Chapter 412 Cliff Rock Island

Xia Nan and the others were bound for a remote island called Cliff Rock Island, about a five-day voyage from Barracuda Bay.

The island itself was far from famous. Though a steady number of islanders lived there year-round, its location far off the popular shipping lanes meant that, aside from roaming pirates, very few people ever passed through this stretch of the vast ocean.

Before setting out, Xia Nan had tried to gather intelligence on Cliff Rock Island at the Three-Legged Sea Dog Tavern, but he had learned almost nothing.

All he knew was that a fair number of islanders lived there and the fishing was decent. Occasionally, a few lucky fishermen claiming to be from Cliff Rock Island would show up in Barracuda Bay to sell their rare catches.

As for the exact population, the size of its towns or villages, or whether any notable figures lived there... no one could give him a straight answer.

Even when he asked the tavern owner, Hera, the charming middle-aged woman seemed to know very little. For Xia Nan, who always prepared meticulously before a journey, this lack of information left him feeling unsettled.

Still, it was just an ordinary cargo escort mission: travel, arrive at the destination, unload, rest, resupply, and then set sail for home.

If he didn't want to interact with the locals, he didn't even have to leave the ship. There was no need to overthink it.

Yet this remote island—a place so obscure that even Barracuda Bay's intelligence hub, the Three-Legged Sea Dog, had no detailed information on it—was now the shared destination of both the Black Gull and the Flying Fish Oil Barrel pirate ship.

While searching the pirate ship for loot, the sailors of the Black Gull had discovered Bourne's navigational charts. The destination was exactly Cliff Rock Island.

There was even a quest commission from the Adventurers' Association sitting right on the desk in the captain's cabin.

...

[Quest Number]: D-89367

[Type]: Investigation/Hunting

[Reward]: 500-1,000 gold / 15-30 points

[Quest Summary]:

In recent months, missing person cases among the inhabitants of Cliff Rock Island have surged, and monster footprints have been found around the villages. Adventurers with relevant experience are needed to investigate. The commission reward will be issued based on quest completion.

[Time Limit]: 30 days

...

Xia Nan frowned slightly as he looked at the quest commission Captain Gregory had handed him.

He hadn't heard anything in the tavern about monsters attacking people on Cliff Rock Island.

But since the information came from the Adventurers' Association, its accuracy was highly reliable.

Given the Association's absurd intelligence network—capable of marking the exact location of a Goblin Lair for you—it was only natural they were better informed than the adventurers in Barracuda Bay.

Considering they had crossed paths with the Flying Fish Oil Barrel squad mid-voyage...

The pirates had likely accepted the commission the moment it was posted. Before the intelligence even had time to circulate among the adventurers, both ships had left port one after the other.

Naturally, Xia Nan had no intention of taking over the quest himself.

For one, he didn't know the exact details of the monsters mentioned in the commission, and he didn't want to take unnecessary risks.

For another, even if he did entertain the idea and successfully hunted the monsters, he wouldn't be able to claim the Association's reward anyway.

This was a rule explicitly stated by the Adventurers' Association.

For quests already registered with the Association—specifically the Class Grade commissions on the Association Second Floor that came with corresponding rank numbers—unless it was a long-term bounty, short-term quests like this one with a one-month time limit required a squad member to be present upon turn-in.

Otherwise, even if someone held the squad emblem, they could not claim the reward.

Xia Nan remembered how, when he had first transmigrated to this world, he had used the squad emblem of the Ragtag Party (Bow of the Mountains) to collect a quest reward, earning his first pot of gold.

Now that he had advanced to become a Class Holder, such loopholes were no longer available.

It served as a sort of invisible protection from the Association for veteran adventurers who had already attained a Class Level and were worth cultivating.

Otherwise, it would be too easy to breed "hunter" gangs who specialized in stealing commissions, waiting to ambush other adventurer squads on their way back from completing a quest to efficiently amass wealth.

That would negatively impact the Adventurers' Association's growth across the Aifala Continent.

In short, Xia Nan could forget about the hundreds of gold coins promised by this commission.

However, that wasn't what concerned him right now.

For whatever reason, the commission offered no detailed description of the unknown monster—or monsters—active on Cliff Rock Island.

It was possible that such information could only be obtained from an Association receptionist after accepting the quest.

But for Xia Nan, all he could know was what was written on the piece of paper in front of him; there was no further intelligence to be had.

