novelraw Chapter 148: Energy Core
Chapter 148: Energy Core
The green flames spread at an astonishing speed, burning through the piano keys with sizzling sounds that resembled the war songs of pirates invading a town. Chen Qi's eyes reflected the fire as he stepped back to observe calmly.
On the game forums, there were countless complaints about the Greenflame Ghosts. The ghostly fire ships of these specters belonged to the dimensional rift 'Demon Island Pirates', a calamity caused by complete mutation. With numerous disgusting mechanics, they were infamous during the early stages of the Witch Sea region. Greedy and cruel by nature, they were essentially monsters from the rift.
They had two particularly vile traits:
First, the ability to resurrect multiple times.
Second, their hit-and-run tactics. Unlike most monsters, the skeletal pirates of the ghost ship excelled at escaping, all while taunting during their retreat.
Countless players had lost their hard-earned possessions to these ghosts, reduced to nothing but their underwear after just one encounter. In retaliation, players had organized expeditions to hunt the Greenflame Ghost ships. Yet ultimately, due to their frustrating mechanics, these efforts failed to defeat them.
The self-proclaimed Coastal Overlords of the Greenflame Ghost ships ultimately met their demise during a stormy night while attempting to ascend tiers, encountering both a massive tempest and the Coastal Apex Predators. Thus ended their reign over the shallows, consumed by the maws of sea beasts.
Chen Qi recalled briefly. The two energy cores of the Greenflame Ghost ship were exceptionally rare treasures, even possessing the ability to reconstruct vessels! Whether used as a ship's core, or for airships and even mecha engines, they were absolutely perfect. This was precisely why he considered the Greenflame Ghost ship his prey.
The towering ghost captain exhaled a burst of intense flames: "Crew! Attack!"
Creak! Creak! Creak! From within the green fire emerged a thousand skeletal pirates charging wildly at everyone present. The pirate skeletons stuffed all the gold and treasures they saw into their sacks without discrimination.Meanwhile, the crowd finished reloading their firearms. "Damn skeletons!" "Fuck! How dare you touch my new bag!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Under overwhelming firepower, the pirate skeletons were struck by heavy bullets, shattering into white bone fragments that scattered across the banquet hall. In moments, the entire venue was piled high with skeletal remains.
Everyone caught their breath. Though numerous, each skeleton couldn't withstand even a single bullet. However, the Greenflame Ghost captain before Chen Qi casually flicked his skeletal fingers: "My immortal crew! Heed the Sea Goddess's call and rise again!"
With an ancient power, the fallen skeletons creaked and groaned as their fragments reassembled, swiftly standing once more. Crack! Snap! Taking advantage of the reloading period, the skeletons charged again, biting into flesh and madly plundering valuables from the crowd. Blood splattered across the banquet hall.
"Endlessly regenerating skeletons... just as expected..." Chen Qi surveyed the scene. Unlike ordinary rifts, during a rift disaster, people received no inspiration prompts unless they possessed special identification skills. The Greenflame Ghost ship was precisely the type of rift disaster that lacked intel and could easily kill newcomers.
The first reason players complained about them was their powerful resurrection ability. As long as they remained within the green ghost fire, the skeletons would continuously regenerate like tidal waves in mere seconds. The true danger lay in those green flames, which originated from the ghost ship's energy core. Therefore, rather than killing skeletons, the correct approach was extinguishing the flames and destroying the core.
This ship apparently lacked scholars who knew this truth or book-affinity Transcendents with identification abilities... Chen Qi scanned the crowd. Everyone's attention was fixated on the regenerating skeletons.
"What a flock of fat sheep on this ship!" The ghost captain spewed green fire as it gripped its massive anchor, searching for prey. It eyed two people before it: a chef and a young lady in blue formalwear. Clearly, the noblewoman would have more Transcendent items and money! As a ghost captain, it only stole the most valuable targets!
"You're mine, Siren!" "Taste my anchor!" The captain gripped its anchor with both hands, leaning forward to thrust at Siren. Facing this attack, Siren calmly turned her head: "Hmph, little brother, you seem scared~ Don't worry, big sister will protect you~"
At the moment the anchor was about to strike, Siren gently raised her right hand. BOOM! A thunderous sound shook the banquet hall! Her delicate hand effortlessly blocked the two-meter-tall ghost captain's anchor strike. Though the Greenflame Ghost ship was disgusting, the captain itself wasn't particularly strong. As a third-tier Transcendent, Siren could easily withstand its attacks.
However, Siren - too engrossed in her fun - failed to notice tiny green flames beginning to lick at her blue gown. Chen Qi warned: "Um..." Siren's fingers dug into the anchor: "Quiet, little chef! Watch my performance!"
Such confidence... Clearly all Blackfin Crew executives have loose screws... Chen Qi facepalmed internally. Suddenly, lightning-like flashes appeared in the ghost captain's skeletal eyes. Its body surged with steam-like green fire as it pressed down with tremendous force. Whoosh! Siren's high heels snapped. "Such power!"
Her gown began burning under the green flames, even drawing blood. Regardless, the ghost captain was the core of this rift disaster. Trying to block it with one hand was pure arrogance! "Fish scales!" Azure scales emerged across Siren's skin, multiplying her strength severalfold.
Whoosh! Amid howling winds, Siren's right fist pierced through the ghost captain's chest. Yet skeletons lacked hearts or flesh - such attacks couldn't kill it! The ghost captain's bones clattered with mocking laughter at her foolishness. It spewed green fire: "Nice hit! But your treasures are mine now!"
Siren suddenly realized something, immediately checking her gown. The Backpack Card hidden deep within had been stolen by skeletons! That card contained all her important belongings! "FUCK!" Abandoning her ladylike persona, Siren activated spiritual vision and chased into the ghost fire like a rabid dog, desperately searching for the thief who took her Backpack Card.
Watching Siren’s disheveled appearance, Chen Qi instantly thought of players chasing after ghost ship Unlike normal pirate raids where only one ship survived encounters, the Greenflame Ghosts - as notorious Blade-affinity calamities - specialized solely in theft! Hit-and-run was their standard operation!
With Siren gone, the ghost captain picked up bones to repair its chest. Even third-tier Transcendents couldn't escape their plundering fate in these shallows. At this rate, becoming Coastal Overlords was only a matter of time... The ghost captain surveyed the chaotic banquet hall, spreading its arms as if embracing the moon. Then green flames of malice erupted across its face as it fixed its gaze on Chen Qi: "Time's almost up. One last haul."