Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 49 Panini's Wishing Coin
In the darkness of night, Cheng Lang, after changing his clothes, left the Valkyrie alone with a bag of gold coins.

In order not to arouse the suspicion of the sea monster Panini, the nine-headed octopus, he didn't even bring a mirror with him this time, so naturally there was no way for him to communicate with the magic mirror.

Fortunately, he was only going to the library to "study". As long as he remembered the specific location and name of the book, nothing unexpected would happen even without the magic mirror. At most, he would just waste a night reading a book all night.

Although this pirate town is very large, the library is too conspicuous.

It is only two streets away from the pier, and each of its nine floors is brightly lit, making it a landmark.

Walking along the street that was still slightly dim even with the street lights on, Cheng Lang came to the door of the library and discovered that the entrance of this large building was made of two huge rudders that were two stories high.

Suppressing his surprise, Cheng Lang walked into the Pirate Library. The first thing he noticed was a string of large and exaggerated chandeliers hanging from the roof.

This building is said to have nine floors above ground and seven floors underground, but in fact, the entire building is a hollow cylinder that goes straight up and down, and the exaggerated chandelier hangs from the highest point all the way down to the seventh floor underground.

It has a set of huge and complex lamp panels on each floor, and those large pieces of crystal radiate firelight to every space on each floor.

The shape inevitably reminded him of a chimney, and then he inevitably began to wonder what would happen if it caught fire.
Cheng Lang continued to look around, dispelling the crazy thoughts in his mind.

Except for a huge table at the entrance for borrowing books and purchasing tickets, each of the other floors is divided into countless small fan-shaped spaces by bookshelves that reach the ceiling, which are large enough for people to move around in.

There are ladders on the bookshelves on both sides of these spaces, a long table between the two bookshelves and benches on both sides, and even toilets and drinking water every ten or so meters.

I honestly took out a silver coin and bought an admission ticket. The mixed-race girl in charge of selling the ticket handed me a map while taking the silver coin.

This map lists in detail various relevant information such as the book classification on each floor and the location of facilities such as toilets. It also lists many regulations such as the need for additional tickets if you stay overtime.

After entering the main gate, walk one-third of the way to the left, and you will find the stairs leading upstairs and the second ticket office. Similarly, walk one-third of the way to the right, and you will find the stairs leading downstairs and the ticket office.

Without rushing to go left or right, Cheng Lang randomly chose a place on the first floor and sat down to look at the map he had just obtained.

In this map, the fourth underground level is basically all categories related to planting, ranging from various vegetables, fruits, crops to various flowers, and from planting on land to planting in rooms to planting on ships.

There are even special categories such as "How to use the blood of Poseidon to increase crop yields and accelerate the growth cycle" and "On the use of Poseidon's blood to improve soil quality."

"We need to look for them carefully so that we can double the mushroom and bean sprout production on board and make more money."

Cheng Lang, who was in a state of drama, muttered to himself as he walked towards the stairs leading to the underground. He paid a gold coin again and again and finally arrived at the fourth floor underground.

Although it was late at night, the place was still full of people. There were pure sirens, and there were "mixed fish" born from the fusion of humans and sirens. This was a more euphemistic and subtle term than "hybrid", which he had learned from Yun Ji.

Of course, there are more humans here, with a few elves and orcs mixed in.

He even saw a silver-haired female elf with an exceptionally delicate and beautiful appearance. On her left pointed ear was a row of seven silver metal rings as big as her wrist, and each metal ring was tied with a thin fishing line.

These fishing lines were tied to the top of a metal rack on the table. On the metal rack was an hourglass the size of an arm that leaked extremely slowly.

Whenever the pretty elf, who seemed to be severely sleep-deprived, lowered her head, her ears would be pulled by the fishing line, and she would wake up immediately.

I looked curiously at the dozen or so large books placed next to the other party, all of which were about the issues of "grafting" and "cutting", and next to these large books, there was a stack of handwritten manuscript paper.

However, the title of this stack of manuscript paper is particularly shocking: "On the possibility of organizing a pirate army to break through the elven principality and conducting cuttings on the lush sacred tree."

wish you success
Cheng Lang secretly sent a blessing, walked around to the next bookshelf, and casually pulled out a book about how to increase crop yields.

Unfortunately, after reading less than five pages, he curled his lips and stuffed it back.

There is no mention of fertilization in the method of increasing yield here. It is all experimental data such as "the growth rate conclusion of Poseidon's blood diluted XXX times and the elf healing potion diluted XXX times".

The brains of the people in this world have been confused by the blood of Poseidon.
Cheng Lang muttered something incoherently, then changed the bookshelf and picked up the second book.

This book is more reliable. It teaches in detail how to compost and ferment, how to fertilize, and even contains some knowledge about breeding, which I don't know whether it is true or not.

After glancing at the cover, Cheng Lang took it in his hand, walked a few steps, and checked the list of books on the next bookshelf in the list attached to the edge of the bookshelf. He randomly selected a book about ship planting techniques and took it in his hand.

