Odis never imagined that during the Fourth Age, the military outposts of the Byron Empire had actually sunk to the bottom of the sea.
When he saw the walls emitting a pale white light, he knew that part of the outpost was still operational.
Immediately afterwards, he first ordered the "Spirit Extinction Cannon" to charge up in case something suddenly rushed out from inside, and then immediately floated up, as far away from the outpost as possible.
But when the Argo floated to the surface, Odis and the others immediately saw a person standing steadily on the water in the turbulent sea.
The staff in his hand was about a meter long, with a circular top and a deep blue gem in the center.
This time, because we were so close, I was finally able to see the other person's face clearly.
He stared coldly at the "Argo," but it wasn't a living face; several patches of black, exposed bone had rotted away on its cheeks.
At the same time, Odis noticed that the other person had pointed ears and seemed to have been an elf in life.
But there was no time to ask about the other party's race. Seeing the "quality" of the gem on the staff in the other party's hand, Odis knew that this guy was a demigod-level enemy.
"Spirit-Destroying Cannon! Fire!" Before the others could react, Odis decisively gave the order.
If the distance is too far, the enemy may have a chance to dodge, but at such a close distance, the "Spirit Extinction Cannon" arrives in an instant, continuously firing "cannonballs" and pushing the "elves" far away in a flash.
Under the continuous impact of the "Spirit-Slaying Cannon," the "elves" were blasted into pieces, but Odis noticed that every piece of flesh rolled onto the sea surface, as if it were rolling down a hillside, and not a single piece fell into the seawater.
"Turn the rudder! Turn the rudder!" Odis shouted almost the instant the "Spirit-Destroying Cannon" went out, "Get away from the 'dangerous sea area' at top speed!"
The Argo quickly changed course, cutting through the waves and escaping the area.
Only then did the others realize what was happening. Bazel warned, "Captain! That staff... that staff... if we've captured it..."
"I saw it!" Odis clenched his fists and said, "But you also need to know that fighting a demigod of the 'Sailor' pathway at sea is suicide!"
"Even if the opponent is not in good condition and cannot exert the true power of a demigod, it is still courting death!"
Long ago, Odis had warned himself not to be too greedy on this sea.
Forget about that staff now; if you're even a little slow, you might end up drowning at sea.
As Odis spoke, he quickly went to the window at the back and used a telescope to observe the "elf".
Just as he had predicted, the elven remains rolled to the bottom of the wave, where they began to coalesce again and quickly pieced themselves together, riding the waves and the wind to catch up.
Oddis felt a chill run down his spine; he now understood how Balk had felt earlier.
The others also saw that the "elf" had caught up again.
Leonard asked, "Should we use the 'Soul Destroyer' again?"
"Two minutes of rest, hmm, now it only needs 80 seconds," Odis said. "Stern 'Extraordinary Machine Gun', prepare ice bullets, fire!"
Bang bang bang bang bang~
The firing of the "Extraordinary Machine Gun" made the sea behind it icy cold. Although the "Elf" was not afraid of such cannonballs, every time it lifted its feet, its legs would be frozen by the solid ice, which seriously affected its speed.
So the "elf" raised his staff high, and fish made of seawater appeared on the surface of the sea, helping him block the cannonballs from the "extraordinary machine gun".
Odis ordered: "Electromagnetic cannon, charge up!"
After the "elf" caught up, it was about to raise its staff to attack when it was hit by an "electromagnetic cannon" first.
He wasn't afraid of electricity; the current generated by the "electromagnetic cannon" was channeled into the seawater. However, the silvery-white flames produced by those currents did, to some extent, restrain the undead creatures, requiring them to take time to extinguish.
Just as the "elf" finished dealing with the flames on its body, the "Spirit Extinguishing Cannon" finished its rest period, shattered the "elf" again, and pushed it far away.
...
In the distance, the battered but still unsinkable "Skull and Bones" was speeding away from the area.
