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Chapter 121 - Stranger’s Cove

The Mary Anne sailed for the Black Seas and along the way, any low-level sea monster was easily taken care of by the galleon’s 36 cannons.

The ship could easily carry double that number but Strawhat Capitan wasn’t rich enough to purchase or create the cannons to fill the ship’s carrying capacity.

However, the ship was already powerful enough as it was so it didn’t really matter for now. Though, he would need to upgrade the ship if they wanted to traverse further than the Black Sea.

“Those are the Rift Isles… and further away is our destination,” B said as he pointed in the distance.

“This ship’s pretty fast, huh?”

“Yeah, but there’s also the speed buff that Cap’s hidden class gives so we’re like two times faster than normal ships.”

“How convenient.”

It hadn’t even been 30 minutes since they set sail and already they were close to their destination. Normally, other players would need around an hour or two to even get from Sylereen to the Black Sea.

The galleon-class ship plus Cap’s hidden class cut down the long travel time to a little over 30 minutes. This was something any guild operating within the regions around Sylereen would die for.

Cap had been offered many invitations from various guilds but he always turned them down. He was a free spirit and a ‘pirate’ to his core. He even had the audacity to not only ‘play’ pirates but literally, be one by raiding NPC and player cargo ships within the Black Sea whenever he felt like it.

He’d naturally get the red name from the attacks but he would go into hiding somewhere until his name turned back to normal and despite all the threats he got from other player guilds and factions, he never cared and just continued doing what he loved, being a pirate.

The ship passed straight through the Rift Isles and came to an open space of water not far from it.

“Lay anchor! We’ve arrived, lads!”

At his command, the ship’s anchor was thrown into the water and the sails were raised, putting the vessel to a complete stop.

“Okay, this is the place. We’ll need to dive underwater now,” Cap said.

Everyone in the adventurer crew was all more or less of the aquatic race so they had no problems diving into the sea.

Sky was the first to jump off the ship. She thought sailing would be fun but apparently, the game was so realistic that it simulated actual seasickness. She hadn’t been feeling so well after the ship had moved to the open seas and their speed picked up.

She didn’t show it on her face but Sky wasn’t feeling so good so she quickly jumped into the water. Once she was surrounded by the ocean, her abnormal [Seasick] status quickly disappeared.

The Naga’s race-specific specialty, [Vahalhod], gave them the ability to quickly heal from any status ailments they were suffering while boosting their movement speed on and underwater.

“Aren’t you the eager one, Sky?” Jin said after she arrived next to her.

“I like the feeling of being underwater, that’s all.”

Sky obviously didn’t want anyone to know about this embarrassing episode so she came up with an excuse and had been putting up a strong front since earlier. Thankfully for her, no one noticed her seasickness.

An aquatic race player falling ill on a boat in the middle of the sea. Now that was something to laugh about. Most of the players in the game chose specific races that tailored to their preferences so people that chose an aquatic race were normally those that had IRL occupations or living conditions that were close to the sea.

Sky was living on the East Coast of the US, her house being right by a harbor so she was familiar with the ocean to some degree. She was also part of her campus’s swimming teaming so she was comfortable being surrounded by water. The only problem was that she never actually rode a boat before and thus, it was her first time experiencing what it was like to feel seasickness.

Nevertheless, the boat ride to the Black Sea was still enjoyable to her despite her sickness.

Once she was underwater, Sky took off her armor and swapped it with the usual armor she wore. Now, with her extra pair of arms free, she wielded two spears and began scouting around.

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Everyone on the adventurer crew already knew about her peculiar character so there wasn’t anything she needed to hide. They also weren’t the type to spread pictures or information about her so she didn’t need to worry about anything.

Having an extra player that was unique and powerful was also a plus for the Strawhat Marauders despite her not being a part of their crew. They didn’t know about her Awakening and only attributed her extra pair of arms as an addition to the hidden class’s add-ons.

“Alright, as usual, Sky will be scouting the area around us. We’ll slowly move towards the dungeon while she scouts,” Cap said.

The team swam through the waters until they finally reached the seabed. It wasn’t as beautiful as most thought since it was all dark and filled only with sharp rocks and ocean trenches.

