Leyton stared straight ahead with an expressionless face, deep blue radiance flowing in his eyes, as if he was carefully observing something.
After a moment, he stepped forward unhurriedly, as if ascending an invisible staircase; with each step, brilliant starlight solidified beneath his feet, lifting him forward.
When he reached a height of about four or five meters, the gray-black Monster, pieced together from countless chunks of flesh, also approached the Future from beneath the sea surface. Countless dark, greenish hairs clung to the ship's hull like living things, dragging the Future, making it difficult to navigate.
The crystal ball in Leyton's right hand suddenly flashed with brilliant starlight, changing from blurry to transparent.
A dazzling, indescribably colorful radiance burst forth from the crystal ball in Leyton's hand, surging into the sea and landing on the gigantic gray-black Monster.
This was a ray from the Cosmos, capable of destroying the enemy's physical structure at a corporeal level, and it was difficult to heal.
Beneath the sea, a faint grayish-white layer appeared on the giant gray-black Monster's pieced-together body, and its body, assembled from countless chunks of flesh, showed signs of chaos and disintegration.
Wahhh~ Wahhh~ Wahhh~
Extremely high-pitched, hoarse, and piercing sounds emanated from the seabed. These sounds, upon entering one's ears, caused dizziness and a spontaneous irritation, making one uncontrollably desire to tear apart everything around them, including themselves.
The pirates on the deck painfully covered their heads, some even rolling on the deck, their foreheads bulging with veins and eyes bloodshot, appearing extremely uncomfortable.
Leyton's eyes darkened slightly, and the crystal ball in his right hand once again emitted a burst of light, this time landing on the hairs clinging to the ship's hull.
The dark-green hairs instantly turned withered and curly, and soon began to break off one by one.
Leyton's hands did not stop. He extended his left hand forward, gripping firmly in mid-air, while the crystal ball in his right hand simultaneously burst forth with a brilliant starlight from within.
The sea surface in front of the deck seemed to suddenly flip over, the seawater pouring upwards with a crashing sound. The giant gray-black Monster hidden beneath the sea surface was also thrown into the air by an invisible gravitational force, mixed with seawater, tossed a hundred meters high.
In mid-air, the invisible pressure from the air suddenly increased. The giant gray-black Monster, composed of countless chunks of flesh, was like a balloon being wantonly ravaged, constantly deforming and twisting in the air.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Finally, the Monster's body's resilience reached its limit at a certain moment. With a ripping sound, the giant Monster shattered into countless fragments, spilling dark red and yellowish-green liquid mixed with a foul, putrid odor from its body.
Disgusting liquid, like a mixture of pus and dark red blood, carrying countless tiny chunks of flesh, fell towards the sea surface below.
As they fell, those scattered chunks of flesh stretched out their 'limbs' and adjusted their falling direction in mid-air, surging towards the Future's deck in an overwhelming manner!
Boom! Boom!
Crows burning with crimson flames condensed beside Anderson. Under his control, the flaming crows circled and charged towards the Monsters made of falling chunks of flesh, causing continuous explosions.
Klein also took out several white-tin talismans from his coat pocket at this moment. He casually took out a pre-marked talisman, focused his spirituality, and softly chanted an ancient hermes word:
"Storm!"
A sudden gust of wind formed with a whoosh, howling in all directions, blowing away the yellowish-green and dark red liquid mixed with the falling chunks of flesh, as well as the Monsters that had stretched out their 'limbs'.
Dots of brilliant starlight spread out from Leyton, quickly covering the entire Future. As the starlight surged, the azure starlight gradually took on a golden hue, erupting with brightness like the midday Sun.
Golden, illusory flames ignited out of thin air all around, emanating the majestic aura of the Sun, densely forming a continuous ocean.
As the brilliant golden starlight rippled, pure and sacred golden flames stirred up heavy waves in mid-air, engulfing all the strange chunks of flesh and highly poisonous yellowish-green liquid falling from above.
Amidst hoarse and piercing screams, the Monsters in the air were burned into drops of liquid, like candles, with wisps of green smoke rising.
The dazzling golden flames lasted for nearly half a minute before completely burning away all the Monsters formed from the shattered chunks of flesh.
Cattleya also emerged from the ship's cabin at this moment. On her black classical robe, a golden bird-shaped brooch with a Longtail feather was pinned at some unknown time.
With her appearance, the surrounding atmosphere suddenly became calm and peaceful, and all panic and tension inexplicably disappeared.
On the sea surface not far ahead, a giant sailing ship approached, seemingly sensing the commotion here.
The giant sailing ship was predominantly dark, but its dark-green, pale main sails had a blooming Black Tulip pattern.
Everyone on the deck noticed the approaching giant sailing ship almost simultaneously. Anderson subconsciously glanced at Leyton and said in a deep voice:
"This is Admiral Hell Ludwell's flagship, the Black Tulip!"
"It's a frequent visitor to these waters!"
The Black Tulip... Just dealt with a sudden situation, and now encountered Admiral Hell again... Isn't this a bit too unlucky? Klein couldn't help but turn his head to carefully examine Anderson, who was holding a dark short sword.
Feeling Klein's gaze, Anderson's mouth twitched, and he feigned composure, saying:
"Ludwell is often active in these waters; it's normal for us to encounter him."
