《Graphomurk》Chapter 13.09 – World of Elements
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When I jumped on the back of the fourth victim, I immediately felt the look on me. As it turned out, the crab's eyes were "retractable" so that he could easily look behind his back. I didn't like the feel of the stare, so I leaped up to the crab's head, dodged the claw, and then, with a quick movement of the spear, tear off both appendages. What was my surprise when such minor injuries to the crab took a third of his life, plus he was stunned for a three-second. I didn't waste any time, but leaped up to the stumps of the eyes and drove the spear straight into the hollow in the shell from which they grew. My expectations were met, and I landed another critical hit for 200 damage. The next blow in the area of the second eye finally finished the crab. And after a moment, I saw the window of collecting loot that was offered to me to take the whole Shell of King Crab.
"Yahoo!!!” - I shouted, then clicked ‘OK’.
Only a second later I felt a heavy weight of duty to my Country which fell on my shoulders. I lay flat on the sand and looked to the inventory, and my eyes almost popped out like a crab's. The Shell took up not one cell, but all sixty, leaving very little space for other things. If these shells don't add up, then I won't be able to add the second one to inventory. But the main thing was the weight of this shell. Looks like it was made of pure gold because it weighed 150 kilograms. I wonder, can I walk across the bottom of the strait with this shell in my backpack? I'm sure I won't be able to swim.
Ten minutes later I was sitting on the beach and thinking about how unfair life is. With such a heavy weight, I immediately went to the bottom, after which I began to have problems with breathing. A boat was needed to transport this shell. But just hiring a boat costs 50 copper. And return to the city of Crabs for another 50. After that, I can sell the carapace for 1 silver coin, resulting in balance of zero gold.
However, there was another option. To steal a pirates’ ship, load it to the brim with crab shells, sail this ship to the city of Crabs, hand over the shells, pirates and ship to the local authorities and immediately become a millionaire. Ah, dreams-dreams.
But before I need to burn alive the author of this ‘guide’!
I got to my feet and wandered into the local "jungle”, where I unloaded the shell in the bushes, where it could not be seen after a couple of meters. So now, there is nothing for me else to do here, so I had to go back to the neighboring island and start thinking about where to earn money to teleport to the capital. It's a totally disappointment with these crabs.
When I reached the side of the island that faced the cape on Crab Island, I moved a little to one side to compensate water stream, and plunged boldly into the water, raking with all my strength. During the swim, I indulged in gloomy reflections on "who is to blame and what to do", so I did not immediately discover that the sea stream is dragging me in the wrong direction. By the time I realized something was wrong, I was literally pulled into a fast-moving stream that carried me toward the open sea. Mentally cursing the game developers, I began to swim across the stream, trying to get out into calm waters, but all my efforts were in vain.
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Moreover, having stopped the senseless rowing with my hands, I was able to observe the departing shore and realized that the speed of my movement was now comparable to the speed of the subway train. All I had to do in this situation was relax and have fun. Or drown myself with grief. I decided that the second way to solve the problem is still premature, so I just waited, occasionally jumping out of the water to look around.
Half an hour later, when the Crab Island was no longer even visible on the horizon, I saw that the water stream is dragging me straight to a small island of volcanic origin. Judging by its shape, it was an extinct volcano, now overgrown with jungle up to the top of its head. The closer the island got, the slower the stream moved. In the end, I found myself in a kilometer from the island and decided to start swim in its direction. Despite the short distance, it took me an hour to reach the island. Local underwater streams and wind were quite treacherous, and I had to literally break through the coastal waters, in one mapping of local streams.
Finally, I felt the earth under my feet and with the last of my moral strength, I came to the shore through the surf zone. I was now in a sort of bay on a sandy beach. As soon as I got to my feet and took a short walk along the beach, I suddenly came across... a pirate. Judging by his appearance, cocked hat, and wooden leg, he was a typical ‘sea wolf’. All that was missing was a parrot on his shoulder and a bottle of rum in his hand. But most importantly, this character was neutral in relation to me, as evidenced by the yellow color of the inscription above his head: ‘Pirate, level 4’.
I ran into the pirate almost nose to nose when I turned out from behind another bush. He also saw me, looked at me with some perplexity, and then asked a question:
"Who are you?"
"I am just passing by." - I tried to excuse myself.
"Yeah, I see.” - The man understood immediately. However, I personally didn't understand what he understood. - "Then pass by directly to our captain. Walk down this path to a stone building with a flag on the roof. And then ask where to find Ered, the Crooked Sword.”
“Thank you. I'll go look for him.”
