Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 43 The Pirate Selling Vegetables

Glancing at Cheng Lang in surprise, the tightly wrapped woman finally reached out from her robes and took the scale with a hand wearing a black leather glove. "We still have two cups of Poseidon's blood and some gold coins on our ship. This is all we have available right now."

Before Cheng Lang could speak, Yun Ji grabbed a rope and swung over.

"Captain, how about letting me talk?" asked Yun Ji.

"no problem"

Cheng Lang thought for a moment and said, "Don't make it too difficult for him. I was ready to agree just now."

"In addition to what we just said, we also hope to get a permanent ship license in Pirate City." Yun Ji turned her head and looked at the woman opposite and said.

"No problem, is that all?" the woman opposite asked bluntly.

"If it's convenient, I also hope to get two sea snake combat suits from the wandering circus." Yun Ji continued.

“We only have women’s styles.”

"I know," said Yun Ji.

"Any other requests?" asked the woman opposite.

"How about giving us another firework from the wandering circus?" Yun Ji asked, "Perhaps this will be the beginning of our friendship."

"I don't have the right to make this decision." The woman opposite shook her head this time.

"At least we are not enemies," said Yun Ji.

"certainly"

"That's all," Yun Ji happily ended the negotiations.

"Do you have any mermaid eggs that have hatched?"

The woman asked, "I agree to the conditions just now, but if you have any successfully hatched mermaid eggs, how about giving them to me?"

"It seems that the mermaid egg is more important than the scale." Yun Ji immediately guessed something.

"It is our messenger and is of no use to you."

The woman said casually, "Just let us take the mermaid egg. If you're willing to let us take your ship to Pirate City, I'll help you ask if we can get a firework from the wandering circus."

Seeing Yun Ji turn her head to look at him, Cheng Lang nodded and said, "Deal."

"You have an excellent first mate."

As the woman spoke, she turned and walked to the bow of the ship, waving at the sinking sailboat in the distance.

"Thank you for your compliment. I will go and help you find the mermaid egg that failed to hatch successfully." Cheng Lang said, and walked into the cabin of the Honest Man with Yun Ji.

"You already knew that the other party had set his sights on the mermaid egg?"

Cheng Lang asked in a low voice. He remembered that when he heard that one of them had not hatched successfully, Yun Ji specifically reminded the pirate brothers to keep it and preserve it well.

"How about I explain it to you later?" Yun Ji asked in a low voice.

"Alright"

Cheng Lang nodded without asking any more questions and took Yun Ji into the lower cabin.

At this time, only a few sea fish oil lamps were lit in the lower cabin. The small sailors headed by Belvik were crouching and huddled together like quails. The expressions on their faces were more terrified than each other, and they were biting their sleeves to suppress the uncontrollable trembling of their bodies.

“Somewhat funny”

After a moment's patience, Yun Ji finally broke her composure and said, she was trying her best to suppress her laughter.

“Laugh if you want to”

Cheng Lang spoke a little louder, and the sailors shuddered and squeezed closer together.

This forced Yun Ji to cover her mouth with her hands, trying hard not to make any sound that would scare them.

After searching for a while, the two of them soon found the bucket of mermaid eggs that had failed to hatch, which was stored separately, and Cheng Lang personally carried it to the open deck.

Almost at the same time, a transport boat carrying the living cloaked men left the sinking sailboat and came over.

"This is the mermaid egg you want." Cheng Lang placed the oak barrel on the deck.

“This is what you want.”

The cloaked woman in charge of the negotiations said this as she handed Cheng Lang two cups of Poseidon's blood, a small bag of gold coins, and a metal card.

Then she handed two canvas bags to Yun Ji.

"Thank you for your generosity," Yun Ji said politely as she took the canvas bag.

"After we return to Pirate City, I'll ask you about the fireworks," the woman said politely. "Finally, thank you again for your help and for being willing to take us to Pirate City."

