Chapter 394: Ramhorn Turtles
White Hair Trench.
“I'm in position,” Xiao Wang Zi relayed through magic.
“Then begin,” Jian Gui commanded, striking first.
A powerful surge surged forward, engulfing a group of turtles.
Struck by the necromancy magic, some young turtles died instantly. The silver level turtles staggered, while the gold level leader, enraged, charged toward the ghost ship.
Under Jian Gui's command, the vessel slowly retreated, attacking while drawing the turtle herd toward it.
The leader relentlessly pursued the enemy, paying no heed to what lay behind. The gap between the sea turtles widened, stretching their formation into a chaotic, single-file line.
The ghost ship lured the turtle pack into narrow terrain. As the turtle leader advanced, ambushes sprang up on both sides.
Hordes of sharp-clawed water monkey skeletons pounced upon the turtles, while numerous skeleton archers rained arrows from elevated positions.
Skeletons raised from sharp-clawed water monkey corpses rarely included skeleton magicians. Most were unarmed melee fighters, relying solely on their claws as weapons. A few were skeleton archers.
The sharp-clawed water monkey skeletons swarmed over the sea turtles like a vast ant colony. Yet their claws, capable of easily piercing reefs, made little impact against the turtle's shell.
These turtles possessed a distinctly aggressive appearance. Their shells were covered in black, hard spines, and a triangular horn protruded from the front of their heads.
These were ramhorn turtles.
In the early days, before magic ships existed, people hunted ramhorn turtles for the horns on their heads, using them as ship rams.
During the age of magic ships, these horns became the primary material for crafting alchemy components of the Ramhorn type.
The turtle shells of ramhorn turtles remained a material for shields. With minimal processing, they could be transformed into massive defensive shields covered in spikes.
During the great war against the demon invasion of the main world, the legendary Minotaur, Great Herculean, single-handedly poisoned the largest group of ramhorn turtles dwelling in the depths of the ocean at that time.
The acquired turtle shells were immediately dispatched to the desperately embattled city of Fan City.
The giants within Fan City wielded the shells directly as shields, ultimately repelling the demon hordes' frenzied assault and safeguarding the city. This victory laid the groundwork for the subsequent major counteroffensive on the main world.
The sea turtles were in a frenzy.
They shook their bodies relentlessly yet couldn't dislodge the water monkey skeletons clinging to them.
They then swung their fin-like limbs with all their might, thrusting their heads forward to slam violently against the surrounding cliffs.
Deep craters pockmarked the undersea cliffs. The intense pressure and friction between the shells and rock crushed many of the sharp-clawed water monkey skeletons into dust.
The bone arrows fired by skeleton archers struck the turtles like mosquito bites—barely causing a scratch.
Xiao Wang Zi remained utterly composed, having anticipated this outcome.
His primary role in this engagement was to distract and provide cover. The water monkey skeletons sacrificed were either substandard units slated for disposal or common fodder whose loss carried no weight. His true elite forces—the iron level and silver level skeletons—remained deployed elsewhere.
Necromancy magic - Soul Capture!
Jian Gui channeled his full power, the spell's potency amplified severalfold by the ghost ship itself.
The gold level ramhorn turtle leader, struck by this spell, froze instantly, rendered immobile as if turned to stone.
Instead of advancing, the ghost ship retreated, sailing right up to the ramhorn turtle leader, who remained frozen in place.
As the two passed each other, a turtle-shaped soul was extracted by the ghost ship, becoming one of its many specters.
Then, an invisible force seized the ramhorn turtle leader's corpse.
The gold level turtle corpse was tossed into a gaping hole in the ghost ship's hull, vanishing into the darkness.
The ghost ship charged back across the battlefield, its swarm of wailing spirits darting swiftly through the fray.
Ramhorn turtles possessed formidable physical defenses, their unique shell design granting a built-in damage reflection effect. However, their resistance to magic attacks was notably weak.
Ghosts could freely pass through solid objects like rocks, rendering the ramhorn turtles' prized spiked armor useless.
Only by casting racial magic could they offer any resistance against the ghosts.
Yet the ghosts were numerous, forming the initial makings of an army.
Jian Gui didn't even need to cast spells; the sheer impact of the ghosts alone threw the turtle horde into chaos.
Soon the turtle herd collapsed and turned to flee.
But this battlefield had been meticulously chosen by the necromancers - narrow terrain flanked by large numbers of water monkey skeletons.
As the turtles fled, they lost their lives one by one.
The underwater trench fell into dead silence.
The necromancers began clearing the battlefield.
“This haul is truly substantial!” Xiao Wang Zi exclaimed joyfully.
His contributions were immense, having sacrificed countless skeletons, and the spoils of war would be rich indeed.
Necromancy spell - Summon Skeletons.
Necromancy spell - Summon Skeletons.
Necromancy spell - Summon Skeletons...
Xiao Wang Zi cast the spell repeatedly, and one by one, massive turtle skeletons emerged from the corpses.
Their white shells were covered in sharp bone spines, and the striking horns atop their turtle heads remained intact, commanding attention.
