Hearing his words, Sules showed an unsurprised expression.
She had already guessed that, under the pressure brought by those crew members, Xiao would not be able to hold out and would choose to show weakness to her.
Sules snapped her fingers, producing the contract she had prepared long ago, “Here, take a look at this contract. Is there anything you want to change?”
Seeing Sules bring out the contract so quickly, Xiao naturally understood that she had foreseen this situation from the very beginning.
He gave a bitter smile and took the contract, reading it carefully.
The contract was simple: Sules would give him one percent of the monthly income as his wages, while Xiao would be required to fully obey her decisions.
This kind of contract was a first for Xiao.
Though he had never seen a binding contract before, he at least knew that most contracts set a fixed wage, which could be changed in the future.
But like Sules—using a percentage of the ship’s profits as wages—he truly had never seen before.
However, in Sules’ eyes, such a contract was quite common, since this was essentially a shareholding system, making the bond between shareholder and company even tighter.
This was what it truly meant to share honor and loss together.
Xiao asked curiously, “What does this percentage system mean?”
Sules explained, “For example, if this month, the Twin Rudders earns one Silver Shell, then I’ll give you one Copper Shell.”
Xiao was a businessman to begin with, so he was naturally even more sensitive when it came to profits.
Upon hearing this, his eyes lit up, “This method is great! Once and for all. It guarantees the income of us hired captains, and also strengthens our loyalty.”
Although binding means sharing honor and loss, once bound, regardless of whether the master is alive or not, one can no longer sign with another captain.
And no matter if it’s mental or physical, the one who is bound will suffer heavy damage.
But as long as the profit is enough, betrayal is still possible.
With a contract like Sules’, it can greatly prevent the bound from betraying.
Sules smiled and nodded, “Exactly. Once you sign, I’ll tell you our next plan.”
Xiao nodded.
Because of this contract, his confidence in Sules increased greatly.
Hearing this, he no longer hesitated, directly signed his name and seal, and officially became Sules’ bound crew member.
Sules asked, “By the way, what is your captain’s talent?”
Xiao replied, “My captain’s talent is Sea Vortex Teleportation. I can set up a teleportation array anywhere on the ship, and from the ship, teleport to different places.”
Sules’ eyes widened.
That was an amazing skill.
“Then why didn’t you just use that skill to escape? Surely you already set it up on the ship, right?”
Xiao sighed, “My skill is only level 2. After teleporting once, I need to recover for a month before I can teleport again. Not long ago, we just used this ability because of a sea monster.”
Sules suddenly understood, and looked at him with some sympathy.
This guy really had all the bad luck pile up at once.
“Tell me the details of your ability, I might be able to use it.”
Xiao nodded, “I can only create a vortex within fifty meters. In other words, there can only be one on a ship. Then, a level 2 vortex lasts for two minutes in total. During those two minutes, jumping into the vortex can teleport you to my other vortex. But I can’t control who jumps in during that time, nor can I close the vortex.”
“That’s more than enough.”
Sules couldn’t help but smile.
“Later, set up a vortex on my ship. That way, our two ships can be connected.”
Xiao nodded, “No problem.”
Sules continued, “Now, let me tell you my plan. I don’t intend to change your original plan. You’ll still operate as a merchant ship.”
Xiao said, “So I’ll do business, and you’ll provide me with resources and funding?”
Sules nodded, “But I won’t provide it openly. Instead, I’ll support you from behind the scenes. On the surface, the two of us will be completely unrelated ships.”
Xiao was stunned, “Why? Besides, we’ve already been sailing together for a month. The guild must have already received word.”
“You should understand the saying ‘the tall tree catches the wind.’ I’m just a level 2 small ship, yet I already have a vice-captain. Of course people will be jealous. And don’t you think playing the pig to eat the tiger is much more interesting?”
Sules answered his first question with a smile, then slowly continued, “As for the guild already knowing about our cooperation… as long as we make them think we’ve split, isn’t that enough?”
Xiao looked at her with admiration and asked, “How do you plan to do that?”
Sules looked meaningfully toward the sea outside the window, and after a long pause replied, “First, we have to solve our troubles. Let’s use their own tricks against them.”
“I really misjudged you!”
Suddenly, a loud noise caught the attention of Claire and the others.
They rushed over to see Xiao, his face flushed red, hair standing on end, angrily pointing at the open door of the cockpit and cursing loudly.
Sules walked out slowly and unhurriedly, “I’m not a charity, of course I can’t help you for free. Since we can’t come to an agreement, this is the only way.”
She glanced sideways, and sure enough, saw the seven crew members of the neighboring ship peeking over the ship’s side to watch their quarrel.
