Don't Fight

According to the nautical chart, it would take Lu Ban about five days to reach the end of the Autumn Mountain Route, where the open sea and the near sea meet. Beyond Qiushan Island, there are countless island chains, each with many inhabitants, a stark contrast to this desolate area.

When Lu Ban was bored, he looked for the location of Song Island at sea and found that it was very far away from him, almost on the other side of the sea.

"I wonder what the current state of Song Island is?"

He muttered to himself, glancing at Amber sitting opposite him.

The pirates' food was also not very good, Harmony Island itself did not have advanced storage technology. Most of their protein supply came from dried fish and seabird meat, and vegetables were scarce, with only seaweed and other marine plants being plentiful.

The most common item was alcohol.

But whether it was Harmony Island's own lack of brewing technology or the pirates' crude methods, these wines tasted very weak, like fruit juice.

At sea, water can sometimes spoil due to storage. Unless it's a large official ship with good logistics, people at sea often use alcohol instead of water, since alcohol can disinfect and at least prevent them from getting infected with some strange germs.

I don't drink alcohol.

Amber said.

"I've heard that some priestesses chew rice and then use the chewed rice to brew wine called 'mouth-chewed wine.' Is that true?"

Lu Ban asked curiously.

"???"

Amber looked puzzled.

"There is no such custom!"

"It is said that wine is made by crushing wine with the feet of young girls and relying on the microorganisms on their feet to ferment it."

Lu Ban glanced at the wine-like liquid in his glass and gulped down a mouthful.

"Can you really eat like this?"

Amber felt that Lu Ban was acting too casually, as if she were one of them.

The Harmony Island's fine tradition is to be reserved and introverted. Even when a man and woman confess their feelings, they cannot directly say "I like you." Instead, they can say "The moonlight is beautiful." Amber has been raised to be dignified and virtuous. Lu Ban, who can talk about any topic at will, really leaves Amber speechless.

"Once, I went to an island where the people had all turned into monsters. Their food consisted of all sorts of flesh, tentacles, eyeballs, rotting remains, and the like. To avoid being exposed, I ate those things too."

Lu Ban suddenly started telling a story.

"Then what?"

Amber felt a mixture of curiosity and sympathy.

"Then everyone on the island was burned to death, but I escaped and survived to this day, and I am in good health."

Lu Ban said.

"So?"

Amber didn't understand the meaning behind Lu Ban's story.

She tried to think about whether it was some kind of reference or implication, but ultimately gave up trying.

"What I mean is that people are not as fragile as you think. In many situations, you are stronger than you realize."

Lu Ban bit off a piece of dried fish that was about as hard as wood.

"Yeah."

Amber seemed lost in thought.

In the past few days, she has indeed experienced things she had never experienced before and done many things that may be unique in her life. In the past, she certainly did not think she could be so strong.

"So, you could actually try chewed wine; it might taste better than these wines that have been stepped on."

Lu Ban earnestly advised.

"."

Amber felt that she was being a little stupid for getting angry so seriously.

Just then, a horn sounded from outside.

Lu Ban put down the food in his hand and looked out the window.

Under the cover of night, the two ships are engaged in battle.

Both ships looked like pirate ships, with skulls hanging on their flags, but the skulls were different in appearance. One of them had two knives under the skull's head, while the other had two knives standing upright on either side.

They had entered the boarding action phase, with the pirates dangling on ropes to the opposite deck to fight. The battle raged amidst the roar of cannons and the clash of swords, a truly brutal affair.

In these pirate battles, when one side couldn't fight any longer, they would all surrender. Each time, there were more people on the ship, and in the end, the number of people who surrendered might be more than the original number.

It has a strong resemblance to the Ship of Theseus.

Lu Ban originally didn't want to deal with these people and was just planning to run away as soon as possible.

But someone fired a cannonball that flew straight over and almost hit Lu Ban's ship.

"?"

Lu Ban felt that fighting was not a good thing and decided to stop them.

He raised his hand, Speech Bullet of his "Last Words" was ready.

Silent gunshots rang out, Speech Bullet struck the hull structures of the pirate ships.

The next moment, the ship, which was already riddled with holes from the battle, instantly collapsed.

The pirates who had been arguing fell into the water and tried to hold on to the floating planks.

"What the hell is that?!"

The pirates were bewildered by the sudden and powerful attack. They looked around and finally spotted a ship not far away.

Unlike normal ships, this pirate ship had no lights on and looked completely dark.

Under the moonlight, there was no skull and crossbones flag on the mast, only a black flag.

At the bow of that ship stood a man.

Beside the man was a strange creature.

Behind that creature, there seemed to be a short, dwarf captain.

"A ghost ship? It's a ghost ship!"

The pirates quickly remembered the legends of the high seas: some ships that strayed into the Nameless Mist became ghost ships, wandering aimlessly on the sea, sinking any ship they encountered and killing all their sailors.

In an instant, neither side of the pirates had the will to continue fighting.

Encountering such Unspeakable Monster, just surviving is a miracle!

"Run! Move quickly!"

Both pirate ships were wrecked, but some small boats remained. On this calm night, they could at least row to the island where their base was located.

They began to swim quickly.

However, the pirate ship sailed towards them.

It was very fast, and without lowering its sails, it glided silently as if being pushed by something.

"No, no, no!"

The pirates became hysterical, struggling against each other in an attempt to escape the ship.

Suddenly, the ship stopped.

Without any inertia, the ship remained stationary on the sea, rising and falling only with the waves.

Those pirates, who were originally vicious and ruthless, now clung to the floating planks in the water, their faces pale, staring blankly at the man at the bow of the ship.

He possessed a handsomeness that seemed to belong to another world, like a perfect creature sculpted by a god, reminiscent of some immortal monster.

The creature at his feet looked like a dog, but now it resembled some kind of ferocious and terrifying monster.

Even the woman behind them looked sinister and terrifying, as if she had crawled out of hell.

The man stood at the bow of the ship, glanced at the pirates who had fallen into the water, and held up one finger.

"Only one can survive?"

"No, please, spare us!"

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

"Living by killing others is so cruel."

As the pirates chattered and talked amongst themselves, Lu Ban of the ship, spoke up.

"Don't fight, fighting is bad."

"???"

The pirates were speechless for a moment, unsure whether this was a test or something else.

Then, without any warning, the ship turned around and sailed away into the distance, never to return.

The pirates looked at each other, unsure of what to do.