"Xiao (little) Lin... hurry up and get me a cup of hot water too..."
The bearded pirate sitting on the ground weakly reached out towards Lin Qi, who was holding a water cup.
"What kind of address is 'Xiao Lin'..."
Lin Qi sighed helplessly and walked over, handing the cup in his hand to the bearded pirate.
The bearded pirate hurriedly took the cup, blew on it a couple of times, and then gulped it down.
"Ah~, I'm alive again..."
Feeling his much-improved stomach, the bearded pirate relaxed entirely.
Content, he hugged the cup and leaned comfortably against the railing.
Just like an old man enjoying his retirement, basking in the sun and sipping tea.
There were quite a few others in the exact same state, all lined up against the railing.
Their sitting postures were also identical.
It was an indescribably comical sight.
"Me next, me next! Another cup of hot water, Xiao Lin!"
A pirate from further down suddenly waved and called out to Lin Qi.
"Sigh, coming, coming."
Seeing this, Lin Qi walked over, took the cup from the pirate's hand, and went to fetch water from the heating area.
Clearly, everyone collapsed here were the "good brothers" who had participated in the "drinking from the boot" game.
Unfortunately, while the brothers played fast and loose, their bodies weren't so resilient.
Every single one who had performed this particular "talent" was laid out here.
After all, they were wearing boots, and they spent most of their time drifting at sea; the number of times they actually washed their feet was probably pitifully few.
Suddenly taking off those boots and drinking from them... who knows how many bacteria they swallowed?
In any case, they had all been through a round of vomiting and diarrhea. They had even needed Lin Qi to haul them onto the ship.
Thank goodness Lin Qi was here.
Otherwise, these pirates would likely have all "GGed" not long after setting sail.
If anyone survived, it would be purely due to a robust constitution.
The water in the cups Lin Qi handed them was just ordinary hot water.
But the wooden cups were engraved with Runes. It was these runes that gave the water inside a marvelous effect.
The effect was simple: to heal and protect the holder's health.
Speaking of which, the Runes from his original world didn't have this much power; they were just used for blessings and protection. Well, at least they were serving their original purpose for once.
"Here."
After filling a cup with hot water, Lin Qi handed it back to the pirate.
Drake, who had observed everything from above, said with a tone of exasperation:
"Look at you all, what a sorry state you're in! I told you to look after the newcomer, so how did it end up with the newcomer looking after you?"
How absurd!
Especially when compared to the well-behaved, modest, and polite Lin Qi. The more Drake compared, the harder it was to look at her own bunch of abstract underlings.
Drake was even starting to regret bringing Lin Qi aboard.
What if these abstract fools ended up corrupting Lin Qi?
"Hey, Boss, don't just blame us. You know how we are after we get drunk—we throw all caution to the wind. As for this time?"
One pirate spoke with a pained expression, but showed no sign of remorse whatsoever.
"We just played a little too hard, that's all."
"Alright, alright. Then why are Bessie and the others perfectly fine? Weren't they fooling around with you too?"
Drake pointed at the few scattered crew members at their respective posts, who were watching the show with amused smiles.
"Bessie? Boss, you know him. With his cowardly demeanor, when has he ever truly amounted to anything?"
"Huh? How am I always cowardly?" Bessie was unhappy now. Why was everyone watching the show, but he was singled out?
"Boss, you know me. I've always valued your words as highly as God's. Listening to the Boss, how can that be considered cowardly?"
Bessie argued with clear logic.
"Hiss! Bessie, you've finally grown a spine!"
Bambi, standing next to Bessie, sucked in a sharp breath of cold air and looked at him as if he were a ghost.
A Bessie with this much backbone simply wasn't Bessie! Who are you really?!
"...I get the feeling you're thinking something rude right now..."
Bessie looked at Bambi with a dead-fish stare.
Hearing Bessie's explanation, Drake didn't pay any more mind to his bickering with the others.
"Ahem?"
Drake looked down at the others, signaling with her eyes for them to explain themselves as well.
"Boss, you know me. I'm naturally someone who loves to join in the fun, but I never start the fun myself. The reason this happened must be because someone else started it first!"
Someone declared righteously.
"Boss, you know me. I always drink from a cup. I must have ended up like this because someone forced it into my mouth when I was drunk!"
"Boss..."
...
The people below spoke up one after another, chattering away. Who knew if they were telling the truth or not.
Seeing this, Lin Qi shook his head. He couldn't be bothered to watch the show any longer. Grabbing a random rope, he hoisted himself down to continue inscribing defensive Runes onto the hull of the Golden Hind.
There were definitely tough battles ahead. Although the Golden Hind had been subtly strengthened by Drake's Holy Grail, it wasn't by much.
It definitely still fell short of going head-to-head with a proper ship-class Noble Phantasm.
So he still had to do some standard protective work.
While Lin Qi was hard at work, the conversation above naturally continued.
...
The big-nosed pirate seemed to not hear the various excuses and nonsense from his brothers echoing in his ears. He just looked at his own hands, which were still weak and trembling.
As if he had made a decision, his eyes suddenly became firm.
"To think I was brought to such a state by mere cheap booze... I've decided! Starting today, I quit drinking!"
"..."
Suddenly, the entire ship fell silent. The brothers who knew exactly what a scoundrel Big Nose was all turned to look at him in unison.
