Never an Air Force Fishing Man

Before being escorted to the Wilton, Black cast one last glance back at the Hodir, his mind racing.
Though he usually wore a carefree, joking face, when it came to matters of life and death—he had to be serious.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the imperial party was now troubled by the matter of The Abyssal Rift.
Troubled, yes—but not helpless.
Elizabeth would find a way. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be empress.

Jörmungandr was one of the Twelve Dragon Kings, but after a thousand years of sealing, his power upon awakening would likely be less than one-tenth of his prime.
Even with the Abyssal Rift’s buffs and his summoned sea dragon horde, he wouldn’t be an insurmountable threat to the royal fleet.

By all logic, the next events should be simple: the royal fleet defeats Jörmungandr and returns in triumph.

Yet—that wasn’t how the original prologue played out.
Games were games. Without twists and turns, players would just complain the plot was flat and quit in seconds.

“According to Dragonblood’s prologue,” Black mused, “even if I hadn’t revealed Jörmungandr’s location, Elizabeth would’ve deduced it eventually. And besides her—Jiaye also knows, thanks to her prior knowledge from reading the novel.”

“If I’m right, Jiaye is already plotting how to kill Jörmungandr—and claim his Sovereignty of Water.”

His mind whirred with calculations.

In the game’s lore, Jiaye’s public class was Sorceress—but her true class was [Dragonrider].
That was her ultimate cheat skill—the core of her protagonist power.

The Dragonrider, the thirteenth class, had absurdly broken attributes—unparalleled strength.

Each time she killed a Dragon King, she gained a new Sovereignty—a powerful elemental buff.

For example: slay Jörmungandr, gain the Sovereignty of Water.
Unlock high-tier water magic.
Massively boost all water-based offense, defense, and resistance.

Currently, she was the only Dragonrider in the entire game world.
And besides her—only Black knew this.

Thinking of this, Black nearly choked on bitter tears.
Why was she the overpowered protagonist, while he got stuck with the most useless Pirate class?!

Damn game designers—what kind of balance is this?!

With Jiaye’s calculating nature, she had to claim the Sovereignty of Water.
Any obstacle in her way? Eliminated.

But for Black, this wasn’t bad news.
He had no intention of competing with her for the Sovereignty—so he wasn’t her enemy.
In fact, if Jiaye did kill Jörmungandr, he and the royal fleet would survive too.

But—would things really go that smoothly?

Black paused, mentally retracing the original plot.

In The Sea of Hidden Dragons Rising, the royal fleet—led by the empress—was capable of defeating Jörmungandr and the sea dragon tide.

Elizabeth should’ve had victory in hand.
But she hadn’t anticipated one thing: the Dragonblood Council had already planted agents within the fleet.

The Dragonblood Council was a unique villainous organization—formed by those who claimed descent from the Dragon Kings.
They were the protagonist’s greatest enemy outside the dragon race itself.

Their goal was simple: during the battle between the royal fleet and Jörmungandr, they’d sabotage from within.
Cause chaos, break order, isolate the empress—ensuring she faced Jörmungandr alone… and died.

It was a simple plan—but effective.

Fighting in the special zone of the Abyssal Rift meant sea dragons gained a 100% boost to attack and vitality.
The fleet was already struggling.
With hidden agents stirring unrest, the situation would become dire.

And this time, the Council had sent multiple elite operatives.
High-tier assassins at Level 70.

In the original game, this was the biggest crisis of the prologue.
This chapter had two endings:

• Good Ending: Jiaye, controlled by the player, turns the tide, defeats Jörmungandr, saves the fleet—and Second Princess Alice dies.
• Bad Ending: Player fails, fleet is wiped out, game over.
  Normally, with Jiaye as protagonist, the good ending had over a 50% chance.

But Black couldn’t afford to gamble.
This wasn’t a game of code and data anymore—dragons could eat people.
No one knew what unforeseen events might occur.
He refused to die here.

Yet he also couldn’t drastically alter the plot.
If he changed too much, he’d lose his player’s advantage—his knowledge of the story.

Weighing all factors, Black’s eyes narrowed.
He made his decision:
He would secretly guide the situation—assist the protagonist—and steer events toward the good ending.

But how?

Right now, he was just a Level 10 Beginner Pirate—useless class, no usable items left.
Only his intel gave him an edge.

But intel alone wasn’t enough.

Surely the Pirate class wasn’t completely useless?

Reluctantly, Black swiped open his [Profession] panel and tapped [Pirate].

A list of skills appeared. He scanned them—most were useless.

Until one ridiculously named passive skill caught his eye:

Skill: [Never Returns Empty-Handed Fisherman]
Required Item: [Golden Fishing Rod]
Effect: [100% chance to reel in the highest-combat-power aquatic creature within the current sea area]

WHAT?!
I forgot the Pirate class had this broken passive skill?!

Black’s eyes widened.
He’d held such a deep bias against the Pirate class—before and after transmigration—that he’d never truly studied it.

Now, this skill was a godsend!

With this, all he had to do was cast a line in the Caribbean Sea—and he’d guarantee catching Jörmungandr!

That meant he could trigger Jörmungandr’s appearance early.
They wouldn’t have to fight in the cursed Abyssal Rift!

Without the Rift’s buffs, Jörmungandr and his horde wouldn’t stand a chance against the royal fleet.

And the sudden battle would wreck the Dragonblood Council’s plans.

The odds of a good ending would skyrocket!

Now, only one problem remained:
The skill required the [Golden Fishing Rod]—crafted from an SSS-rarity material: [Violet-Gold Dragonbone].

Legend said this bone came from the spine of a near-Level 90 Jade Dragon—a beast just below the Dragon Kings in power.

A rod made from it catching a Dragon King? Not that surprising.

And—conveniently—the royal fleet already had a piece of Violet-Gold Dragonbone.
It was stored in the Hodir’s cabin—inside Empress Elizabeth’s private chamber.

Don’t ask how Black knew.
The answer? In the original game, Jiaye stole it—and forged her first 6-star weapon with it.