"Hoo," Raiden Ei sheathed her blade and let out a breath, looking toward Haisier and the others who were already up. Their busy figures scurried across the deck, inspecting the ship for any damage that needed immediate repair.
This ship was still a bit too large for their crew of only twelve people. Haisier couldn't possibly inspect everything alone, so he had to call everyone over to check the severely damaged areas that required prompt fixing.
Raiden Ei didn't want to be idle either. She walked at a moderate pace toward Haisier. "Haisier, is there any area left unchecked?"
Haisier was busy mending the mast. The previous day's storm had caused cracks in it. Although it wouldn't break right away, it needed to be repaired quickly. Focused on his work, he paused when he suddenly heard Raiden Ei's voice and put down the tool in his hand.
Haisier said, "Young Miss General, you don't need to worry about the manual labor; just leave it to us. We'll be ready to set sail soon, please don't worry."
"Don't mind me too much; I can work too."
Seeing that he couldn't persuade Raiden Ei, Haisier said, "Then you can go check on the supplies!"
Raiden Ei nodded and headed toward the ship's cabin. Only Mina was inside the cabin, sorting through the overturned items. Yesterday's storm had nearly capsized the ship, leaving the compartments a complete mess.
The wooden barrels used for storing water had been smashed, and there wasn't much water left. Fortunately, they hadn't taken all of it out previously; she retrieved the water barrels from her backpack, having kept two barrels in the bag for emergencies.
Raiden Ei only tidied up the essential items and ignored the rest. Since the ship was large and the compartments were spacious, sorting everything would take an unknown amount of time.
Raiden Ei saw Mina preparing to continue tidying up the other compartments. "Mina... just tidy up the important compartments; there's no need to waste time on unnecessary places."
Hearing Raiden Ei's voice, Mina stopped the foot she was about to move toward another compartment. "Ah! Do we not need to tidy those rooms?"
"We won't be using those, so there's no need to tidy them. Go help out on the deck."
Mina could only agree. "Okay."
Raiden Ei led Mina out of the cabin. Haisier and the others had finished inspecting the entire ship and were now working together to repair the severely damaged hull.
Haisier announced, "It's done. There won't be any major issues; we can set sail now."
Nicola plopped down onto the deck, muttering, "I'm exhausted. I haven't even eaten breakfast yet."
Maiga was also sprawled on the deck, and one sentence drew a different reaction from everyone: "We didn't eat dinner last night either!"
Cyrus gasped for breath, "I don't want to experience what happened yesterday again."
Sang walked over to Nicola and pulled her up. "Young Miss, what about your etiquette?"
Nicola struggled, "I'm really tired, don't pull me!"
Sang continued pulling. "Then get up by yourself." Reluctantly, Nicola was pulled up from the deck by her.
Gatt said, "We're doing this so we can set sail quickly and get out of this sea area sooner."
Raiden Ei walked over. "Can the ship sail normally now?"
Haisier immediately replied, "Yes. The remaining damage won't affect navigation; we can repair it while sailing."
Raiden Ei turned to ask, "Gatt, is the course set?"
Gatt replied, "Mm, I already observed it just now."
Raiden Ei told everyone, "Then let's set sail."
The anchor was raised, the sails were unfurled, and the pirate ship that had weathered the storm set sail once more, heading toward an unknown direction.
After everyone finished breakfast, some people found themselves with nothing to do again. However, this didn't affect Raiden Ei; she continued her training and meditation, never letting go of her discipline.
Geer saw Raiden Ei training again and felt a bit intimidated by her. She either trained or closed her eyes to sleep all day, giving herself absolutely no chance to rest. She sighed.
She also came out onto the deck from the cabin and began her own exercises. Now she understood how the strong demanded things of themselves, and she couldn't give up, at least not now.
Haisier went to repair the ship, Gatt monitored the course, Gando strolled along the ship's railing, and Mina, wanting to look after everything, went to the cabin. Now, only Nicola, Sang, Maiga, Cyrus, Mandi, and Bia were idle in the cabin.
Sang looked at the two people training outside. "Nicola... shall we go train together?"
Nicola was lying listlessly on the table. Hearing Sang's words, she looked at her. "What's the use of us working hard? A storm like yesterday's... how can we work hard against that?"
Sang thought about what they had experienced in the cabin, having no power to resist at all. "We still can't do nothing!" She turned to look at the four ruffians opposite them. "What about you guys? Don't tell me you've been discouraged?"
The four ruffians remained silent. They previously knew nothing about strength, thinking they could also become as strong as Raiden General. Geer defeating them only made them work harder, believing they could also become strong like Geer.
But the storm yesterday and the matters they had previously disregarded were all telling them that they were just ordinary people. They had started training alongside Geer, who possessed natural Talents, and now Geer could easily overpower them.
Sang looked at these disheartened people. "We are still on the sea now. If we don't strive to become stronger, we won't even be able to resist when danger strikes."
Nicola looked out the window. "Having them is enough. The six of us combined can't beat Geer. You heard Raiden General say before that Geer has Talents in this area; we can never beat her."
Sang was left speechless. "That still doesn't mean we shouldn't work hard. At least we should persevere until we return to Vinia Island."
Nicola thought about it and then cheered up again. "Then let's go ask Raiden General how we can quickly become strong!"
Sang looked at Nicola with some surprise. What medicine had she taken today? Was her usual dull appearance all an act? She actually thought of such a solution.
The eyes of the four ruffians immediately lit up, and the gaze they fixed on Nicola became eager.
Nicola walked to the cabin door, turned around, and saw the five of them staring at her. "Let's go! Why are you looking at me?"
Hearing her voice, the five immediately snapped back to attention, stood up, and walked toward Raiden Ei with Nicola. Unfortunately, fate was not on their side; they definitely wouldn't have time to talk to Raiden Ei right now.
Earlier, when Gatt was observing the course, he suddenly spotted a sloop with a pirate flag brightly displayed on its mast. He knew he had to tell everyone about this immediately!
Gatt's eyes were still on the pirate ship, but his mouth was shouting, "Everyone, come quickly! It's a pirate ship! I see a pirate ship!"
In an instant, whether it was Raiden Ei and Geer who were training, or Haisier who was repairing the ship, everyone heard the voice coming from Gatt. The six of Nicola's group were no exception. They all rushed to where Gatt was at the fastest possible speed.
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