"It's our honor," Yun Ji said, looking at Cheng Lang, "Captain, maybe we should go back."

"I'll have my first mate bring you food on time."

After Cheng Lang finished speaking, he swung the whip around the mast and swung back to the Valkyrie. At the same time, Yun Ji also grabbed a rope and swung back.

Not long after, Yun Ji gave a light signal to Captain Kervik, who could not hear anything at the moment: Set off for Pirate City and arrange the best rooms for the guests.

"Don't worry, Captain! I will take good care of our distinguished guests!" Kervik, who was temporarily deaf, responded at the top of his voice.

While the Valkyrie was waiting deliberately, the Honest Man set sail first, bypassing the sailboat that had completely sunk underwater and heading towards the Tricorne Current.

Only when the distance between the two sides was far enough did Cheng Lang command the Valkyrie to set sail and follow behind.

"Can you explain it now?"

Cheng Lang asked as he walked towards the office.

"Where do we start?" Yun Ji came up with two canvas bags in her hands and asked.

"Let's start with the mermaid egg."

"That's the messenger from the wandering circus," Yun Ji said. "It requires a special incubation method to wake it up."

"You seem familiar with them?"

"My father is a troubadour"

Yun Ji explained as a matter of course, "When he was alive, he had contact with a wandering circus."

Not wanting to find out whether Yun Ji's words were true or not, Cheng Lang shook the metal card he had just received and asked, "Tell me about this, what is this?"

Ship license plate

Yun Ji paused, and seeing Cheng Lang's confusion, she began to explain in detail, "With a ship license, you can enter the Pirate City for free and anchor for a long time. Otherwise, you have to pay 10 gold coins just to enter the Pirate City. Even if you anchor in the most remote berth, it still costs 1 gold coin per day. This ship license can save you a lot of money."

"What's that Sea Serpent combat suit you got?"

Cheng Lang put away the ship's license plate embossed with the outline of the sea monster nine-headed octopus Panini and continued to ask. At this time, they had already walked into the captain's office.

“It’s a specialty of the wandering circus.”

Yun Ji replied, "It is said that it is made of the skin of a special sea snake. After wearing it, it not only increases hydrophilicity and allows for longer underwater activities, but it is also lighter than leather armor and has good defensive capabilities.

This is the reward I fought for myself and a gift to Yafuso, is there anything I don't like, Captain?"

"No comment"

Cheng Lang smiled and handed the small bag of gold coins to the other party. "Give these gold coins to the pirate brothers as bonuses when you have the chance."

"Okay." Yun Ji took the gold coins naturally.

"Now let's talk about the fireworks," Cheng Lang asked as he sat down. "What are they?"

"A Wandering Circus's Call for Help"

Yun Ji explained, "Getting a firework symbolizes getting a chance to ask for help from the wandering circus."

"So they are very powerful?" Cheng Lang asked with a frown.

“Not big”

Yun Ji shook her head. "But their intelligence network is extremely extensive. I've wanted to use them to investigate something a long time ago, but I never had the chance."

"What is that thing you and Shenba are looking for?"

Hearing this, Yun Ji nodded, "It is said that the founder of the Wandering Circus was also a wandering poet. She knows many historical secrets."

“There will be opportunities later.”

Cheng Lang said, "The job of delivering meals to them on time is now up to you."

"Thank you"

Yun Ji understood Cheng Lang's hint and left the office carrying two canvas bags containing Sea Snake combat uniforms.

At the same time, the guests on board the Honest Man also gave up communicating with the captain. They did not expect that the short and fat captain was actually deaf.

For the better part of the day, the Honest Man's speed gradually increased as the crew members became more familiar with their duties. After the other dinners were delivered, the Honest Man completely distanced himself from the Valkyrie. Kervik spent the entire night personally steering the ship. Yun Ji, who had come aboard under the guise of delivering food, did not return to the Valkyrie. Instead, she enthusiastically ate and drank with the other guests, engaging in various probing conversations.

When the sun rose again, the captain of the Honest Man yawned and walked into the captain's room and fell asleep. Yun Ji took over the steering and reduced the speed of the ship. After the Valkyrie caught up, she went back and forth to board the ship and delivered a whole day's worth of meals.

As evening approached, Belvik, having overcome his fear, finally walked out of the lower cabin and naturally took over the task of steering the boat, once again putting distance between himself and the Valkyrie.

Compared to Kervik, his tall and thin brother Belvik kept in mind Yun Ji's instructions and remained silent no matter what the guests asked.

After three days of chasing each other, the two ships successfully boarded the Tricorne Current.

The Tricorne Current is just as its name suggests, with three nearly equilateral triangle-shaped currents connecting the edges of Murphy's Tower, Pirate City and the Sea of ​​Despair respectively.

When the two ships began to be pushed by the ocean current towards the pirate city, they also folded their sails. This course was completely against the wind, and the sails were far less powerful than the ocean current.

Because of this, except for the helmsman who needs to be careful not to let the ship leave the range of the ocean current, all other sailors have free time.

Moreover, as the sea gets closer to the pirate city, more and more ships are riding this ocean current.

"Captain, there is one most important thing next." Shenba said seriously in the conference room.

"What's important?"

Cheng Lang, who has been focusing all his attention on finding new ways to eat since he caught the ocean current, asked with a yawn.

"All ships entering the pirate city must fly the pirate flag if they do not want to be attacked."

Yun Ji helped explain, "Captain, do we have our own pirate flag?"

"Pirate flag?" Cheng Lang scratched his head, "No."

"It's still not too late to design a beautiful enough pirate flag."

Yun Ji said, "After riding the Tricorn Current for about a week, we will enter the 100-nautical-mile waters around the Pirate City. There, any ship that does not fly the pirate flag will be regarded as an enemy."

"It's really troublesome."

Cheng Lang muttered to himself, but asked, "Are there any design requirements for the pirate flag?"

“It should be a red or black background with a prominent skull, and then add your own elements.”

As Shenba spoke, he had already prepared a piece of asphalt-stained canvas and spread it on the long table.

The canvas had already been painted with white paint, with a crooked white skull and crossbones.

"This painting is too ugly," Yafuso said with disgust.

"It's really too ugly," Yun Ji also said.

"It's just a draft," Shenba argued with a red face.

"Let me think."

Cheng Lang thought for a moment and said, "Let's paint the skull's eyes red."

"Like the gorillas at night?" asked Yafso.

"Yes, just like the gorillas at night." Cheng Lang nodded.

"Anything else?" Yafuso asked.

"You can't just draw a yellow straw hat. Wouldn't that make her Chibi Maruko-chan?"

Cheng Lang mumbled something in his native language, which was completely incomprehensible to the people around him, and then asked, "Is there anything you want to add?"

"How about mushrooms?"

This little girl, Yafuso, obviously has a lot of weird ideas. "There are a lot of mushrooms of various colors growing out of the skull!"

"Can"

Cheng Lang agreed indifferently. He hadn't decided to become a pirate yet. The flag would probably only be used once and then thrown away, so it would be better to treat it as a team-building activity for the employees.

"Then I'll add a rudder!" said Shenba.

"Can"

Cheng Lang also readily agreed, "Shenba, you go replace Grandpa Gerta. We also need to ask him if he wants to add anything."

"I'm going right now!"

Before Shenba finished speaking, he ran out of the meeting room and replaced Gerta who was steering the ship outside the door.

"I don't have anything to add," Gerta said honestly.

"Got it, Gerta's fox ears."

Cheng Lang snapped his fingers and said, "Yun Ji, what about you?"

"This one," Yun Ji casually pulled out the black elf dagger from her waist and shook it.

