Means Exhausted

Ato's expression was blank. He held his sword in one hand, unconcerned whether the undead creature had any semblance of sanity.

In Ato's eyes at this moment, he saw: The enemy jungler attempted to gank our bot lane, and I counter-ganked.

He swung his right arm, the one gripping the sword, and repelled the undead's arms, which had already mutated into withered claws.

Sarah didn't even see Ato's movement clearly. All she saw was the undead before her being cut in half at the waist. Its lower half was absorbed into the demonic sword, while its upper half landed on the deck not far away.

Its remaining half-body crawled towards Sarah, unwilling to give up.

"Thank you." Sarah's full chest rose and fell rapidly.

"I promised you, within a month, no one else will be able to threaten you."

"But why can't these low-level undead, born from the Ruinous Curse, sense me? Sarah, your allure is truly extraordinary."

"...Don't joke around at a time like this." Sarah stared intently at the severed half of the undead.

The mindless undead naturally didn't understand Ato's words. Even with only half its body remaining, it had to complete the mission given by that existence.

Since its birth, it had lingered on the Shadow Isles for a long time, obeying the high-ranking being who had merged with its warhorse.

How dare this creature, which looked no different from an ordinary person, issue commands to it!

The undead roared, retracting its outstretched withered arms. Instead, it shifted its hatred towards the mysterious person blocking its path to glory.

The undead's instincts told it that the only reason this person could stop it was sheer luck!

It was impossible for anyone in the world to stop the army of the Shadow Isles.

Yes, it had to be like this.

Ato shook his head helplessly.

Ordinary pirates were one thing, but why were undead as clueless as pirates?

The Demonic Sword of the Dark, though seemingly enormous, felt weightless in Ato's hand.

After blocking the attack on Sarah, Ato drew the demonic sword back, flicked his wrist, and casually slashed forward. The strike cleaved the undead in two, along with the deck in front of him.

It raised its withered claws one last time before letting them fall powerlessly. Its body gradually turned to dust and merged into the demonic sword.

Though called undead, they were like humans; they had physical forms.

If struck by a firearm or a blade and damaged to a certain extent, they would still turn to ash and vanish.

The undead that attacked Sarah was swiftly slain by Ato.

Sarah's heart tightened. If Ato hadn't been on her side, this Soul Harvest Night would likely have cost her Mother's Twin Pistols just to survive.

Meanwhile, the crew of the Siren heard the loud noises coming from the southeast.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

"It seems Gangplank has deployed his main forces at Grayport."

Mr. Ato retracted his greatsword and said to Miss Fortune.

"Tch, that's just Gangplank's way of maintaining his rule."

Sarah was dismissive. Hearing the sounds from Grayport, southeast of Bilgewater, her face still showed unconcealed disgust.

"Speaking of which, Mr. Ato, thank you just now. These dual pistols are very important to me..."

Sarah couldn't help but recall the first time she saw Gangplank when she was very young.

"You shouldn't let your guard down, Miss Sarah." Mr. Ato gripped his greatsword tightly. "Soul Harvest Night has only just begun."

Sarah suddenly came to her senses, breaking free from her memories. She instinctively moved closer to Mr. Ato.

"Every Soul Harvest Night lasts at least a full day, Mr. Ato. How do you think we should get through it safely?"

Just lie down and wait for me to... Mr. Ato thought to himself, then casually said, "Perhaps every previous Soul Harvest Night was difficult for you, but this time, you don't need to worry about anything, because I'm here."

Southeast of Bilgewater, two massive ships were unleashing a barrage of firepower. Each of them was three to four times the size of the Siren.

Countless iron cannons on the ships spewed flames, and the cannonballs landed on the sea, stirring up monstrous waves.

In addition to the cannon fire, there were many figures on deck wielding swords and sabers, cutting and slashing. Undead had already invaded the areas around The Dreadnought and the Leviathan.

Gangplank stood before the entrance to the captain's cabin on The Dreadnought, surveying the entire battle.

Due to the obstruction of the Black Mist, the information he could see was very limited, which made him anxious. He hated things that were beyond his control.

He took a fierce bite of a peeled orange in his hand, drew the Gauntlet Cleaver from his waist, and went down the stairs to join the fight to stop the Undead advance.

"What do you mindless beasts think you're doing to my kingdom?"

Gangplank, filled with rage, used the flashes of light from the cannon fire to lock onto the nearest Undead. He mustered all his strength and severed its head before it could react.

"Hmph, still pathetically weak. You will be the stepping stones to stabilize my rule!"

As an experienced pirate, Gangplank had faced Soul Harvest Night more than once and was naturally skilled at slaying Undead.

Damage from firearms was not enough to kill an Undead instantly. Even after being shot several times, they still risked remaining active.

The most effective method was to decapitate them with a blade. The Undead would struggle for a few moments before ceasing to move and turning to dust.

Otherwise, the Undead would only get hit by a cannonball, but the target was too small to hit directly.

"All hands!" Gangplank ran to a loudspeaker on the ship. "Aim your attacks at the heads of these lowly creatures! If you don't understand, you'll be eating bullets after Soul Harvest Night!"

Suddenly, Gangplank felt a chill behind him. The Undead's sharp claws swung, stirring up a gust of cold wind and striking at Gangplank's back.

Years of combat experience allowed Gangplank to react quickly. He bent down rapidly, and the sharp claws shattered the loudspeaker.

Gangplank rolled to a nearby spot, drew his flintlock pistol with his other hand, and fired, stopping the Undead's next move.

Gangplank seized the opportunity to close the distance and tried to swing his sword at its neck again. However, this time the Undead was prepared, and its hard bone claws blocked the blade.

He couldn't break through the bone claws' defense even with all his strength, so he retreated, his eyes fixed on the Undead, like a hunter-like leopard waiting for its target to reveal an opening.

The Black Mist's invasion was all-encompassing, and Gangplank's fleet could only block a portion of it.

As time passed, the Black Mist finally spread from the offshore waters of Bilgewater to the islands' land.

Warnings from the Baru temple spread throughout the island. Now, every household in Bilgewater was shut tight, but even so, it couldn't guarantee that Undead wouldn't suddenly appear indoors.

Since receiving the warning, both pirates and ordinary residents had prepared ammunition and weapons and stayed awake all night.

The Baru temple was located not far from Grayport.

Illaoi, the dark-skinned, strong high priestess of the Baru, noticed the deepening darkness around her. Beside her stood a group of similarly dressed Baru people.