Chapter 439: Fishman Youngster – Cang Xu?!

Lady Sea Snake channeled her magic into the scroll, which then slipped from her hands and floated slowly before her.

The scroll emitted a faint blue glow.

She deliberately bit her finger, releasing a trickle of blood.

Guided by her will, the blood seeped into the scroll's surface, staining only the serpentine totem crimson, leaving the other patterns and runes untouched.

In truth, the serpentine totem itself had been drawn primarily with Lady Sea Snake's blood.

Thus, the blood swiftly merged with the serpentine totem, activating it.

For this magic contract scroll, Lady Sea Snake's blood served as the key to its activation.

Even if someone were to steal this scroll, without Lady Sea Snake's blood, it would be nothing more than a worthless piece of paper.

The first step was crucial. Only after Lady Sea Snake completed it did she proceed with confidence, channeling her magic to fully activate the scroll.

The primary magic formation within the scroll began to radiate a deep blue glow. The light flickered and swirled ceaselessly, gradually illuminating each magic rune.

When every rune and magic line was lit, the blue light reached its peak intensity.

The blinding blue light shone upon the gold level sea serpent, simultaneously illuminating Lady Sea Snake, binding their minds together in a spiritual connection.

At that moment, Lady Sea Snake's brow furrowed deeply, her face contorted with agony. Her blood seemed to boil throughout her body, her head felt as though struck by an invisible iron hammer, her spirit subjected to a grueling ordeal.

After all, this was a silver level being forcibly resisting a gold level, an act of defiance against a superior.

As for the gold level sea serpent, its entire body convulsed violently, as if being savagely electrocuted.

Ba Qi firmly restrained the serpent, ensuring it could not truly resist.

After several seconds, the blinding blue light gradually stabilized and softened. Lady Sea Snake's expression of agony eased considerably, allowing the contract process to proceed smoothly.

But at that very moment, a powerful surge of magic power erupted violently from the nearby sea!

In the blink of an eye, the level of this magic fluctuation skyrocketed from bronze level to gold level.

Necromancy - Soul Scream Cannon!

On the deck of the ghost ship, countless ghosts swirled and danced behind a hastily deployed silver level cannon.

The dense mass of ghosts coalesced into a circular, pitch-black vortex. A gold level ghost plunged into its center, its form compressed and reshaped by the vortex into a cannonball.

Once loaded into the cannon, it was immediately fired.

The undead, already close to the battlefield, had long since brought Lady Sea Snake within effective range. This cannon shot caught the pirates completely off guard!

“I've never seen such a tactic before!” Cang Xu closely monitored the results of the bombardment.

He noticed that the gold level ghost transformed into the cannonball clearly bore signs of modification.

Despite being hampered by the silver level cannon, the gold level ghost's role as projectile, enhanced by the gold level Jian Gui's spellcasting and amplified by the gold level ghost ship, delivered far greater destructive force than the Deep Sea Monster Fish's own gold level cannon and gold level cannonballs combined! Factoring in the undead's new faction advantage only amplified this superiority.

Faced with such bombardment, Ba Qi and his companions were shocked.

“A gold level spell!”

“Those are necromancers!”

Amidst the collective shouts, Lady Sea Snake swiftly ascended into the air, attempting to evade the cannon fire.

Having clashed with Jian Gui and others before, she was the most prepared for this sudden turn of events, making her reaction remarkably swift.

But the artillery fire wasn't aimed at Lady Sea Snake, nor at the Fluffy Cloud. Its target was the immobilized gold level sea serpent.

“No!”

Amid Lady Sea Snake's shrieks, the cannonball struck the sea serpent with pinpoint accuracy, blowing it into a pile of flesh and bone fragments. The sea serpent's gold level soul was utterly obliterated in an instant.

Crucially, Lady Sea Snake was midway through establishing a magic contract with the serpent—a process that hadn't halted. A psychic link bound them.

One's brutal death instantly inflicted severe damage on the other.

