Hearing the voice, Sules and the others unanimously rushed to the back of the ship to look.
Sure enough, in the distance, they saw a white ship.
It looked somewhat like a modern yacht, with three masts and three white sails billowing in the wind, appearing quite majestic.
It was more than twice as luxurious as her own ship. Sules frowned, keenly sensing the other party’s ill intent.
Just then, she heard Adolf beside her quietly murmur to himself, “Caravel.”
What was that?
Sules was puzzled but didn’t ask directly. Instead, she walked over to Claire to inquire.
As a sort of beginner’s guide, Claire should be familiar with these things.
True to form, upon hearing Sules’s question, Claire leaned in and whispered, “A caravel is a type of small warship, three-masted, suitable for adventure. Didn’t you want to develop into a warship later? This should be your inevitable path.”
Sules nodded in understanding, simultaneously realizing that the other party was indeed much stronger than herself.
If they had malicious intentions, it would be difficult for her to fight them head-on.
The warship was fast, and in no time, the white ship had already approached Sules’s vessel.
It was then that she clearly saw a person resembling a captain, holding a megaphone, standing on the deck of the opposing ship.
The newcomer wore a common brown captain’s uniform from the East Sea, a brown captain’s hat, and held a rolled megaphone.
Seeing that Sules and her group had noticed him, he haughtily asked, “Who allowed you to fish in Siren Guild territory?”
As captain, Sules naturally had to step forward to negotiate.
She took out her Siren Guild badge and explained, “We were sent to Tian 1 District by Lord Moss. We’ve just finished registering.”
The brown-clad captain’s eyes darted, and he said mercilessly, “I don’t believe you. How do I know you’re not lying to me? How about you go invite the staff over from there?”
This was clearly meant to be difficult.
If she wanted to invite someone, she’d have to go back again, and David might not even come.
The main point was, who was this guy?
By what right was he ordering her around like this?
Sules knew that if she backed down now, she might be continuously bullied later.
She sneered, “You want me to invite Lord David, but why don’t you go ask him yourself? Besides, who are you to order me around?”
Hearing this, the captain’s gaze wavered for a moment, then he said self-righteously, “Anyway, we occupied this territory first. If you’re not convinced, you can certainly invite David to judge.”
Sules frowned.
Seeing his lack of fear, she guessed that the weasel David had likely already accepted a bribe from this guy.
Even if he came, he wouldn’t be fair or impartial.
Given this, she certainly couldn’t invite David; instead, she had to approach it from the angle of identity.
Thinking of this, she sorted out her thoughts and said, “We are all members of the Siren Guild, and furthermore, this Tian 1 District has been assigned to me by Lord Moss. I’d like to know what authority you have to openly accuse me here.”
The other party seemed not to have expected Sules to be so calm and insistent on this point.
He immediately became somewhat flustered, feigning impatience.
“Alright, alright! Since you’ve shown our guild’s badge, I’ll tentatively believe you…”
“Oh, don’t bother,” Sules directly interrupted him.
“You believe me, but I don’t believe you. Either give me an explanation, or we’ll go to headquarters together for an explanation.”
The “headquarters” she referred to was not the small island managing this sea area, but the true East Sea Continent.
The captain licked his dry lips, clearly not expecting Sules’s attitude to be so resolute.
He cowered somewhat, hurriedly turning to leave.
“We don’t want to waste so much time with you. Let’s go!”
Sules was about to declare victory and close the matter, but then, Adolf beside her casually lowered his gaze and said, “That guy, heh, is utterly unpopular.”
Sules paused, not understanding Adolf’s meaning.
She looked up again at the opposing captain’s retreating figure, suddenly her eyes widened, and she understood something.
She immediately said loudly, “When the guild holds its general meeting, I will definitely ask your captain what this is all about! I imagine it’ll be easy to find out who your captain is, given your ship’s unique design.”
The figure’s movement halted, frozen in place.
After a few seconds, he turned around, feigning composure.
“You… what nonsense are you talking about? I am the captain of this ship!”
Seeing his reaction, Sules knew she had guessed correctly.
Her aura immediately strengthened, and she curved her lips.