She nodded at Xiao, who immediately understood and said even louder, “Just you wait! You’ll get what’s coming to you sooner or later!”
After saying that, he stormed off back to his own ship, slamming himself inside the cockpit and not coming out again.
Sules shrugged and turned back to her own cabin.
As she passed by Adolph and the others, Adolph whispered teasingly in Sules’ ear, “Your acting was way too over the top.”
Claire followed Sules back to the cabin, and as soon as they entered, immediately asked, “Sules, what’s going on? Did you and Captain Xiao have a falling out?”
Sules shook her head, “I’ll explain it to you after a while. Don’t worry about him, just rest.”
That night, Sules didn’t sleep at all.
It wasn’t until she heard several heavy splashes, one after another, as something fell into the water, that she curled her lips in satisfaction and finally went to sleep.
***
The next morning was when the trading ship regularly came to this sea area.
Along with the trading ship’s horn, there was also a scream from Captain Xiao Victor, “Ah! What happened?!”
Claire and Sules immediately woke up, exchanged glances, quickly dressed, and got up to go outside.
When the two of them went out, they saw Captain Xiao Victor standing on his ship, his face full of terror.
Once Sules and the others had gathered, they lowered the gangplank and led everyone onto Xiao’s ship.
“Captain Victor, what’s wrong? Why are you shouting so early in the morning?”
As they spoke, Sules noticed from the corner of her eye that quite a few people from the neighbouring trading ship had come out to watch the commotion.
Just as she wanted.
Xiao said, “My seven crew members, just like those previous two, all disappeared overnight!”
A hint of a smile flashed in Sules’ eyes, but she pretended to be scared, “How could that be? It’s only been a short while, and all your crew have disappeared? Did you provoke someone?”
Other than the two of them and the seven missing crew, no one else knew how the first two crew had died, so naturally, everyone assumed that all nine crew had died the same way.
Leide, who was rather timid, hid behind Ryan and whispered, “What’s going on? I hope it doesn’t spread to us.”
Xiao heard this and immediately said angrily, “Someone definitely did this on purpose. Sulia, just admit it, was it you?!”
Sules feigned surprise, “Why would you think that?”
Xiao sneered, “We just had a fight yesterday because of a disagreement, and today all my crew are gone. Are you telling me this has nothing to do with you?”
Before Sules could say anything, Annabella stepped forward angrily and scolded, “Our helmswoman saved you. If you can’t be grateful, fine, but now you even slander her?!”
Claire was angry too. She trusted Sules unconditionally, “Captain Xiao, we only took you in because we pitied you. I hope you know your place and don’t push your luck.”
Seeing her crew stand up for her, Sules was genuinely touched.
But she couldn’t let these two disrupt her plan.
So Sules stopped them and said, “Captain Victor, if you put it that way, I could just as well say you killed them yourself because you didn’t get along, and are framing me for it.”
Xiao looked furious, and after a long silence, he laughed angrily, “Sulia, you took my ship and forced me into a corner. Are you feeling very pleased with yourself now?”
Sules shrugged, unconcerned, “I never said that.”
“But you didn’t expect this, did you? I already set you up!”
Xiao sneered, “This helm will still be mine after a month!”
Everyone on Sules’ side was stunned. Leide immediately grew anxious and asked, “Captain, what’s going on? Did he really trick you?”
Sules shook her head, “I don’t know either.” As she spoke, she took the initiative to open the contract and read it.
The contract could only be understood by the signatory or someone with a special ability, so Hede and the others could only see Sules frowning, her expression growing darker.
After a moment, she said resentfully, “Xiao Victor! You actually tampered with the contract and played word games with me!”
Leide and the others immediately realized Xiao was telling the truth.
The ship was still his; Sules had only gained usage rights for a month.
In other words, Sules was still just a newbie captain with only a single level 2 small ship.
Leide pursed his lips and whispered to Ryder Laide, “I thought we could rise with the captain, but it turns out it was all for nothing.”
Both sides were speaking loudly, and the people watching from the neighboring ship heard everything clearly.
One captain whispered to the young sailor beside him, “See? You have to be careful when signing contracts, or you might end up with a loss like this.”
The young sailor, however, saw another angle, “Captain, who do you think made those crew disappear on their ship?”
The captain replied, “My guess is that female captain. Women are the most ruthless. You’d better be careful not to get fooled by one.”
The sailor protested, “How could that girl do something like that? Obviously, that man is the cunning one. I think it was him—he not only tricked the female captain, but also killed people and tried to frame her.”
The two started arguing about it, and similar debates broke out all over the deck.
Although no one could really tell whose fault it was, at least everyone could agree on one thing.
That was—Captain Victor and Captain Sules had fallen out!
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.