Several Undead Monk ships watched from afar as the Sea Angel confronted the merchant vessel. An ordinary ship facing the Sea Angel could last at most a few minutes before being sunk. The Sea Angel was the absolute overlord of the Gorge Sea; no one could harm it in the slightest. The three great pirate groups, Redbeard, Watcher, and Black Sail, had once been renowned powers in these waters, yet when their ships encountered the Sea Angel, their only option was to flee. They would never dare meet it head-on.
Yet now, that merchant ship had fought the Sea Angel for over an hour before finally sinking. Redbeard the Undead Monk fell silent. He knew the ship had lasted so long only because the Random Name Magic Guild was aboard. That magic guild was truly formidable. Recalling what had happened at Pirate Bay in the early hours of the morning, Redbeard suddenly felt glad he had not clashed directly with Ye Chui.
The legendary number one magic guild of the Star Empire lived up to its reputation after all.
Still, even the foremost magic guild of the Star Empire had now perished beneath the Sea Angel’s terrifying might!
Redbeard gave a cold snort. He gazed at the spot where the merchant ship had vanished. The Sea Angel’s silhouette slowly submerged. Not wishing to linger, he waved a hand and led the Undead Monk fleet away.
As they departed, he swept one last regretful glance across the vast sea, seemingly searching for any sign of Irabetha, but found none.
“She has probably sunk to the bottom already. What a pity. That woman suited my tastes…”
Redbeard shook his head forcefully.
Carrying dark clouds in the sky, the Undead Monk ships soon disappeared from sight.
…
Beneath the sea.
Stari’s body tumbled helplessly, struggling to reach the surface, but the massive currents stirred by the Sea Angel formed whirlpools that made it impossible for him to control his movements.
Just as he was about to drown, an arm suddenly seized his collar.
He turned his head with difficulty and saw an endlessly stretching arm… a rubber arm?
Its owner was Ye Chui, standing inside a strange air bubble.
Debbie, Leisha, Green, Shiers, Guni, Shalumei, the Dragon Turtle Three Treasures, Bart, and Evans were all inside the same bubble. The bubble was actually a layer of turtle-pattern protection created by Turtle Treasure. The instant the merchant ship sank, she had used her defensive magic to shield everyone. When Ye Chui spotted Stari, he immediately used rubber magic to try to pull him in.
Ye Chui’s face showed pain. Most magic derived from One Piece shared one weakness: they became powerless in seawater. His rubber arm felt numb and heavy underwater, as if he could barely exert any strength. After finally hauling Stari into the turtle-pattern bubble, Ye Chui panted heavily.
Stari slumped against the bubble wall while Green helped him cough up the seawater he had swallowed.
When he came to, Stari looked around in astonishment.
Then he caught sight of the Sea Angel far away, devouring the fallen members of the Three-Headed Serpent Mercenary Group, and let out an involuntary cry of alarm.
“Don’t worry, we’re fine,” Debbie said, pressing against the bubble and gazing at the fully visible Sea Angel below. “I didn’t expect the Sea Angel to be this strong. It’s far more powerful than the two apostles we met before.”
“The apostles we faced earlier were only partial manifestations of their power. This one is in complete form. Of course it’s different,” Ye Chui explained, having recovered his breath. He prepared to summon the Quinjet magic vehicle and shoot straight up into the sky. It seemed they could not kill the Sea Angel this time; they would have to find another way later. Dragon Treasure’s black-gold dragon flames had proved completely ineffective against it. The only thing that could finish it off was probably [Explosion is Justice].
But at that moment, Guni noticed something and excitedly tugged at Ye Chui’s sleeve. “Ye Chui, Ye Chui, look! There’s a strange fish over there!”
“A fish?” Ye Chui was taken aback. How could any fish be near the Sea Angel? He followed the direction she pointed and his eyes instantly widened. “That’s a ship… a ship travelling on the seabed…”
“The ghost ship!?” Stari had heard many sailors speak of this strange vessel and recognised it immediately. “Wherever the Sea Angel appears… the ghost ship follows!”
“Hm?” Ye Chui was looking at his compass. He glanced from the trembling needle to the rapidly approaching ghost ship and said with some wonder, “That pendant… it seems to be on this ghost ship!”
Faster than words, the ghost ship shot forward like a submarine and appeared right in front of Ye Chui’s group. Stari had heard Ye Chui mention the pendant and was about to ask what had happened to Irabetha when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted her. She stood on the ghost ship’s deck, waving frantically towards them.
Seeing this, Ye Chui abandoned the idea of summoning the flying vehicle. He had Turtle Treasure propel their bubble swiftly towards the ghost ship. The dilapidated black vessel was also enveloped in an air bubble, which was why Irabetha could stand safely on deck. When Ye Chui’s turtle-pattern bubble touched the ghost ship’s, the two merged at once. Ye Chui and the others landed on the deck.
“Irabetha! How… how are you here!?” Stari could not contain himself. He rushed forward and threw his arms around her.
