I have to get lucky right away.

Chapter 361 Jack's Bizarre Adventure - Breakthrough
The morning air in Catania was still filled with the distinctive salty smell of the harbor. Jack woke up from his sleep, tightened his grip on the hand in his pocket slightly to make sure it still felt right, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

Although living in a shared dormitory can largely eliminate the extreme situation where everyone in the house is an acquaintance, Jack still can't guarantee that he won't be that unlucky low-probability person.

Fortunately, the night passed peacefully. People in the room were waking up one after another, feeling uncomfortable from the stuffy, sweaty air. Jack quickly walked out of the room and began to think about his next move.

Ironically, ever since he had the idea of ​​going to sea, he had focused on how to earn enough money for a ticket to Catania. As for where to go after arriving in Catania, he planned to think about it after he had earned enough money.

However, the sudden fragmentation of the earth allowed him to fulfill this dream ahead of time in a somewhat comical way, which now seems to have the flavor of the legendary stories told by the old men at the docks.

"No matter what, the first thing to do if you want to go to sea is to have a ship. I definitely can't afford to buy one, and I don't know how to sail a ship if I steal one. I can only see if I can find any land seekers to replenish the crew. If not, pirates are also an option."

As an orphan living on an island on the edge of the Blue Lake chain, Jack doesn't have high moral standards. Although he's only seventeen years old, he's already taken a lot of lives.

Ultimately, in this era, good people, especially the good poor, are always targeted by other poor people who are not so good. And the good poor who survive being targeted gradually become less good.

Recalling Old York's methods for identifying merchant ships, pirate ships disguised as merchant ships, and land seekers disguised as merchant ships, Jack arrived at the dock. He didn't plan to look for work until he had spent all his savings. At least, he felt that he hadn't gone to sea just to find a different place to work.

Finding a noisy pub even in broad daylight, Jack casually walked in.

Seeing the gamblers gathered around the tables in the tavern, Jack couldn't help but join them. He didn't gamble; he had only heard from old York that those people in the tavern who were either drinking or gambling in broad daylight were probably combatants who had just spent several months' worth of "savings" on women and were about to set off again, so they just found a place to spend the rest of their money.

Looking at these sailors, some with short knives and pistols at their waists, laughing wildly when they won and buying wine with their money, and not getting angry when they lost, Jack knew that old York was probably right again.

He had also wondered if old York had once been a legendary pirate, just like in the stories he told, who, because of a woman or some other heartbreaking event, found a place to spend the rest of his life.

But upon closer inspection, it doesn't seem like it. At most, he's just the weakest grunt in some disbanded pirate crew!

Jack inwardly grumbled about old York, pretending to want to gamble but not yet understanding the rules, wandering back and forth between the gambling tables to avoid any possible mandatory drinks.

There are many people like him, because in such taverns, there are always sailors who have won money but are about to set sail, and they will generously buy everyone a drink.

Jack wasn't there to freeload; he was simply searching through the crowd for sailors whose weapons were well-maintained and who had received good medical treatment despite their injuries.

The ships that these people work on are usually quite "friendly" and won't just throw people into the sea to feed the sharks at the slightest disagreement.

However, this method doesn't always work. Jack waited from day to night until some sailors started to lead the heavily made-up, cheap waitresses in the tavern up to the second floor, and that's when he finally found a suitable target again.

"They didn't leave the tavern until evening, and they were a group of people leaving arm in arm. Judging from the direction they were heading, they were probably heading towards the docks. It seemed like they were planning to set sail that night. They must be pirates."

Jack hesitated. Although the other party was probably not a seeker of land, his observations throughout the day had made him realize that finding people in reality wasn't as easy as in old York's stories, where you could just walk into a tavern and stumble upon a pirate fight, maybe even rescue a captain along the way... "Should I go or not?" Jack was torn between two options. If he waited, he might encounter a new target tomorrow, and even if he ran out of money, catching some fish would at least keep him from starving. But if he followed, he might be mistaken for a bounty hunter stalking him. However, if he didn't go, would he use the same excuse to back down again in the future?
Just as Jack was struggling with this dilemma, he suddenly heard a loud explosion.

The noise seemed to give him a reason to back down, and he turned around abruptly to look in the direction of the sound.

Catania seemed to be used to the noise. People who hadn't yet started their nightlife in the surrounding taverns and inns came out to find some excitement, and Jack mingled into the crowd.

The commotion occurred at a bar that was clearly much more upscale than the previous tavern, a place Jack hadn't dared to approach even if he wanted to find another place to stay.

But at that moment, the tavern's windows shattered one after another, and from a distance, flames could even be seen bursting out of the tavern.

The sounds of cursing, screams of pain, and gunshots mingled together. Suddenly, someone who had been watching too closely fell to the ground with a thud and died.

However, the onlookers just laughed and joked, seemingly unconcerned that they might also be hit by stray bullets.

It was only at this point that Jack finally saw the cruelty outside his hometown, but when he thought of life back home and the predictable future, he ultimately did not back down.

"Since the Earth Goddess has chosen me, then I must be special! I will definitely make a name for myself!"

Jack made a silent vow, but his gaze kept wandering among the laughing crowd.

He wouldn't dare go to the two sides where the fighting was going on, but those who dared to watch closely even after people had died must be quite skilled.

However, this attention also drew the attention of onlookers, whose discussions inevitably reached their ears. Their hearing, capable of discerning the direction of a fish's movement from the slightest sound in the sea, came in handy at this moment—

"Seven or eight regular family members couldn't catch a newbie who barely reached the standard level. The Woodnas family has really fallen. With this level of security, should we try to pull off a job?"

"Shut up, what do you know?! He's an Earth Shard ability user! His standard level is based on his physical attributes. To calculate someone like that in terms of combat power, you'd have to treat him like a phantom beast!"

"A Beastmaster? That's really impressive! Should we try to recruit one?"

"Forget about it. According to the boss, even Earth Fragment users have the potential to be at least excellent. Our entire team only has one excellent user, the boss. We can't accommodate this god-like figure!"

The pirates who were talking couldn't stand it, but there were also some people in the crowd who were willing to take a gamble. It seemed that they were also stimulated by the words "earth fragment ability user" in the conversation. Jack saw someone suddenly rush out of the crowd and kick a big hole in the outer wall of the tavern with just one kick.

Seeing this, Jack took a deep breath and, pretending to be a novice wanting to get a closer look, leaned forward a few steps...

(End of this chapter)