Seeing the eerie ship suddenly emerge from beneath the water, the women were frightened out of their wits. Japan, being a country closely tied to the fishing industry, had many tales of ghost ships floating around.
Yet they couldn't bring themselves to leave, as the money hadn't been paid out yet.
They might be well-fed and satisfied for the moment, but their families back home were still waiting for a pot full of rice. If they didn't earn money tonight, their families would go hungry tomorrow.
Monac was nowhere near looking drunk at this point. He pulled out some money and stuffed it into the arms of the woman beside him, then instantly activated a teleportation gate on the ground, making them all 'fall' to a safe place.
A series of actions completed in a flash, he jumped from the small boat to the large ship, arriving by Su Ming's side.
Deathstroke was definitely tagging along, since fishing meant keeping the rod close, a principle that applies to both allies and enemies alike.
The Magic Prince knew Deathstroke's way of doing things.
"This ship doesn't seem alive, rather it's dead and gloomy," Monac surveyed the surroundings and said to Su Ming, "I expected it to be like a crocodile that suddenly leaps from underwater to devour me."
Su Ming also observed the surroundings, his position allowing him a clear view from the spacious front deck: "I was ready to fish you out from the piranha pool."
"Speaking of piranhas, these Japanese women were too enthusiastic, almost like they wanted to eat me," Monac rubbed his face vigorously, clearing the traces of rouge.
"Haha, you're a long-term meal ticket. Of course, they want to hold onto you tightly; who wouldn't want to live a little better?" Su Ming laughed and switched the topic back: "Since boarding this ship, I feel an urge directing me to the lower deck, but I can resist this temptation. How about you?"
"I'm fine as well."
Despite saying this, Monac pulled out a rabbit from his pocket, choked it, and used its white fur to wipe his tears. It was likely a release of some defense spell.
"And Xiaowang, you... where are you?"
Su Ming, seeing Monac's clear answer, turned to question the king, but unexpectedly, the king, who had consistently maintained the follower's role, trailing three steps behind him, had vanished.
Now behind Su Ming and Monac, aside from the distant lights onshore and The Stars, there was only the dark seawater beneath the ship's railing, the sound of waves hitting the hull akin to sharpening knives.
The dialogue between Su Ming and Monac only lasted a second or two, with neither of them focusing on the king for even a shorter time.
Su Ming began to laugh, feeling an urge to squat down and start writing physics formulas on the deck. Could this trip to Japan be...
"Is it the case calling out to me as a detective?"
Monac looked at him with a puzzled expression, knowing that Deathstroke was showing signs of abnormality again, but now, the person who had entered together was gone, making this an eerie situation, and this Mad Laugh was a bit...
"Now we know how the so-called abductions happened, although the principle remains unclear, it's best not to split up for the foreseeable time."
The Magic Prince solemnly proposed, yet he saw Deathstroke squatting down, pulling out his weapon and crazily engraving something on the deck.
"Interesting, really interesting."
Deathstroke could still be heard muttering to himself, seemingly losing his mind.
"Hey, don't scare me, you guys disappearing and going crazy, what am I supposed to do?" Monac spread his hands, preparing for magic.
Su Ming turned to look at him, black-yellow armor spreading across his body surface: "Actually, finding this ship almost solves the problem. The Sea Race told me earlier that this ship was alive, that's clue one."
"Later, I discovered it only lured others to attack on the sea, which is clue two."
"A beautiful youth, standing 1.7 meters tall, weighing 50 kilograms, vanished instantly, mind you, right next to the Supreme Mage and the Magic Prince, that's clue three."
Monac tilted his head, stopping his spellcasting: "What's the relationship with the beautiful youth? Cough! So what, Sherlock?"
"You really think you're Watson? This ship is right beneath our feet, it can't escape. It even snatched my person in front of me, do I still need to solve the case?"
Su Ming stood up and dusted off the debris from his hands. He wasn't carving physics formulas on the deck, but rather a simple stick figure.
Like a matchstick figure, but the drawing itself isn't important; what's important is what he discovered.
That is — this deck, which appears wooden, is actually not wood, but some kind of keratin.
The sensation from slicing through it with a knife is distinctly different; whether it's wood chips or fingernails, the texture varies greatly.
Similarly, the "iron" used for the railing isn't iron.
Moreover, the enemies now flooding in from inside the ship are naturally not humans.
"What's your most potent magic?"
Gazing at a swarm of various enemies rushing from the ship's cabin, including monsters, Sea Race, German soldiers, and Japanese troops, Su Ming asked Monac with a tilted head.
Monac stroked his beard with a finger, pulling out a small handgun from his pocket. After years of battling the Nazi Sorcerer Corps, he learned the necessity of firearms: "The strongest magic? Does Voodoo Inviting God count?"
Su Ming commanded Strangulation to block the enemies charging from all directions, granting the Mage time while he commented wryly.
"Once someone told me her strongest magic could kill gods, I think you ought to be close to that. Meteor Fire Rain or Earthquake at the very least you should know one, right? But you tell me your strongest is awkward dancing to summon spirits."
Monac shrugged: "If God could respond to us, then the summoning might truly be the strongest spell. Given that you can't call upon Emperor Vishanti, I think summoning a furious, primitive Loa spirit to wipe us and the enemies out might already be powerful enough."
"Tsk, the price is a blood sacrifice? Loa Spirits certainly admire that... but can you reach Leopard God? He's a bit different."
Su Ming shouted to Monac during the pauses between Strangulation's gunshots.
"Let me briefly describe the principle of Voodoo Inviting God to you, it broadcasts at a frequency inaudible to humans, worldwide."
Monac hadn't started spellcasting as the time hadn't become that desperate, Deathstroke was still beside him:
"The broadcast content is actually 'Hey! Come eat!', don't think gods are smart for hearing it, 99% of Loa Spirits are brainless, no different from beasts, and the remaining 1% are even more dangerous."
"Forget it, you cast a spell to block these things, if I'm not mistaken, they're the ship's white blood cells, the ship itself I'll take apart. Alas, a laborious life."
With that, Su Ming drew the Godslayer, transforming it into a shovel, and began digging into the deck. Meanwhile, Strangulation seized the opportunity to grab and devour everything it could digest from the excavations.
Beneath the deck without any cabins, the solid structure perfectly aligned with his speculation. Unfortunately, negotiating with this ship wasn't possible, otherwise, Su Ming would have liked to strike a deal with it.