Chapter 127 - - 127 I slack off and I’m happy_1

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The pirate ship was named the Giant Bird, a three-masted sailing ship.

The helmsman steered the wheel, some crew adjusted the sails, others lay on deck drunk and fast asleep…

The captain and the first mate each held an amber bottle, toasting each other. Their snack was a plate of colorless jerky.

Due to their years at sea, exposed to wind and sun, their skin was rough and dark. Their clothes were torn and dirty.

The captain wore a black tricorn hat, and a slender pirate cutlass hung obliquely at his waist, with a flintlock pistol with an oak handle tossed carelessly into a nearby wooden crate.

Not far behind them, the second mate leaned against the mast, teasing a white parrot.

From the ship’s structure, diet, and their weapons, Duge roughly deduced that the world’s setting was not modern.

There were twelve people on board. The best possession target was obviously the most powerful captain. Duge had his own judgment; he would not possess an ordinary sailor who was a handyman on a ship with just a dozen people.

But Duge’s possession did not include the host’s memories.

Therefore, he decided to first stay in his Soul Body state to understand the composition of the ship’s crew, at least he needed to know their names first.

…

“… Paul, do you really insist on searching for the so-called Sea God Scepter?” The first mate’s face was covered in bushy beard, making his age indiscernible. His face was marred with flesh, and a huge scar on his left cheek made him look especially fierce.

“Of course. Barry, becoming the king of pirates is my dream,” the captain was comparatively young, probably in his twenties, but his weathered face made him look over thirty. Slightly tipsy, he raised the bottle labeled with Rum towards the first mate, “The royal navy doesn’t even have a bounty on me, which is a pirate’s failure. But with the Sea God Scepter, I can dominate the entire ocean. Every ship, the Watcher, the Nautilus, will have to bow at my feet…”

“Paul, you’ll get us all killed.” The first mate, Barry, took a big gulp of rum, catching his breath, “I disapprove of your plan. Paul, the Sea God Scepter is but an unattainable dream. I hope you find your way back…”

“Barry, this is my ship, you can leave if you don’t like it,” Captain Paul looked down on his first mate with disdain, “You’re old; maybe you should find a town, get drunk in a tavern every day, then sleep with a filthy whore through the night. That would suit you better.”

…

The Sea God Scepter?

Mythological background?

Duge lingered beside them for a while, listening to the two drunkards descend into mocking and arguing, then he left their side and flew toward other crew members.

When he passed by the second mate, the white parrot suddenly puffed up, flustered and fluttering back and forth: “Holen, ghost, Holen, ghost, powerful ghost…”

“Wendy, stop spouting nonsense, it’s broad daylight, how could there be ghosts.” The second mate, Holen, grabbed the parrot, smoothing its ruffled feathers, and mocked with a laugh, “I’ll tell you a fact, sunlight causes irreparable damage to ghosts. Those filthy things only appear at night.”

“Ghost, ghost, right behind you.” The parrot’s eyes remained fixed on Duge. If Holen hadn’t grabbed its wings, it probably would have flown over and pointed at him.

Damn!

The parrot can see me?

Duge looked oddly perplexed; in his two previous simulations, this was the first time he’d been noticed before possessing someone, even if it was just a bird.

He tried reaching out his hand, pinching the parrot’s neck.

The parrot struggled violently again, desperately pecking at Holen’s fingers.

Holen, in pain, released the parrot abruptly: “You damn stupid bird, as hateful as the whore who cheated me out of my money, I’ll pluck your feathers and toss you in the pot one day…”

“Holen, help, the ghost wants to kill the bird.” The parrot, free from restraint, flapped its wings and flew up to the sails, still glaring at Duge.

Duge chuckled to himself, pursuing the parrot again, miming the action of pinching a bird’s beak, then twisting its neck.

In his Soul Body state, he couldn’t speak, so he could only threaten a bird with gestures.

The parrot stared at Duge, shivering, but clamped its beak shut, not daring to speak again.

“Wendy, come back.” Holen called the parrot, but it remained motionless, just looking at Duge as if seeking his approval.

Duge nodded.

The parrot, as if relieved, flapped back and perched on Holen’s shoulder, burying its head beneath its wing.

Duge no longer paid attention to the parrot and circled the ship, learning two more crew members’ names.

The helmsman was Piero, the cook was William, and the other crew members were not talking. It was hard to know their names, but for a start, knowing these few was enough.

…

After flying around the ship again and confirming that the captain was indeed the best choice for possession, Duge hesitated no further and thrust himself into his body.

The captain’s spiritual power was not much stronger than Qi Feihu’s. Last time, with a spiritual power of 160, he could still feel some resistance. This time, with a spiritual power of over a thousand, even if Paul was sober, Duge’s entrance was unusually easy.

As smooth as slipping into his own body.

Duge’s personal panel was still open, and he scanned through all the information in a blink:

Name: Duge;

ID: 48699527;

Spiritual Power: 1100;

Current Ranking: 9801130;

Round Keyword: Happiness;

Round Keyword: Loafing on the Job;

Advanced Skills: None;

Derived Items: None;

…

Happiness?

Loafing on the Job?

What kind of crap is this!

It’s even more ridiculous than trade and kindness from last time, at least with trade, you can do some business, but what the hell is happiness?

Can him having his little joy by himself affect the grand scheme of things?

At that moment, Duge finally understood the despair of those players who were assigned keywords like ‘benevolence’ or ‘dragging others back’. No, even dragging others back has its uses, but with this happiness, he really couldn’t find where his growth point lay!

And then there was loafing on the job.

No matter how well you loafed on the job, so what?

He, a grand pirate captain, strived for progression, since when did loafing on the job suit his image?

No, that’s not right.

The explanation of ’loafing on the job’ flashed through Duge’s mind:

Loafing on the Job: Originally refers to catching fish by hand in water, also means taking advantage of the chaos to benefit oneself; slacking off at work came later as another interpretation.

Benefiting from the chaos?

That was his forte!

Duge’s eyes lit up once again.

Indeed.

There were always benefits with the two keywords, and he could always fish out a useful one, I loaf on the job, therefore I am happy, from now on, I am going to be a sunny, happy super pirate.

But just as he figured out the meaning of the two keywords.

Suddenly.

A pang of pain surged from his belly.

He instinctively covered his stomach.

Following that, another wave of sharp pain came, and a curved blade pierced through his chest.

Duge looked at his first mate who had attacked him, “You…”

“Paul, I gave you the chance to repent, but you remained stubbornly unenlightened. You’re no longer fit to be a captain. Rest easy now, from this moment forth, I am the captain of the flying Giant Bird,” the first mate Barry said with a vicious smile as he pulled back his curved blade. “Don’t blame me, this was the decision of all the crewmates…”

The ship was idly gliding on the sea surface.

The helmsman had let go of the ship’s wheel and drawn his curved knife, looking grimly at Duge.

Over there.

The second mate Holen, who had been amusing the bird by the mast, also walked over, shaking his head, looking at Duge with pity, “Captain, we only want the money, no one wants to go looking for that nonsense Sea God Scepter.”

The parrot on his shoulder fluttered its wings merrily, as if celebrating a new life: “The ghost is dead, the ghost is dead, bird is fine now, bird is fine now.”

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