The Spy Among the Pirates

As the spell ended, Zijin swayed slightly, and Su Ming reached out to support her.

"What's wrong?"

"It's still too much for me to expand my domain right now," Zijin said, pressing her forehead. "But I won't suppress your ' Silent Vision '."

You'll see through the illusion immediately.

Su Ming helped Zijin sit down on a chair, and then rubbed his stomach beside her. The knife stab was fake, but the spasms caused by the Pain Spell were real.

How did you pull me into this illusion?

"This has no tactical significance," Zijin pointed to the magic crystal on Su Ming's wrist, "I've been planning this lesson for a long time."

"I'm sorry, it's been a lot of work for you to design all this." Su Ming took off the bracelet and handed it back to Zijin. "Although everything looked very similar, and it really hurt, I knew it was fake before you stabbed me."

"You come from a sheltered country; the worst you've ever suffered are just a few scratches," Zijin explained to him. "I originally wanted you to experience what it feels like to be suddenly and severely wounded in combat. There are opportunities in training, but in real combat, the slightest hesitation means death."

"I understand," Su Ming said. This is a world where swords fly at the slightest provocation; some experience is always better than ignorance. The girl had clearly gone to great lengths for him. "But why did you make me stab you too?"

"I just wanted to show you how I went through all of this."

Su Ming paused, not quite understanding this line of thought, "Did your teacher train you like this?"

"It was one of my mothers, and it wasn't a hallucination," Zijin replied. "I hate her cruelty, but it did help me."

Su Ming remained silent for a long time. He poured himself a glass of water and slowly drank it down, sip by sip.

The essence of all adventure stories is slaughter and mountains of bloodshed. Zijin has been through countless conflicts; her journey has been marked by bloodshed on her body and feet.

He put down his water glass, turned to Zijin, and said, "I feel pretty ridiculous, I mean all my sentimentality."

Although his mind was preoccupied with other matters today, it was a fact that he was too lenient towards pirates and resistant to necromancy spells like zombie conversion.

I won't do it again.

Zijin had recovered considerably. "Well, let's continue our discussion about the pirates."

"Well, I understand," Su Ming replied, "These are robbers; only knives and whips can make them obey!"

"I know, we're talking about something else."

****

Zijin got up, put on her coat, buttoned it up, and covered her shoulders and chest. She led Su Ming to the cabin where the pirates were being held and stood among the prisoners.

The captured pirates awoke with a start, looking at the two men with fear in their eyes.

Zijin took Su Ming's hand and initiated Mind Synchronization. But unlike usual, the scholar's mental energy continued to expand.

Until he was completely released. In his mental vision, Su Ming saw a large ball of light appear beside him, while his own light shrank small and tiny to the side.

"[The difference isn't as big as I imagined.]" Su Ming said.

"[You've progressed too quickly.]" Zijin said. "[Alright, clear your mind and let me come closer.]"

[What do you want to do?] Su Ming raised an eyebrow and saw Zijin's spiritual power suddenly wrap around him, even directly breaking through his sea of consciousness.

Su Ming instinctively tried to resist, but his mental sea was pierced and torn to pieces. He felt a dense, tearing sensation, and a sweet taste rose in his throat, knowing he was injured.

Their mental domains became entangled, or rather, the scholar forcibly squeezed in. This feeling was extremely strange; not entirely unbearable, but extremely uncomfortable.

[Hey!] Su Ming was experiencing phantom pain all over his body. [This isn't normal, is it?!]

He had reason to suspect that the scholars had just inflicted Severe Pain Spell on him and deliberately stabbed him in a hallucination in order to forcibly raise his stress threshold.

[Sorry for acting first and informing later. Giving you preparation only made things more complicated.] Zijin said, [Our spiritual compatibility is very high; sooner or later we'll have to reach the point of attempting fusion.] She warned, [Empty your mind and avoid large fluctuations, or we'll both get hurt.]

"[I feel like it's a one-sided invasion by you.]" Su Ming said.

[You're not mistaken. Alright, time's limited, so unleash your "Silent Vision."] Zijin urged.

