Captain of the Pirates: My Fleet's Limitless Upgrading-Chapter 44: Sailing Out, to Flame Island

Even so, Elyse still felt like she had won. The Alchemist-made alternative to gunpowder, the Blazing Curse, was worth ten thousand gold coins per kilogram, and it was in high demand—money couldn’t always buy it.

"There’s something else."Elyse said, thinking of something. "Is Cynthia in your hands? Let her go."

"Cynthia?" Leo looked confused. "She ran away a long time ago, right?"

He knew Elyse and Cynthia were close. It wasn’t just a master and servant relationship. Keeping her would be another card in his hand.

Elyse said coldly, "Cynthia once fought against the soldiers from the Black Dragon Kingdom. She almost got captured. My people saw her run to Giant Whale Island."

"Is that so?" Leo pretended not to know. "I haven’t seen her. If she’s here, I’ll help you find her."

"No."Elyse said. "I’ll have my people look for her themselves. They can go without weapons." She didn’t trust Leo.

"Absolutely not."

Leo refused right away. There were too many secrets on the island. They couldn’t be found out.

But Elyse wouldn’t back down. She had to find Cynthia.

Leo sighed. "Okay, I’ll help you look. If she’s on the island, I’ll find her for sure."

Elyse already knew Cynthia was on Giant Whale Island. It was too late to keep her locked up. She decided to find a chance to secretly set her free.

"Fine. I’ll wait here." Elyse gave him a cold look and continued. "These two ships have one ton of grain, in exchange for one hundred tons of Iron Ore. Also, I need five hundred kilograms of gunpowder."

"SO much?" Leo frowned. "I can’t give you the gunpowder first. I need to see the Elemental Stone first."

"I brought it."Elyse said calmly. She had clearly planned for this, expecting him to use the Elemental Stone as a trade.

Before Leo could say anything, she added, "This gunpowder is for fighting the Black Dragon Kingdom. They’re working with the Zyphora Kingdom. The Kano Kingdom has already lost three cities. That’s a kingdom secret. You should see how serious I am."

Elyse sighed. She wouldn’t have made this deal if it wasn’t a big crisis.

At first, the Zyphora Kingdom and Kano Kingdom were allies. But then they betrayed and joined the Black Dragon Kingdom.

The Kano Kingdom had no idea. Three cities were lost. But she acted quickly, sending the Composite Bow there. It only stopped the enemy for now. To drive back the armies of the two kingdoms, she needed gunpowder.

But her real goal wasn’t just to push them back.

Leo thought for a moment, then agreed. "Fine. I’ll arrange it right away."

He could easily give out five hundred kilograms of gunpowder.

These days, Ava and the Minotaur had made a lot of gunpowder. Over five thousand kilograms. Selling five hundred wouldn’t make much difference.

The big ships landed. Both sides started trading supplies.

Besides the two big ships full of grain and cloth, the rest were empty, meant to carry the Iron Ore.

Barnett and Solomon led the Minotaur to build a pulley system. The work speed doubled.

Elyse was amazed. She never thought these wheels could be so useful.

She looked coldly at Leo, who was overseeing the operation nearby.

No need to think—those easy-to-move Iron Ore platforms were also made by the other side.

She really wanted to kidnap Leo, but she had already promised not to attack.

"Maybe I could just let this guy come to me on his own."

Elyse’s lips curled into a cold smile. She had already done her research—Leo had made a lot of enemies.

The Black Dragon Kingdom, and even killed a noble from the Glan Empire. He had two elves and a baby dragon by his side.

Just those pieces of information out there would probably make it impossible for him to move freely.

Then she would offer him a hand. She didn’t believe he’d refuse!

Within a day, the cargo was all loaded up.

Elyse didn’t leave. She stayed on the ship, clearly not leaving until she got Cynthia back.

Leo told Biggy to reduce some of the guards that night, and let Cynthia escape on purpose.

He didn’t care if Cynthia’s capture got exposed. Elyse was smart. She wouldn’t start a fight over just that.

At night, the ship fleet quietly left the harbor. It was clear that Cynthia had already returned to the ship.

Leo pretended not to know and didn’t care.

...

The next morning, the newly built big ship raised its sails. Leo and the others were preparing to head to Flame Island.

"Sir, be careful, and come back soon."Barnett and Solomon waved from below, looking sad.

This time, Leo didn’t bring the two dwarves with him.

They had more important things to do—studying the steam engine and trying to build a rifled cannon.

That kind of work couldn’t be done on a ship.

But luckily, the Minotaurs on Giant Whale Island had already seen the power of the smoothbore cannon and were now deeply loyal to Leo. With those Minotaurs protecting them, and the smoothbore cannons left behind, there wouldn’t be any danger unless an entire kingdom launched a full-scale attack on Giant Whale Island.

