When Roseus woke up, he found himself lying on the deck of his ship.

His back was against the deck, and he stared up at the sky, which seemed to be approaching sunset.

"Captain’s awake!" he heard Lucas One-Hand call out.

Then he pushed himself to a seated position and looked around. He saw the members of his crew in their standard positions, but all had turned their heads toward him at that moment.

They all wore expressions of relief on their faces. The one who seemed most relieved was Dawn, who looked over at him from behind the wheel with a huge smile on her face.

Roseus noticed that her hair was wet, and her clothes were still damp.

It was her. She leapt into the water and saved me...

He also noticed the purple-haired fencer, Petyr, standing by the edge of the ship with a brooding look on his face as he stared out into the seas.

He knew that he had been reckless in his actions and yet had won no reward for it. This seemed to be weighing on him heavily.

The next thing that caught his attention was the fact that the shark’s body was nowhere to be found.

This saddened him.

He had hoped that they would at least be able to harvest the creature’s scales and meat. However, he knew they were in no position to do so.

Their ship, being only a sloop, which was one of the smallest types of ships, would be weighed down by the shark’s heavy carcass, which would in turn make them travel slower.

Slower...

Thinking of that word made him push himself to his feet and rush over to the quarterdeck, staring out at the ocean behind them.

There he saw it. The navy was closer than before. Much closer.

"Being caught is inevitable, Captain. The battle with the shark only slowed us down," Silius called calmly as he used the compass to navigate them.

Kruger turned and grunted. "It’s best that we start preparing to meet them at this point. ’Tis all we can do."

Roseus bit down on his lip in annoyance. Then he was reminded of something.

"Did you earn anything from your valiant battle, Captain?" Dawn said.

He noticed that there seemed to be a new spark in her eyes when she looked at him. Was it admiration from proving himself to be such a reliable captain when it came to combat?

He shook the thought away for now and turned to his Sailor System. Dawn had guessed right.

Slaying the blood shark was an incredible feat. The seas had told him that it had led to him consuming a Greater Soul.

Both the Suckers and the Sea Zombie were Lesser Souls, which made him assume that the shark was at least one, or perhaps even two, tiers above.

And because of this absorption, he noticed some changes in his system.

[AWAKENING STATUS]

[Name: Roseus]

[Crew: Redflower Pirates]

-SAILOR SYSTEM-

Overall Rank: Rookie (10%)

Navigation: Rank I

Ship Management: Rank II

Weather Sense: Rank I

Treasure Sense: Rank I

Ranged Combat: Rank I

Melee Combat: Rank II

Deck Agility: Rank I

SKILLS:

Efficient Metabolism (Lv.1) → Crew members require slightly less food and water

Frostbite Thrust (Lv.1) → A chilling stab that slightly slows the target’s movement.

SUPREME SYSTEM:

Patron God: Nammon

Pact Rank: Follower

Progress: 0/100

[Conditions]

[You receive: powers related to luck when searching for treasure]

[You lose: the ability to share treasures with others]

[Powers]

Greedy Effects (Passive) 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Every Treasure that you equip comes with an extra unique positive effect, accessible only to you.

—Equipped Treasures—

Captain Redeye’s Cutlass (Weapon)

...

Immediately, Roseus recognised the changes in his systems.

First of all, he had progressed 10% through the Rookie rank of his Sailor System. He still had yet to learn what reaching the next rank would do, or how progress was made, but he hoped to find out soon. 10% was a large amount of progress, which he assumed was due to the fact he had received two souls from the greater creature, thanks to his sword effect.

Most interestingly, he had awakened a new melee skill named Frostbite Thrust. This thrust carried an ice effect that could slow down opponents. It was the closest thing to magic he had seen so far.

Finally, in his Supreme System, he had still not progressed past 0/100 through his Pact Rank. This, he was not too bothered about, as he didn’t intend to maintain this pact with Nammon for much longer.

...

Roseus turned his attention toward Dawn, who waited for his answer.

He explained his melee skill to her, and as he did, her eyes lit up slightly. He noticed hope forming in some of the eyes of his crew members.

But deep down, he knew...

"It isn’t enough."

Some of their faces fell, whilst others already knew the truth of his world. A simple skill like Frostbite Thrust wasn’t enough to fight against a navy ship.

"So what do you suggest that we do? The navy ship gets closer every hour," Dawn pointed out.

Roseus knew what his answer was, but he was afraid to even say it. The plan carried such danger, but he could think of no other way.

He reached over and lifted his hat from the deck before letting out a sigh.

"We need to summon as many sea creatures as we can before the navy arrives, and this time, everybody needs to fight. It’s clear that through combat, we can awaken skills. With skills, we raise our chances at winning, and if we’re even luckier, one of the creatures will be carrying treasure."

The plan was clear, and with the approaching naval forces, everyone seemed to agree with it.