To be honest, wearing a collar around her neck did not feel good. She was a pirate now, yet she wore a restrictive collar representing slave status.
Baiya knew she could not protest. This was the compromise made by Raymond and the others who opposed her joining the crew. The collar was a special item, classified as a contract tool.
Contract tools were unique items created by a profession known as Contract Masters. The contents of the contract were adjudicated by the absolutely just Ruler God, and violators would suffer divine punishment and be obliterated. Most contracts took this form.
According to the information, the collar was named **[False Loyalists]**. It was a type of contract tool specifically used for defectors who were not trusted, and it was also a common tool used by slave owners for training.
The user of **[False Loyalists]** would first use magic to carve “forbidden matters” into it. Baiya referred to these as NG (No Go) behaviors. Once an NG behavior was committed, the collar would tighten. Unless the person who applied the collar granted forgiveness, it would continue to shrink until it was the size of a finger ring, which was enough to kill a normal person.
If one attempted to remove **[False Loyalists]**, the collar would also tighten.
Generally, people forced to wear **[False Loyalists]** were not told what the NG behaviors were. Consequently, they would experience the pain of suffocation at least once. To survive, they would discard their dignity and desperately beg for the master’s forgiveness. This was one of the common methods slave owners used to tame slaves.
However, Baiya could guess her NG behaviors. They were likely nothing more than “do not harm Molly.” The Sea Dragon Pirates simply needed her loyalty.
‘It’s just an extra accessory for my neck,’ Baiya comforted herself, quickly regaining her spirits.
Seeing Baiya put on **[False Loyalists]**, some of the pirates’ hostility toward her decreased. Raymond also breathed a sigh of relief. For now, at least, Baiya was not a threat he needed to worry about.
She was just an ordinary girl. There would be plenty of opportunities for combat on the Sea Dragon Pirates’ ship. Sooner or later, she would be disposed of as cannon fodder. He didn’t need to worry about her any further.
After the pirates dispersed, Molly ordered someone to lead Baiya to her room and teach her how to live among the Sea Dragon Pirates.
Baiya was led to a cabin on the bottom floor by a pirate. As soon as the door opened, dust scattered everywhere. A closer look revealed that the room was covered in cobwebs. It looked as though it had been vacant for a long time.
“No one has lived here for more than three years, rookie. You have to clean it yourself.” The pirate guide pointed out the location of the bucket and mop, told her to find him on the fourth floor after she was finished, and left without looking back.
“My, my, how troublesome. Housework, huh?” Baiya had no choice but to roll up her sleeves helplessly.
By the time Baiya massaged her aching shoulders and climbed the wooden ladder to the fourth floor, she noticed through the glass window that the sun had already set. It was evening.
‘It’s already this late. This won’t do. I’m starving, and I need to solve this problem as soon as possible.’ Baiya clutched her growling stomach. Ignoring her dirty, smelly body, she followed the path from her memory and walked slowly toward the food storage cabin.
On the way, she heard the sound of splashing water. Curiously, she followed the sound only to see a bunch of naked men taking showers.
“My, my, this is quite a sight to behold.” Baiya covered her eyes, pretending she couldn’t see anything, and walked past as if nothing was wrong.
As for the shocked gasps and sounds of people inhaling cold air, she chose to ignore them selectively. To hell with it; solving the food problem was the priority right now.
A short while later, Molly, who had changed into coarse cloth clothes, was practicing her literacy and reading when a subordinate suddenly arrived to report on Baiya’s situation.
Only then did Molly remember that Baiya could not be treated like an ordinary pirate. She was the only other girl on her ship.
Molly ordered her subordinate to bring Baiya to her immediately. Within five minutes, Raymond appeared at the door carrying Baiya, who was biting into a piece of salted meat, and tossed her onto the floorboards.
Raymond closed the door as he exited and stood guard outside, paying close attention to any movement inside the cabin. At the first sign of trouble, he would rush in!
Molly frowned at Baiya’s appearance and ordered her to take off her clothes.
“Ah, ugh! No! Don’t do that! It tickles! Hahahaha!”
The eyes behind Raymond’s sunglasses showed no emotion as the sounds of a girl’s bashful laughter echoed in his ears.
Inside, Molly was manipulating a stream of water to blast the stark-naked Baiya. Baiya really couldn’t help but cover her vital areas as she twisted her body forcefully and rolled around. She laughed so hard that tears were about to fall. Doing it yourself and having someone else wash you were two completely different levels of sensitivity!
“Be a little more well-behaved for Molly! I can’t even spray the dirty spots!”
“St-stop it! I really can’t take it! I’m used to showerheads! But this of yours is way too intense! There’s no comparison at all!”
“No! Molly doesn’t want to touch your body! So, stand still! Don’t move!”
The luxury of bathing using racial talents was something only she usually enjoyed. Molly really didn’t know what Baiya was complaining about. If she hadn’t seen how dirty the girl was and found it habitually unbearable, she wouldn’t have been kind enough to help.
