"Your attack inflicted 32 points of damage upon the Contract Wraith." "The Contract Wraith's Health has dropped below 30%." "In its agony, the Contract Wraith began to dissolve, releasing a Banshee's Wail (Pseudo), dealing 90 points of damage to all enemies within a four-meter radius and applying a 5-second Stun effect." "After deducting resistance gained from Stamina expenditure, the actual damage you sustained was 90 - 21 = 69 points." "You have fallen into a state of Stun." "You have recovered from the Stun effect." "The distance between you and the Curse-Caster has exceeded one hundred meters, and the curse on the Contract Wraith upon you has been lifted." "A Banshee's Wail? Fang Senyan was certainly not unfamiliar with this famous skill, and his heart immediately skipped a beat. Now, it seemed, even a pseudo-version of the Banshee's Wail was a formidable area-of-effect control and damage skill. Having experienced it firsthand, Fang Senyan realized that if one were to explain it using the scientific theories of the real world, the Banshee's Wail should manifest as an instantaneous burst of area-wide infrasound attack."

"Back when he served as a sailor on the ship, Fang Senyan often heard terrifying anecdotes, often specified down to the exact date, such as in 1990, when the Panamanian giant ship 'Marco Polo' mysteriously lost contact during a voyage from New Zealand to Britain, only for all crew members to be found dead three days later; or at the entrance to the Pálvölgyi Cave in Hungary in 2003, where three tourists suddenly collapsed simultaneously, ceasing to breathe... Investigations later attributed these bizarre incidents to infrasound."

"The human ear can perceive frequencies ranging from 20 Hz to 80 Hz. Sound waves with frequencies below 20 Hz are called infrasound. Those above 80 Hz are called ultrasound. Infrasound waves have oscillation frequencies similar to human brain rhythms, making resonance easy, which can strongly stimulate the brain, causing fear, frenzied anxiety in mild cases, or sudden fainting, complete loss of self-control, or even death in severe cases."

"When the oscillation frequency of infrasound matches the vibration rhythm of human internal organs, and a person is exposed to an environment with high-intensity infrasound, the viscera will undergo intense resonance. In an instant, blood vessels large and small will rupture simultaneously, leading to death. The tragedies mentioned earlier were all caused by infrasound generated as storms swept over the sea, and people usually find a tiger's roar soul-shaking, feeling as if their very organs are trembling—this is because the roar a tiger emits while hunting contains infrasound."

"‘Lucky you ran fast enough,’ Fang Senyan took a deep breath, then wiped the two streams of blood trickling from his nose, saying coldly. He cast his eyes toward the floor. Amidst the shards of broken bottles, there was a slightly blackened piece of parchment, tied in the center with a rope, looking quite ancient. White frost coated the area surrounding the parchment, which likely preserved it for so many years. And the spirit sealed in the bottle probably served as a supernatural refrigerator."

"Fang Senyan picked up the parchment, a cold smile touching his lips. It was just as he suspected. That unfortunate pickpocket from the Klee team was notified of mission failure not because he broke the bottle, but because he failed the Wraith's trial!"

"The mission had presented a branching path here. Clearly, one branch would lead contractors toward Tzutuga Castle, while the other, the path Fang Senyan currently chose, offered a reward: this roll of blackened parchment!"

"The icy parchment was opened and spread flat on the table, releasing a rush of cold air mixed with a heavy smell of mildew that almost made one sneeze. The parchment was inscribed with patterns, indicating the person who used this paper held a high status, likely a noble, and a very high-ranking one at that. The first line that caught Fang Senyan’s eye read:" "‘He insulted me, obstructed me hundreds upon hundreds of times, ridiculed my losses, jested at my gains, scorned my people, blocked my commerce, mocked my friends, and actively aided my enemies; why? Only because I am a Jew…’"

"The large section in the middle was too blurred to read, and only the script of the final paragraph remained clearly discernible." "‘In the name of my soul and bloodline, I swear this oath: we shall join hands to forge the future, and even our descendants shall coexist in peace for generations. The bloodline of any violator shall boil, their breath shall cease, the sun’s radiance shall cause their skin to ulcerate, and the breath of the land shall fetter their steps.’" "The signatures at the bottom read: Bernard Focke and Gubo Jones."

