The captain of the ship reached out.

Chapter 16 Swear an oath to the Lord of the Deep!

"It can bestow blessings upon other life forms..."

"Effect: Randomly enhances one of the target's abilities..."

"The price to pay is a certain amount of life force?"

After studying it for a while, Horn roughly figured out how to use this new talent.

Simply put, it serves to strengthen the effect.

However, it cannot be used to strengthen one's own body; it can only be used on other living beings. It should also be possible to strengthen familiars.

Horn simply picked a lucky mushroom at random.

[Blessing of Destiny], activated!

next moment.

A mysterious power, using tentacles as a medium, slowly flowed into the body of this familiar.

Immediately afterwards, a layer of dark, matte light appeared on its body, enveloping its entire companion.

what?

Is this an evolutionary process?

Horn recalled his memories of being a Pokémon Master.

Soon, the black light dissipated.

The appearance of the family members did not change much, it seemed that only their skin had become a little thicker?

I opened the panel and took a look.

It has been discovered that its [Thick Skin] has been upgraded from Lv4 to Lv5!

Can I directly upgrade my skill level?

not bad!

Wait, why am I feeling dizzy?

Horn was still commenting on the talent when he suddenly felt a moment of disorientation.

It's similar to the feeling of suddenly standing up after squatting for a long time, causing a sudden blackout.

After a while, things returned to normal.

Horn carefully assessed his own condition—not the pain of an injury, but rather a feeling of weakness and powerlessness.

Is this the price of paying for one's life force?

It seems acceptable.

In gaming terms, this vitality deduction refers to "current health," not "maximum health."

This cost could be quite severe for humanity.

A depleted body is prone to illness or can leave long-term health problems.

However, the [genetic integration] does not have this problem.

It's estimated that if you snuggle up in the fungal carpet and take a nap to replenish your nutrients, your health will be restored.

"Besides familiars, strengthening the parasite should also be a good option."

Horn quickly realized another use for his new talent.

If you want your employees to work hard, you have to give them some tangible rewards.

At the very least, they should at least offer a grand promise, right?

Just as Horn was about to show some concern for his two employees, a new situation arose near the Golden Sun, where the split was located.

A desolate coastline.

Bazel and his men herded the bound natives onto the boat one by one, like cattle and sheep.

Most of the Loy people had blank and numb expressions on their faces.

They were still immersed in the grief of their destroyed homes and dead people, completely unaware of what awaited them.

The one-armed Libit had a vague idea of ​​what was going on.

Are they... going to send us to other islands?

Not as human beings, but as livestock?

Libit gave a bitter smile.

In fact, he didn't know whether his previous actions were correct.

But at least for now, the community has survived.

As long as you're alive, there's still hope!

Chieftain, Maiev, I, Libit, swear to the Lord of the Deep that I will carry on your legacy and never forget the hatred!

One day, I will make these invaders pay a bloody price!

"Hey, what are you looking at? Get out of here!"

Behind him, Hansen lashed out with his whip without mercy, leaving a red mark on Libit's back.

The one-armed man took one last look at the island where he had lived for decades. He said nothing, but silently lowered his head, hiding his hatred and sorrow deep in his eyes.

Nobody noticed.

A small mushroom on the deck witnessed everything.

……

……

"Oh? They caught so many natives?"

With the help of the ship's "eyes and ears," Horn immediately noticed the unusual activity on the deck.

"This is slave trading!"

During the Age of Exploration, the slave trade was an indispensable part of it.

I just don't know if they sell that...

"What? Bazel wants to engage in the slave trade?"

After learning about the current situation from Horn, Alice was surprisingly indignant.

"Bazaar had previously suggested to his father that he wanted to do this dirty and cruel business, but his father refused."

"I never expected him to be so treacherous. The reputation of the Golden Sun will be ruined by him from now on!"

The previous Golden Sun was a proper exploration ship.

Once the slave trade begins, the label of "slave ship" will be imprinted on it and can never be washed away.

Ordinary sailors don't care about their reputation.

No matter what kind of business it is, if you can make money, it's a good business.

But for Alice, this ship was the last thing her father left her, so naturally she didn't want to see this happen.

"Wait, something's not right!"

Alice suddenly remembered something and muttered to herself.

"The city-state of Aran is very strict about the slave trade. Lady Flora just executed a group of slave traders as a warning to others."

"Bazaar wouldn't dare to commit such a crime against the odds, unless..."

Horn asked cooperatively, "Unless what?"

"Unless, instead of returning to Aran, they target these natives in other city-states!"

"Other city-states, huh...?"

Horn already knew this from Alice.

Aran is considered a city-state that leans towards the lawful camp. Relatively speaking, the city-state's laws protect the quality of life and rights of its residents.

But since there are lawful factions, there are also neutral and chaotic factions.

According to Alice.

There is an island called Bloodsail City-State, where the vast majority of the inhabitants are pirates. It's a pure case of the strong preying on the weak, with people burning, killing, looting, and committing all sorts of atrocities.

"Besides Aran, which city-state is the Golden Sun most likely to go to?"

"It should be [Blackrock City]!"

Alice analyzed, "Father said that the black market in Blackrock City is famous and the closest, but it's still much farther than Aran City."

"I see."

Horn pondered for a moment.

A change of destination means an extension of the flight.

Should we take this opportunity to make contact with these native slaves?

The two sides share a common enemy, making cooperation a real possibility.

I just don't know what the attitude of these natives is towards monsters.

We need to observe further!

……

……

"……Um?"

After driving all the slaves into the lower deck and locking them up, Bazel, as was his custom, took a walk around the ship, but something felt off.

His gaze fell on a small mushroom in the corner of the cabin, and he frowned.

Were there any mushrooms growing here before we landed on the island?

I picked this mushroom and examined it; it was just a very ordinary carnivorous mushroom with negligible magical power.

Bazell didn't take it seriously.

In the past, there have been instances of carnivorous mushrooms growing in the lower decks of ships, but the crew members would work hard, eat mushrooms for a couple more days, and then everything would be fine.

In the end, it's nothing more than a mere grain reserve.

With the addition of slaves on board, food supplies were running low, and Bazel was hoping these mushrooms would grow even more!