The captain’s cabin, a map four to five meters wide was spread across the table, Weilian pointed to Maelon’s location on the map and said:

"From here to Maelon, with our speed, it would take at least half a month, but we better take a detour, there are quite a few pirates around this area."

Su Changxing raised an eyebrow: "Pirates?"

"Yes, pirates indeed, but Lord Liu Gula, you don’t need to worry, I’m very familiar with this area and can easily avoid them." Weilian said confidently, with a hint of pride in his eyes.

Being a captain is no easy task; it requires not only extensive sailing knowledge but also a wealth of experience. Otherwise, encountering these pirates would mean delivering oneself to them on a silver platter, possibly ending up with incomplete limbs.

During the most chaotic years at sea, cargo ships were often hijacked, but his ship could usually evade those pirates from a distance, which was his greatest pride.

The merchants often preferred to hire him at a higher price, willing to pay more just to reduce the risk of being hijacked, as it would still be profitable.

After being hijacked, it’s a complete loss.

However, the sea transport industry has always been highly profitable; sometimes a successful trip is enough to live off for a year or two.

Su Changxing slapped the table with some excitement: "Would there be heretics among those pirates?"

Weining appeared a bit puzzled, unsure why Su Changxing asked this, and hesitantly replied:

"There seem to be, those pirates have colluded with heretics to increase their chances of successful hijacking, as large cargo ships usually have adequate guards."

Su Changxing pondered: "That’s good."

"That’s good?" Weilian was taken aback and said: "Lord Liu Gula, that’s not good, with the heretics’ help, the pirates’ methods are strange and pose a significant threat to us."

"I’ve heard that with those heretics’ help, the pirates can observe other ships from a greater distance, making it easier to choose targets for hijacking."

"But don’t worry, as long as I’m here, those pirates won’t even touch us."

Su Changxing looked at Weilian’s confident demeanor, feeling somewhat helpless, sometimes being too skilled might not be a good thing, and he said tentatively:

"Perhaps we can meet those pirates, what do you think?"

When he said this, everyone in the room was taken aback, not understanding what Su Changxing meant.

Meet the pirates?

Kasmin knows that he is a heretic, a heretic who uses magic, what does it mean to meet those pirates?

Could it be that they plan to collaborate with the pirates and capture them all at once, but what would be the point of that?

While Kasmin was still contemplating, Su Changxing righteously declared:

"Slaying heretics is the duty of every citizen of the Empire, I also loathe heretics, I’m not here to kill the pirates, but the heretics!"

Weilian advised: "Hmm, my lord, our primary objective should be escorting the Princess to Maelon, clearing out heretics is important, but not our current task."

Su Changxing stared coldly at him: "Are you questioning me?"

Weilian panicked immediately, hastily replied: "My lord, I definitely didn’t mean that!"

Kasmin gestured for him to stop talking: "Let’s do as he says, let’s go meet those pirates, it’s just a matter of passing by, and as a Princess, I surely won’t fear a few mere pirates."

She roughly understood why Su Changxing wanted to do this, to hone her skills. If she can’t even suppress the pirates, how can she revive the Empire?

It’s a very logical approach.

Su Changxing didn’t understand why Kasmin agreed so readily, but it aligned with his intentions:

"With me here, there won’t be any danger, and we need to hurry. Detouring around those islands requires going out of our way, and it’s utterly unnecessary."

Nobu gave a thumbs up: "Wise indeed, my lord! Weilian, your wooden fish brain wouldn’t understand the lord’s brilliance."

Weilian held his breath, unsure what to say, just inwardly cursed the sycophant.

Since they were going to meet those pirates, Weilian let loose speed, no longer worried about encountering them.

They sped up considerably.

But often, things turn out in strange ways, when they wanted to encounter pirates, they didn’t.

Over the next few days, the sea remained calm, peaceful and uneventful.

"Can’t see a single trace, let alone pirates." Nobu shielded his eyes with his hand, scanning the horizon.

Su Changxing was also a bit frustrated, those islands might not even have players, yet they couldn’t spot a single one.

Kasmin pondered: "Could it be because we’re moving too fast and frightened the pirates?"

Su Changxing nodded, thinking it was indeed possible, went over to the captain’s cabin, knocked on the door, and told Weilian: "Could it be our speed that’s scaring off the pirates, making them invisible?"

"Really?" Weilian showed a puzzled look, slapped his thigh hard: "It’s possible, nowadays the ships sailing are mostly steered by old captains who can tell at a glance."

"I’ll try slowing down, if we still can’t encounter them, I can’t do much, we can’t just roam around looking for pirate ships."

Su Changxing nodded: "No need to intentionally search, just head to Maelon, it’s fine even if we don’t find any."

Lately, Su Changxing had eaten mostly grilled fish, the fish in this world are extremely tasty, needing only simple grilling, without even any condiments, they taste great directly.

There’s a type of fish with silver-white scales, long-bodied, three to four meters long, called blue-winged flying fish, the meat isn’t tender but perfect for grilling.

These fish have a characteristic, they can leap out of the water, from afar appearing as if flying over the sea surface.

At night, Su Changxing sat on the deck, grilling blue-winged flying fish, suddenly seeing distant lights in the darkness, it was another ship.

The ship was clearly heading towards them.

Encountering another ship at this time, there’s a high chance it’s a pirate ship.

Excitement showed on his face, he licked his lips, put down the barbecue and shouted: "Pirates incoming, everyone prepare for battle!"

With the shout, everyone startled, even the crew sleeping below immediately dressed, picking up weapons, and rushed to the deck, ready for battle.

Having lived at sea for so long, they were unfamiliar with pirates, occasionally encountering them, but once they did, it was a fight to the death.

"These bastards are extremely vicious, not only demanding cargo, money, but also lives, even kidnapping, terribly evil." The old captain growled, holding his firearm, standing at the back.