Navigator: I have a double six-story house

Yang Ming lay on the cold sand, seawater seeping from his clothes, looking like a dead fish that had been washed ashore.

His mind was buzzing, and his ears were filled with meaningless noise.

After a while, he propped himself up on his arms, tilted his head, and patted his ears to expel the seawater from them.

After his ears felt a little better, he began to notice his surroundings.

He wasn't on the Bone Eater, but in an unfamiliar port.

Several laborers on the dock looked up at him, then lowered their heads and continued working, seemingly unfazed.

That indifference wasn't directed at him, but rather a habitual disregard for all unexpected events, changes, and intruders.

Yang Ming looked down at his soaked hands, and the memories in his mind replayed frame by frame.

He should have been on the Bone-Eater Ship, attacked and knocked unconscious. How did he suddenly end up here...?

He had a bad feeling.

There's only one possibility that could have gotten him to come here from the ship: the teleportation talisman the boss used to save his life.

"Did the boss... use the teleportation talisman on me?"

Yang Ming's voice was hoarse, filled with disbelief.

That Grade B emergency teleportation talisman was a life-saving item that the boss had saved up for more than half a year to exchange for from the Wild Wave Merchant Guild.

One of a kind, used on him.

Yang Ming took a deep breath and opened the system panel with trembling hands.

A line of cold text was prominently displayed on the panel.

[You have been removed from the crew list by Captain Wu Ming. Current status: Free agent]

At the same instant Wu Ming used the teleportation talisman, he manually removed him from the crew list.

Because the rule that results in the loss of life and property only applies to the crew members who are bound to the ship.

Yang Ming stared at that line of text for a long time.

The fact that the eldest brother made this decision proves that he had already prepared for the worst.

As for why the leader didn't teleport himself away but chose him instead.

He doesn't understand.

"Boss, this is the Age of Exploration..." Yang Ming closed his eyes, his voice so low it was almost drowned out by the sound of the waves, "Surviving is the right thing to do, why did you choose to save me instead of yourself..."

Yang Ming closed his eyes, recalling the moment he met his boss.

At that time, I was just a homeless man on First Midway Island, living a life of idleness and waiting to die.

Every day, they scramble for jobs at the docks, just like any other crew members waiting to be selected.

On the day Wu Ming's boat docked, he went up to the fierce-looking bald man, bowing and scraping, and exaggerating his own abilities.

"Big brother, even though I'm low-level, I'm smart!"

"I can help you gather information, run errands, and even serve you tea and water!"

"Look at my physique! I eat little and work a lot, it's definitely worth it!"

Wu Ming glanced at him with a satisfied smile on his face and gave him a sharp rap on the forehead.

"Good lad, you're interesting."

"You've got a smooth tongue, alright, then come aboard with me!"

"But let me make this clear first: I don't keep idlers on my ship. If you don't do your job well, I'll chop you up and use you as bait!"

From that day on, he followed Wu Ming.

The eldest brother has a bad temper and often gives him a hard flick on the forehead because he thinks he talks too much, has weak legs, and is bad at fighting.

But after each battle, when the spoils were divided, the eldest brother would always pick out the best portion for him first.

Whenever there was danger, the leader always made him hide at the very back.

Yang Ming opened his eyes and wiped his face hard with his sleeve.

His entire face was wet, and it was hard to tell if it was seawater or something else.

He stood up, wrung out the water from the corner of his clothes, and looked around.

The dockworkers carried goods expressionlessly, their eyes blank, their steps mechanical. No one spoke, no one looked up at the sky.

The entire port was filled with a lifeless and oppressive atmosphere.

Yang Ming's lips curled slightly; he was all too familiar with this kind of atmosphere.

The lower-ranking crew members were exploited to the extreme, even their speaking energy was conserved.

Port management is strict, and unauthorized personnel are not allowed to linger. Uniform signs are posted on the notice boards by the dock.

This is a unique flavor found only on the territory of the Wild Waves Merchant Guild.

The leader's teleportation talisman sent him to the nearest safe port, which happened to be a transit station controlled by the Wild Wave Merchant Guild.

Everything seemed to be predestined; he survived, and on "his own" turf.

Yang Ming straightened his soaked clothes and walked deeper into the dock.

He knew where the Mad Wave Chamber of Commerce's headquarters would be; having followed Wu Ming for so long, he was intimately familiar with these basic details.

Don't worry, boss.

That rookie captain, I will use the Wild Wave Merchant Guild to avenge you.

Yang Ming quickened his pace and disappeared at the end of the alleyway in the port.

……

Sunny.

Su Qing walked out of the shooting range and stretched her stiff shoulders.

After training for six hours straight, his arms were so sore he could barely lift them, but the numbers on the panel made it all worthwhile.

[Shooting Mastery Lv.1 (156/400)]

Melee Mastery Lv.0 (87/200)

Progress is proceeding steadily.

At this rate, melee mastery will reach level one in three more days.

Su Qing walked onto the deck, the night wind blowing into his collar, the coolness invigorating him.

Selena sat beside the steering wheel, holding a novel she had pulled out from somewhere and flipping through it. The book was titled "The Domineering Young Master Falls in Love with Me: A Romance in the Jia Family."

She watched with great interest, occasionally letting out a soft laugh.

Su Qing felt like she had heard the book title somewhere before.

Wang Yao leaned against the mast, shield on his lap, snoring.

Su Qing didn't disturb them. She walked to the side of the ship, sat down, and looked at the dark sea.

The moonlight spilled onto the water's surface, shattering into a silvery white hue.

He opened the system panel and looked through the configuration list of the Sun.

Shooting range, close combat training room, giant wave ramming tower, Sugoroku house, plantation...

The sheer number of buildings inside the ship far exceeded those of other ships of the same period, not to mention their quality.

The vast majority of them are rare buildings.

Their wealth is already starting to grow.

It's time to put the plan of bringing my younger sister, Suya, onto the ship.

However, the younger sister was not selected in the tenth selection. He would need an invitation to bring her on board.

There is indeed an invitation on the map of the Twin Six House, but it's several dozen squares away and you won't be able to get it in the short term.

There are two other ways: obtaining it from dungeons or purchasing it from the merchant guild.

The former relies too much on luck, while the latter requires two more instances before reaching the second Midway Island.

Either way, it will take some time.

But it's okay, he believes his little sister can take good care of herself.

Su Qing put away the panel, leaned against the ship's railing, and gazed at the darkness where the sea and sky met in the distance.

"That's about it."

The night breeze brushed the stray hairs on his forehead, and the moonlight reflected a faint glow in his eyes.

"It's time to bring you here."

He said it with great conviction.