First mate Bazel and second mate Rupert never dreamed that the ship they were to serve would have no one else besides Captain Gar and the two of them!
Or rather, there are no other living people left!
Watching the "extraordinary puppets" skillfully preparing for their departure, the two even felt a little superfluous.
Odis explained to them, "Because recruiting ordinary crew members is too troublesome, I thought of using 'extraordinary puppets' as crew members."
"There are many advantages to this. First, they can work continuously for long periods of time without the need for shifts or on-call duty."
"Moreover, whether a battle occurs in the future or a treasure is discovered, we will not have to share the spoils with them."
Rupert then came to his senses: "Captain, who made this 'extraordinary puppet' for you?"
He had also seen some simple mechanical puppets; the Sequence 8 potion from the "Monster" pathway was called "Machine," possessing terrifying computational abilities and self-control.
Members of the "Life School" have used their powerful computing abilities to design some ingenious mechanical puppets, but these puppets can only perform simple, repetitive tasks.
For example, pick up a pen and draw a picture you've designed, or write some words, etc.
When to put down the pen? When to lift the pen? When to draw an arc? When to draw a straight line? These are all pre-designed mechanisms, not ideas from mechanical puppets.
The sole purpose of these puppets is to perform in the circus.
The puppets on the ship were different; they could do complex things, such as binding the ropes, securing the sails, and making tea for Odis and the others.
Although their movements looked somewhat stiff and mechanical, these were already quite impressive "extraordinary puppets," and Rupert strongly suspected that they were a batch of puppets custom-made by some demigod.
Odis hesitated for a moment before saying, "I don't want to hide anything about this. This is a puppet I designed myself."
"They have no life, no spirit, only a mechanical shell and a mechanized thought... well, not a thought, but a 'mechanical operation'."
"You see them busy because I have already 'instilled' certain common sense and knowledge in them."
"But if you let them go to the kitchen to cook a dish, they will be completely stunned and at a loss."
They only learned how to cook after seeing Odis and others cook, but they merely imitated them unless they were given a cookbook.
The first mate and second mate opened their mouths, and after a few seconds Rupert asked, "You... how did you do that?"
"It's not that I don't want to tell you," Odis laughed, "it's just that you don't understand."
"Well... let me put it this way, I've discovered some unique uses for the extraordinary, and this ship and these puppets are examples of those special uses."
Bazel and Rupert only vaguely understood, but when they thought of the obviously powerful scrolls, they seemed to grasp what "Captain Gar" meant.
Before the new ship was towed to the port, Odis called to the first mate and second mate: "Come, come, let me show you around this ship."
"The rooms above the deck are the cockpit and lounge. The three of us will take turns on watch in the cockpit."
"There will be 'mechanical golems' there to serve as helmsmen and emergency sailors."
He opened the cockpit door. The structure here was relatively simple, with a ship's wheel about half a person's height and a mechanical-looking clock on the right.
A mechanical puppet is already waiting in front of the rudder.
On the left side of the cockpit were many control levers and buttons. It was the first time that Bazel and Rupert had seen such a structure in the cockpit, and they didn't know what it was for, nor were they too embarrassed to ask.
Additionally, there is a large wooden seat in the best viewpoint of the cockpit.
Odis then led two more people to a room on the side, which was a lounge, but it was rather simple, with only a square table and a few chairs.
In addition, above the cockpit and lounge, there is a small room, which is the observation room, where the navigators work.
The main rooms are all below deck, Odis explained: "This ship has three decks in total."
"The first floor contains a restaurant, kitchen, meeting room, lounge, as well as my bedroom and studio."
This floor has portholes, allowing sunlight to stream in and preventing it from becoming dark.
However, the furnishings are relatively simple, and there is still a lot of space.
"The next floor is everyone's bedroom," Odis said as they walked down. "You two arrived first, so you can choose first."
There are no windows on this floor, but there are bright crystal chandeliers in the corridor.
