Chapter 11 - Teamwork is… Difficult
The situation had gone from bad to worse. Thanks to a miracle they had survived the attack from the mechanized beast, but it was unclear if they had landed in an even bigger problem. Getting back on their feet was proving difficult for most of the group, especially for the two remaining newcomers, who still seemed to be in shock after witnessing the graphic deaths of two people firsthand.
“It's okay… It’s okay, these things happen in this sort of setting”
The girl repeated nervously, forcing a smile and trying to stand despite her trembling legs. Seeing her trying so hard to cheer herself up after such a horrific scene was truly strange. Even Adam was a bit impressed that it hadn't caused a stronger shock in him, though he had to admit that after observing what happened with Teo and the ghost in the previous story, this wasn't as shocking.
“Aaaaaaahhh goddammit!”
A very loud scream snapped him out of his thoughts, revealing that it came from Drake, who was kneeling and repeatedly pounding the deck with both arms, each strike growing stronger and stronger until he finally stopped with one last roar of frustration. Adam didn't understand—Why such an overreaction? Feeling bad about the death of two people was understandable, but to this extent? Or was it normal? Unfortunately, there was no time to ponder further; the pirate ship was now so close that dozens of figures could be seen peering over its railing.
“Be prepared!”
Mr. Li shouted, reopening his book and preparing for whatever might happen, something Adam quickly mimicked. After all, they were likely facing a group of antagonists in the story. However, it was still unrealistic to think they could defend themselves. They hadn't even been able to fend off the mechanized serpent that had attacked them moments before, and the enemy ship had artillery powerful enough to blow them to pieces without any trouble. If they decided to fire at them from a distance, they would be as good as dead.
Fortunately, none of that happened. The ship remained docked alongside theirs for a while, clearly displaying the large number of people on board. They were all men with a rugged and worn appearance, some sporting thick beards and scars all over; however, the most striking feature was that many of them seemed to have metal pieces, gears, and exhaust pipes integrated into parts of their bodies. A couple of them even had mechanical red eyes with gears protruding from one side. Were they even human? As they waited, a small window popped up in front of Adam, startling him slightly as he realized he had unintentionally gathered information about the vessel.
⌠Steam Reaper - Rank D⌡ ⌠Additional Information⌡ ⌠A formidable battle pirate ship, known for its fearsome appearance and devastating firepower. Clad in reinforced iron plating and heavy steam machinery, the ship features towering smokestacks that billow dark clouds of steam. Its decks are lined with powerful steam cannons and harpoon launchers.⌡ ⌠Cursed Vision Knowledge⌡ ⌠The central machinery of the Steam Reaper is powered by an [ElectroFlux Dynamo], an artifact resembling a glowing core encased in brass and iron with intricate gears and vents. It emits extreme voltage, harnessed from its inner electric conduction of rare, high-energy materials. Warning: Although stable, approaching it without proper protection causes the status effect “Paralyzed”⌡ ⌠Hidden: Its cannons possess the skills [Overload], [Electromagnetic Pulse], and [Voltstorm Cannonade]. Its harpoons possess the skill [Electro-Anchor Assault]⌡
The boy tried to read it as quickly as he could, but before he could say anything about it, a loud crash came from the other end and multiple cannons fired in their direction, striking the side of their ship violently and causing it to sway even more.
[Skill: Electro-Anchor Assault Lv1] [No info available]
A screen briefly appeared during the siege, something Adam could only notice for an instant due to the shaking. What caught his attention the most, however, was realizing that they hadn't fired cannonballs. Instead, four harpoons with metal chains had pierced the steel hull of their ship, anchoring them in place and leaving them at the mercy of their attackers. Without a moment's pause, loud shouts and laughter echoed around them as a large number of those pirates began climbing the ropes and running across them with impeccable agility.
The first to react was Li, who quickly recognized the danger they were in. He positioned himself in front of the edge where the enemies were approaching, raising his open book, which began to glow intensely.
”[GANZU METALO]”
[Skill: Ganzu Metalo Lv1] [No info available]
Again, and before the student's eyes, an information window appeared immediately after the man's shout, demonstrating that his vision allowed him to know the name of the ability being used nearby, at least for the moment. However, there was no time to analyze this phenomenon, as the situation was quite critical.
Mr. Li, meanwhile, had initiated a personal attack. Upon casting his new spell, four massive metal spheres materialized above him, akin to cannonballs. These spheres promptly rocketed toward the group of pirates, who were perilously close to boarding their ship.
“What is that?!”
“Waaahhh!”
