"AH! So many Sandstorm Stalkers!!!" Bill Hades nearly passed out, his face ashen as he shot a desperate plea toward EeDechi.
"Killing them off is no issue, but I might not be able to save everyone on the ship," EeDechi said, her expression grim.
"I know, I'm not asking you to protect every single person on board. In a mess this bad, even if the gods showed up, they couldn't be everywhere at once," Bill begged in agony. "Just save who you can."
Barrett sighed. "Hurry and round up the crew, then hide in the lowest deck of the hold. Leave this to the three of us. We'll do everything we can to keep this ship in one piece."
"I haven't even given my take yet—how'd I get roped into this?" Franco griped with a pained look on his face, but he still tightened his grip on his wand.
"Is the ship's keel still intact? What about the overall structure—is it holding up?" EeDechi suddenly fired off a question that seemed to come out of nowhere.
"It's intact. The burrowing sand lizards just punched a huge hole in the hull and wrecked the magic core," Bill Hades replied.
EeDechi gave a faint smile. "I've got an idea all of a sudden. We don't have to slug it out with these Sandstorm Stalkers—we can... make a break for it."
"How? The ship's dead in the sand!" Bill gaped in shock, a terrifying suspicion rising in his mind. He stammered, "Please don't abandon us! You're our only hope."
"Who said anything about abandoning you?" EeDechi frowned slightly.
In the time it took them to talk, the Sandstorm Stalkers hurtling toward them closed in on the Emerald Sandboat, nearly forming a pincer to box them in.
EeDechi pulled the Constructs Storage Box from her spatial ring, raised her hand, and commanded, "All construct golems, engage! Get this ship out of here!"
Two streams of light—one white, one blue—shot out from the storage box, transforming into colossal golems that towered over everything: the stone giant Guardian Smile and the iron giant Savior Titan.
Their solid feet planted firmly on the sand, and once they straightened up, their height surpassed that of the Emerald Sandboat by a good margin.
EeDechi had only given them a simple command, leaving the method of carrying it out up to them. EeDechi had figured the two giants would stand behind the ship and push it away, but what they did next made everyone's jaw drop.
The Emerald Sandboat three-masted warship shook like crazy, people screaming in terror as the whole vessel trembled and lifted off the ground.
The two colossal giants extended their burly arms, teaming up to hoist the Emerald Sandboat onto their shoulders!
Then the giants took off in huge strides, under the cool moonlight, hauling a massive three-masted warship across the desert on the run, with seven or eight enormous tornadoes hot on their heels.
The furious Sandstorm Stalkers chased them down without letting up, but the iron golem and stone golem both had thick, long legs that let them sprint even faster.
After a few hours of pursuit, the Sandstorm Stalkers could only rage helplessly, forced to give up on the Emerald Sandboat as they watched the two giants fade into the distance.
...
Twenty days later.
"Look! Vast Stellar Gate!"
The Emerald Sandboat three-masted warship had long been fixed up, with power back online, the hole patched and repainted.
Everyone crowded at the bow, necks craned in anticipation, and there at the horizon where sky met earth, a round blue "sun" was slowly rising,
The pure blue "sun" was half-buried in the yellow sand, revealing only its vast semicircular face. Passing through this enormous half-circle would take them to the Arctic Ocean on the other side, where the City Alliance was located.
"Looks like this is where we say goodbye," EeDechi said to Bill Hades with a smile.
Bill humbly bowed his head, his gratitude heartfelt, "Thank you and your adventurer team for everything you've done for us."
Behind him, the crew in ragged clothes but with lifted spirits stood in a line, all showing faces full of reluctance to part.
Bill took out 500 gold coins and handed them all to Barrett, who of course didn't turn them down.
A wooden ladder was lowered from the Emerald Sandboat three-masted warship, and the three climbed down, their feet hitting the solid yellow sand. Cheeko dragged its plump, round body along, hopping over to EeDechi's side.
"No more ship rides from here. Let's make for the ancient city of the Eight Greed Kings!" Barrett said, gripping the map, fired up with excitement.
Fierce winds whipped across the desert, sand grains flying everywhere, the sky and ground turning dark. It was a total sand world, with no solid place to stand. The scorching air in the desert felt like it could steam a person alive.
Sand waves rolled forward one after another, like an invisible giant hand stripping away layer after layer of the desert. The quicksand underfoot burned like fire, as if it was about to melt into fiery red magma.
"Are we hiking this on foot?" Franco asked with a grimace. "This is rough. How about we rustle up some camels, or a flying carpet or something?"
"Three heroes, I have a gift for you, to show the gratitude of our Golden Aquarius Merchant Guild!" Bill Hades shouted from the stern toward EeDechi and the other two.
EeDechi looked up and saw Bill toss down a crystal-clear glass bottle that caught the sunlight. The bottle arced gracefully through the air and landed in the sand dune.
Barrett picked up the bottle and looked inside: it held half a bottle of water, with a delicate milky-white model ship bobbing on the surface.
"This Ride the Wind and Break the Waves magic-powered ship is for you!" Bill flashed a generous smile.
The massive propellers dug into the sand dunes, and the Emerald Sandboat three-masted warship slowly pulled away. Including Bill Hades, the planeswalkers, adventurers, and all the crew lined up at the stern, waving goodbye to EeDechi and the other two.
"See you~"
"Goodbye."
EeDechi and the other two waved back, and the cat Cheeko lifted its front paw and waved too. The Emerald Sandboat three-masted warship grew smaller and smaller, finally entering the Vast Stellar Gate, the whole ship gradually sinking into the blue semicircle until it vanished.
EeDechi took the crystal-clear glass bottle, unscrewed the brass cap, and the milky-white model ship slid out of the mouth, expanding rapidly in size and transforming into a white ship.
This ship had a cutting-edge style, with smooth lines and a unique modern flair. EeDechi just felt the more she looked at it, the more it resembled a small yacht.
Climbing into the cabin, she quickly found a stack of instructions. The manual explained that this Ride the Wind and Break the Waves magic-powered ship drew its design inspiration from the Eight Greed Kings; it was an amphibious magic-powered yacht that ran on magic crystals as its energy source.
The Ride the Wind and Break the Waves yacht wasn't huge; the cabin could only fit seven or eight people, but for EeDechi, the two others, and the cat, it was more than enough.
"Let's go! Straight south!" EeDechi patted the sleek white hull, thrilled.
Barrett and Franco were over the moon too; they loaded glowing blue magic crystals into the energy pool, and then the Ride the Wind and Break the Waves yacht fired up its magic energy, speeding off into the depths of the Eight Greed Kings desert.
The journey was filled with laughter and chatter, and the three even squabbled a bit over who got to drive the yacht.