Chapter Ten: First on the Sublist

Five minutes not only gave Ember an exceptional weapon, but also refreshed the cooldowns on the Sun Emblem’s two major effects. His combat power returned to peak condition, and he finally had the confidence to investigate the prison beneath the ship.

Seeing that in-game time was about to reach the half-hour mark, he hurried to the apothecary and spent his last four hundred credits to buy a vial of Low-Level Healing Potion at a forty percent discount. It could be used in combat and took effect instantly. After that, he ran all the way back and once more arrived before the prison door.

Hint: You use the Prison Key to unlock the Shipboard Prison!

Creak.

The prison opened, but Ember had not even made out the inside before he heard someone laughing in triumph.

“It was worth all the effort I spent luring out the captain’s little one. Sun Defender, you’ve done me a tremendous favor!”

“Hm?”

Still bewildered, Ember looked toward the speaker and found that the man was dressed as a captain too: hooked nose, heavy brow, a face full of black beard, and a gloom that made him look utterly unsavory. By contrast, the man imprisoned on the other side was more handsome, with deep eyes and elegant bearing. Though envy was written plainly across his face, he still removed his captain’s hat with considerable courtesy and bowed to the speaker.

“Congratulations on taking over the captain’s post!”

“Hahaha! Likewise, likewise. And congratulations to you for being promoted from first mate to deputy captain!”

“What? What are you two talking about?”

The two prison inmates were speaking in riddles, leaving Ember unable to tell whether opening the ship’s lower prison was a good thing or a bad one.

“I got carried away and forgot to explain. My apologies, Sun Defender.”

The bearded, brooding captain then explained to Ember: “There are actually three captains on this ship. They rotate every year. During that time, if the prison door opens early for any reason, a forced rotation is triggered. I heard that a group of trainees was coming to the base to study, so I specifically lured out the captain’s little one, no, the first mate now. He likes to keep the prison key on that creature, so I used the chance to get myself out!”

“So that’s how it is...”

Ember finally understood. He had unwittingly helped trigger a captain rotation.

“Come, come, bring me your guide form. I’ll stamp it with a qualification mark first. As for the first mate over there, don’t worry. Even if he refuses to stamp it, I can do it myself!”

Hearing this, Ember realized that this should be an hidden benefit of releasing the new captain ahead of schedule. If he had not stopped the octopus from swallowing the key in time, he would never have gotten the first mate’s qualification stamp.

At that moment, the elegant man who had shed his first mate identity leaned over the prison bars while the new captain was stamping the form. He shot Ember a sly look and whispered, “Hey, Sun Defender, how about this? Set me free again later, and I can stamp you too.”

“Dream on!”

The bearded captain snorted coldly, immediately discarding the amicable mood from their earlier exchange: “You think I’d be foolish enough to leave the prison key lying around? Sun Defender, don’t you agree?”

Feeling a strong sense of danger bearing down on him, Ember nodded vigorously like a pecking chick and gave the elegant man a helpless look. He truly did not think he would have another chance to get the prison key, because the bearded captain had already used black magic to put it away right in front of him.

Having failed in his attempt, the elegant man lay back down, somewhat dispirited. He pulled his captain’s hat over his face and sighed in regret. “When will I ever be able to command my Black Pearl across the oceans?”

“Sorry, but this ship is now called Queen Anne’s Revenge! And I, Edward Teach, am the sole captain of this great warship!” The new captain was high in spirits, the gloom in his temperament having faded. He said to Ember, “Sun Defender, you can go get your qualification stamp from the first mate. I still need to discuss future sailing plans with my newly appointed deputy captain!”

Hearing that, the elegant man under the hat rolled his eyes, covered his ears, and turned over to pretend to sleep, unwilling to deal with the swaggering new captain. Ember realized this was no place to linger, so he immediately grabbed the little fellow by the squid legs and hurried onto the deck, arriving before the captain’s quarters.

Hint: Once you enter the captain’s quarters, you will have prematurely ended the solo challenge and will no longer be able to remain at the Rookie Training Base. Choose carefully.

“The qualification stamps from the crafter, enhancer, apothecary, and battle master are all in hand. Aside from the hidden thread involving the ship’s lower prison, there are no other leads left to investigate. Add the captain’s stamp, and this should be enough to achieve the highest rating for this assessment.”

After making a final review and confirming nothing had been missed, Ember knocked on the captain’s door.

Hint: Your solo challenge has ended early. Please hand over Little Onion Squid to the captain to complete the final task of this assessment.

“You truly live up to the name of Sun Defender. You actually brought my little fellow back so quickly!”

The captain, still unaware that he had been kicked out of his own post, casually roused Little Onion Squid, then took Ember’s guide form and began reviewing it. “Very good. To complete all the mentors’ assessment tasks in such a short time, you are certainly worthy of pride. This result is among the best of the ordinary trainees. The old tailor’s judgment was excellent. I’ll notify him to come collect you at once.”

“Thank you for the praise.”