Captain Balk of the Skull, holding a telescope, intently watched the battle between the Argo and the Elf.
He knew very well that the zombie-like "elf" was a "demigod soldier" of the Byron Empire, a "zombie" personally transformed by His Majesty the "Emperor of the Underworld" back then.
However, after the "Emperor of the Underworld" fell, they were also greatly impacted, and most of them could no longer move.
Although this "elf" can still chase ships, its remaining "wisdom" is far less than that of the Fourth Age, and it can only use some of the abilities of a demigod.
Otherwise, if the "Elf" had created a few whirlpools in front of the "Skull" or used the huge waves to block it, the "Skull" would have sunk long ago.
To be precise, the "Skull" was almost sunk just now, but fortunately the "Argo" attracted the "Elf's" attention at the crucial moment.
At this moment, Balk noticed that the "elf" had chased after them for the third time, sacrificing itself and being shattered again, which also plunged the "Argo" into the pale "Thunder Forest".
The Argo was subsequently damaged, but Balk noticed that the "elf's" minced flesh was gathering together much more slowly this time.
...
Inside the bridge of the Argo.
As the crew watched the entire ship being swallowed by the "forest of lightning," they felt as if they had instantly experienced the power of the sea, and for a moment they felt helpless and lost.
At this moment, everyone seems to have the same thought: This is a force that cannot be resisted by human power!
After more than a dozen lightning bolts struck, the "Argo's" protective shield was immediately broken. Odis quickly opened the cockpit door and threw "defense scrolls" at the "Spirit Extinction Cannon" one after another.
Because this is the only thing that can hold back that "elf".
He managed to save the "Spirit-Destroying Cannon" only after he threw out all the "defense scrolls".
However, the mast of the Argo was struck by lightning and the broken part fell onto the deck. The Extraordinary Machine Gun at the stern was also struck by lightning and malfunctioned, becoming unusable.
Another lightning strike cleaved the wall of the bridge, injuring Boatswain Salina and a member of the "Red Gloves".
A large hole appeared in the wall, and the sea breeze rushed in, along with rainwater. Everyone scrambled to plug the hole with a waterproofing blanket.
In an instant, everyone finally felt the power of the demigods of the "Sailor" pathway on the high seas.
But that wasn't the end of it, because the "elves" caught up again.
However, Odis, who had been observing the rear through his binoculars, said, "One more shot and we should be out of danger."
He also noticed that this time the "elf" took longer to recover than before, and its whole body was crooked and twisted, as if it could break apart again at any moment.
The "Spirit-Destroying Cannon" was originally invented by Odis to deal with undead creatures. It is extremely effective against spirits, and after several shots, the accumulated effects finally became apparent.
Even if the "elves" are "living corpses" transformed from the "Underworld Emperor", the "Underworld Emperor" has been dead for so long that its combat power is no longer comparable to that of more than a thousand years ago.
This time, the "Elf" still used the method of trading injury for injury, risking being hit by a cannon, and also letting the hurricane, which looked like it had a drill at the end, hit the "Spirit Extinction Cannon".
Although Odis had run out of "defense scrolls", he was fortunate to still have three "scale armor scrolls". He quickly used one of them, which allowed the "Spirit Extinction Cannon" to be only "twisted" and not destroyed directly.
However, the "Spirit Extinction Cannon" and "Spirit Wave Cannon" can no longer be used. First, they cannot be aimed again, and second, they are prone to "exploding".
Fortunately, the "elf" recovered more slowly, but Odis noticed that the "elf's" pieces of flesh were still rolling off the surface of the water, with none sinking to the bottom.
In other words, it remains highly aggressive as long as you get close to it, so Oddis immediately gave up on picking up the staff.
The Argo continued at top speed, finally leaving the Elf far behind, and the surrounding storm gradually subsided.
After driving for another half hour, the storm gradually subsided, and when everyone saw the starry sky, they realized that they were finally out of danger.
The experience of this battle left everyone feeling like they had survived a catastrophe.
