Ball of Nothing

Chapter 618: Rock Fortress

The shortest path to the next trouble location was to cut through a very dangerous rocky area that wasn't recorded on the map.

"When was this a thing?" Ottley asked and frowned. Even Pepper could not understand what was happening.

Just yesterday, they looked at the stars, surveyed the area and planned the route. Everything looked like it was smooth sailing, and not even the Weatherman's ability could predict the birth of a dangerous rocky zone.

The Marrissa had to resurface temporarily with the rock infested waters in their vision. It was simply too late to turn the ship around without damaging the hull. How did nobody see this before it appeared?

"I'm sorry, captain!" The scout on duty wanted to cry. This rock formation wasn't here in the morning. At the speed that the Marrissa was travelling, he looked away for two hours and thought they would still be in the clear when this happened.

Everyone stood on the deck and observed the rocky coast that appeared from nowhere. Zero checked the mini-map and frowned. This was weird. Many things indicated that this wasn't a mere rock formation. It was a trap by the enemies.

"Be careful, he warned the crew. "From the moment we tried to chase the strange phenomenon in this route, we were already in the enemy's territory."

His words put everyone on high alert, and Truen asked in the party call if he should use Sureshot to sniff the enemies out.

"No need," Zero replied to his best friend."We're already surrounded."

The mini-map that Mii pulled up showed countless red dots in the area after they resurfaced. The rock formation looked perfectly normal, but the mini-map told otherwise. The enemy was hiding in plain sight.

"What should we do, captain?"

Ottley didn't reply at once. To move forward, the Marrissa would be torn by the rocks and violent waters. To retreat, the hull that they repaired less than a month ago would suffer heavy damage. They did not have enough materials to repair it completely a second time, and the structure would become further compromised.

"How deep is this rock formation?" Ottley asked. Maybe they could still dive around it.

Two sea otters volunteered to dive, but Zero stopped them. "I think I should go. After all, I have dark vision and underwater breathing abilities."

They thought Truen would follow Zero, but the wood elf simply nodded and wished Zero luck. Ottley noticed that their reactions were bizarre, but he refused to comment on it. There was no use in stressing his crew out when the situation was already this dire. At this point, he could only rely on the three powerful individuals travelling with them.

Bob hopped onto Truen's shoulder in his lizard form and flicked his tongue, wishing Zero luck. There will be a huge fight once Zero goes underwater, and Truen should prepare to counter the traps when they are left vulnerable.

"Everyone else back to inside," Ottley gave out orders after Zero jumped into the water. "Truen, you stay on guard and let us know if anything strange happens."

The air stilled for a moment before the wind picked up speed. Nobody dared to defy their captain's orders after messing up. Everyone was waiting to be punished for failing to avoid the dangerous terrain. This was a fatal mistake for the experienced crew, and morale plummeted.

Nothing seemed to change at the surface, but Truen wasn't fooled as the mist thickened, coming from nowhere. The mana in the air was denser, and while there was hardly a ripple underwater, Truen could sense Zero's excitement. The blinking red dots on the minimap increased until almost every claimable space was full of red dots. Zero must be luring them out of hiding, and his trick was working. The rocks started to sway, and Truen readied his bow.

A low groan, soft and inaudible, grew in decibel until the otters in the ship had to cover their ears. Truen felt something trickling from his ears. His eardrums were ruined, but he didn't need his hearing to tell him what was going on.

From the depths of the sea, the rock formation started to shift, crashing into each other as they were forced to move.

"It's a moving rock fortress!" Zero's excitement resounded in the party call, and Bob transformed. "They are using dead coral monsters as a disguise to hide their men! The sea thugs are behind the disappearing acts in the area. They feed on land creatures which would explain the number of boats getting attacked."

With yet another mystery solved, Truen sighed. He hoped that the third trouble location Docky shortlisted was the actual Indra Seagloo. Who would have thought that sea thugs would be so advanced to set such an elaborate trap for unsuspecting travellers?

"Locking targets," Wii announced, and Truen used the mini-map as a guide for his homing mana arrows. These sea thugs might be tough in numbers, but they were no match for the overpowered archer with Great Gods' blessing. Bob transformed and joined in the fray, using his powerful dragon magic to blow away the pesky rock fortress fashioned from dead coral monsters.

Like cardboard houses, the rock structure fell until only a husk of frightened sea thugs were left. They were quickly rounded up and surrendered after Bob ate one of them, claiming it tasted like marinated crab.

Zero rounded up at least seventy sea thugs from beneath the water, and Truen put them all in the Pagoda Prison. Bob wasted no time and called the remaining crew to come out of hiding. They had loot to salvage before they sank the fleet.

"Tell me where Indra Seagloo is," Truen said and aimed his truth-spilling arrow at a terrified thug. Zero observed from the sidelines, confirming if the answer was the truth.

At the mercy of these overpowered travellers, the merfolks spilt the secrets. "We don't know! It has been many years since we were there."

That was the truth. However, Truen wasn't done. "Tell me how we can find it."

The man refused to speak, so Truen tried asking another. After asking the fifteenth sea thug, he lost his patience and shot someone who looked like they would know a thing or two. Zero didn't move from his spot and waited. They were very close to finding the last key, and he didn't want to waste more time than needed to get it. They have been sailing for nearly half a year now, and it was starting to get boring on the ship.

"Tell me how to get to Indra Seagloo."

The man who was shot by Truen's Seraph Command spell started spilling whatever he knew.

"The Sea Serpent that Queen Leah keeps as her pet surfaces very often! If you can find it, you can find Indra Seagloo!"

That was all the information they needed. Now that they knew what they were looking for, these sea thugs were no longer useful. Truen looked at them and back to Zero. He had to call the Onion Union to dispose of these low lives. Zero would disapprove of mass murder, so Truen let them go for now but not before placing the soul count spell on them.