Chapter 128
“Teach, what is all that?”
“I think our guess was right. We’re trapped in the Triangle. That’s the Fleet of the Dead.”
“The Fleet of the Dead?”
“Yes. Ships that go missing here drift the sea forever. Oh, there’s even someone you know. I was wondering why contact went dead, but it looks like he died here.”
“Why are you so calm!?”
Then, the sea began to roil.
Right in front of our ship, a gigantic column of water surged up.
Before we had time to dodge, we were all soaked through.
It was like standing by the side of the road on a rainy day and getting splashed by a passing car.
“Ngh, cold….”
“Would you like to wear my coat? It’s wet too, though.”
“I don’t need it…. What is that?”
I pointed at the huge ship that had risen before us.
A black ship even larger than any ghost ship I’d seen so far.
“It looks like the flagship of this fleet.”
Kyaaaaaak!
On the flagship’s deck, countless ghosts let out shrill screams.
At the same time, light burst from the World Tree leaf hanging around my neck.
A warm green glow wrapped around me.
“Is this some kind of mental attack?”
Right after I muttered that.
The crew all fell into a panic at once.
“Aaaah!”
“W-we have to run!”
Pirates who suddenly started crawling on the floor or desperately threw away their weapons and hid.
“What, you don’t even have balls? Get a grip!”
Teach, the only one still relatively sane, shouted, but it didn’t work at all.
If this kept up, total annihilation was certain.
I needed some way to deal with this.
“I didn’t want to use this, but….”
I fetched the flag with the hourglass drawn on it and planted it beside me.
Boom!
At that moment, a golden wave spread across the entire ship.
Warm, holy energy.
When the light touched them, the ghosts trying to climb onto the deck burned away.
“As expected of the new captain!”
“The captain used magic!”
Life returned to the eyes of the crew who had been frozen with fear.
I decided to bring out the lantern again as well.
A lantern whose light grew stronger the closer it got to ghosts.
That wasn’t all.
“This one?”
Every time the lantern flickered, nearby ghosts were sucked inside it. Each time, the lantern’s light grew stronger.
“Everyone, pick up your weapons!”
I scattered the sand imbued with divine power and smeared it onto the crew’s bodies and weapons.
“Now your blades can hit ghosts too! Don’t chicken out—fight!”
“Aye, aye!”
The crew, their morale recharged, rose up with a cheer.
Swish!
When one sailor swung his sword, smoke rose and the ghost vanished. The effect was definitely real.
“There’s an invisible one over there too!”
As expected of ghosts, some of them even had stealth abilities.
But my Insight Eye couldn’t be fooled. The moment I spotted them, I blew each one apart.
Each time, the lantern absorbed their souls and burned even brighter.
“Good, we can do this!”
“Captain! Instead of this, let’s just fire the cannons!”
“Cannons! Cannons!”
“That’s right! A creaky old ship like that will sink with one cannon shot!”
“Why do these bastards love cannons so much?”
One sailor pulled out a cannon before anyone even gave the order, then tried to light the fuse.
Then Teach ran over and smacked the pirate on the back of the head.
“You idiot! No cannons!”
“Huh? Why not!”
“That ship looks a lot bigger and sturdier than ours! We should steal it and sail it!”
Teach’s eyes gleamed with a greedy madness.
I slapped my forehead. A pirate through and through, huh? Thinking about plundering in a situation like this?
“But I still want to fire….”
“The former captain just doesn’t have the heart of a pirate. No wonder he got kicked out as captain.”
“A true pirate is…!”
But unlike me, the crew looked full of complaints.
Looks like they’d gone crazy wanting to fire the cannons.
“It’s mutiny aboard ship! We’re firing the cannons!”
“Y-you bastards….”
“Wait!”
I raised a hand to stop their rampage. The pirates were staring at me with their eyes rolling wildly.
All right, so you want cannons, huh?
“That ship has more cannons!”
“What? More cannons?”
“If we seize that ship, each of you can have your own cannon!”
“I can have my own cannon?”
I could see the pirates’ eyes going feral.
“What are you waiting for? Charge! Take the ship!”
“Waaaaah!”
The pirates shot across like cannonballs the moment I pointed my staff toward the other side.
It was almost magical. Skill name: Plunder. Gold-rank should do.
The pirates started crossing over on ropes, each with their weapons clenched in their mouths.
It made me wonder why guys who fought this well had even tried to run.
I followed them, making a bridge out of sand to cross over to the flagship.
Teach and the crew followed behind me.
The ghosts were swept away in an instant.
“The compass is working again!”
“Direction?”
“The captain’s cabin!”
“Treasure!”
We cleared the deck in no time and rushed straight into the captain’s cabin.
Bang!
When we kicked the door open and went in, a ghost captain in a lavish uniform was waiting for us.
[Fools, did you think you could take this ship? This ship is cursed…]
“Yeah, yeah, I get it—go on in.”
There was no need to talk any further. I raised the lantern.
Fwoosh!
The lantern unleashed a powerful suction. There was no way he could resist it.
[Damn it, at least let me finish what I’m saying…!]
With a scream, the ghost captain was sucked into the lantern. Crisis over in a flash.
Seeing the lantern, now much brighter than before, put my mind at ease.
