Chapter 157: Ray of Hope

Captain Jeff had a strong feeling that this would be the last day of his life.

He was already in his fifties, as evidenced by the grey hairs sprouting from his head. He had a short stature and a scruffy appearance, and he wore clothes typical of a seaman. It would have been easy to mistake him for a humble swabbie, but in truth, he was a powerful Origin Level 3 transcendent.

The ship he was working on was no ordinary ship either—it belonged to the prestigious Golden Fleet of the Sofya Kingdom. It was known far and wide to have conquered the seas of West Sia, before the other migrants of Ancient Austine had even managed to grasp a proper foothold on this new land yet.

The Golden Fleet could be divided into three tiers, and Jeff was the captain of the tier-1 vice flagship, SS Saint Paul. Without a doubt, he was one of the most influential figures in the Golden Fleet. Yet, the current situation left him in despair.

The Deepsea Scalemen were the archnemeses of the Golden Fleet.

The fleet actually had the experience and ability to deal with these darned saltwater fishes, but the internal fight they had not long ago caused them to lose one of the vice-captains of SS Saint Paul, resulting in the ship losing some of its functions.

In the Golden Fleet, it was nothing much for the captain to charge to the frontlines and get injured. While it could affect the crew’s morale if something were to happen to the captain, there was no big harm as long as the captain didn’t sustain severe injuries or die. However, the two vice-captains, in comparison, played a far more vital role.

The vice-captains of the Golden Fleet were all possessors of the High Elf Bloodline. They might not be powerful individually, but they held the keys to the magic tools on the ships.

The foundation of the Golden Fleet lay in the lost technologies of the high elves. The magic tools created using these technologies could only be activated by those who bear the bloodline of the Sofya House, which meant that the vice-captains were strategic resources to the fleet. Without them, they wouldn’t be able to tap into the true prowess of the Golden Fleet.

The vice-captains were usually tucked safely away in the Control Room, but during an internal conflict a while ago, one of the vice-captains defected to the rebels and injured the other vice-captain, resulting in the severe weakening of the barrier around the Control Room. While they managed to emerge victorious in that battle, no one could have imagined that this mishap would bring about a catastrophe to them now.

“Damn it!”

Jeff stabbed both of his hands into the chest of one of the larger Origin Level 3 Scaleman Generals, and with a furious roar, he ripped the body in twain.

Blood splattered all around, dyeing the middle-aged man red. He looked at the astonished expression on the dying Scaleman General as he shook his head.

I might be a sucker in the water, but you’re a sucker on land.

Jeff exhaled carefully as he clutched the gaping hole in his abdomen. Bearing with the excruciating pain, he turned to the crewmates around him and asked.

“How’s Vice-Captain Laure?”

“Captain Jeff, Vice-Captain Laure… is already on his dying breath.”

When the blood-covered ship doctor said those words, the faces of all of the crewmates crumbled. A stifling silence suddenly broke out amidst this cacophonous battlefield.

Vice-Captain Laure’s death meant that their ship would stop operating. All of the installed magic tools that were protecting them thus far would be deactivated, and the outer electric net surrounding the ship would dissipate as well. By then, their enemies wouldn’t just be the elites of the Scale Tribe but the countless monsters lurking in the vast sea.

“How much longer can the electric net hold out for?”

“Around 10 minutes.”

“10 minutes, huh?”

Jeff muttered to himself as he watched the younger crewmates who were putting in their all to fend off the invading Scalemen. As someone who had been venturing on the seas half his life, he had already made his peace with death. It was just that he couldn’t help but find it a pity that all of these young men would be accompanying him too… 

A gloomy heaviness weighed the man’s heart down. He moved swiftly toward the collapsed young man before him, bent down, and looked him in the eyes.

“Laure, just hold on for another 10 minutes. We’ll drag a few more of them down with us. Then, you can activate the Golden Soul to bring that huge bastard out there down with us. Let’s leave together with a bang.”

The young man, Laure, had a large portion of his chest ripped out, and his consciousness was already starting to fade. Nevertheless, Jeff’s order still made him widen his eyes a little. Despite already standing before death’s door, a slight glow returned to his eyes. A slightly proud smile surfaced on his lips.

“… Leave it to me, Captain,” Laure promised weakly.

Seeing how the young ones were fulfilling their duty despite already being in their final moments, Jeff couldn’t help but laugh heartily. He took a look around him, but all he saw were calm faces. 

His crew had already buried their fears deep in their hearts, resolving themselves for death.

“I’m sorry, lads.”

“Capt’n, it’s all that traitor and these hideous fishes’ fault. It has nothing to do with you!”

“It’s our final battle. I’ll cover for you all this one last time!”

The crewmates chuckled amongst themselves as they followed Jeff up to the frontline. The old captain took in a deep breath and buried his sorrow in the depths of his heart. The only thing he could do now was to kill as many enemies as he could so as to reduce the pressure on his allies.

The crewmates also drew their swords and raised their axes as they resolved themselves to fight to their dying breath. However, before they could do anything, a loud explosion suddenly sounded ahead of them.

“Capt’n! That is…”

One of the crewmates pointed ahead and exclaimed loudly. Jeff also raised his head to take a closer look, only to widen his eyes at the next moment.

A massive crimson giant had suddenly appeared behind the Scalemen’s formation, unleashing havoc upon them.

… 

“Ahhhh!”

At the back of the Scalemen’s formation, Roel, together with the humongous crimson skeleton behind him, released a ferocious roar. Channeling his crimson mana into his fists, the two of them raised their fists with perfect synchronicity and smashed them down upon the hordes of Scalemen surrounding them.

Puchi!

The skeleton’s offense was unstoppable. Even an Origin Level 4 Scaleman Officer was reduced to minced meat before its might right away! As the gigantic fists continued to rain down, the sound of exploding bodies and splattering blood echoed loudly on the deck, capturing everyone’s attention.

