Upon hearing the "Hermit's" description, Alger the Hanged Man recalled some information he had gathered and thought to himself, "The Hermit knows a lot about the 'School of Life'!"
"Justice" Audrey then asked, "'The Hermit,' is the internal struggle within the 'School of Life' related to their main approach?"
The Hermit Odis replied, "Of course there is a connection. For example, I have formed an extraordinary organization whose main extraordinary individuals are the 'Thief' and the 'Spectator' pathways."
"These two approaches are not adjacent and do not have any fundamental contradictions. They came together because of a common goal, so they can get along harmoniously for a period of time in the beginning."
"However, because of the limited resources and channels available, this must involve the issue of the main development direction."
"Extraordinary individuals on the 'peeping' path certainly want to develop in a direction that benefits their path, and so do extraordinary individuals on the 'spectator' path."
"So even if they are not adjacent pathways, conflicts can still arise in such matters, but if an organization has a primary extraordinary pathway, such problems will not occur, and internal friction can be largely avoided."
Audrey smiled and said, "I see."
The "Priestess" Cattleya nodded slowly, agreeing that the "Hermit's" analysis was very accurate.
Klein and Alger shared similar views.
Afterwards, several topics were discussed at the gathering, and Klein announced the end of the tarot session.
...
Odis returned to the real world, paused for a moment, then went to the workshop outside to set up the altar, offering the extraordinary weapon he had prepared beforehand to the "Fool," and paying 80 pounds.
About twenty minutes later, Odis received a notification to perform a "gifting ceremony," in which he received 3,740 pounds from the trade intelligence, as well as 11 master materials of Sequence 9.
There was also a small glass bottle containing a black liquid and a notebook filled with herbal recipes.
Because he paid £400 for "Little Sun" Derrick, Odis was only supposed to receive £3,600. However, "Moon" Emlyn asked an extra question, so he paid an additional £300.
After deducting the cost of the auxiliary materials purchased from Cattleya and the £80 paid to Emlyn for the prescription, the final amount received was £3,740.
Having carefully stored away the extraordinary materials and gold pounds, Odis made simple plans for the new week.
Overall, this week was definitely not as busy as last week. The teleportation array has been built, and the construction work on Cruz Island can be handed over to Mandy.
So the main task this week is to hunt "Shining Star Trees" and thoroughly digest the potion in order to advance in rank.
Thinking of this, Odis smirked: They've overtaken Klein!
He remembered that it would take Klein about two more months to fully digest the potion before he could board the "Star Admiral's" ship to the "War of Gods" in search of the mermaid.
However, Odis's smile soon faded, because the "Scroll Professor's" potion had been mostly digested ahead of schedule, and the "Mystic's" potion would likely also be digested ahead of schedule, but the subsequent sequence was uncertain.
Klein's potions, however, are more easily digested the higher the sequence, with the sequence 1 "Mysterious Servant" melting instantly upon entering the mouth.
Odis shook his head, trying not to think about these things.
After leaving the workshop, most of the other crew members who had been catching up on sleep and resting had also gotten up and were chatting and drinking coffee in the restaurant.
Odis chatted with them for a few minutes, then went to the cockpit to check the course. At the current speed, they should reach their destination by tomorrow morning.
After exploring the ruins, the Argo can return home.
So Odis returned to Cruz Island again, this time mainly hoping to talk to Wells, the mayor of Plains Town and also the local indigenous representative.
Using the "flying scroll," they flew to the southern plains and found Wells sitting at home eating mangoes with his wife.
This local young man was about the same age as Odis, but he was already married and had two children.
Their house was relatively spacious by local standards, consisting of three thatched huts and a small yard.
When Wells' wife saw Odis, she immediately knelt down respectfully. Wells, who had met Odis before, knew that the "mayor" did not like such obsequious behavior, so he quickly smiled and said, "I'm sorry, mayor, she was frightened earlier."
He then spoke a few words loudly to his wife in the local language, and his wife, with her head down, quickly left with the children.
Odis glanced at the other person's hunched back and asked, "What frightened you?"
Wells invited Odis to sit down on the straw mat before saying, "When she was ten years old, she was playing with her brother when Thor, a police officer in the port town, suddenly made her brother kneel down. Her brother refused, so Thor killed him."
Odis was taken aback; it seemed he had developed a psychological trauma.
At the same time, he also realized that the conflict between the locals and the Northern Continent people was very deep, but the Northern Continent people had firearms and were well organized, so this conflict was well covered up.
