"Please wait." Krune raised his hand and spoke aloud.
The Seamstress turned around, looking at Krune as she faintly increased the intensity of her Neon Radiance, taking a better look at Krune. Even though the skin armor covered Krune from head to toe, making him resemble a monster that was almost similar to a Monster Gecko, due to the experience she had accumulated, she knew that Krune wasn't a bloodthirsty individual.
It was an instinct of hers that she had honed through her life. Even though it seemed like Krune had some problematic inclinations, overall, he was a decent individual. That was why she wasn't completely guarded against him.
"Yes?" she said after turning around, noticing the way Krune held the baby, noticing his mild awkwardness in doing so but still did a good job. She determined that when Krune was a cultivator, he had experience raising a child.
"What are you planning to do now?" Krune could not help but ask.
"Before the pirates pillage any more from the scattered people, I'll stop them," the Seamstress replied.
"Why don't we move together, then?" Krune suggested as he pointed at the baby. "For some reason, the pirates targeted this baby first and didn't bother with the escaping people. So, they're bound to attack here again."
"Then, you wish for me to protect you from harm?" the Seamstress could not help but frown after hearing his words.
"No, I can take care of myself," Krune replied. "But when the pirates attack again, it would be helpful if you can protect the baby while I take care of them."
"The boss of those pirates is Gajor, ranked 75th in this place. Are you saying you can handle him?" the Seamstress looked at Krune from top to bottom before asking, "What's your name?"
"Krune," Krune replied. "I can't say for certain if I would be able to finish him since I lack mobility in water like the pirates. But with some footing, I can defeat them."
"Are you that confident?" the Seamstress frowned as she asked, intending to test his strength.
"Yes, they were attacking me for some time before you arrived." Krune pointed at the corpses floating on the water. There were six of them in total. The rest weren't killed, only severely injured. They managed to escape after that.
The Seamstress looked at Krune's figure, noticing that he hadn't suffered any damage. With that, she nodded in response, replying, "Alright, I'll accompany you, then."
She then tied the boats to the side of Krune's boat, one per each and harnessed the caged Motor Fishes, one on the front, and the other on the back, saying, "The Motor Fishes can only swim in a straight line. So, this arrangement allows us to advance and retreat when necessary."
Once she was done, she grabbed Krune's extended hand and climbed into his boat before gazing at his oar, noticing that it was able to change the direction of the boat by affecting both oceans. This way, it was more effective than trying to change the boat's direction using the oar on one ocean surface alone.
Only now did she notice the numerous compartments, the bed, a boxing bag, the Whale Tooth Sword hanging on one of the walls, etc. Upon seeing the elaborate setup, she was shocked as she asked, "How were you able to create this?"
"I spent a lot of time while I was on the Primary Landmass making this. It has everything I would ever need in this layer," Krune replied with a hint of boasting. After all, he didn't create it as a cultivator but as a mortal.
When he was a cultivator, Krune could make something like the paddle within a day. But as a mortal, he had put in a lot of effort. Besides, he also managed to hide the bone tree within, being able to reap the fruits at regular intervals.
Based on what he tested while he was on the Primary Landmass, there were four compartments to produce the bone tree fruits. And in each compartment, there were two fruit-bearing branches. So, with enough supply, a fruit ripened every day.
And now, as the paddle was on the water, the bone trees had a lot of supply. Moreover, six people had just died near his boat. Krune looked into the water once, noticing no traces of blood. All of it had been absorbed by the bone trees forming the inner layer of his boat.
So, this time, his harvest would be greater. Krune thought as such when the Seamstress whistled once, causing one of the Motor Fishes to begin pulling the boat. Seeing the speeds his boat began to travel at, Krune was surprised as he could not help but say, "Wow, this is fast."
"Yes, the Motor Fishes are a species created specifically for this." The Seamstress nodded in agreement.
Krune then thought for a moment before deciding to ask, "Can you tell me the method you used to obtain its ability as a passive ability? I'll repay you accordingly."