"That's all, so who can draw it?" Cheng Lang asked.

"Me! I'll do it!" Yafuso jumped up and took up the task.

“Now comes the last question.”

Yun Ji pointed toward the bow and asked, "Does the Honest Man need to fly the same pirate flag as us?"

"No need, let them design it themselves. It's best if it has nothing to do with us." Cheng Lang said without thinking.

"I'll notify them after dark," Yun Ji agreed to the task.

"No need, I've already informed them." Cheng Lang said, tapping the watch on his wrist with his fingers seemingly casually.

At the same time, not far away, in the indoor bridge of the Honest Man, Belvik, who was in charge of steering the ship, also noticed the red light flashing in the inconspicuous small mirror hanging next to the steering wheel.

"Brother! My dear brother!" Berwick shouted.

"What's wrong?" Kervik, who was sleeping soundly in the captain's room behind him, immediately woke up and ran out.

Motioning for the other person to come closer, Belvik bent down and whispered something into his ear.

"I'll get ready right now!"

After saying this, Kervik turned around and ran back to the captain's cabin, which was not very spacious.

That evening, the two ships hoisted their respective pirate flags before entering the 100-nautical-mile range of the pirate ship.

The flag of the Honest Man was simple: a skull with a cannon pipe in its mouth and black cloth wrapped around its eyes, with crossed cannons and scimitars in front of it.

As for the Valkyrie
The content painted on the huge pirate flag was so complicated that the cloaked woman who had been secretly observing them on the stern deck of the Honest Man in recent days did not know how to describe it to her companions for a moment, and finally could only call her companions over to watch it together.

This black flag is painted with a red-eyed skull covered with red, white, pink, blue, yellow and even black mushrooms. It has a black dagger in its mouth and a huge steering wheel leaning against its back. However, even the steering wheel is covered with mushrooms of various colors.

"Does that captain like to eat poisonous mushrooms?" The pirate captains around him couldn't help but have the same question in their minds.

"It looks like our ship is covered in poisonous mushrooms"

Cheng Lang looked at the pirate flag above his head and joked with great amusement, but he didn't notice that Yun Ji beside him had habitually covered her forehead with her hands. This action usually occurred when her brother Shenba did something stupid.

"Speaking of this"

Having accidentally drawn a few extra mushrooms while painting, Yafuso quickly changed the subject, "Boss! We've had a bumper harvest of mushrooms in the lower cabin! How about making mushroom chowder tonight?"

"Is there nothing else?" Cheng Lang asked with a bitter face. He had eaten enough of all kinds of mushrooms these days.

"We've had a bumper harvest of bean sprouts!" Yafuso said quickly. "We can't even finish eating them all."

"Is there any more?"

"The others are not ripe yet," Yafuso said, "We still have plenty of ham and sausage!"

Looking at the pirate crew members pointing at the flags above their heads, Cheng Lang snorted and said, "Send a light signal to the surrounding area, selling fresh mushrooms and vegetables in limited quantities, 10 silver coins each, trade with Xin Weng."

Before Yafuso could say anything, Cheng Lang continued, "Add that sentence to the pirate flag, and all the money you earn will be yours."

"Good boss!"

Yafuso, who wanted to refuse the previous moment, immediately begged the gorilla next to him to help take down the pirate flag that had just been hung up, spread it directly on the deck and began to modify it.

"Did you do this on purpose?"

Yun Ji reacted belatedly and asked curiously to Cheng Lang who was walking towards the stern deck.

“Even pirates wouldn’t mind eating fresh vegetables.”

Cheng Lang said with a smile, "Who would find pirates who make money by selling vegetables threatening?"

"If they feel there is no threat, they will come to rob." Yun Ji said halfway when she realized something from Cheng Lang's half-smile.

“I didn’t actually plan to be a pirate.”

Cheng Lang said to himself, "But I found that robbing pirates is a very profitable business."

(End of this chapter)