novelraw Chapter 231: Hunting the Sea Ghost
Chapter 231: Hunting the Sea Ghost
"Boom!"
The weather on the second day was no longer as clear as the previous few days. The originally azure sky over the sea was now obscured by several layers of gray clouds. The sea surface, lacking light, lost some of its transparent blue and gained a deep black hue.
The wind and waves ahead gradually rose. The outer iron armor of the Iceberg Queen collided with the undulating waves, splashing high white spray at the bow.
Far directly ahead of the hull, the inhalation vortex on the body of the Sea Ghost submerged beneath the sea surface grew smaller and smaller, indicating that its inhalation process was about to end, and it would soon be time for it to return to the seabed.
At the same time, this also meant that the crew on the Iceberg Queen was about to begin their hunt.
At this moment, Fisher, standing by the deck railing, had a fairly calm expression. According to Pakhz's past experience, hunting a Sea Ghost actually didn't carry much risk. Even ordinary, slightly larger civilian hunting ships could give it a try, let alone the Iceberg Queen, which was a warship of the Sardin Woman's Country. Dealing with it was more than enough.
So, him leaning here now was actually because he was thinking about a question that arose yesterday afternoon: why there would be a [Loyalty -1] in the rewards obtained from the Cangniao-zhong's society research progress.
After thinking for a long time, he roughly came up with two guesses.
The first possibility: the legend Eimhart told Fisher was wrong.
In fact, the historically true Cangniao-zhong was not a loyal race at all; on the contrary, they were a race full of rebelliousness.Not only did they have no loyalty at all towards the Phoenix Race and other masters they served, the two tribes that stayed in the Sardin Woman's Country and returned to the snow mountains only had their own plans. It was even possible that the disappearance of the phoenixes had something to do with them.
Of course, there is also a second possibility, which is related to the Demi-Human Girl Completion Manual.
He still remembered when researching Raphaela on the Southern Continent, Fisher once obtained an enhancement in reproductive ability, which greatly buffed Fisher's reproduction rank and also enhanced his desire to reproduce.
But if you think about it carefully, for the Dragon-kin that have the Tail-Compatible Partner mechanism, this kind of reproductive ability buff is specifically tailored for the Tail-Compatible Partner, while Fisher's buff targeted all opposite sexes.
That is to say, the Demi-Human Girl Completion Manual gave Fisher an enhancement attribute with a wider buff range than the Dragon-kin, just because they had the characteristic of [Strong Reproductive Ability].
Then, in other words, the buffs given to him by the Demi-Human Girl Completion Manual must definitely still belong to the category of [Rewards]. This time, the buff of the Cangniao-zhong was no exception.
Is it possible that the Cangniao-zhong is indeed a race with the characteristic of [Loyalty], but because of the Demi-Human Girl Completion Manual's wicked humor, it believed that reducing Fisher's loyalty attribute could help him better research other demi-human races, so reducing this trait from Fisher's body was considered as a reward?
For Fisher, who deeply understood the Demi-Human Girl Completion Manual's disposition, reaching this line of thought felt extremely reasonable. After all, his prejudice against the Demi-Human Girl Completion Manual was just like Eimhart's prejudice against him—deeply rooted.
"Quick! Quick! Get the stuff ready!"
At this time, the Iceberg Queen was a flurry of activity. The crew members each returned to their posts, and every hunting weapon and cannon was checked once to ensure there were no mistakes.
"Ha, this guy has no strength left. Caroline, get the Steam Piercing Spear ready!"
Pakhz stood at the bow, holding a telescope, carefully sizing up the constantly expanding and contracting blowhole on the ocean behemoth's body. She clearly saw that the muscles on the Sea Ghost's body had already become stiff, and the shouts it let out had become weak and feeble. The originally huge noise like a blower had gradually diminished into a cry resembling a dolphin's.
Fisher's thinking was interrupted by the sounds of the surrounding crew. He turned to look at the bow, only to see that below the giant spear originally intended for breaking ice, a massive amount of churning, boiling steam erupted.
As the gears of the steam machinery behind the giant spear began to rapidly turn, amidst countless flying sparks, the giant spear shifted forward slightly like a nocked longbow.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!"
This giant piercing spear located at the bow of the ship was the most iconic feature among the Sardin Woman's Country's naval ships. This was because their ships needed to sail the icy seas of the Northern Ocean, so they placed a sharp giant spear at the bow to break the ice.
For a warship, the function of this Ice-Breaking Spear was further expanded; it could also serve as a sharp weapon for naval close-quarters combat.
