In this world, the nobles have absolute power of speech.
After Lord Lamont was taken away by Du Ge for a while, he changed his mind and joined the Sea Fish Pirates, shocking the crew members who thought that their captain was being threatened or abused.
But they had to rely on the Du Fei family for their livelihood and dared not disobey Lord Lamont's orders.
In a sense, Lamont Du Fei was the real master, able to decide the life and death of most people, much more effective than Du Ge, the fake master.
Mile Aziz Daidou, Cass Gaoqiao Codfish, Thomas Moran Yellowfish...
Soon.
Forty to fifty people, each with their own fish suffix.
The commonly used fish names were limited, so it was inevitable that some people would have repeated names. But Du Ge didn't mind, as long as there was "fish" in the name, even if everyone was called "Daidou", he didn't care.
Whenever someone changed their name, Du Ge would warmly shake their hand and say, "Welcome to join the Sea Fish Pirates."
They didn't understand why their captain was so enthusiastic towards a group of people he had just met.
Did Paul really believe that by changing their names, they would truly join the pirate group and fight for them?
What exactly had Paul been influenced by since he lost his memory? Everything had become increasingly strange.
Vien, Barry, and others once again fell into anxiety about the future.
Except for Vito, who knew Du Ge's true identity, no one considered the possibility that Paul had exchanged souls with Du Ge. This was beyond their understanding.
Of course, there was also a parrot named Wendy. The silly bird seemed to have forgotten about the ghost. These days, it had been calling itself Wendy Parrotfish...
...
After becoming members of the Sea Fish Pirates, Lamont Du Fei and his crew still couldn't escape the fate of performing at the port.
Du Ge was a person who pursued efficiency. He didn't even go to the second port. After subduing them, he immediately returned to the Madox Port and had them perform for the navy and residents on the shore.
It had to be said that the effect of the sailors dancing in pink skirts was very good.
The people on the shore didn't care if they were from the Du Fei family or not.
They didn't have many forms of entertainment in their daily lives.
The sailors, who were big and rough, danced with black faces, their movements not even coordinated. It was more like a unique and funny play.
Both adults and children loved watching it, and they laughed heartily. When the performance ended, they gave them the warmest applause...
At that time.
The permanent population of Madox Port was over fifty thousand, but in just an hour of performance, at least three thousand people gathered at the port.
In short.
Lamont Du Fei and his crew brought happiness to many people. Du Ge's attributes improved significantly. With just one performance, his ranking jumped from 223rd to 178th.
Of course.
The navy stationed at Madox Port noticed that something was amiss and even sent people to investigate.
After all, the people on the Smiling Angel looked like pirates, and the Du Fei family's merchant ship had just unloaded its cargo at Madox Port yesterday and turned back just to dance for everyone. It didn't seem normal no matter how you looked at it.
However, Lamont Du Fei was now just a small fish in Du Ge's pond. Even though he was reluctant, he held back from betraying his master. He danced while scolding the navy who helped him.
The uninteresting navy officer didn't linger and left with an embarrassed face, without any conflict with the Smiling Angel.
Back at their base, the navy officer immediately sent someone to report Lamont Du Fei's experience.
He understood Lord Lamont's hint.
The enemy was powerful and couldn't be provoked by a small garrison in a port. By scolding him away, it was to let him spread the news.
He even added his own speculation in the report, Lord Du Fei was likely being held hostage by Mahamadu's people...
...
Fountain of Happiness: Happiness can be built on the suffering of others. When you spread happiness, there will always be someone around you who falls into misfortune.
After Lamont Du Fei and the others finished their performance, Du Ge awakened the second advanced skill of the "Happiness" keyword.
Du Ge had been looking forward to the second skill, but he was very disappointed.
Because he found that the second advanced skill was just as unreliable as the first one. What did it mean that someone around him would inevitably fall into misfortune?
The skill couldn't specify the target, it was random...
Du Ge disliked uncontrollable skills.
Fortunately, according to the skill description, he was not included in the random targets.
So, if someone had to be unlucky, then so be it!
