Pirate: It’s not a phantom beast, it’s a phantom god!

Chapter 328 Miracle? Divine Strike!
"Marcus, did you see what that was just now?"

After everyone had settled into their tasks and started working, Dr. Clover looked at his disciples.

Because the incident happened so suddenly, and it was getting dark, none of the people present could actually see what had just happened.

"No, teacher."

"All I saw was a huge, dark tail."

"A tail...is it a living thing?"

"Tsk! Looks like it's probably a Sea King! My worst fears have come true..."

"Ah."

Marcus nodded in agreement.

He led Dr. Clover to the spot where they had just anchored, squatted down, and pointed to where the anchor had been, saying:
"The anchor and the chain securing it to the ship were all torn to shreds by a tremendous force... and even a large section of the hull around it was damaged and deformed."

"The reason why the research vessel was suddenly thrown into the air just now must be because our anchor got stuck on a sea monster at the bottom of the ship, which startled it."

Marcus recalled that moment when he thought he was seeing things.

"But why did the sea kings suddenly appear under our ship?"

"Logically, they should have been evicted beforehand, right?"

"Yes, could it be..."

"..."

The master and apprentice exchanged a glance.

"Beast-repelling powder!" *2
"Quick! Marcus! Quickly check where the remaining beast-repelling powder is!"

"Okay! I'll go right away!"

The situation was urgent, so Marcus immediately got up and began to recall the location of the remaining bag of beast-repelling powder.

I remember Olivia was holding it at the time, and then she just handed it to me...
[?!]
Marcus suddenly stopped in his tracks when he realized that the remaining half bag of beast-repelling powder might have fallen into the sea along with some scholar. His heart skipped a beat!

[Oh no!]
thump!
Just as he was about to turn around, the deck beneath his feet suddenly began to shake and tilt dramatically, causing Marcus to fall flat on his face.

But there's no time to worry about that now!

"Teacher, watch out!"

boom! ! !
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a deafening roar, far louder than the previous one, exploded in his ears.

An incredibly massive black shadow tore through the sea and leaped hundreds of meters into the air...

This time, Marcus finally saw the true nature of the creature—a colossal whale over 500 meters long, entirely black and white.

Marcus, Dr. Clover, and the scholars outside the cabin... everyone was stunned and stood frozen in place after witnessing this scene, forgetting to move.

Such a terrifying size is outrageously large among recorded sightings of sea kings... perhaps only the legendary 'island-eating monster' can compare to it.

This research vessel, carrying more than a dozen scholars, was not even as big as the other party's eyeball.

"Doctor! What happened?!"

Olivia, who heard the commotion in the infirmary, ran out immediately, but her legs went weak when she saw the scene above her.

A gigantic black whale completely blotted out the sky and was swooping down into the research vessel below, its jaws wide open like an abyss...

Desperate situation!

A complete and utter dead end!
There was no way to avoid it, no way to escape it... A terrible disaster, like something falling from the sky, descended upon everyone.

"Woo~~~~~"

A long roar came from overhead, and the behemoth, half a kilometer long, opened its blood-red maw, wanting to swallow the small alien creature in its territory whole.

The crowd below simply stared blankly at the scene without making a move; a few even closed their eyes.

[it's over……]
"Ah~"

Dr. Clover sighed, loosened his clenched fist, and was surprisingly calm at this moment, despite his accustomed experience of great storms.

Unfortunately, the task of interpreting history must be left to future generations.
Thinking of the undeciphered historical texts buried beneath his research institute, this scholar, who had dedicated his life to finding historical truth, had no choice but to give up, even though he was unwilling.

Meanwhile, Olivia, who was slumped on the deck, looked at the shadow of death in the sky and thought of her daughter in the last moments of her life.

"Robin..."

bang~
……

"Miss La, forget about the ship."

"The meat is grilled, come and try my... cough, my cooking!"

Quinn sat on a protruding rock, looking at the glistening, smoked steaks, and greeted them warmly.

Kaido won't be back for another ten days or so, and he's determined to do everything he can to please the girl in front of him and get closer to her during this time.

That way, when I join the Beasts Pirates later, I'll have someone to rely on...

After all, the New World is far too dangerous. The great pirates fight with the power to destroy the world, and a scientist like myself doesn't have their strength.

Let's find a strong tree to lean on and then honestly do some research.

"Hehe~ I'll cut you the tenderest piece, please have a good taste~"

Thinking this, Quinn rubbed his hands together, his face full of flattery, and said:
"If there's anything you're not satisfied with, please let me know, and I promise I'll make sure to correct it next time."

"Ha, haha~"

"..."

“Mr. Quinn, I told you you didn’t need to go to such trouble.”

Standing on the shore, facing the sea, Lara lowered his arms, turned to Quinn, and whispered.

“It doesn’t matter if I don’t eat anything. You don’t need to worry about me at all, and you don’t need to go to such lengths to prepare these things.”

