The Mystery:The Witch and the Scourge

Looking into the distance, the sky and sea at the end of your sight blend into each other and shine brightly.

Ships with white sails sailed along the wind, cutting through thorns on the sea, creating ripples, and driving away fish in shallow water.

Several seabirds were hovering not far from the mast, seemingly ready to eat at any time.

On the bow of the ship, a tall and thin figure was holding the railing and looking at the sea. He was the second mate on the ship.

Joyce strolled over, stood next to him, and tapped the railing a few times, making a dull sound that was inaudible under the cover of the waves.

"Looking at the sea." he asked.

The second mate was looking intently, and just when Joyce thought he didn't want to speak, a deep voice suddenly sounded in his ears.

"Although I have been a pirate for several years, every time I go on a voyage, I am used to looking at the sea here."

"Looking at the sea on land and looking at the sea while sailing are two completely different experiences. In the former, you will only sigh at the vastness of the sea, while in the latter, you will deeply feel your own insignificance."

Joyce was a little surprised. He carefully looked at the second mate next to him. His beard was trimmed cleanly and his hair was also neatly trimmed. The lines on his face were more obvious because of his thinness. His cheekbones were higher. In addition to the roughness emanating from his body,

Besides, he doesn't look like a pirate at all...

He commented: "I think you should be a writer."

The second officer's eyes seemed to be always staring at the depths of the sea, as if there was some treasure there:

"If I could choose, I would prefer to be a gardener, but unfortunately, now I can only become a pirate."

Fallen... Joyce smacked his tongue at the meaning of his words, and saw a seabird striking out quickly, skimming across the sea surface, and grabbing a fish that was flopping and unable to survive.

After a short silence, he asked tentatively:

"From your accent, it sounds like you are from Intis like Captain Roy?"

After hearing this, the second officer really turned his head and looked at him, nodded and admitted:

"That's right."

Joyce smiled, turned his back to the sea, pressed his elbows on the railing, and continued to guess:

"You two went to sea together to become pirates, right?"

The second officer became surprised, became interested, and asked:

"Why do you say that?"

Naturally, it's because when Roy introduced the first mate and second mate, he was obviously closer to you, but he was a little wary of the first mate... This reason naturally couldn't be said, so Joyce said perfunctorily: "You can guess."

!”

"The person who can become the second officer must be the captain's confidant, but you look very thin and not very good at fighting. Then the only reason is that you have a good relationship with the captain..."

He deliberately looked the second mate up and down, and finally asked:

"One thing I'm curious about is why you're not the first mate?"

The second mate laughed. His laughter was completely different from Roy's. It was more hearty and cheerful. He answered:

"You've already guessed the answer, of course it's because... he can fight better than me!"

After the laughter stopped, he said seriously: "Pirates are a group of people who don't care about national borders. Only strength and interests are eternal."

Joyce chuckled: "This point of view does not only apply to pirates."

The second mate did not continue the discussion, but chose to skip the topic and asked instead:

"Are you an adventurer?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Joyce spread his hands.

"Adventurers and pirates are essentially the same type of people." The second mate said with deep meaning: "Looting treasures, killing people and hunting in exchange for bounties...the more people you kill, the adventurers will naturally become pirates."

People who are willing to degenerate can always find different reasons to break through their own bottom line and eventually become villains... Joyce thought in his heart, but did not refute it, because he saw a sailor walking towards the two of them.

The sailor glanced at him, then turned to the second officer:

"Boss, the boss is looking for you."

"I understand." The second mate frowned slightly and said to Joyce, "You can do it yourself."

Then he turned around and left.

Seeing his back retracting inside the hull, Joyce turned around and looked towards the sea.

The previous group of seabirds had left, and there was not a single living thing in sight.

In the depths of this sea, countless heroes and bears are buried, but there are always people rushing into its arms one after another.

This second mate is a man with a story. His vicissitudes of life have given him a calm mind, but the depression he just showed did not know why...

Joyce silently extracted the key information from the conversation just now, and seriously considered whether there was any opportunity to take advantage of it...

One of the rules for playing an "instigator": before instigating a person, you must first understand him.

…………

On the entire ship, the captain's cabin is the most spacious. There are various golden decorations in the room, including real gold, and of course other golden metals...

As an Intis, Roy has a special liking for gold, but poverty has limited his hobbies. At this moment, he is sitting on a wooden chair, leaning on a gold-inlaid handle.

The second officer knocked on the door and without waiting for a response, he pushed the door open and asked bluntly:

"What do you want from me? Could it be that you have changed your mind?"

Roy woke up from his meditation, looked at the most familiar partner in front of him, and stated: "There is no turning back."

Then he asked again, with a little anger in his words: "Don't you want to be a pirate forever? Don't you want to go back to Intis?"

The second mate shrugged: "It doesn't matter, I'm used to my current life."

"Moreover, how do you plan to avoid being pursued by Lieutenant General Twilight?"

Roy had obviously thought of a countermeasure. Thinking of the rewards after success, he was quite excited for a moment and blurted out:

"As long as things go well, I can be promoted to the 'Conspirator' of Sequence Six... By then, with my wisdom and your divination, it is basically impossible for that stupid giant to find us in the vast sea."

"What's more, once we harvest enough money, we will immediately break away from the ranks of pirates and return to Intis and our hometown."

"At that time, we can buy a manor and live a peaceful life..."

The second officer was silent for a moment, as if imagining such a scene, and then said:

"Since you have already planned it, why do you need to ask me to discuss it? You know that I will not object to your decision."

"I need you to perform divination again, for the last time." Roy emphasized, with expectation in his eyes.

With a silent sigh, the second officer took out the citrine necklace he carried with him and performed divination.

After getting the divination result, he opened his eyes and said:

"As before, there are considerable risks, but in the end it will pay off."

"That's good, that's good..." Roy repeated. At this time, he was not like a "lion", but like a "kitten".

He thought of something and suddenly asked:

"What about those two adventurers? Will they bring danger?"

The second officer put away his pity, because he knew Roy didn't like that look, so he raised his head slightly and recalled:

"The middle-aged man in the lead is not weak, and he feels quite dangerous to me. As for the young man who seems to be a follower, he has very good observation skills... He is very interesting. If we met earlier, we might become friends..."