Chapter 89: Cooperation with the Undead

The cold undead aura gathered again, but still no undead appeared. The undead aura grew increasingly thick, making Luo Si·Ke Lu Er's whole family feel uneasy.

"This place doesn't feel right; let's leave first." Luo Si·Ke Lu Er shielded his wife and daughter behind him and made a cautious suggestion.

"They don't intend to let us leave for now." Lei Ke Dun shook his head, staring at the glass window beside him.

The light inside the cabin had dimmed at some point, water mist formed on the glass window, as if an invisible hand were continually drawing something on it.

"It looks like it's writing!" Tu Ba Ge whispered into Lei Ke Dun's ear.

Lei Ke Dun didn't speak; since Tu Ba Ge could see it, he naturally could see it too—a withered, shriveled severed hand struggling to write a few words on the fog-covered glass window.

However, Lei Ke Dun felt that this undead must have been illiterate in life; it wrote with great effort, and its handwriting was extremely ugly.

After straining to recognize it for a while, Lei Ke Dun finally made out that it was Fusake language, roughly meaning "I mean no harm," but this illiterate undead had made spelling mistakes, so Lei Ke Dun could only guess that was what it intended to convey.

"Since you mean no harm, what are all these undead doing here?" Lei Ke Dun spoke toward the lower cabin where the undead aura was thickest.

The drowned undead that had previously appeared again rose from the cabin below, climbing up through the floor. This time it did not conceal its form, and everyone present clearly saw its appearance.

"Ah!" The little girl struggled to hold back her scream, lunging into her mother's embrace, daring not to glance at it again.

Luo Si·Ke Lu Er and his wife also watched the scene with trembling hearts. Luo Si·Ke Lu Er reached out, grasped his wife's hand, stepped forward, and placed himself in front of his wife and daughter to block the undead's gaze.

Lei Ke Dun gazed at the undead half-emerging; with his left hand, which held nothing, he furtively slipped it into his coat pocket, feeling the metal box containing the demon badge.

"We can cooperate." The drowned undead's voice was hoarse and unpleasant, as if water had been poured into its throat.

"Cooperate in what?" Lei Ke Dun curiously sized up the undead.

"Kill the pirates!" When mentioning pirates, the drowned undead's voice was full of anger.

Lei Ke Dun guessed that perhaps in life it had been killed by pirates.

"A group of undead going to kill pirates? And even seek cooperation with the living?" Lei Ke Dun's words were full of distrust.

"Among those pirates there is someone who greatly counters us, but we can hold him off; you only need to deliver a fatal blow." The drowned undead seemed to have prepared its words in advance, its thoughts clear, and it directly gave the answer.

Completely different from the illiterate performance of that severed hand just now, it seems there is also a strategist among this group of undead.

"Information about that pirate gang, and what benefits I can obtain." Lei Ke Dun asked bluntly.

This time, the drowned undead did not speak immediately; after a moment of silence, it sank back down into the lower cabin.

"Boss, you're asking for too much; you've scared the undead away." Tu Ba Ge whispered from his shoulder.

Hardly had it finished speaking when it noticed the little girl looking at it with a frightened expression. Tu Ba Ge hastily covered its mouth, forgetting that there were still three ordinary people present.

Lei Ke Dun also fell silent for a moment; in such a quiet environment, even if you speak softly, the people nearby can hear you!

"It's a magical creature, my companion." Lei Ke Dun could only awkwardly explain to the little girl.

"A magical creature? Isn't Mister Rabbit a ghost?" Upon hearing that Tu Ba Ge was a magical creature, the little girl was no longer so afraid.

"Of course not—I'm a living rabbit!" Tu Ba Ge glared angrily at the little girl.

"Right, right, sorry, Mister Rabbit." The little girl, a bit frightened, burrowed further into her mother's embrace.

Lei Ke Dun sighed, patted Tu Ba Ge on the head, and told it to stop talking nonsense.

"Let's leave this place first; too much undead aura is bad for the body." Lei Ke Dun made the suggestion, preparing to return the way they came.

"Good!" Luo Si·Ke Lu Er immediately nodded in agreement.

The group returned to the deck once more; under the sunlight, Luo Si·Ke Lu Er's family felt the chill and discomfort on their bodies quickly dissipating.

