What a Rude Way to Arrive!

Two hours ago.

On the boundless East Blue of the empire, the surging waves constantly splashed up bursts of white spray, yet the entire sea surface appeared to be a dark color.

There's a saying that describes this well: clear water is shallow, blue water is deep, and black water is abyss.

Yet, in this vast ocean that resembles Abyss, two cruisers, each over a hundred meters long and numbered 256 and 257 respectively, are sailing along their fixed patrol route, flying the flag of the Imperial Navy.

At this time.

Inside the cabin of cruiser No. 256.

Good morning, guys, anything found?

Rear Admiral Mormont, the ship's Rear Admiral, holding a freshly brewed cup of coffee, his face beaming with the aroma of coffee and the freshness of his freshly washed clothes, pushed open the iron door of the combat command center and greeted the technicians sitting in front of their respective screens.

"Everything is normal, Captain."

Colonel Nadin, who was serving as the deputy captain, quickly reported the incident.

"Really? That makes sense. I heard that the entrances and exits for those Otherworld invaders are in the snow-capped mountains. How could any warships possibly sail in?" Captain Mormont chuckled.

But at that moment, the radar sergeant next to him suddenly looked at the radar screen and warned, "Report! A signal resembling a human has appeared five nautical miles directly ahead!"

Five nautical miles is the maximum range at which their shipborne detection radar can detect humans; beyond that, it can only detect large ships or large Danger Beasts.

"A human being?"

Rear Admiral Mormont, who had just taken a sip of hot coffee, looked up and exchanged a glance with Nadin, both seeing deep confusion in each other's eyes.

They are currently located more than a hundred nautical miles from the Empire Continent. How could anyone possibly be there?

"They must be victims," Colonel Nadin guessed.

"Possibly."

Rear Admiral Mormont nodded.

These days, there are always adventurers or daring fishermen who venture into the depths of the East Blue to hunt, and such behavior usually has two outcomes.

First, successfully catch Danger Beasts or a large quantity of fish, and you'll make a fortune back home.

Secondly, they directly became a sweet treat for Danger Beasts.

"Then let's try to save them."

Rear Admiral Mormont thought for a moment and then gave the order: anyone who could appear in the East Blue must be either an Imperial citizen, Divine Harmony, or a human.

In the past, if they found out it was the latter after rescuing someone, they would most likely have kicked it back into the sea.

However, in order to fight against that Otherworld World Government, the Empire is currently negotiating an alliance with the Shenwa Island Country, so saving a Divine Harmony or a human now would most likely be considered a meritorious act.

For a cruiser with a speed of thirty knots, a mere five nautical miles would not take much time at all.

"Let's go see this guy who's both unlucky and lucky!"

Rear Admiral Mormont made a sarcastic remark to Colonel Nadin, then walked out of the operations command center to the cockpit, where he could observe the sea situation through a monocular telescope.

Hmm, that's strange.

Such a modern cruiser didn't even have a single professional marine binoculars, but that was the current state of the Empire's technology.

In fact, these warships, along with their detection radars and shipborne missiles...

It can be said that all of these things only came about after that Dr. Stylish from the Department of Science appeared out of nowhere twelve years ago.

This explains why, despite most cities within the Ming Empire being low-rise mud houses and stone buildings, lacking even a smooth cement road, the navy's warships and equipment are so modern.

Therefore, the name of the Dr. Stylish is highly renowned in the Alchemi Kingdom, where alchemy is highly developed, as well as in the advanced civilizations of the Shenwa Island Country.

He's absolutely a National Treasure- level genius scientist, and the key is that he's only thirty years old this year!

"Um?"

Just as Rear Admiral Mormont and Colonel Nadin stepped into the cockpit, they found it completely silent. Everyone was holding a monocular telescope to their right eye, staring blankly at the vast ocean outside the window.

Even when the captain and first officer entered, no one noticed.

What's wrong with you all?

As Rear Admiral Mormont asked the question, the people gradually came to their senses, and then exclaimed in shock, one after another.

"There's a strange guy with the captain!"

"Yes, yes, it was a man riding a bicycle!"

"And it looks incredibly tall; I'm starting to doubt if I'm seeing things!"

Rear Admiral Mormont listened for a few minutes and finally grasped a few key points, but how could there be someone riding a bicycle on the open sea?

"Quiet!"

He then waved his hand forcefully to signal them to be quiet, then snatched the monoculars from one of them and walked to the window to look out; Nadin behind him did the same.

Soon.

Within their limited, circular field of vision, the two saw a long-legged man with a full head of black curly hair riding a bicycle across the turbulent sea!

The two captains were dumbfounded.

"What do we do now, Rear Admiral?"

Colonel Nadin was somewhat at a loss, but Rear Admiral Mormont, who was being questioned, was also unsure what to do. The other party did not seem to be a victim; judging from his leisurely demeanor, he seemed more like a traveler.

"How about we send a small boat over to ask?"

Rear Admiral Mormont said hesitantly.

In the current situation, he really didn't think it would be an enemy attack, because the other party's posture was very natural, as if they were leisurely riding a bicycle on the sea.

This could be the ability of some kind of Teigu or Shingu.

Before the messenger could even step out of the cockpit, the entire No. 256 missile cruiser began to freeze from the bottom, and then the ice spread at an extremely fast speed, completely sealing the inside and outside of the Setsuna.

Rear Admiral Mormont and the others in the cockpit didn't even have time to react, and probably didn't even realize when they were dying. The messenger was still gripping the hatch.

Everything happened so suddenly and strangely.

The man in the distance seemed oblivious to what was happening, continuing to cycle across the sea at a steady speed.

However, if you look closely at the bottom of the bicycle...

You can then see that the original single ice road has split into a second one, which leads directly to Cruiser No. 256.

However, this alerted the cruiser No. 257 that was following behind.

[Whoosh!]

Because this was clearly an attack, they immediately pressed the button for the anti-ship missile, and a missile, spewing intense flames, flew towards Kuzan's location.

At the same time, the machine guns at the bow of the cruiser also began to rotate.

On the other side.

Because the distance was so close, the missile flew to within 600 meters of Kuzan in just a few seconds, at an altitude of about 300 meters above the sea surface.

[Da da da da da]

The machine guns behind them had also started firing, unleashing a barrage of fire at a rate of 5,000 rounds per second, with a large number of spent cartridge cases falling down.

However, whether it was anti-ship missiles or those massive machine gun bullets, the moment they came into contact with a sweeping air wave, they were frozen in mid-air, turning into ice blocks that fell into the huge waves.

At the same time.

Suddenly, an ice spear over two meters long appeared above Kuzan's head, and in the blink of an eye, it pierced the deck of Cruiser No. 257 with precision, moving faster than sound travels.

In an instant, the cruiser and the surrounding sea surface within a radius of ten meters were transformed into a giant ice sculpture.

And that man.

He simply rode his bicycle away, whistling as he slowly left the scene, leaving behind only a gentle sentence that drifted softly in the sea breeze.

"Oh dear, how rude of me not to say hello!"

Some readers pointed out that Aokiji's appearance in the previous chapter was too brief, so this chapter provides a more detailed description.