(Shield Guard: Attack 2, Defense 8, HP 20, Damage 2-5, Attack Speed 12, Movement Speed 8, Leadership 2, Special Skills: Great Shield, Shield Formation. If a player takes the Shield Guard class, the starting weapon and equipment grant +2 personal attack and +8 personal defense, but personal attack and defense do not apply to the army. Leadership 2 means it takes 2 leadership points to command one Shield Guard.)

Wow! All the spearman players in the audience were in an uproar! His starting stats are way too good! Everyone else starts as a level 1 weakling spearman with 0 attack and defense, 1-3 damage, and 10 HP, but he’s a level 3 unit with 10 more attribute points than everyone else! And he still has the nerve to complain about unfairness?

Sapphire sneered coldly: “Fairness? You people who leave your fate to the gods just want to get a shortcut ahead of others, don’t you? And you think you’re qualified to talk about fairness?”

Blake Storm replied coldly: “I paid money for the chance to be chosen by the gods, that’s what’s fair! As for you, arbitrarily raising someone’s level, that’s what’s unfair!”

Sapphire burst out laughing: “When you hand your fate over to someone else, don’t even dream of fairness! But, I can give you a fair chance—if you have the ability to seize it!”

Blake Storm said proudly: “The reason I was chosen by the gods is because, no matter what my fate is, I have the ability to seize it! My specialty is Admiral, do as you see fit!” He then publicly revealed his hero specialty!

—Admiral: The hero’s army gains extra overall combat power at sea as the hero’s level increases.

The whole audience gasped: “God-tier hero!!!”

It boosts overall combat power! Not just attack and defense! Combat power includes attack, defense, speed, morale, and all other factors! Who could beat him at sea?

And David Carter was even more shocked, jaw dropping to the floor! Are god-tier heroes as common as dogs? They were all in the same lottery, so why didn’t he have such good luck? They both have water-related skills, but compared to him, David Carter’s specialty is just trash! Ridiculous! Unfair! Totally unfair!

Sapphire sneered coldly: “Very well, the empire’s most remote frontier island is in urgent need of ambitious young people to guard it. You can go there and be your Admiral!”

A flash of white light, and Blake Storm vanished!

The crowd in the hall let out a collective sigh.

The spotlight flashed, this time landing on David Carter! My turn?

Sapphire asked coldly: “What is your ambition?”

David Carter’s heart skipped a beat! This guy seems to be calling on people with similar specialties in a row, so after the Admiral, it’s my turn with Storm Sailing! But different people have different fates—there’s no way I’m going to some remote frontier island. I want to take quests in a big port city, build up reputation, make big money, and buy a huge galleon!

David Carter answered properly: “I want to be a maritime merchant and contribute to the empire’s commercial prosperity.”

Sapphire said blandly: “Is that so? The empire’s most remote frontier island is in urgent need of ambitious young people to develop it. You can go there and be your maritime merchant!”

“Damn!” A flash of white light, and David Carter vanished!

The scene changed! Azure sea and blue sky, seagulls flying.

—System prompt: You have arrived at the newbie trial scene, Miracle Island!

And naturally, right beside him was another person looking around—Blake Storm!

(Note: Galleon, the most mainstream large ocean-going sailing ship of Western maritime powers from the 16th to 18th centuries, with 4 masts, 50 meters long, 2,000 tons displacement, replaced by steamships after the Industrial Revolution. The ships in the game are also designed in this antique style.)

Chapter 3: Two People on a Deserted Island

This was a rocky deserted island barely a hundred meters across. Other than a few coconut trees and a dilapidated large sailing ship that had been stranded on the shore for who knows how many years, there was nothing else! A newbie village with no one in it! The difficulty of this start could only be described as desperate!

Could it be that my specialty is also a god-tier skill, so I got the same starting treatment as this Admiral? Before entering the game, David Carter had done his homework—players who randomly get better specialties face a harder starting difficulty. Of course, no matter how hard it is or how nasty the examiner is, there’s at least one thing: the examiner will always assign you according to your specialty, meaning there’s no way an Admiral would be sent to a desert mountain area. It’s precisely because of this that Blake Storm dared to provoke and anger the examiner without worry, and then got assigned to this desperate place! And the more desperate the place, the greater the potential rewards!

Damn! A deserted island, mysterious treasure, a shipwreck, unimaginable gains—everything should have been prepared for the protagonist alone! And now? There’s actually one more person! My god! Did you send this god-tier hero to mess with me, or did you send me to mess with him?

Now, David Carter and Blake Storm both withdrew their gazes from the obviously promising stranded ship and looked at each other!

Sensing the other’s unfriendly gaze, David Carter couldn’t help but tense up! In a place like this, there’s no room for two tigers on one mountain, right? Is he going to PK me? He’s a level 3 unit! That’s basically unbeatable—he could take on three of me without breaking a sweat!

David Carter immediately gave a tactful, friendly laugh: “Bro, hello, hello, it’s fate that we meet on this deserted island. Let’s look out for each other from now on.”

Blake Storm said coldly: “I’ve seen you before. You were just in the same newbie hall as me.”