Ottilia Griffith

Lia turned her head and happened to meet Beatrice's scarlet eyes. An uncontrollable, bone-chilling fear rose from the depths of her heart.

"When Milta comes up, don't forget to tell him too. Beatrice will help keep watch." Ian did not explain much, merely reminding them not to mistake her for an enemy.

With a flutter, Beatrice beat her wings and flew into the sky at incredible speed.

Ian narrowed his eyes slightly. In his "perspective," the [Leviathan] and [Swordfish] below rapidly shrank, while the distant scenery came into view one scene after another.

As Beatrice continued to climb, her field of vision widened. Neither the darkness nor the distance affected her sight. Night Vision and long-distance vision were her basic abilities.

Ian felt as though he had truly become a crow. The howling sea wind, the damp chill in the air, and the pervasive salty smell of the sea filled his senses. Although he could not fly, he experienced the feeling of soaring freely ahead of time.

That felt really good.

After Beatrice flew more than ten kilometers away, their sensory sharing was cut off, and Ian could only obtain the information she transmitted through their mental connection.

Beatrice had been born from Ian's spirituality, and she naturally possessed the common knowledge Ian had mastered. A mental connection was different from speech—it was accurate and timely. Beatrice was like a very curious child, constantly transmitting information about the new things she saw to Ian.

Hmm... There wasn't much useful information. It seemed he had gained another one who needed teaching.

Beatrice continued flying outward, and the mental connection remained stable, nowhere near its limit.

Ian gave Beatrice an order to stay alert and not go too far, then closed the mental connection. If she found any truly important information, she could also "knock" through the mental connection to warn him.

Ian turned around and happened to meet Lia and Milta's curious gazes.

It was Milta's first time participating in a naval battle, and they had won a complete victory. His excitement still had not subsided. Hearing the commotion outside, he could not help coming out as well.

"That's my new magical pet. Right now, it's just one, but there might be a whole group later." Ian took the initiative to explain to them.

Milta patted his chest. "It seemed to look at me just now. It was a little scary."

Beatrice's appearance was indeed rather striking. While intimidating others, it also made her lose her ability to remain concealed.

"Don't worry. She won't attack people indiscriminately." Ian's words reassured the two of them. The Evil Crow's intimidation of living souls was indeed rather powerful, giving people the feeling of being watched by a natural predator.

Milta was already used to the "surprises" Ian constantly brought, so he never thought to investigate further.

Lia, meanwhile, had no time to think about such things. From the moment she boarded the ship until now, her emotions had been surging, one shock following another.

Everything she had experienced today made the Sea of Miracles seem somewhat unfamiliar to her and overturned her understanding of Ian. Of course, it was more likely that she truly knew too little about this mysterious man.

"Captain, today's battle was incredible." Milta's face was alight with excitement, as if he were looking forward to more battles.

Ian looked at him with amusement. Milta was usually rather reserved, but once battle began, he seemed like a different person. He became extremely excited, his spirits soared, and he was intensely focused.

Lia leaned against the gun emplacement, her gaze distant. "Today's battle was truly unbelievable. One ship and three people easily defeated two larger armed merchant ships without suffering a single injury. I had never heard of anything like it before."

She gently touched the base of the cannon. "What a miraculous ship—"

Alchemy Cannons were nothing new aboard ships, but their recoil was too powerful. Ordinary wooden sailing ships simply could not withstand it.

The most terrifying things about the [Leviathan] were still its speed and maneuverability. Against other sailing warships, this was an overwhelming advantage. Perhaps only the newest steamships could contend with it.

At the mention of the [Leviathan], Milta's face filled with admiration as well. "The [Leviathan] is truly amazing. I can't imagine what she'll look like once she grows up."

Lia's heart jolted. "She's still growing?"

Ian pursed his lips and smiled. "Don't get too excited. We have too few people and too few cannons. The key problem is that as the [Leviathan] grows, the thick anchor chains can no longer manipulate the cannons precisely.

"We need to expand. If you know anyone suitable, you can recommend them, but they must first earn my approval."

Ian turned to Milta. "Milta, as the Gunner, you can use as much gunpowder and ammunition as you want aboard the ship from now on. You must improve your gunnery as quickly as possible. The Sea of Miracles is about to become even more chaotic, and there will be many naval battles in the future."

Whether the Extraordinary profession of gunner was simply powerful enough, or Milta himself possessed considerable talent, Ian had discovered that Milta's potential in gunnery was extremely high. The Extraordinary profession of gunner was highly specialized, with all its attribute points invested in shooting. Combined with Milta's talent in that area, he would become the most accurate gunner aboard the [Leviathan] in the future.

Ian's Alchemist profession ability, [Precision], focused more on controlling the precision of material quantities and energy. In ranged attacks, Milta's [Precision Intuition] had the higher potential.

Milta was in high spirits. "Yes, Captain." He had found genuine enjoyment today.

Ian looked intently at Lia and probed, "Lia's gunnery is quite impressive. I thought you were a 'landlubber' who rarely went aboard ships."

In the faint light cast by the stern lamp, Lia did not shy away at all as she looked into Ian's eyes. She had never intended to conceal her past.

"My original name was Ottilia Griffith. My father was an explorer captain. He and a group of explorers were the first to discover the Rainbow Archipelago. The Rainbow Archipelago has dozens of small islands southwest of the Lucia Archipelago.

"My father and his friends landed on one of the smaller islands. Because it was covered in blue flowers that looked like flames, they named it Blue Flame Island. My father stopped adventuring after that, spending years building a small village and establishing relations with the local indigenous tribe.

"It was around that time that my father met my mother, and then I was born."

Lia turned her head, folded her arms, and looked toward the distant sea, her gaze melancholy.

"When I was fourteen, a group of unidentified armed forces attacked Blue Flame Island. They did not occupy it; they looted it destructively.

"My parents died before my eyes. An uncle took me aboard his ship and hurriedly fled Blue Flame Island. A year later, he also died in a storm.

"During that upheaval, I awakened my spirituality on my own. Fortunately, I was not contaminated, and I took up my father's Extraordinary profession—the navigator."

Ian listened quietly. The sea wind tousled Lia's long hair. It seemed she had never shared her experiences with anyone before, and her voice rose and fell like the waves.

"I became a captain just like my father. For the next few years, I kept investigating the raiding ships responsible for what happened back then, but I found nothing.

"Until I was nineteen, when I learned from a pirate that the great pirate Avery had once raided the Rainbow Archipelago. I knew I was no match for him at sea, so after careful preparations, I attacked him with a large amount of Alchemy Gunpowder when he docked at Pirate City, Umbar.

"Unfortunately, I only blew up his ship. He was not seriously injured, and I could do nothing but flee by ship. Avery was a curse warlock. I fell victim to his curse and could not escape his detection, so he hunted me across the sea intermittently.

"In the end, he caught up with my ship. Before it was sunk, I secretly jumped into the sea and escaped. Later, when the curse flared up, I was saved by Commander Abigail."

Lia raised her head and looked at Ian with a gentle smile. "The curse I suffered is called the Sea Devil Curse. I cannot board a ship, much less enter seawater. The moment I appear in a sea region, I will be sensed by the sea devil of the Spirit Realm, and my Spiritual World will inevitably be eroded.

"Without your help, I might have grown old and died on Paradise Island, or perhaps one day I would have been unable to resist boarding a ship to seek revenge, eventually mutating and dying."