"Medical fee?"
Ghost Captain Van der Decken, who was still spinning wildly in place enjoying the sensation of being on "solid ground," suddenly froze at those two words.
His already pale-blue face turned even more translucent.
"About that... Lord Doctor..."
The captain floated awkwardly toward Victor, his two semi-transparent hands rubbing together like a schoolboy who had done something wrong.
"You see... my situation..."
He pointed to his ethereal, misty body.
"I left in a bit of a hurry and forgot to bring my wallet."
"Besides, we ghosts... usually don't use vulgar things like gold coins."
"So... could I perhaps..."
He attempted a flattering smile, but the stiff, ghastly face made the expression look more painful than a sob.
"...Pay on credit?"
"On credit?"
Before Victor could even speak, Elizabeth exploded from behind the counter.
Bang! She slammed the abacus down with a thunderous sound, her beautiful eyes blazing with fury.
"In your dreams!"
"In our Benevolent Heart Clinic's dictionary, there is no such word as 'credit'!"
"If you can't produce the medical fee today, I'll extract your spirit body and turn it into a limited-edition 'Captain-brand Ghostfire Lantern' to be auctioned at the front door!"
Elizabeth was truly incensed.
It was one thing to be vomited on earlier, but now he wanted to bail on the bill?
Did he think she, the Financial Manager, was just for show?!
"Wait... no! Heroine, spare me!"
The captain was scared out of his wits.
He could sense that the aura of this red-haired woman... was more terrifying than any sea monster queen he had encountered in life!
He had no doubt she could actually turn him into a lantern.
"Uh... Lord Doctor, please..."
He cast a pleading gaze toward Victor.
"Hmm..."
Victor rubbed his chin, pondering for a moment.
He didn't actually care about the small medical fee.
【The Flying Dutchman】.
This name had piqued a small amount of interest in him.
"Captain Van der Decken, was it?"
Victor looked at him, a kind smile appearing on his face.
"Since you have no money, that’s easy to settle."
"I've heard that among pirates, bartering is the fashion."
"Is that ship of yours... still around?"
"My ship?"
The captain blanked for a second, then puffed out his chest (though it was empty) with a look of pride.
"Of course it is!"
"My Flying Dutchman is the fastest, sturdiest legendary warship on the seven seas! It is bound to my soul and can never sink!"
"Though... because of my motion sickness, it's been docked at the Sorrowful Coast for several hundred years. It's covered in oysters and seaweed..."
The captain's voice grew smaller and smaller.
"Excellent."
Victor snapped his fingers, his expression saying 'deal.'
"In that case, we'll use your ship to settle the medical fee this time."
"Huh?!" The captain was shocked. "Lord Doctor, you want my ship?"
"Is there a problem?"
"No... no! Of course not!"
The captain waved his hands frantically.
Though it pained him to part with it, giving away a broken ship he hadn't sailed in centuries was a massive win compared to being turned into a lantern!
Moreover...
"Lord Doctor, if you become the ship's owner, does that mean... I can enjoy free 'seasickness care' for life?"
The captain asked cautiously.
"I'll consider it."
Victor remained noncommittal.
He turned around and waved to the group of God-Chosen whose eyes were already gleaming with excitement.
"Alright, today's outpatient clinic ends here."
"The remaining patients can come back tomorrow."
"Everyone, attention!"
Victor pointed toward the vast ocean outside the clinic like a captain about to initiate the Great Age of Sail.
"Change into your swimsuits... no, change into your combat uniforms!"
"We are... heading out to sea!"
...
One hour later, at the Sorrowful Coast.
This was the easternmost coastline of the Eternal Night Peninsula, named for the black reefs and deadly whirlpools that shrouded it year-round.
When Victor and his group followed Captain Van der Decken to the so-called "port."
Everyone fell silent.
Before them.
A massive three-masted sailing ship, nearly half the size of the clinic's castle, lay quietly grounded on the black beach.
Calling it a ship was an overstatement.
It was a heap of rotten wood on the verge of falling apart.
The hull was riddled with holes from seawater corrosion, covered in slippery moss and dense clusters of barnacles.
Two of the three main masts were broken, and the remaining one was tilted as if it might collapse at any second.
The sails had long since rotted into rags, fluttering weakly in the salty sea breeze.
The entire vessel emitted a thick aura of death and decay.
"This is... the legendary warship you mentioned?"
Elizabeth pinched her nose, looking at the "ghost ship" that was more dilapidated than a trash heap, her red eyes filled with disdain.
"Ahem."
Captain Van der Decken was also a bit embarrassed.
"It has just... slept for too long and hasn't quite woken up yet."
"As long as it has a new captain, it will regain its majesty in no time!"
"Is that so?"
Victor didn't show any disdain.