"There are many such cases." Wells said casually as he cut a piece of mango for Odis. "My sister was captured by Sheriff Tom and supposedly sold to pirates. We haven't heard from her in all these years."
"So I told my daughter not to wash her face and not to look up when she sees people from the North Continent."
He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "However, I can sense that you are different from your subordinates. With your help, we may be able to protect our loved ones in the future."
Odis took a deep breath before saying, "Yes, that day will come. I will soon issue new regulations to protect the interests of the local people."
"That's wonderful," Wells said happily.
He paused for a moment before asking, "May I ask what brings you here?"
Odis took a bite of mango. During the first bite, while listening to Wells's story, she didn't taste anything special. It wasn't until the second bite that she found it quite sweet: "I really want to talk to the tribes in the mountains. I need a guide, and it would be best if I could inform them in advance."
Currently, Odis actually controls only about one-fifth of the island's area; the rest is mostly mountainous.
Wells thought for a moment before saying, "Many people in the villages closest to the mountains are related to the tribes in the mountains, and young people among them often marry in secret."
"I can talk to the village leaders and have them find a few people to notify the tribes in the mountains."
Odis nodded: "I can tell the tribes in the mountains that I can provide them with some effective medicines to treat diseases, as well as open a shop there."
"The condition is that they stop attacking the town."
"Of course I don't care whether they attacked the miners or not, because that's the individual behavior of the Northern Continent people."
Wells took notes carefully, then smiled and said, "Although the tribes in the mountains don't like to interact with the outside world, they can distinguish between goodwill and malice."
Odis smiled and pointed at the mango, saying, "Cut me a little more."
While Odis was relatively wealthy in Backlund, the fruits he ate were rather limited, mostly consisting of apples and oranges, which could be stored for a long time.
Let alone mangoes and pineapples, even watermelons are hard to come by.
It wasn't until Odis arrived at Lacha that he essentially achieved fruit freedom.
Wells quickly cut a piece of mango for the mayor, and Odis asked, "What's the situation like with the tribes in the mountains?"
Only after he finished speaking did he put the mango in his mouth.
"There are probably three tribes in the mountains," Wells said. "There's a road leading into the mountains from the town; that's the territory of the Tyran tribe."
"There is also a small path leading into the mountains from the south, which is the territory of the Gelang tribe."
"On the west side of the island is the Pulang tribe."
"The general relationship between the three tribes is that the Tailang and Gelang tribes are relatively harmonious, while the Pulang tribe is said to be more mysterious and has little contact with the other two tribes."
Odis hummed in agreement, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Get this done as soon as possible. I'll come back in two days to inquire about the progress."
Wells nodded: "Okay."
After leaving Plains Town, Odis returned to Port Town and wandered around the docks, pondering whether to have dinner back on the ship or go to Bayam.
Rupert called out from afar, "Captain! That Fennepot man is here again."
The so-called "Fenneport man" refers, of course, to Abel, the Fenneport naval officer.
So Odis went to the tavern again and, sure enough, saw Abel wearing glasses and a naval uniform.
The conversation between the two went quite smoothly, and they eventually settled on a price of £20,000.
However, a disagreement arose regarding how to make the payment.
Abel's idea was to pay for the goods after they sent someone to take delivery of the ship.
Odis, of course, disagreed: "To me, this method of payment offers absolutely no security."
He then proposed his own solution: "You pay £15,000 first, and then pay the rest after you board the ship."
Abel disagreed with this payment plan, so Odis compromised again, agreeing to pay in three installments: £5,000 to mark the start of the transaction, £10,000 upon boarding, and the remaining £5,000 upon taking the ship away.
Odis then hinted to Abel that if they were still unwilling, he could consider contacting the Rune Navy in Bayam.
Abel then agreed and promised to bring the 5,000 pounds later.
The two discussed the specific timing of the transaction before Abel quickly left.
After seeing the other party off, Rupert smiled and said, "I didn't expect it to actually sell for 20,000 pounds."
Odis smiled and said, "I have something to discuss with you."
So the two went to the warehouse with the main "teleportation array," and soon Abel's surprised voice rang out: "What? The 'Ghost' won't be sold to..."
Then he quickly lowered his voice: "We're not selling to the Fenneports?"
Odis, sitting atop a box of goods, nodded: "Yes, we won't sell to them anymore, but we'll still take the money."
For a moment, Rupert didn't know what to say, but then he thought to himself, "I'm a pirate now, so isn't this kind of behavior normal?"
Seeing that Rupert had changed his mind, Odis changed the subject: "I intend to invest all the proceeds from this operation into the construction of Cruz Island."
Rupert paused for a moment: "Not hide it, but spend it all?"