Fortunately, the Association had a clear grading system for quest difficulty, indicated simply by the letter preceding the quest number.

The investigation/hunting quest for the unknown monster on Cliff Rock Island was rated D in difficulty.

Using Xia Nan's past experiences as a reference: the bounty posted by the Morton Family for the red dragon Kraugbari, who had stolen their family heirloom, was a B-rank quest. Meanwhile, the source of [Tears of Spring Breath]—the Lycanthrope Mint hidden within an adventurer squad—was an E-rank commission.

And he wasn't completely unfamiliar with D-rank quests, either.

The Petrification Lizard that had nearly flashed his life before his eyes—and later became the material for his straight sword, [Ember Fall]—was exactly of this difficulty tier.

He knew perfectly well that the Association used a highly complex and inexplicable system to grade commissions, integrating a vast number of factors. A quest's rank could not simply be equated to its danger level.

Even though he had no intention of getting involved, he subconsciously raised his guard.

A seemingly ordinary cargo delivery mission had inexplicably hit a snag midway.

This sense of déjà vu made Xia Nan feel a bit strange.

Subconsciously, he turned his head and looked toward the edge of the deck not far away.

There, the Halfling Alton was standing on his tiptoes, gripping the railing and craning his neck outward, his eyes wide as he stared at the blood-spreading sea below, which was littered with floating pirate corpses.

"Hey, hey, there's movement, Xia Nan!"

"Just wait two more minutes before you cast your line. I guarantee you'll catch a big one!"

Calmly withdrawing his gaze from the Halfling, Xia Nan turned to the somewhat hesitant Captain of the Black Gull, Gregory, and said, "These pirates' quest has nothing to do with us. We won't get involved. Just stick to the original plan."

"But you need to explain the situation to the crew. Tell them to be careful once we get there, and it's best if they don't leave the village," he added.

Hearing this, the dark-skinned man visibly let out a sigh of relief.

"Understood!" he said with a heavy nod.

...

...

In the end, Xia Nan failed to hook the so-called "big one" Alton had promised.

The chunks of meat and severed limbs floating on the surface did make for excellent chum. It wasn't long before they attracted plenty of fish, and he even saw several massive, shark-like shadows cruising just beneath the water.

But perhaps because the chum worked a little too well, it had the opposite effect and ended up ruining his fishing.

Even after the blood in the seawater had gradually diluted and the crew had finished their post-battle cleanup, he still hadn't caught anything worthwhile.

By the end of it, Xia Nan found himself thinking that diving in and catching them by hand might be more efficient.

He had already made up his mind to thoroughly browse the tackle shops once they returned to Barracuda Bay.

His technique was perfectly average. If he still couldn't catch any fish, it had to be a problem with his gear.

Xia Nan had always been stubborn about such things, possessing a level of perseverance far beyond ordinary people.

Plus, life at sea was terribly dull.

Over the next two days, aside from his daily rest and training, he threw all his free time into fishing.

As for the results... let's just say they only strengthened his resolve to upgrade his equipment.

Additionally, thanks to the veteran sailors on the Black Gull with years of seafaring experience...

...his spoil of war, the pirate ship Flying Fish Oil Barrel, was actively manned by sailors who had volunteered to helm and trim its sails, trailing right behind the Black Gull.

Sailing one after the other, despite their stark differences in size and appearance, from a distance they actually looked like a proper fleet.

"Splash!"

A rush of clear water forcefully washed over the deck, scrubbing away the residual bird droppings.

Panting slightly, Colin set the empty bucket down by his feet. He raised his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead and subconsciously straightened his posture to ease the ache in his back muscles.

From exhaustion and boredom to his current numbness.

By now, a full five days of living at sea had utterly shattered the romanticized filter this youth from a remote village held for the "sailor" profession.

When the weariness had first set in, he could still comfort himself with excuses like, 'This is just what sailing is like. Once something special happens out here, things will get exciting.'

But the boarding battle two days ago had completely destroyed his fantasies.

Truth be told, Colin's performance during the fight had actually been quite impressive for a sailor.

Having apprenticed under the village hunters since childhood, his years of accumulated shooting experience allowed him to make a significant contribution in the battle using the hand crossbow the boatswain had given him—killing one pirate and wounding two others.

