Chapter 79: They’re Not Good Enough
While the two of them were confused, two Fish Fiends were underwater near the shore, pulling Kevin toward another sailboat.
Since these sailboats had almost the same structure as Kevin’s Two-Masted Sloop — the same power system, drainage system, mooring system, deck layout, cabin design, and so on — it saved Kevin a lot of time. In just a few minutes, he could scan and break down an entire sailboat and store all its materials into his Mechanical Kingdom.
Kevin didn’t want anyone to know he had the "Mechanical Sovereign" ability, so he quietly called the Fish Fiends to take him underwater. That’s why the ships kept disappearing from the beach without a sound.
In fact, if anyone had looked closely, they could have easily seen Kevin swimming about half a meter below the water’s surface near the shore.
Two hours later, only five of the fifteen ships originally parked on the beach were left.
Each of those five ships had unique mechanical structures or even advanced equipment on board.
For example: an astronomical observation and navigation system, a fishing net storage and lifting system, a multi-mast system, a naval ramming structure, a weather observation and hydrology measurement system, and a lifeboat mounting and lifting system.
But what shocked Kevin the most was Raphael’s deep-sea fishing boat.
That ship actually had steel armor and a steam power system. Its internal technology was a whole era ahead of the wooden sailboats.
Kevin patted the armor of the deep-sea fishing boat gently. The cold touch and the hard iron excited him. "If I scan all these mechanical structures into blueprints, the Two-Masted Sloop can get another big upgrade."
Kevin nodded to the two Fish Fiends beside him.
The two Fish Fiends pulled Kevin quickly back to the deck of the Two-Masted Sloop.
By now, Kevin’s crew members, led by Nova, were heading to the beach.
They collected wood, stacked stones, and built wooden frames and rock piles on the sand.
Kevin watched the girls making good progress and nodded slightly. "I need to speed things up too."
Kevin sat cross-legged on the deck, closed his eyes tight, and focused all his awareness back into the Mechanical Kingdom.
Now that he had plenty of raw materials, he went full speed ahead. He put all the production lines in the Mechanical Kingdom to work making new drones, Vulcan Cannons, RPG Launchers, and main guns for Military Armored Vehicles.
Of course, to save costs, Kevin only produced the main body of the artillery pieces.
He didn’t produce any of the vehicles that carry those guns, like helicopters or armored cars.
He did the math on the timing and figured that by nightfall, he could make at least 2,500 new drones and several hundred various Vulcan Cannons, main guns, and RPG Launchers.
"Good. I’ll make it in time," Kevin nodded and started assigning raw materials to each production line.
While Kevin and his crew were working like crazy, Richard and Derek stood on the hilltop with the worst looks on their faces.
Derek grabbed Richard’s water pipe, took a deep drag, and coughed hard. "Damn it! Someone among those people must have power we can’t understand. Ten perfectly good ships don’t just vanish into thin air."
Richard wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and whispered, "Could it be ghosts?"
Derek spat and cursed, "What stupid crap are you talking? The Eldritch have already descended on this world. Don’t we know what ghosts look like? Have you ever heard of a ghost that can make ten ships disappear all at once?"
He took another drag from the water pipe and said in a low voice, "Someone in Nova’s fleet must have some kind of magical ability. Maybe it has something to do with the weapons they have."
When Richard heard this, his eyes lit up. "Yeah, you’re right. They have way too many weapons and bullets. Way more than anyone could use. Everyone got teleported to this sea when the Eldritch came. There’s no way anyone could bring that much ammunition."
A greedy look appeared on Richard’s face. "Looks like one of those women has the ability to turn raw materials into weapons. We have to find her, hehehe. Derek, you stole four of my wives. This time, if we catch Nova and the bitches behind her, I get first pick."
Derek gave Richard a sideways glance but didn’t say no.
At the same time, not far from Kevin, on the coast.
Raphael straightened up and gently wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Toti handed him a piece of baked sweet potato and smiled. "Take a break."
"Thanks." Raphael took the sweet potato and bit into it happily. "I wonder how Kevin and the others are doing."
Toti chuckled. "Want to go take a look? We only promised not to bother them. We didn’t say we couldn’t watch."
Raphael nodded. "Good idea. With Valentina and the others helping us, we’re way ahead of schedule anyway. Let’s go see how Kevin is setting up his defenses."
