Extraordinary Voyage - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Captain

The so-called secret treasures of the ocean were not human creations!

Rather, they were a class of magical treasures that were naturally produced by specific objects under special conditions, influenced by the mysterious factors of the world.

They were created because of a variety of reasons, such as a special geographic environment, a large historical event with far-reaching effects, or even the mass extinction of life.

They might be a sculpture like the The Mourning Song of the Sinking Ship, or a seashell, a stone, a pocket watch, or anything else that might exist in the real world.

But they had one thing in common, which was that they were extremely difficult to destroy.

Each of these “treasures” had its own magical ability, and was powerful and mysterious.

Since the name has the term “ocean”, most of these abilities were naturally related to the ocean, where these secret treasures would bring unparalleled power to the ships that possessed them. Everyone on the ocean was desperately chasing these objects.

A secret treasure of the ocean was almost the same thing as power and wealth!

Of course, not all ocean treasures were like The Mourning Song of the Sinking Ship, in which an evil spirit with an ulterior motive resided. The information purposely revealed in the treasure also had a unique supernatural path to lure others to use its evil power for an ulterior motive.

Most of the secret treasures of the ocean were of the obscure type, and it was impossible to tell that they were secret treasures of the ocean if they were not in the hands of professionals.

The uncle and nephew had managed to kill One-Eyed Bech and picked up a secret treasure of the ocean along the way—this was a great fortune!

Although, because of its hostility, as long as the two of them did not want to betray the kingdom and become pirates, they were regrettably unable to use the treasure. However, there was no problem at all in exchanging benefits with nobles who had special needs.

“As long as we deal with the evil spirit hidden in the treasure, we should be able to trade it for a good price,” concluded Gull.

As for exchanging a secret treasure with something else that they could use, neither of them had any hope in that. The opportunity was too slim to be found, so they might as well turn it into a tangible, now-available treasure and resource.

“By the way, Uncle Gull, what are you going to do with the Extraordinary Path on this?” asked Alvin at the end of the conversation as he did not hear Gull mention the Shipwreck Mourner again.

When he mentioned the Extraordinary power that was related to his future, Gull became much more serious and asked Alvin, “Alvin, there are many paths to the Extraordinary state in this world. Why do you think the knight path dominates the human world?”

Although he was a visionary ahead of his time, Alvin had never thought about this question. After thinking about it and combining it with Grandpa Leo’s teachings as a child, he guessed, “Is it because of the stability?”

“Yes, you are right! However, that is only part of the reason.

“In reality, both internal and external factors determine the current situation.

“The internal factor is that although the Knight’s Path is Extraordinary, the power involved is only targeted at the foundations of a human body, so it has the most stability. Even if it loses control in the end, the destruction is not great.”

Gull paused and waited for Alvin to figure it out before continuing.

“The external reason is due to the work of the Church of the True God, the highest level of the Extraordinary powers.

“Although the knights are powerful, our path has been fixed like a sword in the hands of a man. Even an Extraordinary fourth level knight cannot possibly threaten their position.”

As an old-fashioned officer of the kingdom, Gull’s words showed a faint dissatisfaction with the Vatican. That would have been a big deal in public, but Alvin completely ignored it.

“And for those Extraordinary paths that could easily spiral out of control and result in mass casualties, or those that are highly creative and have a great future, including the Church of the Black Iron Cross, which rules over the Tulip Alliance; the Church of the Dawn in the Sark Empire; and the Eternal Flame of the Kingdom of Helius, the attitudes of the seven churches are meant for suppression and elimination!

“Most of the transcendental paths like the Shipwreck Mourner are flawed. And for the reasons I mentioned earlier, the more you leave the civilized world, the more of such Extraordinaries there are. Some paths are incomplete or have all sorts of fatal flaws; the likelihood of losing control is frighteningly high.”

This knowledge would not be recorded in any book and was entirely the result of Gull’s own experience.

As an Extraordinary captain who had been in the oceans for many years, Gull’s deep knowledge and insightful perspective instantly enlightened Alvin.

He felt fortunate that he had a mentor like Gull.

“Save it to trick people, kid!” Gull patted Alvin on his shoulder and put the sculpture back into his hands.

“Take it back to your room and make sure you take care of it the entire way back. We will depend on it for future years.”

Then the two returned to the main deck, transferred some of the crew over to repair the severely damaged pirate ship, trying to get it to work again.

The Silver Wing was towed by cables from the front and slowly returned to the initial battlefield of Rocky Island.

“The Silver Wing is back!”

“We’re saved!”

