When a sailing ship is on the sea, there’s no such thing as a unified stopping for rest at night, provided the weather permits.
Instead, so crew mbers are responsible for standing watch and keeping vigil, while others rest before taking their turn.
As night falls, the fleets proceeding through thick fog, whether rchant ships or colonial transports, mostly follow this routine.
Only a group of Privateer Ships, organized in advance, continue to guard the periter of the fleet and remain vigilant.
"Listen up, I will now repeat the taboos of nightti navigation:
First, do not call out each other’s nas directly; second, if you hear any unusual sounds, do not investigate on your own, imdiately report to the Captain or the first mate;
Third, keep so distance between yourselves, and when encountering other crew mbers, verify the password imdiately to confirm they’re indeed the person you know;
Fourth, do not stare at the sea surface for more than fifteen minutes at a ti. Without a strong enough "Anchor," you will feel an urge to return to the sea, and the longer you look, the stronger the urge;
Fifth, unauthorized passengers must not co on deck, nor even approach the portholes;
Finally, and most importantly, do not let fresh human blood drip into the sea. It could beco a tempting bait that invites unknown disasters.
Repeat it for !"
The Sailor Chiefs on each of the Privateer Ships emphasized the importance of the taboos repeatedly to the illiterate sailors, making sure they could recite them fluently and even react instinctively.
Although they had just recently left the Humanized World shrouded in the radiance of the ’Silver Law,’ one must never let one’s guard down.
"Yes, sir, the taboos of nightti navigation: first..."
On their very first day as sean, most people are inford that the overseas routes are filled with headhunters, Wizards, sea monsters, diseases, Evil Spirits, and various Bizarre and unnatural phenona.
This isn’t just a path of Wealth; it is also a perilous road of Death.
Inside the First Circulation Zone, it’s only slightly safer than the outside Sea of Monsters full of monstrous creatures—and morizing the taboos is by no ans a surefire way to survive.
The greatest advantage of Human fleets is their sheer numbers, which makes many man-eating creatures think twice before attacking.
One of the Privateer Ships, the Seagull, which was at the outermost edge of the fleet, to the right and ahead of the Golden Deer, adhered to these taboos as strictly as a model student.
Regrettably, it was simply bad luck that led them to experience firsthand the profound dangers of overseas navigation—a harsh awakening indeed!
"Strange, why is the fog on our side getting thicker?
Besides the Whale Oil Lamp on the Golden Deer next to us, which can penetrate the fog, we can hardly see a shadow."
"Right, have you noticed a strong fishy sll suddenly appearing in this fog?"
"Report anything unusual imdiately to the Captain."
Just as a few of the night watch sailors began to sense sothing was amiss and were ready to report, the water next to the ship’s side suddenly burst open, and a huge purple-red tentacle thicker than a man’s waist shot up into the Sky, sweeping across the deck where they stood with enormous force.
"Ah—!"
Several sailors were flung into the air by this powerful strike, and before they could fall into the sea, several equally large tentacles shot out in all directions, wrapping tightly around each person.
In the splashing waves, ten monstrous tentacles spread apart slowly, revealing a beak-like massive keratinous mouth in the middle.
They tossed each sailor into it without hesitation.
The screams that filled the quiet night sky suddenly ca to an abrupt stop.
"Command, all ships enter Second Grade battle readiness.
Ships near the Seagull deploy Dragon Dung Potions to force the Sea Monster to the surface.
rchant ships evade, nearby Privateer Ships provide imdiate support, free to attack, and drive the Sea Monster away!"
Both the Fleet Commander and that Third Order Navigator had navigated the First Circulation Zone many tis before.
Faced with sudden danger, there was no panic; they imdiately used the guiding lights to pinpoint the Seagull and the Sea Monster’s location.
The light beam connected to that ship imdiately brightened, illuminating everything in the vicinity of hundreds of ters.
It also enabled Byron and Catherine, who had rushed out from the rchant ship’s cabin, to see the Sea Monster clearly.
"Without counting the two exceptionally long tentacles, the gun-shaped body asures about 35 ters in length, and the tips of both tentacles sport hard keratin, resembling the spearhead of a Knight Spear.
According to the Lighthouse Union’s ’Sea Monster Compendium,’ this should be a Small-species Twin-Gun Squid commonly found on the overseas routes.
Its Challenge Level is about that of a Level Five Cruiser."
Catherine, the Mithril Knight from the Gold Sequence, specialized in economics and Finance, so Byron casually shared so knowledge about Sea Monsters with her.
Humans primarily pursue the path of the collective for transcendence, while non-human Transcendent beings typically focus on individual Power.
When a person’s legend score exceeds 20 points, deeply embedded in the hearts of people, the ’Silver Law’ endows their title with Extraordinary Power.
anwhile, when certain creatures, whether terrestrial, avian, or marine, surpass their own racial limits by so accident, whether due to the influence of Source Tides, ingesting so treasure, or exposure to Indescribable contamination...
They, too, receive a special Rank conferral.
