Chapter 78: The Ships Are Gone
Kevin paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "So from now on, we need to be ready for betrayal."
Nova frowned. "You think they’ll stab us in the back?"
Kevin smiled. "Not right away. But if we get too worn out in the next fight, they won’t hesitate to attack us and take everything we have."
Celula immediately got angry when she heard this. "Damn it! That’s too much! If they’re going to come after us anyway, why don’t we just hit them first and take their stuff?"
Kevin grinned. "That’s exactly what I’m thinking. But now isn’t the time."
He turned and looked out at the sea, a cold smile on his face. "Those poor Captains have no idea what’s coming for them."
Two hours later, fifteen ships of all sizes were neatly lined up on the beach near the Two-Masted Sloop. It was quite a sight.
Then a dozen Survivors jumped off the ships at the same time. Together with Raphael and the others, there were exactly eighteen Captains.
Nova and Celula, still wearing their masks, walked slowly toward the group.
Raphael frowned when she saw they were empty-handed. "We sailed the ships here like we agreed. Where are the weapons, ammo, and equipment?"
Celula shrugged. "Let us inspect the goods first."
With that, Eliana used her telekinesis to lift Kevin into the air from the deck of the Two-Masted Sloop.
The two of them floated slowly over the fifteen ships like they were walking through the sky.
Kevin quickly scanned everything with his [Mechanical Sovereign] Talent.
"Except for the deep-sea fishing boats and a few special vessels, most of the ships are wooden sailboats with keel frames."
That meant Kevin had already mastered about seventy to eighty percent of the ship structures.
Kevin did a quick estimate and whispered, "Breaking down these wooden sailboats won’t take more than three hours. But that deep-sea fishing boat and the other special vessels might take a lot more time."
With that thought, Kevin and Eliana quickly flew back above Nova, Raphael, and the others.
Kevin raised his hand slightly. The bullets, pistols, RPG launchers, and grenades stored inside the mechanical kingdom in his body began to appear on the beach, like they were being 3D printed right out of thin air.
The Captains stared wide-eyed at the weapons and ammo that had appeared out of nowhere. They could hardly believe it.
"My God, who is that guy? How can his system backpack hold so many weapons and bullets?"
"I’m more jealous that he can fly. That Talent ability of his is awesome."
"Trust me, he’s definitely not some nobody."
While everyone was buzzing with chatter, Richard was smoking his hookah, his eyes fixed greedily on Eliana standing next to Kevin.
He tugged at Derek’s clothes and grinned. "I’ll bet you that woman, plus Nova and Celula, are all top-tier beauties."
Derek looked at the girls’ faces with a confused expression. "How can you tell? They’re all wearing masks."
Richard said smugly: "You forget, back in my hometown, women have to wear headscarves. Only their parents and husbands get to see their faces. Damn, I had to fall into a lot of traps before I trained my eye. Trust me, I can tell just by looking at a woman’s eyes whether she’s beautiful or not."
Derek rolled his eyes. "I’d advise you not to mess with those women."
Richard grinned. "Relax. Once we get through this crisis safely, I’ll take you with me to capture those bitches, and we’ll have some fun together."
Derek got excited and was about to agree when he heard Oliver coughing loudly beside him.
He turned and met Oliver’s warning gaze, then curled his lips.
Oliver grinned. "At least this old man won’t die between a woman’s legs. Kid, if you want to live long, you’d better control your lust."
Just then, Nova and Celula also noticed the looks Richard and Derek were giving them.
They glared at the two men with disgust, then pulled out their pistols and aimed them at Richard and Derek.
Bang! Bang! Two gunshots rang out in a row. Two huge fireballs exploded right in front of Richard and Derek.
The intense heat and shockwave hit them, setting their hair and beards on fire.
Panicking, Derek immediately dropped to the ground and rolled three times in the sand to put out the flames on his hair.
Richard instantly transformed, turning his body completely to stone, and only then did the flames on his beard go out.
"Damn it! You bitches, what the hell are you doing?" Richard roared.
Nova stared at the two men coldly, her voice icy. "If I see those disgusting looks in your eyes again, I’ll dig your eyeballs out myself."
Seeing Nova and Celula suddenly raise their guns, the other Captains quickly pulled out their weapons and aimed them at Nova and Celula.
Just as the two sides were about to start a fight, Raphael shouted, "Everyone stop!"