Continue forward, this bookshelf is the 28th bookshelf on the fourth underground floor.

He randomly picked up another book about flower cultivation from the bookshelf, and then naturally took out the book "Princess Bakra's Secret Garden on the Sea" that was placed next to it.

"Is this the book of the beautiful princess?"

Cheng Lang, still in a state of dramatic drama, muttered something and sat directly at the innermost side of the long table in this compartment. He flipped open the latest book he had obtained and continued to mutter to himself, "Perhaps this beautiful princess can bring some inspiration."

Objectively speaking, this book exudes aristocratic elegance in its choice of words and sentences. As for the content, it's a bit boring.

Although the description is basically about the so-called sea adventures of the beautiful princess, looking beyond the surface, the essence is that she just made the ships of the princes who came to court her or the Rican merchants who came to pay tribute be filled with flowers of various colors.

What is quite interesting is that the princess is at least extremely frank in her attitude. In the second half of this book, which is more like an autobiography, she said quite angrily that the princes regarded the flowers growing on the ship as proof that "Princess Bakra has fallen in love with me."

The merchants, however, used the flowers growing everywhere on their ships as proof of tax exemption. At the time, the Grand Duke of the Principality of Ricca had decreed that any merchant ship blessed by the princess could dock duty-free—something Princess Bakla only learned of after returning home.

Continuing to read, the second half of the book is about Princess Bakra's experience of returning to her country to serve as the captain of the Rican Royal Guard fleet.

Compared to her innocence as a pirate at sea, this princess, who was hailed as the most beautiful princess in Ricca in the past hundred years, became much more bloody after returning to land. She had more than once used the bloody method of making people grow flowers all over their bodies to suppress the earl and prince who intended to rebel, as well as any assassin who dared to break into the palace.

At the end of the book, this beautiful thorny princess publicly stated that she would defend the royal power of the Principality of Ricca with blood-stained golden rose petals and would be ready to fight any challenger at any time.

"This princess is quite pretty."

Cheng Lang, who spent more than two hours reading the autobiography, couldn't help but sigh. As he closed the book, a not-so-big gold coin fell out from the gap in the spine of the book and hit the table with a "ding" sound.

I picked up the gold coin out of curiosity. It was different from any gold coin I had seen before. On one side was a relief of the nine-headed octopus Panini, and on the other side was a circle of words written: Go to Pirate Square at midnight, throw it into the fountain pool, close your eyes and make a wish.

Quite literary
Although Cheng Lang was worried, he stood up and left without any hesitation, holding the gold coin.

Cheng Lang jogged out of the library and arrived at Pirate Square. The surrounding street lights had just gone out one after another because the fuel had run out.

This Pirate Square is a pirate market during the day, but after sunset, the vendors leave one after another, and the only thing left in this huge square is the large fountain in the shape of a three-masted sailing ship in the center.

“I don’t know if it works.”

Cheng Lang muttered to himself as he turned around and threw the gold coins in his hand into the fountain behind him, muttering softly, "I think... Hmm!"

Before he could express his wish, a thick tentacle covered with suction cups wrapped around his neck and covered his mouth, and in the blink of an eye, dragged him into the fountain pool without causing any waves, and did not even wake up the stray cat lying by the pool not far away.

"puff"

A moment later, the gold coin fell into the water and was also firmly caught by the suction cup of a tentacle, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

"Where is this?"

Cheng Lang, who was soaked and covered in mucus, wiped his face while looking around. Everywhere he looked, there were gold coins, almost forming a "pile of sand".

"You're in luck"

Before he finished speaking, the gold coins slid down and almost buried Cheng Lang, but a thick tentacle rose from the pile of gold coins.

"Let me see your captain's token," the voice that seemed to be hidden in the pile of gold coins said without any refusal.

After a little hesitation, Cheng Lang took out the whip and at the same time became more alert. The whip was not clean and he had no idea whether the other party would recognize it.

"Your ship has been cursed by Poseidon," the voice said. "Well, put it away."

"How do you know?" Cheng Lang asked subconsciously. "Do you know who I am?" the voice continued.

"Master Panini?" Cheng Lang asked tentatively.

"That's how I know your ship is cursed by Poseidon."

The voice that neither admitted nor denied being Panini said, "But I'm afraid I'll disappoint you. Poseidon's power is still too strong. I haven't been able to remove his curse yet."

"Isn't he dead yet?" Cheng Lang asked curiously.

"of course not"

The voice replied nonchalantly, "This is a game for the ocean. He won't die until the game is truly over."

"Thank you for answering my questions," Cheng Lang said respectfully.

The other party is a sea monster, the top combat power in the ocean. He can't treat the other party as a beast. That would be disrespectful to his own life.

"It's not really a secret, and I still enjoy chatting with everyone."

The voice paused and said, "Your ship even has vine goblins and a leaking hull. I haven't seen these things in a long time. In that case, I will give you two choices."

"What choice?" Cheng Lang asked curiously and respectfully.

"After all, you're lucky enough to have found the wishing coin, so I'll give you a chance to choose between the two."