Irabetha was very weak. Her cheeks flushed slightly from the embrace, but joy outweighed everything. She hugged Stari tightly in return before saying, “Stari, your grandfather saved you.”
“My grandfather?” Stari blinked, releasing her. “Didn’t my grandfather die of athlete’s foot five years ago…?”
“No, your real grandfather.” Irabetha shook her head and looked towards the cabin. A dark figure stood there, watching them. “Captain Dalin!”
Ye Chui and the others regarded the black figure warily. On Ye Chui’s magic guide book, the figure flickered constantly between white and red, as though undecided about whether to treat Ye Chui’s group as enemies.
“How could Captain Dalin possibly be my grandfather? Irabetha, what are you talking about?” Stari asked in bewilderment.
Irabetha quickly recounted what she had heard from Redbeard, concluding, “Your grandfather always used to say that just before he died, Captain Dalin told him, ‘Protect my treasure well; one day it will inherit my mantle.’ The treasure he spoke of was actually the bloodline you carry, Stari. One day you would inherit his legacy!”
Stari stood dumbfounded, unable to believe this astonishing revelation. The Pirate King’s treasure he had spent his life searching for… was himself?
At that moment the dark figure emerged from the cabin, footsteps heavy. The dim light inside the ship at the bottom of the sea made everything hazy, yet they could still make out his appearance: a man dressed in the robes of the Tidal Empire, with a large red beard, looking around forty or fifty years old. Strange shadows covered his body, as though something was constantly eating away at him.
Captain Dalin!
Patriarch of the White Ship clan of the Tidal Empire’s Twelve Phantom Beasts!
He walked step by step towards Stari, his expression rigid, his gaze vacant.
Stari was startled and spoke hesitantly, “Captain Dalin… are you really my grandfather?”
Captain Dalin finally stopped in front of Stari. A spark of awareness seemed to flicker in his lifeless eyes as he studied the young man.
Ye Chui and the others grew tense with anticipation. A deeply moving family reunion was about to unfold… and then Captain Dalin’s hands suddenly shot out and seized Stari by the throat, as if intending to strangle him on the spot.
“What the hell—” Ye Chui shouted. He, Guni, and Debbie immediately rushed forward and dragged Captain Dalin away from Stari.
“What is going on!?” Irabetha helped Stari to his feet and asked in alarm.
“Could he be angry because his grandson is too useless?” Debbie guessed.
“No, something is wrong with his condition!” Leisha frowned. She took out her bible and cast a holy word, “This old lady will purify you.” Pure light fell upon Captain Dalin. The black shadows on his body rapidly receded a little, and the stiffness in his face eased slightly. Yet Leisha’s holy power clearly could not fully expel the darkness. She soon stopped. “It’s no good. My faith cannot drive out that filth… It feels similar to the power of the Undead Monks. Big brother, it’s up to you.”
“Oh no, we have to listen to that music again?” The moment she heard Leisha, Guni clapped her hands over her ears. Everyone else hurriedly did the same.
Irabetha looked puzzled. Seeing Stari gasping for breath yet still struggling to cover his ears, she asked, “What’s happening?”
“Irabetha… never mind anything else, just cover your ears first!” Stari panted.
Then Ye Chui directly summoned four massive speakers, large-scale magical sound constructs, one at each corner around Captain Dalin, and turned the volume up to maximum, blasting the [Restless] BGM.
The moment that piercing soprano rang out, Captain Dalin looked as though he had taken ten thousand points of damage. His body shook uncontrollably. He seemed to want to escape the sonic assault, but the four speakers formed an inescapable wall of sound. The black shadows cloaking him trembled violently, as if trying to break free from his body.
It was exactly like the scene in Spider-Man where sound waves force Venom to detach from its host.
Ye Chui’s eyes lit up. He reached out, seized Captain Dalin, and with a forceful pull dragged him clear of the writhing black shadow.
The shadow vaguely took human shape, twisting and struggling to flee, yet it could not escape the area enclosed by the speakers!
“It actually worked!” Ye Chui exclaimed in delight.
Captain Dalin now lay in his arms, his body ice-cold, devoid of any warmth. In truth, Captain Dalin was no longer among the living. His soul had fused with the White Ship to become the ghost ship; his physical body had died long ago and was forever bound to this vessel.
Ye Chui hurriedly carried Captain Dalin to the bow and sat him down on the deck. The [Restless] magical sound still echoed, but at this distance the maddening, breakdown-inducing effect was much reduced.
“My Restless Magical Sound Spirit-Expelling Array really is pretty good,” Ye Chui remarked with satisfaction as he glanced at the black shadow still trying to escape the sound constructs. Then he turned to Captain Dalin.
The captain’s face was no longer as rigid as before, though he still looked pained and frail. Ye Chui’s expression grew solemn. “That black shadow seems to be an apostle’s power. After decades of entanglement, Captain Dalin has been continuously corroded by the apostle’s force. The damage is severe…”
“No, I was just stunned senseless by that blasted noise…” Captain Dalin waved a hand weakly.
