In the endless ocean.
An ordinary wooden sailboat floated slowly in the wind, without the pirate flag draped over it. The ship looked like an ordinary vessel. No one would know that many pirates had died on it.
Inside the cabin.
Dai Yuhao held a nautical chart in his hand, frowning as he considered. He had already been sailing alone across the sea for three days. If the route was correct, he should have reached the island he had intended to visit two days ago.
But during the three days of sailing, wherever he looked, there was always an empty sea.
Such a strange situation was evident. He had taken the wrong route on the nautical chart and had completely deviated from the established route. Dai Yuhao sighed; now he had no idea where he was.
"This isn't good."
Dai Yuhao put down the abstruse map and rubbed his forehead in frustration. He had to admit he had made a mistake. If I had known earlier, I would have left one or two people alive to show him the way. If I had, he wouldn't have gotten lost at sea like this.
"Forget it. Anyway, there's no need to worry about food or drink in this sea. Even if I let myself go like this, I'll eventually find an inhabited island. Why should I be in a hurry?" He shook his head and put down the nautical chart.
I left the cabin, went to the bow, and looked into the distance.
"Huh? What's that?"
Suddenly, he spotted a small black speck in the sea. He quickly looked closer and could barely make out the silhouette of a boat.
"There's a boat! Great!"
Dai Yuhao's face lit up with joy. After three days adrift, it was the first time he'd seen a boat. All he could do was ask for directions or simply board the boat and allow himself to be taken. With these people's knowledge, he would soon arrive at an inhabited island, where his journey to royalty would begin!
However, as the ship grew larger in the distance,
Dai Yuhao's originally cheerful expression gradually froze and then turned solemn, for he could already see a flag with a skull and crossbones hanging from the top of the ship.
There was no doubt that this was another pirate ship!
"This is troublesome... Are they going to attack again?" Dai Yuhao rubbed his forehead in distress, feeling that his luck was truly terrible. Couldn't he just encounter a normal merchant ship? Why, since he left the island and set sail, had every ship he encountered been a pirate ship? His luck was truly terrible.
Could it be that this wasn't the Douluo Continent and instead he was in the world of One Piece?
As the large ship in front of him drew closer, the pattern on the pirate flag hanging at the top became increasingly clear. He could see that, in addition to the skull, the pirate flag also had a pattern of a white whale.
"These are... the White Whale Pirates!" Dai Yuhao's face changed completely when he saw the pattern on the pirate flag! During the few days he spent on the ship of those who picked him up from that island, chatting with the pirates, he also learned about the flags of some of the most famous pirate groups at sea.
The White Whale Pirates are one of the most famous pirate groups at sea.
It is rumored that the leader of the White Whale Pirates is a Sea Soul Master who has reached the level of Soul Sage. Under his command are a deputy leader of the Soul Emperor, four lieutenants of the Soul King, and several henchmen. This makes them a very powerful pirate group!
And what about Dai Yuhao himself?
Currently, he's only at Soul Master level 39. His only offensive methods, aside from the Six Styles of the Army, are Armament Haki, Observation Haki, which allows him to observe his opponent's movements, and the Thunderbolt Fruit. However, the Thunderbolt Fruit's power depends on his own strength, so at this stage, the fruit's ability isn't as useful as the Six Styles of the Army in combat.
The Thunderbolt Fruit at most allows him to move at great speeds in a short period of time, in addition to using small attacks like the Chidori. However, on a large scale like Enel's, it's impossible; a small Thor practically drains him, so for the moment, he can't exploit this ability much.
Honestly, he had no idea where he was or what kind of strength he possessed. After all, he had never fought another soul master, so it was difficult for him to assess his own strength. Even his fight with Captain Snake was brief, so he hadn't gained much combat experience.
Furthermore, the strength of a spirit master doesn't necessarily imply that a higher-level spirit master is stronger than a lower-level one. It also depends on the spiritual abilities of the spirit rings, their ability to adapt to changing circumstances, and the mutual restraint of the spirit's characteristics. All of these factors combined are the key to determining victory or defeat! Of course, when strength is absolute, none of this matters.
The Douluo Continent's soul master system is very strange.
A high-ranking soul master isn't necessarily stronger than a low-ranking one. Take, for example, the former Soul King of the Snake Pirates. While he possesses the power of a Soul King, his soul ring configuration is too crap: two white soul rings, two yellow, and one purple. Although he was a Soul King, Dai Yuhao estimates that with this configuration, it's practically impossible for him to become stronger in this lifetime.
