A Ship Full of Professionals

Early the next morning, Dunn and the others stood on deck and watched the [Golden Tangerine] slowly set sail.

On the vast ocean, one had to stay wary of any ship that approached. After all, on seas unconstrained by law or morality, nothing that happened was surprising.

Dunn was in no hurry as he watched the [Golden Tangerine] slowly disappear over the horizon. It was still not far from Greenleaf Island, and if a battle broke out in the coastal waters, the island's powers would not sit idly by.

Even setting sail alongside the [Golden Tangerine] would put it on guard and very likely delay its departure.

"We've found out the [Golden Tangerine]'s next destination. It's Kailan Island, and the chart is ready." Annie wore a fitted knight's outfit, her long golden hair tied into a ponytail behind her head, looking dashing and valiant.

But Dunn was in no mood to appreciate the lovely sight beside him.

Since yesterday, all sorts of emotions had been surging through his mind without pause, especially a blazing rage that had nearly driven him out of his senses several times.

All Dunn wanted now was to catch up with the [Golden Tangerine] as soon as possible and settle this final lingering obsession left by the body's original owner.

Half an hour later, the [Black Pearl] slowly left Greenleaf Island's harbor. No one noticed that it was heading in the very direction the [Golden Tangerine] had taken not long before.

After leaving the harbor and having the sailors adjust their course, Dunn gathered the entire crew on deck, holding the box of Career Cards.

"I'm sure you already know that I offered these newcomers a monthly wage of two gold coins," Dunn said calmly to the sailors before him, who were clearly divided into two groups.

After Hans and the other five had come aboard yesterday, they were bound to talk with the old crew, and Hans would certainly ask these "veterans" about their pay.

Had the monthly wage been twenty silver coins, Hans might not have told the other crew members everything, for fear of causing problems.

But with an unbelievably "astronomical" monthly wage of two gold coins, Hans could not possibly keep a potentially life-threatening concern like this to himself.

After all, pay on this scale was simply too high for sailors who were not even professionals.

So, in less than a night, every sailor had learned that Captain Dunn had offered the six newcomers a hefty wage of two gold coins.

Although Dunn's recent ferocity kept the sailors from daring to say anything, they certainly had their own thoughts about it.

Of course, some of the clever ones had guessed something, but they had not voiced it.

"What I want to say is that it's not just those few. From now on, every one of you will receive two gold coins a month."

Dunn's words instantly went off among the sailors like a depth charge.

"Really? Praise you, great Captain!"

"I knew the captain wouldn't forget us old hands!"

"You knew nothing! You were complaining just last night."

"Bullshit! How could I possibly complain about our great captain?"

Most of the sailors were dazed by the enormous surprise.

But some of the cleverer sailors looked uneasy, deeply afraid that this "enormous" wage would turn out to be payment for their lives.

Luring sailors aboard with high wages and then using their lives to accomplish something was not common at sea, but some veteran sailors had heard rumors of such things.

"Of course, as you are now, you're certainly not worth that price." Dunn changed tack, bringing the sailors back to their senses.

Taking a stack of Career Cards from the box in his hands, he told the sailors before him, "But soon, you will be."

The sailors who realized what those were quickly grew eager. For people at the bottom like them, becoming a professional was practically impossible.

Although sailors earned far more than ordinary commoners, their expenses were also higher. They had to stock large quantities of rum for voyages, both to while away the dull hours and to serve in place of fresh water.

After all, most ships still could not afford freshwater conversion devices costing over a hundred gold coins, and those in charge were reluctant to let their subordinates use such fine things.

The prostitutes on the islands they passed would also use every trick they knew to drain the sailors' purses.

Even if a sailor really managed to save enough to buy a Career Card, advancing correctly to the second tier was no simple matter for someone who knew nothing about professional knowledge.

Dunn currently had twenty-seven Career Cards. Seventeen of the old sailors remained, and there were six new recruits, making twenty-three in total. After handing out one to each, he would have four left as spares.

After all, a Career Card was only a card, not some soulbound system panel. It could be lost.

And if one was lost, not only would personal information be exposed, but subsequent advancement and even Dunn's cheat-powered lottery draws would be affected.

So keeping a few spares would leave him prepared.

As the sailors brimmed with eagerness and excitement, Dunn guided them through changing to the first-tier [Sailor] class.

In this world, changing to over ninety percent of first-tier classes was extremely simple, with virtually no barrier to entry.

For example, the advancement requirements for the [Sailor] class were to board a ship and go out to sea.

Of course, a handful of classes did have certain barriers to entry. For instance, changing to [Cook] required proficiency in the fundamentals of cooking.

Martin's apprentice Hall, for example, had already studied under Martin for over a year, yet he was still a little short of being able to successfully change to [Cook].

Advancing to [Sailor] increased both stamina and strength by one point.

The body's original owner had changed to Sailor precisely for those two attribute points. After all, two extra points made the heavy work aboard ship a little easier.

The sailors aboard were mostly old hands who had spent years at sea. Almost all had eleven points of stamina, and some even had twelve points of stamina and eleven points of strength.

As for Biological Level, any adult free of injury or illness would reach level 5 immediately upon changing classes.

Ultimately, the first tier was merely a stepping stone to truly entering the ranks of professionals. Especially after Career Cards came into existence, there were no overly demanding requirements. Even among ancient classes, first-tier professionals were collectively known as apprentices.

The advancement requirements for the second-tier [Pirate] were:

[Pirate: prerequisite: a first-tier class related to the ocean. Advancement requirements: Biological Level 5, strength 11, stamina 12. Advancement conditions: 1. Complete one raid at sea.]

It could be said that all the sailors now met the basic requirements to advance to [Pirate].

All that stood between the sailors and advancing to [Pirate] now was a single raid at sea.

And the target of that raid was already gradually coming into view on the sea ahead.

The [Golden Tangerine] was merely an ordinary merchant ship. In speed, it fell far short of the [Black Pearl], a smuggling ship the White Elephant Chamber of Commerce had spent a fortune building to cross the Storm Sea.

Even with the [Golden Tangerine]'s half-hour head start, the [Black Pearl] soon caught up.