Chapter 120-All at once

Chapter 120: 120-All at once

"Get inside! Everyone, get inside!"

However, the warning was a bit late. The creatures had already spread across the fleet.

Small boats overturned as birds attacked their occupants. Men who jumped into the water found themselves surrounded by dark shapes circling above the surface.

Others desperately tried to pull their wounded companions behind metal barriers, only to watch the acid eat through the structures protecting them.

The pirates had come hunting for a cruise ship and now they were fighting for their lives.

"Aaargh!" Sarah screamed when a metallic bird swept past her head.

She threw herself onto the deck as its beak snapped shut inches from her face. The creature banked sharply and returned, its wings producing a shrill, scraping sound.

"Dylan!" She called out with every breath in her lungs.

He grabbed her arm and dragged her behind a storage container just as the bird spat acid across the railing.

The metal hissed. A hole began forming where the liquid landed.

Sarah stared at it in horror. "What are these things?"

Dylan had no answer. He had never seen anything like them. He was just as shocked and scared as everyone else.

Sarah was scared stiff, she too had never seen the mutated birds, not even in his previous life. The apocalypse had already introduced monsters capable of tearing ships apart, but these creatures were different.

They flew at great speed, they were armored and their acid could destroy the very vessels people depended on for survival.

Another bird landed on the container above them. Its claws scraped against the metal.

KRRRREEEKK!

The grating sound of sharp talons dragging across the corrugated surface. The metal shrieked beneath its weight, sending a shiver through the container.

Sarah clamped both hands over her mouth. Dylan barely dared to breathe.

The creature tilted its head, its red eyes searching the deck below. After several seconds, it launched itself back into the sky and disappeared into the chaos.

Sarah sagged against the wall. For the first time since she had betrayed Aymara, she wished she had never discovered the cruise ship’s location.

---

Aboard Aymara’s vessel, the situation was no better.

The flock had detected the blood left behind by the earlier attacks and was now circling the entire area. Some birds targeted the pirate vessels, while others began investigating the motionless cruise ship.

Aymara watched the surveillance feed as one metallic creature swept toward the starboard side.

"Activate the anti-aircraft weapons!"

[Command acknowledged, host]

The ship’s automated turrets rotated into position. The first burst of fire struck several approaching birds, forcing them to veer away.

One creature was hit repeatedly and plunged into the ocean, only to rise again moments later, its wings dripping with seawater.

Aymara’s expression hardened. "You’re telling me they can survive that?"

[Warning! Conventional ammunition has limited effectiveness against the targets. Armor penetration remains insufficient.]

"Tell me something I don’t know!"

Nathaniel examined the readings. "Their armor must be exceptionally dense. The bullets are damaging the outer plates without reaching anything vital."

"Then we use stronger weapons."

"That may work, but we need to be careful. They’re already close to the hull."

Aymara switched to another camera. A bird had landed on the upper railing.

It folded its wings and tilted its head toward the ship’s windows, as though studying the structure. Its metallic feathers reflected the emergency lights, and its hooked beak scraped against the railing.

Before long, it opened its mouth. A stream of green acid splashed across the metal.

Aymara’s blood ran cold. The railing began to smoke. Within seconds, the acid had eaten through the outer coating, leaving a deep, bubbling groove in the metal. The bird moved along the railing, spraying another burst across the hull.

An alarm sounded.

[Warning! Exterior hull corrosion detected.]

Aymara shot to her feet. "That acid is eating through the ship!"

Nathaniel’s face drained of color. "Can the system neutralize it?"

"System, activate emergency hull protection and dispatch repair units!"

[Emergency hull protection activated.]

[Warning! Corrosive damage exceeds standard repair rate.]

Aymara’s hands tightened into fists. The system began deploying protective mechanisms along the damaged section, but the acid continued eating through the outer plating faster than the repair units could restore it.

Another bird struck the hull and then another. Soon, the outer cameras showed several creatures perched along the ship’s upper structure, their beaks releasing corrosive liquid in repeated bursts.

Aymara’s cruise ship had withstood powerful waves, monstrous fish, and direct attacks from heavily armed pirates.

But it had never faced an enemy that could fly over its defenses and dissolve its armor.

"Get them off the ship!" she ordered.

The automated weapons shifted upward, firing in controlled bursts. Several birds scattered, but others circled back, seemingly angered by the attack.

One dived toward a surveillance camera. The screen flashed and the feed went black.

Aymara stared at the dead camera. "Wonderful. Now they’re destroying my eyes."

Nathaniel grabbed her hand. "Mara, we need to focus. If they keep attacking the hull, the damage could spread and it won’t be good," he warned. "We can get emotional later. Let’s first handle this disaster."

"I know!" She forced herself to take a breath and studied the tactical display. "I just can’t help it."

The ship couldn’t move because the pirates had chained its propellers. The birds were resistant to conventional bullets, and their acid was actively corroding the hull.

Three problems all at once and for the first time that night, Aymara felt the walls of her fortress closing in around her.

A new warning appeared.

[Critical Alert! Multiple hostile aerial targets gathering above the ship.]

The other camera feed switched to the sky. The flock was growing as more metallic birds were arriving from the distant horizon, drawn by the blood, noise, and destruction.

Their silhouettes darkened the sky as they circled above the fleet, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Nathaniel stared at the display. "How many are there?"

The system attempted to calculate their number.

[Unable to determine total hostile population. Additional targets continue to enter the detection zone.]

Aymara’s heart sank. She looked toward the window, where the metallic wings flashed beneath the darkening sky.

The pirates had trapped her ship, the birds were destroying it and somewhere beneath the ocean, mutated creatures were still lurking in the darkness.

Aymara clenched her jaw. "Fine," she whispered. "If the ocean wants to test me, I’ll show it what happens when it pushes too far."

She turned back to the console, her eyes blazing with determination.

"System, display every available weapon capable of penetrating reinforced armor. I want every defensive option, every experimental weapon, and every emergency measure."

[Searching available arsenal...]

The display filled with new information.

Nathaniel leaned closer, searching the list for something they could use before the damage became irreversible.

Then his eyes caught a line of text near the bottom. His expression changed. "Mara."

"What?"

He pointed at the screen and Aymara read the words where his finger pointed.

[Experimental weapon unlocked: Electromagnetic Disruption Pulse.]

For the first time since the attack began, a dangerous smile returned to her face.

"Now," she murmured, watching the metallic birds circle above her ship, "we’re getting somewhere."

Outside, the flock descended again and this time, Aymara was ready to fight back. "Come and get me!"