Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 203 The Deal with Panini

In the mist manipulated by the Silver Queen, almost at the same moment Yun Lan extended the invitation, the sharp-eyed sailors like Yafso were the first to exclaim in surprise.

Following the direction Yafso pointed, a ghostly sailboat emerged from beneath the Thorn, its hull up, slowly gliding out from directly beneath the surface.

Immediately afterwards, the boat that was upside down also turned upside down and floated on the sea in the blink of an eye.

"Why does this ship look so familiar?"

Yafso's puzzled expression didn't last long before she exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise, "Oh—! I remember now! It's that ghost ship on Windmill Island! I helped her graft fruit trees! Captain! Do you remember what the captain of that ship was called?"

Horace

On the decks of the Valkyrie and the Thorn, which were not far apart, Cheng Lang and Yun Lan gave their answers in unison.

“The ship’s first mate seems to be named Casper,” Yun Ji added.

“That’s right!” Shenba affirmed.

So how did this ship end up here?

Cheng Lang inquired, then looked at the bow of the undead ghost ship not far away, where Captain Horace and his first mate Casper were standing. They, along with the sailors on the ship, were all in undead form.

"Mr. Horace, can we communicate?" Cheng Lang asked loudly after removing his hat and bowing with his hand on his chest.

Unfortunately, Horace on the opposite ship only responded with a gesture of removing his hat and touching his chest.

"We encountered this ship on our way here after receiving your letter."

Captain Senfa in the mirror explained, "That place is very close to the Sea of ​​Despair. Back then, this ship wasn't like this; it looked like a regular ghost ship."

"You dismantled it?" Yavso asked.

“It wasn’t us, Miss Yavso.”

Senfa quickly explained, "When we found him, there were about ten ghost ships attacking him."

"Based on the principle that the enemy of my enemy may be my friend."

Mr. Lu Ting, who had finished arranging the salvage of the spoils, also appeared in the mirror. "The Brotherhood fleet cooperated with this strange ghost ship to deal with those ghost ships with rotten cores. Since then, this ship has been hiding under the fleet's surface. It can't be driven away, and there's no way to communicate with it."

Of course, the ship didn't seem to have any malicious intent, nor did it possess any offensive capabilities.

"Magic Mirror, do you know anything?" Cheng Lang asked.

“Sailing is certainly not my forte, esteemed captain.”

The magic mirror, though humble, still concealed a hint of obsequiousness. "However..."

"Don't waste time," Cheng Lang urged.

"The Pirate City Library once recorded that after a long enough period of drifting, the sailors and the ship's core will merge and exist as ghosts forever. However, this record comes from a tattered manuscript and cannot be verified."

"it is true"

Just then, a lazy voice confirmed the magic mirror's answer.

"Who?!"

Just as Yun Ji was the first to react and pull out the two daggers from her waist, a small octopus wearing a golden crown raised a pink tentacle on the railing of the Valkyrie. "It's me, Miss Yun Ji. I'm sorry I startled you. I'm Panini."

"Danglang"

Yun Ji accidentally dropped the dagger in one of her hands and it hit the deck. Fortunately, she managed to grab the other dagger in time.

"I told you, I'm going to scare you."

The little octopus, who called itself Panini and had met Cheng Lang in Pirate City, said this while pushing off with its other tentacles and easily jumping onto Cheng Lang's shoulder.

"Captain Cheng Lang, I apologize, but I actually overheard your conversation a few days ago."

Panini said without any apology, "I heard you want to make a deal?"

"yes"

Cheng Lang didn't try to use the invisible whip to move the other person off his shoulder. Instead, he led him towards the conference room, saying, "Interested in going to the conference room to talk?"

“Of course, it would be very impolite to refuse the captain’s invitation on the ship,” Panini replied seriously.

"You should come too. It's a very proud experience to be able to say a few words to Mr. Panini."

Cheng Lang extended an invitation to those around him, but did not specifically name anyone. Instead, he asked, "Mr. Panini, would you like some fruit wine or juice?"

“Of course, it’s fruit juice, fruit juice with ice, please add plenty of sugar, thank you,” Panini stated her request.

His tone was gentle and his manner polite, to the point that he didn't seem like a rational sea monster at all, but rather just a magical little octopus that could talk.

"Let me do it," the Silver Queen said, taking on the role of a waitress.

Before long, everyone, including Mr. Lu Ting and Mr. Senfa, as well as Magic Mirror, Yun Ji, Yun Lan, Ya Fu Suo and Shen Ba, and even the Silver Queen who brought the drinks, gathered in the conference room.

As for everything outside, that was left to the pirate brothers to handle.

Panini, standing on the table, was clearly surprised that Cheng Lang had summoned all his subordinates to the conference room. However, considering the sweet, stringy juice that Silver Queen had brought, he didn't mind.

"These are the spores we prepare to supply regularly."

