Chapter 165: Breaking the Shell

Chapter 165: Breaking the Shell



On the 'Sunken Ship', Captain Mara Nasir, dressed in a black robe, was not fiddling with his potions but was, unusually, discussing matters with his first mate and boatswain.

The first mate was a one-eyed middle-aged man with a fierce demeanor and bulging muscles, clearly possessing at least the strength of a Senior Knight. He spoke, "Boss, why do you oppose the cooperation between Blood Hand Will and the Eagle Federation?"

"I've seen the fifty matchlock guns they brought this time. They are well-crafted and powerful, and they seem to be quite sincere."

"Although these matchlock guns don't pose a threat to us, Knights who have transcended the Beyond, they can significantly enhance the combat power of our crew."

"Yeah, Boss, talk to Blood Hand Will and ask for a few guns for the 'Sunken Ship'. The brothers below have been complaining to me all day." The boatswain, a bearded man, chimed in from the side.

Mara looked at the two of them with a worried expression and said, "We can cooperate with other pirates, but if we cooperate with the Eagle Federation, we might become a thorn in the Empire's side once they find out."

"Moreover, do you really think the Eagle Federation is here to help us? They just want to use us to further weaken the Imperial Navy."

The one-eyed first mate and the bearded boatswain were not fools. Upon hearing Mara's words, they immediately realized something and exchanged glances.

"Boss, how about you perform a divination?" The one-eyed middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, as if struck by an idea, and said.

"I've already performed a divination, and the result was neither good nor bad. But I still feel something is off, as if the divination was being interfered with by something." Mara paced as he explained.

"However, I plan to perform another divination right now!" Mara's pale face turned serious.

This time, he intended to try the 'Bloodgrass Divination', a more advanced form of divination compared to the 'Watergrass Divination'.

The 'Bloodgrass Divination' required the diviner's blood to be mixed with bloodgrass, thus increasing the accuracy of the divination.

However, due to the physical toll, Mara rarely used this advanced divination.

But his Wizard Apprentice's keen senses seemed to be warning him that danger was approaching, especially since his eyelids had been twitching all evening!

At the pier.

The attack on the Bloodsail Pirates' flagship, the 'Bloodsail', had commenced. It was led by four Master Knight-level Navy officers, followed closely by the Navy Assault Team, with a Navy Rear Admiral and another expert holding the rear.

Among them, the Navy Assault Team had left fifteen members, led by another Navy officer, seemingly preparing to launch a simultaneous attack on the 'Sunken Ship'.

"By the way, Leonard, how long will the divination interference on Merit Island last?"

"Sir, it will last until dawn. If the diviner is merely at the Wizard Apprentice level, I believe they won't detect any issues." A Navy Colonel behind the Rear Admiral spoke with confidence.

Performing 'Divination Interference' was a standard procedure for special operations.

The Navy Rear Admiral nodded and turned to an eight-character bearded man in hunting attire, saying:

"Then let's go meet Bloody Hand Will and the Eagle Federation's messenger together."

"Of course, I'd like to see Bloody Hand Will's prowess." The leader of the assessment group, named Theo, smiled and agreed.

"Huh!"

At that moment, the Rear Admiral seemed to sense something and turned to look in Rain's direction.

Rain, holding a two-handed weapon in each hand, began to chant a spell quietly.

"Inferno Field!"

As the deep spell was cast, three seconds later, Rain's body subtly transformed.

From an outsider's perspective, Rain's figure was still clearly visible, but the change in air density due to temperature differences caused light refraction.

In simpler terms, if an enemy were to strike at Rain's eyes with a sword, there might be a slight deviation, causing the attack to land on Rain's forehead or nearby areas instead.

The next second, Rain suddenly expanded, his muscles inflating like a balloon, growing two whole sizes!

Fortunately, he had switched to a water otter leather armor, which was more flexible than metal plate armor.

Rain, with a javelin-throwing motion, forcefully hurled the glowing greatsword in his hand toward the stern of the three-masted 'Sunken Ship' about thirty meters away!

"Whoosh!"

In an instant, the greatsword became a giant arrow, shooting straight at the stern with incredible speed, leaving only a bright afterimage in its wake.

By the time the sound reached their ears, the greatsword had already pierced the stern's hull, traveling a distance of several dozen meters, and still protruding about a meter of its gleaming blade, vibrating with power.