"Silent Vision" is a highly difficult eye technique that Su Ming recently learned, and it is extremely effective against illusions.

Su Ming calmed himself down and began to construct a mental circuit, but his mental body, which had been disturbed and was in complete disarray, was completely unresponsive.

"[Teacher Zijin, aren't you being too difficult for me?]" Su Ming said through gritted teeth.

"You can do it," Zijin said. "Just forget about the present."

Should he forget about the present? Su Ming decided to think of something else.

Last night, he took over the shift and began inspecting the entire ship. He unexpectedly bumped into the scholar, who was supposed to be sleeping, in the warehouse. She was holding several raw potatoes, one dangling from her mouth, white juice dripping from the corner of her lips. [Hey!] Zijin's consciousness rippled.

[Don't let things get too volatile, or we'll all get hurt.] Su Ming said. [Can you please stop recalling this!] Zijin said angrily. [That potato was very sweet; I loved eating it when I was a dragon! And why does your recollection make me feel like something's off?]

[You have to promise me you won't eat raw potatoes again.] Su Ming made his condition.

This is coercion!

[I am the one who is coercing.]

After a few seconds of stalemate, Zijin said helplessly, "[Okay.]"

Su Ming smiled slightly. He focused his mind again and broadened his field of vision.

This time, there were no obstacles at all. The world around them froze instantly, and countless pirates stood still in space.

Time did not stand still; the pirates were still active, albeit extremely slowly, leaving trails in the air and outlining various silhouettes.

Zijin was also pulled in.

"Excellent!" the scholar exclaimed. "How long can it last?"

[The perceived time is about ten seconds, but the actual time is only one second.]

"That's impressive, considering it's the most difficult eye technique," the girl replied. "However, in this state, my mental energy will support you, allowing you to maintain it for longer."

Su Ming sensed it; the power of the Zijin was also working together to dissect the world before him. The lines left by the movement were clearer than when he used it alone. He saw a mosquito approaching the pirate, its wings gliding along undulating curves, every detail clearly visible in the sluggish world.

The scholar had an insight. "So this is what a ' Silent Vision ' looks like; this is the first time I've ever seen one."

"[You haven't studied this?]" Su Ming asked, puzzled.

I can't learn it.

[But I mastered it very easily.] Su Ming was very surprised. He really did just flip through it casually and successfully used it in two or three hours. Although the name was hard to understand, wasn't this just graphic layering and frame-by-frame decomposition?

[The rules of magic depend on the user's subconscious perception of the world.] Zijin explained, [Your subconscious believes the "world" can be this way, so you can easily distort reality, but I can't.]

Su Ming recalled the field of study that Zijin had pursued, "Natural Rhythm," and gained some insight: "[You chose "Reason," which requires following the trajectory of the world's operation?]"

Zijin's magic system does indeed lack spells that defy the rules. For example, she was only able to use force fields smoothly after studying mechanics and integrating this understanding into her worldview.

[Hmm. "Natural Rhythm" can smooth out the distortions and rewritings of the rules by both sides, dragging the battle into a simple exchange of numerical values. This is the path I've chosen.]

"A battlefield-defined type of domain?" Su Ming murmured.

The two were standing beside a pirate lying on the ground. In the Silent Vision, the human pirate's features, which should have been clearly defined,

It became blurry and flickering.

[Illusion?] Su Ming looked at several flickering spots, concentrated on his ears and palms. The collar that should have been worn around his neck was actually on his tail.

"[It's a very advanced illusion technique, probably from the Fox Race among the orcs,]" Zijin replied. "[This guy is no ordinary being, able to deceive even my senses.]"

How did you discover that he had a problem?

In the effect of the Silent Vision, their thinking was accelerated, and the two began to feel their brains overloaded.

Let's go back out first.

[good.]

Su Ming stopped the spell, the frozen world resumed its operation, and the two left the cabin where the pirates were being held.

"When we were preparing to set out this morning, the pirates were dragging their feet, so I whipped and severely punished several of them on the spot," Zijin began recounting the day's events. "But during the search, two teams were still slacking off, so I had to punish them and redeploy the search teams."

