, he suddenly felt something strange; had the ship's speed decreased?

Looking up, he saw a white flag hanging from the mast...

So the captain is that pragmatic, seeing escape is impossible and decisively surrendering?

Lowering the scouts, Dylan saw the pirate ship almost alongside.

"Everyone stay put and don't move!" With a shout heavily accented by local dialect, several grappling hooks bit into the gunwale; before long, more than thirty pirates leaped onto the deck of the Wind Feather.

The leader, a scar-faced man, twirled the curved blade in his hand and smiled as he sized up everyone on the deck.

Meanwhile, Lin Jun pulled up the panels of all the pirates.

Three Gold-rankers.

(End of this chapter)