Pirate Kingship

Chapter 374 - 313: Bountiful Harvest: The Southern Breeze Maiden Figurehead

Chapter 374: Chapter 313: Bountiful Harvest: The Southern Breeze Maiden Figurehead

Due to high temperatures and rising air currents, the World Serpent’s Celestial Current Belt was shrouded in fog all year round.

In a tranquil stretch of sea where only ocean currents flowed sluggishly from east to west without a breath of wind, a scar-like black rift spanned across the sky and water, stretching for hundreds of meters in length and ten meters in width, half submerged in the sea and half extending high into the sky. Through this rift, one could clearly see the churning Sea of Origin Matter on the other side, and a host of strangely-shaped large fish swimming in and out of the crack.

At a glance, they looked like a school of clownfish, each with an actual pale clown face pattern. These were a group of [Bizarre Clownfish].

These bizarrities, which fed on the fear emotions of sentient creatures, were clearly not very interested in the deserted seas on this material side of the rift. After swimming around and not detecting the scent of "food," and disliking the low-magic environment of the Material World, they were about to swim back to the Sea of Origin Matter.

But they saw a flash of gold on the opposite side of the rift, and then a sleek warship sheathed in brilliant gold was pushed rapidly through the crack by a strong wind into the Material World. They collided head-on, and a cloud of Blood Mist instantly exploded among the clownfish. Some even leaped into the air, tumbling backwards with twists and turns before splashing back into the water, reduced to a bloody mess.

The crew aboard The Golden Deer paid no attention to such a minor accident, only turning to look back after escaping another hundred meters at the group of pursuers stopping before the rift.

They all took a deep breath:

"Damn [Bizarre Lanternfish], damn phototaxis, we’ve finally made it out of the Sea of Origin Matter alive. God bless!"

"Long live the Captain! We’ve once again cheated death."

"Being able to escape the Sea of Origin Matter alive is a miracle that’s worth boasting about for a lifetime. It’s an even greater miracle than challenging the Sea of Monsters!"

"I’ll organize my Sailing Logbook into a memoir and have the minstrels sing of the Captain’s great achievements..."

There was a jubilant atmosphere aboard The Golden Deer. Returning safely from the Primordial Ocean, the pirate officers and crew were as thrilled as if they had become the ultimate winners of the "Octagon Iron Cage."

Even though Byron possessed Weather Intuition, finding a Second-level World Rift that could accommodate Mid-Sequences Transcendents and large ships was not an easy task. The journey, lasting only a few hours, was fraught with peril at every turn. They didn’t die at the hands of the Octopus Battleship [May Wind] or the Ghost Ship Black Coffin, but nearly got torn to shreds by the relentless monsters of the Sea of Origin Matter.

For instance, those now bellowing on the opposite side of the rift, muttering, "Brother, lend me a light, lend me a light..." with no clue what they had endured in life, displaying a strong phototaxis—the [Bizarre Lanternfish].

In the pitch-black Sea of Origin Matter, The Golden Deer’s glittering hull was naturally very eye-catching. Naturally, it was relentlessly pursued by these colossal lanternfish, comparable in size to sea monsters. Luckily, Violet applied a layer of black paint to the hull, shaking off most of the pursuers and preventing an encirclement.

"With the Captain aboard, we will eventually have the chance to brave the Sea of Monsters, and perhaps become the first pirate ship to cross it."

The crew’s confidence was at an all-time high, but Byron’s heart was filled with trepidation. The notorious Sea of Monsters was quite similar to the Sea of Origin Matter, after all. Both places were filled with all sorts of monsters, and no matter how experienced you were or how many unknown rules you had deciphered, there were always new rules waiting for you in the unknown seas.

Had it not been for their ability to detect enemies in advance with the help of the Calamity Witch’s underwater senses, and the expansion of the [Nautical Logbook]’s range to sixty meters, allowing them to act preemptively and discern the bizarre rules beforehand, The Golden Deer might never have made it out.

Sea of Monsters? You really think highly of me. I can only say, next time for sure!

Soon, a group of ocean giants that, despite their phototaxis, roared unwillingly at the mere ten-meter-wide rift like their deep-sea brethren who feared natural sunlight, gradually retreated. Only then did Byron and his companions have the leisure to observe where they had arrived.

Weather Intuition naturally communicated with the celestial phenomena. Through the flow angle of the atmospheric circulation, he roughly determined that The Golden Deer had emerged far from the Windward Strait, into the Doldrums, within five degrees of latitude north and south. Since this area was far away from the Old Continent and the Bantaan Archipelago, even though it was a Second-level World Rift, it had no [Lantern Carriers] on guard. Indeed, in such a deserted place, surveillance was practically impossible.

As the Captain, only after confirming their safety did Byron finally let his guard down and explain to his crew:

"We are roughly at about four degrees north latitude, not too deep into the Doldrums.

With the old The Golden Deer, lacking the Man-Eater Sharks and the Barnacle Crabs, we might have been in a bit of a bind in this situation.

But after seizing the spoils from the two Fourth-order Adventurers, it’s no longer a problem.

Lady, check our new Figurehead.

Now that we’ve arrived in the Doldrums, let’s see how long it takes to recharge after one burst of energy."