Lead clouds hung low, and daylight gradually dimmed.
The battered whaling ship cut through the waves, white foam spreading in a wedge before its prow.
After being ravaged by storms and monsters, the whaling ship's deck was now a complete mess. Nearly all the upper structures had been damaged, with only the sterncastle barely retaining its main framework.
The original quarters had been in the cabins below deck, but monsters had taken over that area. Thus, the sterncastle naturally became the pirates' temporary resting place.
Night had not yet fallen, but Xia Lun had already lain down in a hammock woven from ropes. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, yet the brutal slaughter from the day kept flashing through his mind.
"Relax. Breathe..." He slowed his breathing while consciously loosening the muscles in his legs.
In his haze, his consciousness gradually drifted away.
He did not know when he had fallen asleep, but in his half-dreaming state, he vaguely knew that his sleep was restless. Amid the terror of rapid falling, he suddenly realized that he had entered a dream.
The sound of a violin echoed beside his ears. Its swirling melodic structure sounded much like the Spanish style from his previous life. A moment later, the melody stopped.
Xia Lun abruptly opened his eyes within the dream and found himself in a narrow, illusory, blurred space.
This place seemed unstable. Everything's outlines resembled flames dancing in a fierce wind, indistinct and shadowy.
He looked ahead and saw many strange fruits floating not far away.
All of those fruits glowed faintly. Some gave off red light, some green, while others shone with dazzling golden radiance.
"This is a lucid dream." Xia Lun's thoughts felt exceptionally clear. He slowly stepped forward, arriving before the sea of floating fruit.
After observing for a moment, he reached out and touched an enormous red fruit. In the next instant, a mass of Cobalt Blue information spilled forth like liquid mercury.
[Nonhuman Toughness] [Category: Talent] [Description: Due to certain extraordinarily special experiences, your toughness has reached a superhuman level. Even if you are severely injured and on the brink of death, you can still move as though uninjured—until you die completely. At the same time, your pain shock threshold has greatly increased. Over time, your endurance, recovery, and muscular explosiveness will all grow significantly.] [Source: Recognition, (Pirate Captain—Geliide)] [Available Memories: 15/15] [Note: In theory, you need 15 complete dream-entry experiences to fully master this talent.]
"This talent is way too powerful." Xia Lun's gaze sharpened.
As his thoughts turned, he immediately recalled Captain Geliide's nearly inhuman recovery ability—she had clearly suffered gunshots, falls, stab wounds, and other attacks, yet now she seemed barely affected.
This was undoubtedly an extremely powerful talent!
Xia Lun's heart heated up. He continued reading, only for his enthusiasm to instantly extinguish.
[Memory Points Required: 2500!] [Current Memory Points: 800]
"Not enough Memory Points." He sighed. "So red fruits probably represent abilities that can't be learned for now. What a shame."
Xia Lun looked around and found that among the entire sea of fruit, this was the only red one.
He shook his head, then turned to the densely layered emerald-green fruits.
Lines of information rapidly appeared.
[Firearms Use (Beginner) (Progress 30%)] [Firearms Use (Basic) (Progress 10%)] [Appraisal (Beginner) (Progress 5%)] [First Aid (Basic) (Progress 10%)] [Talent: Pain Resistance] ...
Xia Lun's gaze swept rapidly over the information. He found that not a single Specialization among those green fruits had reached the "Mastery" level. Most remained at "Beginner," while even "Basic" and "Proficient" were few and far between.
"So these emerald-green fruits represent abilities I've already mastered?" Xia Lun silently guessed. He did not spend much time here, instead swiftly looking toward the final golden fruits.
There were many golden fruits, clustered together, though not so numerous as to be overwhelming.
As Xia Lun focused his attention, lines of information immediately surged forth.
[Specialization Category] [Comprehensive Navigation (Beginner) 92%] [Source: Mixed (killing the pirate First Mate, and your own identity)] [Available Memories: 2/2] [Memory Points Required: 200] [Note: You already knew this, but have only temporarily forgotten it. With a little recollection, what has faded will become vivid again.] ... [Cold Weapons Use—Swords (Proficient 16%)] [Source: Killing, (pirate First Mate, Lorne)] [Available Memories: 3/3] [Memory Points Required: 500] ... [Cheating Techniques (Beginner 15%)] [Source: Killing, (Moen, Bearded Pirate)] [Available Memories: 10/10] [Memory Points Required: 200] ... [Faulty Occult Knowledge (Proficient 23%)] [Source: Mixed (killing Bearded Pirate Moen, and your own identity)] [Note: This is a complete set of occult theories that can neither be disproven nor proven. It may contain some correct elements, but most of it is far-fetched nonsense.] [Available Memories: 5/5] [Memory Points Required: 500!] ...
