Chapter 54: Chapter 54: One More Ship
Raphael read Celula’s message and fell silent for a full ten seconds.
It wasn’t until the old man next to her nudged her arm that she snapped out of it.
"Raphael, you okay?" the old man with the long beard asked, his face full of concern.
Raphael steadied herself. She opened the chat with Dickharald and sent a trade request: "Captain Dick, when are you paying back what you owe me?"
Instead, a string of red exclamation marks popped up. A harsh alarm blared.
[Target’s soul mutation has reached 100%. Soul has fully turned Eldritch. Survivor system access has been revoked...]
Seeing this, Raphael gasped. "Dickharald’s ship has gone under!"
She grabbed the old man’s arm. "Toti, turn the ship around right now. We’re heading to that area to check it out."
Minutes ticked by.
An ocean trawler cut through the center of a sea stained red with blood.
Countless severed limbs washed up on the deck, making the Survivors on board frown.
Inside the helm, Toti slammed his fist on the console. "Damn it! No ship debris. Those idiots lost the whole vessel!"
Raphael sat on the watchtower, letting out a sigh. "There’s no going back now. None of us expected that monster to have such a hidden killing method. We got careless."
Pinching her brow, she added, "Toti, tell the crew to pick up the pace. We need to leave this blood-soaked water before dark. Otherwise, tonight’s Eldritch attack will be brutal."
Toti’s face turned serious immediately. "On it."
Raphael watched him leave and sighed again. She forwarded the grim news to the region channel. The temporary alliance erupted instantly.
"Who can tell me what the hell happened? How did Dickharald and his crew actually die?"
"Fucking hell! In two minutes. Two minutes to wipe out an entire ship’s worth of Survivors. Can we really win against that thing?"
"Damn it! The monster got the ship. Once it recovers its strength, we’re dead meat."
Raphael read through the panic and closed her eyes, sighing.
Then she typed out a string of orders in the channel: "Listen up. The monster got the ship, so it won’t be attacking us for now."
"We need to hurry and link up. Only by joining forces with all eighteen ships do we stand a chance of killing it."
At that moment, every captain understood the situation.
If Dickharald could be taken out without a sound, they could be next.
They all agreed: get to the waters near Kevin’s island as fast as possible.
At least there, they wouldn’t have to face the Mist Phantom King alone.
Back on the brig’s bridge, sisters Celula and Monchhichi looked just as worried.
They’d been coordinating with the alliance the whole time, so they knew exactly what had gone down in the last hour.
"That thing is way stronger than we thought. Sister, does Captain actually have a plan to take it down?" Celula’s voice was low, full of doubt.
She paused, frowning. "Wait... why did it seem so much weaker when Captain first fought it? It didn’t feel nearly as scary as everyone’s saying."
Celula let out a sigh and stared out the window toward where Kevin had gone.
The Deepsea Mist was so thick she could barely make out anything but a wall of green fog.
"At least the captain made that thing back off," Monchhichi said, her voice dropping. "And none of those Survivors made it out. Thinking back on it... he probably already knew the monster’s weak spots. He made it look way easier to handle than it really was."
"Think about it," Monchhichi continued. "Every move he made during that fight... he completely shut down the monster. Didn’t even let it use its full power."
Nova nodded along. "Yeah. That guy is definitely hiding something."
Celula pouted. "That jerk’s still keeping secrets from us."
Nova laughed and flicked her nose. "Jealous? Or do you want to share a bunk with him tonight? Maybe then he’ll spill the beans."
Celula’s face turned bright red. She stomped her foot. "Pfft! I’m not falling for that creep! If he won’t tell me, I’ll just ask Luna and Amelia later!"
Just then, the bridge door swung open. Luna and Amelia walked in.
Seeing them, Celula’s face burned again, and she ducked behind Monchhichi.
Luna set a crystal-clear silicon chunk on a shelf, then turned with a smile. "Hey kid, what did you say you wanted to ask us?"
