Playing Around

"Captain!" The two pirate underlings cried out when they saw Dunn sent flying.

"Shut up! The captain's greatest strength is his ability to take a hit. He'll be fine. Stay sharp-we're the ones in the most danger right now." Seeing the two pirate underlings getting distracted at a time like this, Green immediately snapped at them.

At Green's words, the two pirates immediately came to their senses.

Right, did a captain who could take blades head-on with his neck really need them worrying about him?

And the situation was just as Green had said. Compared to Dunn, who had been knocked far from the battlefield, those still at its center, facing that monster head-on, were in the greatest danger.

Having landed his blow, Jaeger waved several tentacles wildly in excitement. At the junction where the tentacles joined at their roots, Jaeger, with only his head still retaining human form, split his mouth in a crazed laugh.

"Kee-hee-hee-hee-hee!!!"

The piercing laughter poured into their ears like a demonic sound, and everyone felt as though the brains inside their skulls had been violently stirred.

Apart from a scant few who endured it, the others immediately clutched their heads in agony. Some even collapsed and rolled around on the ground in pain.

Then the thick tentacles crashed down. In their impaired state, most were unable to dodge, and several people were instantly smashed into pulp.

"You've got to be kidding! He's been locked up here for months, and he's already turned into that damned thing. How can he still have so much power?!" Feishman said through gritted teeth at the sight. His Navigator was among those who had died.

Under the influence of the eerie whispers, the Navigators' heightened perception was all but useless. With their already poor combat ability, they were practically no different from ordinary people under these circumstances.

"These tentacles don't just have Transcendent strength. Their stamina is at least Transcendent, too." When a tentacle attacked, the nimble Astor not only dodged it easily, but also slashed a half-meter-long gash in it with his dagger as he went.

But given the tentacle's enormous size, that wound was little more than a scratch. What was more, it was already showing faint signs of healing.

"Didn't the Black Pearl's Navigator say Jaeger's abilities would only allow him three tentacles at most? How many does he have now?!" Plagued by the whispers and the sound-wave attack just now, Grant's eyes were already becoming bloodshot. Had he not possessed some skill, he would have been among those smashed into pulp.

As he brought up the information Annie had provided earlier, there was an undercurrent of anger in his words.

Hearing Grant bring up Annie, Green, who had not wanted to get involved, could only speak up from the side. "Normally, every two additional tentacles produced by a Sea Beast Priest's Mutation ability represent one Biological Level. Two at level 11, four at level 12, and so on. At level 15, the peak of the third tier, there would be ten tentacles.

"Based on what you previously said about Jaeger's strength before he advanced, he shouldn't have exceeded level 12 after advancing. If the number is wrong, then your information must be wrong. Jaeger was stronger in the second tier than you claimed."

"You..." Hearing Green turn the accusation back on him, Grant flushed with anger.

"Enough. This isn't the time to shift blame!" Hawkins interrupted Grant. "What matters most right now is that we stand together and deal with this monster."

"Right, where's Captain Dunn? With this monster's strength, even a glancing hit would probably leave any of us dead or crippled. Captain Dunn is the only one who can withstand his attacks now," Astor asked from the side.

"I'm here." Dunn's voice came from behind them. "That last hit was a bit heavy. I needed to catch my breath."

After the tentacle sent him flying, Dunn had hurtled a long way before finally stopping with a bang against the hall's wall.

The force had been so great that he had smashed a large crater into a wall that had endured the erosion of countless years with little change.

Dunn had felt as though every bone in his body had come apart. Blood surged in his chest, and only after he could no longer hold back a mouthful of blood and spat it out did he feel somewhat better.

This was the worst injury Dunn had suffered across both his lives. Even the injury that had killed the original Dunn was insignificant by comparison.

So even with the Pain Perception Halved talent, Dunn had lain there for a while before recovering enough to move.

"This is urgent, so I won't beat around the bush. I hope we can all be honest." Seeing Dunn return, Astor said to him, "Captain Dunn, your stamina is Transcendent, isn't it? Exactly how many points do you have in that attribute?"

Dunn also knew that only by working together did they have any chance of dealing with Jaeger, who had become a monster, so he nodded and said, "My stamina is currently 22 points. With my Career Skill's enhancement, my defense is roughly equivalent to 25 points of stamina."

Twenty-five points! Hearing that number, the captains all sucked in a breath. With that attribute, probably no one present could even break through his defenses.

"Then by that estimate, even if that monster's strength isn't 30 points, it can't be far off." Astor's already gloomy expression grew even darker.

"Don't panic. That monster doesn't seem to have any awareness." Engels, who had been silently observing all this time, suddenly spoke.

"What do you mean?" Feishman immediately voiced everyone's question.

"Haven't you noticed?" Engels said slowly. "That monster hasn't deliberately targeted anyone. If he had used all his tentacles at the start, most of us would probably have been killed or injured on the spot. But with such a good opportunity, he only used one tentacle.

"It's almost like... he's unconsciously playing around."

Playing around?

The corner of Dunn's eye immediately twitched. The price of this playing around was rather steep-it had nearly cost him half his life.

"So you mean he hasn't been using his full strength," Astor said after a moment's thought.

"No. More precisely, he currently has no awareness of using his full strength. He probably has no awareness at all and is simply waving his tentacles instinctively, without any pattern. And we've been talking here for so long, yet he hasn't shown any intention of attacking us here. That further proves the point," Engels slowly explained to them.

Dunn watched the tentacles flailing through the air. Just as Engels had said, they rarely attacked any particular person with precision.

"What the fuck does knowing that do for us?! Let us understand how strong the enemy is so we can despair completely?!" Feishman snarled irritably.

"No. Knowing this gives us a chance-a chance to kill that monster Jaeger!" Engels gave them a confident smile.