Chapter 237: Chapter 232: A Flick of the Sleeves After the Deed, Hiding Merit and Name

The Black Society capsized, sending enormous waves surging into the air!

Everyone on the ship was thrown into chaos, like hornets in a hive that had been set ablaze. No one had any mind to fight the enemy. They all struggled to keep their balance on the overturning vessel, scrambling to escape.

To stay on board now was to go down with the ship!

At a time like this, so-called loyalty was nonexistent!

First kill. The Hidden Dragon had emerged.

The `Da Yu`, like a Barbarian King using his ultimate or Huang Gai with a Zhuge Crossbow, charged on toward the `Michael`, eager to score a double kill!

By now, the crews on the other two massive ships had reacted. The most powerful cannons and a variety of skills from different Awakened shot toward the `Da Yu` like a curtain of fire. But the `Da Yu`’s defense systems were no pushover. Compact yet sophisticated, they blocked every single attack under the crew’s control.

BOOM!

The `Michael` was powerless to stop the fiercely charging `Da Yu`, another general-class vessel. They could only watch helplessly as the ship rammed into their hull.

Another earth-shattering crash rang out.

Double kill! A legend born from a single battle!

The impact’s momentum had been mostly absorbed by the `Black Society`, so this collision didn’t capsize the `Michael`. It merely left a crater over thirty meters long in its sturdy hull.

The shockwave traveled through the entire `Michael`, causing the six-hundred-to-seven-hundred-meter vessel to shudder violently and list by more than thirty degrees! A large gash tore open below the waterline, and seawater poured in relentlessly. If they didn’t patch it up quickly, it would likely share the `Black Society`’s fate.

"Adjust our course! Load the Pure Dome Crystals! On to the next one!"

"Yes, sir!"

Shi Ming was eager to press his advantage and secure a triple kill.

Suddenly, from the shuddering deck of the `Michael`, a soaring song rang out.

The enemy wasn’t just a flock of lambs waiting for the slaughter.

The moment the song reached them, Shi Ming, the dumbfounded Shentu Kuo on his ship, and every other crew member—including those on the `Michael` and the `Renhuang`—saw the world lose its color.

The world had faded!

The entire ocean, the sky, the azure seawater, the three steel behemoths, the blazing cannon fire, and the billowing smoke—all of it was suddenly rendered in black and white. The vibrant world had lost its hues, becoming a scene from an old black-and-white television.

Monochromatic and dangerous.

’What kind of skill is this?’

Shi Ming blinked.

It was a kind of retro aesthetic, combining the characteristics of both music and visual art. It could make any creature entranced by art gradually sink into obsession.

S-Rank Skill: Black and White Aria.

Ranked 81st among S-rank Awakened skills, Black and White Aria originated from the sea beast, the Siren Sea Stingray. The skill was activated through song. For any creature that heard it, the world would lose its color and turn to black and white. Only the singer would remain as the one true beauty, the one true god.

It possessed a powerful charm effect, regardless of the target’s gender.

The song could also rapidly erode the listener’s nerves, inflicting massive Spiritual Power damage.

Shi Ming felt a brief warmth spread through his mind before it quickly cooled.

’The skill is powerful, but its charm is negligible against immense Spiritual Power.’

’But there wasn’t just one enemy.’

His Spiritual Power once again sensed the aura of the Deep Sea Leviathan’s Abyss of Devouring. A nascent, dangerous abyss was forming, concealed by the monochromatic landscape. Even before the terrifying suction took shape, its might was already more than ten times stronger than the Abyss of Devouring Edward had unleashed.

When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

This was no bootleg version of the Abyss of Devouring! This was the true S-rank Awakened skill!

S-Rank Skill: Abyss of Devouring.

Ranked 25th among S-rank Awakened skills, Abyss of Devouring originated from the sea beast, the Deep Sea Leviathan. It formed an abyss deep within the user’s eyes that could devour life itself. Any target gazed upon by it, so long as they possessed their five senses, would find it nearly impossible to resist its devouring pull and would be rapidly dragged into the abyss.