Lady Sea Snake spat blood, her body staggering violently. She nearly tumbled into the sea, barely managing to stabilize and remain suspended in the air.

Ruan Tang Ren let out a startled cry, intending to assist her. But as he rose to his feet, his legs buckled, and he collapsed to his knees.

His energy was utterly depleted. He was powerless, his combat strength reduced to nothing.

“Necromancers! You're too arrogant!” Ba Qi roared, leaping from the Fluffy Cloud and crashing into the sea surface.

Boom!

A massive column of water erupted as Ba Qi charged toward the ghost ship like a mountain tiger.

This was a shrewd tactical choice; only close combat could fully leverage a fighter's inherent advantage against a magician.

However, Jian Gui was prepared.

He had been biding his time all this while, not wasting his efforts, but quietly brewing his spell in silence.

Black soul chains coiled around Ba Qi.

The Soul Scream Cannon fired once more, striking the restrained Ba Qi.

Boom!

A deafening explosion sent the sea surging upward like a mountain.

Two gold level ghost “shells” were fired. The silver level cannon on the ghost ship's deck dimmed completely, as if struck by a petrification spell. It turned entirely grayish white, losing all metallic luster. It had been so severely corroded by negative energy that it was utterly useless now.

Lady Sea Snake, her body heavy with wounds, attempted to fly back to the Fluffy Cloud.

During this process, bone spears flew toward her, and ghosts whirled into the air, blocking her path.

“Those damned necromancers! Qi Ling, act now!” With her life threatened, Lady Sea Snake abandoned all pretense and issued a direct command.

Qi Ling immediately descended from the Fluffy Cloud, staff in hand.

As she formally unleashed necromancy magic, her true identity was exposed.

Shock rippled through the Fluffy Cloud. No one had imagined that Qi Ling, who had lived among them for so long, always quiet and unassuming, was actually a necromancer!

“This is troublesome.” Cang Xu, who had been attacking her remotely with spells, immediately felt conflicted. He found it difficult to strike Qi Ling with full force.

Their mission was to save her, not kill her.

Qi Ling was bound by her pact with Lady Sea Snake, she had no choice but to fight with everything she had.

With Qi Ling holding them off, Lady Sea Snake made it safely back onto the Fluffy Cloud.

Ruan Tang Ren hurried to support her, his heart aching for the gravely wounded Lady Sea Snake. He paid no heed to Qi Ling, who had suddenly revealed her true identity.

Lady Sea Snake scanned the deck and called out, "Everyone, rest assured. I have Qi Ling under my control. She may be a necromancer, but she is my slave!"

The pirates aboard the Fluffy Cloud stirred once more at these words.

Seeing Qi Ling “loyally” battling the unexpected enemy, they began to believe Lady Sea Snake's claim.

“Don't be anxious,” Cang Xu advised, his hand resting on Xiao Wang Zi's shoulder from within the ghost ship's cabin, “air combat favors them. Lure Qi Ling into the sea first.”

A wise man would choose his own battlefield.

Xiao Wang Zi nodded in agreement with Cang Xu's suggestion.

As for Ku Feng, he guarded the two magicians.

Qi Ling understood “cooperation” well. She plunged directly into the sea, commanding the water ghosts to attack the ghost ship.

These water ghosts could indeed unleash their full combat power underwater, ensuring that Qi Ling didn't violate her magic pact with Lady Sea Snake.

“Chaos!”

“Who knew there was a group of necromancers too?”

The fishmen of the Da Ji Clan, already retreating to a distance, witnessed the sudden outbreak of battle and retreated further in fright.

Qi Ling fought alone against the combined forces of Xiao Wang Zi and Cang Xu, while the water ghosts tangled with the death heads and the skeleton army.

“What the hell are these flying death heads?” Qi Ling wondered in alarm.

“Too bad I can't deploy my skeleton turtle cavalry. Otherwise, these water ghosts wouldn't stand a chance!” Xiao Wang Zi scoffed.

