Conquest Sea, shining white pearl.
On the dark sea at night, the shining white pearl, its lights twinkling, sailed upon the pitch-black surface, heading towards the distant horizon where the sea stretched endlessly.
Tonight marked the fourth night the shining white pearl had been sailing on the sea since leaving port. According to the original itinerary, the ship would soon reach its destination of Iweig. Most of the passengers on board were currently looking forward to that time, but they were unaware that the cruise ship was still a very long distance from its destination.
In the sky, thick clouds covered both the moon and the starry sky. In this sunless darkness, the cruise ship followed the guidance of the compass, heading towards the predetermined target set by the Captain, who was a high-ranking member of the Sea Abyss Church.
On this ship, from the Captain downwards, at least one-third of the crew members were followers of the cult Sea Abyss Church. Their original purpose was to send the more than two thousand passengers on board as sacrifices to the sea monster Haimo Hois. However, due to Thief K, they were now forced to change course and head to White Tears Island, a stronghold of the Sea Abyss Church in the nearby waters. According to the itinerary, the shining white pearl would reach White Tears Island by tomorrow afternoon.
To strictly prevent Thief K, who was still on board, from causing any more trouble, Captain Costa ordered his followers to conduct strict patrols and vigilance throughout the entire ship during the voyage.
Deep in the night aboard the cruise ship, in the lower cabins far from the passenger areas, the First Mate Bins was currently patrolling the empty corridor with a subordinate. At this moment, he had just returned from inspecting the boiler room. After shaking the coal dust off his shoes, he was heading to the next inspection location.
Compared to other places on the ship, this lower corridor near the boiler room was very dirty and cluttered. Miscellaneous items were placed everywhere on both sides of the walkway, and the floor was also very dirty. With a serious expression, Bins, who was a Water Manipulator, walked along this corridor. As he walked, he carefully examined the situation in the corridor before him, his eyes scanning every dark corner where someone could hide, seemingly worried that a certain thief might be concealed there.
After walking along the corridor for a while, two sailors in uniform suddenly turned the corner of the corridor ahead of Bins and walked towards him. Bins recognized them; they were not ordinary sailors but followers disguised as crew members. Upon seeing Bins, they seemed surprised for a moment, and then simultaneously greeted him respectfully.
"Mr. Bins..."
"Jade... Hama... What are you doing here? Didn't I assign you to patrol Warehouse No. 3?" Seeing the two people before him, Bins spoke with a slight frown and a hint of confusion, while the other party replied as they approached.
"Ah... it's like this, Mr. Bins. We found something suspicious over at No. 3, so we wanted to specifically inform you to go over there and take a look, to see if we need to tell Mr. Costa."
The two sailors spoke as they walked towards Bins, and after listening, Bins couldn't help but ask again.
"Something suspicious? What exactly is it? Be more specific."
"What exactly it is... Mr. Bins, to be honest, it's hard for us to explain what it looks like verbally. You'd better come with us to take a look."
As they spoke, the two sailors continued to walk towards Bins, and their steps slightly quickened. Seeing this action, Bins was slightly startled, and then immediately spoke in a warning tone.
"You two, stop! If you have something to say, just stand..."
Before Bins could finish speaking, the two sailors walking towards him immediately quickened their pace. Their expressions turned serious, and they rushed towards Bins at a sprinting speed. Seeing this scene, Bins was certain that something was wrong. He immediately raised his hand and aimed it at the two people in front of him, preparing to activate his ability to attack.
And just then, behind Bins, by the side of the corridor he had just walked through, the door of a small storage cabinet suddenly burst open. Two burly men, whose size far exceeded the cabinet's capacity, rushed out from inside. After rushing out of the storage cabinet, the two big men launched a surprise attack on Bins and his subordinate from behind. While Bins was focused on what was in front of him, they were firmly restrained from behind with hands clamping down on them, their mouths covered.
'What... How could there be people behind me! I clearly checked very carefully when I came over!' Bins, restrained from behind, thought in astonishment. He had checked all the places where someone could hide when he came through earlier and found no issues. He didn't know how these two people behind him had suddenly appeared.
'Restrained... but... if this little strength wants to control me, it's still too early!'
Although Bins, restrained from behind, was surprised, he was not flustered. This was because he was a Black Earth Stage ""Cup"" Extraordinary, possessing unparalleled strength. Restraints of this level could be broken free from with just a little effort.
And just as Bins was about to use force to break free from the restraint, a piercing pain, incredibly intense and unlike anything he had ever felt, shot through his entire body.
"Ugh... Ugh ugh ugh!!!"