The voice said, "I happen to have some deep-sea devil fish swim bladders that can help you repair the bladder. Although I can't make it usable indefinitely, at least I won't have to waste Poseidon's blood to plug the hole."

"Can I know what the other option is?" Cheng Lang asked.

'Another option'

The voice said, "I can also help you modify the vine mandrills to make them less noticeable.

Young black-haired captain, as far as I know, Boerland's siren dogs have been searching the sea for ships related to vine goblins in recent days."

"Please help me fix the boat's hull, Lord Panini." Cheng Lang said with a smile.

"Aren't you afraid of being hunted down by Boerlan?" the voice asked curiously.

"Even the kitchen utensils and carpets on my ship were looted from the witcher ship."

Cheng Lang bent down and grabbed a handful of gold coins, letting them fall. "Compared to plundering merchant ships and pirates, Boerland's demon-hunting ships are the real fat sheep."

"I like your confidence! This is the confidence that a pirate should have!"

The voice seemed particularly pleased with this answer. It laughed heartily and said, "I've repaired the hull for you and added a few surprises. Young Captain, I look forward to hearing about you at sea."

“Thank you for your blessing.”

Cheng Lang had already revealed his hypocritical mask as he spoke, "How did you know I have black hair?"

"Do you know who I am?" the voice asked again.

“Thank you for your answer”

Cheng Lang put on his hypocritical mask again and said, "So you will hang me for using the hypocritical mask in Pirate City?"

"I don't have eyes on my tentacles," the voice answered with a laugh.

"Thank you for your tolerance," Cheng Lang's tone became more sincere.

"Thank you for your help to Tundao. It is an old friend of mine." After the voice in the gold coin finished speaking, a tentacle hidden in the darkness once again wrapped around Cheng Lang.

By the time he reacted and the slippery feeling around him disappeared, he was back to the fountain in Pirate Square.

“What a fantastic experience.”

Cheng Lang muttered something, turned around and walked towards the dock in the night with a fishy smell all over his body.

After jumping into the sea to take a bath, Cheng Lang swam directly to the side of the Valkyrie, swung the whip, wrapped it around the side of the boat and lifted himself up.

Since becoming a captain, this guy has been taking eight baths and changing clothes ten times a day.
Cheng Lang muttered to himself, and walked into the stern deck with water stains all over his body, and into the captain's bedroom.

"Dear Captain, you are back."

As the door opened, the magic mirror greeted respectfully, "I bet you must have found the treasure in the book."

“I did find it.”

Cheng Lang said as he walked towards the bathroom, "An adult who looks like Panini helped us fix the boat's bladder."

“It is true”

The magic mirror said respectfully and flatteringly, "Not long ago, it was integrated into the heart of the ship. You can find its existence through the heart of the ship."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Lang, who had already taken off his clothes and was lying in the bathtub, immediately moved the center of the boat and easily found the repaired hull.

At this point, if the boat needed to be activated, he no longer needed to blow it up himself. Not only that, Mr. Panini also added an ink sac to the boat.

For octopuses, the role of the ink sac is self-evident.

However, even though the hull had been repaired, its use was still subject to numerous restrictions. It could only be used once a day, for a maximum of an hour each time, and it was still impossible to move while in use.

In contrast, the ink sac that Panini helped add actually has the ability to mask the breath of the crew. Obviously, he was doing his best to help the Valkyrie, which was cursed by Poseidon.

"Magic mirror, Panini seems to be unaware of the existence of the blessing ship lantern?" Cheng Lang asked after pondering for a long time.

"If he could detect the benevolent ship lights behind the sea, he would become the new Poseidon."

The magic mirror replied with a hint of sarcasm, "The sea monster is indeed very powerful, but compared to the Queen of the Sea or Poseidon, the gap is like the gap between a stray cat and Panini."

"Luckily Poseidon is dead"

Cheng Lang couldn't help but mutter, but at the same time he couldn't help but be curious, after killing Poseidon, no, perhaps it should be said that after sealing Poseidon, how terrifying would the combat power of the Valkyrie be.

This was destined to be another question that the magic mirror could not answer accurately. Cheng Lang was also not prepared to embarrass a mirror, so he simply ended the topic, took a comfortable bath, and then lay down on the soft big bed.

Compared to land and the hotel where Yun Ji and her brother stayed, he was more accustomed to living in this luxurious captain's bedroom.

Just as the captain of the Valkyrie was sleeping soundly, some pirate ships arrived at the docks of the nine main cities of the Pirate City.

Without waiting for the ships to stop, the siren sailors on board jumped into the sea, flaring their gills hard, searching for something in the water.

At the same time, a little ink was slowly dissipating from all over the bottom of the Valkyrie, easily eliminating the stench on the ship that was giving the Sirens a headache.

In a certain kind of vision that ordinary people or sirens and sea monsters cannot perceive, the ship was also shrouded in an extremely dazzling ship light within a range of more than ten meters around it, just like... like a layer of invisible fog.

(End of this chapter)