Half a minute before Debbie accidentally formed the contract with the ghost ship.
Ye Chui’s eyes lit up the instant Gilga said she had a powerful sword skill to try. He immediately told her to unleash it, while pulling more than a dozen dragon-blood stones from his [Storage Space] and having Debbie toss them to Gilga.
Golden light blazed around Gilga. She took a deep breath, drew her golden longsword from its sheath at her waist, and raised it high overhead with both hands. At that moment, ferocious sword intent began radiating from her body.
In life, her final realm had been Grand Swordsman. After death, when summoned by Debbie as a heroic spirit, she had been limited by Debbie’s power and could only display the strength of an Advanced Swordsman. That level was still formidable, but against the ever-stronger enemies Ye Chui’s group faced, it had become somewhat inadequate. In recent days, Debbie had rarely summoned her.
But now things were different. Debbie’s deeper understanding of summoning had unsealed more of Gilga’s power. She had now reached the Elementary Sword Master realm!
This realm allowed her to unleash an extremely powerful sword skill!
“This was one of the strongest techniques I possessed in life. It is several times more powerful than [Golden Rain Fall]. Its name is…” Gilga declared solemnly.
Ye Chui suddenly cut in, staring at her raised golden sword and shouting, “EX-CALIBUR!!!”
“?” Gilga turned to him, utterly baffled.
Ye Chui coughed awkwardly. “Nothing, nothing. Carry on, carry on.”
Gilga still looked puzzled, but when she saw the Sea Angel baring its vicious fangs at the ghost ship, her expression turned grave once more. “…This sword skill is the advanced version of [Golden Rain Fall]. Super golden sword technique: [Golden Star Fall]!”
As the words left her mouth, the golden longsword in her hands erupted with ferocious sword qi that shot straight into the heavens. The overwhelming sword qi instantly dispersed the dark clouds overhead. It was daytime, yet the sky suddenly turned as black as night. Countless points of starlight appeared high above, every one formed from Gilga’s sword qi.
[Golden Star Fall]: transform golden sword qi into starlight that fills the sky. When the stars fall, they can annihilate everything!
The terrifying sword qi caused drastic changes in the expressions of the pirates and Undead Monks surrounding them. Golden sword qi was the most fearsome type of sword qi. Every swordsman who wielded golden sword qi was unreasonably powerful: invincible within their tier and capable of cutting down opponents above their level. Though Gilga was only at the Elementary Sword Master realm, the sword qi in her hands had already touched the domain of a Sword Saint.
This strike was bound to be world-shattering.
Perhaps sensing the horrifying power contained within the attack, the Sea Angel let out a terrified roar. Gilga still held her sword aloft, yet the creature already had a premonition: the moment that sword came down and the starlight rained upon it, it would face an unimaginable threat. Desperately, it charged the ghost ship, trying to make this dreadful strike vanish before it could be unleashed!
“Too late,” Gilga said calmly, gazing at the oncoming Sea Angel. Her grip tightened; the sword was about to descend.
Ye Chui’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he watched the heavenly phenomenon caused by Gilga’s technique. He muttered to himself, “Holy crap, this is totally Ex-Calibur…”
While speaking, tremendous explosive magic was also condensing between his hands: a full-yield [Explosion is Justice]. Terrifying though the Sea Angel was, Ye Chui was completely confident it could not withstand [Explosion is Justice]. Even if [Golden Star Fall] failed to kill it, Ye Chui would blow it to kingdom come.
The Sea Angel was finished!
Yet things always unfold in the most unexpected ways.
“RAAAGH—” Gilga roared. The golden sword was about to fall, but in that precise instant, Debbie accidentally completed her contract with the ghost ship.
Forming a contract consumes enormous mental energy. The moment the contract finished, Debbie’s mind was almost completely drained. Gilga, who could only exist through Debbie’s power, vanished like smoke the instant the sword strike was meant to launch.
The sky full of golden starlight fell like scattered fireworks.
Ye Chui: “…What the fuck?”
“Hiss—” The next moment, the Sea Angel crashed in front of the ghost ship. Countless snake-like tongues shot from its fang-filled maw, wrapped around Ye Chui’s body, and dragged him straight into its giant mouth.
Everything happened too suddenly. Everyone on board: “…”
All their attention had been focused on Gilga’s ultimate technique. Who could have predicted she would suddenly disappear?
Even Ye Chui had no time to react. Compared to the colossal Sea Angel, his body was no bigger than an ant. In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the creature’s mouth.
The Sea Angel itself seemed stunned, its enormous body stiffening for a moment.
“Holy shit, President!?” Green shouted in shock.
Guni hefted her vibranium greatsword, ready to charge.
But the Sea Angel’s body instantly submerged. Possessing high intelligence, it recognised Ye Chui as the strongest among them. Having swallowed the greatest threat in one gulp, it decided to retreat and avoid the rest of their wrath.
The terrifying creature plunged beneath the surface, instantly creating a massive vortex on the sea. The ghost ship rocked violently and began to be sucked in.
Everyone on deck staggered. Debbie, mentally exhausted from just forming a powerful spirit contract, nearly flew off into the sea but was grabbed by Shalumei. The others desperately clung to railings and masts. Yet despair filled them: the ghost ship was disintegrating!
