On the outskirts of the Sea of Miracles.
A behemoth slowly advanced under tow by dozens of small boats at roughly 15 knots, surrounded by nearly three hundred warships of various sizes and models.
Any player who saw this scene would immediately recognize the ship as the Iron Will.
But it was in rather bad shape.
Apart from the conspicuous, massive gun barrel at the bow, most of the hull was covered in a pale blue plastic film that almost enveloped the entire Iron Will.
A closer look would reveal that the gun barrel was covered in rust, as though it had gone decades without maintenance and had been badly corroded by seawater.
As for the blue plastic film, it was actually a piece of Treasured ship equipment with a function similar to the Twilight Veil, shielding the ship from detection.
But since it did not grant invisibility, other vessels could still observe the Iron Will with the naked eye or a telescope if they got close enough.
Now, however, this ship equipment was being used as an isolation barrier, because a terrible plague had broken out aboard the Iron Will.
Inside the bridge.
"Cough! Cough! Ptoo!"
Yu Dawei coughed dryly several times, only stopping after he spat out a rusty screw coated in engine oil.
He picked up the nearby bucket of engine oil and-glug, glug, glug-drained it in one go. Then he burped and began checking his status.
``` Yu Dawei (Extraordinary)
Extraordinary Path: Mechanization [37%]
[Mechanization: Parts of the body transform into machinery, replacing the original organs and tissues to perform their functions. However, those functions may change, and attributes and abilities vary significantly between individuals. Grants ability-Mechanical Body (medium)]
Status: Rust Disease [moderate] "a yellow human figure with arms and legs spread," height 174