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

"What?! That… that… ship over there is yours?!" Anne's jaw nearly fell to the ground. "Don't tell me that you've really found Kidd's treasure? But that can't be right. Even if you had money, you still wouldn't be able to afford an entire frigate, right?"

"That's a long story. I'll explain to you some other time. Right now, tell me, how did the cannoneer recruitment go?"

Although the Jackdaw was a rather spacious vessel, Zhang Heng did not plan to recruit too many crew for their first voyage. Including Anne, he now had a core team of eighteen members. He planned to recruit another fifteen at the beach, including skilled seafarers such as cooks and carpenters. Then he would have Anne recommend seven to eight more people, mainly gunners, so the organizational structure would be relatively stable.

A New Beginning