Even Bazel, who had once lived on a ship, was stunned: "This...this is a crystal chandelier?"
This ship is so extravagant! The crystal chandeliers in the corridor alone could buy a regular small seagoing vessel.
"It is indeed a crystal chandelier, but it's not the kind of crystal chandelier you're looking for," Odis explained with a smile.
The crystal lamp that Bazel mentioned is made of a precious spiritual material that emits light for a long time.
It is valuable and in high demand.
The crystal chandeliers on the Argo were made by constantly replenishing the spiritual energy of inexpensive crystals to make them shine; the total value of these crystals was less than 50 pounds.
In addition, each room has three crystal chandeliers, one large and two small, with the switches located near the door and not far from the small chandeliers.
Each room even has a private bathroom.
Because there weren't many crew members, the rooms here were very spacious. Rupert remarked, "They're almost as big as hotel rooms."
Rooms on ships are generally quite crowded, as there are many crew members. Although the first mate and second mate have their own rooms, they are usually quite small.
There are four such rooms in total, and two more spacious rooms, which are the crew quarters.
Another room is the "Extraordinary Puppet" rest room, which is used to store the "Extraordinary Puppets," since not many puppets are used normally.
The bottom floor houses the warehouse and the power system, but they are not in the same room; they are located at the bow and stern, separated by a staircase.
Bazel remarked, "Not having too many crew members saves a lot of space."
In the case of ordinary seagoing vessels, there is usually a prison cell on the lower deck.
But Odis clearly wasn't prepared for this; when fighting enemies, he would either kill them or let them go.
If you encounter a situation where someone is arrested but not killed, you can simply put them in another room.
The three of them started walking back, with Odis still walking in front: "The whole ship is driven by spirit; the sails on the outside are just for cover."
"Of course they serve some purpose, but not to power the ship... Oh, right, we should get the flags up as soon as possible."
Bazel and Rupert exchanged a glance. This was the first time they had ever heard of a ship powered by spirit, but the captain did not provide a detailed explanation, and they did not ask for the time being.
We arrived at the conference room on the third floor, where there were two flags.
Odis smiled and said, "Now, let our most agile first mate hoist the flag onto the mast."
Bazel pointed to one of the flags and said in surprise, "This...this is the flag of 'Elemental Dawn'."
"That's right," Odis said. "We will set sail under the banner of 'Elemental Dawn,' but the price we will have to pay is to give 'Mysterious Queen' ten percent of the spoils."
The banner of "Elemental Dawn" is an eye without eyelashes, and above the eye are some ethereal symbols representing light, depicting what seems to be the dawn when the sun has not yet risen but the sky is already bright.
"One-tenth?" Bazel thought he had misheard.
Because he was very familiar with the rules among pirates, if someone borrowed another's flag, they would generally have to hand over 30% to 50% of the spoils.
On the high seas, flags often signify protection and deterrence. For example, ordinary pirates would usually turn tail and flee when they saw the flag of the "King of the Seas".
Even during battle, the side that flies the "King of the Seas" flag has higher morale.
Since you've borrowed someone else's authority and reputation, you'll naturally have to pay a price.
To Bazel's astonishment, the ship he would be serving in the future was flying the flag of "King of the Seas," and he only needed to hand over 10% of the spoils of war.
This puzzled him greatly. Captain Gal's background was clearly the Church of the Goddess of Night, so why was he flying the banner of "Elemental Dawn"?
Rupert hadn't been to the Church of the Goddess of Night with Odis and wasn't entirely clear on the extent of the captain's cooperation with the Church of the Goddess of Night. At this point, he simply assumed that Captain Gar's background was with the "Elements of Dawn."
Odis replied, "Yes, only one-tenth. There are some special reasons for this, but we are basically part of the 'Elemental Dawn' forces."
Both Barzel and Rupert noticed that the captain's statement was somewhat vague, which was rather unusual.
However, now was not the time to discuss this, so the two of them did not ask any further questions.