Cheng Lang took the glass bottle from Yafuso and then pushed it to Panini, whose entire body was almost submerged in the juice glass.

"sucking"

Panini finished the sweet juice in his glass, then pushed off with his tentacles and jumped accurately to the edge of the bottle with a splash.

"Boom!"

Panini opened the bottle's stopper, but quickly shoved it back in, asking in a terrified tone, "What kind of monstrosity was this cultivated with?"

“Poseidon’s arm,” Yavso said smugly. “How will you do it?”

“This is a trade secret, Mr. Panini,” Yun Lan said.

“Bak.”

"Yun Lan, my name is now Yun Lan."

As the captain of the Thorn corrected Panini, a clump of thorns sprouted from the palm of her lace-gloved hand, and from within those thorns bloomed a vibrant, golden rose. "Or, you can call me Princess Thorn."

“It is my honor, Princess Thorn.”

The little octopus, with a serious and proper manner, performed a gesture of respect, placing its hand on its chest. "So, you're representing us this time?"

"How is the Star Sea Continent?" Yun Lan asked with a smile.

“It’s a good bet,” Panini actually believed him. “Tell me, how do we cooperate?”

"First, lift all arrest warrants and restrictions on us."

Yun Lan glanced at Cheng Lang, who was nodding at her, and then said, "How about opening at least one mushroom sales store in all the main city ports of Pirate City, and in all the coastal ports of the Star Sea Continent, except for the Elf Duchy which is not bordered by the sea?"

"In whose name?" Panini asked noncommittally.

"Of course, it's in Lord Panini's name."

Yun Lan replied matter-of-factly, "Any duchy that disagrees with this cooperation will be considered an accomplice of the Ghost Fleet."

“I don’t have that much influence,” Panini said.

“I will write a letter to my father,” Yun Lan offered, adding that you could also take my bracelet back with you.

“Relying on just one ally is not enough,” Panini cautioned.

"If Lord Panini has no friends on the mainland, then this deal is better off canceled."

Yun Lan followed up by saying, "We don't mind finding a stronger partner."

"The Elf Kingdom?"

Yun Ji, who had been silent until now, spoke up to remind them.

"make a deal"

Panini was surprisingly agreeable. "Let that ghost ship outside be the messenger. A ghost ship without a physical form is probably the best means of transportation. It will fly the Pirate City messenger flag from now on."

"Can it obey our commands?" Yun Lan asked curiously. "Mr. Panini, would you mind telling us the story of that ship?"

"That ship was called the Fresh Fruit Ship, and it was originally just a transport ship for transporting fruit to the pirate city."

Panini said without reservation, "It was a fast ship, but about 50 years ago, it got lost and wrecked while rushing to the depths of the Sea of ​​Despair. All the crew died of scurvy and it became a ghost ship. Its last mission became the ship's obsession."

At this point, Panini suddenly appeared above Yafso's head, ignoring the invisible whip binding his body, and gently pressed a pink tentacle onto Yafso's brow.

A moment later, he returned to the table. “I have helped this mushroom girl sign a contract with that ship. From now on, the ship will be at her beck and call.”

From now on, all the bacteria will be transported to the pirate city by that ship; the remaining transport tasks can be handled by my fleet.

"Did you prepare that boat here in advance?" Cheng Lang, who had been silent until now, finally asked.

"They are the web weavers"

Panini answered frankly, "We are all just dust in the web of fate, and that ghost ship is not even dust."

"Lord Panini"

Yun Ji's tone became more solemn and humble, "Do you know who the web weaver is? And who are the insects on the web of fate?"

"I don't know who the web weaver is either."

Panini was exceptionally patient. "But in the middle of the web of fate, there are two insects still flapping their wings: one is Lord Poseidon, and the other is Lady Valkyrie."

"All right"

Panini rolled up the bottle containing the spores. "That's enough chit-chat, Captain Cheng Lang. If you want your Abyss Nightmare to grow up quickly, you can throw it onto that undead ship."

"I thought Mr. Panini would agree."

"no no no"

Panini's tone suddenly turned as vulgar as a seasoned pirate, "I don't want to stuff a hard rock in my ass, and besides, I don't have an ass."

"Lord Panini"

Senfa said cautiously, "Could you give our Brotherhood fleet some free berths? We'd like to do business with Pirate City."

"No problem, your courage deserves a reward."

Panini said generously, "Let's cultivate enough strains as soon as possible. Well, I should be leaving now."

Before the words were even finished, the little octopus on the table and the not-so-large bottle had completely disappeared.

"Did we forget to discuss the price with Lord Panini?" Shenba asked belatedly.

"The price has been agreed upon."

Cheng Lang glanced at Yun Lan, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "We got a good price."

"That's definitely a good price."

Yun Lan breathed a sigh of relief; her fingertips, hidden inside her lace gloves, were icy cold and trembling.

(End of this chapter)