Chen Qi opened the cabin door:

“Good afternoon.”

“Whoa—”

An stepped into the little boat house, curiously scanning the inside.

Yesterday, no matter how you looked at it, this was a run-down old boat on the inside.

Now, with some furniture added, it still hadn’t lost its aged look, but it felt… like home.

“Nice setup. At this rate, you could probably head out to sea today.”

An’s eyes lit up. When she was a kid, she had also dreamed of having a boat that could take her to the distant Divine Nations.

But after she started learning magic, she completely forgot about that dream.

“Right, I’ve got something good for you.”

She then handed a package to Chen Qi.

“?”

Chen Qi took the package with a puzzled look and opened it.

Inside was a flag and a sheet of paper.

The paper was a restaurant boat license.

The flag had a design of a fork and knife crossed together.

“This is the restaurant boat’s flag, and this is the license.”

Chen Qi smacked his forehead—he’d almost forgotten about this.

Out at sea, pirates had pirate flags, merchant ships had merchant flags, and naval ships had navy flags.

And if you wanted to run a restaurant boat, you needed a flag too.

According to maritime law, every ship must have the appropriate flag; forging one is a serious crime.

Unlike a merchant ship’s business license, restaurant boats were rare and didn’t make much money, so licenses were easy to get.

There were rules at sea. Restaurant boats, being broke and neutral, didn’t attract attention from larger vessels.

But when sailing far, a boat without a flag was like a naked person—if curious ships spotted you, you were guaranteed to get screwed.

Basically, his little cabin boat needed a chef’s uniform.

Chen Qi thought for a moment. If he applied for it himself, it would take at least two days.

By then, Captain Blackeye might’ve already made it to Damarro Town.

“Thanks again, Miss An.”

Chen Qi accepted the flag and bowed deeply.

He had to admit, An was indeed a very responsible rookie mentor—she’d helped him a lot.

Damarro Town was quite the solid starter village.

An gave a small smile:

“No need to thank me, it’s part of my job. If you manage to become a Tier 2 Transcendent, I’ll get a nice bonus.

Besides, this is important for my own Transcendent path too.

By the way, when are you planning to set off?”

“Hmm…”

Chen Qi looked out the window.

The daylight fire was still burning—it was around noon.

He’d already collected all his bounties and finished all his prep.

Moonstone City was quite a distance from Damarro Town.

“In a bit. If I leave now and time it right, I might reach Moonstone City before the daylight completely fades.”

“That so…”

An walked to the boat’s window and gazed out at the sea.

Now, the sea was covered in heavy shadows from the sky, making it look extra ominous.

She originally wanted to advise Chen Qi to wait for better weather.

But then again, who knew how long this weather would last?

According to the latest info from the Meteorology Bureau, the weather in the Witch’s Sea was only going to get worse by the day.

An coughed twice, her expression serious. She couldn’t help but add a few reminders:

“Listen up, there are some things you have to pay attention to when sailing.

First, don’t get near large ships—whether pirate ships or official ones. They don’t like other ships getting close.

Second, try to reach shore before nightfall. If you're still sailing at night, make sure your ship’s lights are on. Oh, and if you run into fog, turn on the lights too.

Also, if you encounter a sea beast…”

An suddenly trailed off.

These were all lessons from generations of fisherfolk—many dangers could be avoided with experience.

But sea beasts were a different story. Most of them could only be driven off with brute force.

And Chen Qi was sailing alone—he didn’t have the power to go head-to-head with a large sea beast.

If he ran into a high-tier monster like a coastal overlord, the only thing his little boat could do was pray for mercy.

“What if I do run into a sea beast?”

Chen Qi asked, looking terrified.

An’s gaze turned grim:

“Pray. Pray that you don’t run into one on your way out.”

“Got it…”

Chen Qi silently prayed in his heart.

Hopefully, there’d be lots of sea beasts on the way!

Best-case scenario, they’d all be like the coastal overlord—smart enough to offer him treasure voluntarily!

But, most sea beasts probably didn’t have the overlord’s brainpower.

Even though the coastal overlord had those big intelligent eyes and looked kind of like a husky, it was already one of the smarter creatures in the sea.

Once An finished her reminders, she left the cabin boat and boarded the docked merchant ship to discuss Damarro Town’s defense infrastructure with the town mayor and the merchant ship’s captain.

Chen Qi secured the restaurant flag, then also left the cabin boat.

