The fat man next to Sules suddenly stopped Alvis, who was striding out, “Hey, you, yes, you. What’s your name? Our Albatross Guild is willing to have you join. How about it? Come register with me now?”
Although he still spoke with a righteous tone, Sules could tell he was a bit anxious.
He was probably afraid this promising talent would be snatched by others.
The boy frowned, a handsome furrow, seemingly annoyed at being stopped by a stranger.
He said coldly, “I don’t want to join any guild.”
The fat man was clearly unwilling to give up this big fish and continued to persuade, “You might be too young and don’t know about our Albatross Guild. We are the number one in the East Sea…”
He hadn’t finished speaking when Alvis impatiently interrupted him, “My surname is Alvis.”
“What?” The fat man was a bit slow to react.
Before Alvis could say anything more, Chard, the sailor Sules had seen earlier, walked over.
Unlike the amiable image she had seen before, Chard’s face was now devoid of any kindness, full of authority, “May I ask why you are stopping the young master of our ‘Alvis’ ship?”
The fat man finally reacted, his face changing, and he said with an awkward smile, “Oh, so it’s Mr. Alvis. No wonder he could awaken such a powerful captain’s talent; indeed, a tiger father begets no dog son. I was abrupt just now, I sincerely apologize.”
Sules watched in surprise as the fat man groveled, a stark contrast to his earlier haughtiness.
It seemed this “Alvis” ship was very powerful, otherwise he wouldn’t have this attitude.
Unfortunately, “Return to Navigation” didn’t have information on this aspect, and Sules had no idea there was such a figure in the East Sea.
However, some things could still be deduced from that brief conversation.
Firstly, Alvis should be a surname, and “Alvis” was the name of this family’s ship, named after their surname.
To make the fat man representing the Albatross Guild so wary, the “Alvis” must be a very large fleet with dozens of ships.
At this point, Chard also noticed Sules.
He nodded to Sules, thought for a moment, and then said with a smile, “Sulia, if you have any trouble, you might be able to go to the junction of the Central East Sea and the Mysterious Sea, find any ship, and mention my name. You should be able to get some help.”
Alvis glanced at Chard, then at Sules, but didn’t say anything aloud.
He clearly tacitly approved of Chard’s actions.
Sules was stunned for a moment, then nodded gratefully to Chard, “By the Sea God, thank you for your generosity.”
In truth, anyone would know that if Sules really encountered trouble, it would be difficult for her to seek Chard’s help from the Albatross Guild’s territory.
Therefore, what Chard said had more symbolic meaning than practical significance.
It was actually a simple form of protection, telling the fat man that Sules was under Chard’s protection.
If the fat man wanted to bully her, he would have to weigh whether he was qualified to do so.
This was also why Sules was grateful to him; this protection was simply too useful for her.
Although it couldn’t truly avert danger, it could indeed reduce instances of the older man bullying her, a newcomer.
After Chard left, the fat man asked guardedly, “How did someone like you get to know him? Did you have any prior relationship?”
With the protection in place, Sules naturally didn’t have to suppress herself as much.
She perfunctorily replied, “I helped him with a small favor before. Mr. Chard is kind and remembers my good deed. Next time he comes, I must thank him properly.”
Since Chard had handed her the tiger skin (a metaphor for gaining power through association), Sules wouldn’t be doing justice to Chard’s help if she didn’t flaunt it a bit.
Her words revealed two pieces of information: first, that she did indeed have a prior acquaintance with Chard, and second, that they could contact each other later.
Sules had indeed lied, but the fat man had no way to verify it.
He scrutinized Sules from head to toe and warned, “No matter what, behave yourself. Don’t do anything bad.”
Sules gave a forced smile, feigning surprise, “How could you think that of me? My loyalty to the guild is visible to the Sea God!”
No matter what she thought inwardly, she had to maintain appearances perfectly, leaving no room for criticism.
Seeing no flaws in Sules, the fat man glared at her and stopped bothering her.
***
Two hours later, all the awakened individuals had completed their awakenings.
The small group of two or three behind Sules had grown into a large team of eleven people. They followed the fat man…
Oh, no, they should be called Lord Davey now, to the Albatross Guild’s branch office here.
Compared to the Sea God Temple they had seen before, this branch office was completely unimpressive.
It was a light blue building, probably only half the size of the Sea God Temple, filled with many treasures as decorations, but very few that could truly be called art.
David submitted the ship captain talents of Sules and a few others for registration.
After a while, he returned and addressed two of the ten people individually, “You, Captain Lenny wants to see you.”