"As for the second flag," Odis said, "it's our pirate crew's flag, well… I designed it myself."
This flag is quite simple. The background is a six-pointed star, which is commonly used in magic circles. In the center of the six-pointed star is an eye with eyelids and a sword standing upright.
The sword was behind his eye, in front of the six-pointed star.
The first mate and second mate had no objection to this, since the captain had that authority.
Bazel obeyed the order and took two flags, which he hung at the top of the mast.
The banner of "Elemental Dawn" was on top, while their pirate crew's banner was below.
After hanging it up, Odis asked them, "I haven't decided on a name for the pirate crew yet. Do you have any ideas?"
The first mate and second mate were both slightly taken aback. Rupert glanced at their flag and asked, "How about the Hexagram Pirates?"
Odis pondered for a moment: "It sounds like the name of a band."
Bazel asked, "How about the Sea Lion Pirates?"
"It sounds like the name of a circus."
The three of them looked at each other and then laughed together.
They all realized that three people who weren't very good at naming things had come together.
At this moment, the new ship entered the port dock under the towing of tugboats, and many people came to see it off.
Odis first commanded the "Extraordinary Puppet": "Lower anchor!"
The anchor was dropped, and the Argo docked at the pier.
Odis then said to the first and second mates, "I've also ordered some food and drinks. Have them moved to the warehouse downstairs later."
Bazel and Rupert agreed, and Odis then had the "Extraordinary Puppet" lower the gangway and come to the dock to say goodbye to the scholars who came to see them off.
Meanwhile, the goods ordered last night have begun to be loaded onto the ship.
Just as Odis was about to depart after the goods were loaded, a layer of illusory feathers suddenly appeared on the dock. When the feathers dispersed, Bernadette emerged from them, holding a hat.
Odis smiled and said, "Thank you, 'Queen,' for seeing me off."
Bernadette tossed the hat she was holding to Odis: "A gift for your departure."
Odis caught it; it was a leather captain's hat, with silver ornaments and a shimmering, spiritual light on it—clearly a magical object.
"Thank you." Odis did not refuse.
Bernadette looked at the flag on the ship and nodded in satisfaction: "The flag you designed matches the flag of 'Elements Dawn' very well."
Then she asked, "What's the name of the pirate crew?"
Odis said with a long face, "I haven't thought of anything yet. I discussed it with the first mate and the second mate for a long time, but we couldn't come up with a good result. Why don't you come up with one for me?"
Aria and the others standing nearby shook their heads with smiles. They hadn't expected that even though the ship was ready, the pirate crew still didn't have a proper name.
Bernadette didn't stand on ceremony. She glanced at the flag designed by Odis and said, "Let's call this sword 'The Sword of Dawn'."
"Dawn" and "the first light of day" are the same word, but in Intis, this word has two pronunciations to distinguish the meaning of "dawn" in different contexts.
For example, now that Odis has raised the banner of "Elemental Dawn," it would be redundant if the pirate crew had "dawn" in their name.
Therefore, another pronunciation can be used, which in Odis's linguistic logic means "dawn".
Odis nodded slowly: "This is a very good name."
He bid farewell to Bernadette and the others again, and as he was preparing to board the ship, he whispered to Bernadette, "I need to borrow someone from you."
Bernadette nodded: "Borrow it."
"I'll see you off in an hour."
Previously, when she learned from Aria about the content of Odis's conversation with Ilraz, the president of the "Navigator's Guild", she had guessed Odis's thoughts.
Odis removed his hat to express his gratitude, then strode up the spiral staircase: "Set sail!"
As he waved to the people on the dock, the "extraordinary puppets" began to start the ship in an orderly manner. First, the anchor was retrieved, and then the "extraordinary puppet" in the cockpit pushed the control lever forward, activating the corresponding magic array at the bottom of the ship, and the resulting waves propelled the ship forward.
The Argo left the dock, and Odice returned to the cockpit with Bazel and Rupert.
