Chapter 264: A Misguided Voyage

Under a gray, hazy sky, the ocean waves rolled incessantly.

The layers of dark clouds in the distance pressed down so low they seemed ready to swallow the entire world.

Amidst the rising and falling swells, a steam-spewing sailing ship floated lonely upon the water.

Salt stains left by dried seawater lined both sides of the hull; the coal piled on the deck was nearly exhausted, and even the ghoul sailors, who should have been tireless, now moved sluggishly, silently tending to the worn-out cables and masts.

Standing at the bow, Luo Yan stared fixedly at the boundless sea, his fists clenched tight like a restless, trapped beast, unable to open his eyes against the stinging sunlight.

Days of drifting at sea had tanned his skin to a dark charcoal, his lips were cracked, and the captain's uniform he wore had stiffened from the alternating erosion of sweat and sea breeze.

At this moment, he was facing a cruel reality—

He was lost.

About a month ago, acting on the orders of His Majesty the Demon King to investigate the truth behind the disastrous defeat at Port Sardo, he had changed his original course. He had thought it was nothing, but he had overestimated his own ocean-faring capabilities.

This sea was completely different from the Whirlpool Sea he was familiar with.

Although that place had surging undercurrents, it was at least surrounded by land; even in the most treacherous waterways, there were reference points.

But here, in this vast, boundless ocean, all directions became illusory. He had thought he could rely on nautical charts and solar positioning to find the correct path, but he had underestimated the power of ocean currents and seasonal winds.

In short, he had been trapped in this desolate sea area for a full half-month, and there was not the slightest sign that he was about to leave.

Luo Yan's expression was solemn, his gaze falling upon the deck.

The coal was nearly gone, the supplies would soon be exhausted, and he had no idea how far away the nearest port was.

Although ghouls did not need to eat, he could not drift on this sea forever. What was worse, the waves were unpredictable; he could not draw a teleportation array, nor could he report his current situation to the Demon King.

If he could not find his bearings, he feared he would truly die in this strange sea.

Just as Luo Yan was desperately contemplating his next move, the ghoul sailor in the lookout tower suddenly let out a hoarse roar: "Ship spotted ahead, approaching us..."

Hearing the ghoul's voice, he jerked his head up, looking in the direction the ghoul was pointing.

A ship's silhouette was breaking through the waves, charging toward them at full speed against the wind and tide. Its sails were billowing, accompanied by faint black smoke, likely drifting from the boiler of a steam engine.

His heart leaped with joy at first, as if seeing an oasis in the desert, but within half a second, his heart sank heavily as he sensed something wrong from the bustling figures on the deck.

It didn't look like a proper merchant ship; it looked more like a beast chasing its prey...

Could it be pirates?!

Luo Yan's heart hammered, feeling both alarmed and excited.

At this moment, seeing Luo Yan remain silent for a long time, the ghoul adjutant said in a hoarse voice.

"His Majesty the Demon King has ordered that no one is to catch up to us... Shall we fire the cannons and sink them?"

"Fool, use your brain. This isn't near Thunder City. The Demon King's order was for us not to be followed by Thunder City merchant ships; he didn't say we should act like pirates!"

Luo Yan cursed in irritation, then stared intently at the pirate ship, his fingers gripping the railing until his knuckles turned white.

A crazy idea suddenly popped into his mind—

Perhaps he could take advantage of this!

The adjutant remained silent for a moment, not refuting him, just watching him quietly, waiting for his next order.

Luo Yan took a deep breath and swept a glance at the rolling horizon in the distance.

Although he was not familiar with this sea area, based on his sailing experience in the Whirlpool Sea, a storm was clearly brewing over there. He could even faintly hear low, muffled thunder echoing among the clouds and smell the scent of a downpour!

A downpour could provide excellent cover, preventing those pirates from seeing the situation on the deck clearly!

He made a prompt decision, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Full speed ahead! Target—southwest!"

The ghouls immediately sprang into action.

The steam engine roared, the rudder adjusted direction, and the ship, trailing thick black smoke, sped toward the storm.

