The Ultimate Evolution
chapter-608

As it turns out, due to the existence of Sheyan’s superb ability to plunder corpses, the Dingyuan pirates met with a queerly awkward situation when dividing the loot.

During raids, more pirates would fight to seize enemy corpses, and the division of booty after battles factored in those corpses as well. Moreover, the value of exchanging those for battle merits was considerable as well.

Thus, under the expectant gaze of his pirate crew, Sheyan still had to exhibit his plundering ability. Now that he had reached the highest tier of his ‘Pirate Captain’ title, his efficacy of plundering was also bolstered greatly. Firstly, he managed to plunder a powerful long gown for Taitish, which supplied her with two additional gypsy abilities; the ‘7 of Hearts’ and ‘6 of Hearts’.

Following that, Sheyan harvested several glittering enchanted storyline weapons and allocated them to the crowd.

The rewarded pirates cheered and danced about, as they paraded around with insurmountable elation. The remaining pirates watched on with incredible envy and were brimming with motivation.

Under Sheyan’s command, the Dingyuan started sailing towards the unknown and mysterious continent of Africa; following the voyage route he determined earlier.

Knowing that the pirates would probably have to return themselves, Sheyan called Philips and Ol’Seadog over. Without explaining much, he only made sure they mechanically memorized and learned by heart every anchoring point the ship took.

Through this force-feeding method of education, Phillips and Ol’Seadog became relatively familiar with this sea route. Even so, they remained utterly oblivious to the ways of a navigator. However, this was the result Sheyan wanted. Besides, he inevitably had to guard against subordinates whose wings became fully fledged.

******************

After three days of cruising, Sheyan was surprised to discover that they only needed two more days to reach Africa. This timeframe was unexpectedly shorter than the nightmare realm’s regulated duration by over tens of hours.

After carefully contemplating this, Sheyan realized the factors leading to this.

Firstly, was the Dingyuan’s fortified physique. Whenever they encountered submerged reefs or small maelstroms, they could straightforwardly barge through as though it was nothing. Hence, this eliminated the efforts needed for detouring.

Secondly, his own pirate subordinates had craftily deduced many things from watching their boss.

They were like foxes who exploited the tiger’s might, depending on the splendid relations they had with Kraken Paul; through intervals of ‘pedicure and massage’ for him. Thus, they had acquired an abundance of experience clashing with legendary sea creatures.

Therefore with Sheyan’s absence, whenever they met a legendary creature they could handle, they would automatically prey on it; providing constant nourishment for the Baladine Bloodsail.

Yet when they encountered beasts they couldn’t handle, they resorted to scare tactics of the Kraken Paul. They had accumulated the barnacles or excrescence they scraped off Paul, and grinded them into powder. Then, when encountering those beasts, they would pour the powder into the sea, calling for the support of their ‘big boss’. Under a 50-50 chance, sometimes the obstructing legendary creature would cower away. Besides, the loftiness of Kraken Paul was still indomitable.

As for those legendary creatures that wouldn’t back off, the pirates would kill off two cows and fling them overboard as sacrificial food. Those sea creatures had virtually no chance to sample beef before, and the pirates hoped that after receiving such sumptuous consecrations, they would be satisfied. This method allowed their paths to be free from obstructions.

Of course, like trees with many variances and freaks amongst humans, there would always be legendary sea creatures that remained unyielding. For those situations, they could only forcefully break away; by first unleashing several bombardments before activating ‘Ocean’s Merriment’ to flee. Relying on the unrivaled durability of the Dingyuan, they could still flee the districts of those rampaging beasts.

Therefore, relying on those few favorable conditions, the trio were about to reach Africa even before the realm’s anticipated time.

As such, Sheyan was now regretting over not staying a little longer in the Caribbean Sea world, so that he could quickly settle the ability to summon the Dingyuan. Nevertheless, there was no cure for regret now.

Thus, with roughly 30 hours excess of their earlier estimations, the continent of Africa was sighted.

Soon after, a simple and run down port emerged before their eyes.

Concurrently, Sheyan received a notification from his nightmare imprint.

[ You have reached the continent of Africa 31 hours before your deadline ]

[ You receive an additional reward ]

[ Your flagship, The Dingyuan, and its members do not possess the scope of authority to travel through other world planes. Therefore, their maximum scope of activity is restricted to Port Qom. Leaving this area will result in untold degrees of casualties ]

**************

At present, the Dingyuan had gradually anchored by the pier of Port Qom.

