Chapter 18 So-Called Having Zhang Liang's Plan, I Have a Ladder to Climb Over the Wall

As the saying goes, "So-called having Zhang Liang's plan, I have a ladder to climb over the wall." The blind man Matt didn't know that Fang Senyan was just using the position of boatswain as a stepping stone and had no intention of working there until retirement to collect a pension. Therefore, his suggestion was a perfect fit for Fang Senyan. So, after Fang Senyan paid ten pounds, he obtained the opportunity to practice basic footwork with the blind man Matt for one hour every morning for three consecutive days. Each practice had a 30% chance of improving his basic footwork ability, but the maximum improvement would not exceed the blind man Matt's mastered basic footwork level of Lv3.

The blind man Matt was also very anxious, because he also believed that he was not Fang Senyan's opponent in terms of organization, scheduling, and direct confrontation. Therefore, this opportunity to practice footwork was a rare stage for him to show that he could be better than Fang Senyan. Therefore, even though there were not many pirates left on the ship at this time, he still asked Fang Senyan to come to practice for one hour in the morning. Fang Senyan also responded positively to his move. The final result was that both of them were happy. Fang Senyan successfully obtained the 30% chance and his basic footwork was successfully upgraded to Lv2. The blind man Matt also successfully used his agile footwork to highlight Fang Senyan's clumsiness, winning a series of exclamations among the pirates.

After upgrading the basic footwork by one level, Fang Senyan finally made up for his shortcomings in close combat. The three most important attributes for close combat are undoubtedly strength, agility, and physique. Strength determines the power and suppression ability against the enemy when fighting, agility is the embodiment of speed, and physique determines how long you can support in the battle. For the difficulty of this world, Fang Senyan's 12 strength (not counting title bonuses, because it is limited) can be regarded as above average, and the high 170 points of health is even excellent, but the mere 8 points of agility is his weakest link.

In the real world, there is a very philosophical wooden barrel principle, that is, how much water a wooden barrel can hold does not depend on the longest barrel plank, but on the shortest one. At this time, Fang Senyan's basic footwork was upgraded to Lv2, which undoubtedly raised his overall strength by a notch. And he still had two more opportunities to practice with the blind man Matt. If he could seize the opportunity to upgrade his basic footwork by one level again, it would undoubtedly be more helpful to Fang Senyan's subsequent plans.

After getting these chores done, Fang Senyan went to the ship again to try shooting the matchlock gun to see if he could cultivate abilities such as basic ranged combat. Unfortunately, it was obvious that he had no talent in this area. The hit rate for targets beyond five meters was appalling. It seemed that even if all the inventory on the Bell and Wine Glass was wasted, there would be no improvement. However, Kerry was still trying to sneak in a few shots to enjoy himself. However, the first mate, Long-Legged Robben, immediately stood up and sternly stopped this waste of public property - even though he had been diligently loading the guns for Fang Senyan to test just a minute ago.

For these pirates, this kind of strong wind and waves plus gloomy weather can be directly equated with paid annual leave. Most pirate captains will let their ships dock in the port and let these bastards under their command vent heartily. Of course, the side effect is that they spend every last penny in their pockets on prostitutes, liquor, and gambling. In this way, once the weather clears, these scoundrels who are so poor that they will lose their pants will howl and pounce on the wealth of merchant ships with high morale.

Therefore, even a strict person like Armand can only train his men for about an hour every morning and then let them rush to the bars and casinos. Otherwise, these ferocious and rude guys will not be able to endure such "tyranny" and will run away. After all, for pirates, it is still in a period of "economic recovery," and pirate ships will continue to recruit people. A high-quality senior pirate who dares to fight is still very popular if he wants to find a job.

It was boring to be alone on the empty pirate ship. Fang Senyan also went directly to the bar to try his luck, and by the way, see if he could find any hidden missions or meet pirates with high affinity. However, he regretted that after wasting two full hours, he felt that such an attempt was about the same as trying to win the lottery - at this time, Fang Senyan suddenly remembered the old cross he got from the transaction with Old Barry. It is said that this thing is a token of a certain alchemist master. He had somewhat ignored this add-on transaction, because Old Barry was not a kind person, and his crazy exploitation obviously left a very bad impression on him. Therefore, Fang Senyan did not pay much attention to this so-called alchemist master. However, in this free time where he didn't know what to do, Fang Senyan could only go and see if he could use it to kill time.

