"I've got 9 titles," Dan said as he went through them again, "Some of them sound... interesting to say the least."

  He felt that he could expand each title to see why he got them and what they did.

  "Are the ones you mentioned Void Sailor and Kin of the Abyss?" Robert asked, continuing once he saw Dan nod, "I asked around and it seems that all of us have those two. The description of the first is for crossing the void between universes, whatever that is. And the second seems to be for meeting some kinda being and... being connected to it in some ways."

  "Doesn't sound ominous at all," William murmured, and Dan had to agree, that was quite the title.

  "You should take a look at them and tell us what you find," Robert said, "I'm interested in what you'd get as our captain."

  "Okay," Dan started going through his titles one by one.

  -Veteran Sailor: You've spent most of your life on open waters. You're more experienced than most sailors out there and it shows. Your ship is faster, more stable in windy waters and consumes less fuel.

  -Veteran Captain: You've led your crew for years, you've spent more time as a captain than some people did as normal sailors. Your crew members listen to you more easily, there's less chance of mutiny and your ship moves faster and consumes less fuel.

  -Seafarer: You've taken your passengers on journeys around the world, making their comfort and enjoyment your top priority. Lowers the chance of illnesses for your passengers and crew. Raises the comfort of passengers while on your ship.

  Dan could understand those three, he did spend most of his life on water after all. His family lived close to the sea and his childhood was spent playing on their boat or next to the beach. He also saw what Robert meant with the titles having some effects on the ship, and it was welcomed, anything that would lower their fuel consumption was a plus.

  He continued with the remaining titles.

  -Trusted Captain: Your crew is extremely loyal to you, they harbor no hatred or distrust and would serve you till the end. As long as their trust is there, you find it easier to raise their morale, lower their discomfort and keep them calm in stressful situations.

  This one made Dan break into a smile, he found it warming to know that even the system acknowledged that his crew trusted him.

  -Water Dweller: In the last 20 years, you've spent more than 80% of your time on the water, you only feel comfortable while on a ship and consider it your true home. Lower the chance of food and water spoiling. Raises the speed of your ship while lowering the fuel consumption. You find swimming less stressing. Ocean Dwellers feel a closeness to you.

  -Pirates Survivor: Many a time have you succeeded in defending your ship from pirates, coming out with minimum casualties and losses. Raises the morale of your crew when facing pirates and makes pirates less willing to attack your ship.

  These two also weren't that hard to believe. Ever since he started his work as a cruise ship captain, he rarely had vacations. Not because he couldn't but because he felt that he had no reason to. It was his life, and even when he returned home, he would spend most time on his small personal boat. The mention of Ocean Dwellers made him pause though.

  As for pirates, it was unfortunate to say, but their last meeting with them in this new world wasn't his first face off with them. He had been through his fair share of pirate attacks and he was just happy that he, his crew and his ship all came out safe from those.

  -Void Sailor: You've done something few did, you crossed the void between universes and survived, finding yourself in this new world. Gives the Translation skill. Makes it easier to level up before reaching the average level in this world, level 45.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  -Kin of the Abyss: You've met a being beyond your comprehension and survived to tell the tale. It sent you to this world because you managed to hold Its interest for a fraction of a second, a monumental achievement! Even It never would have imagined that you would manage to assimilate a fraction of Its aura and make it part of you. Beasts, monsters and keen people sense a dreadful aura from you, making them hesitant to attack you. You find it easier to intimidate people when you want to. Ocean Dwellers feel a closeness to you.

  And there it was with the Ocean Dwellers again. Dan didn't know what that was about, something he had been feeling again and again in this new world.

  "Wow," Old William said, it seemed that he too was reading his titles, "That was something. Those two titles you mentioned make you wonder about how we got here, huh."

  Dan nodded at his words. Those titles put into perspective what they went through. He couldn't remember the meeting the being the system was talking about, but he doubted it got it wrong. So it was either that they forgot it, or something else was at play. Dan then continued to the last title he had in his list.

  -Supreme Captain: Unique Title: You are the captain of the biggest ship in the world, you command the world's biggest marvel and your crew are some of the best in their field. Go out there and open the waters for those who come after you. Raises the speed of your ship. Lowers the fuel consumption. Raises the morale of your crew. Makes your ship more durable and stable in windy seas. Keep on being the captain and you shall reap more rewards.

  Again a small smile appeared on his face as he saw this. It was fun seeing his ship getting this recognition. But soon, his expression froze and a certain thought passed through his mind.

  "Shit," he exclaimed unconsciously.

  "What's wrong?" Robert asked in confusion. William too looked from what Dan supposed was his profile towards him.

  "I think we are in some deep trouble," Dan said as he swept his hand through his hair. "I have a unique title here, it's called Supreme Captain. It's given to the captain of the biggest ship in the world."

  "Captain of the biggest ship in the world..." William whispered to himself before a look of realisation appeared on his face, "Someone already knows that we are here. Someone must have had this title before, they lost it once we got here, they know that a bigger ship is out there."

  "Well, shit," Robert echoed, "Let me try and see if I can find anything about this."

  With those words, he hurried inside the bridge again. Dan watched through the glass as he walked towards Nulara, the girl they fished out of the water, and whispered something to her. He pointed to them and Dan waved as the girl's eyes met his. The girl lifted her hand slightly and hesitantly waved back.

  "So," Robert said once he returned with the girl a few steps behind him, "I thought we could ask her about the thing we were just discussing."

  The girl shrank back a bit as Dan and William's eyes fell on her. Dan smiled gently as he tried to comfort her:

  "Don't worry, we just need to ask you a few questions, okay?"

  "Okay," Nulara nodded slowly, clearly uncertain.

  Dan remembered something the girl had mentioned before when they were questioning her about the slavers. She said that no one wanted the Empire sending the King of the Oceans after them. He kind of guessed that she meant a ship by that, and by the way she said it, that might have been the ship that held the title before him.

  "The King of the Oceans is the Empire's biggest ship, right?" He asked, as if he was just stating what he already knew and was leading to something with it. Seeing her nod in a bit of confusion, he continued, "It's the world's biggest ship, right?"

  "Yeah," the girl answered, her voice gaining a hint of excitement, "It's literally the king of the oceans! It took the Empire years of funneling their entire effort and manpower to finish it. It even survived encounters with Behemoths! Can you believe that? To return safe from a fight against a Behemoth!"

  Nulara's voice kept on rising the more she spoke, her excitement and fascination with the ship clear. But then she noticed how the three men in front of her had weird expressions as they listened to her. She stopped herself from going on as she scratched her head embarrassedly.

  "Well, shit, truly." Dan could barely hear William whisper from behind him. He ignored the panicking old man and instead gathered himself as he asked,

  "The King Of The Oceans is a warship right?" He still had a bit of hope that it might not be, but the girl's next words destroyed any chance of that.

  "Yes?" She answered in confusion, "It is the Empire's strongest warship. Captained by Admiral Kain Montclair. The fleet he leads is the biggest in the Empire. But that's to be expected, after all, he is the highest levelled individual in the Empire. It's even said that he could take down ships single-handedly, without his ship at all!"

  "Yes," Dan forced himself to say as his heart skipped a beat.

  There might be a magical warship on their tail.

  BONUS CHAPTER coming in a couple of hours~~