Under this intense piercing pain that permeated his entire body, Bins's entire body, including his limbs, began to tremble uncontrollably. His wide eyes started to turn white. His mouth wanted to shout loudly, but because it was covered, his screams could not come out loudly, only muffled roars.
Under this piercing pain that shot through his body, Bins's body stiffened for a short time, unable to resist. Seizing this opportunity, the two sailors from before had already rushed in front of Bins and his subordinate. They each took out a small knife from their pockets, and as they reached Bins, they stabbed the knives forward. Bins's heart and his subordinate's heart were simultaneously pierced. After trembling with wide eyes for a moment, Bins completely lost all signs of life.
After confirming that Bins and his subordinate were truly dead, the two big men released them. The two who should have fallen directly to the ground as corpses stumbled two steps on the floor before standing straight again.
The reanimated Bins rolled his white eyes back, then pulled out the small knife from his chest and handed it back to the sailor who had killed him. Next, he took off his hat, tidied his slightly standing hair, and put it back on. Then, with a calm expression, he examined the bloodstain on his chest and said to the surrounding sailors.
"I got some dirt on my clothes; I need to go back and change. You guys continue with the patrol."
"Yes, Mr. Bins..."
Saying this, the few people gathered in the corridor began to disperse. The two big men who had crawled out of the small storage cabinet crawled back in again. After both big men had entered the cabinet and disappeared, a sailor who had used a knife to pierce Bins's heart took a small Stone box from the storage cabinet, put it into his pocket, and quickly left. The few drops of blood on the corridor floor were also sprinkled with a little Chalk by another sailor, and then mopped clean.
A short while later, the scene returned to calm. Everyone had left and disappeared, as if what had just happened had never occurred.
...
"The Black Earth Stage First Mate is handled, phew... With this, I have quite a few Sea Abyss Church Corpse Puppets under my control..."
Sitting in her cabin, Dorothy said after letting out a sigh, having sensed the situation in the distance. At this moment, she was using her ability to act throughout the entire ship.
In these actions, Dorothy had assassinated some Sea Abyss Church followers disguised as sailors, turning them into her Corpse Puppets. She then had these puppetized followers assassinate their companions. In a short period, Dorothy already had seven Sea Abyss Church Corpse Puppets under her control, including a First Mate who was originally a Black Earth Water Manipulator.
Dorothy had been monitoring these people for about two days. She could clearly distinguish who among them belonged to the Sea Abyss Church and who were ordinary people, so she acted very efficiently. She had quickly created a bunch of Sea Abyss Church Corpse Puppets, including one Black Earth, without accidentally killing any ordinary sailors during the process.
Although assassinating two Chalk at once was impossible, dealing with the smaller ones below was quite easy. Although Dorothy consumed 2 "Cup" and 2 "Stone" Spirituality in this operation to use Life Devour and Electrification, she also gained some symbols and Spirituality storage items. In addition to several types of Raw Consumption Symbols standard for "Cup" cultists, there were also a few symbols she didn't recognize. Dorothy planned to properly identify them after reaching shore.
'Seven Sea Abyss Church Corpse Puppets... one of them had a quite important status... It's enough preparation for tomorrow's plan.'
As Dorothy thought, she looked out at the dark sea outside the window, then continued to ponder.
'Closer... getting closer. If my calculations aren't wrong, I should be able to see it on the horizon around 10:30 tomorrow morning...'
'Time is getting closer, it seems I need to work a bit overtime and prepare. If things go smoothly, tomorrow will be the time to completely get rid of this ship and break free from these guys' control.'
Dorothy thought this in her heart. During the day today, she used the flying insect Corpse Puppet combined with subtle Electrification to secretly interfere with the compass on the shining white pearl, causing the entire ship to deviate and sail in another direction.
In this era without satellite navigation, maritime navigation primarily relies on charts, compasses, and astronomical observation. For navigators, observing the sun, moon, and stars in the sky can not only determine direction but also pinpoint their own position using instruments. However, in cloudy weather, astronomical navigation becomes difficult to use, so ship navigation can only rely on charts and compasses. Yet, compasses can be affected by Dorothy's ability.
By affecting the compass, Dorothy secretly controlled the heading of the shining white pearl. Although this method was effective, it required favorable weather. Therefore, Dorothy didn't use this trick from the start but waited until the weather was suitable this morning before beginning to use it.
Under Dorothy's control, the shining white pearl is currently not heading towards White Tears Island but is sailing towards the Shining Light Church's pilgrimage fleet, expected to meet them tomorrow morning.
Relying on the Church's fleet, Dorothy could easily get rid of the cultists on the shining white pearl, but at this moment, Dorothy's expression remained exceptionally stern.
