Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 135, "straw boat," is a verb.

"boom!"

The second ghost ship finally exploded violently the instant Cheng Lang deactivated the Valkyrie's stealth mode, and the shockwave temporarily pushed aside the surrounding thick fog.

After the explosion, the captain, now a ghost, and many more sailors, now ghosts, charged into the thick fog amidst screams and shrieks, rushing toward the Valkyrie as it sailed further and further away.

"Royal Guard Knights, heed my command!"

On the deck of the Valkyrie, one of the armored knights gave a loud command, and the armored knights on both sides raised their golden shields and placed them against the ship's railings with a "whoosh," and also raised their rapiers.

"We swear to protect Her Highness the Princess to the death!" the Grand Master of the Knights commanded.

"We swear to protect Her Highness the Princess to the death!" the armored knights shouted in unison.

"Oh!"

Almost simultaneously, the flying undead seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall and stopped, then fell into the encirclement and strangulation of the armored knights.

With the swift and efficient cooperation of these armored knights, the flying undead were instantly reduced to a rabble. In just one round, half of them were kicked into the ventilation grille behind them, which served as a channel for spirit mediums.

The boarding action between the undead and the armored knights did not stop the Valkyrie. Under the Silver Queen's control, the ship, along with the Thorn, sandwiched the last ghost ship from both sides.

The ghost ship reacted extremely quickly, firing head-shaped cannonballs to its left and right sides, but these head-shaped cannonballs were all knocked out of the Valkyrie's teeth when they hit it.

As for those that flew towards the Thorn, before they could even bite anything, they were embedded in the dense thorns that suddenly grew on the Thorn, like fruits on a hedgehog. As the thorns disappeared, they all fell into the sea.

Half a second apart, the Valkyrie and the Thorn opened fire.

Amidst the thunderous roar of cannons, the Valkyrie's grapeshot shells enveloped the deck of this ghost ship.

On the other side, the Thorn, sandwiched between the ghost ship and the coastline, also began a rapid five-round barrage of fire to both sides.

With a whooshing sound, the thick thorns stuck into the deck of the ghost ship. Yavso also pulled the spider bow, sending the newly cultivated corpse mushroom spores and nutrient solution over.

The ballistae on the other side of the Thorn's gun deck fired long thorns aimed at the ships on the shore, keeping them firmly on land and preventing them from entering the water, while also pinning down the pirates who were trying to escape to the ships.

After this brief exchange, the Valkyrie and the Thorn began to change course.

The Thorn continued to cruise along the coastline, suppressing the enemies on the shore whose vision was obscured by the thick fog with silent but deadly ballistae and the sudden bursts of psychedelic music from the Kotoo Merman Orchestra.

Having finished the boarding action, the Valkyrie charged back at the ghost ship, which was covered in thorns and arrows.

The ghost ship clearly wasn't going to give up either. Although the sailors on deck were starting to sprout mushrooms all over their bodies, the captain, who had taken refuge in the bridge earlier, was temporarily safe. He planned to meet up with the other two ships and surround the suddenly appearing enemy together.

However, as the distance closed, more and more black mushrooms grew on the ship. Before losing consciousness, the ghost ship captain, whose face was also starting to sprout mushrooms, vaguely saw something jump from the stationary ship onto his own.

"Boom!"

Ultimately, the ghost ship veered off course after its captain lost consciousness and turned the rudder, colliding with another ship whose entire length was covered in black mushrooms.

"Why didn't the ship's core explode?"

A moment later, the Valkyrie, having circled back, stopped beside the ghost ship that was bound by its reins, and Cheng Lang also voiced his question.

“If you get a little closer, I can go over and take a look,” the Silver Queen offered.

"I'll go."

The Magic Mirror said respectfully, "If you encounter any danger, Lord Night Demon will devour our captain. I'm different; all I need to do is send him a mirror."

"In that case, let the magic mirror do it."

Cheng Lang said that he was also afraid of that arrogant big cat.

The Silver Queen nodded, summoned a two-faced undead, who carried a mirror and several bright ship lanterns, and boarded the ghost ship. She then immediately steered the Valkyrie to create distance once more.

At this moment, the two-faced undead on the ghost ship had finished their battle. Not only were all the sailors lying on the ground, but their spirits had also become dim and thin, falling into a deep sleep.

In other words, the only danger to this ship is its core, which for some reason hasn't exploded.

