Li Wen coughed and spit out a mouthful of salty sea water, and his vision gradually became clear in the blur. She found herself lying on a soft bed, with the hem of Moria's priest's robe beside her. The young pastor was wiping her pale cheek with a cloth soaked in water. When he saw her waking up, he breathed a sigh of relief, "Miss Mephisto, you finally woke up."
"Where is this..." Li Wen propped himself up, the soaked clothes sticking to his skin causing a biting chill. She looked around, but there was no trace of the Two-tailed Mermaid statue. She was surrounded by familiar room layouts - this was her room on the Adventurer.
"You were swept into the sea by the Tide, and you were already unconscious when I rescued you." Moria's voice was calm as usual, "Those missing persons have returned, but they are not in good condition. Captain Remington is treating them, by the way."
Li Wen took a deep breath and managed to calm down.
"Where's the statue?"
Before Moria could reply, a violent shaking interrupted their communication. Li Wen's expression changed. She suddenly rolled out of bed and looked out the window, only to see that the sea outside the ship's side was surging in a strange way - countless huge palms made of flesh and blood slowly rose from the deep sea, lifting the Adventurer out of the water.
Something happened, and it was not caused by Two-tailed Mermaid.
Li Wen can judge the current scene without thinking too much. The statue Two-tailed Mermaid has been controlled by her with a spell and has lost its consciousness. What's more, being able to hold up a 40-meter-long ship with a hand made of flesh and blood is not the power that the statue can show at all. This change can only mean that a certain transcendent who has been secretly lurking for a long time has finally taken action.
Li Wen and Moria looked at each other, and they quickly walked out of the cabin and came to the deck.
At this time Captain Remington was already one step ahead of them, standing at the end of the deck, looking at the mast with the flag.
"Colonel, what do you mean?"
At the top of the mast, Grant, wearing an officer's uniform, stood upright. Even the violent shaking of the ship held up by his giant hands did not affect him at all.
Colonel Grant was holding the statue of Two-tailed Mermaid with a distracted expression, not even looking at the people on the deck.
"My hard work over the years is not in vain." He chuckled, "But things seem to be more interesting than I imagined."
Captain Remington stood at the bow of the ship, facing Colonel Grant from afar, his face was terrifyingly gloomy. "Colonel Grant, actually... I recognize you." He said slowly, "Not long ago, I had the honor to meet you. At that time, you were a very respectable, young and energetic naval officer. But now you feel strange to me."
"No wonder, you have been disobeying my orders. It seems that you have guessed it a long time ago." The colonel laughed, "Yes, I am not Captain Grant of the Navy. I am Joseph Wilblood, the pirate you call 'Blood Hook' and have been hunting for decades!"
After that, the man stretched out his hand and pulled off his own face. The face was bleeding and bloody, as if it had been eaten by a sea beast. However, as he spoke, new muscles and skin quickly grew, and finally formed a wild smile, "Sure enough, it is too forceful for a person like me to play the role of the navy's lackey. Are you right, Remington?"
"Joseph... What exactly do you want?" Remington's palms glowed like sea water, "There is no place for an old member of Roberts like you on this ship!"
Joseph threw the statue into the air and caught it firmly. His scarlet pupils swept across Li Wen and Moria: "When Cid's fleet sank us, there was a damn salvage ship that took away the captain's most important things. Now, I'm just here to get back our inheritance."
Really?
Li Wen looked at the man on the mast coldly, already expecting it. More than thirty years ago, Roberts's fleet was sunk by the Cide fleet in the Endless Sea. Also more than thirty years ago, Old Joey's salvage ship found the evil statue in the sunken ship on the edge of the Endless Sea. That's how everything that happened today happened.
"Joseph, let everyone on board go, or I will fight you to death!" Remington shouted, the muscles on his majestic body bulging.
"Let it go?" A trace of confusion flashed across Joseph's arrogant and unruly face, and then he laughed, "Of course you can let it go, just use the traditions of the sea!"
He took off the saber from his waist and threw it in front of Remington.
"'Oath of the Black Tide', a one-on-one duel, the one who survives decides the way of the ship, how about it? Don't worry, I smell that smell from you. You are actually a pirate, right? At least before. Although you cover it up well, I can still smell the smell on you, the unruly blood of the sea that longs for freedom. Now, let us decide everything according to the rules of pirates."
Joseph raised his hand to dig open his chest with his palm, and then stuffed the statue of Two-tailed Mermaid into it without changing his expression.
Blood flowed down the mast until it covered the entire ship.
Captain Remington Without hesitation, he took off his coat and picked up the saber, with a flash of determination in his eyes.
"Then come on Joseph, I'll bet your life and mine on it."
Moria on the side looked at him inquiringly, but Remington nodded slightly with extra confidence. The wooden board under his feet overflowed with salty sea water. With a slight effort, he jumped tens of meters high. He raised his saber out of its sheath and slashed at Joseph with a bright blue blade at an extremely fast speed.
But the blade that could cut through the waves and rocks only cut open Joseph's military uniform, leaving a white mark on his rusty bronze skin.
"Too slow."
Joseph said coldly, raised his foot and kicked Remington away. At the same time, the blood in his hand turned into a long whip and tightly wrapped around the captain who flew backwards.
"Stage Four of Calamity Path, Wave Commander, right? I once saw one of his defeated generals, and that guy's head is still hanging on the cliff of an unknown island. I know that your class can only be effective when it comes into contact with the waves, but I disappoint you. 'Oath of the Black Tide' is the pirates' duel method on the ship. As long as either foot leaves the ship, it will be considered a failure."
He reached out and grabbed the captain's neck, lifted him very close to him with one hand, and whispered in a joking tone:
"This is not a fair duel, so I decided... I will stand here. As long as you can get my feet off this mast, how about you win? Otherwise, I will kill everyone on this ship one by one in front of you, until you are the only one left."
"Then you should be responsible for your arrogance in the future."
Remington was bleeding from the corner of his mouth, and the previous kick almost shattered his internal organs. Joseph is right, as long as he is still standing on the boat, there is almost no chance of winning.