“You, Captain Arledk wants to see you.”
Finally, he looked at Sules, “Hey, you! Captain Moss wants to see you for something!”
Sules, not understanding why, went into the inner room and saw a burly captain sitting there.
As soon as he saw Sules enter, he said directly, “So you’re Sulia? You’re really beautiful, especially your temperament is very attractive. If you lived a different life, perhaps you’d live better.”
There was no denying her beauty; Sules had been the campus belle since childhood.
As for her temperament, it came from her original world.
This water world was very different from Earth; at least, its danger level was immeasurably higher than Earth’s.
And someone like Sules, who had lived in the stable environment of Earth since childhood, naturally carried a relaxed and leisurely temperament.
This might not have been noticeable on Earth, but in the water world, it was extremely apparent.
Of course, in addition to that, Sules also possessed a faint, unique leadership aura of an upper-echelon individual.
This was cultivated during her seven years as an owner in a venture capital company.
However, as she grew older, this temperament had become largely internalized.
It was replaced by the charm of a mature woman.
This kind of temperament appearing in a young girl also had a unique charm.
If Sules’s beauty alone was a seven out of ten, making her a beautiful woman, then with this special temperament, her overall charm soared to a perfect ten, making her absolutely presentable.
Sules’s expression changed, and she immediately understood the other person’s meaning.
Clearly, this person thought she was beautiful enough to ingratiate herself with some important figures.
While this would indeed mean she wouldn’t have to toil on the sea every day, she would completely lose her freedom.
This was also why Moss specifically asked Sules directly.
Introducing someone was about mutual willingness.
If he was the only one eager, it would create animosity.
If Sules genuinely pleased a prominent figure and then came back to accuse him, it wouldn’t be worth it.
The East Sea values freedom above all else; in many cases, restricting someone’s freedom is tantamount to taking their life.
It was precisely because of most people’s fierce commitment to freedom that Moss wasn’t sure Sules would be grateful to him after gaining a comfortable life, which is why he asked.
Sules directly refused, “I really like my current life and have no desire to change.”
She used the spirit of the East Sea to persuade him, “As you know, the only thing we East Sea people cannot lose is freedom.”
“Alright,” Moss nodded understandingly, giving up on the idea.
He then asked, “Your ability is to upgrade your own ship, right?”
Sules, seeing him change the topic, breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, “Yes, that’s my captain’s talent. I can upgrade once I’ve saved enough funds.”
“How much more funding do you need?”
Moss asked.
Sules calculated.
She currently had about two silver shells, so she still needed…
“Fifteen silver shells.”
In fact, a total of fifteen silver shells were needed for the upgrade, but Sules deliberately added a bit more.
This wasn’t a lie; it was mainly based on practical needs.
After all, she wouldn’t stop living after the upgrade, and she would definitely need more crew members afterward.
New crew members weren’t like Claire, who was a childhood friend; they would certainly need salaries.
That would be another expense.
So she added two more silver shells.
Moss thought for a moment, “How about this, we’ll give you ten silver shells as a subsidy. And… if you have any other plans in the future, please don’t affect the guild, okay?”
He saw it clearly: someone who cared deeply about freedom could not always be content under the guild’s constraints; joining the guild now was just a temporary measure.
And in fact, it was not uncommon in the East Sea for people to join a guild initially and then find ways to leave later.
This was why these guilds went to the temple every Awakening Day to recruit new people.
The guild didn’t really care about those who left, as long as they generated enough profit for the guild while they were members.
This was also why Moss wanted to win over Sules; someone with good captain talent had great potential.
Moreover, according to David, the girl in front of him had some connection to that family. Such a person, naturally, should be appeased.
Sules hesitated, then shook her head, and honestly said, “Given the current situation, I can’t be sure if I’ll be bullied while I’m in the guild. If I really encounter that, it would be a bit frustrating not to retaliate when I leave, wouldn’t it?”
She was the type to seek revenge.
Back on Earth, she spent a year successfully making those relatives who plotted against her pay a heavy price.
Ten silver shells were a lot, but if Sules decided to leave the guild because she suffered some grievance, she would not be willing to forgo revenge for those ten silver shells.
Moss was silent for a while.
Logically, given what Sules said, he should have just expelled her from the guild to avoid future risks.
But he had a feeling that, with Sules’s peculiar personality, her future development potential might be even greater than he imagined.
Offending such a person would not be a good thing for him.
“Then let me rephrase it,” Moss still took out ten silver shells, “I will subsidize you in my personal capacity, in exchange for you not affecting my interests when you leave in the future.”