Gold Demon was a sailing ship with three masts, all of them square-rigged.
'A vessel propelled by sails.' Charles muttered under his breath and continued to walk.
At that moment, Destiny Lady also nodded her head and followed after him.
Both walked past many boats and ships and soon arrived near the golden-painted one.
As they approached, a bald man in his late fifties climbed down from the ship and jumped into the seawater.
He was more than 7 feet tall, muscular, and looked more like a descendant of some giant.
"Little runts, are you Richie's lackeys?" He shouted.
"Nah. I just gave him a good slap, so he gave us this job." Charles curled his lips upward and spoke as he entered the sea.
Destiny Lady also smiled in amusement and followed after him.
In the meantime, the tall man's eyes widened in disbelief.
While he was in shock, both of them arrived near the golden-painted ship and started climbing up with the help of ropes.
Although they could use wing spells, both of them didn't want to attract others' attention.
The bald man also followed them, placed his muscular hand on Charles's shoulder as he stepped on the deck, and introduced himself.
"I'm Liam, the First Mate of this Gold Demon crew and also specialized in close combat." He deliberated for a moment and turned his gaze towards a woman in her late twenties.
She had long red hair, crimson eyes, a deep scar on her left eye, and a sword in her right hand.
Currently, she wore a similar outfit to Destiny Lady and looked at them with a cold expression on her face.
"This is Valerie, our crew's beautiful captain. As for her combat abilities, I've no authority to say anything about it."
He said with a laugh and started introducing other crewmates.
There were 13 members in this crew, and each of them had the strength of Rank-3 Mystics.
But Charles had long used [Arcane Eyes] skill on Valerie and learned that she was a Rank-4 Mystic!
Even he felt a little threatened by her.
Once the introduction was over, Valerie ordered others to return to their work and told Charles and Destiny Lady to stay on the deck area.
At that moment, some released the ropes while others started lifting the shaft.
Within a few minutes, the golden-painted ship left the docking area and started moving into the sea.
From time to time, Valerie gave out orders and soon led the ship in a particular direction.
Time flew by as they continued to sail without any obstacles. After six hours of journey, they reached a nearby island called Round Eye and stopped to refill wines and ale.
After that, they once again started sailing the ship and moved towards the deep sea area.
The daylight soon dimmed as they reached the navy's patrol area.
Meanwhile, Charles and Destiny Lady had long noticed a strange elemental fluctuation from below the deck region and realized that Valerie was still wary of them.
'Well, I did expect this.' Charles muttered under his breath as he stood at the ship's edge and looked into the sea.
Meanwhile, Destiny Lady also stood next to him and cautiously checked the surroundings.
As the three red moons started to rise, a strange white mist began to cover their surroundings from all directions.
"Mad Mist is here. We are entering the 'Chaos' area. Elias, use your skills continuously to see if any ship is moving in our direction." Valerie said as she stood on the ship's edge and looked around.
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On the other hand, a blonde-haired man in his late 20s nodded his head and started looking at the surrounding areas through a wooden telescope.
Under his observation, they sailed carefully for the next 30 minutes and soon stopped as they received a hand signal from him.
"I just now saw a red light in 1'o clock direction." He said in a loud voice.
Simultaneously, everyone heard horn sounds from different directions.
"Pirates!" Liam's expression went ugly as he shouted in shock.
"Vanquish the fire torches. Elias, go to the top of the mainmast and check how many ships are coming our way. Also, see if they belong to any large faction pirate groups." Valerie ordered in a cold tone and added.
"Liam, go and get that thing ready. It's time to use it now."
Saying so, she turned her gaze towards Charles and Destiny Lady and frowned.
"Liam, ask them if they send any information about our location to others." Her voice turned sharper as she unsheathed her long sword.
Although Liam got stunned by his captain's sudden order, he didn't hesitate for a moment and asked the question.
"No. I didn't send any information." Charles was the first one to reply. Then, Destiny Lady also shook her head and answered.
Upon hearing their words, all other crew members let out a sigh of relief and continued to do their work without making much noise.
On the other hand, Valerie also heaved a heavy sigh and soon squinted her eyes as she recalled something.
"Wait… Are you guys also sensing the strange elemental fluctuation from below?" She said as she pointed her finger towards the deck.
Meanwhile, Charles's eyes widened for a moment.
"Aren't they from the water elemental crystals?" He asked in surprise.
Destiny Lady also raised her eyebrows in confusion and stared at Valerie for answers.
On the other hand, Valerie went silent for a second and soon shook her head.
"I also thought of the same at first." She deliberated for a moment as she glanced at the surroundings and then added.
"But this appears to be too much of a coincidence. We've been traveling through this mist countless times during the past few years, but we never encountered such a planned ambush. Something must've exposed our location. And, I believe that this fluctuation might be the real culprit."
Saying so, she moved towards the nearby stairs and walked downstairs.
Charles and Destiny Lady glanced at each other and followed after her silently.
In a few seconds, Valerie arrived near a wooden door, opened it before entering, and took out a sizeable metallic suitcase placed under the bed.
After that, she placed it on the wooden bed and opened the metallic suitcase with the help of a key.
A loud clicking sound echoed in the small room, followed by a dazzling blue light.
It was so intense that it almost blinded everyone's vision.
Soon, the light shimmered before vanishing and revealed a head-sized bluish crystal to everyone's eyes.
Upon seeing such crystal, Destiny Lady's whole body trembled.
Simultaneously, a fierce elemental fluctuation appeared all over the surroundings.
Without wasting any time, Valerie closed the suitcase and locked it before placing it under the bed.
Meanwhile, Destiny Lady also calmed down from the shock and soon blurted out.
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"T-That is not an ordinary water elemental crystal, right? What is it?" Her scarlet eyes were fixed on the metallic suitcase.