Ball of Nothing

Chapter 612: Power Up

Despite everyone's quick reaction, the Marrissa was still dragged into the strong current, unable to go against the force.

"Captain! What do we do?" the panicked first-mate squeaked.

Doing his best to remain calm, Ottley asked for the ship's status. As long as the engine remained functional, they still had a chance.

Zero was busy tending to the wounded while Bob and Truen took up positions to watch the pimple of doom. Truen's superior eyesight made him a better scout than any of the otters, and Bob put his incredible strength to use, keeping the rudder steady. Yet, none of their efforts could keep this ship from spiralling towards the fiery molten lava.

"Should we?" Zero asked in the mindscape when the ship jerked violently again. Something collided into its side, but there was no time to assess the damages. They had to get out of here.

"Wait a little longer," Truen advised.

It wasn't the direst circumstances. They shouldn't reveal all their cards this early. Besides, these sea otters volunteered for the duty after getting prepared to not return home alive. This was their first trial. If Ottley and his crew couldn't find a way to overcome this with their skills, they were not worthy of commanding this Marrissa.

"Full speed ahead," Ottley commanded. "Follow in the direction of the current. We will not fight it. All hands to the engine room on standby for my command!"

Initially, everyone froze. Has the captain finally lost his mind? However, when Ottley snapped at them to get moving, nobody doubted his decision.

Zero stood around looking helpless as everyone else had a role to play. Truen and Pepper were keeping tabs on the distance before they collided, Bob was single-handedly maintaining the rudder, and the sea otters were charging the engine.

"What should I do?" Zero asked Ottley, who was busy taking in the information from everyone else.

The captain stared at Zero for a second then pointed at the door. "Check the ship for damages and report to me. If there are any emergency leaks or cracks, quickly fix them. This deep underwater, the pressure could cause the Marrissa to fall apart with the slightest cracks."

Happy to be of use, Zero quickly checked on the noise he heard hitting the left upper hull. If the worst happened, the doctor would activate his spell to instantly force everyone to teleport back to Half Moon Village as his pre-set destination. He couldn't understand why Ottley would tell everyone to power up and speed the process of crashing into the volcano, but he assumed the sea otter had a plan.

The captain eyed the numbers on the meter gauge intensely. They needed a little more speed before it was too late.

"Crank it up! Crank it all the way! I don't care if it overheats. Push it to the limits!"

He could be sorry about the burns his crew suffered later in the engine room. Right now, he needed to pick up speed. The faster they were, the more kinetic energy the ship had. It was their best chance for a break from this powerful underwater current. The current velocity isn't enough to break past that barrier.

"Bob! Dive down! Hold the rudder steady and pull hard to the right when I give the signal. Scouts, give me the countdown of the distance to the volcano! Team two activate the defence system. We have volcanic rocks incoming! Doctor, send ice to the engine room! Hold on, boys! We're in for a rough ride!"

As the Marrissa picked up incredible speed, Zero felt as if his presence was left behind a few hundred meters away, unable to catch up to the speed his body was hurtled through the water. The ship shook more violently than it did when it was tossed around by the water. The rattling sound made Zero wonder if the ship would need repairs after they were finished confirming the cause for this first route's mysterious events.

"Closing in, fifteen hundred meters," Zero reported, and the ship rattled.

Bob groaned as the velocity compromised the ship's structure. He held onto the rudder and felt his veins popping. This wouldn't be enough. He had to use magic to reinforce his hybrid body.

Already, second-degree burns were appearing on the otters who worked hard in the engine room. Nobody complained, but it was a terrible sight.

A bead of sweat rolled down Ottley'd side as the numbers grew smaller from the scout's report.

"Bob, prepare to pull hard. Maintain the engine power!"

Just a little more! Ottley could feel it now. The Marrissa was pushed to its limits, and something was breaking. He only hoped that Zero could take care of the emergency measures while they forced their way out of this.

"Now!"

That signal caused a chain reaction as Bob tugged at the rudder hard. The ship that was nosing into the volcano suddenly skidded and was thrown off the course from the underwater current. The speed that it was travelling earlier gave it enough force to break past the whirlpool created by the volcano. Everyone was thrown to the side of the ship by the change in direction as the Marrissa was booted in familiar dark and calm waters.

Zero was the first to recover from the launch as almost everyone else remained unconscious. The Marrissa groaned as the engine shut down temporarily from overheating. There were some terrible leaks in the Marrissa, and Zero panicked.

"Bob? Truen?"

The wood elf replied first, and Bob took a while to regain his bearings. Zero wasted no time and started looking for the captain. Ottley needed to be conscious to give them orders. He didn't know anything about repairing the ship. The danger wasn't over.

Running back to the command room, Zero found Ottley lying on the ground unconscious. There was a large lump on his head, and Zero quickly cast healing magic before waking the sea otter up roughly.

"Captain, your orders, please!"

Truen was already working on cooling the overheated engine room and bringing the sea otters out of the boiling chamber. Bob made himself useful and tried to plug the small leaks in the ship with whatever he could find. It was going to need more than just a plug, but this was the best he could do for now.

Ottley woke up feeling disoriented, but he did not disappoint Zero. "How many men are still available?"

Zero counted three, excluding the captain. "Everyone else is unconscious, but Truen is rounding them up. Bob is taking emergency measures to counter the leaks. The engine is temporarily out of order. What should we do now?"

Groaning, Ottley got up. "How bad are the leaks? Recover everyone first and prioritise cooling the engine. We need to find a place to resurface and make repairs to continue on our voyage."

"Aye, captain," Zero agreed. "I will get to the others after I finish healing you. How does your head feel?"

Ottley was still slightly dizzy, but he was slowly getting better.

"That's enough," he told Zero when he was able to walk on his own. Sure, there were still some things hurting, but he was alive. More importantly, his crewmates were not out of the woods.

"Check on the others. I can wait."

Zero didn't need to be told twice.