The ghost ship, carrying the necromancers, engaged in a retreating battle against Ba Qi. Meanwhile, vast numbers of undead creatures, commanded by the necromancers, filled the gaps across the battlefield. They made extensive contact and began a fierce struggle.

Ba Qi bore minor wounds.

That cannon blast had indeed packed a punch. Despite deploying his defensive battle skill, he couldn't shield himself completely.

Yet such injuries didn't hinder his combat prowess. Ba Qi accelerated relentlessly, closing in on the ghost ship with full force.

The ghost ship fought while retreating. Merging with Jian Gui, it shed its usual rigidity, becoming remarkably agile and alert.

A dozen or so gold level ghosts, each modified to varying degrees, circled and swirled around the ghost ship, forming the main force hindering Ba Qi's approach.

Ba Qi continuously unleashed his battle skills, while the dozen gold level ghosts, under the command of Jian Gui, advanced and retreated with precision, their coordination seamless.

The situation reached a brief stalemate, and Lady Sea Snake aboard the Fluffy Cloud grew impatient.

“Fire the cannons!” she ordered on behalf of Ruan Tang Ren.

But the other pirates ignored her, all eyes fixed on Ruan Tang Ren.

Ruan Tang Ren, however, stared back at Lady Sea Snake, his face filled with worry and concern. Realizing the situation, he quickly issued the command: “Aim at the ghost ship! Fire hard!”

The Fluffy Cloud carried numerous silver level cannons and a substantial supply of ammunition.

Silver level cannons firing silver level shells pounded the sea in rapid succession, sending a dozen water spouts skyward.

Upon impact, the shells trailed long, bubbly white tails through the water, hurtling toward the ghost ship.

The ghost ship moved swiftly, evading most of the cannonballs. Then Ku Feng personally intervened, slicing two solid cannonballs clean in half.

Yet to Lady Sea Snake's eyes, this scene appeared entirely different.

She saw nearly every cannonball strike the ghost ship, which was shattered beyond recognition amid the explosions.

Jian Gui was forced to reveal himself. His aura weakened, the ghost ship's severe damage had also affected him.

Ba Qi charged toward the necromancers.

The magicians scattered like birds and beasts.

As a fighter, Ku Feng stayed behind to cover their retreat. He was the first to fall in battle.

Next were Cang Xu and Xiao Wang Zi.

Finally, Jian Gui was also slain by Ba Qi!

“Truly worthy of Lord Ba Qi!!”  Lady Sea Snake watched, her heart racing with exhilaration.

“The only pity is my sea serpent... wait, what's that?” She suddenly spotted a gold level sea serpent charging into the battlefield, seemingly drawn by the scent of blood.

“Launch the ship! Fly above that sea serpent!” she commanded.

The pirates heard and saw Ruan Tang Ren shouting, and immediately obeyed, maneuvering the Fluffy Cloud slowly into position.

Ba Qi unleashed his battle skills, charging forward relentlessly, sweeping away the gold level ghosts like withered leaves.

Not only that, but with the Fluffy Cloud's cannons providing support, he successfully sank the ghost ship.

After a final fierce battle, he also eliminated Jian Gui and his crew.

"Necromancer? Hmph, this time you'll die completely." Just as Ba Qi was feeling triumphant, sudden agony struck him, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.

He abruptly looked down at his midsection, where thick black smoke billowed, emanating a potent undead aura.

“Necromancy magic?”

“When?”

He immediately recalled the battle moments ago. He had taken a mysterious spell from Jian Gui head-on, seizing the opportunity to kill him.

“So that was the gold level necromancer's last-ditch counterattack!”

The next instant, Ba Qi's body shook violently again.

He discovered two more areas on his body erupting with darkness.

Ba Qi hastily activated defensive battle skills while downing potions to heal his wounds.

The reality was that the gold level octopusman fighter, Zhang Yu Wan, wielded axes, halberds, swords, and spears, relentlessly stabbing at Ba Qi's sides.

The dark smoke Ba Qi perceived was actually his own blood spurting forth.

Ba Qi reached for a potion to drink, only for Zhang Yu Wan to snatch it away. Unwittingly, he gulped down a mouthful of seawater instead.

