Moli glanced at the three tentacles, furrowed her brows, and with determination, bit her tongue hard.
Her hands interlocked, forming a strange seal, and she spat out the blood in her mouth.
The third eye on her forehead split open, emitting a cherry-red beam that hit the expelled blood.
"Pa!"
The blood split into three, transforming into three small blood arrows, hitting the three tentacles like lightning.
The three tentacles suddenly stiffened as if petrified. Their surface quickly turned gray and white, and their eyes all solidified before they swayed and fell back into the water with a splash.
"Whew——"
The group let out a long sigh of relief, but they all knew this was rely stalling for ti. If they didn’t quickly start up the Crystal Ship and leave, sooner or later, they’d be killed by the tentacled, eye-covered Water Monster in another way.
"One-eyed" couldn’t help but look at Hulk, and said, "Hulk, are you still up for this? You see the situation now. If you can’t restart the Energy Furnace, we’re all going to die here."
"I..." Hulk hesitated.
Moli blinked and answered for Hulk, "He can’t. The Energy Furnace has significant side effects on the body and requires one to be in top condition. Because he was slightly off, it led to a loss of control, and now he’s injured, making his condition worse. If he forcibly restarts the Energy Furnace, it’ll probably draw a massive amount of life force from him as compensation, and it won’t be long before he’s drained to death..."
Upon hearing Moli’s words, everyone beca serious, realizing the harsh reality they were facing.
Hulk, however, closed his mouth and then suddenly looked resolute, shouting, "Captain, enough, I understand, I can do it!"
"Hmm?"
"One-eyed is right; if I can’t restart the Energy Furnace, we’re all going to die here," Hulk said, clenching his fist. "In that case, it would be better if I sacrificed myself so that my death has so aning."
The others looked at Hulk, their expressions a bit complicated.
"I know I haven’t perford well in this team, but I really want to do sothing. Now’s the chance," Hulk said, grinding his teeth, standing up shakily, gripping the ship’s wheel tightly, and forcing a smile. "Goodbye, everyone. Please take care of the Captain. Farewell, Captain. If there’s ever a day when everyone openly calls you Princess, calls you Queen, I hope you’ll rember , your subordinate."
At the end, Hulk’s expression turned a bit resentful, turning his head to the only outsider on the ship, "And you, boy, I’ve never liked you. I hope you rember that I’m saving you with my life here, and you owe us a favor. I’ll use up all my life force to get you and the Captain to the other side of the lake, to get what we ca for. I hope you don’t go back on your promise—only a half share!"
"Anyway, goodbye, everyone!" Hulk took a deep breath for the last ti, and before any new tentacles erged from the water, he grasped the ship’s wheel, ready to fight to the death to restart the Energy Furnace.
At this mont, Richard’s untily voice rang out.
"Wait," Richard said.
"What?" Hulk frowned, looking at Richard.
"Have you thought about this: you’re sacrificing your life to get the ship to the other side and get what we want. How do we get the ship back?" Richard asked seriously, "Or do you plan to stay there forever after getting the items?"
"Uh——" Hulk was stunned. He had a hot temper and didn’t think things through, his injury made him dizzy, which compounded this tendency, and he hadn’t really thought about this issue until now.
The others, under the influence of Hulk’s tragic atmosphere just now, subconsciously ignored this problem until Richard ntioned it, and they all realized with complex expressions.
"So," Richard looked at Hulk, "If we really do as you said, it’s highly likely that we’ll all be sent to our deaths. A smarter move would be to turn this Crystal Ship around and return to where we ca from, leave the relics, and let everyone else survive."
"But... but then we won’t get the relics!" Hulk said.
"Yes, but what can we do?" Richard shrugged, "I wish you could die to make everything you want co true, but the truth is, death doesn’t solve all problems."
"This..." Hulk, anxious, wanted to speak but didn’t know what to say. He was barely holding his wounds in check, now his anxiety made him cough up a large mouthful of blood, and his entire being seed to deflate.
Su rushed to Hulk, trying to heal him, while the others frowned at Richard, unsure what to say.
The atmosphere on the Crystal Ship was awkward.
However, the strange atmosphere didn’t last long, as it was shattered by the Water Monster, which had been building rage underwater for a long ti.
"Splash!"
"Splash splash splash splash..."
A series of sounds erged, the water surface broke open, and tentacles, one after another, brimming with eyes, erged continuously, ultimately surrounding the Crystal Ship with seventeen new tentacles.
Seventeen!