Under the guidance of a pirate, Fang Senyan walked along the mottled stone road to the end of the east end of the port. Because of the wind and rain, the port road, which looked more beautiful and flat in sunny weather, had now become a swamp full of stones. When walking, if you are not careful, a turbid, ochre stream of water will splash out from the cracked stone slabs under your feet, splashing all over your pants in an embarrassing manner, not to mention the carriages passing by.

It can be seen from the deep ruts worn out on some stone slabs that the main road in the port has not been maintained for at least twenty years. Obviously, the Fokker family, which rules this free port, has no intention of maintaining and repairing the port at all. From this point of view, the decline of Tortuga Port is not accidental. If it were not for the solid foundation laid by the ancestors, it would be a miracle to even support it to this point.

Although the impression that alchemy gives people is mostly related to various materials and drugs, in fact, that is only a branch of alchemy. The origin of alchemy is people's desire for gold, this

kind of beautiful and rare precious metal, so the ultimate dream and subject of every alchemist is to study how to convert cheap metals - such as lead, iron, and copper - into gold. And on the long road of alchemy, it also laid the foundation for modern chemistry.

Now in front of Fang Senyan is a very typical house where alchemists live. The dense windows allow the toxic gases inside to quickly dissipate, and the pointed roof increases the area of the attic, which undoubtedly can store more materials. The mottled black walls around symbolize that fires often occur here, but it seems that the speed of extinguishing the fire is as fast as the speed of the fire.

Fang Senyan knocked on the solid and heavy oak door in front of him. There was no response. The sound that was fed back was a burst of flapping wings. Then the door opened silently, without the "creaking" sound that Fang Senyan had expected. Facing him was an owl hanging in a birdcage made of beech wood. This guy tilted his head and stared at Fang Senyan with a pair of emerald green vertical pupils. Fang Senyan also noticed that the area here was very large. There were various used crystal beakers, test tubes, distillers, and half-drank coffee stacked on the table next to him. There was also a plate that seemed to have dried tomato sauce ... Fortunately, there were no flies flying around - otherwise, he would have to pay tribute to the strong gastrointestinal tract of the owner of this place.

An old man wearing a pointed black hat was sitting behind the laboratory table five meters away. He heard the sound and raised his head, his gaze passing through the dirty test tubes, dark green boiling liquid, and the lit alcohol lamp before focusing on Fang Senyan's face. Obviously, Fang Senyan's pitiful charm did not play any positive role. The old man with a face full of wrinkles said sternly:

"Get out! This place does not welcome any rude and stupid guys!"

Fang Senyan helplessly took out the old cross and shook it on his finger. The old man was stunned for a moment, then stretched out his hand as if to verify the authenticity of the cross. After a while, he said impatiently:

"It seems that Old Barry owes you a favor ... but he doesn't seem to have told you that he also owes the great alchemist Mr. Bacon ten pounds, right?" Fang Senyan was stunned and said:

"What does that have to do with me?" Bacon said coldly:

"Since Old Barry gave you this cross, it means that he will not patronize my business again. That loan has become a dead debt, and of course it will fall on you to repay." Fang Senyan still wanted to argue a few words, but he soon realized that it was futile. In front of this strange old man, there were only two paths. One was to turn around and walk out, and the other was to obediently give him ten pounds. If he continued to talk, he was afraid that he would not even have the chance to give ten pounds. After paying a considerable amount, Fang Senyan finally obtained the right to enjoy alchemy services.

At Bacon's suggestion, Fang Senyan sat on a bench next to him. On the wall next to him was a strange mural. The sun with an evil smile had an upturned mustache, and a string of small bells hung on the crescent moon in the lower right corner. In the world of alchemy, the sun symbolizes gold, and the moon symbolizes silver. The meaning of this painting symbolizes the two ultimate pursuit goals of the alchemist world. Just as Fang Senyan was wondering if sitting on this bench was a waste of time, a burning black smoke suddenly appeared on the seemingly terrible table in front of him, and then living characters were burned out on the table.

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