Seeing Lan Hao Tian devouring his food like a storm, Wu Xian rolled his eyes before digging in as well.
With their monstrous physiques, stomachaches were something neither of them had ever experienced in their lives, so they never even considered such concerns.
Before long, the massive tuna had been reduced to nothing but a large, white skeleton. Lan Hao Tian commented:
"The fish in the open ocean really are delicious. They don't even need to be cooked, and they're still better than meat."
The ocean in this world was far from ordinary. It had received an extraordinary favor from the world itself, so occurrences like this were nothing unusual.
Wu Xian nodded in agreement and added:
"Not bad."
After eating his fill, Lan Hao Tian climbed onto the raft. Strangely enough, despite consuming a large amount of food, his body hardly showed any change.
His weight remained almost the same as before, as though the energy from the tuna had been converted into some other unknown form.
Lying flat on the raft, he quickly fell into a deep sleep, completely unbothered by his soaking wet clothes. Seeing this, Wu Xian didn't disturb him and simply went to sleep as well. Now that he was a "human", he naturally needed to rest regularly.
...
The next morning, as the sun rose over the horizon, its golden light illuminated the vast sea, including the faces of the two sleepers.
A small bubble of water resting on Lan Hao Tian's nose burst, causing him to rub his eyes groggily and wake up. Wu Xian woke up at the same time as him.
Standing on the raft, still dressed in damp clothes, the two of them gazed at the rising sun. Lan Hao Tian sighed:
"Sunrises over the ocean really are beautiful."
Wu Xian nodded but remained indifferent. He had seen this sight countless times before, so it no longer impressed him.
Once their brief admiration ended, they got down to business. And by "business", that meant paddling the raft as far as possible.
...
They had no idea how far they had traveled when a shadow emerged in the distance. Within their line of sight, the silhouette of a ship gradually came into view.
Looking at the small figure in the distance, Lan Hao Tian exclaimed excitedly:
"Hey, Wu Xian, we found a ship!"
Wu Xian froze for a moment before responding:
"But that's not our ship. Why are you so happy?"
Lan Hao Tian pouted at him, his eyes filled with the kind of disappointment one would have when looking at an idiot. He then said:
"Are you dumb? We're pirates. If pirates don't rob, are we supposed to do charity work instead?"
Wu Xian was momentarily stunned before sighing helplessly:
"Ah, that's my mistake. I'm still new to this pirate thing, so I'm not used to it yet."
Lan Hao Tian walked over, patted his shoulder casually, and reassured him:
"It's fine, it's fine. We're crewmates. If you mess something up, I'll cover for you."
The two of them stood side by side, watching as the ship drew closer. Based on its trajectory, they could tell it was sailing in the opposite direction of their raft, an advantage for them when it came to pursuing it.
After a moment of thought, Lan Hao Tian instructed:
"We'll row toward them and get close first. But remember, don't go too fast. If we scare them off, they'll flee, and that'll be a pain to chase them down."
Wu Xian glanced at his captain in surprise. He hadn't expected someone who seemed so unreliable to think so quickly and strategically.
The two of them began paddling toward the larger ship. As they got closer, their vision became clearer.
Lan Hao Tian's eyes landed on the ship's flag, a black banner bearing a skull and crossed bones, with an additional spiked mace.
Even an idiot could tell it was a pirate ship. He grinned excitedly:
"Wu Xian, we're in luck! That's a pirate ship up ahead!"
Wu Xian, however, was baffled by his captain's enthusiasm. He frowned and asked:
"Why are you so happy? Doesn't robbing other pirates bother your conscience?"
Lan Hao Tian immediately shook his head and explained:
"No, what's the difference between robbing pirates and robbing civilians? Their treasures all come from looting the common folk anyway. What excites me is the upcoming battle, I just hope the opponents are strong enough."
Only then did Wu Xian understand his captain's true objective. He smiled and said:
"Is that so? I also hope we get some interesting opponents."
Strictly speaking, the Sea God was the strongest being in this world. A one-on-one fight with him would be a guaranteed loss. However, since he intended to play around, he wouldn't use his full power.
...
On the pirate ship, a pirate was using a telescope to scan the distant horizon. He was surprised to see a small raft floating in the vast ocean.
He quickly climbed down from the crow's nest—
Thud!
In his haste, he slipped and tumbled down. Fortunately, regular pirates had strong bodies, so he wasn't seriously hurt.
The commotion on the deck caught everyone's attention. At that moment, a burly man wielding a spiked mace approached.
This man was none other than their captain - Zhang Ba Hai.
Seeing the captain approaching, the pirate who had just fallen scrambled to his feet, stammering:
"C-Captain! I didn't mean to disturb you!"
Zhang Ba Hai ignored his nervousness and instead asked:
"Why are you so flustered? You're usually not this careless."
Hearing this, the pirate quickly replied:
"Captain, I saw a raft approaching us from afar. I've never encountered something like this before, so I panicked a little."
Zhang Ba Hai's eyes gleamed with interest. He said:
"Hand me the telescope."
Taking the telescope from his subordinate, he peered at the raft. Since the two vessels were now closer, he could clearly see two young men on board.
Suddenly, Zhang Ba Hai felt the urge to recruit some underlings. He smirked and said:
"Let them get closer. If they have some skill, I'll take them in as my subordinates. But if they don't know their place… ha ha…"
His laughter sent chills down his crew's spines. Though he treated his men well, he was utterly ruthless to his enemies.
...
Meanwhile, as Wu Xian rowed the raft, he asked:
"Do you think they've noticed us approaching?"
Lan Hao Tian rolled his eyes, thought for a moment, and replied:
"I think they have. Their ship is pretty big, so they should have some level of professionalism."