Upgrade the Eyepatch

The Locator Card vanished from Ling Chu's hand as soon as she used it.

A faint red line appeared in the air, pointing the way across the vast sea.

A Locator Card cost 100 Sea Shells, a price few players on the entire server could afford. Ling Chu had used it without hesitation.

She lived by one rule: good things were meant to be used. If they made her stronger, that was better than dying and leaving them for someone else.

At the helm, Titch adjusted the ship's course and followed the red line.

The Opium Fish Chunks were grilled to perfection. Fish this fresh needed little preparation to taste delicious, and biting into chunks nearly the size of steaks was immensely satisfying.

Ling Chu opened a can of Rye Beer and sliced up a mango to cut through the richness.

There was still no sign of an island anywhere in sight. With no idea how long it would take to reach one, Ling Chu lay back in her folding chair and opened the Trading Post.

The more than two thousand pieces of wood she had listed had sold out, bringing in over a hundred pounds of fresh fruit and more than a hundred cans of fruit and vegetables. She now had nearly five hundred pounds of fruit in storage, along with 270 cans.

On a whim, she searched for Silk. When the results appeared, she sprang upright.

Someone really was selling it: five pieces, priced at one Sea Shell each.

Ling Chu bought all five at once, then noticed the seller was A Silly Bird.

That guy really was lucky. He had even managed to get his hands on Silk.

Once the Silk arrived, she used it to upgrade the Eyepatch.

[Captain Teach's Monocle Eyepatch]

[Quality: Legendary (Upgradeable)]

[Wear it to read players' and creatures' attributes and skills. An essential tool for killing and looting! It looks stylish, too. A Pirate without an eyepatch isn't a proper Pirate!]

[Upgradeable. Requires five Glimmering Silk Threads.]

The Eyepatch had risen from Unique to Legendary, and could now reveal more information.

Ling Chu tried it on Titch. A panel of information appeared before her eyes.

Titch (Undead Skeleton, owned by player Ling Chu)

Constitution: 8

Strength: 6

Agility: 5

Intelligence: 3

Luck: Hidden

Charisma: Hidden

Help Me Up I Can Still Fight (Undead Skeleton passive skill): Immune to all physical damage. Can automatically reassemble bones that fall nearby.

Fear Fire and Light (Undead Skeleton passive skill): Takes double damage from fire, light, and purification spells and skills.

Marksmanship Mastery (Personal skill): Expert with firearms. Never misses.

Titch's stats were actually on par with an ordinary player's. His Constitution was even higher than hers, though his Intelligence and Agility were a little lacking.

A Silly Bird sent her a private message. "Boss, so you're the one who bought my Silk! What's it for? I had it listed all day, and nobody wanted it."

"It's an upgrade material. Do you have any Glimmering Silk Thread?" Ling Chu asked.

"No. Never even heard of it. But if I come across any, I'll keep an eye out for you."

"Sounds good."

A Silly Bird had high Luck, so he might come across rare materials. If he did, she could buy them from him.

Ling Chu checked the Public Chat Channel as well. People were selling all sorts of things.

"Jeweler making pearl necklaces! Twenty Dim Pearls for a Dim Pearl necklace, or twenty Pure Pearls for a Pure Pearl necklace. Fair prices, no cheating anyone!"

"Making Fire Basins and Basic Water Purifiers! Taking food or basic resources. DM me if you want one!"

"Buying seeds at high prices! Any kind!"

"Selling flounder, sea bream, and octopus, all caught this morning! Four pounds of fish for one pound of fruit or vegetables. Don't try to short me."

"Repairing all kinds of equipment, cheap! [Beginner Ship Repair Kit] 500 units of basic resources each. Trade directly through the Trading Post."

Dim Pearls meant pearls that had lost their luster, while Pure Pearls were flawless white pearls. Eighteen Dim Pearls were enough to make a necklace that gave +1 Charisma; the extra two were the crafting fee. A necklace made with Pure Pearls gave +3 Charisma.

Dim Pearls weren't hard to get—she could trade food for them on the Trading Post. Pure Pearls were expensive, though, and Ling Chu only had the one she had found inside a White Butterfly Shell.

Charisma wasn't a particularly important attribute, so Ling Chu couldn't be bothered. Instead, she posted a brief message in the Public Chat Channel.

"Trading an Alchemy Potion Recipe. DM me if interested."

She couldn't make the Paralysis Potion from that recipe herself, and it might lose value if she held on to it. She might as well trade it for something she could use now.

Neither of Ling Chu's two professions was a money-making crafting profession. She had already traded away her spare Iron Ore and resources, and had little else to sell. When she gained the title that gave her a thirty-percent discount in the shop, her first thought had been to buy and resell Bounty Orders. Unfortunately, items bought from the shop couldn't be traded, so she had to give up on the idea.

Several private messages soon arrived.

One player's ID looked familiar. Ling Chu checked the rankings and found her in fourth place on the Justice Points leaderboard.

Lingering Wind and Fading Moon: "Can I see which recipe it is?"

Ling Chu sent her the recipe's details.

Lingering Wind and Fading Moon replied at once: "I'll take it. What do you want in exchange?"

"A Pirate Hunter would trade with a Pirate?"

Ling Chu found it amusing. The other player hadn't hidden her professions: she was both an alchemist and a Pirate Hunter.

Lingering Wind and Fading Moon: "I killed a Pirate who tried to attack me, and that triggered the requirements to inherit the Pirate Hunter profession. Pirate Hunters and Pirates are opposed as professions, but you and I have no grudge. Why couldn't we trade?"

Ling Chu agreed. She figured the system had created two clearly opposing professions to stir up conflict between players. But conflicts came down to people, not professions. If anyone was foolish enough to provoke her, she would kill them just the same, Pirate or Pirate Hunter.

Potion recipes were rare. None were for sale on the Trading Post, so there was no market price to go by. What she could get for one depended entirely on what both sides were willing to accept.

Ling Chu asked, "Which potions can you make right now?"

As an alchemist, she surely had other recipes of her own.

Lingering Wind and Fading Moon sent over the details of three potions.

[Primary Mana Potion: Restores 20 mana per minute for five minutes after drinking.]

[Basic Health Potion: Restores 20 health per minute for five minutes after drinking.]

[Basic Antidote Potion: Removes mild poisoning after drinking. Ineffective against deadly poisons.]

When Ling Chu saw the Antidote Potion, she finally remembered why the ID looked familiar.

On the first day of the game, someone in public chat had said they'd been bitten by a Sea Snake. Lingering Wind and Fading Moon was the one who had given them an Antidote Potion for free.

Had she already unlocked her profession back then? She had said she'd salvaged the potion from a wooden crate, but that was probably a lie. Most likely, she had made it herself.

Ling Chu could almost see the words "naive," "bleeding heart," and "easy to fool" floating above her ID.

Ling Chu wouldn't want someone like that as a friend. As a trading partner, though... she was quite appealing.

Ling Chu: "I want twenty Primary Mana Potions, twenty Basic Health Potions, and ten Basic Antidote Potions. Once you can make Paralysis Potions, you'll give me ten of those too. And if I need more in the future, you'll sell them to me first."

Lingering Wind and Fading Moon's mouth twitched at Ling Chu's price.

What an outrageous demand. Ten bottles of this, twenty of that—did she have any idea how much work it took to make potions, or how many materials they needed?

But potion recipes were far too rare. Lingering Wind and Fading Moon gritted her teeth and said, "I can agree to the Antidote Potions and Paralysis Potions. But twenty Primary Mana Potions and twenty Basic Health Potions would take more Alchemy Materials than I have."