Celula shot Nova a glare, changing the subject. "Nothing. Is the silicon block ready? The captain’s probably on another ship. Should we just drop it off for him?"
Amelia smiled and shook her head. "Nah. The captain said all the loot and supplies we get are for us to use."
She handed Nova a C-Tier gear set. "Put this on. We’re gonna have a rough night. Kevin just told me to make sure you all take turns resting."
Nova took the three pieces, her eye twitching.
She’d seen that exact set on Luna and Amelia. Even Celula and Monchhichi were wearing the same style.
She’d assumed they were just basic gear.
But after actually checking the stats, her eyes went wide. "These three items... they cancel out each other’s flaws AND boost the stats at the same time?"
Mid-sentence, it clicked. "Wait a second! You all have the exact same gear? One set each? That’s gotta be a coincidence!"
Amelia chuckled at Nova’s shock. "Don’t freak out. It’s Kevin’s little secret. Only crew members he personally picks get to know the truth."
Celula and Monchhichi were ready to press for answers, but Amelia had zero plans to spill.
Luna just shrugged, playing dumb.
Now all three girls were left looking equal parts curious and a little miffed.
They couldn’t help but feel a little bitter. Why would Kevin share the truth with Luna and Amelia but leave them in the dark?
At the same time, Kevin was sitting on George’s boat. In front of him lay dozens of drones and Glock 19 pistols.
He loaded the Fireball rounds he had prepared into the magazines one by one, then fixed the gun stocks to the bottoms of the drones.
After that, Kevin took out grenade after grenade and strapped them to the tails of the drones.
Just like that, Kevin’s first batch of armed drones was ready.
He stood up, waved a hand toward the sky, and activated his ability—"Mechanical Sovereign."
Soon, the drones, even though they had no batteries, began to spread their rotors. They slowly rose into the air and circled around Kevin.
In an instant, it was as if dozens of screens had opened inside Kevin’s mind. Each one showed the live feed from a drone’s camera.
What shocked Kevin even more was that his brain could handle all of the feeds at the same time. Not a single detail in any of the images slipped past him.
Kevin nodded in satisfaction.
"Just as I thought. I can not only control them, I can also receive and process the electronic signals they send back. This is the truly terrifying part of the Mechanical Sovereign Talent."
Next, Kevin tested the drones’ controls.
Within a hundred meters of him, he could control them with no trouble at all. But once any drone flew beyond that range, the mental pressure on him grew several times heavier.
After several rounds of testing, Kevin confirmed his limit.
Three hundred meters.
Beyond that distance, the drones would completely lose control and power, then drop straight into the sea.
Even so, Kevin was more than satisfied with the result.
He put the drones away one by one, then turned and picked up the radio. He connected to the helm of the Two-Masted Sloop / Brig.
"Everything’s ready. Set sail!"
Fifteen nautical miles away from the deserted island, in the middle of the open sea, ships of all shapes and sizes began to enter the area.
Raphael stood on the lookout platform, silently counting the ships around them. Her face was tense.
"Sixteen... seventeen... eighteen..."
Toti stood beside her and slowly lit a cigarette. He took a drag.
"Cough, cough. Looks like all our allies made it here safely."
As soon as he said that, Toti was about to take another drag.
But Raphael’s eyes suddenly went wide, and she cried out in shock, "What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t count our ship! If we include us, that makes nineteen! There’s one extra ship!"
Her voice came out fast and sharp.
Toti was so startled that he stumbled. The cigarette burned the corner of his mouth, but he didn’t even feel the pain.
With shaking hands, he reached for his waist. Only after grabbing his pistol did he steady himself a little. Then he shouted at the crew on deck.
"Enemy attack!"
The alarm rang out at once, loud enough for the nearby ships to hear.
Seeing this, the Survivors on the other fleets quickly opened the regional channel, ready to complain.
But before anyone could say a word, Raphael sent a message and cut them all off.
"Everyone, listen up! The ship that monster stole is hiding among us!"
"Now, take a picture of your ship’s shape and post it in the channel! Right now! Move!"
