Chapter 84: The 20th Floor
[The Second Heart of Abaim Monstre]
# The Heart has unstable energy.
# Possessing it increases the probability of Abaim Monstre approaching.
Lee Shin was lost in thought as he stared at the palm-sized heart. Since only a few challengers had seen Abaim Monstre on the 12th floor, the information on it was scarce.
The only available information came from people who lived in the 20th-floor city in the form of legends and police sketches drawn with the help of people who had encountered the monster of the deep sea.
The stories people had heard were all absurd, saying that eating the heart would allow one to neither age nor become sick for a lifetime. Some even believed that eating the heart would grant them infinite power. When Lee Shin had seen the installment of the wide-scale mana circle that disrupted mana control using the heart, he felt certain that the gods had intervened.
If so, was it the gods' design for it to break and for Abaim Monstre to appear? Stealing Abaim Monstre’s heart to do this was a serious stage intervention. Lee Shin wondered how much karma the gods had sacrificed to do this. Was the God of Destruction really that great of a god? Or, was the creature, referred to as the Dream-Eating Dragon, the one great one?
Lee Shin knew that if he crashed this heart and threw it into the sea, the danger of Abaim Monstre approaching them would decrease, and the other variables associated with its arrival would also disappear.
‘But…’
Lee Shin looked at the purple energy rippling inside the bead in the heart. Holding it, he felt a similar but inexplicable sensation. To clear his mind, Lee Shin shook his head and put Abaim Monstre’s second heart in his Subspace Pocket.
He then raised his head and gazed at the endless horizon. It had been raining cats and dogs a moment ago; now, the sky looked absolutely clear. On the peaceful sea, scattered were destroyed ships that spoke of a battle lost but survived.
These were the only ships that the battle between Lee Shin and Endo had not utterly destroyed. Lee Shin's psychokinesis had stopped these ships from being swallowed by the tidal waves at the last minute. All the other ships had sunk, and only two large and eight medium-sized ships remained.
"Do we have to wander around aimlessly like this to find Treasure Island?" Vuela asked Lee Shin.
"Well, if we don't know anything, that's probably what we have to do," Lee Shin replied.
Lee Shin pointed upward with his chin. Vuela followed Lee Shin’s gaze and noticed the captain instructing his crew to scan the vast sea for something.
"What are they searching for so desperately here?" Vuela asked Lee Shin.
"They're looking for pirates," Lee Shin replied, looking at Vuela.
"Pirates? Why are they looking for those damn bastards?" Vuela asked Lee Shin as if he could not understand.
Vuela wondered if there was any need for them to face and fight pirates.
"Well, we need the marine compass the pirates have." Lee Shin explained.
"Why is that?" Vuela asked with his eyes open wide.
"The compass knows the location of Treasure Island," said Lee Shin.
"Oh, I see," Vuela replied.
“It wouldn’t give us the precise location, but we can figure out which way to go,” Lee Shin added.
Lee Shin and the challengers should have captured at least one of the four pirate captains and gotten the compass from them. However, Lee Shin’s thunderbolt had significantly damaged the pirates' ships, so they must have realized by now that these challengers were not the navy.
Furthermore, having witnessed the colossal battle between Lee Shin and Endo, the probability of the pirates revealing themselves was very low. They would likely run away if they encountered Lee Shin and the challengers. And this fact annoyed Lee Shin a bit.
“We must find the compass before the pirates finish their preparations," said Lee Shin.
Booo— booo—
A crew member scanning the sea with a telescope from the masthead had blown the horn loudly.
"Aye, Captain! I spy something at about 40 degrees ahead!" the crewmate shouted.
Lee Shin and Vuela turned their heads to look there. The object was still too far away to be seen clearly, looking like a dot. It was too far even to spread the mana wave. Therefore, Lee Shin had no choice but to go there to check it out.
“Just tell them I’ll be borrowing it for a moment,” said Lee Shin, without even looking at Vuela.
“What?” Vuela asked Lee Shin with his eyes wide open.
[Psychokinesis]
Crack—!
The abrupt statement bewildered Vuela; the next second, the deck behind him fell. Vuela was startled by the flying deck that brushed past his head and watched it disappear with a stunned expression. Lee Shin had jumped onto the floating deck, flying off into the sea.
As Lee Shin grew smaller and smaller in the distance, Vuela and the others watched the scene blankly, failing to respond appropriately.
“Wow…” said the people on the ship.
Lee Shin remained oblivious to the challengers' reactions on the ship and focused on the rapidly approaching target, unleashing one spell after another.