“You are indeed the captain of this ship, but this ship isn’t yours, is it? Am I right? You’re an employed captain?”
The Reveal of the Employed Captain An employed captain was still a captain, but lacking their own ship, they became an employee, tied to a captain with a spare ship, becoming their employed captain.
Their status was the same as that of a regular crew member, and the binding method was also the same.
The only difference was that only a captain could serve as an employed captain; someone who wasn’t a captain, even with authorization from a true captain, couldn’t operate the ship.
Sules realized the other party was an employed captain and not the true captain thanks to Adolf’s hint. Indeed, how could a ship with a captain not have any sailors?
The other party had been arguing with her for so long.
If he had sailors on board, they would surely have come out to support their captain, just like her own crew.
But no one had come out yet, indicating that there were no other crew members on that ship.
Such a ship couldn’t be a main vessel; it was most likely a branch ship with only an employed captain assigned to operate it and complete tasks.
“So what if I’m an employed captain?” the brown-clad captain said self-righteously.
“Although I’m an employed captain, I’m here with authorization from our captain.”
Sules seized the initiative, saying mercilessly, “Your captain authorized you to sail in this sea area, but did they authorize you to question other captains, or even try to extort them?”
The brown-clad captain clearly had his excuse ready.
“I’m a patrol ship in this area. Questioning suspicious captains is my duty. As for extortion, I haven’t done any of that; don’t falsely accuse me.”
Sules sneered, “You haven’t said it to me yet, but you’ve certainly said it to other captains. You know what? I’m going to tour this sea area, gather all the captains you’ve extorted, and take them to your main ship’s owner. What kind of reaction do you think your owner will have?”
The brown-clad captain’s face changed.
He hadn’t expected Sules to come up with such a method so quickly.
His face turned from red to green, then to white, as he continuously pondered what to do.
In fact, he already regretted it.
He shouldn’t have provoked such a formidable individual.
If he had known this captain was so cunning, he would never have dared to cause trouble!
What to do now?
If he didn’t admit it, and she really went to his owner, his career would be over.
But if he admitted it, who knew if the other party would demand an exorbitant sum and extort him severely.
After a long silence, the brown-clad captain finally chose to back down resignedly.
“Tell me, what do you want? This time, I’ve fallen into your trap. I’m at your mercy.”
Although Annabella, beside Sules, didn’t fully understand the situation, seeing the other party reluctantly back down immediately excited her.
She said to Sules, “Captain, don’t let him go! That guy was so excessive earlier; you must teach him a good lesson!”
Ryder also said haughtily, “This captain is so arrogant and dared to be rude to you. Captain, you must extort him well!”
Sam, however, noticed the words “employed captain” from Sules, realizing that the other party was likely someone operating a branch ship and taking advantage of the true captain’s absence to throw their weight around.
But if even a branch ship was of this level, how powerful must the main ship be!
He leaned in and whispered to Sules, “Captain, the other party’s identity is probably not simple. Since we haven’t suffered any loss, why don’t we just let it go?”
Sules frowned, and before she could say anything, she heard Claire whisper on her other side, “Just get some supplies from their ship. Didn’t you say you lacked iron ore earlier? There must be a lot on this kind of ship; you can really fleece him.”
The five people offered chaotic suggestions, making Sules’s head spin.
She noticed that amid the noisy suggestions, Adolf, who had initially pointed out the problem, was now nonchalantly standing by with his arms crossed, observing, clearly wanting to see her decision.
Sules took a deep breath, gestured to her crew, whose expressions varied, to calm down, and then looked up at the brown-clad captain with a disdainful smile.
“Did you show me any respect just now?”
She had no intention of following Ryan’s advice.
The brown-clad captain’s face was very unpleasant, knowing that this matter likely wouldn’t end well.
He had originally intended to take advantage of his captain’s absence, using his powerful warship to intimidate these smaller captains and make them panic, thereby gaining concessions.
He had always done this before, and it had always worked.
Many small captains, to avoid trouble, would choose to swallow their pride.
But he never expected Sules to remain composed in the face of danger and quickly find a loophole to counterattack.
He took a deep breath to calm himself.
“Then what do you want?”
Sules asked, “How about this, you answer a few questions for me first. First, what’s your name, and clearly state your identity?”
