Chapter 111: The Third Force
Justin smashed and banged wildly until the Eldritch Conch finally opened its eyes and glared at him, clearly angry.
Then, five tentacles suddenly shot toward Justin from different angles.
In an instant, his neck, wrists, and ankles were all tightly wrapped by the Eldritch Conch.
He activated his [Resonance Amplification] Talent ability, and his body lit up with glowing Eldritch Runes.
Soon, his muscles bulged. He pushed hard with his legs and quickly broke free from the Eldritch Conch’s grip, landing back on the deck.
Justin rubbed his wrists and ankles, feeling a dull ache.
After that round of fighting, he knew he was no match for the Eldritch Conch in front of him.
With no other choice, he ran back into the cockpit and steered the ship toward the other fleets.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Right then, some ships with cannons started firing.
Luckily, these Eldritch Conches couldn’t withstand the artillery.
They roared and swung their tentacles wildly.
A few ships weren’t fast enough to dodge and were smashed in half on the spot.
Franky and Nami’s hearts sank when they saw this.
But they didn’t notice that, just below the water not far away, a few Fish Fiends were holding the [Witch’s Oath Coin (Heads)] and grinning at them with contempt.
About a hundred and fifty nautical miles away.
The "Daddy" Cannon was slowly sailing across the sea.
The Fish Fiends quickly passed the information to Kevin.
Kevin looked at the images of those giant Eldritch Conches and frowned. "These guys aren’t normal Eldritch Entities."
He carefully recalled his past life experiences.
He had taken part in treasure hunts before, so he knew that valuable treasures were usually guarded by terrifying monsters and traps to keep people away.
Thinking about this, Kevin tapped the table and said in a low voice, "Looks like those creatures are more like treasure guardians. And the worst kind — the ones that never drop any loot."
He grinned. "Actually, we should thank those fools. If they hadn’t drawn the guardians’ attention, we wouldn’t have had such an easy chance to get close to the treasure."
Kevin stood up and walked straight to the helm. "Uncle Toti, let’s go around this area. Follow this route."
Toti looked at the course Kevin had drawn and rubbed his eyes. "Isn’t this the area where those ships that were chasing us are?"
Kevin smiled. "Right now, that’s the safest place. Because someone else is drawing all the monsters away."
"You got it!" Toti shouted and spun the wheel hard.
The "Daddy" Cannon quickly turned and sailed away from the area where the Eldritch Conches were.
At the same time, Black Knight Aaron flew back to the luxury yacht, looking battered and worn.
As soon as he landed, Joseph and Bella walked out of the cabin with worried faces.
"Mr. Aaron, how is Justin?" Joseph asked, pretending to care about his brother while secretly checking Aaron’s injuries.
Aaron shot Joseph a cold glare. "Don’t act like a saint in front of me. You think I didn’t notice you two lovebirds abandoning your own crew and brother earlier?"
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
He folded his bat wings, and his powerful aura quickly faded. His wounds shrank along with it.
By the time he returned to his normal human size, his injuries had almost completely healed.
Seeing how fast Aaron could recover, Joseph sighed quietly. "Could you please explain something to us? What exactly were those terrible creatures? I don’t think even dumping a hundred ships’ worth of corpses into the ocean could summon such terrifying Eldritch Entities."
Aaron spat on the ground and cursed. "Those aren’t some damn Eldritch Entities. They’re the [Original Guardians] of this sea."
Before the Eldritch came, this ocean wasn’t polluted by the Land of Terror.
Back then, the sea was full of living creatures.
But later, when the Eldritch invaded, many sea creatures mutated and became Eldritch Entities.
Some powerful ocean tribes had their souls taken over by the evil gods and became their servant races.
However, some of the sea’s original inhabitants were still strong enough to avoid being controlled or corrupted.
They guarded the few remaining oases left in this terrifying ocean. On those oases, they built lighthouses and hid treasures.
Their goal was simple: one day, these treasures would be given to the strong ones who were willing to save this cursed sea.
Joseph and Bella listened to Black Knight Aaron’s explanation. Suddenly, it clicked. "These Eldritch Conches are guarding treasure? Does that mean the treasure map Kevin got is somehow connected to them?"
When Black Knight Aaron heard their doubts, he asked about the rewards in this area.
Since Aaron wasn’t a Survivor from the [First Sea Area], he hadn’t received any ranking info or reward notifications.
When Bella told him that Kevin had not only been at the top of the kill leaderboard but had also killed three Eldritch Giants himself, Aaron’s eyes went wide. "No way. That Kevin guy is insane. Even in the [Second Sea Area], there aren’t many Survivors who can take down a Giant alone."
At the very least, Aaron himself couldn’t handle three at once.
He thought it over carefully. One-on-one, he could kill one. Against two, he’d be in a tough fight. Against three, he’d have to run.
His face darkened. "I’ve heard people say Kevin betrayed his allies and stole their kills. I bet he used other Survivors to wear down those three Giants, then jumped in at the last second to land the final blow. That’s how he got the credit for all three."
"But even so, that Kevin is still pretty skilled. They’re probably nearby looking for treasure right now. Let’s not waste time. We’ll cut through this area."
"If we get to the treasure spot first, we might be able to grab it before they do."
