"Good question, but don't ask it next time."
After hearing Fang Mo's comment, Summon covered her face in frustration, "I don't think 'mermaid' is something that can be eaten."
"Aren't you being a bit too sanctimonious?"
Fang Mo couldn't help but respond, "Last time when I ate beef, you stopped me. Now, when I want to eat fish, you're stopping me again... Do you demons photosynthesize or something?"
"How is that the same?"
Summon immediately retorted, "If you want to eat livestock, go ahead. After all, they lack intelligence. But this mermaid is clearly no different from a normal person... If you say you want to eat her, how is that different from murder?"
"But I can revive her," Fang Mo said, spreading his hands nonchalantly.
"Just because you can revive someone doesn't mean they want to die!!!"
Summon couldn't hold back any longer, practically jumping up and shouting this out.
"Tsk, this dumb Tang Nu inequality really comes in handy," Fang Mo muttered, displeased, frowning. Then, as if he suddenly thought of something, he mumbled to himself quietly, "So disgusting... Could this person be the offspring of that Great Tang King?"
"Hmm?"
Summon didn't catch what Fang Mo said and asked, "What did you just say?"
"Oh, nothing."
Fang Mo shook his head and then, as if performing a trick, suddenly pulled out a small knife, "I said it's fine not to kill. Look, this dagger is coated with a regenerative potion."
"?"
Summon was stunned, "What do you mean?"
"Heh heh, we can just slice it."
Fang Mo laughed delightedly, "Eat endlessly, regenerate and recover like new. In other words, eat a piece, regenerate a piece..."
"???"
Summon's eyes widened in shock upon hearing this.
"???"
And not far away, the small lantern was so frightened that its face turned a bit pale.
Fortunately, Fang Mo didn't continue on this topic. Instead, he turned to the train conductor beside him, "Alright, in any case, get us a train ready to head out and attract the attention of those pirates."
"Uh... okay, sure."
Bellen nodded instinctively, "I'll notify the others to open the route, but it seems like the train driver isn't here right now..."
"Oh, no worries."
Fang Mo waved dismissively, "We have a driver. Just get the train ready. I'm in a hurry."
"What?"
Belén was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Marlene Kitzka.
"My apologies, Lord Fang Mo."
Marlene Kitzka clearly felt Fang Mo was implying her, so she quickly spoke up, "The technique to drive a sea train is different from Magaro. I didn't learn this skill in the royal court, so..."
"Oh, I wasn't talking about you."
Fang Mo casually interrupted Marlene's words, "I was referring to someone else who can drive."
"Is that so?"
Upon hearing this, Marlene Kitzka became even more puzzled, "With all due respect, Lord Fang Mo, but you and your companion..."
"My companion."
Fang Mo interrupted again.
"Uh... alright." Marlene hesitated but quickly changed her question, "But as far as I know, neither you nor your companion are from the Heavenly Realm, so how could you possibly drive a sea train?"
"Exactly."
Summon also became curious upon hearing this, "Have you driven one of these before?"
"No, I haven't."
Fang Mo spread his hands.
"Then you..."
But before Summon could finish, Fang Mo suddenly said, "Did you forget? We have Bruce. Let him drive."
"???"
Summon blinked, thinking she must have misheard, so she couldn't help but ask again, "What... did you just say?"
"I said, let Bruce drive."
Fang Mo repeated.
"Are you crazy!?"
Summon couldn't help but shout, "You want a magic suit of armor to drive a sea train... Are you trying to get us all killed in the sea!?"
"But I can revive..."
"I already told you, just because you can revive doesn't mean I want to die!!!"
Before Fang Mo could finish, Summon jumped up and punched him. However, with the soft snowman suit, it did no damage at all. Instead, it looked like she was playfully hitting him, which made the scene even more absurd and comical.
"Come on, sis, can we stop using the Tang Nu inequality?"
Fang Mo couldn't help but rub his forehead, "Every time you do that, it reminds me of another person with the surname Tang... It's like mashing together Eastern Snow Lotus with Sun Xiaochuan—truly a double whammy of bad luck... Do you think we Minecraft folks don't get nauseous?"
"... Huh?"
Summon didn't understand what Fang Mo was talking about and raised an eyebrow, "Then you're not allowed to bring up your ability to revive anymore!"
"Fine, fine, I won't revive, okay?"
Fang Mo said dismissively, "But Bruce really can drive the sea train."
"You..."
Summon didn't even have the strength to be angry anymore.
"Come on, why don't you try trusting your summon for once?" Fang Mo coaxed, "Think about the bond between you two, think about your friendship. If you're not even willing to trust your partner... what kind of Pokémon trainer does that make you?"
"I don't even know what this 'Pokémon' you're talking about is."
Summon sighed, rubbing her forehead.
"You'll find out one day." Fang Mo said seriously, "One day, everyone will have their own Ditto."
"I hope that day never comes. I don't want to be tortured by you anymore."
Summon rubbed her temples in exasperation.
"Alright then." Fang Mo shrugged, not caring much, "Since you don't want to enter a kid's world, let's get back to discussing the train..."
After some more back and forth, they eventually managed to board the train.
Actually, due to Fang Mo's unreliable behavior, Bellen was quite reluctant to lend him a sea train.
But the issue was, Fang Mo was just too wealthy. That large chunk of gold he threw down—honestly, it was enough to buy a few new trains for Luft Harbor, with the leftover money even sufficient to renovate the terminal hall and cover some of the operational losses caused by the conflict between Kalet and the Imperial forces.
Considering all that, Bellen eventually gave in and handed control over to Fang Mo.
Of course, a significant factor in this decision was Marlene, given that she was associated with the Imperial Court. Simply put, this meant it was an order from the royal family, and naturally, Bellen dared not defy it.
