Nobody owns the water but the gods...

Roseus had of course acknowledged that the navy woman in front of him had expressed her disdain towards pirates, but that final sentence was enough to convince him.

It was true, almost.

"You’re somewhat right," Roseus said, to which Stanislava shot him a confused look.

"Somewhat?" she repeated.

Roseus nodded his head.

"Yes, you just need to change that last part. Nobody owns the water, not even the gods."

The navy woman was unable to keep the surprise from her face. Her eyes gradually widened, as though she had never expected such words to leave a pirate’s mouth.

...

Following this conversation at the tavern, Stanislava agreed to join the Redflowers. Hearing that there was already an ex-navy sailor on board helped convince her even further.

She shared her system with Roseus, and this is what he saw.

[AWAKENING STATUS — SHARED]

[Name: Stanislava]

[Crew: Redflower Pirates]

-SAILOR SYSTEM-

Overall Rank: Rookie (71%) 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Navigation: Rank I

Ship Management: Rank II

Weather Sense: Rank I

Treasure Sense: Rank I

Ranged Combat: Rank II

Melee Combat: Rank II

Deck Agility: Rank II

SKILLS:

Calming Presence (Lv.2) → When around this person, crew members are able to remain moderately calmer and more relaxed during frightening situations.

Ship Piercing Shot (Lv.2) → Fires a shot with moderately increased piercing power against any part of a ship.

Agile Healer (Lv.3) → When moving towards an ally in need of medical attention, the user’s speed is significantly increased.

Fear-Inducing Slash (Lv.1) → A bladed attack that instils a small amount of fear into any enemy it successfully strikes.

SUPREME SYSTEM

Patron God: None

(No pact established)

—EQUIPPED TREASURES—

-Self-Replenishing Holy Water

-Nurturing 10-Shot Revolver

...

Roseus was pleased to see that her system was decently well-rounded, with a focus on healing skills.

Her treasure, the Nurturing 10-Shot Revolver, was a weapon that could give its bullets two different effects.

The first type of bullet would harmlessly fade away upon impact and spread throughout the target’s body. This would envelop them in a restorative aura that accelerated natural recovery, including wound healing, toxin removal, and general physical restoration.

However, every healing shot fired caused the wielder to suffer a fever. The fever would grow progressively worse with each additional healing shot and could not be cured by the revolver’s own restorative effects.

As for the Self-Replenishing Holy Water, it was a bottle of holy water blessed by the God of Healing. It could be applied directly to wounds to accelerate healing, or drunk to purify harmful substances from the body.

After being emptied, the bottle would replenish its contents after twelve hours.

Its negative effect was equally unusual. Anyone who drank the holy water or had it applied to them would develop a powerful urge to confess their greatest sins and regrets to the owner of the treasure.

With Stanislava a part of the crew, as well as Bloody Fingers, Zaliah’s Ceremonies of Healing, and Blodwen’s amulet from the Church of Restoration, the crew had four methods of healing themselves.

Roseus was pleased with this, and felt that they could be satisfied with the number of healers they had in their crew so far.

So, he assigned his crew goals for the next week.

First, every night, those who wished to strengthen their systems could meet Roseus on the beach. He would be using his father’s hat to draw the attention of sea creatures, which they would take down as a group.

Second, they would scout out people on RedSand Island who wished to join a crew.

News of Admiral Grace’s expedition would soon spread throughout the numerous towns on the island. There would be many people whose interest in sailing the seas had been sparked.

Those who were found would be brought to the tavern to be questioned by Roseus.

Finally, Roseus encouraged the crew to use their stash of 4,000 Halos to search for treasures. Anything that might be of use would be bought.

...

Later that day, Roseus found himself exploring the outskirts of RedSand’s main town.

He carried a sack over his shoulder that contained one thousand Halos, and walking beside him was Lencho.

The crew had agreed that the newcomers should stick close to a Captain, First Mate, or Second Mate at all times.

Eventually, they arrived at a small building made from red sandstone. A sign hung from the door with the symbol of a chest overflowing with treasures scratched onto it.

"This is the place?" Roseus asked Lencho.

"Yes. There are many places to buy treasures on RedSand Island, but this place is my favourite. They offer treasures with high risks and high rewards."

High risks?

"..." Roseus remained silent, but decided to head inside.

The store was unlike anything Roseus had seen before.

On the main continent, purchasing and selling treasures was illegal under the laws of the Halo Empire. Even owning one required a licence, and there were still many restrictions.

Yet here in this shop, a man stood behind a square counter. The counter was filled with numerous treasures, each of which customers were allowed to examine and test before deciding whether to purchase them.

The store owner didn’t need to worry about robberies, as there were four heavily built, powerful-looking men stationed in the corners of the store. Not to mention, the owner himself carried a greatsword.

Roseus examined each of the treasures that stood out to him. There were ten in total, but only two caught his eye.

They were both of Epic rarity.

[Epic Treasure Equipped]

[Brush of Creativity]

[Positive Effect I ~ If a sea creature is painted accurately enough onto a suitable surface, it will temporarily come to life and serve as an ally of the painter for ten minutes. Limited to sea creatures of Elite Rank (5th Rank) or below. After activation, this effect cannot be used again for twenty-four hours.]

[Positive Effect II ~ If a treasure is painted accurately enough onto a suitable surface, a temporary copy of that treasure will manifest for one hour. Limited to Epic-rank treasures or below. After activation, this effect cannot be used again for twenty-four hours.] (Greedy Effects)

[Negative Effect I ~ If the brush fails to recognise the painted creature as an existing species, the created creature will still come into existence, but will possess an overwhelming instinct to hunt down and destroy its creator. If the creature reproduces, all of its descendants will inherit this instinct. Only the death of the original creature will cause the entire bloodline to immediately perish.]

As Roseus’ eyes gradually widened the more he focused on the treasure’s effects, Lencho laughed mischievously.

"Hehe, I told you. High risk, high reward."