The captain said, “My name is Mark. My owner is a high-ranking official in the Siren Guild, and this ship of mine is responsible for patrolling this area.”
“Then where are the other crew members on your ship? Why are you alone on the ship?”
Mark scratched his head.
“Generally, no one causes trouble in our guild’s sea area. Patrols are just routine, so there’s no need to waste manpower. I was sent here because there was nothing else to do.”
Of course, another reason was that he was relatively unskilled and couldn’t handle larger tasks.
However, Mark refused to state this reason.
So that’s how it is, Sules nodded.
“For patrols, do you just need to ensure the safety of this sea area? Are there any other tasks or rights?”
Mark replied, “Yes, I’m also responsible for clearing out any potential sea monsters, prohibiting others from entering restricted zones, resolving disputes in this sea area, and so on.”
That could be useful.
Sules thoughtfully lowered her gaze and considered for a while before deciding.
“How about this, I won’t make things difficult for you. I know it’ll be hard for you to explain going back without supplies, so I won’t ask for your supplies.”
Mark’s face lit up, but before he could thank her, Sules continued, “But first, you have to give me five silver shells for emotional damages. Then, if I have any disputes with others later, you must unconditionally help me. And be on call to help me with transportation.”
“I understand the first two, but what does the last one mean?”
Mark had already relaxed considerably after hearing Sules say she didn’t want his supplies.
He asked with some confusion.
Sules explained, “It means helping me transport the things we catch to the island for mission completion, or, when needed, helping me sell them on trading ships.”
Tian 1 District was not close to the central island; it would take at least two hours to sail there.
In that time, they could cast their nets twice.
Mark hesitated, then readily nodded.
Sules only asking for such a request was already a very unexpected pleasant surprise for him.
Mark had been prepared for Sules to demand an exorbitant sum, for him to suffer a major financial loss, or even for him to simply give up and confess his mistakes to his captain.
He never expected the other party to only make such a request, which wouldn’t cause him too much loss.
Five silver shells were indeed a significant amount for Mark, but it was actually only two months’ salary for him.
Moreover, he had earned a lot of money through extortion during this period, so he could certainly afford five silver shells.
Compared to losing his job, losing this money to keep his job was completely acceptable to him.
As for the other two demands—helping Sules resolve disputes was mostly just a matter of his word anyway.
His reputation wasn’t great due to his previous actions, so he didn’t mind it getting a little worse.
Transporting things, while somewhat time-consuming, was part of his patrol route anyway, so it wasn’t a violation and didn’t cause him any loss.
Having thought it through, Mark decisively nodded.
“Alright, then it’s a deal. I’ll do as you say, and you can’t report me to the captain.”
Sules gave an OK gesture.
“Don’t worry, it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. As long as you keep your word, of course, I have no need to report you. Of course, you also shouldn’t continue that business. There aren’t that many fools in this world; you’ll crash and burn sooner or later.”
Mark nodded vigorously.
In fact, even if Sules hadn’t said anything, he wouldn’t have dared to continue.
Just being discovered by Sules alone had cost him nearly half of his recent earnings.
If it happened again, he would truly be working for others for free.
After the money was transferred, the two exchanged contact information for their ships.
This was something unique to this world, a blessing from the Sea God. Every ship had a number similar to a phone number that could be exchanged for communication.
However, this function could only be used from the ship’s cockpit to contact another ship.
Crew Reactions After Mark sailed away, Sules relaxed and stretched, then looked at the others on the ship.
“Alright, don’t just stand there, aren’t you going to get to work?”
Annabella was quite straightforward and directly stopped Sules, asking, “Captain, why did you only ask for so little? I could tell that Mark breathed a sigh of relief when he heard you only wanted five silver shells. I feel like we lost out.”
Ryder echoed beside her, “Exactly! Captain, you’re too soft-hearted!”
Sules almost laughed in exasperation.
Annabella and Ryder were both the type to say whatever was on their minds.
But the reason Ryder was so much more annoying than Annabella was that he didn’t know how to speak and completely lacked foresight.
She had realized this several times.
Although Annabella and Ryder asked similar questions, Ryder always managed to step on a landmine with pinpoint accuracy.