The two walked to the railing. The evening breeze was cool, and the waves shimmered under the moonlight.

"This is illogical. They're already prisoners; pirates should be looking for trouble and avoid danger. They shouldn't be courting death like this."

"So, someone must have instigated this. But during my interrogation, no one confessed, which made me suspect things weren't so simple." Zijin unbuttoned her coat and stretched in the moonlight. "Luckily, your ' Silent Vision ' is the bane of illusions, saving me a lot of trouble."

"So what should we do with this orc?"

"I haven't figured it out yet. Someone who can fool my senses must be a top-tier spy. We don't know his purpose, nor how much he's done."

Su Ming, "Let's not alert them yet. Let me plan this out. You go and rest first."

"Then it's up to you. Goodnight!"

"Good night!"

****

Using his pupil technique, Su Ming observed the orc several more times.

He was very cautious, and his actions appeared normal, but he was always seizing every opportunity to subtly use Suggestion Spell on other pirates, implanting instructions to make them rebel in just a few words of conversation.

Su Ming realized with dismay that he was simply trying to disrupt the White Triangle's investigation plan for the island.

Are you deliberately delaying our investigation?

Although somewhat inexplicable, the espionage disrupted the management of the prisoners and reduced the number of pirates available for use.

Su Ming marked the planned route of the White Triangle on the nautical chart. They would arrive at the Four Coral Islands tomorrow and search for them, then continue their journey that night, arriving at Snail Island, 700 kilometers away, the day after tomorrow.

Judging from the actions of the orc spies, tomorrow's search is destined to fail, and the White Triangle will be forced to stay here for another day.

Then a storm struck, which would delay the search for Snail Island by more than three days.

Su Ming circled around Snail Island.

The other islands are at least six days away. The orc spies' hasty actions suggest it's unlikely to be a long-term scheme.

Su Ming had a rough idea of what to do: when the enemy didn't want them to do something, they should do it even more!

He tolerated the orc spies' activities all night. In the early hours of the morning, he was so tired that he dozed off for a while.

I was woken up by a nightmare!

Su Ming got up from the recliner and found that the sun had already risen, and the two girls were already busy in the morning light.

"Good morning, you don't look well!" Zijin glanced at him. "Are you sick? I followed your message in the log..."

"I didn't touch that orc."

"Good morning." Su Ming rubbed his face, his tone full of resentment. "I'm not sick, I just dreamt that I stabbed you again. I pierced your heart, blood gushing out uncontrollably—the scene was breathtakingly beautiful!"

"Sorry, I went a little overboard last night."

"Let me ask you a question: what would happen if you were actually stabbed in the heart?"

Zijin thought for a moment, "There are no professional healers on the ship, so Ailisha's form will be critically injured and on the verge of death."

"Dying, how long?" Su Ming asked, puzzled.

"I can switch to my Bone Dragon Form and seal Ailisha's body," Zijin explained. "Of course, it's just a delaying tactic. If she doesn't receive treatment, then—" She shrugged, "Her life core is in Ailisha's body, so I'll become a mindless bone dragon—perhaps you can even program runes into my soul core!"

"Don't describe such terrible things to me!" Su Ming raised his hands in surrender.

The three of them went to the operations room, where Su Ming shared his thoughts with the two girls.

"Do you believe someone is directing an orc spy operation?" Beianqi asked.

"Hmm. We're not too far from the mainland of Water Chestnut Island now," Su Ming replied. "It's not surprising that professional spies could communicate with their accomplices on the shore without our knowledge."

After a moment's thought, Beianqi said, "That makes sense then. Otherwise, it's too far-fetched for such a high-level spy to incite prisoners to engage in non-violent non-cooperation!"

The White Triangle's communication tower suddenly received a contact request from the dwarves. After receiving it, Beianqi displayed the message to everyone.

"Water Chestnut Island Ice Beauty has just appeared at Water Chestnut North Port. After a brief encounter with the Star Rain, she forcibly broke through the defenses and returned to Water Chestnut Island."

