Chapter 258: Chapter 185: Because It’s Fun

Deep in the Chaos Sea.

A large Empire iron cargo ship was slowly sailing along a route towards the Ark Kingdom.

A young sailor wiped the sweat off his forehead, put down the cleaning bucket, and curiously gazed at the surrounding scenery.

There was no ’sea surface’ around.

As far as the eye could see, the entire world was a gigantic, indescribable fruit tree.

The fruits it bore were massive books, as large as mountains, with old, worn covers. The ripened fruits remained spread open.

The iron cargo ship was traveling on the pages of a black leather book; the sound of flipping pages was audible, as the ship moved from one page to another.

Many oddly-shaped little creatures were frolicking on the text surface of the pages. The young man lowered his head and noticed that only where the ship’s hull touched the pages did a wave-like texture appear.

Deep Sea Route · Knowledge Tree.

The young sailor was entranced.

"One of the rules of this route is not to be interested in the false knowledge within the ancient tree, young man."

Just then, a steady voice suddenly came from behind: "Unless you want to become a Sea Monster with a ruler on your head."

The young man shivered.

"Captain Claude!" He quickly grabbed the nearby mop: "I... I wasn’t slacking off!"

"Don’t be so jumpy, kid. You’d better get rid of this bad habit."

The middle-aged captain didn’t mind the other’s panic. He leisurely lit a cigarette, took a deep inhale, and looked relaxed.

"Heh heh heh..."

The young man chuckled foolishly, seeing the captain wasn’t angry, and daringly asked: "Captain, how far are we from the Ark Kingdom?"

"We haven’t reached the Fog Strait yet, what’s your hurry?"

Claude exhaled a puff of smoke, scrutinizing the fresh-faced lad newly recruited on board: "I remember your name is Charles, right? How are you finding life on the ship?"

"It’s much better than the serious, dull land environment, Captain."

Charles’s eyes shone: "Even though I was born in the Empire’s inland new city, I’ve always wanted to see the marvelous sea world."

"Hey, so you’re from the new city, huh..."

Claude raised an eyebrow: "Many people are scrambling to get into that city untouched by nightmares. Why do you want to downgrade yourself and endure hardships with me on the sea?"

"Captain, my dream is to explore uncharted seas."

The young man just laughed heartily: "And I want to see if I can make some money with you so my father and mother won’t have to work so hard."

Empire people naturally do business on the sea, and Captain Claude was one of the outstanding ones.

"Today’s youth are really impulsive... but you did choose the right person to follow, kid!"

Claude grinned, flicking the Black Soron in his fingertips, the black crystal-like Empire currency gleaming charmingly in the light.

He tossed the cigarette butt into the sea and looked into the distance.

The Chaos Sea disrupted the transmission of information; ordinary people had no way to get accurate information. Through the sailors’ oral exchanges, rumors about the Ark Kingdom on the sea were diverse.

Some said the Ark Kingdom was beaten by the Alliance and was lost, others said a great famine was imminent, and others said the Ark People were all wretchedly poor.

But Claude knew, regardless of how strange the rumors were, any new country standing firm on the sea must mean lucrative business opportunities!

Frost Falcon Duke had recently approved a lot of sailing permits, and Claude wouldn’t miss such a good opportunity.

While the captain was pondering, Charles noticed that not far away, the paper-sea surface suddenly wrinkled. Under Claude’s suddenly alert gaze, a slender communication mast emerged from the sea.

Next, a bizarre frost wind howled in.

The next second, a menacingly styled steel submarine emerged from the sea, coming into view of the two.

"Captain Claude, it’s the ’Black Dream’!"

Charles immediately recognized their warship, his eyes brimming with intense admiration.

Empire citizens always respected those who pursued true strength and glory, and every noble of the Empire eligible to command a warship was a guardian of the people unafraid of nightmare blizzards.

Claude let out a slight sigh of relief.

He watched the slowly approaching Empire warship, feeling a trace of puzzlement.

Why was the Black Dream here?

"Don’t just stand there, go signal with flags."

For safety, Claude casually instructed the young man beside him: "Tell that Lord we are just a merchant ship."

"Yes, Captain!"

Charles eagerly took on the task, grabbed the flag, stood at the cargo ship’s bow, and vigorously waved it.

But as the Black Dream drew closer, Claude inexplicably felt a bit uneasy.

"My Lord! We’re just passing through this route—"

Boom!!

The next moment, Charles’s shout abruptly halted.

Claude’s eyes widened as he saw the hot cannon fire hit the bow, the exploding flames engulfing the young man’s silhouette.

The hull shook violently.

Claude looked at the young man not far away who had been blown to pieces, his mind blank.

The lad who had just been cheerfully talking about the future and ideals with him met such a tragic end before his eyes...

Why?

Next, the sound of tearing book pages reached Claude’s ears, his face changed drastically. The next moment, a torpedo launched by the submarine struck the side of the cargo ship with precision!

Boom!!!

The unready crew members in the cabin suffered heavy casualties, screams filling the air, while at the same time, ruthless mechanical soldiers had climbed onto the deck.

Without any sign or warning, a merciless massacre suddenly began.

The mechanical soldiers spread out, swinging the blades in their hands like evil spirits towards the panic-stricken crew. Amidst the despairing cries of the people, heads flew up one after another.

The heavy scent of blood spread, and the ship’s environment instantly turned into a scarlet hell.

This was a complete massacre!

"Stop it! I have Lord Frost Falcon’s trade permit! You can’t treat your fellow countrymen like this!!"

Claude’s eyes almost popped out, shouting loudly towards the submarine, and in the next moment, he locked eyes with the approaching mechanical executioner.

It was as if a bucket of icy water had been poured over him, freezing Claude in place.

The mechanical soldier in front of him was actually smiling...

They were displaying ’activity’ Claude had never seen before.

The most terrifying thing was, the gaze they cast upon him was like looking at an ignorant insect.

Claude instinctively reached for his prized gun holstered at his waist. The next second, a flash of a blade, and the captain’s limbs were severed from his torso.

He lay on his back, his face pale from the pain, his eyes full of confusion and despair.

"Ah, finally downloaded the mind data. The faith environment here is really poor, no wonder the master struggles to wipe out these lowly monkeys."

In Claude’s horrified gaze, another mechanical soldier actually tapped its temple like a real person.

It complained aloud: "After being in the company department for so long, suddenly being dispatched by Executive Martina to this ghost place really cramps my style."

"Yeah, how to describe it... It’s like being stuffed into a murky bottle."

The mechanical soldier in front of Claude moved its limbs, responding to its companion: "This Genesis is ridiculously backward."

"But I’ve got talent!"

It laughed again: "It would’ve been great if you had connected sooner. That slash I just made was awesome!"

Listening to the two ’mechanical soldiers’ chat so casually, Claude felt chilled to the bone.

"Who... are you people..."

His lips trembled, staring intently at the alien being before him, the captain’s consciousness growing dim: "Why are you doing this..."

The nearest ’mechanical soldier’ slowly turned its head, looking at the defective creation before it, its smile full of excitement and malice.

The next second, the executioner’s blade fell.

"Hee hee."

It kicked the corpse at its feet with a chuckle: "Because it’s fun."