The Red Beard, Watchers, and Black Sail pirate crews were originally the navy of the Tidal Empire, hailing from the White Ship clan among the Twelve Mythical Beasts. The duty of that clan was to protect the archipelago. When the White Ship clan leader, Dalin, fused with the White Ship and turned it into a pirate vessel, the clan members abandoned the navy and became pirate crews, a tradition that has continued to the present day.
They were cursed by the Church and turned into undead monks. According to Captain Dalin’s plan, if the ghost ship gained a new host, the curse on these undead monks would lift, and the pirate crews would obey the new host of the ghost ship as their Pirate King.
Captain Dalin had originally intended to pass the ghost ship’s host to his grandson Stari. Unfortunately, Stari’s talent was frankly rather lacking (even Debbie felt anxious for him), so Dalin tried to teach him personally. Things went a bit too far, and Debbie ended up inheriting the ghost ship instead.
Thus, Debbie was now set to become the new Pirate King, gaining command over all three great pirate crews, while the three crews would be freed from the undead monk curse… or so it was supposed to go. Yet when Debbie summoned the black sword, the undead monk ships all sank at once. It was not a slow sinking from damage; instead, they seemed to instantly lose all buoyancy and vanished beneath the surface in the blink of an eye, leaving not even a whirlpool behind.
Debbie stared at the empty sea and fell into a slightly awkward silence. She glanced stiffly at Debbie and said, “This really wasn’t how it was meant to happen…”
The Ocean Goddess pirate crew, which had been closing in to encircle them, were utterly stunned. Many had seen Debbie simply brandish a black sword, and then those hundred-plus undead monk ships had plunged straight to the bottom. What kind of power was that?
Some of the more timid crewmen were already eager to turn their ships and flee, and in the panic two vessels even collided.
One-Arm gripped the helm with his single hand. The sinking of the undead ships had shocked him greatly, but then he realised something: only the undead monk ships had sunk. Whatever Debbie had done, it clearly could not affect his own pirate ships!
One-Arm gnashed his teeth and roared, “What are you all panicking for? Charge! They can’t touch us! Kill them, claim the Church’s bounty! Charge!”
One-Arm clearly held immense authority among his crew. At his shout, the other pirates bared ferocious expressions and once again steered their ships to surround the Black Pearl.
Ye Chui had already rushed to the Black Pearl’s helm and seized the wheel, ready to break out. Earlier, surrounded by both pirate ships and undead monk vessels, he had been forced to consider summoning the flying demon vehicle. Now, with the undead monk ships gone and open water ahead, it was the perfect chance for the Black Pearl to escape.
At sea, the Black Pearl’s greatest advantage was its sheer speed!
At the same time, Ye Chui released the BGM while casting wind magic to fill the sails and accelerate the ship further.
Debbie recovered from the awkwardness of accidentally sinking over a hundred undead monk ships and stood proudly at the prow against the wind. “This black sword has another powerful ability that’s perfect right now!”
“What ability?” Leisha asked from beside her.
Debbie did not reply. Instead, she demonstrated. Taking a deep breath, she swung the black sword and pointed far ahead.
The Black Pearl’s speed surged dramatically. The huge black sails suddenly billowed full, and the ropes securing the canvas seemed to come alive, writhing as they tightened themselves.
Green, Leisha, and the others stared in astonishment.
Evans suddenly realised something and exclaimed, “My father once told me that the White Ship mythical beast doesn’t just summon the White Ship; it can fully bring any ship to life and control its every movement!”
That was the powerful ability Debbie meant!
Normally, sailing a ship at sea required the coordinated efforts of many sailors, but for the host of the White Ship, one person was enough. Debbie stood valiantly on the foredeck, black sword pointed forward, sea wind whipping her hair and clothes. The sight was indescribably cool and commanding.
Ye Chui also looked surprised. Wasn’t this ability similar to Blackbeard’s pirate sword from the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film? A single blade could animate the ship, turning ropes into snake-like tendrils to attack enemies. Ye Chui had actually considered exchanging for that sword, but the cost was over twenty thousand points, more expensive than the Black Pearl itself, so he had given up.
After all, such a thing was only useful at sea, and Ye Chui had no intention of being a pirate forever.
Yet now, the black sword Debbie had inherited from the White Ship possessed exactly the same effect.
The Black Pearl was already extremely fast, and with Debbie’s enhancement, its speed increased several times over. In no time, it left the Ocean Goddess pirate fleet far behind.