The pirate ship behind them did not stop; instead, as if it had smelled the scent of prey's blood, it accelerated in pursuit.

Luo Yan's mouth curled slightly, gripping the rudder, his palms faintly slick with excited sweat.

The moment before they reached the storm, he waved his hand abruptly and shouted loudly: "Furl the sails! Set the engine to first gear! Lower the fire in the boiler for me!"

Accompanied by the creaking of grinding gears, the roar of the steam engine gradually subsided, the sails were quickly furled, and the thick, long black smoke dissipated into a single wisp.

The entire steamship suddenly became like a piece of scrap metal that had lost its power, teetering on the edge of the storm, as if it would be swallowed by the gale in the next second... just as if it had suffered a breakdown!

Watching the pirate ship getting closer and closer, Luo Yan's palms were soaked with sweat, and he wiped them on his trousers.

He knew very well that this was a gamble—

But he believed he would win!

Since the other party were pirates, they would surely be greedily eager to take everything, rather than scavenging leftovers from floating wreckage.

As for why, it was because when he used to work under Jack handling stolen goods and smuggling, he had dealt with these bastards plenty of times.

He understood the psychology of those people too well.

He was even one of them himself.

The prey was waiting quietly, while in the distance, the hunter's throat had already emitted an excited, low growl.

On the Black Shark, the sea breeze whistled through the masts, like a played bagpipe singing a triumphal song of slaughter.

Salty, fishy waves slapped against the hull, crashing into a sky full of water mist, soaking the tattered burlap sails on the deck, yet unable to wash away the smell of mold, sweat, and old wood!

The environment here was suffocating.

On the deck, a dozen pirates were in small groups, either leaning against the masts smoking inferior tobacco, squatting to gamble, or boredly sharpening rusty cutlasses.

Their clothes were tattered, their skin tanned dark by the scorching sun, their lips cracked, and their eyes filled with exhaustion and anxiety.

Like Luo Yan, their encounter was not beautiful; they had been drifting at sea for days, like a pack of wild dogs driven out of their den.

No wine, no women, not even a decent target for plunder to be found.

The resentment among the crowd was like the smell of rotting fish in the hold—gloomy, stifling, and ready to erupt at any moment.

Standing at the bow, Titch gripped a brass telescope in his hand, squinting one eye, staring fixedly into the distance through the lens.

It was a steamship; judging by the model, it should be from the northeast coast of the Whirlpool Sea.

The canvas on the masts had been furled, the black smoke from the steam engine was no longer rising, and the entire ship seemed like a wreck that had lost its vitality, being ruthlessly tossed about by the waves.

The sailors on the deck moved sluggishly, as if they had resigned themselves to their fate, letting the sea breeze blow through their tattered collars.

Titch abruptly folded the telescope, a cruel smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, which then transformed into a loud, wild laugh.

"Ha... Hahaha!!"

Hearing their leader's laughter, all the pirates on the deck looked toward him, their blank expressions tinged with a hint of disgust and bad luck.

"The Demon God above, thank you for your grace! Damn it, what kind of luck is this?!" Titch spat out a mouthful of phlegm, the wild joy on his face like a wild dog that had been hungry for a week suddenly smelling the aroma of roasted meat.

He had once been a minor noble of the Os Empire, with land, merchant ships, and a group of servants revolving around him, but all of this had come to nothing due to the failure of his colonial business.

To make a comeback, he had acted like a gambler with bloodshot eyes, selling off his last assets and drifting to sea with a group of scoundrels chasing money and women, transforming from a dashing Imperial man into a ragged pirate.

The glory of the past and the dignity of a noble had long since vanished with the wind; now, the only meaning of his existence was plunder—

To survive, to drink strong liquor, to make those heavily made-up harlots scream in his bed, and then fantasize that he was still in that castle from before.

His faith in Saint Xisi had long been tossed to the back of his mind.

He cursed that blind bastard, who never listened to his wishes, and even led his fate into an ever-deepening abyss time and time again.