I put the lantern away and looked around the captain’s cabin.
The compass pointed to the top of the desk.
There, an old ship’s wheel sat resting.
“This is the treasure?”
I picked up the wheel. It had a heavy feel in my hands.
As if it were also an item, a system notification popped up.
[Ghost Captain’s Wheel]
[Unique]
[You can freely control the ghost ship ‘Ship of the Dead’.]
If you get an item, you should use it right away. I picked up the wheel and headed for the helm.
When I slotted the wheel in, a blueprint of the ship spread out in my mind, like something out of a game screen.
“Let’s see….”
There were all kinds of things I could control remotely.
I could unfurl the sails, load the cannons, and even use the diving function we’d seen earlier.
I could do it all from here.
I tried giving it a test command. First, I’d unfurl the sails.
Flap!
Even though the sailors on deck didn’t lift a finger, the sails all unfurled at once. They filled with wind and billowed taut.
“Now, aim the cannons.”
Kreeeek!
The side gunports opened, and dozens of cannons shot out simultaneously.
The sailors, all busy searching for treasure, were so shocked when the cannons suddenly activated that they stumbled and fell over.
“This is amazing.”
I couldn’t help but marvel. With this, it felt like I might even become Pirate King myself.
Then I suddenly remembered an item I’d left sitting at home for ages.
The wand and robe I’d gotten from a black mage on the 40th floor.
I hadn’t used them because of the penalty that said the Curse of the Dead followed them around, but if I combined them with this ghost ship, wouldn’t there be some synergy?
Maybe the debuff would even cancel out.
“I should bring them next time.”
That was when I let go of the wheel and gave the helm over to Teach.
“So with just this thing, one person can steer the ship alone? We’re all out of work now.”
“No, you should still be the one steering the ship.”
Honestly, even if it was automatic, I was uneasy about steering a ship when I knew absolutely nothing about navigation.
It was the same as how knowing only the accelerator, brake, and steering wheel doesn’t mean you can drive a car.
It was better to leave reading the currents and riding the wind to an expert.
More than anything, there was nothing I’d do with this wheel if I took it home. It’s not like I’d set a ship afloat in the bathtub and play with it.
“Anyway, you’re the first mate. When I’m not around, you’re the one in charge.”
“To think I’d get to steer a ship like this… It’s an honor.”
Teach took hold of the wheel with a moved expression.
I worried about just one thing.
“But isn’t it creepy? It is a ghost ship, after all. That ghost captain said it too—there’s a curse.”
“Come on, are pirates really in a position to be picky about that? And you can just blast it with that same light from earlier, Captain.”
“Really?”
Teach laughed heartily and stroked the wheel. Definitely a man with an unusual mentality.
Or maybe greed had simply overcome his fear.
Teach barked orders at the crew.
“All right, then—it’s time to move!”
We’d abandon the old, battered pirate ship.
Even though it was a ghost ship, it had three whole sails. On top of that, it even had an auto-pilot function. There was no reason not to make the move.
The crew began moving busily.
Food, water, weapons, and even extra piles of sand for me.
The ship was so huge that even after moving everything over, there was still plenty of room left.
“Move complete!”
After transferring all our belongings, we looked back at the old ship.
A ship in dreadful shape, with broken masts and holes all over it.
You’ve had it rough all this time.
“Captain, according to pirate tradition, a ship that can no longer sail must be burned and sent off on the sea.”
“Like cremation?”
“Yes, just like a person.”
“Do it.”
Teach lifted a torch with a serious expression.
The crew also lined up with solemn expressions.
Some of the more sensitive ones even wiped away tears.
“Goodbye!”
“Sniff, thanks for everything…”
Teach threw the torch. Flames whooshed up over the oil-slicked deck.
Fwoooosh!
Black smoke rose along with the crackle of burning wood. A solemn farewell.
Even I, who didn’t have many memories with it, felt a twinge in my chest like I’d come to a campfire.
That was when it happened.
[I’ll curse you, you pirate bastards….]
“What?”
A gloomy, heavy voice came from the burning ship.
A voice full of resentment, mixed with the sound of wood warping.
[So you got a new ship and burned me?]
[I’ll curse you… I’ll follow you for the rest of your life and curse you…!]
A distorted shape rose up from within the flames.
“Hiiik!”
“The ship is talking!”
The crew, who had been crying just moments ago, screamed while hugging one another.
Even Teach, who’d been bold the whole time, was no different.
“C-Captain, what is that?!”
“How would I know? It’s your ship!”
“I don’t know any ship like that!”
The touching farewell ceremony turned into a total mess in an instant.
The burning ship kept spitting curses.
If we left it like that, it really felt like something terrible would happen.
“Shut up!”
I took out the lantern again.
The lantern that had the power to trap ghosts.
“You go in quietly too!”
Huuuuung!
Once again, a powerful suction force sprang into action.
[I did! I sailed for you all for so long…!]
With one final cry, the ship’s vengeful spirit stretched out and was sucked into the lantern.
The old pirate ship was now just an ordinary burning mass of wood.
[Congratulations on clearing Floor 43 on EXTREME difficulty.]
[First-clear bonus applied!]
[Rank 1 bonus applied!]
The clear rewards appeared almost at the same time.