The more Baiya dodged, the more excited Molly became. Gradually, her interest was piqued. Wherever Baiya didn’t want her to spray, she would specifically target that spot with the water stream. Watching Baiya’s face turn red as she twisted her body, Molly’s own face also turned a rosy pink.
“By the way, Captain, are you really giving me a proper bath?”
Sensing that the little girl Molly seemed to be getting addicted to playing, a red light flashed in Baiya’s eyes. She dodged all the water streams aimed at her, rolled a few times, and arched her body to crouch on the floor like a beast ready to pounce.
By this time, Raymond, who had been guarding the cabin, had already gone to patrol elsewhere. He felt that listening any longer would have a massive impact on his state of mind.
Molly felt a bit guilty hearing Baiya’s words, but she wanted to maintain her dignity as the captain. Thus, she used her racial talent to condense a large sphere of water over Baiya’s head.
The water ball fell rapidly, washing over Baiya perfectly and drowning out the complaints she was about to spit out.
“Of course! Molly washed you thoroughly from head to toe! Be grateful!”
Molly crossed her arms over her chest, her face returning to its usual serious and solemn expression that was uncharacteristic of a child.
“Then thank you very much, Captain.” Baiya forced her eyes open and used the wooden boards as support to slowly straighten her body. Then, she reached out her hands to feel around for some cloth.
Even though Molly randomly helping her bathe was a bit annoying, she figured the girl meant well. Her body was mostly clean now, so Baiya didn’t care too much.
However, she didn’t plan on letting Molly help her wash her body next time.
Aside from that, honestly, her soaking wet hair that wouldn’t stop dripping was incredibly annoying. It made her eyes sting.
Baiya walked over to a cabinet. Opening it, she saw it was full of clothes, so she grabbed one at random and brought it to her face to wipe herself dry.
When she saw the garment in Baiya’s hand, Molly’s petite body trembled violently, and her face turned red at a visible speed.
“You—you jerk! Scumbag! Scumbag! You’re the worst!”
***
After hurriedly putting on a set of cloth clothes, Baiya was kicked out of the cabin by Molly. She looked at the closed door and the golden-patterned frame that appeared before her eyes: **[Favorability: 1 (What the…! What an awful person!)]**
Baiya wondered if giving her own underwear to Molly as compensation could restore the original favorability.
“My, my, is it going to be this difficult on the first day? The road ahead is long.” Baiya straightened her clothes. After a failed attempt to visit Yacang in prison, she dragged her exhausted body back to her cabin to sleep.
Early the next morning, Baiya was woken up by the pirate guide from yesterday. The guide claimed he was sent by Captain Molly to teach her everything she needed to remember today.
The guide told Baiya that his name was Jia Yi. Although Baiya already knew this from checking his information panel, she acted as if it was the first time she had heard it.
“Is my name strange, rookie? You have such a surprised look on your face.”
“No, I just thought it was better this way.”
“I come from the Kingdom of Gu Xia, rookie.”
Jia Yi first took Baiya to a cabin on the fourth floor and relayed Molly’s orders, instructing the two pirates guarding the door to open it.
“This is the armory, rookie.” Jia Yi led Baiya inside.
It was a very spacious area. A series of weapons were placed on racks, and various weapons were piled up on the floorboards. There were even magic cannons. Baiya recorded the styles of the weapons and matched them with the data in her mind, letting out gasps of amazement.
“Most of these are spoils of war from our Sea Dragon Pirates, rookie. Pick a weapon that feels right.” Jia Yi turned on the fluorescent lights in the room to provide more light so that Baiya could better identify the weapons.
“Just asking, can I pick any weapon here?” Baiya asked, suppressing her excitement. She had discovered quite a few good things.
“Of course, rookie. You should know that letting weapons rust isn’t a good thing,” Jia Yi responded indifferently. They had been appraised beforehand anyway; there weren’t many good items in there.
Equipment was very important for combat and was a significant component of combat power. Equipment could generally be divided into two categories: weapons and armor.
The strength of equipment depended on materials and craftsmanship. A great forging master and a good piece of material were required to create top-tier equipment. Equipment could be classified by quality into five types: Scrap Iron, Black Steel, Holy Silver, Red Gold, and Legend.
As far as Jia Yi knew, the highest quality of equipment in the armory was Scrap Iron level, and the lowest was unranked, which meant ordinary goods. For a rookie’s basic equipment, it was enough.
If Captain Molly hadn’t summoned a tsunami that caused heavy losses for other pirate groups, forcing the Sea Dragon Pirates to hand over the spoils of their raids as compensation, there would have been several Holy Silver level items and dozens of Black Steel level items in the armory.
While Jia Yi was feeling sentimental, Baiya began selecting a blade. The most suitable weapon for her was a sword because she had learned a sword skill talent: **[Mind’s Eye Blade]**. While using a sword, she could bring out the maximum power of the skill.