The Iron Anchor
Although Kronos made this decision, he still planned to keep a backup plan.
Applying for a crew position is fine, but you absolutely cannot do it as Starship Ranger Klein. This way, you can keep a trump card for yourself and avoid attracting the attention of the Vice Admiral Deep Sea.
Without hesitation, Kronos replenished his resources in Bayam and then traveled directly to Nas the Spirit World Traversal.
It's not that the Iron Anchor is in Nas, but rather that the only Spirit World Coordinates that Kronos possesses are located here.
Amyrius synchronized the Coordinates of places he had personally visited to Kronos. As a naval Admiral of the Loen Kingdom, it was already quite remarkable that he had been to Nas of the Feysac Empire.
Going any further would mean entering the territory of the Feysac Empire, which could easily lead to diplomatic problems.
Upon arriving in Nas, Kronos went directly to Cattleya's contact point.
After all, I'm a complete stranger here, and it's hard to get any Message. I need to find someone I know.
Since Cattleya had already given the instructions, the general store Boss cooperated by arranging accommodations for Kronos and then sending him a lot of Message.
The Naga Tribe's activity area is located at the junction of the North Sea and the Sonia Sea. Because it is close to the North Sea, the temperature there is very low and the natural environment is harsh, so naturally not many Pirate go there to disturb them.
Nas is located in the North of the Beluga Whale Sea, which is not too far from the Naga Tribe's territory; it can definitely be reached in two Spirit World Traversal.
However, after reading the Information, Kronos realized he had oversimplified the situation.
He had originally thought that the Iron Anchor should be on the side closer to the Sonia Sea, since the environment there was better, and the Iron Anchor had no reason to make things difficult for itself.
However, this judgment was clearly Error; the Iron Anchor had actually docked near the Arctic Ice Sheet, waiting for the crew who wanted to join them.
Is this a test? Maybe. After all, the Vice Admiral Deep Sea is Pirate General with quite a few "fans," and countless Pirate would want to join him.
This path could be a test, as there are two routes to reach the location of the Iron Anchor.
1. The fastest way to reach the Iron Anchor is to travel directly from the Sonia Sea through the Naga Tribe's territory.
2. By detouring through the Fog Sea Fog Sea, and then reaching the North Sea, you can cross the territory of the Feysac Empire, thus bypassing the Naga Tribe's territory.
Of course, those who walk the Spirit World don't count; what kind of path is that? It's just cheating.
Someone unaware of the situation would certainly not choose to take the long way around, after all, the Naga Tribe doesn't have a bad reputation, few people can see their whereabouts, let alone cause conflict.
However, Kronos knew perfectly well that the Vice Admiral Deep Sea's objective this time was highly likely to be the Naga Tribe. The Naga Tribe was no pushover either; were they really going to just let Hal replenish his forces?
Therefore, Kronos can do is bless these Sequence 7 Pirate who chose to traverse the Naga Tribe, and hope that there are no Nagas in Heaven.
Having gone through this screening process, Kronos no longer believed that Hal only wanted to recruit Sequence 7 crew members.
Neither of these paths is easy; those who can successfully traverse them must be at least Sequence 6.
He set his standard at Sequence 7, but unfortunately, he wanted Sequence 6. No wonder Cattleya had such a high opinion of him; he's certainly got a sharp mind.
This is similar to companies that typically hire applicants with a college degree or above, but only those from top universities.
Kronos was confident in his abilities, but concealing his identity would be difficult.
Just as Kronos was in a dilemma, the Boss spoke up, "Sir, if you want to get to the vicinity of the Iron Anchor, I do have a way."
Kronos was quite willing to listen to this local strongman's thoughts, so Kronos said directly, "I'm in a dilemma right now, please speak quickly."
"Actually, the North Sea is the operating area of many whaling ships. Don't be fooled by the fact that the Beluga Whale Sea is located here; there are far fewer whales in the Beluga Whale Sea than in the North Sea."
"The whaling ships operating in the Beluga Whale Sea are mostly small, while the larger, more ambitious whaling ships head directly to the North Sea. If you'd like, I can recommend a few."
The grocery store Boss's words were quite constructive. Ships that frequently travel between the North Sea should be very familiar with the Naga Tribe's activity areas. Even if they couldn't avoid them, they might still have some personal connections, making it easy to slip through the cracks.
So Kronos immediately nodded, hoping the Boss could help introduce him to the Boss of such a large whaling ship.
However, Kronos made ample preparations before setting off.
He completely changed his appearance and then altered his clothing style.
Armor was definitely out of the question; few Pirate at sea wore full armor, so it had almost become a characteristic of Starship Ranger, and Kronos had no intention of boarding the ship as an adventurer.
Kronos transformed into a middle-aged man, donned a pair of refined Glasses, and his demeanor instantly became more scholarly.
He planned to act like a scholar and go to the Arctic Ice Sheet under the guise of Scientific Expedition.
The world still respects scholars, so after Kronos explained his purpose, the ship Boss agreed without hesitation. Of course, it's also possible that he was drawn by the money Kronos offered.
But it doesn't matter; Kronos achieved his goal anyway.
This ship Boss is no ordinary man; he owns five Fleet and is arguably the largest supplier of Whale Products in the eastern part of the Feysac Empire.
He started in the Beluga Whale Sea, using small boats to catch small fish. As he grew, he began to expand until he reached his current scale.
Perhaps it's because they haven't forgotten their original aspirations, or perhaps it's because they've grown accustomed to this place, that's why they chose Nas as their headquarters.
Five Fleet took turns going to the North Sea, with one Fleet setting sail every other week.
So Kronos waited two days and then successfully set off with the whaling ship.
The ship Boss's respect might have been feigned, but the Sailor on board genuinely respected the scholar Kronos.
Fortunately, Kronos was originally a scholar. Who would dare say that the Associate Professor at Backlund Technical College and the Founder of the Scientific Research Base wasn't a scholar?
Therefore, Kronos easily dealt with these people's questions and even took the opportunity to inquire about the Naga Tribe.
On the mainland, if an ordinary person comes into contact with something supernatural, they would be investigated by professionals. But at sea, such control is much more lax.
Kronos hadn't expected that everyone on the ship had seen the Naga before; in fact, they said, "Every whaling ship that regularly sails this route has seen the Naga."
It seems the Naga aren't as mysterious as the outside world imagines.
Come to think of it, most people think Sanguine are just a legend, but who knows? There's a Sanguine community in Backlund, and maybe one of your ordinary neighbors is Sanguine, or maybe the hospital they go to is run by Sanguine.
According to these Sailor, the Naga didn't appear very often; they only occasionally asked them to help procure supplies. They only had the opportunity to see them because they traveled this route so frequently.
These Naga are very friendly to passing ships. Some people have had other ideas because of this friendliness, trying to hunt Naga for money, but they didn't expect to be crushed.
Because of this incident, the relationship between the Naga and the passing ships became completely "harmonious," and no further conflicts arose.
Upon seeing that Kronos was very interested in the Naga, they said that in another day or two they would be entering the Naga's territory, and they might actually have a chance to meet them.
Upon hearing this, Kronos quickly began his preparations, directly using the power of the Death God Mask to seal himself.
Sealing is an ability of High Sequence Beyonder of the Death Pathway, which allows them to use the power of the Underworld to perform sealing.
This sealing power is very domineering, so it is not suitable for sealing living things, because if the sealing is prolonged, the power of the Underworld will invade the body and eventually Underworld.
However, Kronos tried it and found that he could withstand being sealed for three to five days.
Although it is very difficult to determine the Sequence of Beyonder through the naked eye and senses, it cannot be ruled out that there may be Beyonder Item that perform this function, so it is best to seal them in advance to avoid trouble if they are discovered later.
The Naga Tribe was almost there, and Kronos was certain they would screen all those coming and going, so he sealed his power to be more certain.
On the second night after Kronos sealed himself away, a Naga secretly climbed onto the ship.