They continued swimming while Sky was darting around the waters at high speeds checking their flanks for any enemies. Being an Awakened Naga, Sky had a larger advantage underwater than the others in the party.

Her swimming speed was at least 100 percent faster than them and her vision was clearer and farther.

Despite being all dark and gloomy, the undersea felt like home to these players. It felt much more liberating than being on land and it was natural. All of their races had racial abilities that gave them an advantage being around or underwater.

“Alright guys, that’s the cave. Sky, go scout the area, and make sure that no one followed us. I don’t want anyone intruding on our dungeon run,” Cap ordered.

“Roger.”

“Lia and Polo, go assist Sky. You two are our fastest swimmers after Sky.”

“M’kay.”

“Un.”

A Mermaid and Merman player said together before they chased after Sky. After a few minutes, the 3 players came back and confirmed that no one followed them.

“Let’s go then!”

You have discovered the ‘Stranger’s Cove’! Rewarded: 50 gold and 10,000 EXP For being the first to discover Stranger's Cove all party members will receive the New Discovery Buff! Name: New Discovery

Description: 50% increase in EXP acquisition and 2.5x Item Drop Rate for the next 2 days

In Unitale, there were two types of dungeons, Instance Dungeons, and Normal Dungeons. Instance Dungeons were dungeons that had separate playthroughs as a new party or player entered it.

It wasn’t like the normal Dungeons that didn’t separate the players. Instance dungeons were much safer than normal dungeons though the rewards given wouldn’t be as abundant.

However, Instance Dungeons were the main source of set equipment for players in Unitale so many people preferred going into those. Normal dungeons were much more dangerous because other than the monsters, players would also have to worry about other players.

The dungeon Sky and the Strawhat Marauders discovered was a normal dungeon. One could easily tell the difference because Instance Dungeons had a magical membrane blocking the entrance while normal dungeons didn’t have such a thing which was why they were harder to find in the wild since they weren’t too noticeable.

And because it was a normal dungeon, Cap wanted to make sure that no players had followed them. Even if there were, he had probably left them all eating the Mary Anne’s seafoam but it was better safe than sorry.

He also purposefully had the ship weigh anchor a distance away from the dungeon so players that would eventually catch up would find it hard to locate their actual destination.

Sky swam into the dungeon and scouted ahead. No one knew her exact level besides B and Jin within the adventurer crew but the rest knew that she was really powerful.

Not only did she have refined spear-wielding techniques, but she was also quite the swimmer, being able to move so agilely with great flexibility and speed under the water. This wasn’t something one could acquire from just their species’ racial advantage, it was undoubtedly an IRL skill.

Sky quickly found a few crab-type monsters called Urachon and a jellyfish-like monster called Medphylum, and quickly returned to the party.

“Found a few monsters ahead, around level 100 to 110. We’ve really hit the jackpot this time!” Sky excitedly said.

Even though she was level 129 and these monsters probably wouldn’t give her so much EXP even with the 50 percent EXP gain on top of her Pearl of the Sea God’s 200 percent increase, these ‘low-level’ monsters were only those on the first floor of this undersea dungeon.

The lower floor monsters would undoubtedly be of a higher level and this was what she was excited about. Also, the monsters’ levels were just right for the Strawhat Marauders adventurer crew.

The people present had an average level of 105 so it was just right for them to level up in this dungeon.

“Alright, we’ll go in using our normal formation and adapt as we go. As for you Sky...well, do what you want,” Cap said. He didn’t know what to do with this part-time member so normally, he just let her do what she wants since Cap knew that Sky wouldn’t hinder them in the least.

“Move up!”

Sky waited for everyone to move before following after them. When the battle against the monsters began, she watched for a bit before jumping in the battle. She needed to see everyone’s battle style and composition before intervening or else she’d just be in the way.

It’s been some time since she’s partied with these people so she needed to take a look at how they fought before jumping in. Since their styles didn’t change too much from the last time she remembered, it didn’t take too long for her to observe them.

Sky wielded her dual spears and began cutting down the monsters. Her damage was through the roof as it topped the party’s damage charts. Her enchantments were self-targeted so she couldn’t use them on anyone else.

The members of the crew could never get used to her nuke-like damage output and they were glad that she was on their side.