Joining the Navy

Gabred Harbor, the third biggest naval base of the West Coast of the Kingdom of Phaletis, facing the Black Ocean. It was also one of the most important bridgeheads during the Great Voyage era 200 years ago.

Apart from having the third naval fleet of the kingdom, it was also one of the busiest trade centers, with many people.

Because of the immense income from ocean trade, a huge portion of the third naval fleet was settled. It was a very critical place in terms of its strategic geographical location and influence in terms of economy and military.

It was the afternoon.

Shelley was inspecting the guard post tower with his team. It was sunny and there was not much wind near the sea. However, his mood was nowhere near matching the perfect weather.

"My goddess Judy!"

It was a day suitable for fishing, but he had no choice but to go for duty. If he could bring Judy out for fishing and spend a sunny afternoon with her, that would be perfect!

He daydreamed while looking at the sea using his binoculars lifelessly.

Blue ocean, white clouds, the never-changing scenery, and… a ship.

Nothing was odd.

"Hold on, what is that? There's another ship behind it. Black… black ship!!! It's the pirates!"

Captain Shelley, who was born into a rich family and had never really been on the warship, shouted and looked extremely afraid.

Clang, clang, clang…

The siren echoed and the people in the harbor were in a tizzy. It was the first time pirates had appeared at Gabred since its establishment.

…

The day after the battle with the Blood Anchor, the Yellow Bird and the Blood Anchor arrived at the harbor half a day after the predicted time.

Captain Joseph never thought he would have such a "grand" welcoming ceremony!

The Blood Anchor and the Yellow Bird gradually docked with the "protection" of two battleships. Goodness me, those were two fourth-graded battleships!

If they had not informed their identity through flag semaphore, the sailors on the warship probably would have all died.

The ship docked.

The captain did not dare to waste time. With the agility of a young person, he ran out of the Yellow Bird and explained everything clearly to get rid of the false alarm that the rookie captain had raised earlier.

After that, the bodies of the pirates were carried down from the Blood Anchor. News of the accomplishment of the Yellow Bird was spread throughout the harbor and caused a great uproar in Gabred.

Even though the navy went out for surveillance every day, they would usually retreat if they encountered a pirate ship. It was a rare instance for the navy to sink the other ship through collaboration.

It was extremely rare for them to completely get hold of the pirates.

After all, pirates were extremely fast at escaping. They would run away without looking back if they saw patrolling ships. In order to ensure safety, the navy ships would also not dare to give chase.

Although it was a very lucky incident, this incident had given bragging rights to the ship's captain for the rest of his life.

If he participated in gatherings, many rich and beautiful ladies would ask him out for a date in order to hear about this act of bravery. Perhaps if everything went well, they might even end up together.

Just as Captain Joseph and the crew members of the Yellow Bird were enjoying the warm cheers from the people in Gabred, Alvin disembarked the ship with his spoils of war—gold coins from different countries that were worth 200 Golden Lion Coins.

Although he did not want to become famous before joining the navy, as it would bring jealousy to his future working partners, it was not easy for him to hide something so impactful.

Real talent would eventually be discovered, and his name had been passed to some of the higher-ups of the naval fleet, attracting the attention of some people.

As for the spoils of war, every country had established related legislations. Everything that was obtained from getting hold of pirates would belong to that individual. One did not have to hand it over to the government.

Therefore, Alvin was looking forward to the tentatively unknown reward from getting hold of the Blood Anchor.

Alvin was not worried about whether Captain Joseph would take the Golden Lion Coins. After all, this world was an extraordinary world—there was no absolute tiered relationship between individuals and groups.

Perhaps to Captain Joseph, Alvin was superior.

Alvin did not wander around after he alighted. Instead, he cut to the point.

Alvin received warm replies from the locals after enquiring about the address for recruitment. Not only did the locals tell Alvin the address, but they also told him the entire procedure.

After thanking the warmhearted passers-by, Alvin walked across more than ten streets before reaching a desolate and rundown estate.

After confirming that the words on the rusty sign were indeed "Recruitment for the Third Naval Fleet", Alvin finally understood what the passers-by meant by how the location was difficult to locate.

Alvin was confused. Was the navy so poor?

"Erm…"

Alvin turned around and a muscular man who was slightly tanner and half a head taller than him smiled shyly.

"Erm, I would like to ask, is this the recruitment place for the navy?"

Alvin smiled and replied, "Ugh… I haven't entered yet, but that's what the sign says. Are you here for recruitment too?"

"Yes, oh, I am Gary Farman. I am here because I want to join the navy, nice to meet you!"

"Alvin Garriott, nice to meet you!"

The muscular man rubbed his hands hard on his clothes and then shook Alvin's right hand firmly.

After letting go of his hand, he looked at Alvin in terror. "I am so sorry, I forgot about it because I was excited. Is your hand okay?"

Alvin opened his clean and fair right hand and without any mishaps, then his Data Vision gave him a notice.

Name: Gary Farman

Gender: Male

Identity: navy Trainee

Attributes: Constitution 0.7

Strength: 0.65

Agility: Unknown

Intelligence: Unknown

Abilities: Unknown

These statistics were similar to an apprentice knight with many years of training.

Alvin figured it out—he was another guy gifted with power. Moreover, he was even more extreme than his first opponent, Black Bear Billy.

Alvin knew that he was born with strength, as he could not control his strength. Unlike Alvin's own power, which was earned through training. Since he had accumulated his power through training, he could control his strength very well.

If not, he would be afraid to hurt others just with a simple handshake.

"Indeed, I should head out more often!" exclaimed Alvin silently.

After being away from the small town of Leopold for a few days, Alvin had already met so many powerful individuals. His days would probably just get more exciting!

"My hand is alright, don't worry, I have a lot of strength too. However, you should be careful in the future. If it's someone else, you might break his bones!"

Alvin was confused. It was rare for a tall and muscular man to blush.

Gary touched the back of his head and said softly, "I… I will take note of that."

"Since we are here at the entrance, let's go in to take a look!" Alvin stepped in first and walked deeper into the long corridor that was lined with shrubs at the sides.

After a moment, Alvin sat on a wooden chair and was writing on the paper in front of him. A stern-looking officer wearing the navy uniform was sitting opposite him.

"Name?"

"Alvin Garriott."

"Age?"

"15."

The officer looked up at Alvin, and without saying anything, he continued to fill up the form.

"Where's your hometown?"

"Leopold."

"Do you have any specialized skills?"

"I am decent at using the sword and I have some knowledge about sailing and medicinal supplies."

The officer looked satisfied and ended the interview. He wrote his own name at the bottom right hand corner of the form. Instead of asking the obvious, like whether Alvin was literate, he asked Alvin to write his own name down on the form too.

"Pass over your things!"

"What… Ah, oh, oh." Although he was not sure how the officer knew about it, he handed over the "letter of recommendation" he had received from Viscount Andrea.

The officer glared at Alvin after seeing his confusion.

"Do you not know the difference between rich people like you and normal people like us?

"You people always want to live the life of an ordinary person instead of depending on your family. Do you know how much trouble that creates for us?"