The Situation Changes

Their bodies were torn apart by the wraiths' claws, flesh and blood scattering everywhere. Their screams came to an abrupt end, leaving behind only miserable silence.

However, the deaths of those two mercenaries had not been meaningless.

Their dying screams were the best possible warning, swiftly relayed to the other mercenaries through the communication channel.

"Team Seven, go check the area Rock and the others were responsible for. Be extremely careful."

Under the mercenary captain's decisive command, some of the dozens of mercenaries guarding the passengers in the shopping plaza began to move.

However, by this point, regardless of why the mercenaries had boarded the Ocean Miracle, their fates had already been decided.

Because when the wraiths tore apart the two mercenaries who had entered Moros's room, the necromancer, who had been studying Magic Tomes in the Demiplane, received a warning from the Hero Panel.

The combat settlement panel that suddenly appeared conveyed one message to Moros—the Ocean Miracle had undergone a major upheaval.

Moros swiftly put down the tome in his hands and opened a Demiplane passage leading to the Ocean Miracle.

As a spellcaster, he still maintained the necessary caution.

Although Moros could sense that the wraiths had already dealt with the intruders, he did not immediately return to Earth.

On the contrary, Moros first sent a group of Vampire Lords into the Demiplane passage. Only after ensuring it was safe did he unhurriedly return to the Ocean Miracle.

"Mercenaries? Has my whereabouts been exposed? No, if this were Mu Continent's doing, there's no reason for such a minor disturbance..."

The mercenaries who had boarded the Ocean Miracle were indeed fully armed, well-trained, and clearly the elite among elites.

However, if they had come for the necromancer Moros, this level of force was obviously not right.

After the battle in Fuyuan City, Mu Continent's politicians understood very clearly that a small number of elite troops could not pose a threat to Moros.

To put him to death, even Mu Continent, renowned in the technological world, would need to go all out and launch a large-scale campaign.

Just as Moros was considering whether these mercenaries aboard the Ocean Miracle had come because of him, Team Seven, dispatched to the first-class cabin area under the mercenary captain's orders, entered his senses.

Kill them!

Moros issued the command coldly, then stopped dwelling on the question.

For a necromancer like him, skilled in necromancy, directly interrogating the mercenaries' souls was obviously a more efficient way to obtain information.

The battle ended very quickly.

Facing wraiths that emerged from within the corridor walls and Vampire Lords capable of cleaving bullets apart with their swords, the dozen-plus mercenaries of Team Seven had no ability to resist.

They did not even last a minute before Team Seven's mercenaries were completely wiped out.

"Let me see what you came here for..."

Muttering softly, Moros skillfully cast necromancy and pulled the mercenaries' souls from their mangled corpses.

"I'm not dead?"

"Didn't I die?"

"What's going on?"

"..."

The mercenaries' souls clearly had yet to realize their current situation.

But this was not Moros's first time interrogating souls, and he was more than happy to help them understand their circumstances.

Thus, after a round of shrill screams, the mercenaries' souls answered every question they were asked.

Through his interrogation of Team Seven's mercenaries' souls, Moros also learned why the mercenaries had boarded this massive ocean liner.

Priceless contraband? A renowned scholar researching Collapse Energy? Such things had actually been hidden aboard this ship?

However, that had merely been the mercenaries' initial plan.

When they discovered many familiar prominent names on the passenger list they had obtained, their greed began to swell wildly.

Tempted by the enormous ransoms they might earn, the mercenaries chose to ignore the risk of retaliation and decided to take a gamble.

They began confirming the captives' identities one by one, only to discover in surprise that the captured passengers included highly valuable hostages such as executives of multinational corporations, powerful politicians, and renowned academics.

This discovery delighted the mercenaries. They instantly realized that if they could successfully abduct these exceptionally valuable passengers, the ransom they received would far exceed their original mission payment.

This immense potential profit sent the mercenaries into a frenzy of joy.

Having tasted the benefits, the mercenaries decided to thoroughly search the entire Ocean Miracle and not let a single "big fish" escape.

Then came the two unlucky fools who entered Moros's room.

After squeezing the last bits of information from Team Seven's mercenaries' souls, Moros directly stuffed those souls into a Magic Crystal.

For a necromancer, the souls of intelligent creatures had all kinds of uses.

They could be used to craft powerful magical equipment, refine precious potions, or even serve as materials for creating high-tier undead.

Although Moros did not lack the souls of these mercenaries given his financial situation, he would not turn down what was practically free profit.

After putting away the Magic Crystal containing more than a dozen souls, Moros did not choose to return to the Demiplane and avoid the storm sweeping across the Ocean Miracle.

With his strength, after all, no one on this ship besides Elysia could threaten him.

Since that was the case, Moros naturally had the confidence to be the final victor.

Thinking of the Pink Fairy Lady, Moros wore an amused smile.

He knew very well that more than a hundred mercenaries posed no threat whatsoever to Elysia.

But if Elysia did not want to expose her unusual nature, then even as the Origin's Herrscher, she would find this troublesome.

This was a good opportunity to deepen their relationship!

With that thought, Moros came up with a plan.

Changing Circumstances

Having decided to involve himself in this chaos, Moros opened the Demiplane passage without hesitation.

Come forth, my legion!

As the necromancer's command rang out, massive numbers of undead soldiers poured from the slowly rotating vortex-like Demiplane passage, which glimmered with faint blue light.

