"My name is Avril. Half a month ago, my parents, two brothers, and my younger brother Jerry and I set sail from the "Human-Tier" Sea Zone F, 300 nautical miles away, to this uninhabited sea zone.
The competition in the "Human-Tier" Sea Zone was too fierce and brutal for us to handle.
My father had a map passed down from my grandfather, marking three inconspicuous islands in this sea zone. These islands don't appear on the global sea zone map, but if we're lucky, we could live there.
However, as we reached the edge of the Human-Tier Sea Zone, we encountered another ship—a thirty-meter-long three-masted sailing ship, ten times the size of our fishing boat. They set their sights on me, and we fled, but eventually, they hit us with a cannon.
A strong wind rose over the sea, allowing us to escape, but our ship was severely damaged and soon sank.
In the first few days, my family and I huddled together, surrounding some cargo, hoping someone would rescue us. But this was an uninhabited zone, rarely visited by anyone. Gradually, they became exhausted, and then we encountered sharks!"
Avril sobbed, "I watched helplessly as they were eaten by sharks. My brother pushed Jerry and me away, drawing the sharks to himself, saving us... Later, Jerry, in my arms, grew colder and colder. I held him tightly, but no matter how I held him, it was useless. He... died in my arms... I was so tired, I fell asleep, and I lost Jerry. I'm... I'm really useless!" At this point, Avril was crying uncontrollably.
Even Rookie couldn't help but sit beside her, looking at her pitifully.
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Li Yuan sighed softly. Listening to this woman's ordeal, he couldn't help but feel some sympathy for her.
Since arriving at Azure Epoch, although life hadn't been easy for him, it was relatively safe. He hadn't experienced any major storms or witnessed the harshness of Azure Epoch.
"Avril, my condolences. This world is inherently cruel."
"I know, but I'm not willing to accept it!" Avril suddenly lifted her head, her red eyes filled with tears, wide and somewhat terrifying. "Those murderers, why do they get to live so freely? They must pay the price! I must avenge my family!"
Perhaps realizing she was too harsh, Avril looked apologetically at the bow of the ship. "Sorry, I know this is my issue. It's just... I've been at sea for four days, and you're the first person I've met... no, the first ship, or rather, the first shipman."
Li Yuan felt quite melancholic. What the heck is a shipman?
Forget it, it's not the time to dwell on this.
"What did you mean by 'Human-Tier' Sea Zone earlier?"
"You're a ship, and you don't even know that?"
"What does this have to do with whether I'm a ship or not? Just tell me." Li Yuan replied irritably.
"Oh." Avril, never having encountered such a fierce ship, could only explain honestly, "There are five main sea zones in the world: 'Heaven,' 'Dragon,' 'King,' 'Beast,' and 'Human.' The Human-Tier is the lowest, with the fewest resources. However, the main shipping routes and ocean currents are relatively stable. Although there are mutants, they are few and not very strong. It's rare to encounter sea monsters or mutant beasts, making it a relatively suitable sea zone for ordinary people like us."
"As for the others, I don't know. I've never been there. I only know that the Beast-Tier Sea Zone is very resource-rich, with many large islands, but also the most terrifying creatures, ocean currents, and natural climates. Only a strong enough fleet with robust crew members would dare to enter."
Li Yuan frowned slightly, even though he didn't have eyebrows... "The Beast-Tier already has the most terrifying creatures? What about the King-Tier, Dragon-Tier, and Heaven-Tier?"
"I don't know either. I've never been there, and no one from our side has returned from those places," Avril said with a wronged expression. "They even say there are real dragons in the Dragon-Tier Sea Zone, but I don't know if it's true, so I can't just tell you that."
Li Yuan shook his head. This source of information seemed unreliable. She made the Beast-Tier Sea Zone sound like a top-tier zone... But the competition in the Human-Tier Sea Zone was already this intense? That was a bit unexpected for Li Yuan.
"Then tell me, you said we're in an uninhabited sea zone now. What tier is that?" Li Yuan could only ask simpler questions.
"The uninhabited sea zone doesn't have a tier because it's resource-poor and has few islands. Although the climate is relatively stable and there are no mutant beasts, who would want to come here without resources?"
Li Yuan thought about it. No wonder he had been able to wander around so leisurely; it turned out he was in an uninhabited sea zone.
Uninhabited or not, he was currently a weakling with a combat power of only 1.5. Forget about a thirty-meter three-masted sailing ship with cannons; even the fishing boat Avril was on could take him down. Better to develop in the uninhabited zone for now.
However, Avril's combat power was only 0.5, even lower than Rookie's. He wondered how she planned to get revenge with that combat power.
Thinking about development, the first thing that came to Li Yuan's mind was still wood.
The next evolution required 50 units of wood, meaning he needed to encounter five such shipwrecks.
Avril's father had a nautical chart to come here. Who would usually come to this vast uninhabited sea zone? Encountering five shipwrecks felt like a dream.
"By the way, do you still have your father's nautical chart?" Li Yuan suddenly thought of this and asked immediately.
"It's long gone."
"Damn it!" Li Yuan was so regretful his intestines turned green.
"But I can recognize the general direction."
"You know the location?"
"I don't know the exact coordinates, but I've seen the nautical chart. We grew up at sea, so we can roughly remember the direction after a glance. I see you have a compass, so I think I can guide you to find it."
Li Yuan immediately perked up. If he could find an island, wouldn't wood be plentiful?
"By the way, what do you use to navigate? I didn't see an engine," Avril searched the ship, "and there are no oars."
"Oars are simple. They're at the back of the ship."
As soon as Li Yuan finished speaking, the wood tied to the back of his ship was crafted into two oars by the System.
Although wood was hard to come by, if he could find an island and trees, wood wouldn't be a problem. Now Li Yuan had to invest heavily and make the oars first.
This crafting left him with only 0.1 units of wood from the original 1.5.
"You row, I'll steer."
Avril took the oars from the water and returned to the ship's belly, placing them on the side racks. "My speed is quite slow; it might take us several days to reach the nearest one."
"No matter, we can collect some materials along the way." Li Yuan wasn't too worried about this.
"Hey, by the way, what's your name? How should I address you in the future?" Avril began to row, and Li Yuan finally had significant movement on the sea.
"How should you address me?" Li Yuan thought for a moment and realized this question didn't need much thought.
"Isn't it obvious? Just call me Captain."
"Alright, Captain!"
"Good, you and Rookie are my crew from now on. Now, let's set sail, destination: uninhabited island!"
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan