The witch thought I am a Demon God
Chapter 384 - 237 Arrival! The Unnamed Taboo! Black Friday!_1

Chapter 384: Chapter 237 Arrival! The Unnamed Taboo! Black Friday!_1

In the silent atmosphere, a sailor finally broke the silence, staring at Ivita with reluctance and said, "Don’t mention that name here, don’t you know what kind of place it is?"

Fear was evident on his face.

A middle-aged sailor smashed the wooden cup full of wine in his hand and said, "No matter how formidable the captain is, anyone who ventured near that island would end up dead."

"It’s a sea monster that could swallow up all ships. Others would steer clear of it upon sighting, but you are headed there."

Ivita nodded, saying, "Cross Island holds something of mine, and I intend to reclaim what’s rightfully mine."

"What belongs to one should be returned, it’s only natural."

"That’s why I’ve hired professional teams to conquer it."

"You all fear that island so much? But I see quite some pirates’ corpses displayed at your port as a show of force."

Inside the tavern, many captains and sailors were staring at Ivita as if they were looking at a madman.

They muttered to themselves while timid ones comforted each other, communicating in hushed tones.

"Nothing ever stolen by that island has been reclaimed, how could anyone be foolish enough to go to such a place!"

"All those who set sail would rather take a detour of thousands of miles than pass by that island and its surrounding sea area."

A captain sitting beside Ivita pointed to the hanged pirates at the port outside the tavern and said, "Stranger, these pirates are just local sea bandits, they are nothing. They have never set foot on that unmentionable island in their life."

"These pirates are nothing compared to the pirates on that island."

"If someone on the island has stolen something from you, then let him have it. You didn’t lose your life or any body part."

"You should consider yourself lucky!"

Ivita ignored his words and turned to the bar’s proprietress.

The tavern-keeper’s face showed a troubled expression as she said to Ivita, "If your destination were not that island, no matter where you intended to go in the Mediterranean, it would be feasible. Even if you planned to travel to the land of the God of All Beasts, across the sea - whether the city-states in the Atlas Range, the land of Phoenicia, or the territory of Selzhu Rome Kingdom, you could find suitable captains and sailors in the Republic of Belisarius - Lahaina Town."

"But that place is the only exception. There will be no takers here."

Tavern-keeper said in a low voice, "Moreover, that is not even the main issue."

"Even if we set aside whether any crew or captain would dare to journey there with you, the captains and sailors here are mostly familiar with coastal navigation, with typically no more than 400 kilometers of uncrossed sea in sight."

"This not only helps avoid pirate attacks but also allows us to rely on the coastlines for guidance and easily resupply."

"What you need is a captain who can navigate in open sea conditions."

"Such people are talents anywhere. They are extremely rare."

A nearby captain nodded rapidly and chimed in, saying, "Moreover, the sea around that island is very strange. Even with the map, it is not always reliable. The actual area of the sea there seems to expand at times. What appears to be a small distance on a sea chart can in reality be more than ten times larger."

Ivita quickly seized on the crucial information in their words. "You mean the pirates on Cross Island are all talents."

"Because they excel at navigating distant seas?"

The captain next to the tavern keeper jumped in with an answer for Ivita, "Yes."

"Armed with astronomical knowledge, they can navigate wearing in the count-less points in the night sky; being adept at changing wind directions at sea, understanding the structure of all kinds of ships, and managing hundreds of sailors on board. Isn’t that a measure of excellent talent? It can be said that if they would surrender, spending all their savings to offset the penalties, each of them could join the navy of the Republic and become the captain of at least one ship."

The captain scoffed. "However, these wolves at sea won’t put down their weapons to till the fields."

"They have chosen a path that leads to their doom, and they have offended the Republic, leaving them no way out."

"Young man, go home. In this tavern, you won’t find anyone willing to accompany you to your death."

Ivita furrowed his brows. He did not expect the reputation of Cross Island to be this daunting.

He turned his head to look outside the tavern door, at the corpses hanging at the distant port.

So, even among the pirates, there is a down-looking chain. Those pirates hanging outside are not on the same level as the pirates on Cross Island.

Just as Ivita was considering leaving the tavern to explore elsewhere, a middle-aged captain sitting in a corner abruptly raised his right hand and squeaked amongst the mocking laughter, "I...I might be able to."

"I am a captain, and I might be able to gather some sailors, but I am uncertain how many I can gather."

"After all, I have not set sail for three years."

Ivita and his party all turned to look at him.

Ivita observed him. He looked scruffy, with a patchwork of clothes - the profession of a captain was typically one of the middle class.

It was indeed not easy for this guy to have ended up like this.

Ivita gave him a questioning look. "And you are?"

The captains and sailors around him, amidst a roar of laughter, revealed his identity.

"He is Captain Sam, a well-known figure around here. As long as you hire him as your captain, no matter how dangerous the sea or how terrible the storm, his fleet won’t be destroyed. But that was a story of three years ago, now he is nothing but a local waste, a drunkard."

"Three years ago, an earl employed him as the fleet captain for a fleet of 10 merchant ships."

Ivita showed interest, "And then?"

Someone shouted, "As a result, the entire fleet was wiped out, only a few sailors and he made it back alive. Even the employer drowned in the sea, joining the fish and shrimp."

"He shamelessly told everyone that it was because the employer had found a mysterious island with the Spring of Youth in the sea, the entire fleet was drowned by storms."

"Hahahaha..."

"Isn’t this the delusion of a fool?"

"He became the biggest joke of this port, hahahaha...."

Hearthstone Witch’s pupils shrunk sharply at the mention of the Spring of Youth.

"The Spring of Youth does exist." Captain Sam wobbled over. "You’re not going to find the kind of captain you want in this port. Even if there is, you can’t afford the price. Few people are willing to accompany you to your death. Why not choose me?"

"I need to clear my disgrace."

"So how about it, can you use me?"

Ivita glanced at the Old Witch and then turned to Captain Sam, saying, "To know whether you’re lying or not is simple. Wilson, use Mental Coercion on him."

Vampire Wilson stepped towards Captain Sam, his pupils with pure gold edges focused on Captain Sam.

Due to Turin’s Law, the instinctive power of Vampire Wilson’s Mental Coercion was left to about one-tenth, thus hypnosis on a mere human took a very long time.

Moreover, it furrowed his eyebrows.

Ten minutes later, Captain Sam’s expression was dazed.

Wilson said, "Tell me, did you really see, the mysterious island with the Spring of Youth?"

Captain Sam struggled, then opened his mouth and said, "No."

"We were attracted by the mirage and changed the direction of the fleet, but we encountered a terrible ship—the Blue Lady."

The laughter in the entire tavern came to an abrupt halt.

They all seemed to be choked on their words.

Because the Blue Lady is the ship of the pirate Earl, one of the seven legendary pirate ships.

Under the effect of mental coercion, Captain Sam said, "We were deceived by the mirage. There was no Spring of Youth, only the Blue Lady behind the mirage."

"The entire fleet sank in less than ten minutes after encountering the Blue Lady."

Wilson removed the mental coercion, and Captain Sam fell to the ground. He looked around in confusion at the people who were watching him in horror.

Ivita looked at Captain Sam in confusion and asked, "Have you really seen the Spring of Youth?"

Captain Sam immediately answered Ivita, "My Lord, I swear to you, I really have seen the Spring of Youth."

"At that time, our fleet’s boss ordered us to change course, and we sailed toward the location of the Spring of Youth. Then we encountered a terrible storm, the storm made us lose our bearing, and also destroyed our fleet. But these guys, they all refuse to believe me!"

He looked at the people in the tavern who used to mock him and disdain him, not understanding why their looks at him hadn’t quite the same today.

Wilsons, the vampire who looked at Captain Sam as Ivita did, said, "I think he might be a little confused. It could be that his experiences caused him a huge mental shock, making him forget what he knew deep down and create something he can bear."

Hearthstone Witch butted in, telling Ivita, "I think he’s mentally ill."

"Are we really going to hire a madman as a captain?"

Ivita sighed and said, "Do we have any other choice?"

"He is capable, just with a bad reputation. As for mental health, that’s not a problem. If something happens, let Wilson use Mental Coercion to control him and turn him into a puppet who just does tasks."

Surprise spread across the face of Captain Sam, who was kneeling on the ground. "So, you’re saying you’re prepared to take me on?"

He hardly believed in himself. "Me?"

Ivita confirmed, "Yes, it’s you."

"But considering your special circumstances, some new rules must be established between us."

"If we get to the destination, I’ll give you a reward of 10 gold pounds. Can you accept it?"

Restoring his honor was Captain Sam’s aim all along, so of course, he wouldn’t let this opportunity slip away.

Moreover, he hadn’t gone out to sea in three years.

Captain Sam was about to get up when suddenly the ground shook, and the beer glasses in the tavern fell to the ground and shattered. Then a piercing scream was heard from outside.

"The port is being attacked by pirates!!"

"It’s the Black Friday! It’s Pirate Earl!"

"Run!"