The Astrologer

The trade was completed quickly.

All they needed to do was confirm the trade details in the log and lock them in.

Next, dropping the trade items into the Monster Gacha Machine would transport them to the other party's ship.

There was no need to worry about the other party reneging. The gacha machine would guarantee the trade went through!

Generally, something like the gacha machine, with its completely different art style, was a boss beyond all power rankings. It was best not to test its might...

Yang Yi dropped in the agreed-upon items. As for the supplies, the system would deduct them directly from the hold.

Before long, the Monster Gacha Machine spat out two bottles of holy water.

They contained a clear, colorless liquid in reagent bottles.

Yang Yi opened one and sniffed it. It had no smell, so he drained it in one gulp.

Immediately, he felt as though his body had caught fire. Unbearable burning pain spread all over him, and he even gave off a scorched stench.

But his mental state improved considerably, and he felt clearheaded and refreshed.

"It worked!"

Delighted, Yang Yi checked his status.

His corpse poison infection had dropped to moderate, and his health had begun slowly rising.

So he drank the other bottle to reinforce the effect.

Then he spent 50 conch coins on five first-aid bandages.

These were probably made from cloth, but Yang Yi had no recipe, so he could only buy them.

He pulled the arrow out of his left arm, grimacing at the intense pain.

But pain was a good sign. It meant the corpse poison had weakened!

After cleaning the wound with a little fresh water, Yang Yi bandaged himself and checked his panel again.

Yang Yi

Status: injured / corpse poison infection (mild, improving) "A pale yellow human figure, with slightly darker coloring around the wounds"

Sanity: 93/100

Energy: 35/100

Health: 19/100 (slowly recovering)

He let out a long breath.

He had finally pulled through.

The remaining supplies were enough to upgrade the Nightmare, so he promptly did so.

[Sufficient supplies. Are you sure you want to upgrade?]

Yang Yi clicked confirm.

The Nightmare emitted a ghastly green light, like ghosts drifting around the ship, and its hull began expanding outward.

[Upgrade complete. The Nightmare has been upgraded to a level 2 ship. You can view the specific changes in the ship interface.]

[Maritime announcement: the number of players with level 2 ships has exceeded ten thousand. New changes are coming to the Origin Sea.

In three days, an unprecedented storm will descend upon these waters. All players, please prepare!]

The moment the announcement appeared, the chat channel erupted.

"Ten thousand level 2 ships... Damn it! I'm still short eight timber. Anyone selling timber?"

"Guys, can you believe this? I've made it into a game world, and the rat race is still this bad!"

"Buying timber and cloth at high prices. Message me if you're selling!"

A wave of upgrades swept through the channel, sending timber and cloth prices soaring.

But those hit hardest were the special ships that needed additional materials to upgrade...

Iron Will: "Trading fish for steel. Message me if interested. Large quantities of fresh fish available long-term!"

"Don't buy from him, everyone. His fish tastes like gunpowder. It's disgusting!"

"Just tell me whether it's fresh or not. Guaranteed freshly killed and sold!"

"Does anyone have low-grade wind essence? Price is negotiable!"

The speaker was the Gale. Yang Yi had added him as a friend, so he was no longer anonymous in the channel.

"Selling organic cucumbers, organic cabbages, organic apples, and organic bananas. Rich in vitamins and moisture. If you know, you know. Also buying seeds at high prices."

"Where did you get fruit and vegetables? Can your ship grow crops?"

"You clever thing, you guessed it!"

He attached his ship's information afterward.

[Farmer, level 1, durability 600/600, capacity 1,000 units, speed 25 knots]

[Ship skill: efficient cultivation: there is farmland aboard the ship. Time until harvest varies depending on the seeds.]

[Description: a farmer? No, you'll call him Daddy now!]

Yang Yi was rather surprised.

He hadn't expected there to be a ship that could grow crops. This really was... a colossal windfall!

Every special ship had its own unique advantages!

Yang Yi glanced at the blueprint in his hand. This thing was definitely a treasure!