This was one more than adding two octopuses together.
Counting the three that Moli had previously injured, it amounted to a total of twenty!
A Water Monster with twenty tentacles!
The crowd looked on with wide eyes, as feelings of desperation began to brew within. After all, it truly seed impossible to deal with.
"One-eyed" frowned and touched his only eye; "Wood" extended a finger into his mouth, ready to bite down. "Cal" bent down, clutching his throat; "Ice Cube" suddenly stopped trembling; Su took a deep breath, and Moli reached into her hair...
For Moli and her companions, they each had a trump card they hadn’t yet played. However, these were costly trump cards; using them might not lead to instant death, but would leave them in a near-dead state. So they had refrained from using them until now, but it seed there was no other way.
Just as Moli and her companions were preparing for a desperate strike, Richard glanced at the seventeen tentacles, blinked, and suddenly spoke: "A bit tough to handle, it seems I’ll have to give it my all—alright, I’ll fulfill my promise."
"Hmm?" Moli and the others froze, unable to keep from looking at Richard, and then their eyes narrowed involuntarily—a result of being dazzled by a bright light.
Richard’s entire body suddenly glowed, transforming into a night-ti sun, as a torrent of energy coalesced and erupted from within him, rampaging toward the seventeen tentacles of the sea monster.
"Sizzle!"
With a sound, the seventeen tentacles shattered under the energy impact. The sea monster underwater let out a wretched scream, fearfully retreating from the crystal ship. Using only three wounded tentacles left, it swam several hundred ters to the side in front, warily watching Richard on the crystal ship.
The crowd also watched, shocked and incredulous at Richard.
At this mont, the light around Richard gradually faded, no longer making him entirely a sun. It beca clearer that four small suns were embedded on him—on the left wrist, right wrist, left shoulder, and right shoulder.
"This is..." Moli looked and exclaid, guessing a possibility, and her expression grew quite unsettled.
"Yes," Richard nodded, knowing what Moli wanted to say, and acknowledged, "This is the Energy Furnace."
"How is this possible? Cough, cough!" Hulk coughed, shouting in disbelief.
The others said nothing, but their expressions were similar, all feeling it was impossible.
This was the Energy Furnace!
There should only be one in the entire world, the one they had retrieved from the ruins and fused into Hulk’s body.
Now, how could four new ones suddenly appear?
Is this a dream?
"I know you might not quite understand, but explaining this is a bit complicated," Richard said gently, not wanting to be verbose, taking a breath, "So, shall we steer this crystal ship to the opposite shore, away from these dangerous waters and then discuss?"
"Uh..." The crowd spoke, unsure whether to agree or reject, the influx of information within a short ti had overwheld their brains.
Richard shrugged, unceremoniously walked to the helm, stood in Hulk’s previous position, and gripped it with both hands.
"Buzz!"
The four "small suns" on Richard’s body suddenly brightened, the four Energy Furnaces operating at high power, far surpassing previous energy, injected into the helm, the crystal ship shook violently, emitting a roar.
In the next mont, the crowd felt a slip underfoot, unable to react, and already slumped onto the deck from inertia, as the crystal ship shot forward like an arrow unleashed.
Fast, too fast.
Compared to before, the speed of the crystal ship was not just a bit faster, but tens of tis faster.
If before, Hulk operated the crystal ship like a paddle-steered wooden boat, now Richard controlled it like a speedboat.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
The crystal ship, like a speedboat, sped swiftly through the water.
The sea monster swimming several hundred ters ahead watched as the crystal ship passed nearby. Though sowhat fearful, it was still unwilling and tried to block.
The sea monster roared and charged forward.
The sea monster collided with the crystal ship’s bow.
The sea monster scread miserably.
The sea monster’s body shattered.
The crystal ship continued onward unscathed, casually shattering a second sea monster that appeared from who knows where, with a "bang."
The second sea monster was fairly small; under the crystal ship’s collision, it was crushed without even letting out a scream.
The crystal ship continued onwards after crushing it, carving a white line over the waters, marking a significant trail.
In front of, to the left, and right of the trail, all creatures in the waters hurriedly dodged, fearing being hit by the crystal ship. Normally, the crystal ship was sturdy and posed no danger, but at high speed now, it had transford into a death god, injuring whatever it touched, instantly killing whatever it slamd into, impossible to evade.
Thus, as the creatures in the waters dodged, and Moli and her companions stood stunned, the crystal ship howled towards the opposite shore of the waters.
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