Under the Silver Queen's command, half of the two-faced ghosts immediately either gathered around the mirror or carried lanterns into the cabin to guide the magic mirror, which was dressed in a ghastly green butler's uniform.

Meanwhile, the other half of the two-faced undead also brought the sleeping undead on the deck and in the cabins back to the Valkyrie and threw them into the medium channel.

Everyone on the ship knew that these undead would become nourishment for Qin Jinyan and those two-faced undead.

Even the corpses will probably not be wasted; they will be placed in the Tombstone of Loyalty.

Using the mirrors on the walls of the conference room, everyone followed the perspective of the magic mirror into the ghost ship's cabin.

This was the first time they had encountered a ghost ship that hadn't self-destructed, and also the first time they had entered the interior of a real ghost ship.

"Dear Captain, distinguished gentlemen and ladies."

In the conference room of the Valkyrie, the Demon Mirror, like a tour guide, introduced, "The Ghost Ship is surprisingly clean, much cleaner than the Honest Man, and at least there's no odor."

"Magic Mirror, go find the ship's core first," Cheng Lang urged. "The battle on the Thorn isn't over yet."

"Excuse me, please come with me."

As the magic mirror spoke, it had already passed through layers of walls under the guidance of the two-faced ghost, finally arriving at the heart of the ghost ship.

However, when they saw the center of the ship, everyone's faces showed a strange expression.

The ship's interior was shriveled up like a dried fruit that had been aged for ten years, and there were several holes in it. The edges of those holes seemed to still contain strands of white, viscous entrails.
"Where is Vanhart?" Cheng Lang asked.

"He doesn't seem to be on this side."

The magic mirror respectfully reminded him, "Respected Captain, you can sense his location through that ring."

"Come back quickly, he's on that boat over there!"

Before Cheng Lang could finish speaking, the Silver Queen commanded the two-faced undead to send the mirror back to the Valkyrie, and then sailed towards the two ghost ships that had collided.

Meanwhile, the Thorn continued to suppress the pirate gangs on the shore, who were almost turned into hedgehogs, with wave after wave of thorn arrows.

No matter how powerful those pirate ships were at sea, the moment they were dragged ashore, their fighting power was probably less than one-tenth of what it used to be.

Even more deadly was that, as the Thorn Ship seemed to suppress them with an endless barrage of arrows, the islanders who had been imprisoned and were to be sacrificed to the ship's core took the opportunity to break free of their restraints and, under the influence of the song of the Kotoo fishman, bravely began their counterattack.

Just as the pirates on the shore were about to collapse, the Valkyrie caught up with two other ghost ships. These two ships were in a terrible state; the entire crew, especially the corpses of the undead sailors, had become the perfect nutrient medium, producing a large number of black spores with red patterns, but inside the canopy, there were a large number of eerily green spores.

"Yafso has started secretly cultivating those poisonous mushrooms again," Cheng Lang sighed with a headache.

“Look at the spirits on this ship,” the Silver Queen reminded her. “I have never seen such pure souls.”

"What do you mean by such a pure soul?" Yun Ji asked curiously.

"The dead without negative emotions"

The Silver Queen explained simply, "They... well... have a very peaceful mindset."

"Is this also thanks to those mushrooms?" Yun Ji asked suspiciously.

"I'll look into these later."

Cheng Lang urged, "Silver Queen, Magic Mirror."

"Please leave it to us."

The Silver Queen and the Magic Mirror spoke in unison. The former immediately commanded the two-faced undead to bring the mirror onto the ship. Then the Magic Mirror floated out of the mirror and began its exploration under the command of the undead.

The sailors on the ship were all dead, covered in mushrooms. The ghosts of the sailors and even the captain stood there blankly, motionless and expressionless, as if they were at the mercy of others.

Led by the two-faced undead, the magic mirror quickly squeezed into the ship's heart chamber. However, this heart chamber was exactly the same as the previous one.

"Go to another ship"

Cheng Lang reminded him, "Vanhart has already jumped ship."

Upon hearing this, the Silver Queen commanded the two-faced ghosts to carry the mirror and chase after the other ghost ship that had collided with it. The magic mirror, led by the two-faced ghosts, once again found the ship's central chamber.

This time, they finally caught the "live broadcast".

The ship's core was rotting, its entire body covered in disgusting slime. At this moment, Vanhart, whose "base" consisted of eight thick arms, hung upside down from the ceiling of the ship's core chamber. Each of his eight lower arms and four upper arms was tightly gripping a rotting, pus-filled blood vessel, while the sea cucumber on his head had pierced into the ship's core, seemingly greedily sucking the ship's lifeblood.