[Name: Pirate blueprint]

[Type: blueprint]

[Quality: special]

[Description: can convert your ship into the Pirate, granting it greater speed, more grappling hooks, and even... cannons!]

Yang Yi hadn't seen any cannons aboard the Pirate. They were probably only available after an upgrade.

And just as he had expected, using the blueprint required no materials.

This meant using the blueprint on a high-level standard ship would offer enormous benefits.

For example, using the blueprint on a level 3 standard ship would turn it into a level 3 special ship, saving a considerable amount of upgrade supplies.

The higher the level, the greater the savings!

So the blueprint's price wouldn't collapse even in the later stages!

He checked his ship interface again.

[Nightmare, level 2, durability 600/600, capacity 1,000 units, speed 50 knots]

[Ship skills:

Nightmare: sleep quality aboard the ship is extremely poor, and you will have nightmares. Energy recovery efficiency -75%.

Angler's Curse: normal fish have no affinity with this ship. Increased probability of encountering abnormal things.]

[Description: this ship has grown larger, but that doesn't change the fact that it's dilapidated!]

The hull's durability had doubled, but it was still very low and couldn't take much punishment!

The ship was now twenty meters long. A skeleton was bound to its bow with rusted iron chains-the remains of the previous captain...

There was also an additional room in the hold available for expansion, with three possible paths to choose from.

1. Additional cargo hold: increases ship capacity by 100%. Requires 300 units of timber.

2. Ancient War Room: provides two waterlogged cannons that can be used to attack. Requires 200 units of timber, 10 units of steel, and 10 units of sulfur.

3. Grand statue: can intimidate passing ships and cause panic. Requires 300 units of timber, 300 units of cloth, and the skeletal remains of an eldritch monster.

After a little thought, Yang Yi settled on the Ancient War Room.

Nothing offered a greater sense of security than cannons!

Cannons were indispensable in naval combat!

His current supplies were as follows.

Capacity: 11/1,000

Timber ×9, cloth ×0, fresh water ×2 L (less than two liters counted as two liters)

Steel and sulfur were probably advanced resources. He hadn't seen any yet.

The level 3 ship upgrade interface wasn't available yet. It would probably only unlock after he completed an expansion.

After taking care of everything, Yang Yi began fishing. He still needed to stock up on more food...

Dozens of nautical miles behind the Nightmare.

There was a special ship here, roughly ten meters long, yet carrying an enormous crystal ball over three meters in diameter.

[Astrologer, level 1, durability 500/500, capacity 800 units, speed 50 knots]

[Ship skills:

Astrology: displays a nautical chart of the waters within a hundred nautical miles, including ship names.

Peep: displays an image of a ship on the nautical chart. Cannot view islands. Limited to one target per day.]

[Description: it's just revealing the map, not cheating!]

The captain was a beautiful woman with black hair, brown skin, and eyes of a rare red.

She had noticed the Nightmare earlier.

After all, two ships sailing side by side was a rare sight.

Then something changed: the Pirate's icon suddenly disappeared from the nautical chart...

"Was it destroyed...?"

The woman looked at the crystal ball before her. It was only palm-sized, and displayed a chart of the nearby waters, including ship names.

She reached out to operate it, using the Peep skill to view an image of the Nightmare.

She saw Yang Yi aboard the ship, fishing.

He reeled in a long-legged sardine. Before it even hit the deck, it went into his mouth.

The woman's red eyes widened, filled with shock and disbelief.

Soon, an eyeball was reeled in, then eaten as well...

Finally came a cystic porcupinefish, which the man tossed aside in disgust.

Yet the woman's eyes lit up at the sight of this highly poisonous fish.

"How did he catch these treasures?" the woman said enviously.

She hadn't lost a single point of sanity. Instead, she was very curious, because she had a special talent.

[Talent:

Witch's Blood: you thirst for knowledge. Your red eyes are proof of it, as well as your inborn curse. Spirit cap +2.

You have high resistance to bizarre creatures and phenomena.

But remember, those who touch the forbidden will be banished by holy light and burned by holy fire...]