"Spend it all," Odis said. "Money that isn't spent can't be called money."
Rupert exclaimed, "We must be the most eccentric pirates ever."
Odis smiled and said, "I'm spending these gold pounds because it won't be long before I can reap even more gold rewards."
"Yes, you can talk to Mandy about this when you have time."
Second mate Rupert also realized that the captain's ultimate goal in going to sea was not to become a "pirate general".
The two chatted for a while, then went to a restaurant for a greasy dinner.
Odis is now the restaurant's biggest customer, after all, the people he brought back from Chacker Island are now eating here too.
At this rate, the restaurant owner will be the richest person on the island.
So when Odis came to eat, the owner was very attentive, offering her drinks and wine.
After dinner, Odis returned to the Argo and found that the crew had not gone to enjoy their vacation, but had already started working in the workshop again.
So Odis joined everyone in assembling those extraordinary weapons while they chatted.
Around 9 p.m., all the work was completed, and the crew members breathed a sigh of relief.
Salina exclaimed, "I knew the prize money on this ship wouldn't be so easy to get."
It must have been quite a challenge for her, an extraordinary individual who had progressed through the "sailor" pathway, to assemble such sophisticated extraordinary weapons.
The other crew members shared a similar mentality, feeling less like pirates and more like working on a factory assembly line.
However, when they thought about the bonus they had just received, they felt that doing this kind of work wasn't a bad idea.
After all, they had only been with the pirate crew for a little over a week, and they had already received several hundred pounds in bonuses, with Third Mate Bevis even receiving over a thousand pounds.
They have never been as wealthy as they are now, after all these years at sea.
After finally finishing these tasks, Odis and everyone went to the restaurant for a beer and talked about the ruins they would explore the next day.
Odis said, "That was intelligence I traded from Bayam."
About three months ago, a ship spotted a deserted island and saw a bluish light appear.
"There were several adventurers on that ship, they were extraordinary individuals, and they realized that there might be magical items or extraordinary creatures on that island."
"So those adventurers organized a group to explore the island and found a ruin on it."
"Unfortunately, none of them were history experts, so they couldn't deduce the age of the ruins, nor did they find any amazing items. They just looted some antiques and left."
"I originally intended to take you there for a tour, but I just received some definite information that there is an extraordinary creature on that island that I need."
"So I estimate that there should be some extraordinary creatures on that island, and maybe even some magical items, but the adventurers before us just didn't find them."
"Our mission tomorrow, besides visiting the ruins, also involves helping me hunt. Everyone can hunt extraordinary creatures individually or in groups."
"Sell me any spiritual materials from the creatures you hunt that you don't need. All the extraordinary materials you obtain are yours to sell after you land, or you can give them to me to exchange for merit points or gold pounds."
Hearing that they could make another fortune tomorrow, all the other crew members' fatigue vanished, and they began to speculate about what extraordinary creatures inhabited the island.
Odis further cautioned, "Considering that some extraordinary beings have already set foot on that island, there shouldn't be any extraordinary creatures of too low a level left. The remaining extraordinary creatures might be difficult for a single person to hunt, so you should still be careful."
"Furthermore, the intelligence also stated that two of their members were missing, but they were not found after searching the entire island, so there must be some unknown dangers."
The other crew members nodded in agreement. After chatting for a few more minutes, Odis finished his beer and returned to the workshop, while the other members went back to rest.
The next morning, after everyone had breakfast, they went to the cockpit one after another, because their target island had come into view.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
But as they got closer, they realized something was wrong; a huge pirate ship was already docked there.
Odis then gave the order to prepare for battle, and then he brought his first mate Bazel and second mate Rupert, who had already been promoted, and the whole team prepared for a surprise attack.
For them, attacking a pirate crew is now just like making extra money.
The pirate ships anchored on the other side of the island also spotted the "Argo." Before the huge pirate ship's sails had even been lowered, the entire ship flashed with a golden light and immediately began to move forward, clearly indicating that it also had some extraordinary features.
At this moment, Odis, who had been observing through a telescope, noticed that the flag on the ship's mast had the markings of books and eyes: "That looks like the 'Golden Dream'."
That is, the ship of "Iceberg Admiral" Edwina Edwards.
Bazel also picked up his binoculars and looked for a while: "It's the 'Golden Dream,' I remember their flag."
Everyone looked at the captain. What should they do? He's the "Pirate General," should they still rob him?
Odis was secretly delighted, because he was now a recognized "great pirate". He had originally planned to create an opportunity to get close to "Vice Admiral Iceberg" after resolving the "Ghost" incident, but he didn't expect the opportunity to come to him like this!