[Adhesion]
[Hawk Eye]
With his bare feet sticking to the steel deck, Lee Shin looked at the object far away on the sea using a telescope.
“Was it just a ship?” Lee Shin muttered.
He had come out quite far, but the object was still indiscernible to Lee Shin’s naked eye. However, he could now see the figures of the guys on the ship a bit.
After looking closely, he realized one large ship and dozens of medium-sized vessels were moving together. And their flag indicated that they were pirates who had met the challengers earlier.
‘Is that the guy who fought Vuela?’
The pirates' ship was also badly damaged and covered in cracks. The pirates on board all seemed busy with whatever they were doing.
Lee Shin discovered the distance between the floating deck and the water surface had begun decreasing.
“Rin,” Lee Shin called out to the Spirit of Water.
Splash—!
The water rose, and Rin, who Lee Shin had contracted with on the previous floor, appeared. As if Lee Shin was surfing, he rode the waves that lifted the deck onto the sea surface. Although he had never surfed before, he easily adapted to it thanks to his excellent physical abilities and psychokinesis.
“Hmmm…” Lee Shin was lost in thought.
Lee Shin had planned on taking a quick look at the object and leaving.
“Let’s go over there,” said Lee Shin, changing his mind.
Since he was already here, Lee Shin thought it would be nice to deal with the pirates. If Lee Shin had tried to follow the pirates with the ship the challengers were on, the pirates would have noticed the challengers and run away.
“Yes, sir!” Rin replied.
Swoosh—! Splash—!
The small waves moved at high speed. So far, the pirates had been too busy to notice Lee Shin. However, he was aware that they would soon notice him.
‘Damn it. The weather is too good. Tsk.’
It would have been nice if it rained, as it would've become easier for Lee Shin to hide. Sadly, that was not the case, so Lee Shin clicked his tongue and approached the pirates as fast as possible, holding his breath.
Booo— Booo—
At that moment, a loud horn came from the pirates’ ship.
‘Damn it.’
It was inevitable for Lee Shin to get caught because he was alone in the vast ocean, riding the waves. With only seawater around him, Lee Shin couldn't hide.
"Increase the speed to the maximum," Lee Shin commanded Rin.
“Yes, sir!” Rin replied.
The pirates seemingly couldn’t comprehend the situation, as they did not react immediately. When a pirate spotted Lee Shin and informed the captain, the captain, annoyed, snatched the binoculars. As the captain looked through the binoculars and saw Lee Shin, his face rapidly turned pale.
The ship’s bow quickly turned in the direction opposite of Lee Shin, and the cannons began firing toward Lee Shin.
‘You’re too late.’
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Splash—! Splash!
Lee Shin dodged the cannonballs with Rin’s fantastic movements. He approached the pirate ship, released the adhesion spell, and leaped from the deck.
“Stop him! Shoot him! Throw him into the sea!” The captain started shouting.
Lee Shin had gotten quite close to the big pirate ship, so he could hear the pirates' voices.
[Psychokinesis]
Lee Shin’s intangible hand reached into the air and grabbed the large mast.
Crunch—! Thud!
The bottom of the mast was destroyed, and when the pirates saw the falling mast, they quickly moved out of the way.
Thud!
[Impede Web]
A sticky mesh of mana grabbed one end of the falling mast and pulled Lee Shin toward it. Once safely anchored to the mast, Lee Shin sent Rin away before jumping onto the ship.
Lee Shin stood among the chaotic pirates with an indifferent expression. The pirate captain, whose face had distorted at the sight of Lee Shin, cautiously attempted to converse with Lee Shin.
"Why did you come here? Did you come alone?" asked the pirate captain nervously.
"Don't you know you should introduce yourself before asking a question? Or did you not learn that? Or maybe you just never learned anything?" Lee Shin provoked the captain.
The pirate captain’s face turned red with embarrassment, but he suppressed his anger knowing Lee Shin's power.
"My name is Maldarian. Ahem! And who are you?" The captain of the pirates, named Maldarian, introduced himself to Lee Shin.
"You don’t need to know," Lee Shin replied coldly.
Maldarian gritted his teeth at Lee Shin’s dismissive attitude.
"Hm… where is the captain's room?" Lee Shin asked, without even looking at Maldarian.
Since this pirate ship was twice the size of the ship the challengers were on, Lee Shin thought it would take too long to explore this place alone.
"Why are you looking for the captain's room?" Maldarian asked Lee Shin.
Maldarian’s face was about to burst with anger.
"I heard that you guys have the marine compass. Where is it?” Lee Shin demanded.
Lee Shin acted like he was here to take his property. Maldarian wondered if, between the two of them, he was really the pirate.