“What’s that? It’s incredible!”

“The skeleton is fighting those fish bastards? No, wait a moment, there’s someone in there!”

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“Is he an ally?”

“Like hell we would have allies in this godforsaken place!” 

Jeff watched raptly with twitching lips, his eyes filled with inconcealable astonishment. Even he dared not claim that he would be able to fend against the pure force of that humongous crimson skeleton! He focused his gaze at the center of the skeleton, and he noticed that there was actually a black-haired human boy inside.

“A child? How could there be a child on my ship? Wait a moment, those clothes… Is he a noble? He looks like a rich kid who snuck away from home.”

Looking at the small silhouette fighting bravely against the enemies, Jeff couldn’t help but sigh in his heart. It was truly shocking that the boy actually wielded such frightening fighting prowess despite his young age. Had it been possible, he would have surely done his best to ensure the young boy’s safety. However, there was no way to turn things around anymore.

SS Saint Paul’s downfall was already inevitable.

However, what he witnessed right after made Jeff and the other crewmates widen their eyes in astonishment.

With a single powerful strike, the boy cleared away all enemies before him!

However, this was not enough to reverse the tide. Not a second after the boy released that punch, another ten Scalemen were already creeping up on him from behind. To make things worse, the boy appeared to be oblivious to it, which left the crewmates feeling even more nervous.

They shouted desperately to warn the boy.

At this critical moment though, a beautiful girl dressed in a red gown suddenly appeared behind him. Holding an ornate gun in hand, she shot out a burst of blue light. Halfway through its trajectory, a sharp cracking sound, reminiscent of the shattering of a gemstone, echoed from the blue gleam and snow suddenly spread outward, launching itself forward as a freezing gale.

The Scalemen standing within the radius of the explosion were instantaneously frozen into statues. The ship’s crew shuddered at the sight.

“Wait a moment, isn’t that…”

“Yes, it’s Gemstone Magic. That young lady is a member of the royal family!”

“A member of the royal family? Doesn’t that mean that she can drive the Golden Fleet?”

The discussions of the crewmates swiftly snapped Jeff out of his daze. A spark of hope ignited in his chest, and his desire to survive fueled it into a massive inferno, driving him into action. He immediately stepped forward, raised his sword up high, and rallied the crew.

“Lads, it’s time for us to show our worth! Let’s rip the gills off these nasty fish and save those two children!”

“Charge!”

The sudden emergence of a ray of hope reignited the morale of the crowd. With sword and axe in hand, the crewmates dodged the barrage of high-pressured water arrows and harpoons from the Scalemen as they swiftly moved in to rescue Roel and Charlotte. 

At the same time, seeing that the crewmates were starting to make a move, Roel went at the enemies even more aggressively, trying to group up with their allies. He knew that they wouldn’t be able to last long all on their own.

“Charlotte, the green one!”

“On it!”

Despite it being their first battle with one another, Roel and Charlotte’s coordination was fairly decent. Concise messages got across without a hitch.

A slight click sounded from Gemstone Trigger, and a green burst of light shot forth and numbed the dozens of Scalemen around them. Making full use of their momentary incapacitation, Roel swiftly moved in to destroy them all.

The two of them were able to clear off the enemies at a fast pace, but to their astonishment, the number of enemies were increasing even faster than that. The Scalemen were constantly climbing onto the deck from both sides of the ship. 

Roel quickly reassessed the situation once more, and he noticed that there was a black-backed Scaleman, who was emanating a terrifying aura, leading a group of his brethren forward to block their path. A grey-haired, middle-aged man, who appeared to be the captain of the ship, stepped forth and began clashing with the black-robed Scaleman.

“This won’t do. We’re doomed at this rate.”

Roel frowned as he noticed that the situation was getting more and more pessimistic for them. The Scalemen’s current strategy was basically to overwhelm them with numbers, a Scalemen wave tactic. It was a simple strategy that would result in huge casualties for the Scalemen, but admittedly, it was effective. Unless they could launch a sufficiently powerful attack to open up the path in a single shot and group up with the rest of the crewmates, it was only a matter of time before they were worn down stranded out here.

Charlotte’s Gemstone Magic was still fairly sustainable, but Roel’s summoning was simply draining his mana too quickly. To make things worse, he had lost his connection with Grandar ever since he entered this space, so the humongous crimson skeleton he had summoned was no more than a soulless imitation. It was still an incredible force to behold, but it was taking Roel much more mana and effort than usual to control.

Sensing his swiftly draining mana, Roel gritted his teeth as he finally made up his mind.

Since all of you are so passionate, it would be rude of me not to offer you a gift, right?

“Charlotte, get down!”

“Ah?”

Roel shouted out loud before abruptly turning around to pull Charlotte, who was in the midst of shooting down enemies, into his embrace. Before Charlotte could even process what was going on, Roel had already forcefully carried her down to the deck with him, causing the two of them to tumble forward along the deck.

Boom!

Following that, the humongous crimson skeleton Roel had manifested using his mana suddenly blew up, producing a terrifying bombardment of bone fragments. These bone fragments tore through everything in the vicinity, slaughtering the Scalemen mercilessly. 

This large-scale spell immediately caught everyone’s attention. The massive sea monster’s tentacles halted momentarily, and the crews of the neighboring ships also turned their heads over in bewilderment.

On the massive flagship at the forefront of the Golden Fleet, an auburn-haired woman standing on top of the mainmast turned her head around with astonishment reflected in her eyes.

“That was…”

---

More ship terms:

Swabbie: Someone from the lowest ranks of a navy. Tends to perform menial labor on the ship. i.e. imagine those who mop the ship’s deck.

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