But he still tried to calm himself down, to get closer, but to be natural.
After a moment's thought, Odis said to First Mate Bazel, "Use flag signals to say that we are negotiating with them."
Bazel immediately replied, "Okay."
Barzel signaled from the deck and received a reply a moment later. He immediately returned to the bridge: "The reply was: Agreed."
Odis had previously heard pirates talk about the rules of pirate negotiations in a bar. Usually, the captains of both sides, along with one or two attendants, would go ashore on an uninhabited island and talk loudly on the beach, dozens of meters apart.
The reason they are so far apart is that it is beyond the effective range of a revolver.
"Be on guard," Odis instructed the other crew members, then went to the deck and used the "flight scroll" to fly towards the "Golden Dream".
Since both parties are extraordinary beings, they can communicate while flying over the sea, instead of shouting from dozens of meters apart.
After all, the other crew members were worried because they knew the rules of negotiation, so they all stood on the deck and watched the captain's back.
Shortly after Odis set sail, a figure also took flight from the deck of the "Golden Dream".
Bazel saw through his binoculars that it was a woman, who should be "Lieutenant General Iceberg".
Odis flew forward for two minutes, roughly between the Argo and the Golden Dream, and met the Iceberg Admiral.
She was a beautiful woman with an oval face, a high nose, thin lips, and long brown hair parted in the middle and tied in a simple yet elegant knot at the back of her head.
She wore a white lace top, a beige coat, a dark knee-length skirt, and tall leather boots.
Although "Iceberg General" had a sword hanging at his waist, he didn't look like a pirate.
Meanwhile, "Iceberg Admiral" was also sizing up Odis. The two were suspended in mid-air. After a few seconds of silence, Odis smiled and said, "Hello, madam. It's a pleasure to meet you here."
"Iceberg General" Edwina didn't smile, but she wasn't indifferent either: "Hello, it's nice to meet you too."
Odis said, "I wanted to talk to you about whether we could also land on that island."
"You're also going to explore that ruin?"
"I do intend to take my men on a tour," Odis said with a smile. "However, that's not my main purpose, because I've heard that the ruins have been completely looted."
Edwina glanced at the location of the "Argo": "I've heard about it too."
Odis scrutinized Edwina's expression, and after a moment's consideration, he said, "If your goal is that ruin, I can choose not to go in, but please do not interfere with my actions."
Edwina realized, "You've come here to hunt the extraordinary creatures on the island?"
Odis did not deny it: "Yes."
His goals are clearly not contradictory to Edwina's.
Edwina thought for a moment before saying, "You can explore after we leave."
Odis laughed and said, "Theoretically speaking, 'ladies first' is more gentlemanly, but this exploration is very important to me, and I'm sorry, I cannot accept such a request."
He then added, "My suggestion is that we go to the island together and each of us find what we need."
"I've already promised not to enter that ruin..."
Seeing that the "Iceberg General's" expression did not change, Odis suddenly changed his tone and said, "...Perhaps you need to go to another position, but I still maintain that our goals do not conflict, so there is no need to make things too tense."
Edwina said, "I find it hard to believe that Captain Gal, who just wiped out two large pirate crews, has his eye on the 'Pirate General' again?"
Odis suddenly realized that his reputation might have gone too far, making even the "Pirate General" wary.
Fortunately, he had a backup plan: "I expressed goodwill to 'Iceberg Admiral' a long time ago. One of your crew members attended the first intelligence exchange meeting and asked me about the purpose of that key."
"I told him what the key was for and only charged him 50 pounds."
Edwina was somewhat moved: "You're the 'Captain'?"
When Danitz reported this to him, she didn't take it too seriously, because this intelligence was far more valuable than 50 pounds.
Seeing the young man opposite her nod, Edwina pondered for a moment: "How did you come to this conclusion?"
As Odis made up her story, she said, "First of all, the key is very special in size. If the key is that big, the lock must be even bigger. It's obviously not a product of humankind."
"Secondly, I once read in an ancient book that there was a lock in the giants' court that matched the size of the key."
"The legend also says that after the 'King of Giants' fell, the doors of that great hall were closed forever."
These words were Odis imitating the tone of the ancient text, because it was the "Dark Angel" Sasriel who closed the door, and it had little to do with the "King of Giants".
Edwina then asked, "Is the Giants' Court at the end of the Sonia Sea?"
Odis truthfully replied, "Legend has it that there is only a projection of a giant's royal court there."
"Projection?" Edwina asked. "What do you mean?"