"Now I have a heavy cavalry unit. This is fantastic! Generalissimo, you truly live up to your name." Xiao Wang Zi called out to his mount.
His mount was a three-headed sea serpent, also an undead creature, named Generalissimo by Xiao Wang Zi.
Jian Gui revealed his true form.
He began casting the Soul Summoning Spell.
The sea turtles had just fallen in battle, and their souls still lingering on the battlefield.
Soon, ghostly sea turtles began appearing across the field.
“These turtle spirits are prime material for crafting Shield Bearer Ghosts,” Xiao Wang Zi beamed.
The soul aspect faction within the undead realm excelled at modifying spirits, and Shield Bearer Ghosts were one such application. The spirits thus created could grant necromancers formidable defense.
Jian Gui set aside some turtle spirits for Cang Xu and the undead ronin, Ku Feng.
In this battle, Cang Xu's death heads served only as scouts. The undead ronin Ku Feng remained stationed on the ghost ship's deck without engaging, contributing the least.
Within mere days, the necromancers' combat power had multiplied several times over.
They eradicated over a dozen sea beast swarms, including sharp-clawed water monkeys, Ramhorn Turtles, and schools of oceanic fish.
As their strength grew, the necromancers' actions became bolder and their coordination sharper.
Like in this recent engagement: no longer confined to the ghost ship, they preemptively divided forces, selected battlefields, and set up ambushes.
They employed tactics to lure the turtle swarm into the ambush site before striking with full force.
Clearly, sound strategy greatly enhanced their efficiency in hunting down turtle swarms.
Cang Xu stowed the newly acquired ghosts without immediate processing.
He returned to his cabin, continuously casting spells.
Necromancy spell - Burden Alleviation.
Necromancy spell - Karma Reduction Spell.
The former eased Cang Xu's mental strain, while the latter mitigated the erosion of his secondary abilities.
Currently, his collection of death heads was substantial.
He possessed 4 silver level, 27 iron level, and a staggering 86 bronze level specimens.
Commanding this multitude of death heads had already imposed a tremendous mental burden on Cang Xu.
“My innate talent is limited. Even transformed into an undead life form, I can only reach iron level.”
“It's only because the Flying Head Spell inheritance imposes less burden than ordinary ghosts, skeletons, or zombies that I can control so many.”
Cang Xu appeared to be silver level, but in truth, he was merely iron.
Even using the Burden Alleviation Spell and Karma Reduction Spell daily, he was nearing his control limit.
Only after halting these two spells did Cang Xu begin processing the newly acquired spirits.
“This battle yielded only these.”
“Far too few.”
“This situation is unfavorable for me.”
Cang Xu's low contribution naturally meant meager spoils.
It wasn't that he lacked willingness, but his inherent weakness placed him low in the tactical hierarchy.
In every battle, Jian Gui claimed the largest share of spoils. The ghost fleet aboard the ghost ship had swelled nearly tenfold!
Xiao Wang Zi's haul usually ranked second, his skeletal army now forming a formidable force.
Cang Xu came third, his death heads increasing in number. But constrained by his innate talent, he was nearing his personal limit.
Among the necromancers, Ku Feng ranked lowest. Just like this time, where his involvement was scarcely needed anymore.
As for Qing Xin, she needn't be mentioned.
In the deep sea, she had to constantly maintain her spells to sustain her own respiration.
She scarcely left her quarters.
Each day consumed vast amounts of time in meditation, replenishing her magic power.
Yet in the ocean depths, water elements abounded while wind elements were scarce, making her meditation highly inefficient.
She had been completely marginalized....
…
The Divine Wind.
The human ringleader's brow furrowed deeply.
After thorough inquiries, he discovered no one recognized Lan Zao.
“How is that possible?”
“Could he not be part of the Bayonet Gang?”
The human ringleader fell into deep thought: “The people on the ship are merely remnants of the gang. Perhaps none of them ever interacted with him.”
“But that possibility is too low.”
“Could he be a spy, deliberately rescuing Bing Xiao to gain trust?”
“Everything had been going smoothly until the bloodline awakening became an accident, knocking him unconscious.”
At this thought, the human ringleader shook his head again.
“If I'd planted a spy, it wouldn't have been so crude and sloppy.”
"At the very least, I'd have arranged a proper cover identity. The rocket assault boat's teleportation capability manifested unexpectedly. Him rescuing Bing Xiao was also accidental."
“Regardless, I should inform the old gang leader of this news first.”
The human ringleader approached Bing Xiao's cabin door, about to knock.
Boom!
A sudden explosion rocked the entire ship violently.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions erupted one after another inside the Divine Wind, immediately causing significant casualties.
“What's happening?!” The human ringleader exclaimed in shock.
With a crash, the cabin door burst open, nearly colliding with the human ringleader.
Bing Xiao had just burst out when he and the human ringleader heard the Divine Wind's first mate shout: "Enemy attack!"
"Enemies again?"
“Where?”
Feng Lian, wielding his long-handled scythe, immediately prepared for battle, but could find no sign of the enemy.
“In the sea!” the lookout on the mast shouted the warning.