This was a simple and crude port. Don’t mention about Port Royal, even the other pirate port, Trihorn Island, couldn’t be discussed. They were utterly different leagues.

From his standing angle, Sheyan could observe little pointy huts constructed of wood. The huts had a circular composition and their surface was covered with banana leaves and loess. Wooden sticks could be seen poking out from surfaces with peeled loess or leaves, appearing like decayed ribs. Overall, the backdrop impressed a declining yet mystifying atmosphere.

Those pointy little huts were scattered around in a disorderly fashion and left a broad empty space in the middle of the port.

A monumental wooden totem, shaped like an eagle’s head, was erected in that empty space. A viper’s tongue spewed out of its mouth between razor-sharp fangs. Yet because the totem was covered in dust and corroded by rotten vermins, it didn’t appear very awe-inspiring but instead offered a comical impression.

It was now roughly noon time.

Throughout the empty spaces of the village, numerous females with nose rings were pacing about with water jars on their heads. Foggy smoke could be seen rising in spirals at the back area of the village. Most of the males here were bow-legged, where their walking posture was weird like crabs running amuck.

Beholding Sheyan’s ship, these natives weren’t startled at all. Instead, they demonstrated joyful amicability as they waved wooden twigs incessantly, looking as though they were conducting a welcoming ceremony.

Very quickly, several dozens of village folk with oil painted faces escorted an old man, whose forehead displayed a multicolored motif, to the pier.

Sheyan took notice of the crutch the old man was using,

A scarlet viper coiled atop his walking crutch. That viper didn’t appear outstanding but appeared dusky, as it curled into a loop on top of the old man’s crutch.

Although this old man resembled an Ouyang Feng* cosplayer, his obsolete appearance paled in comparison to West Venom*.

(TN:* Ouyang Feng aka West Venom, is a fictional character in the wuxia novel: The Legend of the Condor Heroes)

The usual practice was to have the experienced Ol’Seadog handle all greetings and formalities. Thus, he trudged forward and presented a tiny mirror as a gift. After going through several weird languages, he finally began conversing with that old tribal Chieftain.

After a while, Ol’Seadog instructed men to carry a barrel of rum over, before paying a drink of complement for being faraway visitors.

This scene undoubtedly represented the opening up of the villagers. While the natives were smiling and sampling the rum, Ol’Seadog ran over to Sheyan to report.

"This port has a fairly long history, its natives speak of its existence for centuries. Statin’ that those that be rulers of this area would receive heaven’s blessings. Occasionally, the oceans be escortin’ friendly emissaries over, who exchange precious objects for their wastes. Therefore, the surroundin’ tribes would go to war for the sake of controllin’ this area. It has been five years since the current tribe occupied this area, and has traded wit’ the outside world twice so far. Therefore, their unafraid appearances be that they believe us outsiders are friendly emissaries. They have no intentions of hostilities."

Sheyan nodded and replied.

"Very well, it seems we will be loading massive trunks of goods this time. Our tributes will please Governor Swann of Port Royal once again."

Ol’Seadog then added.

"Me hears the Chieftain sayin’ the last ship came four years ago, that they be pilin’ up their specialties since then. Fortunately, we brought along sufficient rum and cloth."

"Besides that, a day inland towards the west holds an extraordinarily vast wetland. The Chief says that place be known as the Ndipaya’s land; a place roamin’ with barbarous fiends and savage aborigines, devourin’ the flesh of foes, and consumin’ their soul and strength. He hears their Chief had offered sacrifices to their gods and ancestors, to obtain an undying might of inextinguishable strength. No one has escaped there alive. These are the dubious information me hears."

Knowing that should be their destination, the trio exchanged glances.

An ordinary person’s walking speed on flat ground should be approximately 5 kilometers in an hour. These natives appeared more or less like the average present world humans, and even if they were indigenous peoples who could cross over ravines like flat ground, they definitely wouldn’t exceed the walking speed of walking on flat ground.

Furthermore, that one day’s journey definitely wasn’t a 24 hours continuous marathon but should be roughly 10 hours. Therefore, their destination should approximately be 50-100 kilometres in a straight line from this port.

On the contrary, contestants could manage a rushing speed of 30 kilometres per hour even in nasty and vile environments. In that case, they had relatively ample time now.

After pondering a little, Sheyan then convened for his pirates, before informing them about a curse that had befallen this continent.

If they didn’t want to meet with any misfortunes, they’d better not come ashore; but even if they did, they mustn’t leave the safe premise of the village.