Chapter 114: Fat Sheep?

The blackness under the Sight-Qi technique contrasted sharply with the rain-soaked night seen from the over-the-shoulder perspective; although his knowledge of votive power contained no such phenomenon, he understood that the situation was abnormal.

Without hesitation, Feng Xue reached out and knocked out the sleeping Fina; the dog beside him finally realized something was wrong!

"Scanning… detected anomalous electromagnetic circulation, detected divine power staining technique… natural phenomenon excluded, no anomalies detected, conflict, conflict… determined to be malicious interference, detected host incapacitated, evaluating… 【Emergency Survival Protocol, Seventh Revised Edition】 activated."

As the electronic voice spoke, the dog rapidly dissolved, enveloping Fina entirely; in an instant, a beast-eared girl with white wolf ears and a fluffy large tail appeared before Feng Xue.

"Host body now under control. Do not approach casually." Whether it was an illusion or not, Sara's tone after merging with Fina no longer seemed as cold as before, but Feng Xue had no interest in her personality code right now—he simply said:

"What exactly is happening?"

"I don't know, but it's certain someone launched an attack. The enemy possesses some electronic warfare capability and has interfered with and blocked divine power. I am not an AI designed for electronic warfare, and Huanglang has no electronic warfare plugins…"

Feng Xue suddenly pulled open the tent flap; rain blew inside, yet he immediately shouted: "Two meters at eleven o'clock! Don't damage my tent!"

Although Sara didn't know what Feng Xue had detected, she obeyed his command—her body turned into a streak of white light and shot out through the tent entrance.

"Ugh!"

Amid a moan nearly drowned by the rain, Feng Xue stepped out of the tent; as he activated the full-body version of the 【Water-Walking Spell】—the 【Water-Repelling Spell】—his viewpoint began to rise.

From the over-the-shoulder perspective, lifespans began to appear as numbers; by their movement patterns, Feng Xue swiftly identified the intruders.

"Threat eliminated!"

Sara dragged two corpses expressionlessly, but Feng Xue shook his head, pointing toward the northeastern coastline, where a glowing cocoon could faintly be seen approaching through the storm.

Sara stared at the glowing cocoon, then looked down at the two pirates she had just killed, and frowned:

"Comparison complete. Estimated to be the Black Feather Pirate Crew. Captain: Black Feather. Total bounty: 2.3 million."

"Who the hell understands this currency?!" Feng Xue had zero grasp of this world's money; with the preconception of a Pirate King, hearing "over two million" made him think it was some low-tier scum—but the technology that stained votive power, blocked AI scans, and even kicked him out of the Illusion? That was no amateur stuff.

"Pirate crew primarily active between the Cradle Archipelago and the Emerald Archipelago. Main crew: 17. Primary business: slave trafficking. Flagship Silver Sail carries one navigational relic. Captain codename: Black Feather, bounty: 1.2 million. Overall rating: Excellent-class warrior. First mate codename: Blood Eye, bounty: 700,000. Overall rating: Excellent-class sniper. Bosun codename: Tentacle, bounty: 300,000. Overall rating: Standard-class warrior. Rumored to have tamed a special illusion beast capable of granting invisibility, but details unknown. Last updated 327 natural days ago."

"Two Excellent-class?" Feng Xue rolled his eyes, immediately turned, and began packing up the tent—even without wringing out the water—and walked off in the opposite direction.

"Wise choice." Sara instantly understood Feng Xue's intent and gave an immediate affirmative reply.

Suddenly, a piercing alarm blared from the mountain peak at the island's center; beneath the crimson glow, the entire island erupted into chaos.

"That goddess really had a backup plan!"

Watching the lifespan numbers in the village begin to move, Feng Xue cleared the last lingering hesitation in his mind—the two broke into a run through the rain-soaked night…

…

"Tch. Are there perception methods beyond divine power? These pre-civilization relics truly aren't simple!" Hearing the island's alarm, the captain's face twisted with annoyance, yet he felt no worry—even if they'd been detected early, with divine power blocked, mere civilian facilities posed no threat to them.

Though the Sea God's apocalypse had been nearly a millennium ago, due to land scarcity, collapsed industrial systems, difficulty mining minerals, and numerous population issues (Note ①), most islands outside the Seven Archipelagos remained in a primitive state.

"Even if there are casualties and fewer slaves, as long as we secure pre-civilization relics, it's still a profit!"

The captain lightly shook water from his feathers and lifted one leg onto the rail—when suddenly, the old sailor who had bitten into the octopus spoke:

"Captain! There's a master!"

"Oh? Send it over!" The captain's motion to disembark froze instantly; a video signal streamed from the sailor's end—showing the beast-eared girl killing the two sailors.

"That woman… I recognize her! Isn't she on the Reide family's bounty list?!" The captain stared at the two figures on the monitor; after a moment of confusion, his eyes lit up. The man beside him, half his face covered in feathers, swiftly pulled up the relevant file:

"Serafina Lupu, Excellent-class illusion beast tamer. Live capture: 25 million. Corpse value: 300,000. The surname suggests she's the sole survivor of the recently exterminated Lu family from the Blue Lake Archipelago. She might carry one or two relics. Captain, shall we move?"

"Of course! If we don't take down such a fat sheep, what's the point of being pirates?!"

The captain's face twisted into a feral grin; as his mouth split open, the watermen submerged in ink froze mid-motion—some already engaged in combat collapsed outright from that single pause.

The original forty-plus watermen (Note ②) instantly split roles: those fighting broke off and retreated; those not yet engaged divided into two squads—one to cover the retreating men and block islander counterattacks, the other, per the captain's order, began surrounding a specific location.

…

"Damn it, why are they chasing us?!" Through the over-the-shoulder view pulled to his forehead, Feng Xue saw the dozen approaching numbers—his face darkened. Sara immediately replied:

"Beyond the camouflage complication, they pose no threat…"

Saying this, Sara did something utterly illogical—she tore off one of her own wolf ears and shoved it into Feng Xue's hand:

"I can't sense their positions. You call out the points—centered on yourself! Protect yourself. Don't stray too far from me, or you'll be affected by interference too!"

"…."

Feng Xue looked down at the trembling white wolf ear in his palm, his expression slightly odd—but he nodded:

"Seven o'clock, about twenty-seven meters—that one's the closest!"

"Understood!" Before Sara's words had fully faded, her form turned into a streak of white light. Feng Xue narrowed his eyes, lips moving silently as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a jade talisman engraved with the character 【Ghost】…

(End of Chapter)