Zijin calculated the distance using the sea chart. "That makes sense. If this spy successfully buys us time, Yexiya will be able to get here in time. Their zombie base really is over here!"

"That sounds great. Shall we raid her house before Yexiya gets back, and then disappear?" Beianqi suggested.

"That's my plan," Su Ming said. "We'll arrive at the Four Coral Islands in half an hour. We'll send out the pirates to search as planned."

"Okay, Su Ming, go and rest," Zijin said. "We'll handle the daytime."

"You should all take turns resting. With Yexiya gone, we don't have to face Saint Rank opponents, but we'll inevitably face those one level below," Su Ming said. "Tonight, it looks like we'll be in for a tough fight!"

We will.

Beianqi assembled four groups of pirates, fifteen men in each group, and she placed the orc spy among them. She then put them on small boats and dispatched them to the four islands, ordering them to search until sunset. The White Triangle would then return to verify the search results.

The White Triangle then headed east to search for a smaller island nearby. Once out of sight of the Four Coral Islands, the White Triangle suddenly turned south, accelerating to full speed and heading straight for Snail Island, 500 kilometers away.

To prevent any unknown communication methods from leaking information, all the remaining pirates held in the ship's hold were drugged.

This was Su Ming's plan: to make the spies believe that everything was proceeding as normal, while in reality, they were launching a full-speed attack on Snail Island!

The White Triangle had a speed of around 30 knots, so it would only take a little over 9 hours to travel 500 kilometers. It could reach the enemy by sunset. Since the enemy was trying to delay, the White Triangle did the opposite and gave them a big surprise!

****

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Su Ming got up and took over the work on the bridge. At this time, they were still about 100 kilometers away from Snail Island, and the island officially came into radar view.

"There's a port on this island, where an 800-ton transport ship is docked," Su Ming analyzed the radar data.

This tonnage is definitely top-tier for this region. After all, not every place has a high-standard seaport, and it's more than capable of handling short-distance sea transport between Lingdao Island and Water Chestnut Island.

"We've found the right place!" Zijin was quite happy. A boat meant people, and supplies were flowing, which meant they had most likely hit the bullseye!

"I'm going to prepare for battle." Beianqi, equally excited, left the cockpit.

Zijin took out the magic bracelet from last night and handed it to Su Ming.

"The Swiftness Spell is still there, but I've removed the Illusion Realm Spell and replaced it with Flight Spell," she explained. "It's faster than the Flight crystal I gave you before."

"Okay." Su Ming took it and put it on.

Beianqi removed the gun cover and safety devices from the MK71 heavy cannon, then went to the rear flight deck to pull out the mechs from the ship's hold for combat preparations.

Several zombies carried a box over. The spirit mechanic opened it and found a pair of longswords. Once gleaming, they were now dull and lifeless, the blades a dull gray.

Beianqi flicked it lightly, the sound muffled. She pulled out a small knife, ready to test its quality.

"Don't cut it, it'll break easily." Su Ming walked over.

Upon hearing this, the girl pressed the small knife in her hand against the blade of the long sword. With barely any force, a deep gash appeared on the knife. Her eyes immediately blazed with fervor. "God, what a creation this is!"

"I modified the Mantis's weapon, replacing the base of the blade with tungsten-titanium-cobalt cemented carbide, and coating it with cubic boron nitride," Su Ming explained. "This material is actually used in Earth's industry to make high-hardness lathe tools, and it's not suitable for making weapons."

Cubic boron nitride has a hardness second only to Kong.

Beianqi scratched the blade hard with a knife, but not only did it not leave any mark, it also became slippery.

"Amazing!" she exclaimed.

"The blade is covered with a titanium carbide coating, which has a slightly lower hardness but a lower coefficient of friction," Su Ming continued, "So it's smoother than it looks, or rather, very smooth."

"Smooth, extremely hard, but brittle, right?" Beianqi said.

"Yes, in actual combat, there's only one or two chances to strike."

"Understood!" Beianqi carefully stored the two knives in the Mantis's spare knife slot. "I'll make good use of them if we encounter a strong enemy!"