He still believed to this day that he hadn't joined the wave of overseas colonial development for money, but to spread that damn faith.

If it weren't for Saint Xisi, he would never have lost everything and fallen to this state!

The unluckiest part was a few days ago.

He had just finished praying when he suffered a stroke of bad luck; a group of Imperial fleets appeared on the horizon, scaring him so much that he was forced to leave the hastily built pirate port before he could even replenish his supplies, and then he fled in a panic into this strange sea area, wandering aimlessly.

The sailors' morale was low, and complaints were rampant.

He knew that if he couldn't find prey again, his own head would have to be hung on the ship's mast.

Fortunately, His Majesty the Demon God had not abandoned him!

He had only just converted to the Demon God, and had only prayed once, when a perfect opportunity appeared before him like sweet dew—

That steamship that had lost power was like a whale stranded on the beach, waiting for them, as hunters, to cut open its belly and take the rare treasures and gold inside!

Titch turned abruptly, stepping excitedly onto the railing, raising his volume and shouting loudly.

"You fools, look over here! See what your old man has found!"

The pirates on the deck were attracted by his voice and turned their heads one after another.

Their eyes still held some numbness and fatigue, but when Titch's finger pointed at that steamship, everyone's breathing couldn't help but quicken a bit.

"Tell me—you bastards, when was the last time you drank rum?!"

Titch scanned them viciously, a mocking smile hanging on his lips, "Or have you gotten used to licking the foul water rolling out of the boiler?"

Some licked their cracked lips, others swallowed their saliva subconsciously.

Those decadent eyes gradually filled with a hint of longing, as if fat meat and fine wine were right before them.

"Tell me, what kind of trash are you!"

Titch's voice cut into everyone's ears like a knife, emitting a sharp, mean hissing sound.

"Are you pirates, or are you those damn monks full of bullshit?! Tell me, do you want to play with those damn coconut shells, or do you want fragrant and soft girls!"

The fatigue on the pirates' faces was replaced by a hint of excitement, and low curses and whispers spread through the crowd.

Some gripped the hilts of their knives, some licked the gaps in their teeth, and a primitive longing ignited in their eyes.

Titch noticed the change in their emotions, and the smile on his face became even more unbridled. He abruptly drew his saber, the blade reflecting the sunlight, cold light flickering.

"Your dreams are on that ship! Ah... haha, I can already smell it! It's the smell of gold, and crates and barrels of rum, and wool destined for the colonies! Maybe there are passengers from the north coast of the Whirlpool Sea on board! Maybe there are even a few pretty noble girls!" he said with a ferocious grin, his voice filled with greed, "As long as we take that ship, everyone can drink their fill and eat their fill!"

This sentence completely ignited the pirates' fighting spirit, bringing the morale that had fallen to the bottom back to its peak.

"Boss! Charge up and fuck them over!" a burly man with a stubbly beard waved his axe and shouted loudly.

"Kill them all! Grab everything!" someone already screamed fanatically.

Titch looked with satisfaction at this group of subordinates who were gradually falling into a frenzy.

Not a trace of decadence could be seen in their eyes anymore, only naked desire!

Very good!

He took a deep breath, raised his saber, and his roar was like a sounded horn.

"Full speed ahead! Don't fire the cannons, I want the whole ship! When we take it, I'm going to throw a banquet on it!"

He licked his lips, his eyes full of bloodthirsty excitement, "Kill all the men, grab all the wealth, leave all the chicks—no surrender accepted!"

"Awoooo!!!"

The pirates let out deafening cheers, and the deck was in an uproar.

Some frantically waved their scimitars, some laughed loudly in excitement, a group of people climbed the masts like monkeys to lower the sails, and others ran to the side of the steam engine, trying to squeeze more power out of those old, dilapidated parts so that this broken pirate ship could run a little faster.

Having been suppressed in panic and despair for who knows how long, they were like a pack of hungry hyenas.

They were already hungry and thirsty for the coming hunt, wishing they could fly over immediately to burn, kill, and loot.