"We don't have it. Looks like you came to the wrong place," said Maldarian.
"Oh, yeah?" Lee Shin asked.
"Yeah. Since you’re already here, would you like to stay to rest for a while and then leave? I mean, if you're busy, just get los—no, I mean you may go," said Maldarian.
"Are you telling me to get lost?" Lee Shin said.
"Hey, when did I say that? I just mean it's okay for you to leave," said Maldarian.
The pirates found it unbelievable yet understandable that Maldarian, one of the four infamous pirate captains, behaved like this in front of Lee Shin.
Every time Lee Shin took a step, the hundreds of pirates onboard stepped back. Lee Shin sneered at their reaction.
‘Hmm…’
Lee Shin did not plan to spend much time here. He wanted to finish what he needed to do quickly and get going since the other guys were waiting for him.
“Hey Maldarian,” said Lee Shin.
“W-w-what!” Maldarian replied with cold sweat dripping down his face.
"It isn’t the time for jokes. I'll ask one last time. Where's the marine compass?" Lee Shin demanded.
Gulp—
Maldarian gulped and was lost in his thoughts. He could not tell whether this guy was certain that they had the marine compass or if he was just making a guess.
Normally, Maldarian would have boldly answered ‘no,’ but he was hesitant this time.
‘Ugh, should I just give it to him?’
Since the marine compass could lead anyone to Treasure Island, it was too valuable to just give away like that.
‘I've spent years trying to find this! Pirates have pride too!’
The opponent, Lee Shin, was here alone, but he had hundreds of pirates on his side.
Woosh—
Eventually, Maldarian drew his sword, and so did his hundreds of pirate crew members.
"You fucking bastard! Who do you think you are, making us look like fools!" Maldarian shouted in anger.
Maldarian, one of the four infamous pirate captains on the seas and renowned for his strength, couldn't believe the audacity of Lee Shin. The more Maldarian thought about it, the more his anger rose. He quickly covered his sword with mana.
"Even if our ship sinks, shoot him! The one who kills this damn bastard will get the vacant executive position!" Maldarian shouted.
"Huh? An executive position?"
"Nice! If we’re lucky enough to hit this guy with our sword, we might be rewarded!”
"Besides, we have hundreds on our side! So what can one person even do?”
Having long forgotten the fear that they had felt when they saw Lee Shin’s magic just a while ago, the pirates only imagined the reward they would get from killing the wizard in front of them. Watching this sight, Lee Shin clicked his tongue.
‘Well, they do say sailors are all idiots, but I never knew that they would be this stupid.’
As Lee Shin shook his head, hundreds of pirates rushed toward him.
"Kill him!"
"He’s mine! Get out of the way!"
"Hahaha! Eat this Napalm bomb!"
A Napalm bomb exploded over the shield surrounding Lee Shin; bullets also bounced off the shield. Despite their weapons having no effect, the pirates continued to charge forward recklessly. Suddenly, a shadow space opened up in front of the pirates.
Baaam!
A giant club shot up from the ground and struck a pirate's jaw. The blow was so powerful that the pirate could only look around in confusion after.
“W-w-what was that?” the pirate muttered.
“It’s called the psychic energy blast,” said a Skeleton.
As the Skeleton with a gleaming skull fired another burst of mana, dozens of pirates were pushed into the sea.
"Where did these Skeletons come from all of a sudden?"
"Ahhh, stay away from me!"
"Ugh, these monsters! Go away!"
These underlings of death had abruptly appeared. The pirates, who had thought they could easily deal with the wizard, were terrified by the Skeletons surrounding them and froze.
The mere sight of these black mana-emitting Skeletons made the pirates shiver.
“Wait!” A pirate shouted.
Swoosh—! Thud!
The pirate bravely swung his ax at Warrie, only to have his throat slit and collapse. The sight of that crewmate’s corpse turning into a Skeleton was so surprising and eerie that the pirates' morale plummeted instantly.
Maldarian had been watching the fight between his crew members and Lee Shin; he froze on the spot with his mouth hanging open.
‘Why are those Skeleton bastards so strong?’
Facing just one wizard was overwhelming enough, but each Skeleton had skills comparable to his. Maldarian dropped his sword in shock.
"Haha, it was just a jok—" Maldarian could not even finish his sentence.
Wooong— Pizz!
A thunderbolt passed over Maldarian’s head, leaving him no time to react. As he brought his trembling hand to his head, Maldarian could feel the bare skin on his skull.
"I’m just joking around too. Can I do that again?" Lee Shin asked.
Lee Shin smiled, but his cold tone made Maldarian tremble and forcibly put on a smile.
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