When the enemy ships approached, they would project this sharp giant spear. Not only was the tip retrofitted with a barbed structure, but it was also equipped with a tough steel wire connected to the hull's central hub.
Once it hit an enemy ship, it could instantly pierce the enemy's iron armor, maximally prevent the opponent from escaping, and close the distance between the two sides.
This was because although the military ships of the Sardin Woman's Country had thick armor, their equipped cannon fire was relatively underdeveloped. Once the distance grew, it was easy to miss. Using this combat method maximized hit rates and facilitated boarding combat for the fierce Woman's Country soldiers.
Now, the Iceberg Queen was preparing to use this giant piercing spear to hunt the ocean behemoth, the Sea Ghost.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!"
"Woo woo..."
The Steam Piercing Spear became increasingly restless, and the crew on the deck scattered, afraid that the boiling steam would burn them.
As the intense sound of steam echoed over the sea, the Sea Ghost ahead also seemed to sense something. It gave a soft cry, the inhalation cyclone on its back gradually shrank, and its body gradually sank.
It was preparing to flee from the sea surface.
But obviously, the Iceberg Queen wasn't going to give it this chance.
"Everyone! Hold tightly to your weapons and railings, prepare to hunt!"
Pakhz, standing at the edge of the deck, lowered her telescope and loudly commanded everyone.
At this time, many crew members were inside the cabins below deck. They were responsible for steering the ship and maneuvering the warship's artillery, while the rest of the crew held muskets and blades, standing by on the deck.
With Pakhz's command, the steam roar at the bow reached its peak. The giant spear began to slowly rotate, aiming directly at the Sea Ghost that had just begun to sink.
"Boom!"
In the next second, the spear fiercely catapulted forward under the envelopment of the steam. The massive recoil caused the entire ship to lift upwards a distance.
All crew members tightly gripped the railings. Fisher also supported himself with one hand on the railing. But due to the movement of the Sea Ghost, the turbulent waves effortlessly overtopped the railing, violently slapping onto the deck.
"Smack!"
Old Jack and the three squirrel girls were hidden in the cabins, and Isabel was also below helping. Those who remained above were Alajina's battle-hardened crew. Even as the hull tilted, they very calmly grabbed the nearby railings, staring fixedly at their prey.
"Thwack!"
The next moment, the swift giant spear deeply rotated and buried itself into the carapace of the Sea Ghost. However, because its outer shell was too hard, the spear failed to completely penetrate it, merely stopping within its muscles.
Simultaneously, after entering the body, its top end rapidly expanded umbrella-like barbs amidst the rotation.
Those steel barbs swelled open, tightly clinging to the muscles beneath the hard skin of the Sea Ghost, fixed inside its body just like a fishhook.
"Aoo!"
Suffering from the pain, the Sea Ghost subconsciously sank towards the seabed. Amidst the fierce sounds of the waves, the entire ship abruptly sank a small distance, but it was merely a small distance.
Even a Sea Ghost in its prime state couldn't possibly drag down a warship the size of the Iceberg Queen, let alone after days of physical exhaustion.
The Sea Ghost roared bleakly underwater. It failed to drag the Iceberg Queen down and, in fact, was pulled back up to the surface itself.
The struggling action further expanded the wound on its back. Plentiful amounts of blood gushed into the ocean, making it look as if the Iceberg Queen were sailing in a sea of blood.
Alajina was commanding the crew from the captain's cabin. Under her orders, the Iceberg Queen didn't stop, but maintained full horsepower, keeping just slightly slower than the fleeing Sea Ghost.
This principle was the same as fishing. After plunging in the spear, the Iceberg Queen needed to maintain a slightly slower speed than its prey, rather than stopping completely.
Because once the speed difference became too large, it would cause intense resistance, potentially increasing the risk of capsizing. By pacing it like this and exhausting its stamina, sooner or later, it would die from exhaustion and blood loss.
Northmen were well-versed in ocean hunting. After all, the ancestors of the Sardin Woman's Country hunted massive Sea Ghosts using wind-driven wooden ships long before steamships existed.
"Open fire!"
The hunting process went extremely smoothly. The sheer strength of the steam industry appeared to have power to spare when dealing with such an ocean behemoth.
Fisher leaned against the railing—there was absolutely no need for him to help. He was there simply to witness this spectacular hunting scene from up close.
"Bang!"
The surrounding crew members holding muskets leaned against the railing, laughing aloud while firing. Dense bullets plunged into the water, splashing droplets like rain.
