Showdown

Xia Lun translated aloud while discreetly tossing out a grappling hook, silently snagging the lower half of the Prayerbook of the Drowned.

Got it! All he had to do next was call up the information panel and spend Memory Points to acquire Transcendent Regeneration. His terminal illness could be cured!

He took a deep breath, suppressing the wild joy in his heart, then eagerly called for the information panel in his mind.

[You have obtained the Grimoire, "Prayerbook of the Drowned" (Complete) (Progress 100%)]

["Prayerbook of the Drowned" (Complete): A sinister tome written in the blood of corpses upon pages made from wax refined from the fat of the drowned. To ordinary people, it is a book without words. But to those resurrected from death and to madmen, it is filled with blasphemous writing. Between those crooked lines are accounts of bizarre, maddening secret arts. Read this wordless book in full, and you will gain the secret art specialty *Transcendent Regeneration*.]

[You meet the prerequisite for reading "Prayerbook of the Drowned".]

[After falling asleep, you may choose to pay 1,000 Memory Points to gain the secret art specialty *Transcendent Regeneration*.]

After falling asleep?

Xia Lun frowned slightly. In the end, he could only quietly tuck the book into his tactical belt.

He raised his head and looked at the Monster before him, then silently drew his shortsword.

His primary goal had already been achieved. The next step was to eliminate this terrifying Monster.

As someone who planned before acting, Xia Lun did not rush to attack. Instead, he first observed the surrounding environment.

By now, the flames in the cabin had nearly been extinguished by the rain. His current position should have been the main hall of the armory deck. The terrain was extremely spacious and quite suitable for fighting.

As he continued examining environmental factors he could use and the Monster's possible weak points, he spoke up, trying to stall for time.

"Wait. I have a question."

"Go ahead." The Monster opened the compound eyes on its tentacles, its tone calm. "We're all about to sink into the sea with this ship anyway. Ask whatever you want."

"Since you wanted revenge on Geliide, why didn't you make your move the first time you fell into the cabin?" Xia Lun's thoughts shifted as he asked.

The Monster spread two of its lower tentacles as though opening its hands. "To be honest, I was a little afraid of you then. I was afraid that after killing Geliide, you'd kill me. Then I wouldn't have been able to take revenge on anyone else."

"Then why did you attack me on the deck? I'm not a pirate." Xia Lun fell silent for a moment before asking.

"..." The Monster also fell silent. After a long while, it suddenly said, "You were the one who attacked me first, Xia Lun—you threw an axe and cut down the mast, stabbing me badly in the process. Was I not allowed to fight back?"

?

Xia Lun froze slightly, suddenly feeling an indescribable absurdity. "Then why were you staring at me? Wasn't that a signal of attack?"

"You're insane, Xia Lun. You really are." The Monster held it in for a long time before finally blurting out, "You... me... forget it. Insane or not, you're still a traitor. Die with these stinking pirates!"

Before it had even finished speaking, the frantic running of Walking Corpses suddenly rose one after another.

Xia Lun turned around and discovered that all the pirates killed by the explosion had now transformed into Walking Corpses!

The reason the Monster had cooperated with his conversation was to stall for time while casting!

But wasn't Xia Lun also stalling to study the Monster's structure?

Bang!

Xia Lun abruptly emerged from the shadows, his boot slamming down on the planks before he pushed off with explosive force!

Power surged up from his shins through his hips, then abruptly multiplied through the twisting force of his waist before flowing into the blade through his wrist.

Hummm—

The silver-gray blade reflected the orange-red firelight. In the next instant, a flawless arc flashed forth!

Xia Lun's slash was precise yet vicious, the blade cutting directly into the connection point of the Monster's main body. Before it could even cry out, the sharp edge had already sliced into its flesh, then swept left with Xia Lun's movement.

Backstab Slash!

Splurt!

Xia Lun did not stop moving. Amid the sound of metal cutting through soft flesh, viscous black fluid gushed out like a fountain. A horrifying wound instantly split the Monster into upper and lower halves!

Boom!

Along with the geyser-like eruption of slime, the Monster's upper half suddenly spun into the air, while its lower half collapsed like a headless corpse, its small tentacles clawing wildly in every direction.

Yet in the next moment, clusters of tiny tentacles like intestinal villi instantly sprouted from the wound on its spinning upper body. They clung directly to the wall and fled into the distance!

"Don't come any closer!" The Monster suddenly shrieked in terror. "Don't come any closer, you Monster!"

At that moment, the Monster had completely lost the courage to fight Xia Lun in close quarters. It fled deeper into the cabin in terrified retreat.

"Fuck, what just happened?!" Geliide stared in stunned disbelief. She wiped the bloody foam from the corner of her mouth and looked at Xia Lun as if he were an alien. "You... you cut the Monster in half with one strike? And you used a shortsword?! No, are you even human?!"

Xia Lun lowered his blade slightly, letting the slime slide down its edge.

"You stall the Walking Corpses. I'll deal with the Monster. Don't push yourself. If you really can't handle it, run."

He spoke in a low voice, then headed in the direction the Monster had fled.

While observing the terrain earlier, he had already grasped the surrounding layout. He knew the direction the Monster had run led to a dead end.

Footsteps echoed through the cabin as Xia Lun tracked forward at an unhurried pace, like a hunter pursuing a bleeding prey animal.

Suddenly, the Monster's grotesque shadow was cast onto the wall by the firelight, then vanished in a flash. The next instant came a familiar, scalp-crawling clicking sound.

Without a second thought, Xia Lun instantly activated Heightened Focus. At the same time, he reflexively sidestepped left and violently swung his sword up before him.

Tentacles danced as six flintlock pistols simultaneously erupted with orange muzzle flashes!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

White gun smoke spread out, briefly obscuring the corridor.

Captain Haya, who had already transformed into an Abyssal Hand, carefully lowered the flintlock pistols with six tentacles. He opened the compound eye on one of his tentacles and looked anxiously, expectantly beyond the smoke.

Did that Monster die? he wondered.

In the next moment, a figure slowly stepped out through the white smoke, his stride steady and firm.

"How is that possible?!" Haya froze at first, then cried out in despair. "Why aren't you even afraid of guns?! What the hell are you?"