"Fang Senyan studied the writing on the parchment intently, staring so hard it seemed he intended to burn every word into his memory. Simultaneously, he received a notification: +500 Universal Points +300 Pirate Reputation. Just a few minutes later, the parchment dissolved like ice exposed to the scorching sun, melting into the tabletop and finally evaporating into the air; the mission thus concluded. It was evident that once this branching path was chosen, the mission terminated here, and the main ultimate reward was likely this parchment—or more accurately, the content written upon it!"

"Objectively speaking, the mission branch Fang Senyan chose was more difficult than the one Klee and his group selected. According to the principle that greater difficulty yields greater reward, this implied that the content carried by this parchment was defined by the Nightmare Space as being worth at least more than twenty pounds + Russell's friendship + a series of potential follow-up minor missions."

"Fang Senyan sat in the room, lost in deep contemplation. After a long while, he fetched a broom, first meticulously gathering the mouthpieces of the shattered drift bottles from the floor, before blowing out the candle to rest."

"The next morning, Fang Senyan returned to the 'Bell and Goblet' to check in, fulfilling his duties as Boatswain. Standing at the bow, he observed that while the hurricane's fury had largely passed, its aftereffects lingered, and the sea remained turbulent."

"By Fang Senyan's estimation, the waves outside the harbor were at least five meters high. Looking out, one could see distant colossal waves resembling layer upon layer of deep black hills surging forward, filled with irresistible force. Under these conditions, even vessels under a thousand tons in the real world would not dare leave port, let alone the sailing ships of the Caribbean Pirates world?"

"Seeing this, Fang Senyan became even more certain that the Countess’s death would not be discovered for at least two or three more days. He also paid a visit to Klee and reminded him that the port guards were likely lax now, making it the perfect time to return to his team. However, Klee flatly refused this seemingly natural suggestion. Fang Senyan soon realized that Klee had, at some unknown point, connected with Shire and, after paying a certain price, was even learning from Shire to improve his fundamental abilities!"

"Under the coaxing and threatening authority of the Boatswain persona Fang Senyan adopted, Klee reluctantly divulged the information he had obtained. Generally, it related to Charm: one could, by paying a price, attempt to learn fundamental abilities from a story character stronger than oneself, which involved a hidden metric called 'Compatibility.'"

"The Compatibility rating is usually only visible to contractors whose Charm reaches a certain level. Simply put, it measures how well two individuals click. For example, a person with a fierce appearance and eccentric personality might still have a lifelong friend, while a handsome and well-mannered person could equally have a mortal enemy; this is due to Compatibility."

"Contractors with very high Charm often possess the ability to enslave creatures. They usually gain the ability to observe Compatibility ratings. If the creature's Compatibility with them is high, enslavement becomes a matter of course and much easier, whereas creatures with low Compatibility will fiercely resist to the death."

"Clearly, Klee and Shire’s hidden Compatibility rating was quite high, which is why Shire was teaching him skills. But Fang Senyan couldn't believe Klee hadn't been severely fleeced in the process. Judging by the mottled, ashen color of the man's plump face, reminiscent of an addict suffering withdrawal, he must have paid a truly agonizing price."

"Having gained this intelligence from Klee, Fang Senyan began looking for subordinates among the pirates, though he dared not use the paid ability 'Insight' anymore. By his current calculations, he owed the Nightmare Space a full 900 Universal Points, and he had only acquired 1340 points so far. Therefore, Fang Senyan had to approach the pirates one by one, testing them indirectly to see if any potential arrangement could be made."

"Regrettably, Fang Senyan’s own Charm wasn't high, and such learning opportunities were extremely rare in the early stages. Klee, whose Charm value was likely higher than Fang Senyan’s, had known this information for three whole worlds. During that time, he had encountered at least a hundred story characters but had only found one, Shire, whose Compatibility aligned with his—and he had paid a substantial price for that connection. The low probability of this happening was evident. If Fang Senyan hadn't already gained considerable renown among the pirates, some of the crew wouldn't even bother interacting with him, and even now, their responses were perfunctory."

"Fortunately, Fang Senyan's efforts finally yielded a return. It came from Matt the Blind, the second-in-command assigned to Armond, who agreed to teach Fang Senyan some key points regarding footwork evasion in combat, provided it took place during the public training every morning. Matt’s motive was simple: he wanted to exploit Fang Senyan's known deficiency in this area to show off his own expertise, thereby increasing his own prestige and paving the way for his ascension."