Xia Lun's gaze swept over the densely packed Specializations as he rapidly weighed his options.
"What I need now is greater combat power," he thought. "So I could consider learning Cold Weapons Use—Short Sword, but that would take too long."
"I should keep looking. It'd be great if there were memories that could immediately boost my combat strength."
His gaze continued downward, and the corner of his mouth could not help twitching.
[Talent Category] [Cream of Mushroom Soup Addiction] [Notorious Cheat] [Kleptomania] [Superstition] ...
"What kind of talents are these?" Xia Lun could not help grumbling inwardly. "How can Cream of Mushroom Soup Addiction even count as a talent? No, why can cream of mushroom soup even be addictive?"
He kept complaining in his mind while continuing to read. Soon, his eyes suddenly lit up.
[Reflexive Evasion] [Category: Talent] [Description: Through long-term training, you have developed a conditioned reflex for dodging attacks. When facing an attack, your reactions will be faster. At the same time, over time, this talent can very slightly enhance your physical explosiveness and endurance.] [Source: Killing, (pirate First Mate, Lorne)] [Memory Points Required: 80] [Available Memories: 1/1] [Note: You already know how to perform reflexive evasion. You merely lack further training, so the Memory Points required have been greatly reduced.] [Because the sources are identical and interconnected, this talent can be recalled simultaneously with the Specializations "Cold Weapons Use—Short Sword" and "Comprehensive Navigation."]
"This one talent and two Specializations add up to 780 Memory Points. I can afford that." Xia Lun calculated rapidly. "This choice will maximize my current combat strength."
"I'll choose these!"
With that thought, he immediately reached for the three golden fruits.
An icy sensation immediately traveled from his fingertips like an electric current. Xia Lun felt a chill surge up the neural pathways to the back of his head, and in the next instant, he grabbed all three fruits.
The cold touch disappeared. The three fruits transformed into golden motes that filled the sky, fluttering upward like fireflies before suddenly crashing into his head.
In an instant, Xia Lun's vision narrowed sharply. Under the golden radiance, the trembling outlines of surrounding objects intensified abruptly, twisting into inky-black masses.
In his daze, he somehow felt that his body had become smaller, while the ink masses transformed into a female humanoid figure holding a liquor bottle.
Xia Lun felt as if he had become the black First Mate as a child.
"You only stole this little?" the drunken figure shouted. "You deserve to die."
In the next instant, accompanied by a piercing whistle through the air, the bottle smashed viciously toward Xia Lun.
Caught off guard, Xia Lun suddenly felt a tugging sensation. Following it, he instinctively slid to the left and narrowly dodged the spinning bottle.
The bottle shattered, and flying glass cut his calf, but the bleeding stopped moments later.
He looked up, only to hear another sharp whistle through the air. Another bottle came hurtling at him!
And so, in his dream, Xia Lun began endlessly dodging incoming beer bottles.
Amid the whistles of flying bottles and the sound of shattering glass, Xia Lun was struck again and again, while also dodging again and again.
Soon, through repeated successful and failed dodges, he discovered the trick—whenever the other party raised her hand, he would sidestep.
However, he soon discovered in astonishment that the figure was improving as well. After several rounds of attack and defense, she even began varying the speed of her throws...
But no matter how she changed her rhythm, the sound of bottles slicing through the air remained the same. Thus, later on, Xia Lun simply closed his eyes. Whenever the sound appeared, he would rely on instinct and slip aside with a conditioned reflex.
[You have obtained part of the memories for the talent "Reflexive Evasion." Current Progress: 2/3]
A line of Cobalt Blue information appeared at the corner of Xia Lun's vision. In the next moment, the scene changed again.
Within the golden light, the shadow transformed into a rocking ship. Before Xia Lun stood a group of indistinct sailors. This seemed to be a fight aboard a ship.
The next instant, the hum of a blade suddenly rang beside his ear. Drawing on his earlier experience dodging bottles, Xia Lun instinctively slid aside. He then drew the short sword from his weapon belt and immediately counterthrust at his opponent's throat.
A slight resistance came through his wrist. The shadow cried out in pain and turned to ash, followed immediately by more shadows pouncing toward him!
