Chapter 201

Chapter 201

"It's nothing, just a scratch on the arm. No big deal." The old sailor gritted his teeth, picked up his club from the deck, and said, "Thanks, kid! These monsters are really troublesome!"

"Be careful, try not to let them scratch you." Evan warned, then turned and plunged back into the fight. Sweat was dripping from his forehead; the nonstop fighting had drained his spiritual energy, but he dared not let his guard down. After all, Lillian was still on board, someone he had to protect—if anything happened to her, the mission was a bust.

Laura was having some trouble, too.

A huge skeleton suddenly burst out of the black mist. It was almost half again as tall as the others, wielding a thick bone club stained with dark red blood, a clear sign it had seen plenty of fights.

Its strength far surpassed that of the other skeletons. With one swing of its club, it dented the deck planks, sending wood chips flying.

Laura didn't dare take it head-on, so she just dodged.

"Bang!" The bone club slammed into the deck with a loud crash. Using the momentum from her dodge, Laura circled around to its side and thrust her longsword at its ribs.

"Clang!" The sword bounced right off, leaving just a shallow scratch on the bone. Laura's heart skipped a beat—this skeleton's bones were rock solid!

The big skeleton spun around and swung its club at Laura.

Laura pushed off the deck and leaped, dodging the blow. Just then, Evan's gun went off, and the bullet hit the big skeleton right in the eye socket. It didn't shatter the skull, but it stunned the thing for a second.

"Attack its joints!" Evan shouted.

Laura got it right away. As she landed, she drove her longsword straight into its knee joint.

That part of the bone was weaker. With a crack, the knee joint gave way and shattered. The skeleton lurched and dropped to one knee on the deck. Evan seized the chance, rushing forward and pouring spiritual energy into his short blade, slashing at its neck. With a sharp crack, the skeleton's head was lopped off, rolling across the deck. The faint green glow faded completely, and its massive body hit the deck with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.

With that big bastard dealt with, they both let out a sigh of relief.

But the battle wasn't over yet. Skeletons were still crawling out of the sea, though in smaller numbers than before. The sailboat was gaining speed, gradually approaching the edge of the Dead Spirit Sea, and the black mist was thinning.

"Almost there! Just hold on a little longer!" Captain Hock's voice had a note of relief in it. He could see the sea ahead turning back to its normal blue—once they cleared this black mist, the skeletons would stop chasing them.

Evan and Laura split up. Laura took over guarding Lillian and mopping up the remaining skeletons on deck, while Evan ran to the railing, using his gun and short blade to pick off skeletons still trying to climb aboard, clearing the way for their escape. The sailors rallied too, swinging their weapons hard to knock the last few skeletons on deck back into the sea.

"Boom!" The final round of cannon fire cleared the last group of skeletons at the edge of the black mist. At that moment, the sailboat finally sailed out of the black mist zone and into normal waters.

The black mist on the sea gradually receded, sunlight once again bathed the deck, and the eerie skeletons disappeared into the mist, no longer giving chase.

The battle was finally over.

From the moment the skeletons appeared to the sailboat's escape from the Dead Spirit Sea, only about ten minutes had passed, but those ten minutes felt like an eternity. The deck was a mess, littered with broken bone fragments, scattered wood chips, and dark red bloodstains. The sails had several long tears from bone claws, some ropes were snapped and flapping in the wind; the muzzles of the four cannons still emitted faint smoke, their barrels blackened; several deck planks were dented and cracked, and one had even been smashed through entirely.

The sailors collapsed onto the deck, gasping for breath, their faces etched with exhaustion and lingering fear.

Some sailors lay flat on the deck, closing their eyes to rest; others pulled out water flasks and drank deeply to relieve the tension and thirst from the fight. Despite the fierce battle, fortunately, no one had died.

"Check if anyone's injured!" Captain Hock wiped the sweat from his brow and ordered loudly. He himself walked over to the helm to check the compass and charts, confirming the sailboat was on course.

The first mate immediately got up and began counting heads.

Soon, he found that four people were injured. Two were young sailors—one had his arm scratched by a skeleton's bone claw, the wound not deep but bleeding heavily; the other had been grazed by the shockwave of a bone club, leaving his leg bruised and him limping. Another was an old sailor who, besides the arm scratch, had been hit in the waist by a skeleton, causing him to bend over in pain. The last injured was a gunner, whose shoulder was strained by the cannon's recoil, leaving his arm unable to lift.

"Hurry and treat the wounds! There's a first-aid kit in the cabin!" Captain Hock said. The maids, having recovered from their earlier fear, quickly ran into the cabin and brought out the first-aid kit. Though still scared, they followed the first-aid knowledge they had learned, using clean cloth strips to bandage the injured sailors' wounds and applying anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving ointments.

Lillian also stepped out from the cabin doorway. Her face was still pale, but the fear was gone.

She walked up to the injured sailors and said softly, "Thank you for your hard work, and for protecting me." She then had the maids bring out some gold coins and handed them to the injured sailors. "This is a small token of my appreciation. I hope you recover soon."

The injured sailors quickly thanked her, taking the coins with grateful expressions. Though wounded, receiving the young lady's concern and reward brought a warmth to their hearts.

Evan and Laura also walked to the center of the deck, both looking tired. Evan's cloak was stained with blood and dust, and the barrel of his left-hand gun was still hot; Laura's knightly attire had several tears, and her face was speckled with wood chips, but her gaze remained steady.

"At least there were no casualties," Laura said softly.

"Yeah, it was a close call," Evan nodded, scanning the chaotic deck. "These skeletons aren't strong individually, but with their numbers and tirelessness, they're really troublesome. Good thing we broke through in time."

Captain Hock walked over and clasped his hands in gratitude. "Thank you both, Supernaturals, for your help. We owe our safe escape to you. Without you, our losses would have been far greater."

"It's our duty," Evan replied. "Are we safe now? Will there be more skeletons chasing us?"

"Don't worry. Once we're out of the black mist zone of the Dead Spirit Sea, those skeletons won't pursue us anymore," Captain Hock said. "They can't leave that mist area—that's what I've learned from years of sailing this route. The rest of the voyage will be safe. In another two hours, we'll reach the Eleventh Island."

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

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