Divine spell—Opportunistic Deception!

Secretly cast by the saint level octopusman Zhou Zhang, the divine spell's fluctuations went undetected. Yet every enemy sensing the waves was simultaneously deceived, instinctively ignoring it.

Zhang Yu Wan circled Ba Qi, stabbing relentlessly with his weapons until the latter was gravely wounded. Then, he clenched his fist and drove it into the back of Ba Qi's neck with a powerful hammer blow, knocking him unconscious.

Meanwhile, the Fluffy Cloud landed on the ocean surface. Another gold level octopusman, Jiu Hua Bi, used his four thick tentacles to bind the key pirates: Lady Sea Snake, Ruan Tang Ren, and the first mate.

Moments later, Cang Xu and the others also fell captive to the undersea army, all taken alive.

Ocean Mother Nest.

“They're back?” The fishman youngster had already detected the army's movements outside the Mother Nest through his scouting puppet.

He watched closely.

When the commotion began, temptation flickered in the fishman youngster's heart.

Could the departure of Zhou Zhang and the others be his chance to escape?

After a moment's hesitation, he dismissed the thought.

The risk was too great.

Though Zhou Zhang and the others had departed, many remained behind, the three gold levels who were troublesome enough. There were numerous amounts of silver levels and iron levels too.

Staying here, however, yielded astonishing rewards for the fishman youngster - the Pearl Bubbles from the Mermaid Fairy Tale kept multiplying, nearly overflowing!

Crucially, the fishman youngster couldn't be certain of further intelligence.  What if Zhou Zhang and the others had suddenly departed merely to rendezvous with a large-scale sea beast horde?

Such scenarios have occurred multiple times before.

Only Zhou Zhang rarely went out alone; most missions involved the other two gold level octopusman fighters.

This time, all three octopusmen had mobilized, signaling something unusual to the fishman youngster.

The fishman youngster remained stationed in the cockpit, closely monitoring the activity outside the mother nest through the magic projection.

He eagerly anticipated a powerful beast tide disrupting the order outside the nest, giving him an opportunity to take advantage of the chaos.

But his hopes were quickly dashed.

He witnessed Zhou Zhang and the others returning.

“They came back so quickly, thankfully I didn’t risk it.” The fishman youngster felt a sense of relief.

"This time, they actually captured so many human prisoners? Judging by their attire, are they pirates?"

“There's even a gold level fighter...” The fishman youngster saw the unconscious Ba Qi for the first time.

“Wait, Lady Sea Snake?”  The fishman youngster spotted Lady Sea Snake. He had crossed paths with her during the Weeping Pine Naval Battle.

“Who'd have thought that the Fire Beard Pirates would meet their end here today,” the fishman youngster murmured with a faint smile.

These human prisoners had all been spellbound, their lives temporarily preserved in the sea.

But the fishman youngster understood Zhou Zhang and the others' purpose: to keep them alive temporarily before sacrificing them to the Charming Blue Goddess. Living sacrifices were naturally best for blood offerings.

“Clearly, Lady Sea Snake's faith shouldn't be in the Charming Blue Goddess.” Regarding his former enemy, the fishman youngster naturally delighted in seeing her meet a gruesome end at the hands of the saint level sea beast of the Ocean Mother Nest.

"Perhaps I can make the first move? Acquiring a human magic bloodline wouldn't be bad either.” The fishman youngster schemed inwardly.

"Oh? A gold level necromancer... Seems vaguely familiar." The fishman youngster spotted Jian Gui.

However, Jian Gui wore a full black robe with a hood, lacking any particularly distinctive features.

The next moment, the fishman youngster's eyes widened in shock.

What was he seeing?

"Cang Xu? 

How did he get captured by Zhou Zhang!”

“Wait, so that means the one in front of him is Jian Gui?” Then, the fishman youngster spotted familiar faces: Xiao Wang Zi, Ku Feng, and Qing Xin.

The fishman youngster: "…"