[Daily Mission: "Hundred-Ton King"]
[Mission Description: By some accident, you picked up a large ship that some unlucky captain lost. Now, you are its new captain. Go on, set sail upon the vast sea.]
[Completion Rewards: Astrite ×800, Shell Credit ×10000]
"Hundred-Ton King, catapult start, third gear acceleration!"
The sea is always fickle. The clear sky from moments ago was suddenly covered by dark clouds, and an eerie sea fog rose across the boundless ocean surface, reducing visibility to almost nothing.
Vaguely, one could occasionally see some indistinct shadows drifting through the sea fog — aquatic Tacet Discords lurking beneath the waves.
Bang.
The flower ship that was speeding at full throttle suddenly jolted violently.
"Hit another speed bump."
Standing on the spacious deck, Noah used the power of Time to revert the flower ship's state back a few seconds and shouted encouragingly:
"Hundred-Ton King, fly boldly! Time insurance is always with you!"
The massive Echo of the flower ship let out an excited roar. Its speed actually increased by another notch — the boldest voyage it had ever undertaken.
Bang!
It crashed into who-knows-which Tacet Discord. Perhaps it really was a "speed bump" Tacet Discord, just like the new captain said.
Bang!
Seemed like it killed another group of speed bumps. Whatever, go complain to the insurance company of this ship!
Bang bang bang——
We're all living with full force!
Are you kidding me? I'm already pushing this hard and you still want to live?!
The flower ship Echo had never felt so genuinely exhilarated to be alive!
Suddenly, the flower ship Echo was smacked heavily into the sky by an immense force, then slammed back down onto the sea, letting out a pained wail.
"Fuck! You dare hit my Hundred-Ton King?!"
The flower ship Echo watched as its new captain leaped down, hovering in mid-air, and used the power of Time to dredge up a colossal creature from the bottom of the sea — one that even it feared.
Cetus the Tidebreaker.
The new captain summoned a vast amount of vines covered in Camellya flowers out of thin air. Countless vines gathered in the sky and formed an enormous palm.
"Driving without a license, huh?!"
Smack!
"Hit and run, huh?!"
Smack!
Cetus the Tidebreaker received two resounding slaps and fled whimpering into the depths like a beaten dog.
The flower ship Echo's eyes sparkled. It no longer cared about its own pain and let out a powerful roar, nodding vigorously up and down, enthusiastically inviting the new captain to come back aboard.
Right now, it only had one thought:
Too damn strong, new captain! Little brother bows in worship!
...
Rinascita.
"Hahahahaha..."
Dressed in full European court attire, Cristoforo was currently laughing so hard he had completely lost all grace. The wide red hat on his head had unknowingly tilted to one side.
"Too funny, Phrolova."
"You're telling me that lunatic Overseer got beaten to death by some nobody, and that nobody even grabbed Jué by the tail and swung the Sentinel of Jinzhou around like a ragdoll…"
He slapped his thigh even harder, tears of laughter actually forming in his eyes.
"I never knew you had such top-tier comedic talent."
"With the intelligence I provided about Court of Savantae and Mt. Firmament, plus holding the Threnodian creation Whisperin Erosion, and two Calamity-class Overseers taking action together."
"With such a perfect hand, I don't even know how you managed to lose — and you even lost the one who's best at running away! Hahahaha I'm dying..."
Phrolova kept her gaze lowered. Her expression did not change in the slightest due to Cristoforo's mockery — only the undisguisable trace of disdain in her eyes remained.
Finally, Cristoforo managed to stop laughing with great difficulty. His expression gradually calmed.
"A failed mission is a failed mission. There's no need to find such a clumsy excuse."
"With Scar's unfathomable spatial abilities, he's definitely hiding somewhere right now, killing and setting fires."
"Tell him to come back. He's still an Overseer after all. Why is he hiding like a child the moment he makes a mistake?"
Phrolova gave Cristoforo a glance and handed over a portrait.