On the way to the cockpit, Rupert glanced at the hat in Odis's hand and smiled, "That beautiful lady from earlier must have really wanted you to go to sea."
Barzel gave a knowing smile.
Odis glanced back at the two of them and said, "That's the 'Mysterious Queen'."
Rupert's outstretched leg buckled, and he nearly fell: "Queen..."
He could tell, of course, that the lady was an important person, and that what she said earlier was just a joke with the captain.
I never expected that it was the "mysterious queen"!
Bazel was stunned. He was increasingly unable to understand Captain Gal's background. The "mysterious queen" had actually come to see him off in person!
Upon entering the cockpit, Odis sat on the large wooden chair, looked out at the vast sea, and laughed, "Forward 2!"
The Argo accelerated and quickly reached a speed of about 20 knots.
At this point, the first mate and second mate, having mentally prepared themselves, came to the bridge and stood on either side of the captain's seat.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
Odis said, "Our pirate crew will definitely be called 'Sword of Dawn'."
"This aligns with some of my ideas. In the future, I hope we can be like a sword, piercing through this ocean and the whole world."
The first mate and second mate had just recovered and were nodding vigorously. At this moment, they would believe the captain even if he said the ship could fly.
Odis added, "Currently, our ship is missing an important figure: a navigator."
"I already have a good candidate in mind, I'll go and bring him here."
Bazel thought he had misheard: "Capture him?"
"Yes, capture him." Odis stood up and smiled. "From today onwards, we are pirates. For pirates, kidnapping is commonplace."
However, this kidnapping requires a certain level of technical skill.
After greeting Bazel and Rupert, Odis put on the captain's hat that Bernadette had just given her, used the "travel ring" to enter the spirit world, and arrived at the Navigator's Guild.
He glanced at the sextant-shaped sign by the door and pushed it open.
The white-haired and bearded president, Yi Lai Zhe, smiled and said, "I thought you had already found a suitable navigator."
When the new ship built by the "Queen" was undergoing sea trials, Iraiz had also gone to the dock to see it. His years of experience at sea made him keenly aware that this ship was very unusual.
So I took the initiative to find out more, only to discover that the project to build a new ship was highly classified, and I had no right to know the specifics.
However, Yi Lai Zhe accidentally found out the exact date of the "Argo's" departure, so he summoned his most outstanding student in advance, hoping that the student could board this ship with a completely new concept.
But Odis was late in arriving, which is why Iraiz said that, assuming that Odis had already found a suitable candidate.
"Of course not," Odis smiled. "If I find it, I will certainly send someone to inform you."
Yi Lai Zhe stroked his beard and slowly nodded, quite satisfied with Odis's answer.
He glanced at the captain's hat on Odis's head, the hat that the "Mysterious Queen" had once worn, which could bring good luck to people for a short period of time.
This reminded Yi Lai Zhe of some of his experiences at sea. He took a deep breath before introducing the young man behind him: "This is the most talented student I have met in recent years, Ansel. I hope he can quickly become a mature navigator on your ship."
"Welcome to the team." Odis shook hands with Ansel naturally.
Ansel bowed slightly, shook hands with Odis, and exchanged polite words.
Then Odis said to Yilaizhe, "Mr. Chairman, thank you for your recommendation."
As he spoke, he naturally extended his hand and shook hands with Yi Lai Zhe.
President Yi Lai Zhe didn't think too much about it and reached out to shake hands with Odis.
In that instant, a phantom door appeared beside them. Before Yi Lai Zhe could react, he and Odis were already in the spirit world.
Young navigator Ansel stared blankly as his teacher and the new captain disappeared, momentarily at a loss: What just happened? How could they be gone in a flash? And what about me? Are they going to let me on board or not?
...
After a brief moment of surprise, Yi Lai Zhe tried to break free, but at that moment, the surroundings suddenly became like a rich oil painting, with colors becoming blurry and deep. Odis had already brought Yi Lai Zhe to the cockpit.