To be honest, this was also a skill, just one that tended to offend people.
She lowered her face and glanced at Ryder.
“Watch your wording, Ryder Wilson.”
This was Ryder’s full name.
As soon as he heard Sules call him that, Ryder’s initial dissatisfaction immediately subsided, replaced by a somewhat panicked expression.
After all, Sules was a captain, and her crew members had an instinctive reverence for their captain.
Ryan saw Ryder’s mistake and how he angered the captain.
He immediately stepped in front of his brother and apologized.
“Sorry, Captain, Ryder just doesn’t know how to talk. He didn’t mean any harm.”
Sules gave him a faint glance.
“This is the countless time you’ve apologized since coming aboard. I don’t expect it to be the last, but I hope the frequency can be reduced.”
Ryan nodded awkwardly.
“Certainly, certainly.”
Sules then shifted her gaze and explained to Annabella, “I didn’t want to completely offend him. If you really push his limits with demands, and genuinely anger him, it wouldn’t be good to have a lose-lose situation.”
Annabella nodded, half-understanding.
For her, matters involving social etiquette and requiring thought were entirely beyond her scope.
After she finished speaking, Claire asked with some confusion, “Then why didn’t you ask for the iron ore you really need? Iron is hard to buy, and you have to go all the way to the mainland for it.”
Sules smiled.
“You just said iron ore is hard to buy. If it’s hard for us to buy, it’s just as hard for Mark to buy. If I took the iron ore, how would he make up for that shortfall?”
“But what does that have to do with us?”
Annabella interjected.
Sules saw that Claire was already deep in thought, clearly getting an idea, and nodded with satisfaction.
She then turned to Annabella.
“When Claire figures it out, let her explain it to you.”
A short while later, Claire looked up, enlightened.
“Oh! I get it! Even though you discovered Mark’s malicious act of throwing his weight around, you don’t intend for Mark’s owner to discover it.”
Sules gave her a thumbs-up.
“Exactly!”
Annabella blinked, finally understanding.
“Oh! You were afraid that if Mark’s owner found out, you wouldn’t get any benefits, so you specifically considered Mark’s interests!”
Sules and Claire exchanged glances and burst out laughing simultaneously.
Annabella looked puzzled.
“What are you laughing at? Was I wrong?”
Adolf, already feeling a bit bored, stepped towards the deck.
As he passed Annabella, he slowly said, “Your brain, it’s very ‘Martial Artist’.”
(Low emotional intelligence: Are you brainless? High emotional intelligence: Your brain is very ‘Martial Artist’.)
Annabella didn’t understand, but she knew she had probably been insulted.
Indignantly, she rolled up her sleeves, ready to argue, but Sules and Claire, stifling their laughter, held her back.
Sules explained, “You weren’t wrong, just incomplete. I was indeed afraid of not getting that benefit, but I was even more afraid of offending Mark’s owner.”
She smiled helplessly.
“Although Mark was unkind first, my subsequent extortionate actions would also be enough to displease his owner. He might not directly trouble me, but for a big shot of that level, just a few words would be enough to make my path difficult.”
Annabella finally reacted, collapsing to her knees, holding her head in despair.
“You guys’ mind games are too deep! Who can think that far ahead!”
Sules patted her head.
Annabella, a full 1.7 meters tall, somehow seemed only 1.5 meters at this moment.
Sules said with a half-truthful smile, “Ever heard of ‘one strong force subdues ten skills’? If your martial prowess is strong enough, maybe you won’t need to worry about these things.”
Annabella nodded vigorously at this, rubbing her head against Sules’s hand.
“Captain, don’t worry! I’ll definitely train hard with Claire! Then, when you point, we’ll strike, and we won’t have to consider anyone else!”
This was a beautiful wish.
Sules smiled and nodded, gently patting her head.
“Alright, get busy, today’s task isn’t done yet.”
After she finished, she and Claire walked towards the deck. Claire walked beside her, smiling.
“We should have some peace and quiet for a while now.”
Sules thought the same, so her steps lightened.
A smile also appeared on her face.
“Yes, all we need to do now is fish in this sea area. Let’s go see how those two fishermen are doing.”