Sea Monsters, who rule the sea and sit at the top of the food chain, are such a group.
The most noticeable sign is a rapid increase in size, with even the smallest Sea Monsters exceeding thirty ters in length.
Sheer Power alone surpasses High Sequence Human Transcendents.
Moreover, they commonly possess transcendent abilities appropriate to their species traits, such as creating fog, phantom sounds, ntal suggestion, controlling water currents, and so on.
The Lighthouse Union has classified Sea Monsters by size into: Small Species, Large Species, and Giant Species. Generally, the larger the size, the stronger the Sea Monster.
The Challenge Levels correspond to those of a Sixth-level Warship.
Even the smaller Species are dangers beyond the reach of individual bravery.
At the level of the Giant Species, nothing but a Warship with over a hundred Cannons or an equivalent Wonder Battleship can withstand them.
"In the legendary Sea of Monsters lives a Giant Species of Sea Monster—the Island Whale.
Bearing a small island on its back, it wanders the shipping lanes of this area, often mistaken by passing ocean sailors for a new resupply point.
Even powerful Level Four Nominal Battleships have been witnessed being swallowed whole by the Island Whale."
Pointing at that Twin-Gun Squid, Byron was talking when he suddenly declared himself hungry.
"Never mind the Giant Species, if we could only catch such a big Squid, imagine how many days it would feed the crew of a ship."
On the battlefield over there, the Twin-Gun Squid, unsatisfied after consuming several Pirates, emitted a piercing shriek from an organ hidden sowhere.
SCREECH—!
The muscles in its two spear-shaped tentacles contracted and then slamd into the side of the Seagull like giant siege hamrs.
No wonder the Lighthouse Union rated its Challenge Level as equivalent to a Level Five Cruiser.
This "Double Gun Burst" was no less powerful than two 24-pound heavy Cannons at close range.
The two tentacles swept chaotically across the lower deck.
Many sailors, just awakened from their slumber and yet to climb down from their hammocks, were instantly swept away and dropped into that gaping maw.
"Monster, get away from my ship," the Seagull’s Captain roared, his eyes nearly splitting as he smashed a bottle of ’Dragon Dung Potion,’ brewed from the feces of various fierce beasts, onto the ship’s side.
A Bizarre yellow-green color, carrying an intense odor, instantly spread rapidly through the water.
Whether out of disgust or fear, the Twin-Gun Squid imdiately rolled away and retreated rapidly, avoiding the yellow-green area.
The tentacles disappeared from the surface of the sea in the blink of an eye.
Byron imdiately retracted his earlier statent upon witnessing such an Indescribable scene.
"Forget it, not even a dog would eat this!"
At the sa ti, he reverted to his original form, leaped into the sea, and was caught by a Man-Eater Shark, quickly rushing towards the Golden Deer.
No one believed that a re bottle of ’Dragon Dung Potion’ would make a Sea Monster turn tail and flee; he had to return to command his crew in battle.
He left Catherine with just one piece of advice:
"Take care of yourself. Money can be earned again, but once a person is gone, everything is gone.
If it becos impossible, jump into the sea. As long as you dive deep enough, carrying a weight to reach depths unaffected by the ’Dragon Dung,’ my sharks can get you to safety."
Catherine lowered her head to look at the yellow-green seawater spreading toward them and the terrifying sll that perated the entire sea surface.
"Ugh, escape with dung? I’d rather die."
Her head shook like a windmill.
She was even more determined to live and die with the treasure!
On the other hand, no sooner had Byron grabbed a rope and hopped onto the Bulwark of the Golden Deer than the ship shook violently, almost tossing him back into the sea.
But could the ’Mountain Goat Steps’ lose balance? Impossible.
With a twist in his stance, he imdiately corrected his trajectory and, like a weeble, rocked back onto the deck.
Turning his head, he saw that at so unknown ti, a purple-red tentacle had stretched up from beneath the Golden Deer, lightning-fast wrapping around the rear mast.
Clearly, the Twin-Gun Squid had no intention of stubbornly attacking a single ship just to get full.
This ti, it aid bigger, trying to tip the relatively low-profile Golden Deer into the sea for a feast.
But before it could tug hard, Byron had already powered through his legs, sprinting like a gale to the side of the rear mast.
The ’Miracle Longsword · White Frost’ he had picked from the Navy Departnt’s treasure vault rang as it was drawn from its sheath.
The bone-chilling cold light brightened the dim deck.
At the sa ti, he chanted the cutting inscription of the sword: "Frost Winter is Coming!"
A layer of icy light instantly flowed over the smooth sword spine, bursting forth from the painfully bright tip of the blade. No extravagant effects, just sharpness and penetrating cold!
No one doubted that even a child with it could easily cleave through rock.
He stepped forward, sword swinging, voice erupting:
"Slash—!"
His Thousand Hamring and Hundred Refining ’Old Man’s Slash’ landed fiercely.
The slender edge of the blade effortlessly tore through the tough hide of the Sea Monster, the white muscle fibers... severing the tentacle, thicker than a man’s waist, with a resolute slash.
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