Hound Nosk

Jack tapped lightly with his foot. Though his body looked bloated, he leaped back with surprising agility and disappeared into the mass of Walking Corpses. The charging Hounds crashed straight into them.

On one side were Walking Corpses unfettered by instinct, immensely strong, immune to pain, and fearless of death. On the other were clearly abnormal Hounds, perhaps supernatural creatures.

The two sides immediately tore into each other, and Jack pulled Higgs to his feet.

"Kid, do you know now that there are always greater people beyond people, and greater skies beyond the sky? You're still too green. Be careful."

Higgs lowered his head in shame. He had indeed become a little carried away, but anyone who gained such power would have done the same.

Jack had once been the same way, so after jokingly saying that, he did not lecture Higgs further. Instead, he looked up at the two men emerging from the cabin.

Both men were extremely tall, but one of them had clearly disproportionate features. His legs were very short, while his arms were especially long and thick. Standing there, he looked like a gorilla.

"Hound Nosk. So it really was you. Is this the newly promoted major?"

Seeing the two men, Jack spoke with a relaxed expression. Nosk's Hounds were vicious, but facing nearly ten times their number in Walking Corpses and Skeleton Warriors, they were far from having an easy time. If this continued, casualties would sooner or later appear.

Every one that died would be enough to make Nosk ache to death.

"Bloodhand Jack? Why are you here? Didn't you retire? And why is there a red glow on you?"

"Heh heh, I got lucky. I met a good Captain, so I went back to sea. How about it? Jump into the ocean yourself, and I'll spare you."

Old Jack chuckled darkly, his face fierce and savage.

"Hmph. You think you can beat me just because you've allied yourself with the sea monster Abel?"

Obviously, Nosk had mistaken Higgs for Abel. With tentacles wreaking havoc all over the ship and Higgs looking like a Fishman, it was perfectly reasonable for him to think so.

"Lieutenant Colonel, why waste words with them? Kill them. At this rate, our ship is going to sink."

The major beside him, whose arms nearly hung to the floor, saw Nosk still chatting with the enemy and spoke anxiously.

Nosk was speechless inside. My Hounds are fighting up front while you're standing here. What the hell are you talking about? Get in there yourself. Why do you think I'm wasting time talking to them?

As if he had heard Nosk's thoughts, the major immediately charged out with a massive hammer. Everywhere he passed, every Walking Corpse he encountered burst apart, dead beyond doubt.

Clearly, those thick arms possessed strength to match their appearance.

"You and the Undead Servants deal with those Hounds. I'll handle that guy."

After giving the instruction, Jack charged at the naval major with his twin blades in hand. If he let the man keep killing like this, they would have to call the Captain again before long.

The Captain had not been in a very good mood lately, and Jack did not want to get scolded.

Clang! Jack's twin blades caught the iron handle of the hammer, producing a tremendous crash. His body was forced back by the enormous strength.

But Jack's combat experience was incomparably rich. He used the force to fall backward, while kicking the man in the groin.

The major's eyes immediately bulged, and bloodshot veins quickly spread across his eyeballs.

Jack rolled away, dodging the punch thrown by the major, who had fallen into a berserk rage.

Wood chips flew everywhere. A hole appeared in the deck where Jack's head had been, and a gigantic fist sank entirely into it.

Jack got to his feet with a chuckle. Rather than approach him, he simply dodged the hammer swings, wearing down the man's stamina.

Once the man's stamina dropped, killing him would be as easy as turning a hand over.

Elsewhere, Higgs, covered in bite marks left by the Hounds, wielded a curved blade suited to his size and charged at the Hounds alongside the Walking Corpses.

Nosk was not idle either. With a flared-muzzle pistol in one hand and a saber in the other, he charged into the Walking Corpses and Skeleton Warriors.

The Undead's tentacles deliberately avoided the area where they were fighting, even though many navy soldiers screamed as tentacles swept them into the sea or simply bit their heads off.

This area suffered no such interference, but no navy soldiers dared run here either. It was even more dangerous than elsewhere. Against the tentacles, they could at least choose to jump into the sea. If they ran here, they could only wait to be hacked to death by Skeleton Warriors or bitten to death by Walking Corpses.

By then, Nosk's seven Hounds were already covered in wounds, blood streaming from injuries inflicted by the Walking Corpses' tearing claws and the Skeleton Warriors' blades.

Yet they had killed only a dozen or so Walking Corpses and Skeleton Warriors. There was no helping it. Unless their necks were bitten through or their heads smashed apart, the Walking Corpses would not stop attacking.

Moreover, unlike Yang Mu, who could not be bothered to move the undeads' cores around, since they were just cannon fodder anyway, Jack was willing to put in the effort.

Jack had moved the cores of some Walking Corpses to different parts of their bodies. Some were in their hearts, some in their buttocks, and some were even in their legs.

As a result, many undead continued attacking even after their heads had fallen off.

After the battle had continued for several minutes, one Hound suffered an injury to its leg. Its agility declined, and several Walking Corpses pounced on it and knocked it to the ground.

Higgs immediately appeared beside the Hound and, amid Nosk's pained roar, drove his blade through the Hound's neck.

Scarlet blood sprayed over Higgs, making his already ugly and ferocious Fishman face even more terrifying.

The Hound's death was like the first domino falling. Soon, a second and then a third Hound died.

In the end, when only eighteen Walking Corpses and two Skeleton Warriors remained among the undead, Higgs twisted off Nosk's head.

On the other side, the major wielding the giant hammer was also panting heavily. His stamina had clearly been greatly depleted, while Jack, standing opposite him, still looked relaxed as he watched with a faintly mocking smile.

Seeing him stop attacking, Jack closed in at once. One blade knocked aside the hammer, while the other curved blade swept across his neck. Only after they passed each other did blood spray out.

His combat experience was far too poor, and he had little battle awareness. After being enraged, he had almost completely lost his reason. He had not even used Bone Shield. Jack had merely run circles around him for a few minutes before killing him easily.

Jack sheathed his blades, grasped the man's soul in his hand, and walked toward Higgs.

"Give me the souls and bodies of five Hounds. The rest are yours. This is your first time adding kindling, so you can't burn too much at once, or something will go wrong."

Higgs did not object. He handed over the souls in his hand, keeping only the souls of two Hounds and Nosk.

Those who ignored an elder's advice suffered before their eyes. Higgs had seen Jack clutching his head and rolling on the ground after his first burning, so naturally, he followed the advice.

The two piled together the souls and corpses they intended to burn, then burned them all at once. Black flames wrapped around the bodies and souls, returning to their bodies only after reducing them to nothingness.