Chapter 953 - Defensive Battle
Activating Ocean Heart, Krune used its healing effect and transmitted it through his Neon Radiance, causing the light to turn blue. The light then enveloped the baby, barely instilling some warmth into its body.
He quickly used some ocean water to clean the baby before wrapping it in some of the leather he had with him, warming its body up. It didn't seem to have been injured in any significant way. Though, if he didn't treat it enough, it was bound to die.
Naturally, seeing the death of a baby would never sit well with him. So, Krune continued to heal it as he gazed at the source of light gradually approaching him. It was traveling rapidly, at least around 40-50 kilometers per hour.
That speed was way beyond what any boat could hope to achieve through manual paddling. With that, Krune immediately thought of the ten items sold in the Checkpoint Turtle, muttering, "Someone bought a Motor Fish, huh. Well, that's extravagant."
Judging by the way it headed straight towards him without any hesitation, Krune judged that one of the people in the boat had a passive ability related to tracking. Using that, they were able to track the woman that had died just now.
As the source of light began to arrive closer, the numerous boats in the place began to paddle away in fear, as if they knew the person that was approaching. It hadn't been long since the Checkpoint Turtle vanished. So, a lot of the boats were still in the area, only maintaining distance from one another.
Right now, they hurriedly began to paddle with all their might to escape. Krune turned around and noticed that the group holding the rope had begun to swim away in fear, deserting the place.
As for Strinker, he too seemed to agree, quickly turning around as he tried to escape. In his eyes was fear, judging by his hurried posture.
Krune shouted towards him, "Strinker, who's that?"
Upon hearing his question, Strinker didn't even turn around to answer, just urging his group to paddle faster as they escaped.
Krune didn't follow him, though, as it wasn't possible for him alone to paddle and escape. Besides, it was apparent that the target was approaching his boat. It seemed that they were able to track both the woman and her baby.
So, as long as Krune didn't abandon the baby, they would come for him. Besides, he wouldn't be able to paddle and escape from the chaser that was using a Motor Fish to move through the waters.
So, Krune had no other choice but to face them head-on. Because he had been in numerous situations like this one, he wasn't even mad at the woman. He just sighed, noticing her corpse float on the water beside his boat.
The area lit up as the enemy boat arrived at the place. It was a rather large boat because they had followed a similar setup as Krune. Then again, their boat didn't seem like a single construct. Rather, it was a series of boats that were joined together into one.
All the boats were those obtained from the Bone Arsenal. At present, there were five boats on each ocean surface. So, whoever it was, they had spent 20 Godly Points on this alone. Though, judging by the way everyone scurried off, it seemed that their ship hadn't been created by expending their own Godly Points but by pillaging it from others.
Five boats were joined together to form a base on each ocean while a thick mast stemmed from the boat in the center, connecting the two rows of boats together. In fact, this was only the main boat. There were numerous double boats—created by joining two boats from the Bone Arsenal together—trailing right behind it, numbering six in total, three per ocean.
Trailing further behind them were individual boats, numbering 18 in total, nine per ocean. All of them were connected to one another in a triangular formation. Overall, it was a collective force as Krune could spot at least 30 people in it. At the front of the main boat were the Motor Fishes, two per ocean.
There was a total of four Motor Fishes propelling the entire construct, costing a staggering amount of Godly Points almost in the three digits. It seemed that they had been raiding a lot, considering they had chased after the place where the Checkpoint Turtle had been until now.
As people would have arrived there to exchange their Godly Points for treasures, pillaging them would be the easiest ticket to power and wealth in the place. But this time, it seemed that they weren't just here because of the treasures, as they didn't even target the boats that were paddling away.
The construct stopped ten meters before Krune's boat as a man stood at its front, staring at Krune as he observed him. Upon seeing that Krune's body was also emitting a gentle neon glow, he was startled for a moment, cursing his luck to come across someone from the top hundred.
Nevertheless, he wasn't scared. Even if the other party was from the top hundred, he was just a single person. They had more than thirty people on their side, and their boss was also someone from the top hundred.
So, he wasn't the least bit afraid. He then focused on his senses, trailing towards a dead figure in the water before Krune's boat, smiling. "So, she's finally dead. Good riddance."
"Then, what about her baby?" He then focused further as he frowned, sensing the baby in Krune's boat. He turned around, looking at his boss, telling him, "Boss, the baby's still alive."