"My bad luck can at most attract Monsters like the one just now. If I alone could bring this level of bad luck, our treasure hunting team would have been wiped out at the very beginning."
"Did your treasure hunting team last long in bad luck?" Klein pressed, his face serious.
Anderson swallowed somewhat, saying, "At least one day, I mean one day in the outside world!"
Leyton glanced at Klein, whose expression was somewhat eager to try, and Anderson, who was on high alert, and said calmly:
"Do you want to hunt him? I can cover you."
Anderson was about to nod but quickly stopped himself, saying:
"Of course... Wait, cover you? You're not going to attack?"
"If I keep attacking, you won't gain anything," Leyton replied in a flat tone.
"True." Anderson shrugged, exchanged glances with Klein, and both saw an eager expression in each other's eyes.
Leyton, standing in mid-air, suddenly looked up at the sky above the Future. A nearly transparent eye emerged from there, its pale pupil staring down unblinkingly.
The next moment, a pure, bright, yet not dazzling sunlight suddenly erupted. This light, like ripples, flowed towards the illusory, transparent eye in mid-air.
The eye of the Spirit World creature, which had been lingering in mid-air observing below, was instantly enveloped by the light before it could retreat, emitting a scream that pierced the eardrums. Its "body" emitted a puff of green smoke, then evaporated and disappeared.
In the distance, the Black Tulip's sailing speed suddenly slowed. It began to turn its sails, adjusting its course, and sailed towards the side of the Future.
Anderson looked at the Black Tulip, which had suddenly changed course, and a hint of disappointment flashed in his heart as he said:
"This Admiral Hell doesn't seem to be planning to take advantage of the situation. It seems my luck isn't that bad after all!"
"Don't talk," Klein said, giving him a speechless glance.
Anderson turned his head and made a gesture of sealing his mouth, then walked to the ship's railing, staring unblinkingly at the Black Tulip in the distance.
To the side, four or five hundred meters away from the Future, a captain-dressed man also stood on the Black Tulip's foredeck, quietly looking towards them. He was the only living person on that ship.
He wore a tricorn hat embroidered with white skulls and feathers, a complex and ornate brown short coat, and a slender rapier at his waist.
His face was covered by a silver-white mask, completely concealing his entire face, leaving only a few holes symbolizing eyes, nose, and mouth.
Although his expression couldn't be seen, everyone on the Future could sense a hint of tension from his posture. This Admiral Hell seemed even more nervous than they were, fearing that their side might suddenly attack.
What is he afraid of...? Klein turned his head in confusion, looking at Leyton, who had already landed on the deck. The deep blue radiance flowing in his eyes had dissipated, and the crystal ball in his hand was no longer brilliant and transparent, seemingly covered internally by a layer of indistinct mist.
"He must have noticed my gaze just now," Leyton simply explained, then walked towards the cabin.
Seeing this, Anderson, who had been on alert, also relaxed. He put away the short sword he was holding and looked calmly at the Black Tulip, which was accelerating away from this sea area, and sighed:
"It seems there's no danger. What a pity, I thought I'd have a chance to take off Ludwell's mask and see what kind of face was behind it."
Klein gave Anderson a faint glance, swallowed the two words "shut up" that were about to come out, and walked towards the cabin without looking back.
Anderson looked around, and seeing no one respond to him, he casually raised his hand and said:
"So hard..."
"I'll go drink by myself."
Under Cattleya's command, the Future's crew quickly cleaned up the mess. Leyton, who came out of the dining room, glanced at Anderson, who was lying on his back by the stairs, with a calm expression and restrained aura.
The latter seemed to sense the movement beside him and struggled to lift his head, speaking as if in a dream:
"Is the wine here... problematic...?"
"Frank added tranquilizers to the drinks on the ship," Leyton replied expressionlessly.
"..." Anderson lay silently by the stairs, unable to speak, falling into an unusually calm state, not even wanting to think.
Leyton twitched his mouth, stepped over Anderson, and walked towards Cattleya's captain's cabin.
Thump~ Thump~
"Come in," Cattleya's cold, calm voice came from inside the captain's cabin.
Leyton pushed the door open directly, glanced briefly around the captain's cabin, and then said:
"Captain, I plan to leave the Future now."
Cattleya looked at Leyton with some surprise and said:
"Leave the Future? These waters are very dangerous..."
"Do you have confidence in leaving these waters without a ship?"
Leyton nodded gently and said:
"My destination is the Forsaken Land of the Gods, and I won't stay in these waters for too long. Hmm, when I leave, I might still need to trouble you to send a ship to pick me up."
"No problem." Cattleya nodded gently, without asking further questions.
After leaving Cattleya's captain's cabin, Leyton successively bid farewell to the other people on the ship, briefly explaining his reasons and plans for leaving the Future later.
Anderson, who had recovered from his tranquilized state, said with an expression of being cruelly abandoned:
"You're leaving the Future? Then... what about my bad luck?"
Leyton reminded him:
"I cannot solve the problem of your bad luck."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "But I can give you a hint."
"What hint?" Anderson immediately asked.
Leyton turned his head to look at Klein, who was patrolling the sea at the front of the deck, then withdrew his gaze and chuckled:
"Choose a belief. You can pray to a great existence for a hint to obtain a method to remove your bad luck, rather than directly asking Them to clean up your bad luck. This way, the price to pay won't be too high, falling within a range you can afford."