Xiao Daidzhao

Growing up with eccentric materialistic parents who left him in the care of his grandfather for a job overseas, Zhang Heng had learned to adapt and be unfettered by the oddities and challenges in life. But he would soon learn the baffling truth about the world he thought he knew when one day at midnight time froze and he found himself in a world so quiet and still it was deafening. That night, he discovered that he had 24 hours more than everybody else and thus, marked the beginning of his adventures. The mysteries surrounding his newfound ability only deepened when a strange old man claimed to have given Zhang Heng that ‘gift of time’ and recruited the young man to participate in a cryptic ‘life-changing’ game on his behalf. Little did Zhang Heng know that accepting those terms meant embroiling himself in many versions of reality and exposing himself to the hidden secrets of the world—a decision he could never undo.

48 Hours a Day

Zhang Heng stood outside his house and watched the black carriage disappear into the night. He then turned around and noticed the door was secretly opened.

"Didn't I ask you to go to sleep?"

Zhang Heng knew who was standing behind the door without even looking at it.

"Whenever I think that you went out in the middle of the night, I just can't sleep. I need to know what is going on," said Anne.

"Instead of peeking at me, you should help me to figure out a way to recruit more pirates to join my ship. We will set sail in two months. I will figure out a way to purchase a sloop before that. We need at least ten pirates to operate the sloop, especially a cannoneer. Do you have any potential recruits in mind so far?"

"When I make friends with others, I prioritize their loyalty and fighting prowess more than anything else. I don't usually ask about their background information!" Anne said proudly.

Black Sail XXVI