Chapter 1236 - 608: Fear

York Shaw, thirty-nine years old, is an adventurer.

Well... to be precise, he can only be considered half of one.

After all, it has been a long time since he took a proper task from the adventurer association.

After barely achieving Professional Level twelve years ago through much effort, the growing age and stagnant strength gradually turned his once dreams and aspirations for the adventurer’s path into Gold Coins on the gambling table and alcohol digested in his body, completely leaving them behind.

Just like the majority of low level adventurers in this world who hit the end of their upward path, he has become a walking corpse driven by desire.

However, York Shaw considers himself somewhat lucky, at least before being completely stagnated by the professional bottleneck, he had already raised his Professional Level to Level 3 through years of hard work, and had some ties with various forces in Salt Rock Port.

Nowadays, he has formed a fleet with him and two other Level 1 professionals as the core, ostensibly engaged in commerce trade and cargo transportation, but in reality conducting pirate activities.

In terms of income, both the black and white added together, is even higher than when he was struggling at sea before.

With this, York Shaw feels very satisfied.

He plans to save up some money and retire back to his hometown before the age of fifty—considering he started this plan at the age of thirty, after saving for nine years, the savings are still scant, obviously making the idea of retiring at fifty somewhat unrealistic.

He is well aware of this.

But sometimes, upon returning from a voyage, if he doesn’t indulge in some reward, it’s hard for him to convince himself to continue risking his life going out to sea.

Luckily, it seems there is a turning point now.

"Boss, we tried feeding it some seaweed, although it looks small, it’s pretty good at eating, it finished a large basket in no time."

A crew member with wet sleeves stepped forward to report.

"Seaweed is nothing, let it eat as much as it wants, just make sure it doesn’t starve to death."

York Shaw frowned, instructing the crew member beside him seriously.

"Remember to remind the brothers on board a few more times, we are about to return to Salt Rock Port, don’t let any news slip and cause trouble."

"When it’s sold, everyone on the ship gets a share!"

Of course, everyone gets a share... even if it’s just half of the total earnings.

The last bit was a thought not spoken aloud, he waved his hand, letting the crew member go back to the cabin to continue taking care of his treasure.

York Shaw grasped the railing, his expression a bit contemplative.

What he had just seriously instructed the crew member about was the unexpected gain from this trip.

A small demon with a spiral blue metal shell and long octopus-like tentacles.

It was quite a coincidence, this demon was caught by him personally using a fishing rod in the bay of a remote desert island, although its cries were sharp, it basically had no resistance.

York Shaw had never seen a similar creature before and initially thought it was just a strangely shaped ordinary beast.

Until a crew member suddenly recognized it, saying it had been spotted at a small auction in Suo Yu Bay a few years back, with an identical metal shell.

Details about the demon itself were long forgotten, but its price left a deep impression.

Its size was only slightly bigger than what they had, yet it directly fetched a price nearing four figures in Gold Coins.

Even for a professional like York Shaw, such an amount of Gold Coins is undoubtedly a huge sum.

With such income, if he curbs his spending slightly, it might just kickstart his retirement saving plan.

To best maximize this gain, he decided to take his crew back to Salt Rock Port immediately.

When the time comes, he would first use the connections he had accumulated over the years to explore if there was a channel to deal with this demon.

If that didn’t work, he would simply make a trip to Suo Yu Bay.

Including return travel and rest, it would take at most two months. If it genuinely yields four figures in Gold Coins, then it would certainly be worth it.

York Shaw stood at the edge of the deck, pondering his next plan.

Suddenly, the lookout’s alarm from above brought his attention back to reality.

"Northwest direction! A ship spotted!"

Receiving the telescope from a crew member, York Shaw carefully observed the medium-sized ship sailing on the sea in the distance.

A trace of an uncertain expression appeared on his face.

First, it can be confirmed that this ship that suddenly appeared nearby is definitely not a merchant vessel.

This could be judged by its low profile, dagger-like shape that is not suitable for carrying cargo.

So, is it an adventurer, or a pirate like himself?

Judging purely from the potential gain of plundering, in some ways, the value of an adventurer’s or pirate’s ship could be even higher than that of an ordinary merchant ship.

Because if one could take down such a ship, it implies a lot of recoverable Good Equipment.

If luck favors and they encounter peers who have also recently plundered, it could lead to directly outperforming the earnings, obtaining far more than usual gains.

For York Shaw, if at this moment he could restrain his desires and act from a completely rational standpoint.

He should not be looking for trouble.

After all, his ship currently not only holds part of the spoils gathered from nearby islanders’ homes, but also contains that unique demon likely to sell for a high price.