Roseus found himself staring at the man in front of him blankly, which made him laugh slightly.

"I didn’t introduce myself before asking to join your crew. My name is Lencho, a solo adventurer."

Roseus continued examining him for a few moments before asking a question.

"You are from the Southern Islands?"

"Born and raised," Lencho replied.

"Then why not travel with the Alzabe? You should have many pirate allies in these seas."

Lencho smiled again, gesturing with his hands towards the town where Roseus was staying.

"The Alzabe are great pirates, but not in combat. They are scared of the Templars and for that reason, no one but the admiral has goals of sailing into the Third Sea. Me? I wish to follow in my mother’s footsteps."

Roseus’ brows rose. "Your mother?"

He also acknowledged the mention of the Alzabe Admiral and wondered what sort of man he might be.

A smug look spread across Lencho’s face.

"Yes, Captain Oya of the Southern Confederation Pirates. She sailed into the Third Ocean a few years after birthing me, and I wish to find her someday."

The Southern Confederation Pirates. I’ve never heard of them before. Could this be because they were a crew that formed on an island, rather than on the mainland?

I’ll have to do my research on them.

Roseus stood there and considered the man’s words for a few moments.

It was true that the Redflowers were looking for new crew members. After all, they were capable of holding at least 30 more members on their ship.

However, Roseus was wise enough to know not to blindly invite anybody to join their crew. They had already recently taken the navy executive officer, Stanislava.

He had to be cautious.

"Are you willing to share your systems with me?" he asked.

Lencho didn’t even respond. He simply smiled and held a finger to his temple.

Soon, Roseus found that he was able to access the entirety of the man’s two systems.

[AWAKENING STATUS — SHARED]

[Name: Lencho]

[Crew: None]

-SAILOR SYSTEM-

Overall Rank: Deckhand (91%)

Navigation: Rank I

Ship Management: Rank I

Weather Sense: Rank I

Treasure Sense: Rank I

Ranged Combat: Rank I

Melee Combat: Rank II

Deck Agility: Rank V

SKILLS:

Phase Through (Lv.3) → The user briefly slips through incoming attacks by momentarily moving at blinding speed, leaving only a faint afterimage behind.

Flash Step (Lv.2) → A single step that carries the user as far as five normal steps in an instant.

Quintuple Slash (Lv.3) → A rapid-speed attack that unleashes five precise slashes in an instant. Each attack is slightly weaker than the last.

Gymnast (Lv.3) → Significantly enhances balance, flexibility, and aerial control, allowing the user to perform acrobatic manoeuvres with ease and precision.

SUPREME SYSTEM

Patron God: None

(No pact established)

—EQUIPPED TREASURES—

-Boom Dagger

-Returning Dagger

-Hearth Sabre

-Unburning Cloth

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Roseus’ eyes went wider the more he read.

It seemed that Lencho was extremely specialised towards agility. Roseus had never seen someone with a skill rank of 5, and wondered whether Blodwen, Captain Lionheart, or Bonnflammé had skills at such a rank.

And he’s only a Deckhand. The same rank as me. Four treasures too, each of which sounds powerful.

However, whilst it was interesting and useful to see the man’s skills, that wasn’t exactly why Roseus had asked to see them. He would be willing to have a man who hadn’t even awakened yet in his crew.

Out at sea, everybody had potential no matter where they started, which was why he loved the water so much.

No, the reason why Roseus had asked to see this man’s system was so that he could see whether he had a pact with any gods.

Being a man that had more knowledge on pacts than most, he knew how dangerous they could be.

Captain Roseus looked back at the man and nodded his head.

"You’re powerful, and we happen to have space in our crew. After my hunting, I’ll be happy to bring you back to the tavern where my crew should be waiting for me. As long as you’re fine with waiting."

Lencho’s eyes widened slightly.

"A captain that consults with his crew first? That’s rare in the Eight Oceans."

Roseus shrugged his shoulders.

"Without them, I wouldn’t be here. It’s only right. Besides, some of them have better judgement than me."

"Aye," Lencho grunted in understanding, as he turned and began walking along the shore of the beach. "I will return in an hour, Captain."

A few moments later, Roseus was left alone with the sea. He took in a deep breath and let it out, not bothering to think about the encounter he had just had.

He had come out here for a reason after all.

He made his way over to the corpses of the Chained he had just killed and looked them over closely. None of them had treasures on their bodies.

So, he prepared to put on his hat and dive into the sea again, preparing for battle once more.

...

On a separate part of the shore...

Lencho, also known as Lencho the Quick, stood on the sand with a burning fire in front of him that curled smoke up into the night sky.

Slowly, he removed the cloth from his face, allowing his burned, disfigured face to enjoy the satisfaction of the wind blowing against it.

Afterwards, he wrapped the cloth around his eyes so that he couldn’t see, creating a blindfold for himself.

Using his hands, he felt the warmth of the fire and directed himself over it. He kept his hands there until they stung, but he invited the pain.

Afterwards, he positioned his face over the flames, hovering just above them.

Lencho took in a deep breath and then let it out. Immediately afterwards, he plunged his face into the flames.

The pain was unbearable, melting any remaining flesh he had on his face.

He was so used to the pain now that all he did was grit his teeth and focus on controlling his breathing. Spittle drooled from his mouth and into the flames, but he did not scream.

After ten seconds, he fell onto his back, lying on the sand.

Amidst the sensation that no man was supposed to feel, he spoke into the air.

"Ruler of the Flames... When will you make me your disciple?"

"..."

Once again, he received no answer.