“Hey↓↑ You’re right. I’ve been living on this island for a while now, and I’ve done my best to entertain you, Miss La. How can you say it’s a bother?” “Besides, I did all this from the bottom of my heart.”

"Come on, come on, have a taste!"

As he spoke, Quinn used the cutlery function that had been hastily installed on his robotic arm to neatly cut off a piece of bacon, put it on a plate, and delivered it to La.

"...In that case, I shall respectfully comply."

Seeing the other party's enthusiasm, Laya had no choice but to accept the plate, but then immediately said:
"However, we can't keep troubling you like this. After all, Mr. Quinn's main profession is a scientist, right? He should focus his energy on scientific research."

"I'll take care of all three meals every day from now on. I do have some experience in cooking."

"Um... okay, alright."

Quinn originally wanted to say that he wouldn't be able to figure anything out in ten days or half a month, but he was afraid that the other party would think he was useless, so he had no choice but to nod in agreement.

After all, as an employee, you have to pretend you have work even if you don't. You absolutely can't let the boss realize that it doesn't matter whether the company has you or not.

Ignoring Quinn's racing thoughts, La found a spot, sat down, and forked a piece of meat from her plate into her mouth.

[Hmm, uneven heating, the cooking time wasn't well controlled... the knife skills were also lacking, focusing only on sharpness while neglecting the texture of the meat.]
The smoky flavor was a bit too strong, masking the original texture of the meat.
La chewed slowly, always taking cooking very seriously.

[This must be the seventh time he's made this dish. The first time he over-smoked it, and the second time the meat rotted without him noticing...]
[I tried to improve it... I think it was on the third attempt that I changed the thickness of the steak. I became more proficient in the subsequent steps and paid attention to the key points, but overall it still lacked some details.]
As the flavor of the steak spread in her mouth, La gradually unearthed the entire history of the dish and even the history of Quinn himself.

[Nervousness, anticipation, worry, and... ingratiation. So that's what he was really thinking... No wonder he was so reserved; his mind is quite complex.]
"Also, is your favorite food sweet...? Red bean soup with rice cakes."

She swallowed the steak in her mouth and murmured.

"Huh? Miss La, what did you say?"

"It's nothing. It's a very thoughtful dish. Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Quinn."

"Haha~ I am truly honored to receive such praise from Miss La~"

Quinn smiled and took the empty plate, completely unaware that his inner thoughts and preferences had been completely seen through the grilled smoked meat.

"Miss La, would you like another plate?"

"No need, the rest can be left to Mr. Quinn. It should be just right for your appetite."

She stood up, straightened her skirt, and then looked back at the sea.

"Ok."

Although she didn't know how the other party knew her appetite, Quinn readily gathered the remaining bacon together, and then a steel needle shot out from the palm of the robotic arm to string the meat patties together.

"Oh~ By the way, Miss La, what are you looking at?"

"Are those the same people coming?"

Holding his 'skewers', Quinn looked curiously in the direction Ra had been staring at, wanting to see if the group Ra had mentioned had actually appeared.

But when he turned his gaze, he saw something unexpected.

“Hmm…eh?!”

"That is……"

Somewhere on the distant horizon, a shower of light seemed to fall suddenly, illuminating that corner of the sea exceptionally brightly.

"Could that be the legendary school of flying fish?"

Legend has it that there is a school of fish in the ocean that has wings and can fly.

These flying fish collectively leave the sea surface and fly into the air on nights during their breeding season... Their wings shimmer under the moonlight, like shining stars, hence the name "meteor shower on the sea."

"But aren't flying fish only distributed in a small area of ​​the East China Sea? How come they can be seen in the calm zone?"

"Maybe we were just lucky~"

One by one, the points of light extinguished on La's crimson pupils, and only after she had completely disappeared did she calmly look away.

……

"..."

"Olivia, Olivia!"

"Olivia, open your eyes and look!"

"PhD?"

The anticipated catastrophe never came; instead, Dr. Clover's excited voice came from beside her.

Olivia slowly opened her eyes, and what came into view was not the darkness that was darker than the night before... but points of light that filled the entire sky and sea.

"What a nice view……"

She murmured unconsciously, this dreamlike scene, which seemed to be a reversal of the Milky Way, was something she had never encountered in her decades of life.

Is this really still the human world?

With this question in mind, Olivia began:

"Doctor, what exactly happened?"

"Where is that sea king?"

"I do not know either."

Dr. Clover shook his head, then continued looking at the countless points of light and said:

"At the moment when that sea monster was about to swallow us all, for some reason, my whole body suddenly paused for a moment, and then exploded into the countless points of light that we see now."

"It's like a miracle."

"I see... a miracle."

Olivia reached out and caught a tiny photon, feeling the warmth emanating from it, her eyes sparkling with an unseen light.

(End of this chapter)