And Rain, having activated 'Breaking Limits' and his Beyond Knight trait, 'Great Strength Level 3', forcefully pushed off, sprinting from the pier to a small boat docked by the shore.

The next second, Rayne's foot landed on the deck of the small boat, and the creaking sound of the overburdened deck immediately rang out.

It turned out that Rayne was using the small boat as a 'transfer station'. His powerful kick caused the entire boat to sink by several dozen centimeters.

Immediately after, he leaped into the air again, like a large bird, flying towards the stern of the three-masted ship, the 'Sunken Ship'.

At this moment, the beautiful Navy Lieutenant Commander Marika on the beach had her cherry-red lips wide open, big enough to fit an apple, and her beautiful eyes were wide with surprise, unable to snap out of her daze for a long time.

It was as if her expression had frozen in that moment.

It wasn't until Rayne had flown from the pier directly to the stern of the 'Sunken Ship' that she came to her senses, murmuring, "With this kind of strength, why doesn't he join the others? And what is he trying to do?"

"The stern."

The red-haired girl Evelyn's eyes widened in surprise as she watched Rayne leap like a large bird towards the stern of the 'Sunken Ship'. However, her mind was quickly trying to understand Rayne's intentions.

The previous few actions had already indicated that Rayne was definitely a skilled fighter beyond her level.

But she still couldn't quite understand Rayne's intentions at the moment.

Why didn't he use the usual gangplank to enter the 'Sunken Ship'?

The gangplank of the 'Sunken Ship' was still in place, connecting to the pier, and with his strength, entering the ship should have been an easy task.

Why go to the stern?

Could it be that he thought there would be fewer people at the stern?

It seemed like the only possible explanation.

The red-haired girl nodded, thinking to herself.

The Navy officer standing next to Lieutenant Commander Marika, who had reached the level of a Master Knight, also looked on in astonishment at Rayne. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

This young man might just give them an explosive scene.

Additionally, he muttered, "This is definitely not a newly promoted Beyond Knight, even a Senior Knight's muscle changes aren't this exaggerated. Could it be that..."

Further away, the Navy Rear Admiral and the middle-aged examiner from the Enlistment Examination raised their eyebrows, their eyes clearly showing surprise.

"Could he be planning to directly attack the Captain's Cabin?"

"But the hull of a three-masted ship is over thirty centimeters thick." The middle-aged man with the goatee seemed to have guessed Rayne's intention at a glance and spoke in a low voice.

"It seems so," the Navy Rear Admiral nodded, agreeing with the middle-aged noble's opinion.

As the people on the shore watched Rayne's next move, they saw him land perfectly on the glowing greatsword that was stuck in the hull during his descent.

Due to his weight and the impact from his high leap, the starlight iron sword, known for its exceptional flexibility, immediately bent at an angle of about thirty degrees.

At this moment, Rayne took advantage of the situation and made a double-knee bend, preparing to jump.

As Rayne's bent knees suddenly straightened with force, combined with the upward spring of the sword, Rayne, holding the heavy pig-headed hammer, shot up over four meters high.

"Explosion of Strength!"

At the same time, his already swollen body expanded another circle, and he swung the heavy pig-headed hammer with all his might—'Unbreakable Force', rotating 360 degrees from bottom to top with a powerful spinning force, and slammed the hammer towards the thick hull where the small circular window of the Captain's Cabin was located.

"Rising Dragon Hammer!"

At this moment, inside the Captain's Cabin of the 'Sunken Ship', Mara was pricking his fingers and dripping blood onto a slender watergrass.

Suddenly, he seemed to catch a glimpse of a dark shadow flashing past the small window on the side of the ship's hull. As he was filled with doubt and looked closely.

Suddenly!

"Bang!"

The thirty-centimeter-thick wooden hull in front of his desk exploded! Countless tiny wooden splinters, under the effect of a powerful force, instantly flew in all directions! These wood fragments of various sizes and bizarre shapes had extremely sharp edges, like a torrent of high-speed projectiles, rushed towards Mara and the other two in the room!

If it were just fragments of the hull, it wouldn't be a big deal, as all three were Beyond Knights and would suffer at most some superficial injuries.

But just as the three of them raised their hands to block the wood fragments from hitting their eyes, something happened that left Mara in shock!

Through the gaps between his fingers, he saw a huge hammer, gleaming with a dark metallic luster, following the storm of wood chips, falling from above and slamming towards his forehead.

