"There are three ships nearby. Which one should we attack?"

"The smallest one,"

Following V9, Patrick arrived at a rather big room filled with mutated people who sat in front of controlling devices. Solo was there, but not Pictos. Without having to ask, Patrick knew that the mermaid man must be hiding somewhere.

"Hai, everyone. Do we have our target yet?" V9 greeted.

"We just picked one. It's heading to the south so we must be quick," A half-scaled-body woman answered.

"Doesn't it rather small?" V9 narrowed her eyes, staring at the green monitor in front of them.

"Well..." The woman turned to Solo. "About that, I'm also wondering,"

"Small ships don't have many crews. They are most likely pirates, and pirates' job is stealing vaccines." Solo explained.

"Robbing from robbers? You are an angel, Solo!" V9 clapped her cheeks in amazed.

"I don't think he doesn't have any proper reason," Patrick mumbled, staring at the cold-face Solo.

"You," Patrick almost jumped when Solo suddenly turned to him when he was still staring at him in suspicion.

"Y-yes?" Patrick didn't know why he was stammering, but he was used to it.

"You, V9, and Yuka will handle the back area of the ship. Follow V9's instruction." Solo said.

"Yes, Captain!" V9 gave a salute posture.

"Sir, we are getting closer." A fury man who sat at the controller table said.

"Everyone on their post now!" Just by Solo’s stern voice, everyone in the room moved in no time.

Things happened so fast, making Patrick nervous. All that he knew was he had to follow V9.

Yuka, a boy with gills in his neck and no nose, walked behind Patrick. "Keep your voice low," he said.

The three of them left the commotion of the controlling room. As they walked further, people's noises began to fade, leaving them with only their own footsteps and the roar of the ship's engine.

When they almost reached the back door, V9 stopped her step. She turned to the guys behind her. "Ok. Here's the game. After Yuka knocks out the guards, we pounce on them-"

"Wait!" Patrick made V9 pause. "Please wait. Pounce on them? How do we do that? By jumping to their ship from here?"

"Yeap. Why you still ask?" Yuka raised his eyebrow.

"What?! Are you serious? It's too far!" Patrick almost screamed.

"I know you are scared. But, trust me, I got you," V9 looked at Patrick with her big eyes.

"H-how?" Patrick mumbled.

V9 smiled. "Just trust me,"

"We must go now, else, the mission will fail," Yuka said before walking away.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Oh, wait for us, Yuka. The leader is me, isn't it?" V9 raced after him.

Keeping his pace steady, Yuka replied in a stern voice, "It is if you aren't too tender on him. This mission is for his own good. Why is he slowing us down with his fearful head?"

"Huh? What is it with you, Yuka? Why are you mad?" V9 scratched her head with a finger, but Yuka didn't reply.

Behind them, Patrick followed in complete silence. He hoped he could care less about it, but those people were talking about him like he was not there. It was never easy to take that he was a loser, yet he could do nothing about it.

Arriving at the back side of the ship, V9 opened its metal door carefully, allowing a strong, cold wind to rush in.

"Three men," V9 said to the guys behind her in turn. Then, she nailed her eyes on Yuka. "Good luck, Yuka,"

"Leave it to me," Yuka said, giving a brief smile.

Patrick wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Yuka glaring at him for a second as he walked past him.

"What's he going to do?" Patrick asked V9.

"Yuka is a fantastic swimmer and attacker. You will see what he will do - But I can assure you that we can count on him." V9 winked at him.

"Well ... I'm a pretty good swimmer too," Patrick mumbled.

Like a ninja, Yuka easily sneaked out to the ship's deck. Covered by the roaring sound of the wind, no enemy guards noticed when Yuka jumped into the water.

"Doesn't he need light?" Patrick asked while peaking from the slightly opened door.

"Nope, he doesn't. He has the best radar in our group. You cannot hide from him when you both are in the water." V9 smiled.

Patrick's eyes widened. It looked like the boy named Yuka had a shark-like ability - No wonder he looked arrogant.

From the darkness of the sea, Yuka showed up to climb the enemy ship. For a minute, he waited below its rusty railing, waiting for a sign from V9.

On the other side, V9 kept watching the guard from her hiding place. She pulled out a tiny torch from her trouser pocket, pointed it to the enemy, and flickered it. It didn't take a long time until one of the guards noticed the bait.

"Come on... Come closer," V9 murmured as she kept flickering the light.

"Hey," The guard elbowed his friend. He moved his chin to the suspicious light. "Do you see that?"

"That blinking light?" His friend narrowed his eyes.

"Should we check it out?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's just a light from some engine."

"Still, we have to make sure."

"Well..." His friend exhaled. "I know we must work well to get the boss's attention."

"And it's much better than being thrown to be piranha food." He added, pacing to the railing.

Then, he placed a tiny telescope on his eye. His brow curled as the lens focused on the blinking light. "What," he muttered when he saw something like an arm hanging behind the light.

Suddenly, a face showed up right in front of the telescope, but before he could react, something sharp stabbed his neck and sent a burning sensation into his body. In a second, his tongue went numb, and his muscles felt like losing function.

"Fuuu..." Is the only voice he could hear, and he knew it was from his friend who soon got paralyzed.

"Oh, shit!" The other guard tried to take out his walkie-talkie from his pocket.

However, Yuka was too fast that he could flash out to him even though the first guard's neck was still stuck in his hand's sting. He threw the paralyzed guard to make him fall. Then jumped on his body and stabbed his heart with a 10-centimeter sting that came out from between his knuckle's bones.

"Yeah! That's my boy!" V9 cheered. Then, she kept her torch back. "Let's go,"

Behind her, Patrick was still stunned. Maybe he should be more cautious with Yuka if he wanted to back home alive.

Getting his hand pulled by V9, Patrick flinched from the meat-cold temperature of her hand. However, he decided to keep his mouth sealed and followed her.

The wind blew harder when they arrived on the deck. The big wave kept swinging their ship. Holding tight to the railing, Patrick tried to keep his feet steady. Next to him, he found V9 already climbed on it.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

"Getting to that ship of course." She glanced at the enemy’s ship.

"Are we really going to jump from here!?"

"Yup!" V9 stuck out her hand and wiggled her fingers. “Come on,”

"Are you serious?!"

"Yep. Let's hurry, or everyone will get mad."

"I can't jump that far; I'm not a mutant like you guys!" Patrick freaked out but still climbed the squeaking railing.

"Oh, you're right. Then, let's swim," V9 said before smacking Patrick's back to send him falling forward.

"No-" Patrick moved his hands to reach anything to hold onto. However, he could only grab humid air.

He quickly held his breath and closed his eyes when the smell of salt water pierced his nose. The cold air that hit his body suddenly changed to freezing water that numbed his skin and muscles for some seconds. Under the water, he opened his eyes and saw blurry, colorful neon lights swimming everywhere.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist. He almost choked when he turned and found a pair of shining eyes right on his face.