Only then did Odis check on the crew members' injuries. Fortunately, they were all unharmed, except for some burns from being electrocuted.
Odis retrieved the "Biological Waist Ring" from the "Wilderness of Knowledge," performed a minor surgery on them, and they were fine.
Just as Odis was about to go for a beer to relax, Bazel, who was on duty, sounded the alarm.
Odis rushed to the cockpit and discovered the "Skull Ship".
This ghost ship looks even worse than the Argo, with two of its three masts broken and a large section of its hull missing.
At this moment, the ghost ship was being dragged forward by the carcasses of two large fish.
As the two ships sailed on the calm sea, Odis felt a sense of shared hardship.
After careful observation, Odis gave the order: "Move closer to the 'Skull'."
The crew members were all taken aback, and even Leonard said, "We've done our best."
Odis smiled and said, "The Argo is so badly damaged, someone has to bear the loss."
Of course, he was half joking when he said that. The reason he made this decision was that the Argo still had an "extraordinary machine gun" that could be used, the ship's "shield" had been restored, and Odis could also directly attack the opponent with scrolls.
The key point is that the enemy is more exhausted than the crew of the "Argo", especially Balk, who summoned many undead and corpses to resist the "elves" and should have consumed a lot of spiritual energy. Now is the perfect time to eliminate the enemy.
Now that the captain had given the order, the crew immediately went into battle mode.
When the "Argo" saw that it was chasing after it, the "Skull" immediately changed course and fled.
But the Argo pursued relentlessly and soon came within range of the Extraordinary Machine Gun.
Odis immediately ordered, "Fire!"
Bang bang bang bang bang~
The flaming shells that shot out engulfed the stern of the "Skull" in flames.
But then, a giant octopus carcass climbed onto the stern of the "Skull and Bones," using its decaying body to block the gunfire.
Seeing the "Skull Ship" respond in this way, Odis was immediately relieved. This meant that the enemy was no longer able to attack. When they got closer, the enemy would at most have one last desperate strike.
The "Extraordinary Machine Gun" fired continuously for three minutes before entering a resting state.
In those three minutes, the ship smashed the bodies of several large marine creatures and riddled the stern of the "Skull and Bones" with holes, causing it to begin sinking from the rear.
At this moment, the combat captain, Cleveland, who was on lookout duty on deck, reported: "Captain, the 'Skull' has suddenly slowed down."
Odis lowered his binoculars and ordered, "Noy, guard the bridge! The rest of the crew, get on deck and prepare for battle!"
Once on deck, First Mate Bazel directed the "Extraordinary Puppet" to hurle the broken mast into the sea.
However, iron chains have been attached to the mast, which will be towed by the Argo, because the mast has many extraordinary features that cannot be easily discarded.
Just as Odis had predicted, the Skull was slowed down in order to engage the Argo in close combat.
When the two sides were close enough, the giant evil spirit that had previously cleaved through waves, lightning, and hurricanes appeared on one side of the "Skull and Bones".
However, this time, the evil spirit was not as solid as before.
The giant evil spirit brandished its axe and charged toward the Argo. The crew braced themselves for the shield to break again, as the Extraordinary Machine Gun was not very effective against the evil spirit.
However, Odis calmly threw a "sea serpent scroll" into the sea.
Whoosh~
Leonard and the others saw a surge of seawater that transformed into a gigantic sea serpent.
This sea serpent, with scales made of water and a forked tongue made of water, rushed forward, coiled around the giant evil spirit, and bit its axe, completely trapping the giant evil spirit.
Leonard glanced at Captain Gar next to him. He had heard of the "Scroll Professor's" abilities, but he had never heard of such a scroll or ability.
At this moment, he deeply realized that Bishop Dean's assessment was correct. Although Captain Gal was only a Sequence 6, he already had the strength of a "Pirate General".
Balk, whose left hand was made of iron, had just rushed to the vicinity of the Argo under the cover of the giant evil spirits and with the help of the corpses of evil spirits or large fish.
