The Blue Avenger

Tris turned around and looked toward the deck.

Because of the sea monster's appearance, the two sides that had been exchanging fire temporarily ceased fighting.

Everyone hid in a corner, fearfully watching the tentacles roaming across the ship and occasionally tearing off a plank.

Crying, wailing, and curses continuously reached his ears.

As an Instigator who had long since abandoned his conscience, he did not find those sounds pitiful in the slightest.

He only found them noisy.

As the shouts rose, Tris noticed that the tentacles became even more frenzied.

Damn it, these idiots! Tris cursed inwardly and rushed into the fray.

He passed straight through the tentacles and arrived at the center of the deck.

"Everyone! Listen to me!" The ship swayed wildly, but Tris walked as steadily as if he were on solid ground.

"Don't be afraid." Tris's voice spread across the entire ship. "This is a very special sea monster. As long as we pretend it doesn't exist, it can't hurt us."

Tris invoked the Beyonder Ability of an Instigator, infusing his voice with spirituality so that everyone could hear him clearly.

"Calm down. Everyone, calm down." There was an extraordinary effect in his voice that made people unable to resist believing him.

Quite a few people turned their gazes toward him.

Most of them did not believe him, but under the influence of his ability, they wavered slightly.

After all, he was a Sequence 8 Instigator.

Tris took the initiative to step onto a tentacle, letting one of his legs pass through it.

"See? As long as we don't believe it exists, it can't even touch us."

With the evidence right before their eyes, coupled with Tris's Instigator ability, more and more people began to waver.

As people gradually wavered, the sea monster did indeed become somewhat more transparent.

That made even more people believe what Tris said.

Very good. This was a virtuous cycle.

A bunch of idiots!

The corners of Tris's mouth could not help but curl upward.

With just a few words, he could manipulate their emotions.

Tris loved this feeling far too much.

Although the situation was extremely dangerous, he had encountered quite a few similar incidents.

A true Assassin naturally had to remain calm at all times.

"Everyone, calm down. Follow me. Imagine that this sea monster doesn't exist..." Tris patiently guided them.

However, imagination was beautiful, while reality was cruel.

Human emotions could not be soothed with just a few words.

Especially negative emotions like fear.

A horror movie alone could scare countless people senseless, let alone a gigantic sea monster right before their eyes.

Slap!

The sea monster raised a tentacle and smashed it forcefully onto the surface of the sea.

A huge spray of water erupted, violently churning the waves and tossing the ship up before letting it crash back down.

"Ah!" Screams rose one after another.

"Hehe." Laughter was mixed in among them.

The atmosphere Tris had barely managed to calm was destroyed in an instant.

"Calm down... everyone..." Tris still tried to struggle, but his words were interrupted as soon as they left his mouth.

"Save meeeee!" A rioter was precisely ensnared by a tentacle and dragged into the air.

As if showing off, the tentacle swung the rioter above the ship, drawing everyone's attention, before throwing him into the sea.

Splash.

This proved one thing.

It could touch anyone.

The lie collapsed on its own.

"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you." Morien's voice sounded in Tris's mind once again.

"An Absurd Creation that cannot be seen or believed in will naturally die alone."

"Clearly, it doesn't want to die."

Tris clenched his teeth tightly.

Damn it. So this sea monster has intelligence and can actively 'struggle for survival.'

No wonder. Right after he spoke, a tentacle had slapped the sea, rocking the ship.

"Hahaha." Morien's mocking laughter echoed in Tris's mind. "You stirred up these emotions yourself. You have to calm them down yourself."

"It wouldn't do to only light a fire without putting it out. You'll definitely need to remember that in the future."

Tris gritted his teeth so hard that blood seeped from his gums.

When people panicked and lost their reason, they could not listen to anything anyone said.

Much less something as ridiculous as "the sea monster killing people right in front of you doesn't actually exist."

If it were him, he would not believe it either.

Tris thought anxiously.

He did not care in the slightest whether the people on this ship lived or died, but he did not want to die here.

"Idiots! Idiots! Idiots!" he roared helplessly.

But he soon calmed down again, trying to stir the emotions of the panicked crowd and "instigate" them.

"Heh."

Watching Tris's ridiculous performance below, Morien sat atop the cabin and let out a pleased laugh.

Not far from the Clover, a somewhat old three-masted sailing ship rapidly approached.

This ship looked far behind the times, not like the more advanced steamships.

At its prow stood a blue-haired man, watching the Clover not far away.

He wore a long robe embroidered with lightning patterns. His body rose and fell with the swaying ship, yet he easily maintained his balance.

About twenty minutes earlier, the man had just dealt with this ship's captain and come up to the deck to get some air and calm down.

However, what truly required him to calm down was not the fact that he had killed the captain.

It was something that had happened even earlier, before he made his move against the captain.

Alger stood at the bow and lightly rested his hand on the railing.

Fool...

He silently repeated the word.

About half an hour ago, he had been pulled into a grand palace filled with Gray Fog by a mysterious powerhouse calling himself the Fool, joining a secret organization known as the Tarot Club.

This made him somewhat worried, but it also gave rise to certain calculations he should not have entertained.

They were the Church of Storms' white gloves at sea. Unfortunately, the original captain had made the wrong choice and betrayed the Church.

Thus, Alger secretly killed the captain and told the other crew members that the captain had jumped overboard out of guilt.

That was good. After all, no one would go out of their way to investigate a traitor.

As the only Sequence 8 currently aboard the ship, he had just been chosen as the temporary acting captain.

That made the corners of his mouth lift uncontrollably, so he needed to avoid the others for a while and compose himself.

Alger looked into the distance and saw chaos aboard the passenger ship not far away, though he had no idea what the commotion was about.

It looked like a riot had broken out.

Then they could get closer and take a look.

His fleet might be the Church of the Sea God's white gloves, but they occasionally moonlighted as pirates.

It was even better when they encountered a passenger ship in the midst of a riot.

They gained wealth, while the crew gained lives.

A win-win situation.

Very fair.

"There's a passenger ship ahead where a riot has broken out," Alger shouted as he turned around. "Everyone, get ready."

His voice was extremely loud. It pierced through the curtain of rain and swiftly spread through most areas of the ship.

Crew members immediately ran excitedly onto the deck and looked in the direction Alger pointed.

There was no need to explain. The crew immediately understood the captain's meaning.

They had done this far too many times and were already used to it.

Not only did they not hesitate, they were eager to give it a try.

Because ghost ships did not need sailors and had few crew members, they never had to worry about supplies. Every day, they could enjoy fresh food and clean water.

Yet day after day of sailing, along with scenery that almost never changed, still left their bodies and minds exhausted, as though they were always suppressing something and enduring something until they could no longer control it.

They needed an outlet.

Which was exactly the current situation.

They were saving people. Even if an Archbishop came in person, he would not be able to find fault with them.