The scorching sun blazed down.

Wearing only shorts, Dylan sprawled out on the aft deck, feeling like a salted fish, drying under the salty, humid sea breeze.

The backpack of the Mimicry Scout lay in the shadow cast by the forecastle. The magic power was still sufficient today, so it hadn't drawn from Dylan yet.

The sound of leather shoes scraping against the deck was heard. A burly, dark-skinned man with one eye came to the aft deck carrying a bag. He immediately saw Dylan engaging in his performance art, but he was evidently used to such sights.

"Sunbathing again, Dylan? You never seem to tan," said the one-eyed man, tossing the bag from his hand overboard, and continued, "Right, didn't I say you could sunbathe on the foredeck? Some planks on the aft deck have yet to be replaced."

As he mentioned, there was indeed a broken plank beneath Dylan.

"Jialong, dumping trash here again?" Dylan glanced at the mate who stepped over him and said helplessly, "The foredeck is full of sailors coming and going. I'd be in their way, and I'd feel embarrassed, even if they don't say anything."

"Hey, you..." Without pausing, the mate quickly returned to the cabin.

Dylan continued to lie there until evening, fully recharging his magical power for the next few days.

He found the second mate and got a bucket of fresh water to bring back to his room.

The second mate was a Water Mage, and for 30 silver coins, Dylan could get a bucket of water from him every day.

In fact, any reliable ship would have someone who could produce fresh water, and slightly advanced ones might even have a Priest skilled in healing. But this ship only had an ordinary ship's doctor.

After keeping some for drinking, Dylan placed Puki into the bucket of water. Once Puki absorbed enough, Dylan used the remaining water to wipe his body that had turned green after the mimicry was canceled.

Looking out through the window, Dylan gazed at the rising tri-colored moons, calculating the journey in his mind.

It had been more than twenty days, and he estimated there was less than a week left to reach Sea Demon Island.

Though it's not Dylan's final destination, Silver Sand Bay, the frequent vessel traffic between the islands made it easy to find a ship from Sea Demon Island to Silver Sand Bay.

Once he reached Silver Sand Bay, Dylan planned to immediately find the local information broker.

Along the way, he had thought a lot about himself and his daughter. Seeing that the situation on the Continent was growing increasingly tense, war could break out any day.

Once finding Bella, perhaps he should confess his current situation and take her to the Underground City to lay low, or at least somewhere like Dumb Wind Town, to avoid getting entangled in a war.

Relying on a strong support, safety would be more assured.

Of course, Dylan would never want Bella to be parasitized. Forget everything else, Bella was naturally beautiful. How could she become a bizarre mix of flesh and mycelium like him? And turning green was absolutely out of the question!

Dong dong—dong dong—

A gong sound, never heard before, drifted in from outside, interrupting Dylan's thoughts.

What happened?

With his backpack on, Dylan opened the door, finding others stepping out of their rooms as well.

"It's the Blood Shark!" The moment he exited the cabin, Dylan heard repeated shouts from the lookout above.

Blood Shark?

That sounds like the name a pirate ship would have.

"Hard to port! Catch the westerlies! They have a triangular sail and can catch side winds faster than us!" The rarely seen captain was now personally commanding loudly on the deck, "Rowers get down, get down! Start rowing!"

Dylan ran to the ship's side, scanning around, and quickly spotted the triangular sailboat trailing them, with a black flag vaguely visible atop the mast.

Unlike the Wind Feather, whose rowers were still being organized, the opposing triangular sailboat already had black oars rhythmically dipping in and out of the sea.

Dylan thought, even if the Wind Feather couldn't outpace them, they might catch up during the acceleration phase.

"How… are they this fast?" a sailor remarked in disbelief.

The captain seemed to realize something as well: "Damn it, they definitely have a Wind Mage!"

Then he turned to Dylan and the passengers who had come out to observe the situation and asked loudly: "Any of you a Wind Mage? Speak up quickly; if the pirates catch us, it won't end well for anyone!"

The passengers exchanged glances; no one stepped forward.

After all, this ship was merely a cargo vessel taking on a handful of passengers for convenience—eight or nine in all, with not even a regular mage among them, let alone a Wind Mage.

"Back to your cabins, everyone return now—don't cause trouble on deck!" Seeing no Wind Mage, the captain directly ordered the passengers back, having no time to worry about them.

While some passengers were apprehensive and reluctant to return, Dylan went back to his room.

"Would a Diamond Level person become a pirate?"

In the Fungal Network, Lin Jun directly inquired.

The two ships were not yet close, and Lin Jun couldn't see the panels on the opposing ship.

Dylan immediately analyzed: "Rarely, but there are some. To dare to plunder a ship alone would require at least multiple Gold Level combatants. At the very least, the mage causing the sails to billow must be Gold Level."

Numerous Gold Levels...

If the previously slain knight were the Gold Level standard, Scout could firmly handle one, two would take time, and three would mean a tough battle.

If joined by a bunch of pirate grunts, it would be even more troublesome.

Fortunately, the Wind Feather wasn't entirely defenseless, as the captain was a level 42 Warrior, and the first mate held level 35; in case of a conflict, they could help alleviate some pressure.

However...

"Dylan, do these pirates kill everyone once they board?"

In Lin Jun's impression, even in medieval times, only the most savage pirates would leave no survivors every single time.

Some sizable groups even turned into mere toll collectors if they controlled a region, but that was too far off, and the one behind them was clearly not one of those.

"Kill everyone? Shouldn't be, but boss, pirates probably take everyone on board as slaves..."

This kind of trading destruction—do those few leaders of the Archipelago not care?

Or is it beyond their control?

There wasn't much time to ponder this, as the sound of the pirate ship catching up from behind could already be heard through the window.

The backpack's form wasn't quite fitting. If the pirates were to inspect it, explaining wouldn't be easy; Lin Jun wasn't eager to stand out, as winning or losing would mean exposing many secrets. If the pirates were merely after money, Lin Jun didn't intend to intervene.

Manipulating Scout Puki into a new mimicry, soon the backpack transformed into a solid wooden stool, with all the tentacles hidden within.

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

The reason for being on the deck was to ensure proximity to Dylan, to react promptly if something occurred.

When Dylan came out holding the Scout, he suddenly sensed something odd; the ship seemed to slow down?

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

Turns out the captain knew when to be strategic, choosing to surrender after realizing escape was impossible.

Setting down the Scout, Dylan saw that the pirate ship was practically alongside them.

"Stay where you are, don't move!" With a shout heavy with local accent, several grappling hooks attached to the ship's side, and within moments, more than thirty pirates leaped aboard the Wind Feather's deck.

Leading them was a scar-faced man twirling a curved saber, smiling as he scanned the people on deck.

At that moment, Lin Jun accessed the panels of all the pirates.

Three Gold Levels.

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