Chapter 140: Ships in the Night (Patreon)

The beach bash bonanza wound down late into the night, and most everyone on Ghost Reef had retired after a long day in the sun, drinking, eating, and otherwise partying. Whether they ended up passing out on the beach or returning to their beds, they were all heading for a satisfied night’s sleep.

The bonfires were nothing but embers, crackling with the ocean breeze, and surrounded by snoring revelers. Coop was on his back, laying in a bed of sand. He was watching the twinkling stars through the handful of wispy smoke trails crossing the sky from the dying bonfires and just letting his mind relax. Camila and Charlie were having a whispered conversation nearby and Sunny was already snoring with his head across Coop’s stomach.

He took the quiet opportunity to thoroughly catch up on his status.

[Status]

HP - 10290/10290

MP - 19080/19080

Class - Revenant (Level 123)

Profession - Scavenging (Level 104)

Affinity - Spectral

Race - Human (Rank 1)

Faction - None

Strength - 75 (+1908)

Agility - 75 (+954)

Body - 75 (+954)

Mind - 1590 (+318)

Intelligence - 75 (+1908)

Acumen - 75

Unallocated - 0

Titles - Champion III, Haunted, Ethereal, Reaper, Slayer IV, Dauntless, Stacked, Defiant, Siegebreaker

Skills (Active) - Retribution+, Salvation, Presence of Mind, Fog of War

Skills (Passive) - Mind Over Matter, Adamance, Practical Application, Arcane Comprehension

Quests - Fortune Seeker (17/50), Defeat Ancient Devourers III (0/250), Defeat Primal Serpents III (0/250), Defeat Primal Kites V (3103/11111), Upgrade Town to City

Basic Credits - 4,024,324

Other than increasing his Champion title, his primary gains had been made through raw levels. In six days his class went up by five levels and his profession by six. He wondered if any of the contracted residents would be able to share any more nuanced information regarding rates of leveling. The factions had basically only informed their Chosen of what to expect based on the first 30 days, when orientations were ongoing, because that was when they had to weigh the costs and benefits of paying to keep their Chosen or returning them to the assimilation. The one level per day they espoused seemed like a rule of thumb that wouldn’t really have longevity, even under normal circumstances.

“Do they even have thumbs?” Coop mumbled to himself as he considered who had even come up with the generalizations in the first place.

“Hm?” Camila hummed, but Coop shook his head, letting her know he was talking to himself. She just shook her head and returned her attention to Charlie.

Coop let his idle thoughts continue, wondering about variations of mana between planets themselves. Maybe different planets just found a balance in their ley lines sooner or later than others, bringing mana concentrations up to standards at different rates. They couldn’t all be the same, and it only took a passing glance at the leaderboards to know that he wasn’t the only individual exceeding standard predictions, even if he was an extreme outlier.

Then there were all the animals. He gently rubbed behind Sunny’s ears. Even the retriever, who had only started leveling almost a month into the assimilation, was beating the one level a day rule. For the most part, everything around the factions was hyper focused on humans, but there were so many animals showing themselves to be similarly capable of gathering experience. He wouldn’t be surprised if out in the wilds, where monsters were supposedly growing unimpeded, there were animals that were equally competing for dominance. A wild animal outside of settlement territory was almost certainly being put at odds with Primal Constructs, and if the Unchosen creatures around Ghost Reef were anything to go by, they had at least as much potential as any human on Earth.

Coop entertained the idea that Primal Constructs, like all the other factions, were too focused on humanity, but he moved on from the thought pretty quickly. The Primal Constructs concentrated on the civilization shards, not on humans or anyone in particular. In a roundabout way, the result was similar, since animals were more likely to simply ignore settlements themselves, unlike their human counterparts.

Admittedly, his own growth had slowed slightly, after leaping ahead in the mana well, but that could be attributed to the lull that his Slayer title grinds put him through when he was in the last stage of a quest chain. Then there was the Champion title which had gone from +25 to all stats to +50, improving its total by 150 total attributes before considering his Mind passives. His gains weren't anything to be ashamed of, but the threat of the unknown kept him on his toes. Eventually, he would need to start comparing his power levels to those outside of the assimilation, and at that point he would use the contracted residents as a baseline.

He checked the leaderboards, thinking that he would be making another push as soon as the post-siege vacation came to a close and he had the opportunity to demolish some new Slayer chains on foreign shores.

Day 64

1. Coop (Level 123)
2. Charlie Seraphin (Level 83)
3. Ix-Hau (Level 83)
4. Camila Alvarez (Level 81)
5. Xba-Hau (Level 81)
6. Cole Walker(Level 81)
7. Ashton Cliff (Level 81)
8. Kinaktok (Level 80)
9. Sangilak (Level 80)
10. Victor Burke (Level 79)

“Nice.” Coop nodded approvingly. “Camila, can’t you go get a couple levels real quick?” He suggested, interrupting their conversation yet again.