Even if one could barely resist the pull, a corrupting abyss would open deep within the target’s heart.

The abyss exists in reality, and also within the heart.

Thanks to Edward’s earlier demonstration and the Deep Sea Leviathan remains recovered from the `Huangshi`, Shi Ming had already studied the Abyss of Devouring skill. The skill manipulated its targets through their five senses. Living creatures with senses couldn’t resist it, but inanimate objects like ships could ignore its pull.

’But the abyss of the heart... that’s a much more mysterious matter...’

’The abyss’s pull is getting stronger. My goal has been achieved. You can have fun dealing with this Abyss of Devouring yourselves!’

Shi Ming controlled the `Da Yu` with his consciousness, making it speed into the distance. At the speed of this medium-sized drifter, no one could stop him if he wanted to flee. It was just as the poem said:

A knight of Zhao with tassels of silk,His Wu dagger glinting like frost and snow.

When the deed is done, he dusts his robes and goes,Deeply hiding all his fame and glory.

He calmly faced the `Michael` and the `Black Society` and gave them a little wave—the most intimate of farewells between friends. The Siren Sea Stingray’s charm felt like a mere tickle, and the pull from the Abyss of Devouring had yet to fully form. And so, he stood at the bow, arrogantly speeding away as the `Da Yu` pushed to its top speed.

With the hole torn in its hull, the `Michael` was in no condition to give chase.

The `Renhuang` was still intact, but did it dare?

Chaos reigned over Fujing Mountain.

The capsizing `Black Society`; its crew chaotically fleeing the sinking ship; Yan Dao Lin, his mind a complete blank, being dragged to safety by his men; the `Michael`, its crew desperately making emergency repairs after the violent collision; and the incredulous `Renhuang`...

The three great ships, locked in a three-way standoff amidst the soaring notes of the Black and White Aria, had become a work of art.

...

...

...

Shentu Kuo sat dazedly on the deck, replaying the recent scene in his mind, unable to believe it.

’This Awakened, who’s even younger than me, actually took on two major powers, the Lighthouse and Vortex Country, with just a single ship? He capsized the six-hundred-meter, general-class drifter, the `Black Society`, and crippled the arrogant `Michael` that had traveled so far to get here?’

’And then he just calmly escaped from the combined assault of two S-rank Awakened!’

By now, they were already more than forty nautical miles away!

And no one was giving chase!

If not for the dull ache in his body telling him that everything he’d just witnessed was irrefutable fact, he would have thought it was all a dream, or a hallucination before death.

Only now did he realize he hadn’t even asked for his savior’s name. It was incredibly impolite. An expert of this caliber, with such a battle record, could perhaps be introduced to Da Yu. Besides, his own mission would have certainly failed without him. No matter what, he had to express his gratitude.

"A name is just a code name. You can call me Minglong."

Shi Ming returned to the ship’s cabin.

"Alright, the blockade at Fujing Mountain is dealt with."

"I can give you a small boat. With your abilities, you should be able to get back to safety quickly."

"This little boat is actually quite expensive. When we meet again, I’ll be taking it back."

Lin Hai dragged an ordinary-looking boat out from the `Da Yu`’s storage hold.

It was an escape boat made of common materials.

It only had basic navigation functions and wasn’t particularly valuable; it didn’t even cost a single Sea Crystal Stone to make. For an A-rank Awakened, sailing wouldn’t be a problem as long as they didn’t run into a rare S-rank sea beast.

Awakened from major factions on missions like this always had a rendezvous point within three hundred nautical miles.

Besides, he was still carrying a communicator.

Da Yu.

Shi Ming thought to himself.

’Once I complete the commission for the Twelve Stars, I’ll have to make a trip to Da Yu. Whether it’s for the great stone tablet or the Sea-Rising Cherry Root, I need to go. And besides all that, I’m even more curious... what is the Da Yu of today like?’