As a result, Fang Mo smoothly boarded the train bound for the western line. And just as he mentioned earlier, he really did have Bruce drive the train.
After all, the sea train's route is fixed. Even if Bruce knows nothing about driving, at least he won't steer the train into the ocean.
"Good luck, Bruce!"
In the train's control room, Fang Mo was cheering on the Heaven Expeller, "You can do it!"
"..."
The Heaven Expeller said nothing, only staring blankly at the instrument panel and the hundreds of bewildering buttons in front of him. Soon, he did the same thing as the Bedrock Golem—he scratched his metallic helmet.
"I remember you once said that summoning you requires a huge cost."
The Summon, who had witnessed the whole process, sighed helplessly, "Tell me the truth... Is this cost going to give me a headache?"
"You're not wrong there."
Fang Mo patted Bruce's metal shoulder armor and then chuckled, "Actually, I have countless forms. What you see now is just one of them. In the past, I preferred to use the image of a white-haired, red-eyed little girl to torment others, watching them suffer from splitting headaches. That's why I was once called the Split-Head Loli..."
"A white-haired, red-eyed little girl?"
The Summon imagined the scene and couldn't help but facepalm, "This feels even worse..."
"Of course it is."
Fang Mo, feeling proud, put his hands on his hips and said, "Now that I have a family, I've toned it down a lot compared to before. Back then, I even dared to carve a huge number 8 on the moon. Imagine if I carved a β now, could your Third Awakening still be called 'Eclipse'? It would have to be called 'Moonscript'..."
"Please, just stop talking, okay?"
The Summon took a deep breath, "My head is already starting to split, thanks."
"You didn't see that coming, did you? This time it's 'Split-Head Thanks'..."
"Boom!"
Before Fang Mo could finish his mischievous words, the sea train, which had been running normally, suddenly shook. The Summon almost lost his balance, but fortunately, a tentacle broke through the wool layer of his snowman outfit and wrapped around a nearby metal handrail.
"W-What happened?"
After regaining his balance, the Summon's face clearly showed tension, "Could the train have derailed? Damn it, I knew Bruce couldn't drive..."
"No, what's with this tentacle?"
Instead of answering the Summon's concerns, Fang Mo's attention was entirely drawn to the tentacle, and he hesitated, "Don't tell me... you're full of ink now?"
"Can you stop causing trouble at a time like this?"
The Summon said irritably, "The ring is just temporarily protecting its master. So what caused the shake? Could the train really be about to derail?"
"Let me check..."
Upon hearing this, Fang Mo glanced at Steve's mini-map.
And just that quick look was enough for him to see a large number of icons appearing in the rear carriages. Although they were pixelated, he still recognized who they were.
It was clearly the Scale Pirate Crew.
Besides a bunch of minor characters, Fang Mo even recognized the leader, Commodore Cannonhand, and the mermaid, Quong'qng. Apparently, this pirate crew had noticed the train too, probably having gotten some intel from somewhere. It seemed they were here to plunder.
"Don't worry, the train hasn't derailed."
After seeing this, Fang Mo promptly reassured the Summon, "It's the pirates."
"Phew, that scared me."
The Summon finally sighed in relief.
"Look at you, scared so easily." Fang Mo gave the Summon a disapproving look before drawing the Manyullyn Cleaver, "Alright, you keep an eye on things here. I'll be back soon."
"Wait..."
However, what Fang Mo didn't expect was for the Summon to stop him.
"Hmm?"
Fang Mo glanced at him.
"I'll go."
At this moment, the Summon seemed to have made up his mind. He glanced at the Manyullyn Cleaver in Fang Mo's hand and suddenly said, "If it's just a bunch of ragtag pirates... I can handle them. You stay here and drive the train."
"Oh wow, stepping up today, huh?"
Hearing this, Fang Mo was a bit surprised and patted his head, "Instead of finding an excuse to slack off, you're taking the initiative to fight?"
"Because I really don't want the train to derail."
As the Summon spoke, he began casting a summoning spell, "You always make too much of a scene..."
"Boss, don't fall for it!"
At that moment, the Manyullyn Cleaver in Fang Mo's hand suddenly spoke up, "She's the Queen of Treachery! She doesn't want you to handle that mermaid, Quong'qng, herself. Don't fall into her trap!"
"Hmm?"
Hearing this, Fang Mo suddenly realized and shot a suspicious glance at the Summon.
"You..."
The Summon's face turned pale, "Why are you giving me trouble!"
"Heh, women."
The Manyullyn Cleaver sneered, "How does it feel to be exposed by the 'weakest' weapon?"
"It's not like I had a choice!"
The Summon, her plan now failed, retorted angrily, "What else could I do? Let Misha choose that mute sword? It could smash Ghent, along with the entire island, into the Sky Sea with one strike! You think I wanted to choose a weapon full of mischief? I had no choice..."
"Boss, let me go!"
The Manyullyn Cleaver couldn't hold back anymore, "I... I'm going to stab this wicked woman!"
"Come on, go ahead, strike here."
The Summon seemed to have given up, placing one hand on her hip and pointing to her head with the other, "Your master will just resurrect me anyway."
"Why is this about me again?"
Fang Mo sighed, "Didn't we agree not to bring this up..."
Just as the two were arguing, the door to the captain's cabin was suddenly kicked open. A large, humanoid crocodile swaggered in from outside, unable to resist letting out a piercing laugh.
"Wa-ha-ha!"
The burly Commodore Cannonhand laughed arrogantly, "I can't believe you cowards dared to resume the route! You must have a death wish. Hand over your valuables..."
Unfortunately, before he could finish his sentence, sword energy and a whip simultaneously struck his body.
"Shut up!"
The Manyullyn Cleaver and the Summon yelled at him in unison.