At this moment, Vanhart's undead body had become much more solid, but one could still see the green ship's blood being absorbed by the sea cucumber on his head, flowing through his translucent body and then quietly disappearing.

Upon seeing the magic mirror, Vanhart, who had the body and face of an ancient dwarf, revealed a simple yet eerie smile. Then, all twelve of his hands exerted force simultaneously, forcefully severing the thick blood vessels they were holding.

"puff!"

Van Hart tilted his head back and pulled out the sea cucumber from his head. The hole that had been pierced in the center of the ship was filled with the flowing sea cucumber entrails and then overflowed.

Vanhart, unperturbed, changed positions, grasped a blood vessel in each hand again, and thrust the disgusting, thorny sea cucumber on its head back into the even more repulsive ship's core with a "plop."

"After the grass carp hybrid, I've actually seen a grass carp! Wow!"

Before Shenba could finish his ramblings, Yunji grabbed his ear and began begging for mercy and admitting his mistakes with remarkable skill.

"How's the situation on the Thorn?" Cheng Lang asked.

"The ships on shore have all been suppressed."

Yun Lan said, "With the help of the islanders and the Tinissa Band, the pirates on the shore were almost completely wiped out."

"Captain, Your Highness Yunlan."

At this moment, the Silver Queen warned, "Two ghost ships have rushed over from the other side of the stone mill road and have now entered the fog."

"Yafso, do you still have any of the poisonous mushroom spores you secretly cultivated?" Cheng Lang asked.

"Huh? No! No! I swear I didn't."

"Those poisonous mushrooms are very useful."

Cheng Lang said, "If there are any more, then these two ghost ships will be handed over to the Thorn."

"Yes! There are many! There are a great many!" Yavso immediately corrected herself.

"Then I'll leave it to you," Cheng Lang decisively decided.

"Get ready to fight!"

Yun Lan immediately issued the order, and the Thorn, under Gerta's command, charged straight toward the two ghost ships that had already entered the fog.

"Statues, listen to my command!"

As Yafsojiao drank, she had already lifted the lids of two wooden crates, revealing crates full of nutrient solution and spores sealed in glass bottles. "Tie a bottle of nutrient solution and a bottle of spores to each arrow shaft! Don't break them!"

"ah!"

These adorable little wooden figures immediately responded, each grabbing a bottle of nutrient solution and a bottle of spores and jumping onto the cannon deck. Then, using their rapidly growing roots as ropes, they firmly tied the glass bottles to the thorny arrow shafts.

These wooden figures, who couldn't participate in the battle, had just finished preparing when two ghost ships emerged from the thick fog and approached. Yun Lan, wielding a rapier, and Ya Fu Suo, holding a large pair of scissors, stood on the open deck, ready along with the mixed-race female sailors of the ray tribe, who also wielded rapiers.

As the distance between the two sides drew closer, Yun Lan took a deep breath and, at the same time as the two ghost ships opened fire on the Thorn, caused a layer of thorn armor to grow on the outside of the ship's hull.

The armor easily stopped the projectiles aimed at heads, and Yun Lan followed up with the order to fire.

"Swish swish swish——"

Amidst a continuous series of whooshing sounds, the thorny arrow shafts, carrying bottles of nutrient solution and spores, were placed all over the bodies of the two ghost ships on the left and right.

As the glass bottles shattered one after another, the two ghost ships were also enveloped in deadly smoke clouds formed by the exploding spores.

"Captain, Vanhart has finished... uh... finished his meal."

The magic mirror carefully considered its words before finding the right adjective, and half of the wall was also divided to show the situation inside the ghost ship's central chamber.

"puff"

As Vanhart pulled the sea cucumber from the shriveled ship's core for the last time, inevitably leaving behind a clump of its internal organs, the completely withered ship's core, having severed its last few blood vessels, fell into the dried-up ship's core pool.

Stretching with his four upper arms, Vanhart ignored the magic mirror beside him and crawled out of the ship's center chamber like a giant spider. Then, with a powerful push from his eight lower arms, he easily jumped onto the Valkyrie.

Almost instinctively, everyone drew their weapons. Fortunately, Van Hart had no intention of breaking into the Valkyrie's center chamber. Instead, he obediently curled up in a ball at Cheng Lang's feet.

(End of this chapter)