On April 7, in the Ice Sea, a fleet of fifty pirate ships had reached the waters north of Breyak. They gathered near the continental shelf with the merfolk who were assembling there.
On the side of the Red Conch, Horn craned his neck to gaze up at the sky, while Jack (Toss) leaned against the railing and peered beneath the water.
"Why do I feel like... someone's watching us from the sky?" Horn muttered. "Could our operation have been exposed?"
"Wouldn't that be normal? The Dragon Race controls the sky. Even the air above the ocean is in their claws. How could they not know about so many ships moving around?"
"Then... aren't all these ships heading to their deaths?" Horn said in shock.
"I told you before, the Sea God doesn't really care that much about pirates. To the ocean, humans are just bugs infesting the shore." Toss spoke casually, as if he weren't human himself. "The most they can do is summon the Sea God. If they really manage that, they'll be worth more than several hundred High-Ranks."
"...Then what about us..." Horn said.
"Our ship's included, but don't worry. I'll have a way to deal with it when the time comes." Toss raised his head and saw his friend watching the pirates working around them, pity already showing in his eyes.
"Don't pity them. Fighting alongside the Sea God is the only chance they'll ever get in their lives. If they survive, they'll earn the ocean's blessing! Isn't that far more tempting than following those great pirates around, fishing and baiting their prey?"
Despair welled up inside Horn. He wasn't a pirate, and even if he survived by some stroke of luck, he wouldn't receive the ocean's blessing.
In the blink of an eye, he spotted