However, just when the "hunters" thought they had the victory in their grasp, the corners of the "prey's" mouths revealed a ferocious grin.

Treasure?

Food?

Women?

None of that here—

There were plenty of corpses, though.

The gale roared, and raindrops hit the deck like rapid-fire bullets, creating a pattering sound.

The surging angry waves were like the tense knuckles of a blood vessel, slamming heavily onto the G-major piano keys, emitting a piano sound that suddenly dropped in pitch!

The whipped-up sea waves slapped against the hull, causing both warships to sway incessantly. The storm churned in the sky, lightning exploded among the black clouds, casting a momentary pale light onto the battlefield where slaughter was about to unfold.

Luo Yan stood at the side of the ship, watching the pirate ship getting closer and closer, his face showing not the slightest panic; instead, the corners of his mouth curled slightly upward, carrying a hint of a cruel, cold smile.

The plan had succeeded.

They had deliberately turned off the steam engine and furled the sails, creating the appearance of having lost power and teetering on the brink, which had indeed attracted these greedy pirates...

The rainwater flowing along the railing washed away the sweat and tension from Luo Yan's palms. The prey was closing in step by step, completely unaware that they were sailing from safe waters toward a graveyard. The real hunt had just begun.

Luo Yan's gaze swept over the ghoul sailors beside him; they stood quietly in the wind and rain, their faces pale as death, their eyes dull and lusterless, like a group of ghosts ready to be swallowed by the waves at any moment.

He exhaled lightly and ordered in a low voice: "Get ready, and don't move until they board the ship!"

The ragged ghouls nodded silently, simultaneously gripping the weapons in their hands, like sailors going to their deaths in despair... at least that was how it looked to the pirates.

At the same time, the opposing "Black Shark" had closed in to a distance where one could almost jump across directly.

Titch stood at the bow, the wind and rain washing over his excited expression, his eyes locked onto the "prey" before him like bloodthirsty jackals.

"Prepare the grappling hooks, board!" he roared, raising the command saber in his hand.

The pirates could no longer hold back, excitedly throwing out iron hooks one after another, hooking firmly onto Luo Yan's hull. Several strong sailors immediately began to pull, and a few shouts of effort brought the two ships closer together.

The pirates on the deck laughed wildly, drawing their scimitars one after another, venting filthy language, rubbing their hands, and licking the helpless sailors with greedy eyes.

Titch was not in a hurry.

This cautious jackal licked his cracked lips and grinned ferociously: "Give them a little greeting first—fire!"

!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The flintlock guns spat out flames, and two rounds of volleys swept across Luo Yan's deck like a rainstorm!

The tattered sailor uniforms were pierced by bullets, and one "fragile" figure after another staggered and fell; black blood spread rapidly in the downpour, swept into the sea by the waves washing over the deck.

"Hahaha! A bunch of trash!" Titch laughed, his voice as loud as thunder in the storm.

Luo Yan stood at the edge of the cabin, witnessing all this, yet remained expressionless.

Those fallen ghouls still lay quietly on the ground, without a single movement.

The fishy smell permeating the wind and rain became more real, but if one smelled it carefully, one would find that it was more like the smell of poorly pickled rotten fish.

Seeing that the opposing sailors were "mostly dead or injured," Titch waved his hand excitedly and shouted loudly: "Kill them all! Grab everything!"

He was the first to step onto the grappling rope, stepping on the hull, pushing off with both feet, and leaping directly onto Luo Yan's deck.

As a former noble, although his glory had fallen, the skills in his hands had not diminished much, and he still possessed the strength of a Bronze-tier!

The pirates behind him also swarmed up, jumping over one after another, unable to wait to divide the spoils.

Titch's feet landed heavily on the deck, gripping his command saber, ready to start a massacre!

However, at this very moment, a rusty blade slashed coldly and unexpectedly toward his throat, the cold aura making him feel as if he had dreamed back to the Beast Forest of the Empire.

Titch shuddered, swinging his saber to meet it, and with a bang of metal clashing, he barely managed to block this sudden, fatal blow!

"Un, undead?!"

