The severed grappling hooks writhed like dying pythons, dragging those below that had failed to dodge in time, tumbling with the broken metal hooks into the viscous seawater below the high cable, a sea that refused to leave.

The ship over there began to slowly turn, altering its course to head rearward.

Yang Zicang only then saw it — was thathalfa ship’s bow? How was it still moving?

｛Distributor February. Di’an expresses curiosity.｝

｛Musing Night!｝

A layer of eerie chill rapidly emanated from Yang Zicang, sweeping across the others. Within his perception, the figures who had fallen into the sea were being dragged away by several long, severed halves of the hooks.

｛Distributor Loki Tata Mingqi expresses “Impressive. “｝

｛Distributor Loki Tata Mingqi expresses “Keep it up. “｝

Yang Zicang was about to tear off his silk scarf to launch an attack, but Kim Tae-cheol shouted, “Don’t chase him, President. Don’t kill them yet. “

｛Distributor Loki Tata Mingqi expresses “Disappointment. “｝ “Why? “

The muscular Karl spoke from behind, “The more people die, the stronger their ship becomes. Conversely, the more we lose on our side… the stronger we… “

He did not finish the thought; he recalled the terrifying executive force of President Buchen back at the inn.

-｛Distributor Loki·Tata Mingqi simultaneously indicates “a bit busy ” and “stepping away for a moment. “｝

Yang Zicang stepped forward and looked at Bart’s body lying on the wet, sodden deck.

Not only did he fail to obtain any sequence, but he also lost over twenty thousand. Upon inspection, it was all offset by Bart.

Kim Tae-cheol, carrying an axe, and another man approached just then, the latter saying: “He’s the toughest one. “

The sole surviving guard stood by the ship that Aqiang had left for him, taking over from the weary Karl as a sentry ready to deploy his force field at any moment.

“Why are you all wounded? “

Noticing the injuries on their bodies, Yang Zicang furrowed his brows slightly. The wounds on their arms carried a faint, residual force—similar to the energy in the bloodline cannonballs, but even more diluted and eerie.

Kim Tae-cheol picked up Bart’s dagger.

“Well, damn, we’ve been going back and forth with this bastard for over half a month. Today, we finally got him. “

He let out a bitter laugh, brandishing the dagger as he spoke to Yang Zicang, “Chairman, you asked why we were hurt? It’s because of this thing. “

Yang Zicang then glanced at the axe in Kim Tae-cheol’s hand and the corpses on the deck, then turned to look at the man standing beside them. He hadn’t recognized him before, but now, beneath the black soot singed by flames, he saw it wasn’t someone he knew.

“Hello, Chairman? ” the stranger said.

“Yang Buchen. Just call me Buchen. “

This man stared at Yang Zicang with a somewhat peculiar look, thinking to himself,this guy is incredibly strong—he took out the toughest enemy the moment he arrived.

“Well, call me Li Aimin, ” he said, pulling the dark red fire axe from Kim Tae-cheol’s hands and hoisting it over his shoulder. “What association are you folks from? I haven’t even heard them mention it over these past few days. “

Li Aimin pointed to two men beside him.

-｛Distributor Loki Tata Mingqi has expressed “concern. “｝

“Well… “

Li Aimin realized that, faced with this question, Kim Tae-cheol—who was gripping the dagger, Karl—who had just walked over, and their mysterious president who’d suddenly appeared from the small boat, all fell into a synchronized silence.

“A secret association that can’t be talked about? “

The three of them stole glances at each other before nodding in unison: “Mmm! “

Right in the midst of that delicate, fleeting silence…

“Hiccup… whump— “

On the floor, Bart’s body, incapacitated by the two iron spikes Yang Zicang had struck through him, suddenly let out a bone-chilling gurgle!

The blood that had originally only been flowing seemed to thicken, turning dark and viscous, and began emitting an extremely faint, almost invisible pale grey mist. Thin strands of it wafted away into the depths of the pervading sea fog.

And all of it, the color of the body was shrivelling and wrinkling at a rate visible to the naked eye.

……

At that moment.

In the distant darkness, the half-ship, slowly turning in an attempt to retreat, suddenly had several clusters of faint, hazy gray lights flicker to life on its bow… Like embers that had been doused in oil and rekindled, they seeped into several ancient cannons.

The ship’s silhouette seemed to solidify and grow heavier amid the sea of fog as it cut through the waves with a low, ponderous motion…

“Bart’s presence… is gone! “

“Damn it… but the death aura… Bart’s death aura is nourishing us. “

“Boss Lucas… we’ve got to find a chance to kill those bastards together and avenge Bart! “

……

“What was that haze just now? “

Yang Zicang stared at the ship silhouette receding into the darkness in the distance.

Kim Tae-cheol’s expression was somewhat grim.

“Brother Chairman, that’s the ‘death aura’! ” Li Aimin blurted out noisily.

“If someone dies on this half of our ship, their death aura flows back to that half—especially their cannons; they grow stronger. Luckily, it’s only temporary strength. “

“So that’s why you stopped me from chasing them? Are you sure about this? “

“Mm, we weren’t aware at first. Not until our man, who could cancel out the cannonfire, got blown to bits, ” Karl said wearily.