With Captain Dalin’s death, the phantom beast vessel had already begun to collapse. Now, battered by the giant vortex, it could no longer hold. Amid violent shaking and a tremendous boom, the entire black ship shattered completely into flying ash.
“Fourth time…” Stari’s final cry was filled with grief and indignation.
The giant vortex soon calmed.
The Sea Goddess pirates and Undead Monks exchanged bewildered glances as they steered their ships to the site of the sinking. For a moment they were silent. What on earth had just happened? How did it all turn out like this?
“There they are!” On one Sea Goddess ship, a bald giant with sharp eyes pointed at the water and shouted. Everyone looked: a turtle-pattern air bubble floated up, half-filled with seawater. Debbie, Leisha, Stari, Bart, and the others lay inside in a sorry state. The crisis had come too suddenly; Turtle Treasure’s bubble had formed too late. Everyone had swallowed varying amounts of seawater and now looked utterly drained.
“Fish them up! The Church will pay a fortune for their lives!” roared a one-armed pirate. This one-armed man was the captain of the Sea Goddess Pirate Group.
The Sea Goddess group had originated from scattered pirates who banded together to oppose the three great pirate factions, forming a massive organisation of over five thousand. In numbers they surpassed even the combined total of the three great groups. Of course, in pure combat strength they could not compare, but their sheer numbers made them a formidable force nonetheless.
Now, as the official navy of the Tidal Empire, their numbers had grown further, and they had acquired powerful equipment. Their fleet numbered over a hundred vessels.
Their captain had become the most powerful man in these waters.
Yet despite this, he could not shed the innate greed of a pirate. He was already calculating how many extra gold coins selling Debbie and the others to the Church would add to his private coffers.
Drenched and miserable, Debbie’s group was hauled aboard the flagship Goddess in a fishing net.
They coughed up seawater and struggled free of the net. The elf baby, having been drowned far too many times these past few days, burst into tears: “Baby doesn’t want to be a pirate princess anymore! Seawater is so bitter… it tastes awful…”
Debbie hurriedly hugged the baby and comforted her.
Green shook water from his clothes, completely ignoring the pirates surrounding them with weapons drawn, and stared at the sea.
“President Ye Chui… he’ll be alright, won’t he?” Bart asked worriedly, arrow already nocked and bow drawn to warn the pirates.
“The President won’t die that easily,” Green said firmly.
“Heh heh heh, you seem very confident in your Almighty Magician, eh? Too bad you’re about to be disappointed. The Sea Angel’s mouth leads to a sealed world. Anyone swallowed inside can never return. He’s finished,” the one-armed captain sneered.
“He’ll be back soon!” Debbie declared with absolute certainty, standing up with the baby in her arms. “A mere Sea Angel can’t possibly kill him!”
“That’s right!” Leisha agreed resolutely.
After following Ye Chui for so long, they all shared an instinctive, unshakable trust in him.
“Hahaha, you lot are hilarious. Do you really think that just because your president is called the Almighty Magician, he truly can do anything?” the one-armed captain mocked, casting a contemptuous glance at the patch of sea where the Sea Angel had submerged.
At that moment, his eyes caught something. He looked up in surprise.
Dark clouds suddenly blanketed the sky.
The heavens had already been gloomy because of the Undead Monks, but now even denser, more oppressive clouds gathered. Thunder flickered within them, brewing terrifying heavenly might.
The many pirates and Undead Monks stood stunned, while Debbie and the others recognised the scene instantly.
“Divine Retribution! It’s Divine Retribution!” Green exclaimed excitedly. “The President is mobilising tremendous power. That power is so terrifying it has triggered the rules’ restriction!”
As he spoke, a deafening boom resounded. A silver-dragon-like bolt of lightning crashed down, splitting the sea with a tremendous roar.
The immense shockwave sent towering waves surging outward. Countless warships rocked like toys.
The lightning seemed intent on cleaving the ocean itself. Fish large and small leapt in panic from the surface; the seawater appeared to boil.
When the lightning struck, the clouds of heavenly might dispersed.
Then, stirring music suddenly rang out. The melody was deeply familiar to Debbie and the others: Ye Chui’s favourite “He’s a Pirate.” It sounded as though an entire symphony orchestra was performing, the music resounding across heaven and earth.
Amid the still-rolling waves, a black ship tore through the sea, riding the wind and waves, and appeared before everyone.
It was none other than the Black Pearl, which the Sea Angel had previously swallowed half of!
Atop the crow’s nest on the Black Pearl’s mainmast, Ye Chui gripped a mast line with one hand, looking dashingly heroic as he gazed at the crowd aboard the Goddess.
Because the Sea Angel had swallowed half the Black Pearl, Ye Chui had been unable to re-summon and repair it. But moments ago, after being swallowed himself, he had located the missing wreckage inside the creature, restored the Black Pearl, then used a heaven-punishing punch to blast his way out of the Sea Angel’s body before sailing back to the surface.
Every pirate and Undead Monk stood dumbfounded, speechless.
Green grinned at the one-armed captain and said, “Sorry, but our President really can do anything!”