Balk's arrangement was wise, as he discovered that the Argo was a small seagoing vessel with few crew members and combat personnel.
So, after the "Skull" had almost completely lost its spiritual power, Balk chose to engage in melee combat.
They were met first by "extraordinary machine guns" and "extraordinary cannons," something Balk had anticipated, using the carcasses of large fish as cover; surprisingly, these two weapons did not kill many people.
However, the attack from the "extraordinary mortar" caught them somewhat off guard.
Especially when used in conjunction with the "explosive scroll", it can blast a large area at once.
As the giant's evil spirit grew dimmer and gradually disappeared, the sea serpents summoned by Odis also transformed back into seawater, sprinkling into the ocean.
Just then, the pirates of the "Skull" pirate crew successfully boarded the deck of the "Argo".
At this point, extraordinary weapons such as machine guns could easily injure their own people and were no longer usable. However, what awaited them were "extraordinary puppets" wielding swords, with steel bodies and no fear of death.
Almost simultaneously, Odis used a "scale scroll" and charged towards the enemy, kicking one of them back into the sea.
At that moment, two enormous tentacles suddenly emerged from the seawater, accompanied by a foul stench. Balk summoned another giant sea monster carcass, attempting to drag the Argo into the water.
Odis quickly used a "Sea Serpent Scroll" to dive into the sea and fight the corpse of the sea monster.
He searched around and soon found Balk standing on the carcass of a large sea fish.
Odis grabbed a "flying scroll" and rushed over, but at the moment the scroll exploded, a bright light flashed.
As Odis plummeted downwards, he realized he had made a silly mistake, mistaking the "Scroll of the Sun" for the "Scroll of Flight."
Just as he was about to fall into the water, he opened the second scroll, this time finally a "flight scroll".
Odis quickly flew a distance away, throwing Leonard a "flight scroll" as she shouted, "The one hiding on the skeleton!"
The reason he made that basic mistake was probably due to the first mate's incompetence, which made him very unlucky.
Leonard, who was fighting the pirates, kicked his opponent away, caught the scroll, and saw the target Odis was pointing to.
That was the first mate of the "Skull" pirate crew, a "Catastrophe Priest".
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
Leonard used "Flying Scroll" and quickly rushed towards his opponent to engage in combat.
Odis then appeared beside Balk in the form of "travel": "Harvest!"
Balk tried to dodge, but the ability was impossible to avoid. He had no choice but to summon an evil spirit to shield himself, but Odis punched him, knocking both him and the evil spirit into the water.
Although the evil spirits prevented Balk from being seriously injured, he was still wounded nonetheless.
He quickly summoned a skeleton more than three meters tall on the sea surface. The skeleton wielded a two-handed greatsword and slashed heavily at Odis.
Odis completely ignored the attack, instead raising his gloved hand: "Imprison!"
The two-handed greatsword struck Odis, but a layer of illusory dark blue scales appeared where it was struck.
The giant sword slid and slid into the sea.
Odis, however, was unharmed.
"Death!" Odis used a combo attack, flying over and knocking Balk away.
This blow severely injured Balk, who was about to summon the help of the undead again, but Odis once again used the "Harvest" ability, striking Balk in the abdomen and shattering all his internal organs.
The "great pirate" convulsed a few times and then died in the cold seawater.
Odis took a deep breath. Although the "Harvest" ability could be used consecutively, using it a second time would consume a lot of spiritual energy!
He carried Balk's body, flew into the air, and shouted, "Balk is dead!"
The pirates wavered, and some were already preparing to run back.
After Odis threw Balk's body onto the deck, he went to join Leonard in attacking the "Cultist Priest".
While Leonard was dealing with his bad luck, he launched an offensive and gradually gained the upper hand.
Odis's arrival immediately expanded their advantage, and they soon killed the first mate.
With the deaths of the captain and first mate of the "Skull" pirate crew, they completely lost their morale and finally began to flee back. But at this moment, they saw that the "Skull" had already sailed away on its own, heading towards the "dangerous waters".