Yang Zicang’s gaze shifted slightly, his expression unreadable as he asked, “What happened? “

Li Aimin, shouldering a fire axe, let out a grunt of “ah-huh ” and covered his mouth with his hand.

“After Brother Ago died, this half of the ancient sunken ship suddenly surfaced on its own. “

“Later on, it also became tougher, and, well, a bit faster too. But compared to the cannons on the opposite side, it’s just no match. These past two weeks, we’ve been hounded into flying everywhere. ” Kim Tae-cheol shrugged.

So that’s how it was, as he sank deeper into thought.

Karl continued: “Besides the ship becoming more solidified, there are also some words on our ship now… “

“Words? ” Yang Zicang, who had been lost in thought, looked up. “What words? “

-｛Distributor Loki. Tata Mingqi expresses, “Stick around and check things out. “｝

“Well… the name of the ship, and also, my name… ” he said, utterly speechless.

Yang Zicang looked around at the scattered half-wreckage beneath his feet on the deck, then turned his gaze to Karl.

“Boss, we’ll take you to see it. “

With that, Li Aimin sidestepped a few shell craters left by cannon fire on the deck. Kim Tae-cheol followed Yang Zicang to the spot he had pointed out.

The three of them left. Karl sat down on the deck and turned his head toward where Bart’s body lay. The residual energy there had left the texture of the surrounding deck planks deeper and more pronounced.

Karl then shifted his gaze to the spots on the deck where members from both his own team and Li Aimin’s team had fallen in death.

There, the tidal black wooden planks had patches of spread-out deep stains. After stifling a yawn, the man who had held his post through the night rubbed his tired eyes wearily.

……

“We’re here. ” Li Aimin pointed to a carved mark on the ship’s railing that had been blackened by gun smoke.

Yang Zicang immediately walked over and crouched down. Here, someone had already wiped away the stains with a sleeve.

A few blurry lines of ancient-looking letters, seemingly carved by years, emerged—a string of cursive English. The ship’s name.

Yang Zicang raised his head to look at the two who were also tilting their heads to peer, along with an axe sporting vertical, glaring eyes.

“So you’re saying these words appeared only after the person died?“

The two nodded. “There’s another spot too.” Li Aimin said as he led Yang Zicang toward another place covered in grime. Above the doorframe of the great cabin’s exterior, there was a streak cleaned of filth.

Yang Zicang looked up. Up there, it was also English, not the script of this continent or any other Earth language.

“A waiting heart, trying fiercely to leap… yet only half remains…“

After reading this sentence, Yang Zicang touched his own cheek, inexplicably feeling a wave of sorrow.

“This ‘Never-Sinking Sinking Ship’ is called the Karl. Same name as Karl—does that mean the discoverer named it?“

“Yeah, Karl was the one who found it. We were scouting a cluster of sharp reefs, seeing if we could chisel out a room and set a ‘guest mooring’ for the Fei Travel Inn. Then Karl used his ability to detect something underwater—that half of the sunken ship.“

“And then what happened?“

“Not long after Karl and Ago dove down, the other half appeared. This brother here was passing by and helped out. Hmm, you can probably guess the rest.“

Yang Zicang nodded. He looked around nearby, then jumped to the middle of the ship. The entire vessel had broken apart right there, leaving two layers of damaged deck below, along with waterlogged wooden barrels, torn netting, various pieces of sail cloth and line, and other debris.

The half-ship floated eerily on the sea, steady as if it were still intact.

“A massive crack like this doesn’t look like it came from hitting a reef. “

Crouching by the break, Yang Zicang ran his hand over it and then stood up.

He sensed hardly any pulse of bloodline energy; there was only an extremely faint trace. But the contamination of the Moon-Realm bloodline was everywhere in these waters.

“There seems to be another carving here, ” came a voice from behind.

It was the former guard from the Weiting Travel Merchant Association, who had been watching over the small boat.

Hearing this, the three of them rushed over to the base of the mast.

……

The guard was using a filthy piece of clothing to scrub at a mass of muck on the mast base—a grimy mix of hardened oil and salt stains that looked like it had set for centuries.

“I’m pitching in; my clothes arealready dirty anyway. “

Kim Tae-cheol stepped forward, tore off a rag from his own grubby hem, and joined the scrubbing.

As the grime was rubbed away, two words deeply etched into the ancient timber began to emerge.

Yang Zicang’s eyes widened, and the other three beside him all drew in a soft breath.

“Fog Nation… “

Li Aimin, as if injected with adrenaline, walked over and pulled the guard’s cloth from his hands.

“It’s time to show some real cleaning skills—let me handle this! “

The two of them scrubbed with tremendous effort, and the letters behind gradually emerged…

“Are more words appearing? “

Karl approached, “Manager Kim, give it to me. I’ll clean it faster. “

Kim Tae-cheol hesitated, as if about to speak, then finally handed him the cloth. True to his word, Karl wiped away the grime deep within the wood grain in no time. Yang Zicang watched as he stood up.

The group looked at the words on the mast’s base with mixed feelings.

— “…That is the gentlest nesting haven in the dreamland…May we return our lives and sail back. “