He could just use the "Happiness" keyword to improve his attributes. Currently, it seemed that spreading happiness was much faster in increasing his attributes than fishing in troubled waters. Du Ge felt his strength gradually returning.
And.
Happiness could clearly be sustained. Lamont Du Fei's performance at Madox Port was enough to make the people there happy for several days.
...
After leaving Madox Port again, Vito anxiously approached Du Ge and asked, "Captain, are we being too ostentatious? Having the Du Fei family's people dance at every port, it's too conspicuous. Selma may trade power with you, but she won't let your actions become strange. Our current actions are obviously suspicious."
"They will only suspect me, not you. So, you are safe," Du Ge smiled and said. He had now transferred to the Du Fei family's merchant ship. It had to be said that the equipment on a large family's ship was luxurious, much more comfortable than his Smiling Angel.
"What I mean is, you've provoked others before your attributes have fully developed, and there's a high chance we'll be eliminated prematurely," Vito frowned, "Shouldn't we keep a low profile? The chaos caused by dancing at the port was too small-scale, it didn't bring much attribute growth. Why not endure for a while and make a big move?"
Although she had agreed to cooperate with Du Ge and inexplicably done some things for him, Du Ge's words and actions seriously conflicted with her values, making her deeply uneasy.
Low profile?
Du Ge furrowed his brows.
He was given a pirate ship at the start, forcing him to drift at sea for five days, essentially giving others a fifty-meter head start.
In the meantime, he dived into the sea to catch some fish, that wasn't too much, was it?
When he encountered the tavern owner who sold information, he couldn't possibly not let him spread some information, could he?
When he encountered the merchant ship of the Du Fei family, as a proud pirate, he couldn't just watch them provoke him and then slink away, could he?
Since he had caught them, letting them dance on the shore to increase his strength wasn't too much, was it?
Du Ge felt that his actions were quite reasonable.
Even now, he hadn't exposed the identities of other candidates. For so many days, he had been dutifully playing the role of a native pirate captain.
In the last Simulation Field, and the one before that, he was already ranked first by this time. Now he was only in the 170s, he didn't feel safe at all...
Wasn't this low-profile enough?
Du Ge thought about it, but couldn't find any mistakes in his words or actions.
Since he wasn't wrong.
Then it must be the other party who was wrong.
He had to correct the other party's erroneous thinking.
Du Ge looked at Vito and explained seriously, "Vito, this is a good thing for us and it's part of the plan. We are partners after all. If both of us hide in the dark, we will only become more passive as time goes on.
I'm in the open, attracting everyone's attention, which can make more people come out. You hide in the dark, mark them, and further ambush them, then we can take the initiative in this Simulation Field. Don't forget, our skills can be combined."
"Is that so?" Vito looked doubtful.
"That's right." Du Ge looked at Vito and continued to instill his thoughts, "Vito, this is the elite preliminary competition, the competitors around us are all elites. Not those novices who can't even perform.
In such a world, if you want to achieve results, you can't follow the old methods.
The Art of War says, 'When you are substantial, you should appear insubstantial; when you are insubstantial, you should appear substantial.' Only by confusing the enemy about our real purpose can we achieve final victory.
Moreover, I feel that your understanding of keeping a low profile is somewhat biased.
Keeping a low profile is one thing, but we still need to develop our strength. Otherwise, when danger comes, we won't even have the ability to resist. Just like when you met me, luckily I'm a kind person, otherwise, you would have been eliminated. Without any strength, if the ship sinks, you fall into the sea, you can't even swim back..."
"Um, I think I understand." Vito looked at Du Ge thoughtfully, "Paul, when will you take me to see Mahamadu?"
"At least after the Battle of Hede Island, we don't have the strength to meet Mahamadu now. If you climb up step by step by yourself, the golden flowers will have cooled." Du Ge smiled.
To be honest.
After witnessing the efficiency of Vito's name change for Ramon, he was somewhat reluctant to let Vito go. Forcing Ramon Du Fei to change his name by himself would inevitably involve coercion and temptation, which was too troublesome.
(End of the chapter)