Chapter 31：Drifting After the Storm

The winds howled and the waves rose. The entire world was dark.

The dark storm crowds burned over the sea like turquoise flames. The sea grasped the lightning and extinguished them in the depth of its trenches. Giant waves roared, spewing angry foams. It viciously threw the sailing ship into the tip of the waves, then down into the troughs.

Roaring thunder, the hymn of the sailors! Fierce winds, the passion of the sailors! We live between the waves and the winds. Let us set sail in this turbulent storm!

Alright, fine, I'm being artistic. Those who dare to set sail in this storm are asking for death!

After Da Fei's sailing ship successfully got off the shallows, it sped like a Formula 1 Powerboat. However, the sudden change in the wind caused the ship's body to tilt heavily, almost capsizing. Da Fei was alone on the ship and had no time to adjust the sails. Hence, he could only take out the firefighting ax and forcefully lower the sails by cutting the ropes. Then, he immediately ran to the helm. However, things were not finished yet.

—System Message: Leak observed at the bottom cabin. Please repair the ship immediately with available resources and drain the water with emergency hanging buckets.

—System Message: Wooden material on the starboard quarter of the ship has fractured. Ship durability -55. Please repair the ship immediately with available resources.

—System Message: Mast number two lost its sail. Please replenish the canvas as soon as possible.

—System Message: Rivets for the additional armor on the port of the ship detached. Armor plates lost. Port Defense -48.

…

What the heck! You want to kill me, the lone captain! Da Fei ran around attending to emergencies during the turbulence. This ship could not be sailed by one person alone.

Just then, Da Fei's talent icon, Storm Voyager, glowed brightly as well. This represented that the player's special ability had been activated. As the icon glowed, Da Fei continuously gained EXP!

—System Message: You fought against the storm and gained 1,000 EXP.

—System Message: You fought against the storm and gained 1,000 EXP.

Gain! Continue to gain! How can fighting monsters be compared to this? I'm using all my resources to fight against the sky and the sea! These are different levels of challenges! There's no reason not to give me EXP!

—System Message: You repaired the leak on the side of the ship. You gained 600 EXP!

—System Message: You reinforced the fracturing ship's body. You gained 500 EXP!

Not bad. I can gain EXP without fighting any monsters. Sailing isn't that boring, after all.

Just then, another huge noise was heard as a giant wave crashed into the ship. Da Fei suddenly felt the ship sink before feeling extremely light. He felt like he was flying!

—Boom! The ship had a rough landing. All the items in the cabins rolled around. Da Fei lost his footing and slammed into the wall. "-25!"

What the heck! You can die like this!

—System Message: Warning! Ship's rudders have been destroyed by the huge waves. No longer able to control the ship's direction. Ship's max durability cap -300 points.

—System Message: Wooden material on the port bow of the ship has fractured. Ship durability -130. Please repair the ship immediately with available resources.

What the heck! How do I fix a broken rudder? That thing's behind the ship and underwater?

Forget it. My talent only increases the safety of my ships in storms. It doesn't guarantee that I won't sink. I can only pray that I won't sink now. I'll try my best to save whatever I can.

Time slowly ticked by. Da Fei's ship was like a piece of duckweed floating on the ocean. It drifted precariously with the waves. The sea was scarier than any BOSS Da Fei had faced. In front of the sea, a mortal's strength appeared tiny and insignificant.

With a flash of golden light, Da Fei, whose stamina had turned red due to the exhaustion from fixing the ship, finally leveled up!

—System Message: Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 16! You received 1 Assignable Attribute point, 1 Skill Point, Health +2, Command Power +1.

Just in time! My Health and Stamina are both full now. I think I can fight for another thirty minutes!

…

Finally, the roaring winds subsided and the dark clouds dispersed. The storm was over. The blue sky and ocean appeared again, with a beautiful rainbow bridging the two together.

—System Message: Drainage Channels on the deck collected 1 unit of freshwater.

—System Message: Ship body heavily damaged. Unable to sail normally. Currently in drifting conditions.

Da Fei sighed deeply. Then, he inspected the ship's status.

Original Name: St. Anthony (Changeable)

Captain: Da Fei

Ship Special Skill: God's Blessing (Sailors' Luck +2)

Ship Freight Volume: 1,000 Units

Time in use: 10 years

Minimum number of sailors needed: 30

Ship durability: 857/1690

Movement Speed: 10

Ship Armor Defense: Port 32, Starboard 80.

Sea God Insurance Level: 0 (Ship is not protected by the Sea God. If an accident occurs, it will remain sunken forever.)

Ship's current conditions: Rudders destroyed, unable to steer in any direction. Sails destroyed. Additional armor on the port of the ship detached. Cursed by bad luck (Sailor's Luck -3).

Da Fei sighed again. This was already an old ship. It lost so much durability again just like this. It seems like this ship won't last that long. I guess the System wasn't so kind as to gift a huge ship so generously to a novice, right? However, I wonder if that Sea God Insurance will help extend this ship's lifespan? That Sea God Insurance is pretty expensive, right? Unless this is a top-tier ship, isn't it more worthwhile to just invest in a new ship? However, I don't even have money to fix this ship, let alone buy a new one. What can I do?

Forget it, I won't worry about it. This challenge is over now. It's time to give the ship a new name. I'll name it, Flying Brother Fei? Brother Fei's Flight? Brother Fei's Shit? Forget it. I'll just name it SV Fly. [Note: SV stands for Sailing Vessel.] It's more artistic.