Not only were they surprised, but Odis was also very surprised.
However, after considering it, he decided not to pursue them.
This ghost ship is clearly more powerful than the "Ghost." After Balk's death, there may have been a crew member who remained behind, whether unlucky or lucky, who became the new captain.
The reason it's said that they might be unlucky is because this ship has some "negative effects." If someone is below Sequence 6 and is not an Extraordinary being of the "Death" pathway, they might be "counter-controlled" by this ship.
In any case, now that there is a new captain, the Skull may regain some combat capability, and the Argo is no longer able to pursue it.
The outcome of the battle was no longer in doubt. As the pirates who had boarded the deck were dealt with, the "Extraordinary Puppet" began firing the "Extraordinary Machine Gun" into the sea, and the remaining pirates immediately surrendered.
Leonard flew back to the deck, glanced at Barker's body, and said to Odis, "We need an undisturbed environment."
"Go to my studio," Odis reiterated, "but his head and extraordinary properties are mine."
Leonard immediately replied, "No problem."
After saying that, he and three "Red Gloves" members quickly carried Balk's body down to the deck.
Odis had little interest in the secrets of the Church of the Goddess of Night. He had Bazel tie the prisoners to the mast and Rupert clean up the battlefield.
After about half an hour, the prisoners were all tied to the deck. Odis asked, "Are there any bounty pirates among them?"
"There are three." Barzel had already noticed this when he received the prisoners.
"Kill them," Odis said.
Amidst pleas for mercy, Bazel fired three shots, killing the three pirates.
On the other side, the loot has also been collected. This loot mainly consists of extraordinary traits, heads with bounties, and two sealed artifacts.
Because of the close combat this time, the bounty of the "Skull" pirate crew was basically all seized.
After the battlefield was cleaned up, the Argo set sail again, heading towards Nohaus Island, where Odis planned to repair the Argo.
Leonard and his companions have also completed the "spiritual communication," handing over Balk's extraordinary characteristics and corpse to Odis.
Leonard added, "I hope to buy Balk's extraordinary traits, as well as other extraordinary traits from the 'Death' pathway that I acquired during this battle."
"No problem," Odis smiled. "However, we need to divide the spoils first, and I'll talk to you about the price of these extraordinary properties tomorrow."
Leonard smiled and said, "Okay."
Then Odis had the "Extraordinary Puppet" watch over the pirates, while the other crew members went into the wheelhouse to divide the spoils.
"The reward for this round of battle depends on how much bounty we can get," Odis said. "However, the repair costs for the 'Argo' will be deducted from the bounty, and then we will divide the remaining bounty among ourselves."
No one had any objections; if the Argo hadn't been so reliable today, they would have been buried at sea long ago.
Then Odis said, "Just like last time, I have prepared spoils for you as well."
"You can choose to select from the spoils according to your own contributions, or you can choose the spoils I have prepared for you."
He paused slightly before saying, "First mate, you already gained a quarter of the extraordinary trait in the last battle. With the contribution you made in this battle, you are fully capable of obtaining the complete trait."
"Second mate, you chose to accumulate merits in the last battle. With the merits from this battle, you can now exchange them for the complete traits."
First Mate Bazel and Second Mate Rupert smiled slightly: "Thank you, Captain!"
"I must remind you," Odis said, "that because the traits you need all come from spoils of war, it is relatively easy to obtain the extraordinary traits required for advancement."
"If you were to exchange merit points for the corresponding traits, it wouldn't be so easy."
He then said to the other members, "For example, Cleveland has gained another third of the extraordinary trait of 'Weapon Master' this time."
"In that case, although you can apply for early promotion, you will still owe a third of the characteristic debt."
Cleveland nodded and said, "I understand."
Odis began announcing the loot that the others would receive: "Boris gets a third of the 'Pyromaniac' trait, while Salina and Noy will both get the full promotion trait."
