As soon as he said this, he noticed that the always-silent Rodney showed a look of shock and suspicion, as if thinking ‘this guy is an idiot’, but quickly controlled his expression. If it weren’t for the fact that Ethan had recently been training his mental strength and slightly enhanced his senses, he probably wouldn’t have noticed.

Wood, on the other hand, smiled and said, “Young people are very courageous, but although the Sea of Tranquility looks nice, drifting on the sea for years searching for islands that could appear at any moment is not such a wonderful life.”

As for persuading Ethan to stop dreaming and go home to live an honest life, he didn’t say that—maybe he’d seen too many young people with dreams?

“What kind of things are there to collect on those islands?”

Now that he roughly understood what this world was like, Ethan thought it was a bit ridiculous, but since he’d already transmigrated and had a magical compass in his hand, it didn’t matter if this world was a little stranger.

“Food, minerals, wood... as long as you can carry it, almost everything you see can be collected and exchanged on Stat Island for the supplies you need. You can even commission ships, recruit sailors, and so on...”

Ethan understood: everything you can find is useful. After all, in a world full of oceans, everything is in short supply, so everything is valuable.

Stat Island is like a town in an online game, helping adventurers turn the resources they find into what they need and selling it back, thus sustaining everyone’s survival here.

“It seems there must be a rather powerful ruler on this island.” Without absolute power, it would be impossible to make everyone follow the rules he set.

Wood continued his rookie orientation for Ethan, stuffing all the basic knowledge about the Sea of Tranquility into Ethan’s brain.

He finally learned that this world really had no concept of east, south, west, or north; they determined direction by where the sun rose and set.

“We’re now sailing toward where the sun rises, and we’ll reach Stat Island. If you really want to make a living at sea, I suggest you go to the Navigator’s Guild on the island and apply for membership first.”

“What’s that?”

With Wood’s explanation, Ethan gained a deeper understanding of this world.

The Navigator’s Guild provides some conveniences for adventurers making a living at sea, such as basic food, clothing, shelter, and transportation; helping store supplies that aren’t immediately needed or are hard to sell, or selling them on your behalf; and also offers an open trading platform. In addition, you can store personal property in a personal account at the Navigator’s Guild, and so on.

At the same time, the guild also offers adventurers some perks, such as priority access to rare supplies, and even priority help in repairing or building ships for guild members.

“And when you have enough excellent crew members and a sturdy, reliable ship, you can try to cross the safest route through the Sea of Storms, reach new seas, and get one step closer to that legendary endless land...”

Wood had mentioned before that he and his companions only tried to cross the Sea of Storms when they felt strong enough. Departing from Stat Island and sailing straight toward where the sun sets is the safest route through the Sea of Storms.

But calling it the safest route is only relative to crossing the Sea of Storms from other places—this route just has milder storms, gentler waves, and no thunder and lightning.

Obviously, Wood failed. Fortunately, they hadn’t gone far into the Sea of Storms, so he and Rodney survived and held on until Ethan rescued them.

After talking for so long, Wood just leaned there and fell asleep. He and Rodney had been struggling in the sea for who knows how long, and their strength had long since reached its limit.

It was only the extreme excitement and joy of being rescued that kept him in a hyperactive state, allowing him to tell Ethan so much. Once that feeling passed and the fatigue surged in, he couldn’t hold on any longer and fell asleep like a dead pig.

Rodney also slept deeply, curled up and unable to stretch out, but showing no sign of waking up from discomfort.

The small wooden boat, already piled with stuff, now had three people squeezed in. Ethan looked around and decided to just sit by the helm, leaning against a pile of odds and ends to get through the night.

The lesson of always being on guard was a constant reminder to him, so he didn’t dare to sleep soundly. Using the excuse of making progress, he sailed through the night, only closing his eyes for brief rests.

The next few days were fairly peaceful. Ethan remained vigilant at all times, while Wood and Rodney didn’t seem to have any ill intentions. Wood continued to teach Ethan some basic knowledge, and Rodney remained as silent as ever. The three of them, in a small boat, sailed straight to the largest unsinkable island in the Sea of Tranquility: Stat Island.

The small boat found a spot in Stat Island’s bustling harbor and docked. Only then did the three, finally back on solid ground, formally say their goodbyes.