Lei Ke Dun walked to the edge of the deck; the pirate ship was now less than two hundred meters from the ferry, and a boarding battle would soon occur.

"How can their ship be so fast!" Luo Si·Ke Lu Er also saw the pirate ship drawing ever nearer.

"It's not that they're fast, but our ship has slowed down too much; the place where the earlier explosion sound came from is likely the engine room." Lei Ke Dun said, frowning.

"Then what should we do? If we engage the pirates head‑on, ordinary people don't have much ability to resist." Luo Si·Ke Lu Er said, his gaze continually falling on Lei Ke Dun and Tu Ba Ge as he spoke.

"The trouble isn't the pirate ship, but the pirates who have sneaked onto the ferry; the earlier undead meant that they probably haven't dealt with those pirates who infiltrated the ferry." Lei Ke Dun shook his head.

This is also why Lei Ke Dun has been observing; from the performance of those undead just now, the pirates who have sneaked onto the ferry are likely not minor figures.

"I just don't know how many extraordinary individuals are in that pirate band; it seems we really do need to cooperate with those undead after all." Lei Ke Dun pondered in his heart.

"Boss, another undead is coming over." Tu Ba Ge spoke loudly, but now everyone on the ship was in a panic; aside from Luo Si·Ke Lu Er's family nearby, no one noticed.

"Please be careful; you can first return to your rooms and wait—these pirates will be dealt with." Lei Ke Dun said to Luo Si·Ke Lu Er.

Having said that, without waiting for a response, he headed toward where that undead was. This undead's hands and feet were severed, but fortunately undead don't need to walk; they float.

"Do you know the situation of that pirate gang?" Lei Ke Dun asked as he walked.

"They claim to be under the Undead King A Jia Li Tu, but no one can verify it; originally they were just a bunch of small‑fry pirates who dared only to rob a few ferries." The undead, resembling a drowned person, emerged from the floor.

This time the undead emerged with its whole body; actually it had been whole before as well, since it only has an upper torso.

"Do you have a grudge against them?" Lei Ke Dun sensed that this undead harbored intense animosity toward that pirate gang.

"I don't know; I only remember that my death is related to them—I will kill them! Kill them all!" The half‑bodied drowned undead suddenly roared.

"Among the pirates who sneaked onto the ferry, or that pirate gang, is there a spirit medium?" Lei Ke Dun asked aloud.

"Only one remains; the other pirates have all been killed by us. If you help us kill him, we can help you deal with those people on the enemy pirate ship outside." The sober drowned undead proposed the cooperation terms.

"After taking care of these pirates, what do you plan to do next?" Lei Ke Dun was not entirely at ease with these undead.

"We are heading for the South Continent; we won't casually attack anyone on this ship." The undead spoke again.

Although Lei Ke Dun was also making his first contact with undead, their conduct still made him feel something was off; they were too rational, not at all like undead creatures.

"Sure!" Lei Ke Dun nodded.

Although he didn't trust these undead creatures, dealing with the pirate problem was now more important.

"Please rest assured, we will keep our promise; we also wish to reach the South Continent smoothly." The half‑bodied drowned undead gave its assurance.

Lei Ke Dun followed the undead to the vicinity of a staircase leading down to the cabin bottom.

"Wait here a moment; we'll drive him up from below, and you only need to ambush him here." Having spoken, the surrounding undead slipped along the floor into the lower cabin.

"These days, even undead play tricks!" Lei Ke Dun remarked.

"Boss, are undead all this smart? Aren't they supposed to leave only an obsession after death?" Tu Ba Ge, perched on Lei Ke Dun's shoulder, asked curiously.

「That's right, so behind this group of undead there is still a person who holds the seal of the Death God's Path. 」Lei Kedun nodded and said.

「Being able to command so many undead, yet it's hard to oppose a spiritualist; I don't know if this spiritualist is too strong, or the one holding the seal is too weak. 」Lei Kedun muttered to himself.

Through the Secret-Peeking Eye, Lei Kedun could see through several layers of floor the surging undead aura beneath the cabin. It looks like these undead have directly launched a frontal confrontation with that spiritualist.

「Boss! 」Tu Ba Ge nervously grabbed Lei Kedun's collar.

Rabbits have an innate fear of undead creatures, especially as the spiritualist battles that group of undead, the whole cabin fills with a thick undead aura. The light grows dim, and the air turns chilly.

(End of chapter)