The boss was a man with a large stature, possessing thick arms that were equivalent to a regular person's legs. He was seated on a comfortable chair, overlooking everything. On top of that, there was the handle of a sword placed before him.
Though, it was in reverse, with the blade lodged into the boat above. The tip of the handle stopped right at his forehead. He possessed scaly eyes that maintained a permanent frown. With that, he gazed at Krune, noticing that the other party was alone.
He then observed Krune's boat, speaking, "He has an incredible boat. It seems to have taken considerable work to complete something of such scale. He probably did that while in a Primary Landmass or something."
The boss then looked at Krune, shouting, "The baby in your hand belongs to me. Return him!"
"What will you do with him?" Krune replied, frowning as he noticed some of the people among the group jumping into the ocean and swimming through it, circling his boat first.
'It seems a fight is unavoidable.' He sighed, bending as he picked up his Whale Tooth Sword. As for the Whale Tooth Daggers, they were already hoisted around his hips. In the case any fish might attack him, he was always ready.
"That's for me to decide." the boss replied with a grunt, observing that Krune was calm all along. He then acted politely to make Krune let go of his guard, saying, "Let's introduce each other first. I'm Gajor, the boss of this little force. What are you called?"
"I'm Krune," Krune replied as he hoisted the Whale Tooth Sword on his shoulder. "Let's cut the chatter, shall we? It's best if pirates like the lot of you remained in character."
"Fine then." Gajor laughed, waving his hand to his group as he coldly commanded, "Kill him."
No sooner did he give the command did the people in the ocean accelerate and jump out like fishes, heading straight at Krune.
For a moment, Krune didn't know if they were humans or fishes, considering the incredible manner in which they jumped.
They had sharp weapons in their hands, resembling knives and picks. As they were about to touch his boat, Krune smiled as the intense sound of his heartbeat resounded in the place. He gently placed the baby on his bed, taking action instantaneously.
Ocean Heart!
Neon Radiance!
The intense light he emitted elicited screams from them as their eyes bled from the intensity. At the same time, Krune lashed out with the Whale Tooth Sword, hacking their heads, killing four people easily.
"Tch!" Gajor scowled as he lost four men. It had taken him a lot of effort to grow them over the month, so it was a major loss when they died. He then shouted, "Ram his boat! We'll deal with him once he's in the water."
The Motor Fishes then flapped their fins, causing the construct to accelerate towards Krune's boat, intending to ram into it. But, the moment they approached closer, Krune grinned, crouching low before jumping out of his boat, heading straight towards the Motor Fishes, intending to kill them first.
Seeing his choice of action, Gajor frowned as he pulled out his sword in a hurry and jumped forward, meeting Krune's blade. Though, at the moment they clashed, he grunted, almost being overpowered by Krune.
Followed by the slash, Krune let go of his Whale Tooth Sword, pulling out his two Whale Tooth Daggers as he swiped at Gajor's legs, drawing out blood.
But when he tried to close in on him, Gajor emitted the same Neon Radiance, causing Krune to grunt as he stumbled. To protect himself, he had also unleashed blinding light, brightening up the entire place.
The intensity of the light was to the extent those fleeing from the area noticed their surroundings light up like it was the evening. All of them turned around simultaneously, noticing the brightly lit ocean.
There were two sources of Neon Radiance, their rays apparent like sunlight that shone in from a room's window. But suddenly, one of the lights, the stronger one, turned white as everyone felt an intense chill.
Krune grabbed hold of his Whale Tooth Sword and slashed horizontally, making a wide sweep. He wasn't able to see much, so all he could do was make wide attacks. He then faced his back towards Gajor, noticing a couple of people try to enter his boat.
Krune leaped from the place and slashed out with his sword, killing one of them. He then pulled out his Whale Tooth Dagger and plunged it into the leg of the other, causing him to scream in pain as Krune pulled the dagger downward.
Followed by a long laceration, the man was pulled into the water. But immediately, he slipped out and escaped like a fish. Cursing, Krune climbed aboard his boat, noticing that the baby was fine. It seemed to be on the verge of crying but hadn't uttered any sound yet.
"Tch." Krune grunted as he looked at the people surrounding his boat. It seemed that all of the pirates had an ability that allowed them to move faster in the water. That was why he was facing so much difficulty in landing a decisive attack on them.