Titch's eyes contracted sharply, and his whole body stiffened.

He looked up along the cold blade, and what met his eyes was a deathly face—pale, hollow, and devoid of life.

A fallen "sailor" had actually stood up, stopping his staggering backward steps, staring at him expressionlessly.

Immediately after, another dead sailor stood up from the ground, swaying.

His pupils contracted violently, and a warning bell of fear exploded in his brain.

"Something's wrong! Retreat! Retreat—" Titch roared hoarsely, a look of horror finally appearing on his face, waving his command saber while falling backward.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

When the pirates jumped onto the deck one after another, they were terrified to find that those "corpses" that had been lying on the ground were standing up one by one.

Those sailors they had hit still had clearly visible bullet holes on their bodies, yet they still had no expression of pain; they slowly raised their heads, their hollow eyes watching this group of intruders, and the corners of their mouths even revealed a stiff and eerie smile.

"What... what the fuck is this?!" a pirate's voice had changed pitch, and his legs began to go soft.

"It's... it's the undead! This is a necromancer's ship!" another pirate screamed in terror.

"Damn it! How did those guys who play with corpses come to the sea to do business?!"

"I, I don't know! Ahhh—!"

Until this moment, the pirates on the deck realized that the real prey was themselves.

Luo Yan walked out of the shadows calmly, ordering in a cold voice.

"Leave five alive, kill all the others!"

The next second, the ghouls on the deck instantly pounced on the scattered, terrified pirates, their rusty blades waving wantonly, black blood mixed with rainwater splashing everywhere, bringing huge casualties to the pirates caught off guard.

The pirates were completely panicked; they had originally thought it was a plunder without suspense, but in the blink of an eye, they had become lambs to be slaughtered.

They waved their scimitars and resisted desperately, but no matter how they stabbed or slashed, the ghouls still closed in relentlessly; even if half an arm was cut off, they would still pounce like mad dogs, tearing at their necks, ripping their flesh...

And in this dark, bumpy, and chaotic environment, the danger was not just those ghouls; they also had to be careful of their teammates who had gone crazy from fear and were slashing around randomly.

"Quick! Roll back to the ship! Run!"

Titch's roar carried unprecedented fear; he frantically slashed down a ghoul, trying desperately to retreat.

But when he looked back, he was terrified to find that all the pirates had boarded Luo Yan's ship, and standing at the hull now were only those expressionless ghouls, blocking their retreat.

They had nowhere to run.

Titch's breathing was rapid, a hint of despair rising in his heart; his throat was dry and painful, his hands gripping his scimitar tightly, but he had no idea how to break out.

Just then—

"Boom—!!"

A violent gale attacked, bringing up monstrous waves!

The whistling sea waves slapped against the hull, the two ships biting into each other swayed violently, and the pirates and ghouls were blown about, rolling into a ball on the deck.

The sky was torn apart, lightning exploded, and the thick dark clouds were like a beast, playfully watching the prey beneath it.

Luo Yan raised his head, a hint of imperceptible fear gradually rising on his gloomy face.

That was the instinct of all living things when facing nature.

This storm seemed even more violent than he had imagined, exceeding his expectations once again.

"Damn it..." he cursed in a low voice, his right hand gripping the cabin door panel tightly, trying to stabilize his figure.

And all this was just the beginning.

The mighty waves had only just bared their fangs; the previous wave was just a prelude!

The sea waves churned wildly!

The two ships huddled together were like pieces of paper crumpled in a hurricane, ready to be torn to shreds at any moment!

Luo Yan was blown down onto the deck by the gale, his clothes already soaked through by the downpour.

Water droplets dripped down his hair, blurring his vision.

He grabbed a cable with one hand, trying hard to stabilize his body, his gaze piercing through the storm, trying to discern the current situation, and happened to see the pirate leader opposite, who was also looking around in terror and helplessness, his right hand holding his command saber, his left hand gripping the railing for dear life.

Titch also noticed him and cursed in anger and shame.

"Damn it—are you fucking crazy? Sailing here..."