Raphael put away the half-eaten sweet potato and pulled Toti toward the beach where Kevin and the others were.
But halfway there, they were stunned by what they saw.
"Where are the ships?" Raphael stared at the empty shoreline, her face full of confusion.
Toti scratched his head, equally puzzled. "Did they sail them out somewhere?"
Raphael sighed. "Never mind. That’s not important. Let’s go see what Nova and Celula are doing."
Suddenly, a tempting smell drifted over.
Raphael sniffed the air, and her eyes went wide.
Drool started to drip from the corner of her mouth.
It smelled so good.
Steak. And pizza. And the smell of alcohol too.
Oh my god, what were they doing?
Full of curiosity and anticipation, Raphael and Toti quickly rushed deeper into the beach where Kevin was staying.
They walked around a row of rocks and soon spotted Nova, Celula, and the other girls having lunch.
Right then, Nova, Celula, Monchhichi, and the others were enjoying a relaxing midday meal.
There was so much delicious food on the table that they couldn’t even finish it all.
Besides the things Raphael had just smelled and mentioned, there were also caviar, bread, milk, and cigarettes.
Seeing this, Toti couldn’t help but curse. "Holy crap. They’re living like kings."
Raphael took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
She counted the dishes on the table and frowned. "Wait a minute. These foods are all prizes from the past few days’ leaderboard. I remember those were personal rewards — only enough for one person for one day. So how come, after all this time, they’re still eating food from two or even three days ago? Look at that steak. That’s clearly A5 wagyu beef. It was in the first day’s rewards."
Toti scratched his head and said quietly, "Maybe they didn’t want to eat it before and saved it. Now that they’re about to face a strong enemy and might not survive, they decided to eat it all and enjoy themselves."
Raphael’s face darkened when she heard this. "If that’s the case, and they can’t handle the pressure from the monsters, then we’re screwed."
With that, Raphael turned her head and looked at the beach.
Not far from them, a row of strangely shaped piles of rocks had suddenly appeared on the beach.
Every few dozen piles of rocks, there was a simple wooden frame built in the middle.
Raphael stared at these and frowned even harder. "What exactly are they doing? These aren’t traps, and they aren’t forts. What’s the point of them?"
Just then, Nova and Celula both sensed the mental fluctuations of Raphael and Toti.
They turned around, looked at the two uninvited guests, and waved.
From a distance, Raphael caught sight of Nova and Celula’s faces, and her eyes lit up. "They’re so beautiful!"
Raphael praised them while gently touching her own cheek.
After the Eldritch descended, beauty often meant disaster for women.
Luckily, she had ended up on the same boat as Toti and the others from the very beginning. The crew and Toti were all colleagues she had worked with for years.
Because of that, Raphael was lucky enough to avoid a lot of tragedies.
But she still knew that good looks on this terrifying sea would bring trouble.
So she deliberately made herself look ugly and dressed like a man.
Just then, Toti lightly patted Raphael on the shoulder. "Kid, you don’t need to envy them. You’re just as good as they are."
Raphael sighed softly. "I know. I just envy that they can freely show their real faces."
Toti shook his head when he heard this. "Maybe they’re strong, but they’re not careful enough, and they’re not low-key enough. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have let us see what they look like so easily. Think about it. If we were bad people, or enemies who wanted to hurt them, they’d already be in danger."
Toti’s voice was loud. Nova, Celula, and the other girls could hear him clearly.
At that moment, Nova walked over in her high heels, swaying her hips, and stopped in front of Raphael with a smile. "You’re so lucky, Captain Raphael. You have a really good partner."
Raphael nodded. "Toti is the uncle who raised me since I was a kid. I’ve always respected him like an elder."
Nova nodded. "So, Captain Raphael, did you bring your elder here to lecture us?"
Raphael shook her head. "No, Miss Nova. You’ve got it wrong. We just wanted to come and learn how you’re preparing for the storm and the monster attack."
She paused, and a look of disappointment appeared on her face. "But it seems like you haven’t really made any preparations that can handle the crisis. I’m not trying to blame you. I just think that with such a big disaster coming, you’re still relaxing here, enjoying good food and even drinking. It makes me a little worried."
Raphael hesitated for a moment, a look of uncertainty flashing across her face, but she quickly steadied herself. "Sorry, I’m being very direct. But I’m saying this for all of us. You guys are strong, so I hope you can take tonight’s storm and monsters seriously."