"Earth-Shattering Hammer!"

At this moment, the Wizard Apprentice within Mara's body instinctively overrode his Knight instincts, and his first reaction was not to dodge but to use his spiritual power to trigger the life-saving amulet in front of his chest.

This amulet was a one-time instant-cast magic item, and Mara would never use it unless it was a critical moment.

"Ahhhh!"

As Mara screamed, the amulet on his chest suddenly exploded, and at the same time, a light blue film instantly wrapped around him.

The translucent blue film, akin to a protective shield, shielded Mara from the onslaught of the heavy hammer. Mara's initial terror transformed into calm as the hammer's head, bristling with countless black spikes, struck the film, creating a deep indentation.

"Sizzle!"

The thickest and longest spike among the dense array pierced the 'Water Film Shield', Mara's lifeline, causing a two-centimeter penetration into his forehead.

The blue 'Water Film Shield' on Mara's body, perhaps due to this tiny breach, burst like a bubble with a loud 'pop', shattering completely!

Rayne, maintaining his grip on the hammer, had just unleashed the 'Earth-Shattering Hammer' downward. Mara stood frozen, his palm still extended in a defensive gesture, his expression one of relief as if he had successfully cast the life-saving 'Water Film Shield'.

"Boom!"

Mara's head, impaled at the spot directly opposite his brain, exploded.

Blood-red liquid and white brain matter splattered everywhere.

In an instant, his head was hollowed out, the back of his skull blown away while the front remained intact, creating the illusion that Mara's face still held a relieved expression.

The next second, his body convulsed twice before collapsing heavily to the ground.

The first mate and the master-at-arms, who had just lowered their arms shielding themselves from the flying wood chips, stared in shock at the scene before them, their eyes bulging and mouths agape.

The events had transpired so quickly that they hadn't had time to react. But as the storm of shattered wood chips dissipated, they witnessed a scene that sent shivers down their spines.

Their captain was dead, killed right before their eyes!

Mara, the expert in divination and water magic, renowned for his self-preservation skills, was gone.

This felt absurd to them. It was as if Mara had done nothing, just stood there and let himself be hammered to death.

But that was impossible. Even a cornered rabbit will bite, let alone their captain!

Previously, Rayne's 261% strength-boosted hammer strike in the 'Three-Phase State' had nearly broken through Adams' black film shield. This time, Rayne chose an even more aggressive approach.

With Rayne's enhanced strength and the dual boost from the 'Earth-Shattering Hammer' technique and the 'Three-Phase State', he finally achieved a shield-breaking blow.

After killing the diviner Mara with a single hammer strike, Rayne, to conserve energy, deactivated 'Strength Burst', retaining only 'Breaking Limits' and the superpower 'Great Strength Level 3'.

His entire body began to shrink rapidly.

Although Rayne's physique had improved significantly, the combined burden of 'Breaking Limits', the superpower 'Great Strength', and a tenfold 'Strength Burst' still imposed a considerable strain.

However, compared to the previous tearing 'aftereffects', it was evidently much improved.

To onlookers, Rayne seemed to be in a state of 'weakness' after executing a secret technique.

The two in the captain's cabin reacted instantly, shouting in a mix of shock and anger:

"He killed Captain Mara! Someone, quick!"

"You're dead! Someone, now!"

Their shouts were unnecessary, as the commotion in the captain's cabin had already attracted the attention of the Bloodsail Pirates on guard duty outside.

Seeing their captain's brainless corpse, the pirates' faces paled in shock.

"Kill him!" the Bloodsail Pirates roared in unison.

Despite being alone, Rayne faced an entire ship of pirates.

Amidst the chaotic shouting, fearless Bloodsail pirates brandished various weapons and charged towards Rayne.

However, as they approached Rayne, they felt a scorching heat wash over them, as if they were being sprayed by 80-90 degree steam.

Several weaker pirates screamed and tried to retreat, but they forgot they were in the captain's cabin, a confined space not particularly spacious, now crowded with so many people.

Although there was no trampling, retreating was out of the question.

"Ahh!" they cried, covering their faces in pain.

Just a few seconds later, many of the Bloodsail Pirates' skins were already scorched by Rayne's 'High Temperature Field'!

From turning red to a slight paleness, this was a sign of being almost cooked!