Stepping back, sliding sideways, stepping forward—Xia Lun did not rush to counterattack. He carefully felt the tension in his muscles and the corrections in his movements as he continually evaded his enemies' attacks.
Though he was sometimes struck directly, in the dream, his injuries recovered within a few breaths. The bone-deep pain made him increasingly focused, further accelerating his learning speed.
As time passed, he became increasingly adept. He even counterattacked from time to time in the gaps between evasions.
One shadow after another fell, while Xia Lun grew more excited. Soon, he no longer limited himself to retreating and shifting sideways, but began stepping forward to attack proactively!
The enemies' attacks became more and more frenzied. Many shadows even began using strategies that traded injuries for lives, yet none of them could hit Xia Lun.
At a certain moment, enlightenment suddenly arose in his heart.
Evasion in Cold Weapons combat was about controlling distance and seizing the centerline. Rather than passive dodging, it was a struggle for initiative through constant maneuvering.
But at that moment, he suddenly heard a familiar click.
Without a moment's thought, Xia Lun reflexively sidestepped. A gunshot immediately followed!
Bang!
The spinning bullet grazed the edge of his clothes, opening a streak of blood, but Xia Lun had still dodged a gunshot. He had not even focused his attention—this had been entirely instinctive!
At that moment, Xia Lun could not help feeling fortunate—the black First Mate had a chance of dodging a single shot. If Xia Lun had not chosen to fire at close range during the day and had instead directly opened fire in a sneak attack, that shot would likely have missed.
[You have obtained part of the memories for the talent "Reflexive Evasion." Current Progress: 3/3]
The space flickered again. In the next instant, Xia Lun suddenly arrived in a cramped space. Before he could think further, the whistle of a sharp blade came from his left.
He reflexively raised his sword to block. The immense impact and faint resistance transmitted through his wrist told him that he had deflected the strike.
Xia Lun's heart leaped with joy, and he tried to slide his blade into a counterattack. However, in the next instant, an icy gun barrel pressed against his jaw.
His movements suddenly froze.
Bang!
The gunshot exploded, and the last thing he saw was a burst of orange-red muzzle flash.
Bang!
Xia Lun jolted awake and sprang from the hammock.
His back was sticky and damp. The bloodstains on his sailor's short shirt had nearly adhered to his back after being soaked through with cold sweat.
"Thump... thump..."
After a dazed moment, he realized it was his own heart beating, and that he had merely been dreaming.
He glanced at the clock beside him. It was exactly five in the morning of the next day.
Although only nine hours had passed, Xia Lun felt as though an incredibly long time had gone by.
At that moment, he felt as though tentacles were wriggling through the folds of his brain. Memories of battle rolled about like shattered glass in murky, boiling brain matter.
Just then, Xia Lun suddenly heard a familiar sharp whistle through the air. Without thinking, he reflexively rolled out of bed, drew his sword, and slashed toward the sound.
Smack!
In an instant, a wooden board that had happened to fall from the ceiling was cut apart. The board spun as it crashed to the floor.
From dodging to drawing his sword and slashing, the entire movement had taken no more than 500 milliseconds!
He froze for a moment, blinked, then let out a breath and glanced sideways at the Information Panel.
[Scenario Objective: Survive, Day 2/6] [After a long night of learning, you have acquired the talent "Reflexive Evasion"! Your physical explosiveness and endurance will increase slightly over time.] [Reflexive Evasion: Through long-term training, you have developed a conditioned reflex for dodging attacks. When facing an attack, your reactions will be faster. At the same time, over time, this talent can very slightly enhance your physical explosiveness and endurance.]
Xia Lun felt the power surging through his muscles, then continued reading.
[Specialization Progress!] [After a long night of learning, your understanding of Swordsmanship has greatly deepened. Current Available Memories: 2/3] [Cold Weapons Use—Swords (Basic) (Progress 62%→95%): Your foundation in swordsmanship is very solid. To a certain extent, you can already be considered skilled with a sword. You are especially adept at using one-handed swords, and your fighting style leans toward mobile combat.] [Comprehensive Navigation (Beginner) (Progress 0%→46%): You know how to correctly determine a ship's position and course, and you also know how to sail. In any era, this is a profound craft.]
He nodded, then summoned his character panel in his mind and looked at his skills.
[Heightened Focus, Safe Uses Remaining: 3/3]
Xia Lun lowered his gaze slightly.
The uses of Heightened Focus had recovered as well—it was time to carry out the next part of his plan.
Before you continue