“Let me go in order. I’m getting some of those Slayer titles too.” She insisted before turning back to Charlie who gave Coop an amused smile. The girls had a little rivalry where Charlie was winning in terms of class progression, but Camila was way ahead in profession levels.

Coop shrugged at Camila’s lack of urgency, imagining Ghost Reef taking over the top three and feeling quite happy about it. Maybe he should be encouraging Shane’s party to get back into the mana well. Shane and Arthur in particular weren’t too far outside of the top 10, nothing a week or two inside the well wouldn’t be enough to overcome.

Only a single pair of the Hau people were in the top 10, but given their experience with Ich-Hau, he suspected that they could make large leaps whenever they felt like it. At least, it seemed safer to assume they could until he better understood what they were even doing. He considered whether or not his level lead would hold up at all. Did it even matter? His stats were the key, and between his passives, his titles, and his profession, he essentially had a massive hidden multiplier to his level. If someone thought they could challenge him by leaping forward with hollow levels, they would be in for a pretty devastating surprise.

No, he didn’t really feel the need to worry about the humans on the leaderboard when it came to actual conflict, even if they had cheap ways to match his publicly listed power level, he was well beyond even that. The actual threats weren’t on the human only leaderboard. They would be accumulating power quietly, like the monsters in the mana well. He would aim to match the stats of opponents with thousands of levels rather than those trying to catch up.

Then there was the Eradication Protocol, when the judgment of mana would be upon them. Icons of Mana would establish themselves where they could actively grow armies instead of how the rest of the monsters were passively accumulating levels. They would leap forward in a way that demanded humans prepare ahead of time or be left behind.

In a way, the current state of the assimilation was the calm before the storm, but he thought even the Icons of Mana would be limited by the upper bounds of mana concentration. Coop was already beyond system limitations if the siege event was anything to go by, so who was to say whether or not he could break the expectations of mana itself. It wasn’t like he was a simple monster, restricted by local mana concentrations as he passively made power gains.

If he had his way, he would stick around Ghost Reef, grinding his own levels while cheerleading for everyone else, making sure they could also stand on their own. Hopefully, it was only a matter of time before he could do just that. As long as threats to the settlement were making themselves known, he would just have to go out of his way to nip them in the bud, but how many could there really be? He shook his head and glanced around the beach, smirking to himself at passed out phantoms, resting their heads on picnic tables, and residents snoring in the sand.

Coop thought this was the best way to experience an apocalypse. He wished the joyful atmosphere would never end. He thought there was a chance he could actually do it; carve out a sanctuary where people could escape the threats of monsters and aliens and safely reach their full potential so that those same threats wouldn’t be as dangerous to them under any other circumstances.

For a few moments he considered if they had already succeeded, given the recent atmosphere around Ghost Reef after catapulting forward thanks to their unusual siege event. At least he considered their premature victory until the warning bells started ringing from the fort’s walls. He sighed to himself. The potential dangers were always lurking, even when he was ready for a good night’s sleep after a perfect day.

“What’s going on?” Coop asked the girls.

“One ship.” Charlie translated for him, sitting up and sounding groggy as she had been ready to doze off. When several more bells chimed, she looked at Camila, confused, but suddenly appearing wide awake, as if she had just received bad news.

“What?” Coop asked, as both girls roused themselves, brushing the sand off as they stood. Other people around the beach were doing the same, settling into safety routines that had been drilled by their immediate supervisors after being organized by the more diligent leaders of the settlement.

“One ship and an army.” Camila relayed. “Or something like that.” She hedged. “It doesn’t really make sense, but the watch commander is putting the whole navy in the water and calling for the cannons to be manned.”

That was enough for Coop. If they had a fight on their hands, he would be the first one to dive in. He could at least do that much as the Champion of the settlement, and as strong as he was compared to everyone else. He was glad Jones had made him become the Champion now, recognizing that his role was the simplest of all. Pursue strength to avoid being easily killed, even as the threats constantly escalated, so that the settlement wouldn’t be in danger of being lost to rival groups.

As the trio hustled to the port, the girls continued to go over the messages. It sounded like Sea Burial was shadowing a single potential enemy ship, but it described it as an army, directly north of the settlement. The message had to be relayed across more than 12 miles, which the girls believed was the cause of confusion. In any case, the fort was put on full alert, with all of the leveled phantoms gearing up for battle, equipping the Ghost Reef Standard Issue, while the new arrivals stayed with the resurrected phantoms on standby within the protection of the walls where they could provide support without being exposed. The pirates were taking nearly the whole fleet to investigate, trusting in their maneuverability to keep the freshly resurrected pirates from too much danger. For the navy, when they gauged power and readiness, it was more about the ships than the individual crew members.

Coop, Camila, and Charlie joined the Eye of the Storm while other residents hopped aboard the corvettes, adding their strength to the freshly returned level one crew members. The residents donned the settlement’s new armor, including Charlie and Camila, making them seem like elites among the mishmash of pirate styles that the crews maintained. Of the residents, only Coop stuck with his own gear.