"He's dead. Believe it or not. This is the portrait of that outsider from Jinzhou. If you're interested, you can go meet him."
"Heh, I actually am quite interested in that guy."
Cristoforo didn't even look at the portrait. He simply spread his hands.
"Unfortunately, Ragunna City has already completely sunk into the blueprint I prepared in advance. The script of the Threnodian Leviathan reshaping its body is about to begin. I can't bear to miss it."
As if thinking of something, a smile appeared on his noble face — unrestrained on the surface, yet chillingly cold underneath.
"If the powerhouse you mentioned could come to Ragunna in person, that would be perfect. I wouldn't mind showing him a little trick and letting him experience the terror of the Fractsidus."
Those words piqued Phrolova's curiosity. Her beautiful eyes shifted sideways to look at Cristoforo.
"For example?"
"I would trap him inside this script of Ragunna, torment him over and over again, again and again!"
"Heh, you're quite the comedian too."
Phrolova shook her head slightly, uncrossed her black-stockinged legs, stood up from her chair, and left on her own accord.
Behind her, Cristoforo called out to stop her:
"Hey? Phrolova, where are you going?"
"The flower seed that controls Cetus the Tidebreaker suddenly fell off. I'm going to replant it."
Watching Phrolova's figure disappear, Cristoforo finally let out a disdainful sneer.
"Such a clumsy excuse."
How could Phrolova's Red Spider Lily flower seeds — which could control the behavior of Tacet Discords — possibly just fall off so easily?
She clearly just couldn't stand his mockery anymore and found an excuse to leave.
Fine, fine. After all, we're colleagues. I'll try not to mock them in the future.
However—
Cristoforo picked up the portrait on the table and carefully examined the sunny, handsome young man depicted in it.
"Noah… heh… I really do want to see with my own eyes just how much weight he actually carries."
Putting the portrait away, he too stood up.
He had heard that a new pilgrim ship was about to depart from the port. Perhaps… it could serve as the starting point for this script!
At this moment, Cristoforo had no idea that Noah was already on his way to Rinascita.
...
Whining Aix's Mire, ferry crossing.
After setting off from the blackstone isolated island and spending several hours, Aalto finally returned the speed boat.
Standing back on solid ground, he rubbed his already starving stomach and let out a long breath.
"Finally some new information from Black Shores. But from yesterday to today, I've gone almost a whole day without eating. Time to find something to fill my belly first."
He found the nearest street alley and decided to treat himself. Generously taking out Shell Credits, Aalto bought a large skewer of beef barbecue from a street vendor.
Before he could even take a bite, a squad of Patrollers suddenly appeared and pinned him to the ground.
"Just as the Sentinel predicted, you would show up here. Good thing I didn't go to the Black Shores ruins."
The sound of high heels approached. Aalto raised his head and saw a graceful figure in moon-white. That flawless, perfect face was currently filled with icy coldness.
It was Jinhsi.
Aalto secretly thought: This is bad.
Following the merchant principle of never raising a hand against someone who's smiling, he forced a smile onto his face and raised the beef skewer in his hand.
"Haha, what a coincidence, Madam Magistrate! I didn't expect to see you here. Have you eaten yet? Would you like some beef barbecue?"
Beef?
The moment she heard the word, Jinhsi couldn't help but shiver.
For some reason, she suddenly felt a little afraid of cows.
Jinhsi frowned and questioned in a cold voice:
"Glib-tongued merchant, be honest. Where did you trick Noah into going?!"
"This…"
The smile on Aalto's face froze. His brain worked at lightning speed, but the usually nimble tongue now felt like it had tied itself in knots.
"This… I don't know, Madam Magistrate."
"If you won't speak, that's fine. I will ask the Sentinel about Noah's safety myself."
Jinhsi furrowed her brows and ordered the group of Patrollers:
"Take this criminal who harmed the Prank-Loving Hero of Jinzhou back with you. Lock him up. Without my order, no one is allowed to release him."
"Yes, ma'am!"