He stepped forward and pressed his hand against the cold, slippery gunwale.
【Ding!】
【Detected bindable unit: Flying Dutchman (Damaged/Cursed).】
【Would you like to consume points for repair and modification?】
"Repair."
Victor didn't hesitate.
He still had over twenty thousand points in his account—enough to turn this wreck into an interstellar battleship.
【Command confirmed.】
【Consuming points... 10,000.】
【Beginning 'System-level Repair and Magic-Energy Modification'...】
Buzz—!!!
As the system prompt finished.
A brilliant blue light radiated from Victor’s palm, spreading like a spiderweb to every corner of the ship in an instant!
Crack! Snap!
The rotten wooden planks rapidly peeled away and reorganized within the light.
The moss and barnacles attached to them were instantly purified into ash.
The broken masts regrew at a visible speed, becoming upright and sturdy.
The tattered sails were replaced by massive sails of light woven from ghostly blue energy.
The blurred statue at the bow also recongealed into a new form—it wasn't a mermaid or a goddess, but a figure in a white lab coat holding a chainsaw and a scalpel... a statue of Victor himself.
In just a few minutes.
The formerly dilapidated ghost ship had undergone a total transformation.
Its entire body took on a deep, obsidian-like luster, with sleek lines full of a sense of power. On the deck, several dark muzzles of magic-conduction cannons had even appeared.
The entire ship exuded a heart-stopping, terrifying aura, like a gargantuan beast of the deep.
【Modification complete!】
【"Flying Dutchman" has been renamed to "Black Pearl (Benevolent Heart Clinic Custom Edition)".】
【New features: Submersible Mode, Ghost Camouflage, Magic-Energy Acceleration Engine.】
"This... this is my ship?"
Van der Decken watched the "new ship"—which was more magnificent and domineering than the legendary Siren Queen’s carriage—his spirit body trembling with excitement.
"No."
Victor withdrew his hand and calmly corrected him.
"Now, it is my ship."
He turned around, flashing an aggressive smile at the group of God-Chosen who were staring in a daze.
"Ladies, get on board."
"Our target is the Sea of Stars... ahem, the deep sea."
"I hear that the seafood... no, the medicinal ingredients there, are particularly abundant."
...
Half an hour later.
The Black Pearl braved the winds and waves, sailing into the turbulent Sea of Mist.
With Van der Decken as the "old pro" navigator, they easily avoided deadly hidden reefs and whirlpools.
Helena stood at the bow, the radar in her mechanical pumpkin head fully powered on, scanning everything beneath the waves.
Mia and Alice leaned over the railing excitedly, watching the strange deep-sea fish swimming by, suspicious liquid dripping from their mouths.
"Director, that one looks delicious!"
"Director, can I cut this one off to make a specimen?"
Victor sat in the captain’s quarters, leisurely drinking coffee while looking at the sea chart.
Everything was quite pleasant.
However.
Just as they had sailed less than ten nautical miles from the coast.
"Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!"
A rapid alarm suddenly sounded from Helena's helmet.
"Commander!"
Helena's voice was cold and urgent.
"Radar has detected a large number of biological signatures!"
"Approaching rapidly from... below!"
Victor's expression shifted, and he immediately rushed out of the cabin.
He ran to the railing and looked down.
The previously calm black sea surface was now churning with countless tiny ripples.
Immediately after.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Heads with fish-like features, covered in slippery green scales and holding rusted harpoons, emerged from the water.
There were thousands upon thousands of them.
They stared intently with bulging, dead-fish eyes at the intruder that had suddenly entered their territory, letting out hostile "Gua! Gua!" cries.
"Murlocs!"
Captain Van der Decken shrieked.
"The most troublesome pirates in the Sea of Mist! They'll drag every passing ship into the abyss!"
"Pirates?"
Victor frowned as he looked at the murlocs, who were crooked, ugly, and even looked a bit malnourished.
He picked up a megaphone and shouted down:
"Listen up, you fish in front!"
"This is a medical vessel from the Benevolent Heart Clinic! We are conducting humanitarian aid!"
"Clear the waterway immediately! Or else... bear the consequences!"
However, the murlocs clearly didn't understand what "humanitarian aid" meant.
They only saw a few "two-legged sheep" with tender flesh on the ship.
"Gua! Gua! (Meat! Fresh meat!)"
A murloc leader raised a coral staff, signaling the attack.
In the next second.
Thousands of murlocs swarmed toward the Black Pearl like mad dogs.
"Sigh."
Victor watched this scene and shook his head helplessly.
"Why are there always so many patients who won't listen to advice?"
He turned around, giving a kind smile to the women who were already itching for a fight.
"Don't just stand there."
"Tonight... we're having a feast."
Rate on N.U.