Without exception, they all chose the spoils the captain had prepared for them.
At the same time, they also gave up the opportunity to choose spoils from the spoils, which once again belonged to Odis.
Everyone expended a lot of energy in today's battle, so we'll discuss the promotion tomorrow.
Leonard's mission was complete, so Odis used "Travel" to send the members of the "Red Gloves" back to Bayam, along with the heads of those wanted and handed them over to Bishop Dean.
Bishop Dean agreed that he could collect the reward tomorrow morning, and it would be the full amount.
Odis then returned to the Argo to rest, and around 10 p.m., the Argo finally arrived at the port of Norhaus Island.
Odis first left the prisoners on the dock, then sailed into the island's shipyard.
There are people on duty in the dock to deal with emergencies such as people coming to repair the ship at night.
However, the staff member on duty had drunk quite a bit and thought he was just seeing things because he had drunk too much. Otherwise, how could the ship have sailed into the dock without sails?
The ship will be docked in the shipyard for now; repairs will have to wait until tomorrow.
After arranging the night watch order, Odis returned to the captain's cabin to rest.
The following morning, after the crew had breakfast, Odis gave them the extraordinary properties he had promised the night before.
However, these are all characteristics that have been "processed," and only the part that needs to be promoted is included.
Both Bazel and Rupert are still lacking the main auxiliary materials, so they will have to wait until they have the materials before they can be promoted.
Odis had all the auxiliary materials that Salina and Noy needed, but Salina was injured and could not advance temporarily. That morning, only Noy successfully advanced and became Sequence 8 "Clown".
Then Odis began assigning tasks. After a while, Bazel would return to Bayam to continue completing the tasks assigned earlier.
Rupert will replace Bevis, and the third officer and Neu will be Odis's assistants in repairing the Argo.
Before that, however, Odis went to the shipyard to discuss the ship repairs.
After the other ship's engineer boarded the ship and inspected it, he found that the damage to the "Argo" was not significant; only the mast, a section of deck, and a few holes in the walls needed to be repaired.
The broken section of the mast can be used; the repair plan is to drill a hole in the middle of the mast and connect it with steel.
Then fix it with steel nails on the outside, and then put on a steel hoop.
As for repairing the deck and walls, that's even simpler; it should only take about two days.
However, Odis paid more money, so the dock promised to fix it in one day.
The other damage was to be repaired by Odis. He first had Rupert replace Bivis and then prioritized repairing the "Spirit Wave Cannon".
Last night, Odis's scrolls were not wasted; the main structure of the "Lingbo Cannon" was not damaged, only some parts that fixed the cannon body and adjusted the direction were broken.
The machine gun at the stern was severely damaged, requiring a hole to be patched in the shield, and many key parts and magic arrays were also damaged.
Odis first made the parts that needed to be sculpted and gave the blueprints to Bivis and Noy so they could sculpt them in the workshop.
Odis then took Bazel back to Bayam, where Bazel was the first to collect the bounty previously earned by the "Deep Blue" pirate crew.
A total of £8,100 was awarded, £3,350 was given to the crew, and the rest was all Odis's.
After a brief chat with Bazel, Odis used "travel" to reach a corner around the Church of Tranquility, then entered the church to meet with Bishop Dean.
The two returned to the same meeting room where they had first met.
Bishop Dean, dressed in his bishop's robes, smiled and said, "Leonard began his return journey last night."
"They went back by airship, and by then they may have already reached Backlund."
Odis nodded, thinking to himself: This route seems to be for workaholics who don't wait even one night.
"Leonard asked me to say goodbye to you on his behalf," Bishop Dean added. "He said it was a pleasure working with you."
Odis smiled and said, "I also find it very pleasant to work with him."
Bishop Dean remarked with admiration, "I truly envy the friendship among you young people."
He paused for a moment and then said, "Alright, let's get down to business first. Leonard should have told you that we hope to acquire some of the features you captured."
"Let's talk about the price of those features?"