Having finished with common phrases, I turned into the indicated path, which led into the local jungle. In places, the road was paved with stones, which indicated that it was at least maintained in a "passable" state. Soon the path began to climb into the mountains, curving in a serpentine pattern between dark rocks. From time to time I met other pirates, but they all look glanced with indifferent look.
After climbing about three hundred meters, I reached the pirate settlement. There were dugouts, and wooden houses, and stone, and some tents, and canopies. In general, the people settled down as best they could, using all materials at hand. The house with the flag on the roof was not immediately found, but from its appearance you could immediately tell that the Boss lives here. That's the way with a capital letter, or even with four large letters printed with gold lettering. Five guards greeted me affably and sent me straight to the house where Ered actually lived.
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“Hello.” - I said as I entered the large office where the chief pirate of the island sat at a massive mahogany desk. Tellingly, the table was carved out of a thick tree trunk. But for all the deliberate roughness of the work, it looked better than if it had been made of gold.
"And you also don't get sick." - Ered looked up at me, distracted from studying a document. - “Decided to become a pirate?” - He immediately took a bull by horns.
“No, I haven't decided yet.” - I backed off. Playing on the side of the ‘bad guys’ was possible, but it will create some problems for the players who were flattered by it.
"Then why did you come here?" - The pirate frowned.
Why did I come here after all? I also questioned myself.
"I want to be rich." - I revealed my innermost dream.
"Oh! So, what is here my concern?” - The pirate asked, putting down the papers and looking at me with interest. To be honest, looking at him, it was hard to imagine that this is just an ‘NPC’, which is controlled by Artificial Intelligence.
"Usually, pirates must be rich." - I started talking nonsense to say something. To be honest, I came here just to see what's going on here, and how I can make money on it, and most importantly, to find out how to get out of here. - "So, I thought I might be able to help you and make some money out of it."
“Well, I've got a job for a smart guy like you.” - Ered Crooked Sword nodded to himself. – “Recently there was a riot in our island. Part of the team decided to make Urga Blood Heart as captain. They could not kill me, but some of the rebels managed to escape to the caves and settle there. As a result, they hide below, and we guard them above. It is not profitable for me to go to the assault, because we may lose too many fighters in result. But I can't just ignore the rebels, either. Because of this, I have to keep all my forces on the island, so I can't even send out a ship to raid to capture the loot. Food and booze are running out, and I don't have the money to buy them, because of Urga, this scoundrel stole all treasury. Right now, he's sitting there waiting for my people to rebel against me, and then he'll just go outside and buy them.”
I listened to all this Santa Barbara stuff, pretending to be interested. No matter what type of problems this NPC has, in anyway, I will have to solve them by killing opponents.
"Anyway, you can go to the caves and start killing the rebels. They have a money; you can take it for yourself. Ha-ha. And if you kill Urga Blood Heart, I will pay you one gold coin.”
"Only one gold?" - I was offended, salivating inwardly. - "I thought you'd offer to me at least a chest of gold for his head."
"Ha-ha-ha! Chest.” - The pirate laughed. - "I can offer you a chest of copper. Ten thousand copper coins.”
"Ten thousand?! That's a whole other thing! I agree.” - I said.
In fact, of course, ten thousand copper coins were equal to one gold coin. Apparently, the pirates went so poor that this leader simply did not have any more money. He said they didn't even have money for food. So, it is better to rob those who stole the entire treasury.
“Great!” - The pirate rubbed his hands together. - "Whale Throat, escort this recruit to the entrance of the caves.” - He shouted.
The door immediately opened, and a fat man in a greasy tunic stumbled into the office. He nodded to Ered, then turned to me.
“Follow me.”
Judging by his tone, this pirate was a fan of Chekhov, so he was extremely brief, and at the same time considered himself as very talented. The contempt for a limited plebs in my face was not even in every word he said, but in every sound he made. His every move was filled with arrogance. And his vision was so strong that only a blind person would not have realized that all people are divided into two groups - the owners of this vision and other anthropomorphic shit that has come to life.
Following this incarnation of talent, I reached entrance of desired cave in five minutes. Next to cave ‘in ambush’ sat allied pirates, to which I was led. And in the cave, apparently, were already sitting enemies. However, for me, both were marked in yellow, so I couldn't figure out who was who.
"There!” – Whale Throat briefly described the situation, then turned around, intending to leave.
“Wait!” - I called after him, earning another scornful look. - "How can I distinguish opponents from allies?" - I asked my question. In response, the pirate just continued to stare at me blankly. It seems that to be honored with an answer, I will have to show my oratory talent. - "Look, you're a pirate. They're pirates. How do I know which pirates can be killed and which can't?
“Hat.” - The pirate give birth a genially reply, then turned around and walked away.
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