Reborn As a Pirate - Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Silver’s Cry for Help!
Ryan slowly awakened, his eyelids fluttering open to reveal a pensive gaze.

Surveying his surroundings, contemplation deepened in his eyes. “If I return, will I not reappear at the ‘Bonfire Point’ but rather at the initial ‘Starting Point’?”

“It’s inconsequential. You can teleport there swiftly anyway.”

His attention was drawn to a flickering flame at the fore of the raft, dancing atop a small bonfire. To teleport, one only needed to lay a hand upon the flame and choose the desired “Bonfire Point.”

Just as Ryan was preparing to transport himself to [Bonfire Point – Gap between Giant Trees], his eye caught a shimmering letter, pinned with a dagger to the mast.

“What’s this?”

Bewilderment tinged his voice as he reached out. The dagger turned out to be a mere illusion. Upon touching the envelope, it dissolved into a sheet of paper. Scrawled across it in a legible script was a message:

[Your companion – Silver (Silverback Shark) has issued a distress call. Its current location: the coastline of the western peripheral zone.]

“This?”

Shock rippled through him.

“Interesting, a distress signal feature? This is a new revelation.”

Curiosity piqued, Ryan wondered how Silver had managed to summon help. Had the [Unknown Ship Sculpture] intercepted some form of distress “signal” from Silver, then transformed it into this urgent missive? The exact mechanics remained a mystery.

Without further pondering the intricacies, Ryan disembarked from the raft and made his way toward the western peripheral area.

The usual hunting in the forest could wait. With Silver in jeopardy, Ryan felt compelled to act. There was no question of standing by while his companion needed him.

After all, Silver had saved his life. Though it was merely the life of his traveling clone, which held little intrinsic value, it had spared him the harrowing ordeal of death.

Eventually, Ryan reached the western outer rim of the island. The moment he set foot in this area, he spotted the familiar sight of shark fins cutting through the water in restless circles near the ‘old place.’

“Hey, Silver!”

Ryan called out, his voice echoing across the waters. At the sound, Silver, who had just finished feeding, lifted his head excitedly. Spotting Ryan, the shark’s joy was palpable; he thrashed the sea surface with his tail in exuberant greeting.

Approaching the coastline, Ryan’s relief turned to concern as he noticed numerous fresh scars etched across Silver’s rugged hide. One particularly ghastly wound, a meter-long gash, had nearly cleaved his forehead. Though the wound had healed, it was a stark testament to the peril Silver had faced.

Ryan’s expression darkened with worry. “What happened to you?”

In response, Silver began to enact a frantic sequence in the water. First, he mimicked a leisurely swim, then abruptly switched directions, simulating a sudden and violent collision against an invisible assailant with a resounding ‘bang.’ Water sprayed into the air as he replicated a panicked dash across the sea’s surface.

Completing his pantomime, Silver fixed Ryan with a look of utter helplessness and palpable distress.

Ryan paused, piecing together the silent narrative. “Are you saying that a powerful sea creature attacked you while you were causally swimming? And it continues to pursue you whenever you venture deep into the sea?”

“Do you need my help to deal with this monster?”

At Ryan’s words, Silver nodded vigorously, it’s actions tinged with urgency.

The shark gave an emphatic nod, his movements full of determination.

Ryan’s expression was grave. “Monsters in the sea… but I don’t have much combat strength left underwater.”

“Silver, can you lure it to the shore?”

Silver plunged his head beneath the waves, pondering the feasibility of Ryan’s request. Moments later, he resurfaced, nodding emphatically to signal his agreement.

“Alright, let’s set this plan in motion. Open up,” Ryan instructed, preparing his next move. He clapped his hands together and added, “Hold tight here for a bit while I prepare some defenses.”

Ryan tossed a luminous pearl into Silver’s waiting jaws. The shark blinked, puzzled by the concept of “traps” yet understood enough to remain stationary as instructed.

Ryan then unslung the sword from his back and began digging near the water’s edge, intending to create a pitfall trap. The ferocity of the beast that had injured Silver indicated a formidable adversary, necessitating meticulous preparations before their confrontation.

In his past encounters with monsters, Ryan had relied on direct combat or surprise attacks, rarely having the opportunity or means to set traps. Now, with a little more time at his disposal, he was determined to leverage this advantage to mitigate the challenge ahead.

Leveraging his enhanced strength, ten times that of a typical human, and wielding his robust, sharp sword, Ryan swiftly excavated a large pit. Within ten minutes, he had created a hole over a meter wide and two meters deep.

Sweat beading his brow, Ryan then headed to a nearby forest to gather straight, fresh branches, along with dry branches and large leaves. He sharpened one end of each fresh branch and planted them upside down at the bottom of the pit. Over these, he scattered the dry branches, then camouflaged the entire setup with the large leaves and sprinkled fine sand on top for concealment. A single blade of grass, placed in the center, served as a subtle marker.

With these preparations complete, Ryan had expertly laid a simple yet potentially effective “hole trap.”

Ryan nodded in satisfaction as he dusted off the fine sand clinging to his clothing.

The “hole trap” he had set was deceptively simple yet potentially lethal. Given the size of the beast they were dealing with, the slender dry branches concealing the pit would inevitably break under its weight. This would cause the creature to lose balance and potentially fall into the trap, presenting Ryan with a prime opportunity for an attack.

“Silver, go and draw that creature here. And remember, steer clear of the trap,” Ryan instructed, his tone serious but encouraging.

Silver gave a somewhat puzzled nod, then turned with a surge of enthusiasm and swam back into the ocean. The prospect of luring the creature that had been hunting it represented a chance for retribution, an opportunity Silver was eager to seize.

As Silver ventured off to bait their adversary, Ryan took a moment to sit on a large rock just behind the trap. He meticulously cleaned the sand off his sword’s scabbard, ensuring everything was in perfect order for the confrontation ahead.

Once satisfied, he stood and fixed his gaze on the horizon.

About fifteen minutes passed before Silver’s distinctive fin appeared in the distance, swiftly cutting through the water. Trailing close behind were the ominous shadows of three spikes breaking the surface, an indication of the pursuing monster’s formidable size, possibly even larger than Silver.

“Here they come!” Ryan murmured, his expression turning steely. He gripped the hilt of his sword, poised for action.

Seconds ticked by agonizingly.

With a dramatic splash, Silver burst from the water onto the beach, using the momentum to slide across the sand. Mindful of Ryan’s earlier warning, the shark cleverly adjusted its trajectory after sliding toward the trap, using its fins to veer sideways, deftly avoiding the concealed pit.