He had a lot of places where he needed money.

For now, he still couldn’t afford to fully buy Old Bailey’s boat.

Chen Qi walked up to Old Bailey and squatted down:

“I’ve still got some unsold goods. Here’s 20,000 Beli for now—next time I…”

“No problem!”

Old Bailey cut him off immediately.

After the Iron Hand incident, Old Bailey had zero doubts about Chen Qi’s money-making abilities.

He’d thought Chen Qi had just been toyed with by some rich lady from Moonstone City—turns out, it involved a gang!

Though he still thought it was crazy for Chen Qi to sail out alone, he kept that to himself.

But if Chen Qi did manage to come back alive, he’d earn at least a million!

“Then thanks a lot.”

Old Bailey grinned, taking the money:

“No, I should be thanking you for buying that junk boat of mine. With this money, I can start planning my move to Moonstone City early, get myself a decent outfit, and stop my daughter from mocking me.”

After wrapping up the boat deal, Chen Qi made one more trip to the market, bought some food supplies, and then returned to his little cabin boat.

This voyage might take longer than he expected.

Then, he fired up the engine.

Rumble—rumble!

The engine roared to life, and the brand-new propeller started to spin.

At that moment, on the merchant ship, An and the Damarro Town Mayor, who were still discussing defense systems, heard the sound of the engine.

They both stepped closer to the boat’s edge. Originally, they wanted to wish Chen Qi a safe and bountiful return.

But given the current situation at sea, and the fact that he was sailing solo, just making it back alive would be a blessing.

Coming back missing a few limbs would be normal.

As long as he came back alive.

They waved and called out:

“Safe travels!”

“Got it!”

Chen Qi stepped out of the boat house and waved goodbye.

The cabin boat left the dock and sailed into the vast ocean.

…

…

Out at sea, the sky gradually darkened.

The cabin boat had been sailing for a while now.

Along the way, he’d already seen several large merchant ships.

However, Chen Qi’s top priority onboard was training to enhance his Body Training Technique.

Thanks to the knowledge granted by his Skill Card, during the voyage, he had improved his mastery of the technique and gained +2 strength.

“Huff, huff…”

Chen Qi pulled out some fresh water from the fridge and drank it down in one go.

The Body Training Technique burned way more stamina than he expected.

And from overexertion, he’d badly strained his muscles.

Luckily, he was a chef—he had high constitution and also a Weak Regeneration Physique.

This kind of muscle strain? A good night’s sleep and he’d be fine.

After resting, he could train again!

Exhausted from overtraining, Chen Qi slumped onto the sofa and picked up the Deep Sea Hunter’s Treasure Map and a newspaper to read.

He actually kind of liked this world. Too bad there was no internet—only newspapers.

Also, a one-man boat felt kinda lonely.

Maybe I should get a pet.

But regular cats and dogs wouldn’t cut it—they couldn’t survive dangerous voyages.

Large sea beasts were out too—for now, anyway. People would treat him like a heretic.

Chen Qi mused quietly to himself.

Whoosh, whoosh!

While he was studying the map, he vaguely heard a sharp gust of wind!

Splash!

Another loud splash followed.

The sound of something flying?

Chen Qi quickly put away the Deep Sea Hunter’s Treasure Map, suddenly on high alert.

In the Witch’s Sea, the odds of encountering a steam-powered aircraft were extremely low.

More likely, it was some kind of bird-like monster.

Out here, besides sea beasts, there were many dangerous giant birds.

He wasn’t afraid of sea beasts—but bird-type monsters? Those were trouble.

So, I didn’t even run into a sea beast yet and I already found a monster bird?

Am I really this unlucky?

Chen Qi grabbed his Collector and stepped out of the boat house, looking up at the sky.

The sky was dark and gloomy.

But he didn’t see any birds.

“Something’s off…”

Chen Qi gripped his gun, and suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

There was a sound behind him. Footsteps.

Something was behind him…

How did it get there?

His little boat was out in the middle of the ocean. There were no other boats around!

It had to be either some weird creature—or a very skilled person.

But if it was a skilled person, what would they want? From the looks of it, there wasn’t anything worth stealing on his boat.

For the life of him, Chen Qi couldn’t figure out what was behind him.

The next moment, a hand landed on his shoulder.

And then, the presence behind him spat out a mouthful of seawater and, with a weary voice, made a desperate request:

“Boss… is your restaurant boat open right now?”