—System Message: You renamed St. Anthony to SV Fly.

What now? I'll hang up the sails again. Then, where's the freshwater collected? 1 unit is 100 portions. It's enough for me to drink for 100 days. I'll be fine as long as I have water. What next? Where am I? Da Fei took out his binoculars. All that he could see was water. Coordinates (???, ???)!

What the heck. No coordinates!

That's right. You need tools like a geomantic compass and a sextant to sail properly. Otherwise, you'll just be sailing blindly. Where's the compass? Captain's Room? Yes! I've checked all the rooms except for the Captain's room. Now that I'm the captain, of course I can enter the Captain's Room.

Da Fei arrived at the Captain's Room on level two and discovered another room next to it. The door was already broken. Which officer's room was this?

Da Fei entered and saw items scattered across the floor. This is? Can it be Juan's room? Da Fei was interested and started tidying the place up. There were all kinds of items and yellowed pieces of paper. That's right. This is Juan's room. The handwriting on these pages is exactly the same as the one in the journal.

Speaking of which, this guy already gave me a Strategy Treasure, the binoculars. He's probably out of goods, right? No, no, no. He still has a 15-year-old daughter called Serbia! All these are her inheritance. I need to keep these well and pass them to her later. She will look at the items and miss her father. Then, she'll ask me to be her godfather! Wahahaha, Uncle Juan, please don't worry. I got this.

Da Fei packed all the small items on the floor and in the drawers—Eh? What's this? A flute? No attributes? This flute has a strange design. Its design is so quaint, so, so artistic, so unique? Hm, unique is good. The little girl will recognize it immediately. Alright, I'll choose this as the representation.

He could not find anything else in this room, so Da Fei returned to the Captain's Room and touched the door handle.

—System Message: Are you entering the Captain's Room?

Look at that, there's a System Message. Do you understand how special the Captain's Room is compared to everywhere else? Nothing to say. Enter!

The scene changed and Da Fei appeared in a narrow room. Seems like the Captain's Room exists as a separate transcript. No matter how good of a thief you are, you still won't be able to enter with such a setting.

The Captain's Room was not much more luxurious than the other officers' rooms. There was a 3D model of the globe on the table, as well as a set of binoculars and a huge compass. There was also a well-ironed Captain's uniform with black-and-white trims.

Haha! No wonder he's the Captain! There's good stuff here! I have two binoculars now! However, this makes sense. If a normal player completed this trial, it's quite difficult for him to discover the seafarer's binoculars. Hence, the game must compensate you with one here. After all, binoculars are a necessity for sea voyages. Alright, this is at least a C-class treasure, I can sell it for a few thousand gold coins to act as capital for my ship repair fees. I'm in desperate need of money.

Da Fei then checked the two remaining items.

—New World Astrology Instrument: Equipment to record the New World's astrology. Able to locate the ship's coordinates when sailing in the New World. Usage Requirement: Learn Nautical Skill sub-skill, Measurement Skill.

Oh! High class! This is a coordinate instrument for the New World. No wonder he's the Captain!

—Geomantic Compass: Able to locate a ship's coordinates at sea. Usage Requirement: Learn Nautical Skill sub-skill, Measurement Skill.

Even though he found the geomantic compass, Da Fei found this whole thing a hassle.

Things like the Measurement Skill should be given to an NPC officer, right? You can find an NPC sailor who possesses the Measurement Skill in any random port or bar. I'm a Captain, but I have to spend a precious Skill Point on such a simple Measurement Skill? Even though I've saved up 7 Skill Points from Level 9 to Level 16, I can't just waste it like this! I can promise that this Measurement Skill is the worst sub-skill in this entire game. I really don't want to learn this.

Furthermore, the ship is already in such a horrible condition. Apart from drifting with the waves, I can't do anything else. So what if I know the coordinates?

Hence, Da Fei finally found a reason not to learn the skill. Drifting it is. I will drift to someplace with people around. Then… then we'll see how things go. It's best if I can be discovered by marines from the Light factions. I'll just call for help, and everything can be resolved from there.

As for now, I have to continue exploring the Captain's Room. As expected, a golden book was on the bookshelf! Nautical Skill! Eh, I already have one on me. I can only sell this later.

—System Message: You received Renoir's Nautical Skill Book!

—Renoir's Nautical Skill Book: Spend 1 Skill Book to learn Elementary Nautical Skill!

—System Message: You have already learned the Nautical Skill Book. Unable to use this Skill Book.

Da Fei was stunned! Another special edition Skill Book! So the biggest reward from this Trial Mission isn't this old and damaged ship, but the research material once belonging to these experts from the past? I have nothing else to do now except for drifting, so I'll focus on studying these God-tier Skills first.

…

Da Fei did not know that, at this time, a post titled "Trash Player Da Fei maliciously ambushes Godly Hero Raging Sea of Blood until Level 0. With Videos, With Death Records, With Truth" had started trending on the largest national Hero Forum. Raging Sea of Blood, the Godly Hero who already appeared on television once before, became famous again. Da Fei, thanks to him, also became famous.

(Author's Note: Sailing ships are not like modern cruises with tall buildings above deck. Sailing ships' higher levels are usually built at the bow and stern of the ships, not exceeding three levels. Otherwise, the center of gravity will be too high, and ships will easily capsize. At the same time, it will be difficult for ships to sail upwind.)