Fishing and Its Results On the deck, Ryan and Adolf had both prepared their nets and were about to cast them.
They had arrived just in time.
There were generally two methods for offshore fishing: trawling and casting nets.
Her ship was slow and small, making trawling very inconvenient.
So, they could only use the most primitive method of casting nets.
Adolf casually looked at the sea, fiddled with the net in his hands, then stood at the very edge of the deck.
With a strong exertion, a net of a full ten square meters was flung out, spreading smoothly on the surface of the sea, then slowly sinking.
Casting a net was a technical skill.
First, the force required to throw the net was considerable.
Second, the area covered by the cast had to be as large as possible to catch more fish.
Clearly, in these aspects, Adolf had achieved near perfection.
After casting his net, he was not out of breath or flushed.
He brushed the dust off his hands, leisurely finished up, then unfolded the folding bed and lay down in one go.
Pulling his straw hat down, he clearly intended to fall asleep.
Suddenly, he looked up and said to Sules, “Captain, could you get me a bottle of wine?”
Claire frowned, instinctively repulsed by Adolf ordering the captain around.
Just as she was about to speak, Sules stopped her.
“It’s alright, he helped me once before, so it’s reasonable for me to get him wine.”
With that, Sules naturally went to the kitchen to get a cup and scooped out some sea barley wine from the barrel.
This wine was brewed from sea barley found in the ocean, and its taste was similar to beer on Earth.
Because it was cheap and low in alcohol content, most ships kept some for celebrating catches or using as a beverage.
She returned with the cup and handed it to Adolf.
“Thank you this time.”
If not for Adolf’s reminder, she would have missed such a great opportunity to extort money.
As for Ryan, unlike Adolf’s effortless skill, he, who hadn’t truly been out to sea many times, hadn’t even cast his net well.
In fact, he usually used a five-square-meter net, but seeing Adolf use a ten-square-meter one, he put on a brave front and took the same size net.
After all, if Adolf, a perpetually drunk beggar, could handle a ten-square-meter net, Ryan’s pride simply wouldn’t allow him to be inferior in this regard.
However, Ryan could barely manage to throw even a five-square-meter net.
The moment he flung the ten-square-meter net, he realized something was wrong.
He hadn’t unfurled it at all, and because the net was too heavy, he almost got pulled overboard himself.
The fishing net hit the sea with a “thud.”
Adolf, nearby, noticed this scene and scoffed.
Ryan pursed his lips and said nothing, merely staring at the sea, praying the net would somehow spread out in the water.
Sules didn’t know any of this at the time.
She only found out half an hour later, when the two retrieved their nets.
Adolf retrieved his first.
With a strong pull of both hands, he single-handedly dragged the net up.
It was bulging, full of lively, jumping fish.
The net of fish Sules had caught earlier was already a lot, almost unbelievably lucky.
But Adolf’s net was not only larger than theirs but also more bulging; clearly, it contained an incredible amount of fish.
Sules immediately beamed with delight, very pleased with Adolf’s performance.
It was well worth the effort she spent recruiting him; he was indeed a great asset.
Claire and the others were also full of surprise, not expecting this drunkard to be so formidable.
Because Ryan and Adolf were in competition, Ryder, seeing Adolf pull up so much, muttered sourly, “It’s just good luck, what’s so great about it? My brother is definitely stronger than him!”
Meanwhile, Ryan also began to pull.
As he pulled, his expression immediately showed a hint of hope, and he turned to call Ryder.
“Ryder! Come help me pull the net!”
Ryder, hearing this, was also delighted, cheerfully responded, and went to help.
The two brothers pulled together, finally dragging the net up.
However, as the net came up, everyone fell silent.
Because there was nothing good inside, only two or three small fish, a stark contrast to the full net of lively fish beside it.
Sules’s face, which had been full of smiles, couldn’t help but fall at this sight.
She walked over to the net, lowering her head and staring at it in silence, under Ryan’s anxious gaze.
For a moment, no one spoke.
An atmosphere of impending storm hung over the ship.
After a long pause, Sules looked up, her expression calm and devoid of emotion, and asked, “Who’s going to explain to me what happened here?”