Odis smiled and said, "After I answer your question, may I come aboard this island with you?"
He paused and then said, "Although I don't consider myself a righteous person, the pirate groups I attacked were all wicked guys, and not just two, but three."
"I've heard long ago that 'General Iceberg' likes to chase treasures but doesn't like to kill. If you don't attack us first, we won't attack you either."
Edwina considered for a moment before saying, "We can go ashore together."
Since Captain Gar had expressed goodwill early on, Edwina was no longer so opposed to going ashore together.
Moreover, Odis's answer was very important information, and Edwina couldn't stop her anymore, since the island wasn't hers to control.
Odis then said, "I have obtained some notes from an expedition to the end of the Sunia Sea. It is said that in the dreams there, there is a giant palace that is always shrouded in twilight. Judging from the description, that should be the court of the giants."
"But the problem is that it's a royal court in a dream, not a royal court in reality."
"I also learned through other channels that it was actually the giant's royal court in the dream of a terrifying being, which can also be seen as a projection of the real 'giant's royal court'."
"Legend has it that you can reach the real Giants' Court through there, but it is extremely dangerous, because you will most likely die mysteriously in the dream of that terrifying being."
Edwina nodded slowly, glanced at the "Argo" flag again, and said, "You are a learned captain."
Odis smiled and said, "I've heard that you are a learned captain."
"If we had time, we could have a chat, but now is clearly not a good time to do so."
Edwina nodded: "After we get back, you will land on the west side of the island, and I will land on the east side."
"Before landing, I would wrap a white cloth around my left arm, and my crew would also wrap white cloth around theirs."
"If we meet on the island and you do not have white cloths on your left arms, I will assume that you are unwilling to explore the island together, and I will not rule out ordering an attack immediately."
Because she was the "pirate general," she spoke in a commanding tone.
Odis agreed.
So both sides flew back. Odis told his crew to wrap themselves in white cloth, and then ordered them to land on the west side of the island.
Bazel was still somewhat incredulous: "That's it?"
He knew very well that pirates rarely allowed other forces to act together, because such actions could easily lead to a bloodbath.
The other party was a "Pirate General," while "Captain Gal" was merely a "Grand Pirate." Normally, they would explore the area first before allowing the "Dawnbreaker Sword" pirate crew to land.
Odis was taken aback by the question: "That's it."
Rupert also asked, "Didn't they make any demands?"
"I answered a question from 'Iceberg General'," Odis laughed. "That was exactly the kind of intelligence she needed."
The other members nodded in agreement; that made sense.
Moreover, they did not question anything about Odis's answer to "Admiral Iceberg's" question, since "Captain Gal" would regularly convene intelligence exchange meetings.
Odis said, "However, everyone should not let their guard down. Be careful that they do not launch a sudden attack on the island."
"The crew members who remained behind kept the safety on the 'Extraordinary Machine Gun' off in case they launched a sneak attack."
After deciding on the next course of action, everyone began to tie white cloths around their left arms, then went to the deck to prepare for landing.
There is no port here, nor any good landing spot, so we can only launch small boats and land on the beach.
But that was for ordinary pirates. Odis simply pulled out several "flying scrolls," and all the crew members except the navigators flew onto the beach.
The search then began, with the "Corrupted Baron" Bazel, skilled in close combat and possessing decent defense, leading the way.
Then came Odis and Rupert, with Third Officer Bevis and Combat Captain Cleveland bringing up the rear, and Boatswain Salina, along with crew members Boris and Noy in the middle.
They soon discovered an extraordinary creature that looked like a rooster. Rupert, who had been promoted to "Cataclysm Priest," brought it bad luck, causing it to trip and fall while trying to escape. Bazel rushed up and punched it half to death.
Odis casually tossed a scroll, and the "rooster" was pierced and killed from different directions by many splinters that grew from the surrounding area.
This is an extraordinary creature at Sequence 7. Odis will keep it for now and divide the spoils when he gets back.
The reason it was so easy to take it down was because the attackers were three Sequence 6s. If Ino and his team had encountered it alone, it would have been much more difficult to deal with.
After walking for more than an hour, Odis and his men encountered "Admiral Iceberg" and his crew. The two sides stood several meters apart and remained in a silent standoff for more than ten seconds.
Because both of them had white cloths wrapped around their arms, after a brief standoff, Odis and "Iceberg General" smiled and nodded, and Edwina nodded in response.
The two sides then cautiously separated and began their own new explorations.
Once they were quite a distance apart, Edwina whispered to her crew, "This pirate crew actually has three Sequence 6s!"