'Relying on the Shining Light Church's pilgrimage fleet to get rid of these guys, while a good idea, also carries significant risk. This risk doesn't come from the Sea Abyss Church group, but from the Church itself...'
'In a sense, before the Church, I am actually like the Sea Abyss Church, an unofficial suspicious Extraordinary. If the Church knew there were a large number of Sea Abyss Church followers on the ship, involving a serious Extraordinary event, then with the Church's nature and abilities, they would inevitably conduct high-intensity Extraordinary detection on everyone aboard to ensure everyone's safety.'
'Conducting comprehensive, high-intensity Extraordinary detection on two thousand seven hundred people to find all Extraordinary individuals and Extraordinary traces within consumes a massive amount of "Lamp" Spirituality. While the Sea Abyss Church cannot afford such a large consumption, the Church definitely can.'
'According to Vanya, the escort for them is the Holy Rite Knights' Third Pilgrimage Fleet, a total of six warships plus three passenger ships carrying pilgrims, making nine ships in total, all filled with Church personnel. Among them are also a large number of military personnel like the Knights, who knows how many "Lamp" Extraordinary are among them?'
'If the Church determines that serious cult activity exists on the shining white pearl, then the entire ship will undergo ultra-high intensity Extraordinary detection. Even two thousand seven hundred people can all be detected without exception in the face of the Church's strength of this scale. At that time, not only will Costa and his group be unable to hide, but Neff and I probably won't be able to hide either. If the Church is truly determined to investigate, the little "Shadow" I have is completely insufficient.'
'Therefore, tomorrow, what I face is not only Costa and his group but also the Church... What I need is to utilize them as much as possible without the Church becoming suspicious... And this... requires more delicate maneuvering, otherwise, Costa and I will both be exposed...'
Dorothy thought this in her heart. Regarding the approaching Church fleet, she felt both anticipation and tension. She needed to use the Church's power, yet she also understood that compared to the An Yin Bureau, utilizing the Church's power was much more dangerous. She had to proceed cautiously.
...
Time flew by, and soon, one night passed. As the darkness faded and daylight arrived, the shining white pearl continued to sail upon the vast sea.
Under the still dark clouds, on the foredeck swept by the sea breeze, Costa, in his Captain's uniform, stood in the wind, gazing at the distant horizon. Beside him, Massimo, in a suit, stood there, also looking into the distance. Because they were both auxiliary "Lamp" Extraordinary, they could see very far without needing binoculars.
"According to the voyage, we should arrive at White Tears Island this evening... I've already discussed the specifics with them via the Five Senses Flesh Altar, and they've told us to think now about how we should face Lord Sword Scale's wrath later..."
Looking at the scene in the distance, Massimo said with a trace of unease, while Costa replied silently.
"We should think about it... After all, things turned out this way, we deserve this... Hmph, but we should also be optimistic. Let's think, at least after arriving at White Tears Island, that thief will be found, and however Lord Sword Scale treats us, we can repay him tenfold."
Costa responded to Massimo like this. After hearing it, Massimo smiled slightly, then wanted to say something else, but just as he was about to speak, his eyes suddenly widened, looking towards a spot on the distant horizon.
"Wait... What do you see over there? Is that a fleet over there? And it seems quite large?"
"A fleet? Are you seeing things? We're so far off the normal route here, how could there be a fleet?" Costa said this, then looked in the direction Massimo was looking, and immediately froze in place.
In Costa's eyes, he could clearly see several plumes of black smoke rising on the distant horizon. Beneath that black smoke was clearly a fleet that was currently moving.
Looking at the fleet, Costa frowned, because the waters they were currently in should not have such a large-scale fleet. For a moment, he thought it was a mirage, so he squinted his eyes and used his ability to look more intently. As a result, after seeing the deep muzzles of the cannons on the fleet's ships and the high-flying Radiant Sun flag, he was greatly startled.
"It's, it's... it's the Light Worshipping Zealots' fleet! How could they possibly appear here!"
Taking two steps back, Costa said in shock, his face pale. Massimo, who was beside him, also focused his ability more intently to look at the distant target. After seeing it clearly, he was so scared he almost fell on his backside.
"Ah ah... That's... that's a Holy Rite Knights cruiser! How is that possible! How could the Knights' fleet be here!?"
Massimo said in horror, his face drained of color, momentarily flustered and unsure what to do. Meanwhile, Costa quickly calmed down and turned around to give orders to his subordinates behind him.
"Notify the bridge! Full left rudder immediately, steer away from that fleet!"
"Boom!!"
Just as Costa finished speaking, a loud explosion came from the lower cabins of the shining white pearl. Immediately, the entire ship shook from the blast.