"Let's take a look around the ship!" Odis quickly said. "If you don't want to stay on the ship, I'll send you away right away."
He knew that the old man in front of him was not only a navigator, but also a very capable extraordinary person, who should be a "wind-loving person", or at least a "navigator".
You can lure him here with a handshake, but you can't stop the old man from flying or swimming back on his own.
Yi Lai Zhe originally wanted to curse Odis, but was immediately attracted by the "extraordinary puppets" at the helm: "These 'extraordinary puppets' can actually steer?"
He had also heard today that Odis had taken the "extraordinary puppets" to the dock early in the morning. He hadn't paid much attention to it, thinking they were just puppets that could only do some moving work, but he didn't expect that they could actually steer the ship!
Odis quickly explained, "Not only can it steer, but it can also operate weapons and fight."
"So even if you teach students on the ship, they can hide in the cabin when a battle occurs, because I plan to assemble a total of 40 'extraordinary puppets'."
"If it's not enough, I'll place another order with Dee. I will never let your students get hurt."
Yi Lai Zhe opened his mouth, but swallowed his words of refusal. Having spent most of his life at sea, he was also eager to see this new ship.
And as Odis said before, the most important lesson for a navigator can only be learned at sea.
However, without such conditions, "Element Dawn" is not a navigator's school after all, and it is impossible to use a large ship for teaching.
Even if I occasionally use it, I don't have time to go too far, otherwise the practical teaching would be more like a sightseeing tour.
Therefore, Odis's suggestion to teach new navigators with his new ship had already tempted Irezz.
After becoming president, Yi Lai Zhe grew to love teaching more and more.
However, he was well aware at that time that the safety of his students could not be guaranteed.
But things are different now. The combat missions on this ship don't need to be done by the navigator cadets at all.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Yi Lai Zhe glanced at the captain of the "Dawn" and the captain's hat that the "Mysterious Queen" had once worn. Finally, he let out a long sigh and said, "Take me to see the student accommodations."
Odis knew the deal was done and quickly led the old man outside.
But when he got to the deck, Yi Lai Zhe froze in front of the sails.
The sails were not unfurled, yet the ship was moving very fast.
Odis paused for a moment before saying, "Oh, right, I forgot to unfurl the sails."
Yi Lai Zhe seemed to have heard the most absurd joke of the year, but he couldn't laugh because it was obvious that the ship wasn't propelled by sails.
After ordering an "extraordinary puppet" to unfurl the sails, Odis continued to lead the way: "There are six rooms in total. The first mate and second mate will each have one, Chairman Yilai will have one, and one should be left empty as a spare."
"The remaining two crew quarters can be used for students; each room can comfortably accommodate eight or nine people."
Yi Lai Zhe nodded slowly; the accommodation was quite nice.
Then Odis took Iraiz to visit the observation room specially prepared for navigators. Unless it was a large ship like the Dawn, ordinary ships did not have observation rooms.
Navigators often have to brave strong winds and torrential rain to observe the sea during storms in order to prevent ships from entering dangerous areas.
If sailing in the North Sea or the polar seas, one must brave the extreme cold to observe for icebergs.
With the observation room, the conditions are much better.
Finally, Yi Lai Zhe nodded in satisfaction and said, "I can be your navigator, but on the condition that I use your ship to teach students."
"I will not participate in your battles, nor will I share in your spoils and all the treasures you obtain."
"Under normal circumstances, my students are not allowed to participate in combat."
His experience aboard the Dawn had given him considerable savings, and given his age, he had lost interest in promotion, so he had no interest in the spoils of war.
To avoid feeling too lonely in my old age, I just want to do things that I enjoy.
"No problem!" Odis readily agreed: "Tell me which students you want to bring, and I'll go pick them up right away."
Yi Lai Zhe immediately named five people, including Ansel, the student he had just recommended to Odis. Yi Lai Zhe also wrote a letter to the Navigator's Guild, explaining that he and Odis were willing to provide a safe place for him to teach young navigators.