"Boom!"
The heavy artillery of the warship was also prepared. With a deafening sound, the surface of the sea and the back of the Sea Ghost were blown open with a massive hole, spurting a mixture of blood and seawater.
The pain caused the Sea Ghost to crazily struggle, but no matter what, it couldn't shake off the Ice-Breaking Spear penetrating deeply into its muscle.
The Iceberg Queen's Ice-Breaking Spear was designed ingeniously. Before striking the enemy, its barbs were entirely contracted, which minimized the contact area to ensure deep penetration.
After that, it would deploy the barbs, utilizing the hard skin of the enemy to secure themselves.
Under a mechanism like this, the Sea Ghost was completely like a moving target, completely at the mercy of the Iceberg Queen's attacks.
Furthermore, the cannons equipped on the Iceberg Queen were different from other Northern warships.
The cannons were not produced in the Northern Border but were plundered from a ship of Schwari. Schwari's cannon fire was widely publicly acknowledged as the fiercest among the nearby nations.
The Sea Ghost abruptly ate a full broadside. Having already collapsed from exhaustion and blood loss, this heavy assault pushed it to the verge of death.
"Woo..."
In the next moment, it lacked even the energy to dive towards the bottom of the sea. After wailing once, it floated up towards the water surface uncontrollably, exposing a massive patch of blood-soaked skin.
"Got it! Got it!"
Checking the battle results through a telescope, Pakhz immediately yelled out with elation. The fat on her face, dampened by seawater, bobbed with intense excitement.
The massive Sea Ghost had completely floated upon the surface of the sea, entirely motionless. A few muscles on its body were still twitching irregularly, but owing to massive blood loss, the color of its outer skin paled to a ghostly white.
Looking back, one would find that this spacious sea surface appeared as if a broad stroke had been painted by a scarlet brush.
The engine speed of the Iceberg Queen gradually decreased. Amidst cheers across the ship, it slowly approached the Sea Ghost's corpse.
"Hold on, let me see if it's dead, hand over the gun to me..."
Pakhz leaped off the bow, landing next to Fisher, as this was the shortest distance to the Sea Ghost below.
Fearing that the monster might be faking its death, she needed to confirm it was truly dead.
She received the musket handed over by a crewmate, pointed it squarely at the Sea Ghost's corpse, and fired a shot. Seeing a new wound without any reaction, she ultimately affirmed that this guy was completely dead.
"It's dead! It's dead! Quick, go down to withdraw the spearhead, we will carve out the valuable things and throw the remainder right here!"
Although the Ice-Breaking Spear worked well, it had one disadvantage: to reel it backward, crewmates had to manually pull it out. The steam engine alone couldn't pull it back because it typically jammed exceedingly firmly.
The most valuable items on the Sea Ghost amounted to merely those few sorts. Dragging the whole corpse away wasn't required... Besides, nobody had genuinely tasted its meat. Since nobody ate it, it was probably terrible, Pakhz figured.
"Cool!"
"Charge!"
Upon hearing Pakhz's orders, among those cheering crewmates, a few attached hooking ropes to themselves, preparing to descend. Others eagerly vaulted directly off the deck into the ocean, subsequently swimming straight off towards the massive corpse beneath.
"Oh, honestly cruel, luckily a Sea Ghost is only encountered once in a decade, otherwise they'd probably be completely slaughtered by these barbaric folks residing in the Northern Border..."
Eimhart floated beside Fisher, fixing his gaze upon the crewmates swimming above the Sea Ghost, rendering his comment regarding the situation.
Fisher passed no comment. Upon seeing the Sea Ghost's demise, he was satisfied and ready to depart, having no interest in watching them divide the plunder.
However, at this precise moment, for an unknown reason, Fisher abruptly sensed all the hair on his body standing up. A bizarre intuition sprang up in his heart, making him feel that some hazard was rapidly approaching.
He subconsciously glanced backwards, but found nobody recognizing any danger. He stepped to the ship's side, staring down at those crewmates shouting "One, two, three, yank the spear" on the Sea Ghost's corpse.
Was his feeling wrong?
Fisher leaned upon the railing carefully gazing at the water area downwards. But exactly in the ensuing second, within that water entirely smeared with fresh blood, a giant shadow gradually ascended, as if underneath the depths some entity was speeding towards them.
Feeling unwell today, provisionally only 4000 words. Using stocked manuscripts to support the update.
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(End of this chapter)