Their faces were full of disbelief and scorn.
"Hey, hey! What kind of looks are those! Is what I said really that funny?"
Big Nose was furious. They were all brothers, couldn't they show a little trust?
The new guy was still watching!
"Ahem, it's not that we're criticizing you, but do you want to think about how many times you've said that line?"
One of the pirates coughed twice, spread his hands, and said helplessly.
"Yeah, if you said you were giving up meat from now on, or quitting cheating at cards, we might actually believe you. But this?"
"..."
The big-nosed pirate fell silent.
"Alright, that's enough from all of you. I can see it now, each and every one of you has your own unique 'skills'."
Drake couldn't be bothered to argue with them any further. She waved her hand, drawing a close to the conversation.
"What time do you think it is? If we don't hurry up, are we even setting sail or not? Quickly, those who can move, come and help! Those who can't, rest properly!"
"Alright, Boss!" ×N
The pirates nodded with cheerful smiles, but not a single one showed any sign of getting up.
"Sigh..."
Drake sighed and covered her face with her hand.
Well, it seemed no one wanted to avoid being lazy.
"Ahem, Xiao Lin, come up here and help Bessie and the others adjust the mainsail. They're a bit overwhelmed."
Drake had to cough twice to cover her embarrassment and called for Lin Qi.
"Oh, got it. Coming up right now."
Hearing this, Lin Qi, without another word, climbed back up to the deck along the rope.
Drake was moved to tears.
Look! What a good kid!
So good that Drake wanted to go back in time and kill the version of herself that had bragged about her crew.
Ahem, just kidding.
Lin Qi wasn't stupid, and he had tremendous strength far exceeding an ordinary person's. Under the guidance of Bambi and the others, he quickly learned the basics of operating some parts of the Golden Hind.
"Xiao Lin, which direction do you think we should head in next?"
Watching Lin Qi adjust the mainsail, Drake, who was manning the helm above, had a sudden inspiration and asked.
"Huh? You're asking me?"
Lin Qi blinked, somewhat surprised.
He wasn't the captain of this ship, so he hadn't even considered giving orders from the start.
Just like when he was following Nero before, at most he would offer some thoughts and the strategies he knew, but the final decisions were always made by Nero.
"Of course! After all, I'm being forced into this 'saving the world' business like a duck to a scaffold; I'm completely in the dark."
Drake said nonchalantly.
"Compared to me, you've been through this journey; surely you have a clearer picture of the current situation, right?"
"Besides, your Captain trusts you, you know—Somehow, I always feel like I won't get lost if I follow you, hahaha!"
Feeling like she had said something strange, Drake laughed heartily to cover it up.
So the Captain has Instinct too?
Lin Qi glanced at Drake suspiciously.
But it was true. With my [Revelation] skill, I was undoubtedly the most suitable person here to point the way.
"Alright, let me first think about what we need to do most urgently next..."
As he spoke, Lin Qi closed his eyes and began to activate his [Revelation] skill.
Similarly, in this Singularity, there weren't any particularly powerful allies to be gained. Even Orion, who possessed a Grand title, had become not much stronger than a regular Servant due to Artemis's interference.
You could call it a collaboration of the strong, but the result was a weakling.
In contrast, the enemy Servants were more than just a little bit stronger. Besides great heroes like Hector and Heracles, there was probably a Demon God Pillar waiting for them at the end.
Especially Heracles. Even manifested in the Berserker class, which didn't suit him well, he was terrifyingly powerful.
Everyone, don't think Heracles is weak just because he always acts as a stepping stone in anime; before saying such things, you should consider what kind of monsters he faces.
Moreover, in this Singularity, he is not the type who can be defeated with excessive output that takes away several lives; it is estimated that a single Noble Phantasm can only take away one of his lives.
For the Twelve Labors, one would need to gather twelve A-rank Noble Phantasms to truly defeat him.
But the entire Singularity, combining both sides, only has twelve Heroic Spirits. Where would one find twelve A-rank Noble Phantasms?
To take down Heracles head-on, you'd probably need to fish out a strong counter card like Gilgamesh.
So, the key to this Singularity still lies with King David—or rather, the Noble Phantasm he possesses, the [Ark of the Covenant].
As long as one touches the [Ark of the Covenant], no matter how many lives he has, nor what kind of Servant he is, there is only one outcome: death.
And once you bring up the [Ark of the Covenant], you can't avoid mentioning a certain goddess with little combat prowess.
According to the setting, if the goddess Euryale, who manifested in this Singularity, touches the [Ark of the Covenant], it would lead to the destruction of the entire Singularity, and this journey to save humanity would end prematurely with a "GG."
Analyzing it this way, isn't Lin Qi's next objective quite clear?
The [Ark of the Covenant] isn't easy to carry around, and with King David guarding it, there's no need to worry for now.
In contrast, Euryale is being sought by more people and is more urgent and crucial, so—
Find Euryale!
Lin Qi cleared his thoughts, leaving only this single notion.
Soon, just like the previous times he had used it, a direction appeared in Lin Qi's mind.
"Let's head in that direction next."
Lin Qi opened his eyes and pointed towards the southeast.
"Alright, you scoundrels, prepare to set sail!"
Following Drake's loud cry, the Golden Hind finally left the coastline and sailed towards the open sea.
...