Yet, after the fighting ended, Colin didn't feel the slightest bit of excitement or joy.

His mind just felt completely blank, caught in a disoriented daze.

His thoughts kept uncontrollably flashing back to the image of his bolts piercing through the bodies of his fellow humans. He could still smell the overwhelming stench of blood carried into his nose by the sea breeze, and see the bloody mess of gore and severed limbs scattered across the enemy deck.

Pathetically enough, Colin had vomited up his entire breakfast.

Initially, he just thought it was the usual maladjustment of his first time at sea. Hoping to toughen his mental fortitude, he even forced himself to take on the chore of cleaning the pirate ship's deck.

As a result, he threw up two more times while cleaning, eventually retching so hard his stomach began to cramp.

'I can't be an adventurer, and I can't even make it as a sailor...'

'What can I even do?'

These successive blows left Colin feeling incredibly lost.

He didn't expect to be like Mr. Xia Nan, who seemed completely unfazed after the battle and could calmly sit by the ship's rail to fish.

But at the very least, he shouldn't have embarrassed himself so thoroughly.

Perhaps... returning to Barracuda Bay to help Uncle Paddy run the general store was the path he was truly meant to take?

"Colin, come watch my rod for a bit."

Not far ahead, keenly sensing the youth's dejection, Xia Nan waved him over.

"Your big brother Alton said he's simmering a pot of seafood chowder this morning. I'm going to check the kitchen. I'll bring you a bowl to try later," Xia Nan said.

"Thank you, Mr. Xia Nan, I..." Colin replied, forcing himself to perk up.

Before he could even finish his sentence, a fishing rod was already shoved into his hands.

"Fish well. Catch something valuable, and I'll have Gregory give you a bonus when we get back to port," Xia Nan told him.

Ever since the skirmish with the Flying Fish Oil Barrel two days ago, Xia Nan's reputation on the Black Gull had experienced an epic boost.

Before, in the eyes of the crew, he had merely been a "Lord Class Holder"—someone demanding respect, but ultimately the kind of figure they bumped into on almost every voyage.

Now, however, his status had skyrocketed into something entirely beyond the norm—tinged with awe and outright terror.

As for the reason, it was partly due to his absurd combat record: single-handedly decapitating seven Class Holders—who were all considered "big shots" in their own right—in an extremely short amount of time.

On the other hand, it was because of the gruesome scene he had left behind on the deck.

In truth, when facing enemies other than goblins, Xia Nan's methods were quite clean. He merely took their heads without inflicting unnecessary torture.

But that couldn't change the fact that once [Fang Hunt] reached the Mastery tier of proficiency, in addition to its inherent displacement effects, it also carried a certain amount of impact damage.

Amidst the howl of the wolf, his entire body would be wreathed in razor-sharp astral winds. Given the physical constitution of ordinary people, if they were accidentally caught in the crossfire, it was essentially no different from being thrown into a meat grinder.

Even Xia Nan himself found those riddled, mangled corpses excessively messy to look at.

Let alone the sailors who had witnessed the entire process from the opposite deck.

Beyond that, the shift in attitude from the Silver Claw Osprey squad created an incredibly stark contrast.

Captain Nick's smiles had become much more natural, and at times, even a bit fawning.

The half-orc Guka hadn't shown a shred of indignation on his face since the battle ended. He might not have been particularly shrewd, but having grown up in a tribe, he knew that when facing an existence vastly superior to his own in strength, he needed to minimize his presence as much as possible and keep his mouth shut.

The normally arrogant half-elf Leda still subconsciously avoided Xia Nan's gaze just like before. But now, after lowering her head, she would force herself to raise it back up, stiffening her neck and squeezing out a smile at him, utterly terrified that he might feel she wasn't being respectful enough.

One could only say that in the adventurer industry—especially among those with some experience whose upward mobility had stagnated—

—compared to so-called "interpersonal skills," "emotional regulation," "adaptability," and "conflict management"...

strength was the ultimate cure-all for every problem and conflict.

Handing the fishing rod to Colin, Xia Nan stood up. Before he could even step into the cabin, a high-pitched horn blared suddenly from the captain's quarters.

As if realizing something, he turned and looked out across the distant sea.

A towering, treacherous island of jagged rocks—its cliffs plunging straight into the ocean depths like dark swords—came into view through the surging waves and thick morning fog.

They had arrived at Cliff Rock Island.