The nimble Skeleton Archers held bows and arrows made of bone, the Soul Fire in their skulls emitting a dim green glow. Their attacks were precise and deadly;

Although the lumbering Plague Zombies were bloated in form, their bodies, altered through necromancy, possessed formidable defense and could endure tremendous damage, making them extremely cost-effective shields on the battlefield;

The incorporeal wraiths passed in and out through the ship's cabins, occasionally letting out hair-raising wails;

The Vampire Lords stood elegantly beside their master. As noble Mid-tier Undead, they not only possessed great combat power but could also assist the necromancer in commanding Low-tier Undead.

Although limited by the battlefield environment, Moros had not brought out the larger and more powerful undead units.

But with these mid- and low-tier undead alone, the necromancer had more than enough confidence to capture the entire Ocean Miracle.

That was right, Moros's goal was not merely to protect himself.

If he only wanted to protect himself, Moros merely needed to hide in the Demiplane. Forget mercenaries—even a Herrscher could only stare helplessly.

Of course, the Second Herrscher, the Herrscher of Void, was an exception!

Since Moros had brought so many undead soldiers out of the Demiplane, he naturally intended to obtain sufficient benefits.

Not only would he help Elysia out of this predicament and improve his standing with her and Eden, Moros also intended to seize one of the mercenaries' original targets—the contraband smuggled aboard the Ocean Miracle.

As for that renowned scholar researching Collapse Energy, Moros lost interest after learning from the information extracted from the mercenaries' souls that he was a man rather than the green-haired woman Moros had vaguely hoped for.

He naturally understood the tremendous value of a system entirely different from magic, but Moros also understood that biting off more than one could chew was unwise.

After all these years of study in the Mage Guild, Moros had a sufficiently clear understanding of his own talents and abilities.

His talent on the path of a necromancer was exceptional. As long as he put in enough effort, he could even ascend to the Legendary rank on his own.

However, Moros's talent went no further than that.

He was confident that, with sufficient effort and resources, he could advance into a High Legendary necromancer, above level 25.

But Moros was not confident that he could complete the next advancement in life level through his own abilities alone and step into the realm of Destiny Legend, above level 30.

Therefore, for Moros, rashly venturing into a system completely different from magic was not a wise move.

Very few people could cross the barriers of understanding and ignore the obstacles between different systems of knowledge.

Clearly, Moros was not that kind of unparalleled prodigy.

Thus, in Moros's view, continuing to delve deeper down the path of a necromancer and focusing on the field he knew best was the choice better suited to him.

Go! Find those mercenaries, then lead the combat groups to kill them!

As Moros's command fell, the wraiths swiftly merged into the ship's bulkheads and vanished without a trace.

With speed comparable to an AH-64 Attack Helicopter and a keen ability to sense living beings, this task was extremely simple for them.

Next, Moros methodically organized his undead soldiers into several combat groups.

Each group was led by a noble Vampire Lord and accompanied by dozens of Plague Zombies and Skeleton Archers.

In Moros's eyes, such a formation was enough to handle a mercenary squad like Team Seven.

After leaving behind the necessary guards, Moros led the Vampire Lords serving as his escort through the Ocean Miracle's internal corridors toward the shopping area in the middle of the ship.

Based on Moros's understanding of Elysia, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance that she was still lingering around the shopping area at this time.

And considering the relationship between Elysia and Eden, finding Elysia in the current situation was equivalent to finding Eden.

As Moros led the Vampire Lord guard toward the shopping area, the mercenaries' commander felt pressure unlike anything he had experienced before.

After easily taking the Ocean Miracle's main control room, they had successfully obtained the suitcase containing concentrated Collapse Energy solution.

Then, while identifying the captives in the shopping area, they found another part of their mission target—the renowned scholar specializing in Collapse Energy.

By this point, the mercenaries' mission had in fact been completed perfectly.

But everything that happened afterward went wrong.

Driven by their greedy desire for enormous ransoms, the mercenaries began a comprehensive search of this massive ocean liner.

Then Rock and the others, who had gone to the first-class cabins to find people according to the passenger list, met with misfortune.

At first, the commander did not consider this a serious problem.

After all, on such a massive cruise ship, it was only to be expected that capable passengers might fight back.

However, when Team Seven's screams came through the communication channel, he realized that matters had already spiraled out of control.

Before the mercenary commander could think of any countermeasure, the communication channel erupted into chaos.

"Ghosts!"

"They saw us! Run!"

"Don't run! Open fire, kill them!"

"Fuck, bullets don't work... Ah, don't come over here! Don't come near me—"

"Die! Let's die together!"

"..."

The mercenary commander listened with a grim expression to the screams and chaotic cries over the communication channel, a powerful unease rising within him.

He did not know what had happened, but one thing was certain: something terrible had occurred aboard the ship, and the situation had completely spiraled out of control.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm the panic in his heart.

The mercenary commander knew that he had to remain calm now, or the entire mercenary force would descend into uncontrollable panic and chaos.

He shouted into the communication channel.

"Quick! Assemble on the lower deck! We're withdrawing!"

But the only response was more screams and chaotic shouting.

By this point, how could the mercenary commander possibly not know that the mercenaries he had sent out were finished?

Looking up at the mercenaries guarding the captives in the shopping plaza, the mercenary commander shouted.

"Take the mission targets and move! We're heading to the lower deck!"

"Boss?"