The flagship guided the fleet around the fort, picking up speed as they rotated north from the port on the southwest wall, leaving the weathered stone fortress behind as a flurry of activity took hold of the walls. Coop stood on the forecastle deck, along with Captain Kayla as they watched the dark horizon ahead. Charlie took center stage as she created an enormous tailwind that flowed across the entire fleet, putting them on a pace that would have rivaled modern boats as they sliced across the water.

The sea was rough enough for white caps to appear on every third wave, but the pirate ships cheated with their ghostly properties, keeping the ride fast and smooth inside their territory. Under the cloak of night, the black sails made the ships nearly impossible to see, like giant shadows against the dark ocean and starry night sky. Only the bows cutting through the water, leaving white splashes, gave them away to those who looked close enough.

They caught up with Sea Burial in less than 20 minutes. One look and Coop knew exactly what had caused the slightly confused messages. In the distance, to the north, a massive structure was facing west northwest, easily large enough to contain an entire army. The pirates had kept their distance, using the camouflage of darkness to remain undetected, but there was no hiding what they had spotted.

An enormous ship, listing slightly to its starboard side, looking for all intents and purposes like it had been abandoned, was blocking the horizon. If it wasn’t for the hundreds of torches lighting up the sides, seemingly identical to the one that Derek had grabbed when they escaped from the mainland, it could have been mistaken for a derelict. The ship may not have power, but someone had done their best to light it up with a glow that turned the sides into billboards that were impossible to miss. They certainly had no intention of going unnoticed.

However, while the residents of Ghost Reef unraveled the sight, more lights flashed, contrasting with the golden glow as spells were cast, creating brief spectacles around the ship. Random projectiles were flung harmlessly into the water, with high arcs in all directions, as if they had missed their intended targets. Even from the great distance they left between the pirate ships and their quarry, Coop could sporadically hear frantic shouts of battle. Occasional fiery explosions lit tiny portions around the bow of the ship, looking like nothing more than firecrackers popping along the bulk, despite each blast being large enough to fill a room.

“Well…” Kayla whispered as if she was coming to terms with something. “Didn’t really think those were actually seaworthy.” She admitted. One of the cruise ships that had been moored in the Endless Empire’s port apparently made a break for it and ended up near their island, despite the vastness of the ocean for them to sail.

Charlie vocalized all of their confusion. “What’s the Empire doing out here?”

One of the pirates from Sea Burial teleported to the Eye of the Storm while they considered the possibilities of some kind of assault. Charlie suggested that they had continued their naval scouting missions from earlier in the assimilation, but changed their methodology of casting a wide net to a singular hook. The huge ship could hold a lot more personnel than Kevin the Hammer’s squad had in the beginning.

“What’s the situation?” Kayla demanded as the pirate joined them.

“We spotted her a good 15 miles to the east, impossible to miss. They were lacking control and were firing abilities off the rear to keep moving, but you wouldn’t believe the momentum of that thing, it just goes where it wants to. We thought they would just drift by, so we stayed in the shadows, just to make sure, but they struck something that halted their momentum. Can’t be land, even as big as that thing is, the sea is deeper. They’ve been fighting ever since they stopped.” He paused as a blue flare shot up into the sky, lighting up the pink and blue water slides on the cruise ship’s uppermost deck, then popped into a shower of glittering sparks not completely unlike the fireworks they had enjoyed earlier in the night.

The pirate quickly continued. “Cap’ estimated they had more than 5,000 on board, but the action has been concentrated on the other side. No idea what they’re up against or how many they got fightin’, but they seem to be losing.”

They all watched as one of the lifeboats, large enough for 500 people, escaped the rigging that held it in place with a series of loud snaps and freefell for a few seconds from the port side. The violent splash as it reached the surface of the ocean climbed multiple storeys up the ship. The lifeboat bobbed in the water, empty, until it stabilized.

The gargantuan propeller was slowly rising from the surface of the ocean and more of the dull red painted hull was being exposed to the night air as the ship rolled further on its side. It seemed like the cruise ship was being slowly torn apart and would be sinking soon.

“Up to you, Champ.” Kayla stated, deferring to Coop before giving any orders. “We could just pretend like we didn’t see nothin’ or we could pile on and make sure they get what’s coming. These people weren’t so keen on you last time we met.” She correctly pointed out.

Coop frowned. “No.” He shook his head. “We should rescue them. I’ll head on board myself, find out why they’re fighting and give people the choice to evacuate. You just pull people from the water and stay clear of the ship itself.”

Kayla smirked and shook her head at him. “That’s our Champ.” She turned to Sharkbait and bowed her head.

A second later, the bells were tolling, openly announcing their presence as orders were relayed across the fleet. Another second and the pirate ships that had been concealed in the darkness were lighting up the sea with torches all along the ship rigging.

The pirate queen put her palms out. “I knew you’d decide something like that. We’ll be the beacon for any of them smart enough to seek it out.” She flicked her fingers toward the sinking cruise ship. “Go do your thing.”