Chapter 1 Infiltration

Seeing this, Snow turned back and winked at Brother Jue and the others.

Feng Bujue and Honghu had naturally seen the situation outside the door as well. In the next second, the two exchanged glances and reached a silent consensus...

...

Five minutes later, the three players were already on the deck of the Queen Anne's Revenge.

Perhaps it was good luck, or perhaps the script difficulty was simply this low... Along the way, the three of them weren't stopped or even suspected by anyone.

Of course, on closer thought, this made sense.

There were at least a hundred people on this pirate ship, more than half of whom were recruited before the voyage. These newly boarded sailors didn't know much, nor did they need to know too much... As long as they could recognize the captain, first mate, second mate, boatswain, and other higher-ranking crew members, and obey orders... that was enough. When they next docked, those who were still alive could choose to stay and continue working, or divide the spoils and leave.

This... was the pirate tradition that permeated the entire Caribbean era.

In fact, many merchant ships and even naval vessels used similar rules back then, because most ships suffered personnel losses after setting sail, and sailors often wanted a change of scenery for various reasons. Therefore, the turnover rate of lower-level sailors was very high... It was perfectly normal for people on the same ship not to know each other.

"After all, it's a normal team instance difficulty. The unfolding is simpler than I expected." After arriving on deck, Feng Bujue said to his two teammates, "Maybe... by the time we finish this script, the fact that those three barrels of 'Dry Leaf Wine' are missing won't even be discovered."

"Does that mean..." Snow interjected, "that not going to 'steal' the stuff in the third storage room earlier was actually a loss?"

"Why don't you go back and get some now?" Feng Bujue retorted.

"The door's closed..." Snow spread his hands, "If I really want to go in and get it, I'd have to steal the key from the guards... that's a different story."

"So why are you being a Monday morning quarterback?" Brother Jue immediately pointed out the main point of his question.

"Uh... okay." Snow quickly got the point and wisely stopped mentioning it.

"Then..." At this moment, Honghu said to Brother Jue, "Under the current circumstances, shouldn't we consider changing our plan?"

"How so?" Feng Bujue had already guessed what Honghu was going to say about the "plan," but he still asked knowingly.

"Now that we've been taken as ordinary sailors and are mixed in with the crew, shouldn't we... play along?" Honghu replied.

"You mean..." Feng Bujue said, "I don't need to go find Blackbeard and announce myself?"

"I don't think there's any need for that either." Snow agreed with Honghu's view, and added, "The content of those three side quests can be completed just as easily with the identity of an ordinary sailor. But going to Blackbeard to build connections... might be risky. If he doesn't care about you, or even develops some hostility towards you, that'll be bad."

"Hmm..." Feng Bujue pondered for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Alright then, let's just blend in for now. If something happens, I can reveal my identity later."

"Okay, then what fake name are you going to use?" After receiving Brother Jue's answer, Honghu immediately asked.

He was very thoughtful. The journey ahead was still long, and the three of them were likely to be asked their names. He and Snow were fine, but the name "Feng Bujue" couldn't be given out casually... So, preparing a fake name that all three of them knew beforehand was very necessary.

"I've already thought about that." A second later, Feng Bujue replied solemnly, "I'm called Raven, male, two hundred and fifty years old, a Gothic pirate. My motto is, no Gothic, no pirate..."

"Hey, hey... Just think of a name, what's with all the nonsense afterwards?" Honghu couldn't help but complain.

"The faker it is, the more detailed the setting needs to be, that's how it's more convincing." Feng Bujue replied with righteous indignation.

"Alright, alright... whatever you say." Honghu was too lazy to say anything else, lest he be drawn into Brother Jue's conversation rhythm again.

"Gentlemen." Seeing that things were arranged, Snow spoke again, "If there are no other problems, then... can we split up next?"

"Oh?" At this moment, Honghu was thinking the same thing, so when he heard Snow say the idea first, he gave him an approving look. "You think so too?"

Snow nodded and replied, "Of course. In this environment, the three of us acting together... is a waste of resources. Moreover, it'll look suspicious..." He paused, then added, "Changing to exploring separately will not only increase the search area and improve the efficiency of completing the tasks, but also solve the problem of 'difficulty in distributing items after finding them.' Most importantly... if someone gets into trouble, the three of us won't be wiped out in one fell swoop."

"Heh... you're really amazing, Snow." After hearing Snow's answer, Honghu smiled and praised him.

"You thought of it too, didn't you?" Snow also smiled, "Great minds think alike."

"Ugh... I'm about to throw up." Feng Bujue was always the killjoy. He stared at Honghu and Snow with dead fish eyes, and said in a suppressed voice, "You two heroes, keep chatting, for the sake of my stomach, I have to take a step first."

With that, he turned and left, strolling along the ship's rail.

Honghu and Snow looked at each other, smiled, shrugged with almost the same expression and action, and then each walked off in a different direction.

...

The weather at sea is very changeable.

When the opening CG played, the scene outside the ship was clearly one of high winds, raging waves, thunder, and lightning.

But when the players crawled out of the wine barrels, the wind and waves outside had already weakened a lot.

A few minutes later, when the three of them walked onto the deck, the sky had cleared and the sun was shining.

And now, after Feng Bujue wandered around for a while, the surroundings were actually clear skies and calm seas...

The sailors were resting, chatting, gambling, and fooling around on the deck. Except for a few people who were still busy with some trivial matters, the others weren't doing anything serious. The terrifying storm from a moment ago seemed like a dream, and only the undried seawater on their clothes reminded them that what they had seen was not an illusion.