To be honest, Ember felt a little guilty when facing the captain. And when the other man’s posture suddenly stiffened, his eyes narrowing all at once, Ember immediately stepped back and prepared to trigger his Solar Golden Body at any moment.

“How did you get the first mate’s qualification stamp?”

The captain’s grim expression instantly gave Ember the suffocating feeling of a storm bearing down, as though a volcano were about to erupt beneath a surging sea, waiting only for Ember’s reply before unleashing its wrath.

Thud!

At that very moment, the captain’s door was kicked open. The newly appointed captain with the thick beard burst in laughing. “Of course I stamped it! From this moment on, this ship is no longer the Flying Dutchman, and the base will be renamed Black Fox! Illiterate? Octopus? I spit on it! What kind of stupid names are those? If you say them out loud, aren’t you ashamed of disgracing the Foundation? Get your butt back to the ship’s lower prison and come back to be captain in two years!”

“Damn it!”

The captain, suddenly toppled from his pedestal, was filled with bitter regret. Staring at Ember by the door, he suddenly realized, “How could I have forgotten? You aren’t just the Sun Defender, you’re the Sun Defender who keeps betraying the faith! If I had known, I should have taken the key back! Damn it, damn it!”

Hearing the captain’s accusation, Ember knew he was thoroughly finished. His lifelong reputation, perhaps, would never be able to shake off the stain of apostasy.

“Ah... am I destined to draw a clear line between myself and the righteous? Well, forget it. Being a villain is not so bad, actually. Everyone wants to be the hero; surely someone has to play the monster.”

Having gradually come to terms with it, Ember accepted reality. As for the captain, now no longer a captain, he could only do the same, albeit with some reluctance, and personally stamp Ember’s guide form with his qualification mark. Thus Ember finished the solo challenge with six stamps. Since the assessment itself already carried rewards, there was no separate settlement reward, but there was an additional note saying that reaching first place in the division ranking would grant an early advantage in the final assessment.

...

“Wow! Look, look, the top of the Foundation leaderboard has changed. Rain Tomorrow has four stamps now. Who is that?”

“You don’t even know Rain Tomorrow? He’s from the Thunder Guild. I hear he’s pretty impressive. He’s gotten high ratings in several assessments in a row.”

“No wonder he managed to get four stamps so quickly. His skill must be excellent. After all this time, most of the others only have two or three at most.”

“By my calculation, the time is almost here for the flood of big names to start showing up. I think a score of four stamps will be overtaken very soon. By rights, with Rain Tomorrow’s level, he should have been able to keep going and fight for the highest score. Why did he come out so early?”

Once midnight passed, the Singularity official released the score rankings for this solo challenge. Every player’s assessment result would appear on the board. In the early stage, some players had died by accident, leaving their scores dismal. Later, some had judged themselves incapable and chosen to give up early. So by this point, among the three major organizations, Rain Tomorrow was the only one who had managed to secure four stamps.

However, Rain Tomorrow was not satisfied with that result. Under the temptation of the fifty-percent-off event across the entire field, he had spent all his credits ahead of time, leaving him without money to pay for skill training and losing the chance to obtain the Battle Master qualification stamp. Fortunately, when facing the boss-tier octopus, he endured the pressure with the help of his enhancement effects and successfully obtained the captain’s stamp. He had, however, missed the octopus’s transformation window and failed to get the prison key.

“Four stamps is a bit of a stretch. My only advantage is time. Besides, to get the Battle Master qualification stamp, you need three thousand credits. Players who can afford that kind of money are not exactly common. Not to mention there are probably plenty of others like me who spent a great deal of their savings early.”

Rain Tomorrow could only use this method to soothe his uneasy heart. But after checking the Foundation leaderboard, he still did not find Ember’s name, and his expression immediately grew uncertain.

Over the past few days, Ember had long since forgotten about the grudge he once had with Rain Tomorrow. But the latter had not forgotten. Ever since Thunderous Might of the guild leadership questioned him about Ember, he had been secretly keeping track of Ember’s progress.

Rain Tomorrow knew the id-snatching incident had failed to make much of a splash, and when he browsed the forum post by Withered Vine and Old Tree, he saw Ember’s reply. Others thought Ember had posted once and then gone silent merely to act impressive while lacking the nerve to continue. Rain Tomorrow, however, did not think so. He knew Ember’s first two assessments had very likely earned exceptionally high ratings. Entering a life zone above the difficult level and even gaining something there was by no means impossible.

That filled Rain Tomorrow, who was determined to become an experienced player, with a profound sense of crisis, because he suspected that the ordinary player with no real reputation might truly be leaving him far behind. In the difficult life zone, he had only received an excellent rating. If he had reached perfection, he would not have been forced to end the challenge early because he lacked enough credits.

Thus, unwilling to accept defeat, Rain Tomorrow began refreshing the ranking over and over. It was only when Ember’s name quietly appeared that he could not help but mutter the relevant details to himself.

“Foundation trainee Ember, challenge result... six qualification stamps? Finish time, zero hours, thirty-one minutes, eighteen seconds, current ranking...”

“First in the division ranking!”