Even a Soul King like him might not be able to defeat a Level 30 Soul Master with the best soul ring configuration.
Generally speaking, the best configuration for a soul master to reach Title Douluo is: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black. In other words: two yellow, two purple, and five black.
This spirit ring color is considered the best in the spirit master world. Therefore, The power of the ancient Spiritual King is truly too crap and cannot be compared to that of a normal Spirit King. Furthermore, various factors such as spirit level suppression, attribute restriction, and spiritual ability restriction must be considered.
For example, a fire-attribute spirit will undoubtedly be suppressed by an ice-attribute spirit. Plant-attribute spirits are usually afraid of fire. High strength but low agility, good agility but low strength... This is called attribute restriction!
Therefore, it's difficult to define the strength of a soul master. You have to fight to find out!
Although Dai Yuhao always appeared confident, he wasn't so arrogant as to believe he could defeat the Soul Sages-level warriors among the White Whale Pirates. Not to mention that, in addition to Soul Sages, there were also Soul Emperors and several Soul Kings... How on earth was he going to fight them?!
If he could escape, Dai Yuhao would really want to abandon ship and escape right now!
But he couldn't, because he was in the vast ocean. Without his boat, even if his spirit could temporarily keep him alive at sea, he would eventually be completely lost in the vast ocean!
He would end up buried at the bottom of the sea! After all, his spiritual power wasn't infinite; he couldn't maintain his state of spiritual possession forever. Even if he could escape with the Thunder Fruit, he couldn't do so for long. Dai Yuhao was certain that he would ultimately be trapped in the middle of the ocean if he escaped with the Thunder Fruit.
After all, his strength still wasn't enough to maintain a constant state of speed with the Thunder Fruit.
Relying on his martial soul is even more impossible. Once his spiritual power is exhausted, the spirit automatically abandons the state of possession. At that moment, being in the vast ocean, there is no choice but to drown. Not to mention the possibility of attacks from sea spirit beasts at any moment... In short, being at sea without a boat is extremely dangerous!
Of course, aside from the reasons mentioned above, the real reason Dai Yuhao didn't escape was because he felt he was being targeted—this feeling came from the pirate ship in the distance. It was obvious, they were coming for him!
Even if he abandoned the ship and fled now, he wouldn't necessarily be able to escape. He would only be wasting his soul power. It would be better to wait and see what that powerful man targeting him was up to. Perhaps the situation wasn't as bad as he imagined.
At that moment, Dai Yuhao had no choice but to wait and conserve his strength. Even if he had to fight later, the extra strength would increase his chances of victory!
Time simply passed silently.
The pirate ship was getting closer and closer. Standing on the bow, Dai Yuhao saw a group of people on the bow of the large ship. The leader was a middle-aged man about two or three meters tall, with prominent muscles and an imposing physique.
Obviously, this strong, middle-aged man was the leader of the White Whale Pirates, the legendary Soul Sage Hanbas.
ON THE OTHER SIDE
Hanbas was very excited at this moment. His superior, the Giant Purple Whale, had issued a notice to all his subordinates. He couldn't wait to gather his men and set sail! Although he was reluctant, he still followed the route indicated by the boss and headed toward the target area given by his boss!
He was reluctant at first, but after his boss mentioned that the loot this time was large, he immediately perked up and hurried over urgently. If these words came from his boss, they must be true, so he immediately perked up and set off urgently.
The reason for this urgency was that whoever captured the target first would receive the greatest recognition. When the time came to distribute the rewards, they would also receive a larger share. These are tangible benefits, so who wouldn't risk their lives?
He had the same idea as the other team leaders! The leaders who were able to participate in the raid this time had to be at least Soul Sages to be able to share the cake. The other weak team leaders...
Aren't qualified to join in the fun.
Therefore, the detachment leaders who had the opportunity to come here raced against time and sailed toward the target sea area like crazy, just so they could win first place.
Obviously, Hanbas seemed to be having good luck. He found his target first!
Looking at the lone wooden boat in front of them, Hanbas trembled with excitement. He shouted to his men, "Speed up! Speed up! Target! That wooden boat in front of you!"
The moment he uttered these words, the entire ship shook violently!
Immediately afterward, the already rapid speed doubled in an instant!