"Hmm... what's with this ship full of monsters..." Feng Bujue stopped after wandering around for more than ten minutes. He squatted next to a wooden box and thought to himself, "I wanted to use the data strength to determine who the 'cadres' are, but there are too many powerful characters on this ship... And..." Thinking of this, his gaze couldn't help but turn to the direction of the captain's cabin, "There's a guy in the captain's cabin who can be called a 'monster'... No wonder even an existence at the level of Rabbit Hair Bro, the 'Short Hair Divine Fist Fist Sect,' can only be a little brother... Blackbeard's combat power is clearly not below the Four Pillar Gods."

Just as Brother Jue was thinking, suddenly, a rough hand patted his shoulder.

When Feng Bujue turned his head, the first thing that caught his eye was a large patch of black hair.

"Hey, mate, you look pretty new around here." The one who spoke was only one meter and five in height, but he had a body of bulging muscles. His rock-like muscles seemed to be about to burst the sweat shirt on his body, he was like a human-shaped small cannon. And his biggest feature was not his physique, but his unusually developed body hair... Although he only had sparse stubble on his face, his chest, armpits, arms, and legs... were all covered in large patches of black hair, so dense that it made people dizzy just looking at it.

"Heh..." After seeing the face of the person, Feng Bujue stood up and, taking the opportunity, moved away the hairy hand that was on his shoulder, and smiled, "You look pretty new to me too."

Brother Jue's reaction was quite clever. Before figuring out the situation, he tried not to show any obvious attitude or say anything that might reveal his own information.

"Hehe..." The hairy guy also squeezed out a smile, looked up (due to the height difference) at Brother Jue and said, "Being new doesn't matter. We're all companions on the same ship, we'll get to know each other quickly."

"I wonder, elder brother, how do you want to get to know me?" Feng Bujue could hear, see, and guess that this kind of guy who comes over to talk to you for no reason... is either a swindler or a thief.

"Hehe... it's like this..." The hairy guy revealed a sinister look and replied, "Me and a few brothers are playing cards over there, but it's not fun with so few people. I saw you wandering around here alone for a long time, looking like you have nothing to do, so..."

"Aha!" Feng Bujue didn't need to hear the rest of the sentence, he knew what kind of scam this was. He immediately interrupted the other party, put on a standard sucker face, and said with glee, "Then you've really come to the right person. I love playing cards the most~ To tell you the truth... I was a card-playing master in my hometown. I'm invincible in the whole village at playing things like Big Small, Twenty-One, and Old Maid!"

Brother Jue's performance was truly from the inside out... With just two sentences, not only his expression but even his accent changed, and the transformation was quite natural.

Looking at the hairy guy... he was undoubtedly fooled. With his intelligence, he really couldn't imagine that he would be reverse-tricked by someone else. He now deeply believed that the man in front of him was a super sucker. In less than half an hour, this kid would have to lose his pants.

"Hahaha... good, then we'll..." Two seconds later, the hairy guy couldn't wait to bring Brother Jue to his comrades.

Unexpectedly...

"Wait." At this critical moment, Feng Bujue interrupted the other party again, "Hehe..." He chuckled twice before saying, "Don't take me for a fool, I won't go with you alone. What if you guys lose and try to deny it because you have more people?" He paused for half a second, and before the hairy guy could explain, he added, "I'll bring a fellow villager to play with me, so it'll be harder for you to deny it if you lose."

Upon hearing this, the hairy guy complained in his heart: "Tch... I thought this hillbilly was going to say something. You're just someone who only knows how to play Big Small, Twenty-One, and Old Maid, yet you're so picky..."

Although he thought so, on the surface he still replied amiably, "Look at what you're saying... We're all people on the same ship, how could I set up a scam to trick you?" He put on a particularly casual expression, then added, "Okay, okay... then go and call your fellow villager, I'll be..." As he spoke, he pointed to a mast ten meters away, "...there, yes, the place under the mast, I'll wait for you there... hurry up."

With that, Feng Bujue had already trotted away, shouting back as he ran, "Don't worry, I'll be right there!"

He did indeed do what he said...

In less than three minutes, he came - bringing Snow with him.

No one knew what Brother Jue had said to Snow, but when the latter appeared in front of the hairy guy and his comrades, his entire face was tense.

"Hehe... sorry to keep you waiting, everyone, this is my fellow villager." Feng Bujue patted Snow on the shoulder and introduced him with a smile.

"It doesn't matter, sit down quickly. Take advantage of the good weather and play a few rounds, it might change again in a while." A burly man with a light blue turban on his head glanced at them and urged them impatiently.

"Okay." Feng Bujue responded and sat down with a happy face.

Snow didn't say anything, he just sat next to Brother Jue.

At this time, they were both sitting directly on the deck. Directly opposite them were three sailors, all sitting on the ground with their backs against the mast.

The three of them were: the hairy guy who had come to talk to Brother Jue, the blue turban who had just urged them, and a skinny guy with brown curly hair.

...

"Hey, did you see that? 'Garlic Head' and the others are at it again."

"Ah... I saw it just now, the targets this time are clearly two suckers... Look at how fair their skin is, they're probably on their first voyage."

"Eh? Should we tell the boatswain?"

"What's there to say? It's a good thing to let those two rookies learn a lesson and gain some experience... so they don't embarrass the Blackbeard Pirates in the future."

...

The above was a conversation between two sailors seven or eight meters away.

Logically speaking, even if those two spoke a little louder on this noisy deck, those few words wouldn't have reached the mast.

However, Feng Bujue and Snow knew clearly what those two had said.

Because... Brother Jue and Snow had both entered their respective "gambling states" (Note: This is not a skill in the game, but an ability that they both possess in the real world). In this state, their concentration, observation, and other abilities would be greatly enhanced... Reading the lip movements of two people seven or eight meters away was simply easy.