Leo took the girls, plus Biggy and Secondy.

The sails were raised, and the big ship slowly left the harbor, disappearing into the mist.

"Come on, Pyrothar. Let’s take a ride in the sky."Anna said, picking up Pyrothar, who was resting on Leo’s shoulder. She excitedly lifted the hot air balloon, letting the big ship pull it up into the air.

She had been as energetic as ever these past few days, enjoying the feeling of looking down on everything.

"Keep an eye on the weather. If there’s a storm or strong wind, you have to land right away."Leo warned.

"Got it, got it. You’re more annoying than Lilia."Anna said, waving her hand in annoyance. She was already used to flying the balloon.

Lilia gave her a disapproving look.

Biggy and Secondy drove the big ship.

Ava and Marina were both fascinated by the ship, running around.

"Marina, teach me how to swim."Lilia grabbed Marina and dragged her toward the swimming pool on the deck.

"No way! Mister Leo, Ava, help me!"

Marina struggled, asking the two for help.

She was really scared. Lilia seemed to have a natural problem with water—she just couldn’t learn how to swim.

She had thought Lilia had given up, but now she had gone crazy again and wanted to learn.

"I want to go too."Ava said, thinking about the new swimming pool on the deck, and ran over.

Leo smiled and didn’t pay attention to the girls fighting. He went back to his room and took out a pile of Elemental Stones.

Flamestone, Water Elemental Stone, Earth Elemental Stone, and Wind Elemental Stone.

All were from the deal with Elyse.

Leo looked at the stones. A prompt appeared, saying they could be refined and absorbed.

He didn’t have the Fire Elemental Gift, so he couldn’t use the Flamestone. He wondered if he had any other Elemental Gift.

Following Lilia’s instructions, Leo picked up the Water Elemental Stone, focused carefully, and tried to refine and absorb it.

Nothing happened.

It looked like he didn’t have the Water Elemental Gift.

Leo didn’t give up. He continued testing the other elemental stones—Earth, Wind. None of them reacted.

"Am I really completely talentless?"

Leo couldn’t accept it. He was a traveler from another world, yet he couldn’t even begin to cultivate. He was just like any ordinary person, except for the ability to use the prompt system.

The Elemental Stones definitely had the ability to be refined and absorbed, but he didn’t know how to do it.

"Alright."Leo sighed in defeat. He gave up.

The sky turned dark, and the ship gently rocked as it sailed forward.

Leo felt tired. Since there was nothing to do tonight, he decided to get some sleep.

The deck had gone quiet. The girls had all fallen asleep. Even Pyrothar was dozing on a chair.

Leo didn’t disturb it. He went to the deck pool, took off his coat, and slipped into the water in just his thin clothes.

The cool night breeze blew, and the mist rolled in. The world around him was dark.

The water was warm, and Leo relaxed, feeling his body ease up.

Splash!

Suddenly, a splash echoed through the night. A figure burst from the water.

Leo was startled. He yelled, "Lilia? What are you doing here?"

He had thought it was Marina, but it was actually Lilia.

If the pool wasn’t just over a meter deep, he might have thought she had drowned.

"L-Leeo?"

Lilia saw him, and her eyes widened in surprise, then quickly turned into joy. "I think I learned how to swim!"

"Really?" Leo was shocked.

Lilia had tried so hard to learn, but she always sank the moment she entered the water. He and Marina had both come to the same conclusion—Lilia would never learn how to swim.

"Believe me."Lilia said excitedly, showing off. She floated on the surface, moving her arms and legs, splashing water everywhere. She didn’t sink, but she barely moved forward.

Leo watched her stroke. It wasn’t even close to a proper dog paddle.

"Your technique’s wrong. I’ll teach you."he swam over and lifted her waist, feeling her tremble.

The night was hazy.

Leo finally saw what Lilia was wearing—a thin, flowing dress that clung to her body after getting wet, revealing her pale skin beneath.

He quickly looked away. "Just move your arms out to the sides. That way, you can swim."

"Okay."Lilia said, her face red. She realized how revealing the wet dress was and instinctively tried to sink into the water.

Maybe it was a breakthrough.

This time, Lilia quickly got the hang of it. She swam gracefully, diving and rising like a fish in the water.

"Leo, I really can swim now!"

Lilia’s face was full of joy, her expression radiant. She jumped onto Leo’s neck, her face just inches away from his. The scent of her perfume filled the air.

They stared at each other, frozen in place.

Leo gently brushed a strand of hair from Lilia’s face. Without thinking, he leaned in and kissed her.

"Mmm..."

Lilia let out a soft sound. Her body stiffened, and she remembered the last time she had fallen into the water and ended up tangled with Leo.

This time, she had no resistance. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck, hesitantly and clumsily returning his kiss.