Odis once again used the "Traveling Ring" to deliver the letter to the "Navigators' Guild" and, in three separate trips, brought the five young people—three men and two women—mentioned by Iraizhe onto the "Argo."
Although things were rushed, the young people were relieved after meeting Yilai Zhe and began to be full of curiosity about the ship and the crew, including Odis.
At this point, Odis discovered a crucial problem: the language barrier.
Bazel and Rupert are both Rune, and they speak Giantspeak, Ancient Hermes, and some Intis words, but they have difficulty communicating normally.
The old man, Yilezhe, was alright; having spent so much time at sea, he was fluent in various languages. However, his students only knew Intis.
Odis had no choice but to solve this problem with the "wisdom helmet," instilling the Rune language into the navigator trainees.
Once everyone had arrived, the ship suddenly became lively.
At that moment, a huge illusory space appeared in front of the Argo.
Odis knew that Bernadette was sending him to the raging sea, so he shouted, "Everyone on deck, come back! Everyone, get into your rooms!"
The Argo sailed at 20 knots toward that vast, illusory space. The moment it entered, a thin layer of starlight covered the ship, Bernadette's protection for the Argo.
Inside the virtual space was a vast galaxy, and the "Argo" was slowly traveling along it.
First Mate Bazel said, "Today I have witnessed truly advanced and extraordinary abilities."
Today's experience was completely different from what he had imagined before boarding the ship. He even had the illusion that he had joined a pirate crew at all.
The starry sky wasn't very long, and soon the "Argo" seemed to have pierced through a thin membrane and entered the normal sea area.
From there, you can't see Lacha Island behind you, or even any other island.
After sending Odis to an unfamiliar sea, Bernadette said nothing, put away the faint starlight and the vast illusory space, and left.
Yi Lai Zhe looked at the sun in the sky, then carefully observed the sea and the sea breeze, and said, "We have actually reached the Raging Sea!"
Although Odis knew that the older the navigator, the better, he was still somewhat surprised by the other party's judgment: "You can even judge that?"
Yi Lai Zhe smiled and said, "Using the sun, sea breeze, and ocean currents to determine one's location is a basic skill for navigators."
"Tonight, I'll know our exact location just by looking at the stars."
Odis nodded: "It was the right decision to bring you here."
He then said to the first mate, second mate, and Ilya, "The sea looks calm right now. Let's go to the conference room for a meeting."
Upon arriving at the conference room, Odis took another look at the three people in front of him. Sitting on the left was the quiet and very composed Bazel Ryan.
On the right is Rupert Shawn, with dark brown hair and a constant smile on his face. And on the right is Iraiz, with gray hair and beard, dressed casually.
The four people present were the core members of the "Dawn Sword" pirate crew.
Odis smiled and said, "From now on, we'll be on the same boat and will definitely fight together, so we should introduce ourselves first."
"I am a 'Scroll Professor'. My scrolls are more powerful and come in more varieties than those of ordinary 'Scroll Professors'."
"I also designed this ship. Its weapon system is very powerful, but you might not understand just by saying that. Let's find a place and conduct a live-fire exercise."
The other three also introduced themselves: Bazel was a Sequence 7 "Briber", Rupert was a Sequence 7 "Lucky One", and old man Iraiz was indeed a Sequence 6 "Wind-Centered One".
This made Odis realize that he was lucky to have managed to get this old navigator on board.
Odis then reiterated the pirate crew's mission and announced that their immediate goal was to find traces of the treasure, attempt to locate the "Red Lion" pirate crew, and launch an offensive if the opportunity arose.
The meeting mainly reiterated the pirate crew's mission, so it ended quickly. After the meeting, Odis went to the cockpit to look at the sea, while the first mate and second mate chatted and smoked in the lounge.
Yi Lai Zhe has already started on-site teaching, explaining to students how to determine wind direction and ocean currents.
At that moment, one of the students spotted an island using binoculars.