The impacts struck the oncoming enemies head-on, catching them off guard and unable to evade, causing dozens to fall into the water. However, this did not deter the others from climbing aboard. The sheer number made it clear that repelling them with such a method was ineffective. This became even clearer when the man repeated the spell, only for it to have much less of an effect than before. To everyone's surprise, many pirates managed to leap onto the metal ropes they were using as stepping floor, without falling, sidestepping the attack and continuing their advance.
“Godammit… Incoming!”
Li shouted as he stepped back, though the extreme stress crossing his face betrayed that he had no solid way to stop such an onslaught. Even his defensive wind barrier spell would be of no use, as its duration lasted exactly thirty seconds, only delaying the inevitable collision for a moment.
"Hey, stupid kid, did you manage to get anything useful with the score you had?!"
He shouted again towards Adam, who had indeed thought of a possible way to resist, but couldn't count on it as it hadn't been tested even once. However, they couldn't afford that right now; the pirates had already reached the rail, and of the other group members only Drake seemed to have any intention of resisting, while the other three still seemed to have trouble even getting up.
“Kill them all Hahahaha!”
The boy already had something in his hands at that moment, materializing it as he had learned in his brief experiments, and raising it in front of himself as he exclaimed at the top of his lungs, as much as his lungs allowed.
“Look here!”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
After the loud warning, he involuntarily drew the gaze of everyone present, whose eyes fixed on a strange paper he held out in front of him. It was a fortune that the ship’s rail wasn’t that big, so the enemies were arriving in a sort of bottleneck. At first, nothing happened, and the attackers continued running towards the group, swords in hand and some pointing peculiar heavy-looking pistols. However, suddenly, those in the front just steps away from reaching their victims, stopped abruptly, causing the individuals behind them to collide with each other and the advance to halt.
“Oy, what happened you dogs?!”
Uncertainty swept through the surroundings briefly, but it was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. One of the pirates at the front had turned and shot the one who had spoken directly in the head, which served as the starting signal for a skirmish between those at the front and their comrades behind them... It seemed to have worked; what Adam firmly held between his fingers was the treasure he had purchased using his D-rank merit, the ⌠Necronomicon Single Page [1/10] (Replica)⌡, whose first effect was to progressively induce an "Insanity" state in those who saw it directly.
[Skill: Insanity Aura Lv1] [Upon direct eye contact, it will cause every living being to passively build up low-tier “Insanity” status effect, its effect will last until the skill is deactivated]
Adam had indeed researched the properties of this status effect, which influenced its target and made them more erratic, returning their psyche to a more animalistic state. The affected would act according to their primal nature without considering consequences or those nearby. It was an extremely situational ability, but in this case, it caused the affected pirates to succumb to their violent tendencies and turn on those closest to them. However, this didn't guarantee safety, as a couple of them, even in their insane state, continued forward and targeted the student as their prey.
Three clumsily lunged at him, each wielding strange swords with a rustic appearance and movable teeth resembling chainsaws. Fortunately, their coordination was sufficiently deteriorated to hinder their effective attack, allowing Adam to sidestep the first two. However, his movement was abrupt, causing him to stumble and fall seated on the ground, still instinctively holding the paper out in front of him but now completely vulnerable to the third attacker. Despite not fully controlling his senses, the third pirate could still strike a stationary target.
Adam was by no means physically unfit; a lesson ingrained in him was that a fit body was the key to a sharp mind. However, this situation was entirely different. He had never been in a real fight before, and despite experiencing firsthand the terrors of stories and preparing so diligently, his body simply couldn't move quickly enough to dodge. His eyes widened behind his glasses as he braced for the impact.
“Raaaah!!”
Suddenly, a sharp cry rang out, and before his eyes, the man in front of him received a solid punch to his right cheek, causing him to stumble and fall several steps to the side. The man was huge, taller than anyone on the team, with well-defined muscles under his worn-out shirt. Notably, part of his shoulder and neck had been reconstructed with old machinery, yet a single punch had been enough to bring him down.
“Raaaaaaaaah!!”
It was Drake; he had quickly gotten up and rushed to defend his teammate, delivering such a savage blow that the brass knuckles on his fists bore clear traces of blood. Adam was stunned but grateful, about to rise to thank him when he noticed Drake's eyes were completely lost in the moment, moments before he also charged forward into the thick of the fighting pirates.
It was then that he finally realized his mistake, something so basic that it sent a chill down his spine. As he turned his gaze to where Kazue, the man in the suit, and the other young man should have been, he noticed them writhing on the ground, all affected by the altered state induced by his cursed page.
“This was a horrible mistake.”