Several of the pirates who grabbed their faces too forcefully had their facial skin torn off with the force, revealing the bloody flesh underneath.

The surrounding Bloodsail Pirates witnessed this bizarre scene, and for a moment, they hesitated to approach.

But soon, as more pirates poured in, several of them raised brand new matchlocks, the fuses already lit.

Rayne narrowed his eyes, and although he had the transcendent trait 'Iron Skin Level 3' and wasn't afraid of such powerful bullet attacks, he didn't need to endure a prolonged battle with them.

He decided to stick to the plan they had previously set! Rayne thought to himself.

The next second, Rayne used his heavy pig-headed hammer to strike the floor, directly smashing a large hole in the captain's cabin's deck, and he immediately jumped down to the next deck.

Compared to the ship's hull, this deck was much thinner, making it easier to shatter.

The Bloodsail Pirates, like a pack of hyenas, followed the burly first mate and the bearded master-at-arms, chasing after Rayne.

But as soon as they jumped down, some of the pirates who had just circled around to the next deck saw Rayne strike the deck again and quickly jump into the hole, reaching the lowest deck.

This left the first mate and master-at-arms of the 'Sunken Ship' a bit bewildered!

They had never seen an 'Assassin' continue to venture deeper into enemy territory after completing their mission instead of making a quick escape.

They couldn't understand the other party's mysterious actions at all!

At this moment, because Rayne had smashed through the decks layer by layer, almost all the Bloodsail Pirates on the 'Sunken Ship' were mobilized.

Nearly two hundred Bloodsail Pirates started rushing towards Rayne's current position.

This filled the burly first mate and the bearded master-at-arms with confidence!

"You're a Great Knight, but this time you're done for! We'll drown you with a single piss!" the first mate shouted.

At the dock.

"What the hell are you doing? Even if you can break through the ship's hull, rushing in alone will only lead to a siege by the Bloodsail Pirates. What a stupid move!" the male naval officer standing next to Navy Lieutenant Commander Marika exclaimed in anger after his initial surprise.

His extensive military experience made this male naval officer highly value 'Unity and 'Close Cooperation'.

He despised this kind of 'Individual Heroism'!

Additionally, as a Master Knight, he was initially shocked by Rayne's ability to shatter the thick hull of the 'Sunken Ship' with a single strike and infiltrate the captain's rest area, but his brows immediately furrowed.

No matter how strong you are, there's a limit to what one person can do.

Facing a siege by over ten or even dozens of Bloodsail Pirates is naturally not a wise move.

But out of a sense of duty, this Master Knight-level naval officer quickly tapped his toes and rushed towards the large hole in the 'Sunken Ship'.

He probably wouldn't make it in time, but at least he could try to take down the opponent completely! He thought.

At this moment, the beautiful Navy Lieutenant Commander Marika finally snapped out of her shock from seeing Rayne shatter the thick ship's hull. She closed her cherry-like lips and followed the naval officer, also rushing forward.

As one of the enlistment examination's recorders, she naturally had to keep up to record the situation firsthand.

Behind her, two naval officers and a test group member wearing Noble Hunter's Attire quickly caught up.

All of them had long-lasting auras and swift movements, with no unnecessary actions in their every move, seemingly all Master Knight-level experts.

The hammer strike that shattered the 'Sunken Ship's' hull naturally caught the attention of Navy Rear Admiral Silva and the nobleman with the goatee.

But strangely, neither of them moved, as if they weren't worried about Rayne's safety at all.

After watching Rayne enter the captain's cabin for several seconds, Navy Rear Admiral Silva turned and smiled at the nobleman with the goatee beside him.

"Baron Theodorus, you've led so many enlistment examinations. Have you ever seen such an interesting young man?"

The nobleman with the goatee, named Baron Theodorus, also looked delighted, thinking for a moment before replying, "General Silva, it's been about three years since I last saw such a spirited young man."

Baron Theodorus, the leader of the enlistment examination, used the word 'spirited', which was quite intriguing.

Navy Rear Admiral Silva naturally understood his meaning and continued with a smile, "There are many talented young people, but spirited ones are rare."

"Baron Theodorus, I might need to trouble you with something."

"Oh?" Baron Theodorus raised his eyebrows with interest, waiting for Rear Admiral Silva's next words.

After all, it was not easy to gain the favor of Rear Admiral Silva, one of the representatives of the young and promising officers in the Imperial Navy.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end