A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 5 Shadows on the Ship

Jiang Shuzhou was also somewhat surprised to see the man lying on the ground.

"What's going on? Am I really that strong? I thought I'd need to chop several times, but it was like chopping butter—it went straight to the bottom in one go!"

Could it be because of the talent of a battle mage?

Thinking of this, Jiang Shuzhou decided to open the panel to check his attributes.

However, after opening the menu, he realized that he couldn't see anything at all.

"Currently in the story phase, item drops are disabled, character attributes cannot be viewed, and settings cannot be changed at this time."

No wonder killing monsters didn't drop anything; the reason is that we're currently in the story mode, and there are no item drops during the story mode.

Wouldn't I be at a huge loss?

Jiang Shuzhou was a little annoyed, but he still cheered himself up and decided to deal with the people on the ship first, no matter what.

Jiang Shuzhou flipped the man who had been chopped in half over so he could see if this was the man who had hit him with the stick.

Unfortunately, Jiang Shuzhou stared at the man for a long time but still couldn't tell. After all, the man had a white face, just like the man who had hit him with a stick earlier. In addition, the heavy rain made visibility very low, so Jiang Shuzhou couldn't confirm whether it was him or not.

"Forget it, why bother with all that? Just kill everyone on this ship, and this mess will be over."

Jiang Shuzhou was getting annoyed; after all, none of these people were good people.

Everyone must die!

With this in mind, Jiang Shuzhou first touched the corpse, and after taking out some copper coins, he left satisfied.

Jiang Shuzhou was looking for a target, a worthy target, preferably one with a weapon, so that he could seize a handy weapon. This lumberjack axe was really not suitable for head-on combat.

"Hurry up, the boss is getting impatient! How have I taught you guys? If you're this slow, do you even want your reward money?"

First Mate Baker was supervising his men on deck. The sudden storm had left him somewhat flustered, but fortunately, their usual training had paid off. Although the pirates were in disarray, they managed to move the supplies back into the hold.

It's him!

Looking at First Mate Baker, who was pointing fingers at others, his leather armor, and the flintlock pistol at his waist, Jiang Shuzhou identified his target.

However, we cannot make a move now, since there are still people on the deck. If we make a move now, the situation could easily turn into one against three or even one against five.

Hiding in a corner, Jiang Shuzhou patiently waited for his opportunity, which soon arrived.

"Hurry up, this is the last batch of goods, work hard! When we get back, I'll have the chef make stewed meat soup for everyone!"

Baker was very responsible. Unlike the captain and second mate, who would just give a few words and go back to the cabin to rest and take shelter from the rain, he responsibly directed the pirates to move the supplies to the cabin to minimize losses. Unfortunately, this sense of responsibility did not benefit him; on the contrary, it harmed him.

It's time for me to make my move!

Seeing that the last pirate had also carried the supplies back to the cabin, while the first mate still hadn't gone back, Jiang Shuzhou knew that his chance had come!

"Who's there? Who's there?!"

Baker felt a chill run down his spine, turned around and took a half step back, but it was too late.

The axe had already slashed a huge gash in his chest, and blood was gushing out wildly. Baker knelt on the deck, while Jiang Shuzhou stood in front of him.

"Why...you...?"

Before he could even utter a question, Jiang Shuzhou grabbed Baker by the hair and then chopped Baker's head off with an axe.

"It doesn't seem like this person? But it also seems somewhat similar?"

Two eyes, one nose, one mouth, pale skin, golden hair—why do all white people look the same?

This can't be a problem with my memory; that person must have hit me with a stick and confused me!

Damn you, you little punk with the stick, you deserve to die!

He casually tossed the head aside. Since it wasn't the one he was looking for, the head was a waste. He'd put it aside for now and maybe, after dealing with things on the ship, he could follow in the footsteps of his ancestors and make a mound of heads for fun.

Question: What should be the first thing to do after killing a monster?

The answer, of course, is to loot the corpse!

Jiang Shuzhou rummaged around on Baker's body, first taking the flintlock pistol, bullets, and gunpowder, and then finally finding a small bag after searching for a while. He opened it and took a look.

Inside were three gold coins, along with a pile of silver and copper coins, but Jiang Shuzhou was too lazy to count them. After all, they were still in the middle of a battle, and time was of the essence. There were at least seven or eight more monsters to be found. Once they had killed all the pirates on the ship, there would be plenty of time to count them.

"Huh? What's this?"

As Jiang Shuzhou was rummaging through the body, he suddenly discovered a hard object in the corpse's pocket. However, no matter what he did, he couldn't remove it; it seemed to be sewn inside the clothing.

"Hmm? There are hidden loot items too?"

Since we can't get it out the normal way, we'll just tear the clothes apart. Anyway, both the leather armor and the clothes are too rotten to be usable now.

He took out an axe and began hacking away at the pocket, finally obtaining his long-awaited prize—a finely crafted pocket watch.

That's great, there are rewards for the beginner level after all.

Not allowing drops is probably to discourage players from repeatedly refreshing the game.

Opening the pocket watch, a picture of a family of three smiling came into view. It was a photograph, and if Jiang Shuzhou remembered correctly, the man's face in the photo was that of that person.

"I knew I shouldn't have thrown it away. Now I have to pick it up and compare it. Throwing things away carelessly is definitely a bad habit."

They retrieved the heads and compared them carefully.

"Wow, it really is just one person."

He casually threw away the head, since heads can't be exchanged for money and taking up weapon slots.

"Looks like we have two more people to kill."

Putting away his pocket watch, Jiang Shuzhou muttered to himself before preparing to enter the cabin.

There is no one alive on the deck except Jiang Shuzhou, and if these two don't return for a long time, people will definitely suspect something is wrong.

Instead of passively taking a beating, it's better to take the initiative and take advantage of the fact that everyone is exhausted and no one has the energy to pay attention to others to deal with a few first.

It's a pity. I was just about to behead him, but Beck sensed the danger and took a half step back.

It was this half-step that caused the axe, which could have directly beheaded him, to deflect the blade and instead tear the clothes, preventing Jiang Shuzhou from stripping Baker of his clothes to disguise himself as a pirate.

Now things are a bit awkward. Jiang Shuzhou has no idea about the situation on the ship, where people are, or where people can hide.

What should I do? Am I really supposed to learn from those master assassins and kill everyone who sees me to achieve perfect stealth?

Just as Jiang Shuzhou was brainstorming and thinking furiously.

"First Mate Baker, aren't you going to go and rest for a while? The brothers have been waiting for you for ages."

Sure enough, there's always a way out, and this opportunity has arrived.