At night, the moonlight was like water, spilling onto the silent sea, creating ripples of silver. The ocean was like a giant mirror, reflecting the brilliance of the starry sky.
In this peaceful ocean, a pirate ship with its sails furled sailed silently on the surface, carried by the wind.
And not far behind the pirate ship, a giant blue unicorn whale, as dreamlike as the starry sky, was following it at a leisurely pace.
Suddenly, a resentful chant came from the unicorn whale.
"Shining under the starlight, born in the endless sea, shouldering the weight of gods, carrying the might of the ocean... The great fish that devours the starry sky—Stellar Leviathan!
I, the savior of light, Houraiji Kyuusyou, hereby extend an invitation to you to travel together!"
"Ooom—"
The unicorn whale, oh no, it should be called the Stellar Leviathan now. The Stellar Leviathan let out a trembling whale song in response to Houraiji Kyuusyou.
After receiving the Stellar Leviathan's reply, Houraiji Kyuusyou inexplicably felt a faint connection with it in her heart. Although it was somewhat ethereal, it was enough!
Houraiji Kyuusyou's eyes were sharp. She put her hands together, then slammed her palms onto the Stellar Leviathan.
"Stellar Leviathan, aim for that pirate ship up ahead, build up speed, and ram it head-on!"
"Oom?"
The Stellar Leviathan blinked its several-meter-large beady eyes, letting out a big question mark in confusion.
Was it sure it heard correctly? Ram the pirate ship? Not some other thing?
"You heard me, ram the pirate ship! *Achoo*— Control your strength, just don't shatter it or flip it over!" Houraiji Kyuusyou crossed her arms and said huffily: "Those guys, they took my clothes and tied me up like this, that's one thing! But they actually left me here all alone. Don't they know the sea is very cold at night!! *Achoo*—"
The Stellar Leviathan didn't ask any more questions. Anyway, it was just an obedient Honkai Beast. It would do whatever its master said.
Oh, so the one to be rammed is the master! Well then, that's fine.
The Stellar Leviathan opened its massive mouth and swallowed hundreds of tons of seawater. As its weight rapidly increased, it quickly sank beneath the sea surface.
Houraiji Kyuusyou, who was on the Stellar Leviathan's broad back, didn't notice its descent at first. It was only when the seawater covered the Stellar Leviathan's back that she noticed its movement.
In order to not choke on water again and become a "disgrace to all Herrschers," Houraiji Kyuusyou quickly used a Herrscher life hack she had learned from Ryn.
She cut off her own respiratory cycle with the outside world and used her own Honkai energy to supplement her body's normal functions.
A moment later, a huge dark shadow shot out from the bottom of the sea and rammed into the pirate ship.
The Stellar Leviathan's enormous body kicked up huge waves, causing the pirate ship to shake violently in the sea, nearly capsizing.
But the pirate ship's angle of tilt was just that tiny bit shy of completely flipping over.
"Good job! If things don't work out with Brother Ryn in the future, you can come find me! My world also has a place called the Jialan Sea, you'll definitely like it there!"
Houraiji Kyuusyou happily patted the Stellar Leviathan's body, then leaped up and jumped onto the pirate ship.
The Stellar Leviathan was about to say yes, yes, but the thought of the Jialan Sea suddenly sent a chill through its Honkai Beast genes.
Never mind, never mind, Jialan or whatever, let's just forget about it...
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When the pirate ship started to shake, the people in the three rooms on the ship were all woken up at the same time.
Ryn and Seele, who were sleeping face to face with their foreheads touching, opened their eyes at the same time and looked at each other.
"Did something happen?" Seele sat up in bed and looked out the window at the sea outside the pirate ship.
The sea was as quiet and peaceful as usual, reflecting strands of moonlight, showing glimmers of silver.
Ryn took a blanket and draped it over Seele's shoulders to prevent the naked Seele from catching a cold.
"It's fine, I didn't feel any malicious fluctuations approaching. It's just that the unicorn whale suddenly came near us. It must be the waves it stirred up that hit the ship."
"Eh... wait a minute... the unicorn whale...?"
Ryn fell silent for some reason, his eyelids starting to twitch uncontrollably.
"What's wrong? Did something happen to the unicorn whale?"
Seele quickly stood up, the blanket on her shoulders falling onto the bed, revealing an infinitely beautiful sight under the bright white moonlight.
However, before Ryn could get a good look, Seele had already started to put on her clothes... What a shame!
Seele brought her and Ryn's clothes, first quickly draping a jacket over herself, and then helping the still lazy and unwilling to move Ryn get dressed.
Although they had only been together for a few days, Seele already considered the unicorn whale a friend. She would not stand by and watch a friend get hurt.
"Brother Ryn, you go first, I'll be right behind you."
"Seele, don't be nervous, it's nothing! It wasn't attacked, it's just being a little naughty!"
"Mmm... is that so..."
"Of course. The night is still young, and it's still early before dawn. Seele, let's..."
"No way! You can't!"
Seele pouted, crossed her arms, and quickly took two steps back, making a big 'X' with her fingers.
"There are other people here, if we can't get up tomorrow, everyone will laugh at us..."
"Fine..."
Ryn smacked his lips in regret, but his eyes were curved into a joyful crescent moon.
If it's not okay when there are other people, then it must be okay when there's no one around in the future!
But being woken up by the unicorn whale like this, it was impossible to go back to sleep.
Anyway, his clothes were already on, so Ryn decided to go out for a stroll.
"The long night is lonely and boring. Seele, would you like to go for a stroll and admire the moon?" Ryn bent down and extended his hand to Seele.
Seele placed her hand in Ryn's palm and quietly looked at the big boy in front of her.
She seemed to have been tricked onto this pirate ship by the phrase "the long night is lonely and boring," right?
But everything that happened after that...
Proved... that this pirate ship wasn't so bad after all~
Seele reached out her hand and, mimicking a gesture Ryn often did to her, pinched his cheek. Then she shook her head, declining Ryn's invitation to admire the moon and stroll around.
"Although I'd be very happy to be with Brother Ryn, Seele is a bit tired right now and doesn't really want to go..."
"It's okay, then Seele should get some good rest." Ryn stood up, patted Seele's head, and kissed her on the forehead.
"I'll go outside to check on the situation and also prepare the ingredients for tomorrow's meals."
"Mmm... but I don't necessarily have to rest... Let my other self keep Brother Ryn company!"
Seele smiled sweetly, sinking her consciousness and letting her other self come out.
But three seconds later, that hot-tempered self still hadn't appeared. Instead, Seele had already closed her eyes and her breathing had become even.
Well then... the other Seele was also tired and resting.
Ryn supported the already sleeping Dark Seele, laid her flat on the bed and covered her with a blanket, then left the room.