Luo Yan gritted his teeth and roared back.

"Damn it... you have the nerve to say that to me, didn't you chase me here yourself?"

"Titch!"

"What bullshit are you spouting? I can't hear you!"

"I said! My name is Titch!" Titch roared, gritting his teeth, "What the fuck is your name?"

"Luo Yan... why do you care about that?!"

"I need to know who the fuck I died at the hands of—"

Luo Yan didn't hear what bullshit he was spouting, and just as he was about to open his mouth to ask, a giant wave as towering as a castle suddenly crashed over, throwing the two bumpy little ships into the air.

Luo Yan felt himself flying, gripped tightly by the throat by an invisible giant hand, and then thrown heavily toward the sea.

"Boom!!"

The whole world seemed to overturn in an instant!

His eyes went black, his body was completely swallowed by the surging seawater, and he couldn't even struggle before completely losing consciousness, disappearing into the violent turbulence...

Who knows how much time had passed.

The sea breeze was still blowing, but it was much gentler.

His body gradually regained sensation, Luo Yan's eyelashes trembled slightly, and then he weakly opened a slit.

His chest felt as if it had been crushed by a heavy hammer, every breath felt like burning his lungs, and the seawater remaining in his lungs made him cough several times before he finally spat out that suffocating fishy smell.

To figure out the current situation, he braced his arms and sat up, his gaze slowly sweeping over his surroundings—

What met his eyes was a strange beach.

Fine shells and seaweed covered the shore, and the steady sea waves slapped against the reefs on the shore, emitting a low echo.

In the distance, he could see two severely damaged ships stranded on the coast, the huge sails torn into rags, the masts leaning in all directions, telling the tragedy of that night.

He moved his stiff neck, his line of sight moving along the coastline to the shore.

He saw some surviving ghoul sailors slowly climbing up from the sand, as if they had just crawled out of a grave.

And the pirates who had luckily survived were shrinking back, begging for mercy in a panic, but could only emit hoarse moans.

As expected of the ghouls summoned by His Majesty the Demon King himself, they actually still had the strength to move.

And those ghouls seemed to be still executing the orders he had given when he was conscious—meticulously counting the number of living people, ensuring that only five were left alive.

He didn't need to worry about that for the time being.

Luo Yan's brain was blank, his gaze swept over the messy beach, and he slowly raised his head to look toward the end of the beach.

There was a lush dense forest, the dense vegetation as if no one had ever been there.

Is this... a deserted island?

Or—

A piece of unclaimed land?

Luo Yan subconsciously looked for the end of the coastline, but could only see a boundless outline.

The strange sea breeze brushed against his cheeks, the sunlight in the sky felt exceptionally dazzling, Luo Yan's lips trembled slightly, and his hoarse voice was like a moan—

"Demon King above..."

"Where... exactly is this?"

If he could find the magic crystal in the cabin, he would have a chance to contact His Majesty the Demon King, and returning wouldn't be a difficult task.

It was just that he didn't know how to explain to that great lord that he had completely messed up the job he had given him, and ended up in such a state.

"Demon King? What a coincidence... I just converted to the Demon God, and the Demon God sent a Demon King to my side to make me unlucky..."

A hoarse voice appeared behind Luo Yan.

He subconsciously reached for the flintlock at his waist, but grabbed nothing, and a cold command saber was already held against his neck.

"Don't move!"

Titch stared at the back of his head with a ferocious face, spat a mouthful of phlegm mixed with seawater and blood onto the ground, his murderous eyes filled with threats.

"If you want to live, tell those rotten subordinates of yours... to put down their weapons!"

Luo Yan's heart leaped to his throat, but he didn't feel much fear in his heart.

He took a deep breath.

"Titch... is it?"

Feeling the blade edge move closer by an inch, he continued in a calm voice.

"Since you are a believer of the Demon God, you should know what a Demon King means."

Titch didn't speak, just stared at him with cold eyes.

Luo Yan's Adam's apple moved, and he said calmly.

"We can make a deal."

"Or... die here together."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 265 =====