These Nagas are quite clever; fearing you might be prepared, they did it secretly at night.
Although Kronos had sealed his power, his Spirituality, which was far superior to that of ordinary people, still caused him to wake up naturally.
As soon as Kronos woke up, he knew something must have happened, so he didn't make any sudden moves and chose to remain still.
A moment later, a humanoid creature walking upright passed by its door.
Kronos immediately noticed that the humanoid creature's upper body was covered in scales.
Although he didn't know what the Naga looked like, he was certain that this was the Naga.
Fortunately, I had made preparations in advance; otherwise, I would have had no choice but to kill the Naga and run away, which would have alerted the enemy.
After the Naga had checked each room one by one, he still entered Kronos's room.
After entering, he waved something in front of Kronos, and finding no change, he left reassured.
After he turned around, Kronos opened his eyes in time, satisfied his curiosity, and took a closer look at what the Naga looked like.
His lower body was that of a giant snake, while his upper body was that of a human. His body looked exceptionally strong and was covered in scales.
Because his abilities were sealed, Kronos could only use his Eyes of Mystery Prying to take a good look, and thus could only observe his appearance.
After confirming that the Naga had left, Kronos fell asleep peacefully once again.
For the next two days, Kronos remained sealed, after all, who could be sure the Naga Tribe would only check once?
Only after the Sailor confirmed that they had left the Naga Tribe's territory and had completely entered the North Sea did Kronos release the seal on himself.
The people on the ship felt sorry for Kronos, as the great scholar had not been able to see the Naga he had been so curious about.
Kronos thought to himself, "If I hadn't sealed it in time, it wouldn't just have been a matter of seeing the Naga; a whole group of Naga might have come."
Kronos himself should be able to escape safely, but the Sailor are on their own.
After entering the North Sea region and sailing for another two days, Kronos finally saw the Arctic Ice Sheet.
The Kronos white world took a while to adjust to; it was quite dazzling.
After the whaling ship anchored beside the ice cap, Kronos was about to embark on his solo journey.
Kronos would never allow them to send him near the Iron Anchor, not to mention the principle of secrecy; even if he did, no one would agree.
Vice Admiral Deep Sea may have a decent reputation, but he's still a Pirate. Seeing Pirate at sea and not running away, but instead going after him—isn't that foolish?
So Kronos had no choice but to rely on the Map given to him by Boss grocer and run to the location of the Iron Anchor on his own two feet.
His Starship was originally in the Mask Space, so traveling by ship would definitely be faster than running.
But to conceal his identity, he couldn't use the boat, so he had to walk.
Fortunately, his location wasn't too far from the Iron Anchor's, and coupled with his Beyonder stamina, Kronos arrived at the location on the Map five hours later.
Here, Kronos did not see any ship, but he still placed some Candle on the ice cap by the sea, just as the Information had described, thus creating a somewhat incomplete Ritual.
When it comes to Ritual, Kronos is definitely an expert, but he was genuinely unfamiliar with this Ritual.
Not long after the Ritual was completed, Kronos saw large bubbles rising from the sea in front of him, and then a black sailboat rose from the sea.
This Golden Dream nor as mysterious as the Future; the whole ship exudes a rugged aura.
A large, gleaming Iron Anchor hung from the bow, and a flag bearing the image of Black Anchor was also hung on the mast.
With its ability to walk on the sea, Iron Anchor hanging from its bow, and a black anchor flag, if Kronos couldn't guess that this was the Iron Anchor, then the thing around his neck would truly be just there to make up for his height.
After the Iron Anchor came to a stop, a head popped out from the bow and called out to Kronos, "Hey you down there, are you here to apply for a crew position?"
A Pirate shouting for a crew job—it's quite absurd.
But now wasn't a good time to complain, so Kronos spoke up, "Yes, I'm here to apply for a crew position on the Iron Anchor."
After receiving Kronos's reply, a small boat was lowered from the Iron Anchor, and the person who had just stuck his head out was also on the small boat, presumably there to pick up Kronos.