Then Oliver walked over to Nova and Celula with his cane. "Young ladies, I apologize for my companions’ behavior. Right now, we should focus our energy on the coming storm and the monsters. If those two Captains have offended you, we can have them camp far away from this beach."
Richard and Derek were furious when they heard Oliver’s words. "Hey, old man, who gave you the right to make decisions for us?"
Oliver’s eyes flickered with a golden light, and he warned coldly, "This old man is scared of death. I just want to survive. Anyone who gets in the way of my survival, I’ll be the first to take them down to hell with me."
Oliver’s warning was icy cold, and it hit Richard like a sharp icicle.
Richard changed back to his normal form.
His beard was now a bit shorter. He took an angry puff of his hookah and cursed, "Fine, I’ll give you face this time."
Then he turned and glared at Nova. "For now, we deal with the enemy together. But the grudge between us is settled."
With that, Richard and Derek turned and left. The Captains who followed them grabbed the weapons and ammo from the ground and left as well.
Oliver and his companions also took their share of weapons and equipment and left.
Only Raphael, Valentina, and a few other Captains remained.
Raphael walked up to Nova and said sincerely, "Miss Nova, if you don’t mind, could we set up camp next to your beach? Please rest assured, my crew and I respect women. We won’t bother you."
Nova looked at Raphael and nodded. "Fine. But I don’t want to see anyone else on this beach besides you."
Raphael nodded and began moving supplies and equipment with her companions.
Celula had once told Raphael that the most important thing for surviving the storm and monsters was to set up traps and defenses in advance.
If there was enough time, it would be best to create a buffer zone on the island’s beach. Let the monsters rush onto the beach, then surround and kill them. That would make things much easier.
Raphael and her team followed their plan and quickly started digging deep pits on the neighboring beach.
Toti led his crew deep into the dense forest in the middle of the island. They cut down a large amount of wood, sharpened the ends, and stuck them neatly into the pits to make traps.
They also moved a lot of big rocks and placed them all over the beach to create cover that could support each other.
Not far from them, Oliver, along with Robin and Tom, was building a fortress.
Their defensive plan was simple: build a strong enough fortress so they could focus on using their guns to attack the monsters.
Of course, to spread out the risk, they built three separate foundations. It was clear they planned to build three fortresses that could support each other.
On a rocky beach far away from Kevin and the others, Richard and his men didn’t build any fortresses or set up any traps.
Instead, they went straight into the dense forest and found a high spot.
"This is a good position," Derek said, looking down at most of the island through a pair of binoculars. From here, he could easily see everything that Kevin, Raphael, and Oliver were doing.
Richard had a woman on each arm and laughed. "When the storm comes, let them fight on the front lines. We’ll save our strength."
Then he looked over at a nearby cave and grinned. "As long as we hide in that cave when the time comes, no matter how strong the storm is, it can’t blow the whole mountain away, can it?"
Derek put down the binoculars and said seriously, "Let’s keep a low profile and set up traps and defenses here as much as we can."
Richard was surprised. "Why bother with that? Who are you trying to defend against?"
Derek looked down at the beach below and said in a low voice, "To defend against them. If they can’t hold their ground, they’ll try to take this cave from us."
With that, Derek raised the binoculars again and stared at Kevin’s Two-Masted Sloop. "Speaking of which, I’m curious. What do those people want with all those empty ships?"
As soon as he said that, Derek’s hands suddenly started shaking violently.
The binoculars fell to the ground. He stared in disbelief at the beach a few hundred meters below him.
A wooden sailing ship had suddenly disappeared without a sound.
Derek rubbed his eyes, picked up the binoculars, and looked again.
It was exactly the same as what he had just seen. A ship that had been parked on the beach was gone.
"Damn it! What the hell is going on?" Derek grabbed Richard and shoved the binoculars into his hands. "Quick, look down there and tell me what’s happening. Am I seeing things? Why is one of the fifteen ships suddenly missing?"
Richard snorted. "You must have been fooling around with women too much last night. Your kidneys are weak, and you’re seeing things."
He picked up the binoculars and looked down at the beach not far away.
When he looked through the binoculars, his mouth dropped open and he stood there frozen for a full half minute. Then he cursed, "Holy shit! Where did the ship go?"
Derek shot Richard a dirty look. "You just said my kidneys were weak. See? Was I wrong? There are only fourteen ships left on the beach now."
Richard slapped his thigh hard, glared at Derek, and spat, "Bullshit! There are only thirteen ships left on the beach now."