"Do you think we’ll encounter another storm?" Su Changxing asked Weilian as if telling a joke.

Weilian shook his head, confidently saying, "How could that be? You might sail for a year without running into a storm like that. While sailing is dangerous, it’s not that dangerous."

Su Changxing nodded thoughtfully, "Is that so? Turns out it’s just going to rain."

Weilian then felt the raindrops from the sky, caught one on his tongue, and tasted it, realizing it was salty, and immediately felt something was wrong: "This water is salty, which means it might be lifted from the sea, could it really be a storm?"

He looked bewildered, thinking it was too unlucky to encounter storms on two consecutive days.

This wasn’t just bad luck; it was practically a divine punishment.

As soon as he finished speaking, strong winds started to blow across the sea, and they could feel each wave rising higher than the last, exactly like the previous storm.

"My lord, what kind of guilty deed have you done for the Sea God to be so displeased with us?" Weilian shouted loudly.

Su Changxing helplessly replied, "Didn’t you say I was the son of the Sea God before?"

Weilian shouted again, "My lord, what did you do to wrong your father!"

Su Changxing calmly said, "Get lost."

"Alrighty."

Weilian voiced concern, but his face showed no sign of worry. He was confident that even if they encountered another terrifying storm like the last, the ship wouldn’t capsize.

The waves grew larger and larger, yet the Horror Ghost Ship remained steady, despite the deck being continuously washed over by seawater, almost sweeping a small crew member overboard.

Due to a puncture in the hull, part of the cabin was already flooded, but the water level hadn’t risen.

Nobu asked in amazement, "My lord, why is this? The ship has a puncture, shouldn’t it have sunk already?"

Su Changxing thought for a moment, seriously saying, "Maybe it’s because there are two holes; water comes in on one side and goes out the other."

Nobu gave a thumbs up, "My lord, brilliant!"

Kasmin’s mouth twitched, but she didn’t say anything more.

The crew looked at each other, their minds in a muddle, feeling this contradicted their understanding.

The storm was intense, but it came quickly and left just as fast, like a summer downpour.

A few hours later, the sea calmed, with only the cool moonlight gently shimmering on the waves.

Su Changxing pondered that something didn’t seem right, feeling they were being deliberately targeted. While such coincidences theoretically exist, they are practically impossible.

"This storm was bigger than the last. If it wasn’t for us piloting this ship, we’d have been overturned," Weilian said sentimentally, with a cigarette in his mouth.

Of course, the cigarette wasn’t his own; it was given to him by Su Changxing. His Pocket Galaxy held quite a few corpses, and there were many cigarettes on them.

Su Changxing exhaled a puff of smoke, looked at Weilian, and said meaningfully, "Why do I feel like the Sea God is really targeting us."

Weilian contemplated out loud, "Do we have any reason for the Sea God to target us? Or would those Divine Spirits really pay attention to us?"

"I rather think it might be due to other reasons, possibly related to Magic. My lord, don’t you know Magic? Think if there’s any similar Magic."

Weilian was right. Beings like Divine Spirits wouldn’t concern themselves with ordinary humans like them.

"You’re quite insightful," Su Changxing praised.

Weilian took a deep breath, "There’s a lot of idle time at sea, and since I’ve read a bit, I enjoy pondering these things as well."

"I think if those Divine Spirits really exist, and we can’t see them, that’s probably the reason."

Su Changxing reflected and said, "I thought you genuinely believed in the so-called Sea God helping you guys."

Weilian showed a sly smile and whispered, "I don’t believe it, but others will. People always need some kind of belief, especially for those of us who sail the seas for long periods. Without the support of belief, people can easily crumble."

"But I do genuinely love sailing. When I was young, the world was so different from now. Ordinary People were poorer, and life was tougher."

"My family was poor too, living off fishing by the sea. We used small boats for fishing, which could capsize in bigger waves. Once capsized, everything was gone, and there was a risk of dying."

"Back then, I longed to command a big ship like this. At least such a ship wouldn’t capsize easily, and fishing would surely be much easier."

"So when I was young, the first thing I did was become a sailor at sea. Compared to now, being a sailor back then was more dangerous, considered a reckless job. Although the pay was not low, only four or five would survive out of ten."

"At that time, I knew nothing and just did odd jobs on the ship, carrying goods, the pay was low, but the captain treated us like children, nurturing us."

"Back then, I thought the captain was so majestic, like the Emperor of the sea, having absolute authority."

"I began to have many thoughts, wanting to become a captain myself, thinking about it every day, dreaming about it as I slept, and during meals."

"Later, we encountered pirates, and many people died. I was lucky to survive, but not many were left on the ship, and the old captain was seriously injured, soon died."

"I was truly frightened then. It was the first time I realized how terrifying death is, even almost gave up being a sailor. But with no money and unwilling to live a more impoverished life, I had no choice but to continue as a sailor."

"Later, my desire to become a captain faded a lot, just aimed to save enough money to go home, marry, and have children. And somehow, I ended up in the captain’s position."

"It was around that time that steamships just appeared, bringing many new things. Young captains like me were actually favored because we learned quicker, unlike those stubborn old captains."

"Anyway, eventually, I went back and forth, earned a lot of money, felt I could leave, but realized I couldn’t escape, having adapted to this lifestyle."

"The emergence of steamships made sailing much safer, so I chose to stay. At that time, I was very grateful to the Empress, as were many others, unknowingly the Empire became prosperous."

...

Through the long night, Weilian and Su Changxing talked a lot, covering his years at sea and also miraculous stories he heard from others.

Aboard this ship, he never felt tired, always being spirited. By the next morning, he was still as energetic as ever.

Su Changxing watched as his position changed, advancing, from Long-Distance Captain to Sea Ghost.