As one of the East Coast's major ports, Linden City's extensive trade network necessitated expansive road construction radiating outward, far surpassing the packed dirt roads of rural areas. These stone-paved roads, worthy of being called highways, facilitated goods transportation with numerous taverns and inns lining the routes.

The convenient transportation also made Linden City a melting pot of all walks of life, where street vendors and porters were as common as fish in the sea, and traveling merchants became easy prey for lawless elements. The Black Sails Pirate Crew had also joined this thriving market, carefully cultivating their operations.

The early winter sea breeze carried a chill. Under the midday sun, dappled light danced like a kaleidoscope through the leaves onto the stone pavement, creating a picturesque and enchanting scene. Yet three vicious-looking men stood completely at odds with this beautiful scenery.

Having successfully collected debts, Li Site was walking toward Linden City to rendezvous at their designated inn, about half an hour's journey. It wasn't that Li Site didn't want mounts - it's just that with Ox and Ren's builds, they'd exhaust two horses a day. Larger mounts like military vulture-horses or lizard-like land dragons were too expensive, not worth the money.

As he walked, Li Site counted the coins - tavern earnings plus collected debts totaled seventy-nine gold dragons. Ox carried his enormous greatsword strapped to his back effortlessly despite its three-hundred-pound weight, his expression cold. In his left hand hung a heavy sack about the size of a human head, filled with roughly seven to eight hundred Arlan silver coins - not everyone could afford gold dragons.

"Bountiful harvest," Ren remarked cheerfully, swinging his empty hands and mischievously snapping off a tree branch just because he could reach it.

But Li Site's gloomy face showed no joy after counting the money. Excluding himself, the core crew numbered ten people all needing their share, plus maintenance costs for their brigantine, docking fees at the hidden port, necessary maritime supplies, and finally "gifts" for Linden City's constables. Operating under their watchful eyes required enormous expenses, especially after losing many crew members last time, requiring urgent recruitment.

"Fuck, when will the main quest begin? Just day after day of this," Li Site grumbled as he tied the money bag with rope and casually tossed it to Ren. The werewolf had secrets Li Site held over him, so running away wasn't an option. Everyone wanted a peaceful life, but events seven years ago had forced him to this desperate path at sea.

"You're right, but the Black Sails Pirate Crew is a completely new commercial organization independently developed by Li Site. The story takes place on the East Coast of the Western Continent, where you'll play as a poor wretch lingering between life and death, encountering uniquely terrible individuals with distinct personalities and abilities, ultimately dying together in the streets or rotting in the wilderness."

Ren weighed the money bag, occasionally finding Li Site's peculiar phrasing amusing.

"Shut the fuck up with that nonsense. Can't you say something auspicious?" Li Site looked at him like he was an idiot, wondering if he'd contracted rabies long ago but his strong immunity kept it at bay, leaving him mentally unstable.

"Main quest, like what?" Ox had been with Black Sails over two years and gradually understood some of Li Site's strange vocabulary.

"Like meeting a woman by the roadside - an exiled princess. I help her reclaim her throne and marry her, and she happens to be a peerless beauty. Or discovering an evil organization plotting to overthrow the Western Continent, crushing them effortlessly, earning the emperor's favor for promotions, or maybe taking his place. Also, have I mentioned I'm an inventor? Heh heh heh."

Li Site sneered, thinking it time to reveal true technological innovation - steam engines, industrial revolution, information technology, controlled nuclear fusion, warp-drive starships, storming the heavens to fight gods.

Wait... seemed like his college years spent gaming had reduced his knowledge to near-imbecile levels, perhaps worse even.

Never mind then.

Though this world had many fantastical races, its physical laws were frustratingly strict, with mechanics and thermodynamics so rigorous it brought Li Site to tears.

There was either no power system or countless power systems - you never knew why certain strong individuals were powerful. Mostly it came down to brute strength, like the Arlan Sword King. Sounded impressive and was genuinely powerful, able to take on many opponents. Though Li Site hadn't met such high-level characters personally, maybe they could slash out sword energy or something. But if he brought the Black Sails crew - ten fearless madmen surrounding you, ambushing, poisoning, taking hostages - how would you respond?

Take Ox for example - one swing of his door-sized greatsword (just a normal attack) had once cleaved three bandits at the waist, spilling their contents everywhere as they crawled pathetically for five or six seconds before dying.

That said, sorcerers did exist, though rare, and most were useless - their performance-like tricks hardly counted as combat power. But some terrifying sorcerers existed too. Ten years ago, Li Site suffered greatly from one, an event deeply connected to how he came here. That sorcery transcended magic - if anything, it was some kind of... supreme power.

Despite ten years here, much of this world remained unknown to Li Site.

The pirate crew included a demon - a low-class one, but genuine demonkind nonetheless. Not from the Western Continent, Northern Wastes, Far Eastern Isles, or any mapped territory, Li Site had found him on a deserted island during a voyage.

According to him, he was part of Demon God Agareth Dagon's expeditionary force, but got separated after an accident, then unluckily stumbled through a dimensional portal, ending up in this unexplored land after who-knows-how-long. He'd lived like a wildman on that island over a decade, utterly pathetic and clueless - a situation mirroring Li Site's own.

Initially thinking this encounter might trigger a main quest, Li Site later realized he'd overestimated things. The demon might not even beat Li Site in a fight - utterly useless except for his intimidating red skin and goat horns. Skilled in woodworking and equipment repair, he'd been kept aboard as shipwright alongside Shadi.

If the demon had any supernatural trait, it was extreme vitality and exaggerated regeneration. Wounds visibly healed slowly, severed limbs regrew in ten to fifteen days, and he could survive without eating - though would pant like bellows doing physical labor without sustenance.

Ox looked at Li Site like he was an idiot. Overthrowing kingdoms and evil organizations? You're the damn criminal ringleader! Though ambition was good - Ox had joined precisely because Li Site played big - sometimes his delusional, storybook-level fantasies made him seem mentally deficient.

"If you were an inventor like me, then I'd say this matter is truly..."

Ren knew Li Site's limits well - no inventor by any stretch - but didn't finish.

"Enough fucking chatter. First to the inn rendezvous. If the others aren't done, we'll check the underground bank too," Li Site said calmly. These collected debts were just basic operating funds - the vault money was the real prize. Couldn't afford mishaps there, or all this effort would be wasted.