"How do you plan to repay me?" the Seamstress asked in response as she looked at him with curiosity. Krune didn't just ask for her secret but offered an appropriate reward. So, her opinion of him had improved. Besides, she did have a good opinion of him from the start.
"I have a method to condense an ability to its limit. So, it would be at its strongest state," Krune replied with confidence.
The Seamstress shuddered once as she thought over it through, realizing that the person before him was kind of unfathomable. Normally, she wouldn't have been too much shocked. But in the current situation, they had only been on the layer for a bit more than a year.
It wasn't a long enough duration to accumulate anything terrifying. Even if a person possessed terrifying strength, it could just be regarded that they had accumulated a lot of Godly Points from Layer 4 and had used it in the Checkpoint Turtle to gain benefits.
But, it seemed that the advantages Krune accumulated were from the layer itself. After all, his name wasn't in the top hundred. So, he wouldn't have possessed enough Godly Points to gain anything much from the Checkpoint Turtle.
"Alright, I hope you aren't lying." Even though the Seamstress spoke as such, she was able to judge that Krune wasn't lying. That was the reason she was shocked in the first place. She then pointed at the Motor Fish in the front, soon telling Krune, "Keep them beside your flanks and kill them with a single slash. When their blood mixes and touches you, you'll gain their passive ability. As they only possess this one trait, you will get the passive ability, Moving Water."
"Fair enough." Krune nodded. "Then, we would need one more Motor Fish. I guess we'll have to wait until we find the pirates once again."
"Actually," the Seamstress spoke. "The reason all the pirates have this ability is that they found a cove where a lot of Motor Fishes live. Gajor trapped them in that area and forced them to breed while nurturing more Motor Fishes to kill and obtain the passive ability. It's because of this is why it's hard to catch him since all his men are able to travel freely in the water."
"And..." She spoke, "I managed to locate this place. But, there are too many people guarding it. I can't determine how, but Gajor managed to make more than two hundred people follow him. Even as we speak, they're trying to use all the stolen goods to create a large ship that they can use to dominate the oceans. On top of that, he's actually building it around the cove."
Followed by a sigh, she continued, "This cove is just a piece of floating rock. So, with enough power, it can be moved. With that, it will give him a piece of land to establish his base. Since it's the breeding ground of the Motor Fishes, he would be able to accumulate more power as time passes. And from what I saw once, he also has a lot of captives."
"So, it's a pirate den with around 200 pirates, not to mention Gajor, who's among the top hundred in the rankings." Krune nodded before asking, "How many strong men does he have?"
"Among Gajor's pirates, there are two noteworthy people. The first is Heuk, in charge of scouting and tracking. I can't fathom the passive Ability he obtained, but they are pretty unique and have mysterious effects," the Seamstress replied. "The second one is named Frontiff, the second strongest person in their group. He has a mysterious ability that works similar to the Helper Whistle sold in the Checkpoint Turtle. It's because of him that I was never able to defeat them. After that, most of the other pirates are disposable to Gajor. He only values these two."
"But now that they're here, wouldn't his base have lacking defenses?" Krune proposed. "We can simply raid the place and free the captives."
"That's not easy to achieve. First of all, even if they're weak, there are 200 pirates in that place. Secondly, there are three more noteworthy people there that are strong. Among them is Gehen, Gajor's twin brother. His abilities are mysterious, and he ranks at 70th place. He's stronger than Gajor." The Seamstress sighed as she continued, "I attacked their base once, but as soon as I did that, Gajor returned. I think he's able to sense anything related to his base somehow."
"Seems fairly complicated." Krune sighed as he muttered, "At least, on land, I am many times stronger. I should be able to handle quite a lot of them."
"It's still hard," the Seamstress said as she picked up a wooden whistle. "This is a Helper Whistle. Gajor and Gehen have relied on this to hunt really powerful fishes. Using all their Godly Points, they have only purchased these. So, when their lives are truly threatened, you can expect a swarm of predator fishes that would try to kill you."
"Gajor and Gehen, huh..." Krune muttered. "Truly a troublesome duo."