The morning sunlight quietly entered the dilapidated, snore-filled wooden house through the large hole above.
The warm rays brought light to the room while also licking at the cheeks of the young man lying face down on the table.
The sunlight made him feel a bit itchy. The young man frowned, and his fingers twitched.
"Mmm..."
Accompanied by a meaningless sound, Lin Qi, who had been sleeping face down on the table, groggily opened his eyes.
Sitting up straight, Lin Qi stared blankly at the table for a while.
The memories of last night returned to his brain along with his gradually clearing thoughts.
"Bang!"
Lin Qi slapped his own face, filled with regret.
Big Sis, you set me up!
So that's why Drake specifically came over to hand him a cup of alcohol, said a few words, and then ran off without any attempt to pester him into taking a sip.
So she was waiting for him here all along!
Last night, after Drake gave Lin Qi that cup of alcohol, even though she didn't try to persuade him to drink, her lack of action didn't mean the other brothers would follow suit!
When the pirates noticed the cup of alcohol in front of Lin Qi, which he showed no intention of touching, they realized they had neglected the newbie. So, one by one, fueled by drink, they cheerfully came over to urge Lin Qi to drink.
Lin Qi had a soft personality and was afraid of them making a scene. After refusing several times to no avail, he could only reluctantly take a couple of sips.
And that made them even more enthusiastic!
To get Lin Qi to drink more, they employed every trick in the book.
This included, but was not limited to: them drinking two cups for every one cup Lin Qi drank, and chugging directly from wine barrels.
What else could Lin Qi do in that situation?
He could only follow suit and chug alcohol headlong.
By the end, Lin Qi had no idea how much he had drunk. It might have been more alcohol than he'd drink in his entire lifetime, to the point where he blacked out at some point.
He had no recollection of anything that happened in the latter half of the night.
But judging by the state of the pirates...
"Looks like we went through a fierce, hard-to-part drinking battle..."
Lin Qi looked around the entire house with a strained expression, his gaze never lifting higher than necessary.
Within his line of sight, there wasn't a single person sitting or standing; they were all lying haphazardly on the ground.
The snoring rose and fell like a cacophonous symphony.
If Amadeus—Mozart—were here, he'd definitely go crazy.
Thinking of this, Lin Qi felt somewhat grateful for his own low alcohol tolerance.
"Better go out for some fresh air first. The smell inside is really... hard to compliment..."
Shaking his head, Lin Qi stood up and carefully made his way towards the outside of the house.
After a night of revelry, even with the numerous holes in the wooden house allowing for relatively good air circulation, the place was inevitably filled with a complex, peculiar odor.
After all, it was full of burly men, with Drake being the only woman.
Besides everyone's inherent body odors, Lin Qi had even seen a few guys who had kicked off their boots, exposing their smelly feet directly to the air.
There were also those who had drunk too much and vomited directly on the floor—the smell was simply outrageous!
Creeeak...
Eagerly, he pushed the door open.
Gasp—
The moment he stepped out of the house, Lin Qi took a deep breath of the fresh outside air.
He exhaled until all the stale air was expelled from his lungs.
"Phew... Finally, I'm alive again!"
Feeling reborn, Lin Qi stretched, comfortably narrowing his eyes.
The morning sun was warm and not glaring. While dispelling the night, it also cast a golden veil over the world. The air was filled with a fresh scent, making everything seem particularly vivid and full of life.
Having not enjoyed the morning hours for a long time, Lin Qi couldn't help but be captivated by this scenery.
Rubbing his head, which ached slightly from the hangover, Lin Qi sat down at the entrance of the wooden house, like an old man enjoying life, quietly gazing at the peaceful and serene view.
He let the sunlight bathe his body, bringing a trace of warmth to his frame, which had grown somewhat cold from sleeping on the table all night.
Looking into the distance, Lin Qi realized for the first time that they were on a small island.
The rhythmic sound of waves crashing came in layers, and he could occasionally see seabirds flying overhead, emitting strange cries.
Suddenly, as if he had noticed something, Lin Qi leaned forward, squinting his eyes to look in a certain direction.
There, a large ship with its sails furled was rising and falling on the sea.
"Is that... Captain Drake's Golden Hind?"
Looking around, that was the only ship in sight. Combined with the fact that Drake and the others couldn't have just appeared here out of thin air, Lin Qi almost instantly confirmed the ship's identity.
Having never seen a large wooden ship like this up close, Lin Qi immediately became interested.
Just as he was about to go take a closer look, a very loud roar came from behind him.
"HEY, YOU SCUMBAGS!!!"
"Today is a good day to set sail again! How long are you gonna sleep?!"
It was clearly Drake, shouting for her underlings to wake up.
It was accompanied by BAM BAM table-slapping sounds.
"Huh?... What time is it now?"
"The sky just lit up..."
"So tired, can't we sleep a bit more, Captain..."
"Yeah, we partied really late last night..."
Listless voices rose and fell within the house.
"Piss off! Can't you see even the newbie is already awake?"
"Especially those few who kicked their boots off! All of you, get your stuff together and prepare to set sail!"
As she spoke, Drake was also gathering her own belongings, probably also unable to stand the smell her crew had created.
"The newbie is the newbie, he's different from us! We drank a ton last night!"
The bearded pirate said plaintively.
"Right, right, how much did the newbie even drink? He passed out on the table after just five or six cups yesterday. So boring."
The big-nosed pirate, who had hoped to see the rookie make a fool of himself drunk, said with a disinterested look.
"This newbie is just lame, he couldn't handle more than a couple of drinks, hahahaha..."
A pirate lying on the floor mumbled out a taunt in his daze.
I'm sorry my alcohol tolerance is so bad!
Lin Qi, who heard every word, had a face full of black lines.
They should actually be grateful that Lin Qi had a very good drinking demeanor. Otherwise, with his Servant-level stats, if he started causing trouble drunk, probably no one would be able to control him for a while.
Who knows what kind of casualties might have happened then.
'My alcohol tolerance might be bad, but my memory is pretty good. I still remember clearly how you guys poured alcohol into your boots and then chugged from them!'
Lin Qi silently complained.
Speak of the devil.
"DAMN IT! WHO POURED BOOZE INTO MY BOOT?!!"
An angry shout came from inside the house, and the entire room instantly fell silent.
Dead memories began to attack everyone who had participated equally.
It lasted for a few seconds.
"Guh—" ×N
A chorus of synchronized retching sounds erupted.
"Sigh, so I told you, you should all drink less alcohol..."
Lin Qi didn't dare look inside the house, just shrugged helplessly from outside.
Drake ran out of the house just before the vomiting tide fully erupted inside.
"Stop fooling around in there! Get out here now! Drinking something flavored won't kill you!"
As soon as she emerged, Drake shouted back inside with malice, not even trying to hide the smile on her face.
The response was the sound of vomiting that showed no signs of stopping.
...