Their teamwork was horrendous, evident because Adam had spent all his time studying alone without sharing anything he had learned with anyone. When he shouted to get attention, it made the other team members turn towards him. Storing the object would gradually dissipate the effect on the minds of those affected, but would it be wise to do so with so many enemies still around? Logic told him no, but there was still a range of uncertainty and risk in leaving it as it was. Therefore, after getting back up and gritting his teeth tightly, he made the page disappear from between his fingers.
The tranquility didn't return immediately, but the heavy atmosphere eased, and it would only be a matter of time before everyone returned to normal. They didn't have much time left, and it was up to him to quickly think of something to get them out of this situation. Perhaps overloading the motor's boiler somehow? No, that didn't make sense... As dozens of ideas and possibilities raced through his mind, from the other ship many meters away, a figure had been watching, and only when the danger from the cursed page disappeared, did this individual spring into action.
With a rocket-like leap that left a trail of steam and smoke behind him, a human figure landed in front of Adam, startling him out of his thoughts. It was a towering man dressed entirely in well-maintained black leather, an unusual sight for someone accustomed to constant naval battles.
Thick, unkempt hair and a bushy black beard obscured his face beneath a large pirate hat and two dark lenses that concealed his eyes. Yet, what truly struck fear was his left arm—a rudimentary prosthetic adorned with visible gears, and a large metallic fist from which wisps of steam emanated, marking his leap from the other ship in a single bound!
Whoever this person was, they were far from ordinary. Adam quickly attempted to raise his arms to summon his Necronomicon page for defense, but before he could even fully consider it, his world went black, and intense pain surged through his body from his stomach.
*Blergh*
Before he could react, the mysterious man had delivered a powerful punch straight to Adam's abdomen at an imperceptible speed.
"Seems like these fellows have some interesting items. Stun them and take them to the cells for interrogation!"
The man's deep voice carried across to the other pirates, who were just beginning to regain their senses.
“But Captain, some of our men got killed because of them! You can’t possibly let…”
However, the subordinate's complaints were cut short by the cold gaze of their captain, who turned towards them with restrained anger. Without further ado, he discharged a powerful electric shock from his mechanical fist, electrocuting the student still in his grasp.
“Was I not clear?!”
There was no protest. Those who were already somewhat functional, as well as those who were never affected by the madness, hastened to obey orders. Meanwhile, Adam quickly lost consciousness after receiving the shock. Through his closing eyelids, he could vaguely discern the pirates easily subduing the others. That was the last he saw before his strength failed him, and he blacked out.
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Once again, Adam felt as if he were floating in an infinite void, unable to change direction or move in any way, however, this time, he felt more aware than before. What was this place? No matter how hard he tried to focus, he could see nothing but a completely black ocean in front of him... nothing, except a faint white dot in the distance. Wait, a white dot?
In the exact instant he became aware of that anomaly, he found himself face-to-face once more with that eerie white, faceless creature with only three holes for features. The ghostly empress, who still invoked terror in the depths of his being, had appeared before his eyes in an instant.
“...”
Not a single word escaped the boy's mouth; he could only stand there, frozen, watching those horrifying slits contort as they had before when she had laughed at his suffering. All the while, those cadaverous arms reached out towards him, gripping his face with both hands and letting him feel their extreme coldness.
“Aaaah!”
Startled, screaming, and drenched in sweat, Adam stood up suddenly, taking a few seconds to regain enough sense to understand what was happening. He didn't immediately recognize where he was, and it wasn't until his vision cleared that he realized he was inside a small cell.
He tried to quickly assess the situation, scanning the area until his eyes finally adapted to the darkness. He was about to approach one of the barred walls when he realized he couldn't move his arms despite shaking them. He hadn't noticed before, but both his wrists were bound together by a pair of strange, thick, and rectangular mechanical cuffs.
“It’s no use, we’ve been trying”
A voice spoke beside him. Turning, he saw it was Kazue, leaning against the bars of the nearby wall, looking at him with a tired expression.
"Looks like they really roughed you up for you to be unconscious for so long, huh? And by the way, we talked about this a moment ago—why did you use... whatever that was without telling us anything? It was far from pleasant."
Adam knew well that he had made a mistake, but he was perplexed by how calmly Kazue was taking it, considering they had all been involuntarily affected by madness. He didn't know how to respond; he supposed he should accept the blame and apologize for his error. However, he did not expect what Kazue said next.
“Well who cares, it was cool and it certainly saved us from the pirates, now, care to explain?”
The student was dumbfounded and stuttered a bit.
“N-no… I mean, it was my fault, but do you know why we're here?”
“Well, the big guy with the metal fist told us that he would interrogate us one by one. He took that Li guy recently, and before that, they took Drake, the old man, and the other dude, so we have some time. Now, start talking! I want to know everything."