Roseus was able to summon two more rounds of monsters by using the hat.

Both times, a handful of Suckers landed on the deck, clearly showing that they were the most common creature in the First Ocean, or at least in the region where they were located.

In both battles, they had managed to avoid death, and most of the crew members had been gifted their first awakening.

Adriana the Gun Blazer had awakened with a ranged skill named Double Shot. Every shot fired by her gun was followed by a second air bullet that did not use up any ammunition and was only slightly weaker than a standard gunshot.

Jackson the sails boy and Lucas One-Hand had both awakened a skill in Deck Agility. Lucas was granted a slight boost to speed when running on his own deck, whilst Jackson was given a slight boost to climbing whilst on any pirate ship.

Pip, the acrobatic young girl, was given a Deck Agility skill too, however hers was different. It gave her increased leap distance when jumping from ship to ship.

Neither of the sisters, Lyna and Lavender, had awakened. This was because they stayed as far from battle as possible. Their prowess lay elsewhere.

The most interesting awakening of them all was Dawn, First Mate of the Redflower Pirates.

To everyone’s surprise, she had managed to awaken two different skills.

Hardened Hull (Lv.1) → Slightly increases the durability of your crew’s primary ship.

Ember Scratch (Lv.1) → A heated slash that leaves slight smouldering burns on impact.

This surprised Roseus in a pleasant way.

He had assumed that only the captain would be able to awaken skills in Ship Management, but that didn’t seem to be the case. It seemed to be more related to whether you were in any sort of leadership position at all.

Silius, unfortunately, had yet to awaken a skill.

...

Kruger, Roseus, and Petyr hadn’t awakened any new skills, as they stayed back and let the others get the finishing blows on the monsters.

However, at the end of their second attack, Roseus noticed something.

On the finger of one of the Suckers was a ring.

He saw Lucas One-Hand bending down to touch it.

"Don’t!" he roared, startling the young man.

Only then did Lucas realise the mistake he was about to make. If that ring was a treasure, it would sever Roseus’s pact with Nammon and earn him the god’s curse.

Everyone huddled around the captain as he lifted the creature’s grey arm and slid the ring from its finger.

The ring was golden, with purple gems embedded into it in scattered patterns.

With hope, he placed the ring on his middle finger.

...

The seas spoke to him! He also felt that his pact with Nammon was strengthened, as his progress was now 10/100

[Uncommon Treasure Equipped]

[Ring Of Unfavourability]

[Positive Effect I] → During rainfall, all rain within a fifty-meter radius of the wearer’s ship turns purple. Crew members touched by the rain gradually lose their will to fight. Members of the wearer’s crew are not affected.

[Negative Effect I] → Gradually increases the wearer’s desire to seek unfavourable battles against humans.

"..."

"Captain, what does it do?" Pip asked, looking up at Roseus.

At first, he didn’t answer. The ring had confused him. Wasn’t it supposed to add an extra effect?

That was when he realised that perhaps the ring had no positive effects at all. His pact with Nammon had simply added one.

Otherwise, its only effect would have been a negative one?

"The ring has—"

Just as he was about to explain what he had discovered about the ring, he stopped talking. He felt his eyes involuntarily drift toward the direction of the navy ship.

He felt a sudden desire to turn their ship around and test their chances against their pursuers in battle.

Furthermore, the longer he wore the ring and looked out into the sea, the more he felt that this battle was actually one that he could win.

He almost gave orders to Dawn to turn the ship around and charge into battle. He had to hold his tongue. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

So this is the negative effect of the ring... Tempting the wearer to fight battles that they don’t truly believe they can win.

Roseus removed the Ring of Unfavourability. Just like that, his suicidal inclinations faded away.

"This is a dangerous ring," he explained to the crew. "When I’m wearing it, don’t listen to any reckless decisions I try to make."

A few of the crew members gulped as Roseus explained exactly what he meant.

Dawn bit down on her lip. This wasn’t what they had hoped for.

"What about its positive effect?"

As she asked the question, a smile started to form on the captain’s lips. A plan formed in his mind, one that he believed could potentially lead them to victory against the pursuing navy ship.

"When rain falls, the droplets surrounding our ship in a fifty-meter radius turn purple. This purple rain has some effect on those that aren’t a part of our crew. It removes their desire to fight."

Immediately, the members of the crew saw the benefits of this.

Lucas specifically had a wide smile spread across his face. "This is great. Won’t this make it easier for us to escape?"

"..."

"Escape?" Roseus raised one brow.

The one-armed boy shuddered slightly. What had he gotten wrong?

Kruger laughed and slapped a hand down on the boy’s shoulder.

"Fool!" he growled with laughter. "We use their fear as an opportunity to cut them down. Have you forgotten? We’re pirates!"