"My new boatswain died again, killed by those things. How much longer will these days last? I'm so exhausted.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm already dead and this is hell.
But it's not possible after thinking about it. The demons in hell are much more acceptable than those things, and nothing here makes sense, including the humans.
When I first arrived, I thought this place was in the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, but later I found out that they have made some bizarre technological advancements.
But even so, it's useless. Humans still struggle to survive like ants. There are too many deadly things in the darkness, and we are not the only civilization here."
Charles's diary was interrupted by a knocking sound, and the voice of the sailor Deep could be heard outside.
"Captain, we're approaching the main coral island."
Charles walked to the foredeck of the ship and looked at the lighthouse appearing intermittently in the distance in the darkness. He breathed a sigh of relief knowing that they had finally arrived.
As the Rat approached slowly, a grand island behind the lighthouse became gradually clearer.
The primary color of the island was a greyish-white, and the various human buildings perched on it were also the same color.
The port of Coral Island looked very busy, with steamships of various sizes coming in and out. Rough sailors waved their hats and cheered, celebrating their survival.
This was a newly developed island, and coral alone was not enough to sustain human life. The island needed resources from other islands, which was also the livelihood of ships like the Rat.
Among the crowds passing by on the dock, many people had inwardly curled ears. These were the locals of Coral Islands.
If one lived on Coral Islands for more than five years, for some unknown reason, their ears would curl inward. Nobody knew why.
However, this did not stop the eager migration of people from other islands to Coral Islands. Compared to the troubles of other islands, ear deformation was considered a relatively minor side effect.
After a quick handover with the administrator, Charles walked out of the dock with a somewhat unpleasant expression.
His expectations were not wrong; half of the goods were missing, and he didn't make any profit on this trip. Instead, he suffered a considerable loss. It was like he had worked the last two months for nothing.
It would take some time for the goods to be scheduled and unloaded at the dock, and during this period, the Rat crew members could take a short break.
Near the dock, there was a row of buildings of different heights, some of which were hotels for crew members to rest, while others were recreational facilities.
On the bustling street, there were some ragged beggars lying or sitting down, muttering words that only they themselves could understand.
These were sailors driven insane by the sea, and no one knew what they had been through. If one didn't want to end up like them, the only way was to remember the iron law of the sea: see nothing, hear nothing, think nothing.
They were lucky because in most cases, sailors who encountered maritime disasters had disappeared together with their ships.
The door of the Bat Inn was pushed open. In the brightly lit hall, a group of tough men drinking looked with ill intentions towards the newcomer.
But when they sensed the sea smell on Charles, they nonchalantly shifted their gazes away. Anyone who could survive sailing the seas and come back was not someone to be trifled with.
“I will stay for five days and need a meal sent to my room.”
“Five days of lodging cost 630 echoes, and the delicious bread mushroom soup is 30 echoes, for a total of 660 echoes.”
In a damp room, Charles enjoyed his lunch. The food in the harbor area was not particularly good, so Charles tore the black bread into pieces and threw it into the sticky mushroom soup.
Even though it was soaked in soup, the bitter black bread was still hard to swallow. But Charles had gotten used to it.
Charles pulled out a mobile phone from his pocket and started using his fingers to randomly swipe on it while eating, but the scratched screen remained black like the sky outside.
The room was left with only the slow chewing sound of Charles.
"Captain, are you in there?" Old John's voice suddenly came from outside the door.
Charles quickly put away his phone and said, "Come in, the door is not locked."
The first mate walked in cautiously, with a slightly apologetic expression on his face. "Captain, I want to talk to you. I don't want to do this anymore," he said.
Charles frowned slightly. "Why? Haven't you gotten used to this kind of thing?"
Charles was mentally prepared for crew members to die or leave after each incident. He had thought that Deep, who had been scared to the point of wetting his pants, would be the most likely to leave, but he never expected that it would be Old John, who had been with him all the way.
John shook his head repeatedly. "I'm too old. Sometimes I would even fall asleep at the helm, which is very dangerous. Also... I want to stay away from the Earthsea."
Charles's mood worsened, but he didn't try to persuade him to stay. He believed in parting on good terms.
He placed a stack of bills on the table and said, "This is your share."
John took his share of the payment, but he didn't turn around to leave. He stood there with a hesitant expression.
"Is there anything else?" Charles asked.
"Hehe, Captain, as you know, although I have saved a little money, most of my previous earnings were spent on those girls. This amount of money is not enough for me to spend the rest of my life," John said.
"What? You're not asking me to sponsor you, are you?" Charles frowned.
"No, no, no, of course not. I know that's not possible. But, I have something good to sell to you. Since I'm leaving the ship, I won't need this weapon anymore," John said as he took out a small black saber that was about the length of his forearm, which looked more like a large dagger than a saber.
Charles looked at the chubby old man with suspicion. Although he recognized that the saber was the first mate's weapon, he didn't need another close combat weapon.
"Captain, don't underestimate this saber, it's a relic!"
Charles had heard about these mysterious items before, but had never seen one.
The origin of relics was shrouded in mystery, with some saying they came from the sea, and others saying they came from the legendary Land of Light. There were even people saying that they came from unexplored islands. Regardless of their origin, what could be certain was that these items possessed special powers.
These special powers came with all sorts of strange and peculiar costs, and the price to use them varied depending on the type of power.
Charles once saw a ring worth 580,000 echoes being sold at an auction on Albion island. The ring could make the wearer briefly invisible, but the cost was unbearable itching all over the body.
"What's so special about this saber?"
Upon hearing Charles' question, John immediately perked up.
"This weapon is incredibly sharp, very, very sharp," he said, holding the long saber and looking around the furniture with excitement, as if he wanted to try the saber on something.
"Thank you, but no need. I still think guns are more useful," Charles replied.
Relying solely on a revolver to deal with those monsters was indeed a bit of a weak approach. Charles indeed wanted some relics for self-defense, but he didn't want something useless.
Although the technological development in the world of Earthsea was a bit different, this was still a world with guns and cannons, and some of the big islands already had electricity runnings. So what was the use of a cold weapon, especially one with side effects?
Seeing that Charles seemed hesitant to buy the saber, Old John grew anxious. "Captain, it has other special abilities too. Just by holding it, your body's healing ability will be enhanced," he said.
"Two abilities? What is the cost of using it?" Relics were very peculiar things, and the benefits and drawbacks were not always equal. Sometimes, the benefits were only a little, but the cost of side effects could make the owner of the relic feel like they would rather be dead than alive.
"It's not particularly severe. If you hold it for a long time, you may have suicidal impulses. But as long as you don't hold it regularly, you'll be fine," replied John.
Charles took the black saber and found it surprisingly light. The saber didn't seem to be made of iron, as it felt more like plastic when he held it in his hand.
After scratching his hand with the tip of the saber, Charles noticed that the wound was slowly healing. However, it wasn't as exaggerated as Old John had made it sound, at most, it was healing three times faster than usual.
"The side effects seem acceptable, and the benefits are decent. There's no doctor on my ship, so this thing can somewhat compensate for that," said Charles.
In the end, Charles decided to buy the saber and not miss the opportunity.
After all, it was better to be safe than sorry. Even though he knew that the cost was high, he believed it was worth it. After some negotiation, Charles finally managed to buy the relic for 160,000 echoes, and both parties were satisfied with the deal.
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