At this time, the wreckage of the Warrior had already sunk to the bottom of the sea. The dejected former crew of the Warrior who were floating on the surface of the sea in a few lifeboats screamed in joy when they saw the Silver Wing return.

After getting them on board, they shared that after they abandoned the ship, the officers from the Warrior had been killed by the fire, including the captain. The sailing master who once ate and drank in the Silver Wing was considered the person with the highest status among the survivors.

Gull comforted them. After all, although the Warrior had suffered great damage from the battle with the pirates, they had helped the Silver Wing.

Although, they would properly give up on the spoils of war.

…

Time flew by and it was the third day after returning to Gabred.

After the brief hustle and bustle of returning from the mission, everything seemed to be back on track again.

In the past few days, Gull, being honored for killing the crazy pirate One-Eyed Bech, had frequent contact with the nobles and merchants of Gabred. It seemed like a normal social gathering to expand his network, but in fact, only Alvin knew that Uncle Gull was looking for a home for their “spoils”.

Alvin could not interfere, but he had his own duties.

At the corridor of the Third Naval Fleet, there were large oil paintings hanging on the blue-toned walls, including landscapes, people, and war scenes. Each painting represented an important moment of the Third Naval Fleet and was a wall of merit.

Walking along the corridor was like going on a journey through history, and a sense of honor of being a part of it emerged. Even someone who lacked a sense of identity in another world like Alvin could not help but relax as he walked.

In front of a room with a brass sign, Alvin stopped in his tracks, neatened his uniform, and knocked lightly on the door.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

He used just the right amount of force. This was from his experience in his past life.

“Please enter!” The voice of an elderly man could be heard.

Alvin pushed the door and entered. The simply decorated room had curtains drawn to shield it from the sun. It was lit by an air lamp, creating a quiet and solemn atmosphere.

Three elderly men in officer’s uniforms were sitting behind a long table covered with a green velvet tablecloth, each with a spread-out notepad in front of them.

Alvin walked to the empty chair in front of the long table and stood at attention, saluting, “Greetings, officers! Warrant Officer Alvin Garriott of the Silver Wing is here to take the test!”

“Don’t be nervous, young man. Please take a seat.” The officer in the middle with white hair and a monocle was very kind. He smiled and asked Alvin to sit down and indicated that the assessment would now begin.

“Before we begin, I would like you to take this assessment seriously.

“Although your performance has been completely up to standard, which is not an easy feat for a young man who has only been in the navy for a few months, every officer shoulders the honor and lives of all his subordinates in times of crisis, and if the assessment does not satisfy us, we cannot entrust this responsibility to you.”

A short, gray-haired officer seated at the right side of the long table said seriously.

“I understand! Please begin!” Alvin signaled that he had understood and was not intimidated. He thought that it was part of the assessment to prevent candidates from taking things lightly.

“Please list the names of the three types of pulleys used in the battleship and their uses.”

“The lifting pulley, the halyard pulley, and the turning pulley…”

“While in combat, if your ship were set on fire by the opponent, would you make the command to dodge?”

“…”

“With winds of 10 to 14 knots and waves at least one meter high, can the ship sail at full sail?”

“No, at that time, the fore and main mast topsails would only be raised to half sail to raise the bow, reduce the bowing effect, and prevent the ship from capsizing!” From start to finish, no matter how the three examiners asked the questions, Alvin answered them all with ease.

The exam, which was extremely difficult for many reserve officers, was a piece of cake for Alvin, who had come from a life where he was immersed in studying and tests.

After all, any reserve officer who had made it this far had already been on a ship long enough to have no problems with practical knowledge. That was why the format of having experienced veteran officers to ask questions and reserve officers to answer them was adopted.

The duration of the test was 20 minutes. Each examiner asked a few questions, which was on rather broad topics and not tricky.

After Alvin answered the last question, the examiners looked at each other, agreed unanimously, and a stamp of approval was stamped on Alvin’s file.

“Congratulations, Alvin from the Silver Wing, from today on, you are a captain!” the friendly-looking examiner in the center said.

“Thank you, examiners! It’s my honor!”

Alvin smiled and rose to shake hands with every examiner. After giving them a last bow, he left the room.

“I like this young man, hopefully there are more soldiers like him in the navy in the future.”

“Hehe, don’t be so worried about that just because you are retiring soon…”

“Who are you to care?”

Through the first turn in his military career, completing the leap from an alternate officer to a full officer, Alvin only felt his heart broaden and he felt heartened to hear the old officers’ chatter.

With a smile, Alvin walked past the historical corridor with lighter steps.