"You-"
Before Shao Tianming can reply—
*Boom!!!!!* the triangular-shaped body part with a round tip from earlier, reappears, and as this body part falls backwards, a heavy force of impact emanates from the ship's deck!
"No way…!"
Realizing what had happened, Li Xue's complexion turns white.
Momentarily—
*Pah!!!!!!* the entire 300-meter warship is thrown 50 meters into the air by the dark creature's tail that had smashed into its hull from below!
"…?!"
"…?!"
Experiencing freefall, while the warship beneath them begins to rotate from the force that hit it, those in the air instinctively look downwards, and—
"What the…-?!"
"Huu…?!"
What ends up greeting their eyes is a black crocodilian creature with its back and belly—from head to tail, covered in razor sharp spikes.
However, what stands out most clearly to the weapon spirits at this time—is the creature's blood-colored maw that is spewing out red mist, and is lined with fangs capable of ripping through steel.
*Boom!!!!!* leaping out of the waters with explosive ferocity, the crocodilian creature closes in on the warship, and snaps its maw down its center!
*Kakaka!!!* just as the ship's bridge is about to be crushed, a few figures leap out of the shattered windows.
(This thing is considered a weapon spirit? It's at least 600 meters in length… Shouldn't it be considered a magic beast at this point?)
Astonishment is rather evident in Long Hua's eyes, as he bears witness to the warship being snapped in half by the beast's maw.
And in the next instance—
*Boom!!!!!* sinking into the vast seas while dragging the warship along with it, the crocodilian creature seemingly vanishes.
Following the creature's disappearance—
*Pah! Pah! Pah!* one by one, bodies hit the dark waters.
And almost immediately, the weapon spirits begin to swim in whatever direction without a destination in mind—for the only thought that they have in their heads is to flee as far away as possible from this monstrous existence.
"…Lifeboats, now!"
"Get the lifeboats out!"
Amidst these panicked responses, the ones who showed some signs of composure—despite being a bit shaken, are the members of the Ashen River Hall and the Moon Guards, as they take out a lifeboat from their storage devices.
Emerging from beneath the waters, Dan Hong swims to the nearest military lifeboat, and shouts—
"Stick together! That thing should have eaten its fill for now!"
According to research, fully Apotheosized weapon spirits will eat just about anything—be it people, or chunks of metal.
At the same time, they are capable of surviving without food for an indefinite amount of time—leading to theorizes that the act of eating is only a vestigial habit from when it was still considered human.
"…"
"…"
Getting out of the waters with Tian Cheng and onto a lifeboat, Long Hua looks back into the murky waters, while thinking—
(100,000-year-old weapon spirits… Ai, this isn't going to work when there's this stupid Immortal Sealing Chain active. I need to destroy that first. Afterwards… I can try out the Machina Frame on it.)
Making himself comfortable, Long Hua takes out a self-heating bowl of instant ramen.
After firing four shots off with the White Serpent King in its rifle form, he's consumed a great deal of energy.
"Surnamed Long, you still have the leisure to eat ramen?"
Raising his head, Long Hua notices that the people on this lifeboat are all members of the Ashen River Hall—with Li Zi Xiang being among their numbers.
Taking out a bottle of water, and pouring it into the bowl, Long Hua answers—
"Surnamed Li, an army doesn't march on an empty stomach."
Looking at the other six members of the Ashen River Hall, who are all wearing a mask, making it impossible to tell what sort of expression they have on their faces, Long Hua raises a sigh, and continues to ask—
"I say, why do the people of your hall need to wear masks? It's not exactly fashionable for one."
Ignoring the question, Li Zi Xiang says—
"Surnamed Long, one word from me, and I can have you thrown overboard right now."
With a smile of amusement on his face, Long Hua hands the ramen over to Tian Cheng, prior to taking out the black revolver, and replying—
"Let me ask you this; do you think I'm incapable of throwing all of you overboard right now?"
"…"
"…"
Recalling how badly Zhang Yong was beaten, not a single person felt the urge to make any moves—especially so, when that massive creature might still be lurking around beneath them.
"…"
Tapping the side of the lifeboat as it got moving, Li Zi Xiang feels extremely unwilling to just be talked into submission like this; hence—
"Hand a bowl over to all of us, it's only fair since you're hitching a ride."
"Fine."
Heaving a sigh, Long Hua tosses out seven bowls of instant ramen.
...…
It's unclear as to how long the lifeboats had been made to move in a straight line for, but just as a few individuals are concerned about the lack of fuel—
"I see land!"
Simultaneously, everyone raises their head, and faces forward—to see an island in the far distance.
From where they are, the island looks to be covered in greenery with a tall mountain at its center. The peak of the mountain is rather odd—for it is slanted with what seems to be a flat surface.
"Hmm."
Taking out a pair of binoculars, Dan Hong scans the island's visible areas for hostiles, and says—
"I don't see anything hostile, but don't drop your guards when we make land."
"Sir, yes, sir."