The first to arrive was Raiden Ei; the others followed closely behind.
They all spotted the pirate ship. Someone among them might know how to leave this sea area, and everyone became excited, completely ignoring the fact that the other party were pirates.
Haisier wore a smile that had never appeared on his face before, shouting loudly to Gatt, "Quickly, let's move closer!"
Raiden Ei and the others all had smiles on their faces, their mood akin to long-awaited rain after a drought. More than ten days adrift at sea had made them desperately long for any hope of escaping this area.
Gatt was also somewhat excited, but his hands were swift in adjusting the course. The wind filled the sails, propelling their ship slowly closer.
Raiden Ei looked at the pirate ship, which appeared as a small dot on the distant horizon, and frowned. Why did she notice the pirate ship was moving away from them? "That pirate ship has turned; it's fleeing in the opposite direction."
Gatt was still smiling confidently, "It's fine, this ship is much faster than their pirate ship."
A three-masted sailing ship was much faster than a single-masted one. The distance between the two ships was rapidly closing, but it would still take at least half an hour to catch up, as the pirate ship was a bit too far away.
Nicola was so happy that tears almost sprang to her eyes, "Sang, we can return to Vinia now; we don't have to be on this dangerous high sea anymore."
Sang was also very happy. Although she was just a shop assistant with an ordinary life, she hoped to return to Vinia as soon as possible and stop drifting on the vast ocean.
"Mhm, but we need to stay calm. It would be bad if our hope turns out to be in vain."
The four members of the hooligan group also shouted at the sea as if they had gone mad. Gando arrived at this moment; because of the sound of the waves, he hadn't heard Gatt's loud shout and didn't know what they were doing.
Gando put on a straight face and asked Cyrus, "What happened here?"
Cyrus turned and saw it was Gando, so he didn't hide anything, "We spotted a pirate ship ahead, and now we are rushing over."
Gando looked unconvinced, but seeing that almost everyone was gathered there, Cyrus probably wasn't lying. So, he found a spot to look out—the small boat on the horizon was actually real.
Raiden Ei was contemplating what method to use to subdue the people on the pirate ship. She absolutely could not kill everyone again. It was precisely because she had thrown everyone from the Silver Axe Pirate Crew into the sea that they ended up trapped in this sea area.
As time passed, the distance between the two ships continued to shrink, which terrified the pirates on the opposing ship. Such a large pirate ship—how ferocious must the pirates aboard be!
Pirate: "Captain, they are chasing us! It won't be long before they catch up to us."
Pirate: "Captain, should we fire the cannons first to gain the upper hand?"
The Captain also felt a bit troubled. He had only been a pirate for two years. He had encountered large Pirate Crews before; small Pirate Crews like theirs usually just needed to steer clear, and the major pirates wouldn't bother with them.
Unless the major Pirate Crew was struggling to survive, they wouldn't attack small fry like them. Otherwise, they wouldn't waste time just to eliminate them and pursue them. In this Great Pirate Era, there was no shortage of pirates.
Captain: "Absolutely not! If we strike first, we will definitely be killed without hesitation.
Wait a little longer. If they really catch up, we can only stop the ship and surrender. Hopefully, they aren't some ferocious major pirates. If they ask us to join them, we shouldn't resist either."
This kind of raiding between pirates was usually for supplies. They didn't want to be looted clean and then abandoned on the vast sea to die. They had to find a way to join them. It was very common for pirates to join forces if they couldn't win a fight.
Pirate: "Captain, they are still chasing! Tell us what to do."
The Captain felt very distressed. Was his Pirate Crew, which was just starting to gain some scale, about to be broken up? He was unwilling, but there was nothing he could do. He gave the order.
"Stop the ship! We can't outrun them. No matter what happens next, don't resist. If possible, we will request to join them."
One pirate, who had followed him the longest, sounded indignant, "Captain, are we just going to surrender like this?"
The Captain sighed. The rule of the high seas was just like this: "Yes. On the high seas, strength dictates everything. If you don't accept it, you die.
Alright, lift your spirits. There will be opportunities to sail together in the future."
Since the pirate ship stopped sailing, Raiden Ei and her group's ship quickly caught up, and the two ships of different sizes docked together.
Raiden Ei looked down at the eight surrendering pirates on the pirate ship. They were dealt with without needing to lift a finger. "Put down the ladder and let them come up!"
Haisier: "Mhm, they should just be a few small pirates; letting them up shouldn't be a problem." Everyone else had seen pirates before, but this was their first time seeing them at sea, and they were somewhat excited.
Cyrus and Bia brought over a ladder and lowered it over the side of the ship, "Everyone come up, don't resist."
The pirates were a bit bewildered at this moment. They saw that the large ship only had a dozen or so people on it and were considering whether they should try to fight.
The pirates were all eager to try, but the Pirate Captain immediately stopped them, "Don't move around! For them to have such a large ship, they must have some skills."
The pirates climbed up one by one via the rope ladder and stood in front of Raiden Ei and the others. They all had normal builds, just a bit stronger, and it was impossible to tell who the leader was.
Haisier and the others knew that Raiden Ei usually disliked talking, so they didn't expect the strongest among them to speak up and ask. Haisier signaled Gatt to step forward to negotiate. Nicola and the others had too little experience to handle such a task, so they didn't rely on them.
Gatt saw Haisier's signal. 'Fine! I'm only in my early twenties. Haisier, how did you decide I have deep experience? I don't even know myself!' Regardless of what he thought internally, Gatt stepped forward to inquire.
"Who among you is the Captain? Step forward."
The pirates all turned their gazes toward their Captain.
The Pirate Captain d ( Ő д Ő ๑ ) was exposed.
The Pirate Captain stepped forward, "I am. Just call me Shan Xi."
Gatt wasted no time and asked the question he most wanted an answer to: "Very good. How did you get here?"
Shan Xi was a bit puzzled but still answered Gatt's question, "We followed the sea chart to get here."
Gatt didn't ask anything else: "Hand over the sea chart."
Everyone became excited upon hearing about the sea chart, looking eagerly at Shan Xi.
Shan Xi was somewhat confused; wasn't a sea chart necessary for navigation? He didn't delay, taking out the sea chart from his pocket. He handed over more than ten sea charts to Gatt. He was an all-around Captain who could do a little bit of everything; his ship's Navigator was also him. "These are all I have."
Gatt took them and started flipping through them. He seemed to think that looking through them himself would take too long, so he shouted to Shan Xi, "Come here and point out which sea lane we are on right now."
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