"The pirate ships are closing in—fast."
The survey ship, heading southwest, sailed on in silence. The increasingly dense lightning nearly drowned out the roar of the waves; even two people sitting face-to-face in a cabin had to shout at the top of their lungs to hear one another.
Ian, however, had the Silent Sound Ring. After making a few minor adjustments, he could block out all outside noise, leaving only the voices of those within its range.
At this moment, thanks to the feedback from the Silver Chip, he had already sensed that the pirate fleet in the distance had begun moving.
The natives were probably doing the same, perhaps just a little slower.
And Sha Sha was drawing closer too.
It could be said that they had lain still like a sleeping beast, but once they moved, they shook the world. Their previous silence had given him the wrong impression. Now that everyone had acted at once, the situation in the South Sea immediately became as treacherous and ever-changing as clouds and waves.
He had originally thought that Master Gose's move of setting out early might truly leave Patrick and the others scrambling in panic. Now, it seemed it would only delay their encounter by a little.
Every side had already made its move.
At this point, there was no need to hide anything.
Ian directly reported to Gose the information that there might be a large, unknown fleet.
His reason was that he had sensed an unusually dense aura of plants and vegetation, highly similar to the merchant ships the Elves had once brought to Harrison Port, though with some slight differences.
That was not exactly a lie. Living Wood Ships were good in every respect, except that they truly could not conceal their Origin Matter fluctuations.
This