“I never imagined a ship could be this fast!” Stari stood at the rail, hair streaming in the wind, his voice trembling with excitement.
“We’ve left those pirate ships way behind,” Ilabella said happily.
“What a pity,” Guni muttered, leaning disappointedly on the stern railing. She had only just discovered some special properties of097 her greatsword and was itching to test them out.
Ilabella gave Guni a speechless look, then noticed the same expression on Leisha’s, Green’s, and the others’ faces. This bunch… they were simply ridiculous. Faced with over a hundred enemy ships, they were actually reluctant even to run away.
Just as that thought crossed Ilabella’s mind, her eyes caught something.
A shadow appeared on the sea beside the Black Pearl!
She hurried to the rail, gripped it, and looked down, shock written across her face. “The Sea Angel! It’s the Sea Angel! It’s here!”
Her words drew everyone’s attention. On the nearby water, a huge shadow was rapidly approaching. Then the octopus-like, grotesque head broke the surface. Its enormous mouth gaped towards the Black Pearl, and several tentacles wrapped around the hull, making the ship shudder violently.
Ye Chui instantly appeared at the rail and shouted urgently to Turtle Baby, “Deploy the turtle-pattern barrier! Protect the whole ship!”
“Will that even work? My barrier can shield the ship, but it can’t stop us from being swallowed by this sea monster!” Turtle Baby said worriedly, yet still cast the barrier. A layer of turtle patterns instantly enveloped the Black Pearl on all sides, like a giant bubble.
“It’s not meant to resist the octopus,” Ye Chui explained with a smile. “It’s to protect us from the blast.”
“The blast?” Everyone else froze.
Ye Chui gave a calm smile. “Looks like the timer’s up…”
…
The Ocean Goddess pirates chasing the Black Pearl had been marvelling at its speed. Seeing it about to escape, One-Arm wore an expression of deep regret and cursed viciously.
But then the Sea Angel suddenly appeared and attacked the Black Pearl.
This filled One-Arm with delight.
Although they could not capture the crew for the Church’s bounty, these people were infuriating. Watching them get devoured by the Sea Angel would still be satisfying!
“They’re finished! They’re dead! I don’t know how that Ye Chui escaped its mouth earlier, but there’s no way he escapes again. This time they’re all dead!” One-Arm shouted gleefully.
Then…
BOOM!
A colossal explosion erupted from within the Sea Angel. In that instant its body swelled to nearly double its size, like an overinflated balloon. Its brown skin cracked all over, fire and light bursting from the fissures. A full-yield [Explosion is Justice] was the equivalent of a nuclear bomb detonating inside it. The terrifying force instantly shattered the void world within the creature.
A horrific roar echoed across the sea, the Sea Angel’s death cry. Its tentacles thrashed and twisted wildly, then began to disintegrate. Towering waves surged outward. Several nearby islands were struck by tsunamis and swallowed whole in moments. The Ocean Goddess fleet was tossed about chaotically; more than a dozen ships were reduced to wreckage by the waves.
When everything settled, the sea surface was covered with black ichor and slowly dissolving tentacle fragments.
The Sea Angel had never been a physical creature; it was a mythical being summoned by the Church decades ago. It had terrorised these waters, constantly devouring other sea demons to sustain its form. Countless creatures in the gorge sea had lived under its threat. But now, this fearsome monster had perished here.
An apostle had been blown to death by Ye Chui!
One-Arm clung desperately to the helm, his face pale with horror. Even his ship rocked violently, and his heart pounded. Hoarsely he screamed, “Get us out of here! Now!” At that moment he understood Ye Chui’s terror. He finally felt what all those previous enemies and factions who had opposed Ye Chui must have felt!
Countless pirate ships needed no further orders; they frantically turned and fled.
Yet at that very moment, amidst the churning waves, large ships suddenly rose from the depths all around the Ocean Goddess fleet. They flew three flags: Red Beard, Black Sail, and Watchers.
The three great pirate crews!
Debbie had not sunk their ships earlier. She had broken the curse on them, restoring their original forms, a process that simply required a little time.
Now the three great pirate crews, both ships and sailors, were no longer the walking corpses of before. The vessels were brand new, and the pirates had regained living flesh.
The moment they surfaced, the three crews launched a fierce assault on the Ocean Goddess fleet!
Whether because of their ancient oath or because Debbie had lifted their curse, at this moment they loyally chose to obey her.
Debbie was crowned the true Pirate King!