Just then, Keston sailed up in his pirate ship, the [Spectral Corsair Vessel].
When he heard there was treasure nearby, he was instantly interested.
Bella raised an eyebrow and looked at Black Knight Aaron. "Are Survivors from the [Second Sea Area] really interested in treasure from the [First Sea Area]?"
Aaron spat. "You don’t get it. Every treasure map leads to something unique. Those are the most precious items the original inhabitants of this ocean left behind."
However, some of the sea’s original inhabitants were still strong enough to avoid being controlled or corrupted.
They guarded the few remaining oases left in this terrifying ocean. On those oases, they built lighthouses and hid treasures.
Their goal was simple: one day, these treasures would be given to the strong ones who were willing to save this cursed sea.
Joseph and Bella listened to Black Knight Aaron’s explanation. Suddenly, it clicked. "These Eldritch Conches are guarding treasure? Does that mean the treasure map Kevin got is somehow connected to them?"
When Black Knight Aaron heard their doubts, he asked about the rewards in this area.
Since Aaron wasn’t a Survivor from the [First Sea Area], he hadn’t received any ranking info or reward notifications.
When Bella told him that Kevin had not only been at the top of the kill leaderboard but had also killed three Eldritch Giants himself, Aaron’s eyes went wide. "No way. That Kevin guy is insane. Even in the [Second Sea Area], there aren’t many Survivors who can take down a Giant alone."
At the very least, Aaron himself couldn’t handle three at once. He thought it over carefully. One-on-one, he could kill one. Against two, he’d be in a tough fight. Against three, he’d have to run.
His face darkened. "I’ve heard people say Kevin betrayed his allies and stole their kills. I bet he used other Survivors to wear down those three Giants, then jumped in at the last second to land the final blow. That’s how he got the credit for all three."
"But even so, that Kevin is still pretty skilled. They’re probably nearby looking for treasure right now. Let’s not waste time. We’ll cut through this area."
"If we get to the treasure spot first, we might be able to grab it before they do."
Just then, Keston sailed up in his pirate ship, the [Spectral Corsair Vessel].
When he heard there was treasure nearby, he was instantly interested.
Bella raised an eyebrow and looked at Black Knight Aaron. "Are Survivors from the [Second Sea Area] really interested in treasure from the [First Sea Area]?"
Aaron spat. "You don’t get it. Every treasure map leads to something unique. Those are the most precious items the original inhabitants of this ocean left behind."
"Any Survivor fleet that rules the [Second Sea Area] must have at least one or two pieces of treasure like that."
"Are they really that important?" Bella gasped and quickly covered her mouth.
Joseph’s eyes lit up with strong interest. "In that case, let’s hurry across this area while those Eldritch Conches are busy with someone else."
Keston frowned at that. He turned to Joseph and asked, "You’re not going to check on your brother?"
Joseph smiled and spread his hands. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t help him. Don’t worry, my brother’s lucky. He’ll be fine."
Keston’s voice turned cold. "It sounds to me like you almost want him dead."
Joseph just smiled and didn’t explain.
With that, the luxury yacht and Keston’s pirate ship, the **Spectral Corsair Vessel**, both turned around and sped at full power toward the deeper part of the sea they had just left.
Meanwhile, Justin had already made it onto Franky and Nami’s ship.
After they managed to kill one Eldritch Conch, the rest of them became completely enraged.
Their eyes burned red as they quickly surrounded the ship where Franky and Nami were.
"Damn it! These things are way too tough. Killing one was already my limit," Justin gasped. As he saw more and more Eldritch Conches closing in, despair showed on his face.
Behind him, Franky had merged with the ship itself.
He moved like a Transformer, controlling the vessel to dodge and weave around the Eldritch Conches.
Whenever one of them swung its ten-meter-long tentacles to flip the ship, Franky managed to twist the ship into different shapes to avoid the attacks.
At one point, he even turned part of the ship into a giant arm, grabbed a tentacle that was trying to sneak up on them, and yanked the Eldritch Conch so hard it stumbled.
Nami took that chance to summon lightning.
Every Eldritch Conch that Franky grabbed got hit by her thunder.
A few of them got stunned by the electricity and sank to the bottom of the sea, never coming back up.
But Nami had used up all her strength. She could only barely drive away three or four Eldritch Conches.
"Damn it! This doesn’t make sense. My lightning is supposed to be really effective against Eldritch Entities. Why are these Eldritch Conches so resistant to it?" Nami growled through gritted teeth, bracing her hands on her knees.
Around her, the surviving Captains and Survivors were still fighting hard.
Some had ripped cannon turrets off their own ships and set them up on Franky and Nami’s deck, blasting the Eldritch Conches nonstop.
Others had loaded giant crossbows, firing bolts as thick as spears at the creatures’ eyes.
While they were struggling, a massive ironclad sailing ship sped past about five kilometers away.
Some sharp-eyed Captains spotted it and immediately started shouting.
"That’s another Survivor team! We’re saved!"
"Fire a signal flare! Get them to come pick us up!"
"Tell them we’re surrounded by these horrible Eldritch Conches!"
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Let’s break through toward that ironclad ship! Get them to help us! If we can open a path, we can escape!"