"I knew it would end in disaster!"
On the sea, a Summon sitting on a small boat couldn't help but shout, "I told you Bruce can't drive a train, but you insisted on making him do it!"
"That was clearly Borodin's fault."
Fang Mo shrugged and retorted, "What does it have to do with Bruce?"
Yes, to explain the current situation, we have to start with Borodin, an ancient dungeon boss...
In the game Dungeon, the difficulty varies across different dungeons. Normal dungeons are relatively easy, but dungeons like the Ancient ones are much more challenging, though the rewards are equally high. The best example was the Apophis magic sword back in version 60.
As for Borodin, the boss of the Ancient Dungeon King's Ruins, his strength was, of course, ridiculous.
Not to mention his five elite knights, each with their unique skills, who made countless players question their lives back then.
Borodin himself was even more absurd.
With his outrageous defense, super armor, stunning attacks, high resistance to staggering, and the ability to release shockwaves upon falling, he was enough to give players a headache. On top of that, he could summon a bunch of invincible mini-knights and unleash full-screen attacks.
Yes, Borodin was set up as a character who could overpower everything with brute force.
So, his skills followed this theme.
In the game, he would suddenly shout, "Kneel before me!" and then smash the ground three times with his hammer, dealing massive damage, sometimes even causing a stun.
You must know, this move was a full-screen attack.
Unless you jumped three times in place, you couldn't dodge it.
In the game, players could avoid this move by following the mechanics, and while it was troublesome, it was possible to dodge it by being careful... But here, in the real world, when Borodin smashed the ground with his hammer, the train they were on couldn't hold up.
With a loud bang, the metal floor of the carriage was instantly torn apart.
The giant hammer struck the sea, instantly raising a towering wave.
The sea train, already overwhelmed by the summoned creatures' rampage, was like the last straw that broke the camel's back when hit by the wave, and it began to disintegrate.
And then...
It ended up like this.
Fortunately, Steve still had plenty of wooden boats in his backpack, so no one fell into the water.
"I should never have trusted you, seriously."
However, the Summon seemed truly frustrated. She had already unsummoned her creatures and was now sitting on a small wooden boat with a dark expression, "Now what do we do?"
"What's done is done."
Fang Mo patted the little mermaid Quong'qng beside him, then pulled out a small knife, "Let's eat first..."
"Is trouble the only thing on your mind?"
The Summon asked.
"You know what?" However, Fang Mo didn't respond to the question. Instead, he seriously examined the knife in his hand, looking thoughtful like a philosopher, "Sashimi is actually dead fish..."
"Huh?"
The Summon was momentarily baffled.
"Don't... don't eat me..."
However, upon hearing this, the little mermaid Quong'qng reacted, and with a bit of fear, she softly said, "I didn't mean to attack you..."
"Hmm? You snapped out of it?"
Hearing this, Fang Mo looked over at her and noticed that the strange fish hanging on her head had indeed fallen off. Yes, she had had a strange fish on her head earlier, which was a mind control device. It must have been shaken off during the train wreck.
"I'm really not tasty..."
Quong'qng, now entangled by a bunch of octopuses and unable to move, could only say pitifully, "Please let me go, I can catch fish for you to eat..."
"You should let her go."
After all, the Summon was kind-hearted, and she couldn't help but urge him.
"Let me ask you, do you know where the Kartel headquarters is?"
Fang Mo didn't respond, instead suddenly asking Quong'qng, while fiddling with the knife in his hand, exuding a threatening aura.
"Huh?"
Quong'qng's face instantly turned pale, "I... I don't know..."
"Then what's the use of keeping you?" Fang Mo slapped the side of the boat, "If my partner were here, you'd be in a pot with tofu right now..."
"W-wait!"
Before Fang Mo could finish speaking, Mobeni, who had been playing dead, suddenly spoke up.
"Hmm?"
Fang Mo was a bit surprised. This guy was still alive after being stabbed through the chest. He really had the resilience of a cockroach.
"Sir... cough cough... Sir!"
The Blackscale Mobeni, though not dead yet, was clearly on the brink of death. But his will to live was strong, and he coughed up blood as he pleaded, "I know where the Kartel headquarters is. Please spare my life, and I... I can guide you!"
"You know?"
Fang Mo raised an eyebrow, looking a bit skeptical.
"Yes!"
However, it seemed that the Blackscale Mobenni on this side had also noticed something and quickly explained, "I wasn't really sure about these things myself because Kartel hasn't fully trusted us either… But one of my subordinates defected from Kartel, and he has a map!"
"Oh?"
Fang Mo looked at him with some surprise. "Explain in detail."
"Uh… alright…"
Blackscale Mobenni said as if he had been granted amnesty, "The battle between Kartel and the Imperial Army was apparently very brutal, so some deserters started to appear. We've always been responsible for transporting their supplies, so after a while, some of them started paying attention to us."
"They felt that Kartel was too strict internally, while we pirates could freely plunder at sea, so they wanted to join us."
"To be honest, I usually refuse such things because our Iron Scale Pirate Crew doesn't want to offend Kartel. But one deserter was different—he had marine blood and possessed a map showing the distribution of Kartel's bases in the No Man's Land. I saw the location of their treasury, so I figured out a way to, well… I thought of a way to bring him over, but our leader doesn't even know about it!"
Blackscale Mobenni's beady eyes darted around wildly. "But, but he seems to have been accidentally killed by that laser cannon just now. However, don't worry, sir—I've memorized the map!"
"Oh, I see."
Fang Mo stroked his chin thoughtfully.
What the other party said didn't seem like a lie. After all, this guy's personality really fit the pirate stereotype—greedy and cunning. If he really knew the location of Kartel's treasure, he would certainly be cautious about it.
But while greed is one thing.
He wouldn't dare harbor any malicious intent.
After all, Kartel is truly powerful. As an organization in the No Man's Land, they have managed to crush the core of the Empyrean government, seizing the Empyrean Princess from the Imperial Army. Their strength is genuinely terrifying, isn't it?
However, ever since they captured Princess Ellije, their power has been declining day by day...
"Very well."
After a moment of thought, Fang Mo decisively made a decision. "In that case, I'll give you a chance to survive."
"Thank you, sir..."
"Don't be so quick to thank me."
Before the other party could speak, Fang Mo raised his hand and pointed at the nearby Summon. "See her? This is our Summoner, known as the Queen of Schemes. Her terrifying reputation extends from Sky City all the way to North Myre, and tales of her dreadful deeds are spread across the entire Arad continent. Her very name can stop children from crying at night. If you want to live, you'll sign a contract with her and become one of her summoned creatures."
"Huh?"
Blackscale Mobenni was stunned when he heard this.
"Not willing?"
Seeing this, Fang Mo didn't insist and waved his hand dismissively. "Alright, I won't force you. Just obediently become bait for those octopus monsters then. The Queen of Schemes is very fond of her little octopuses..."
"No, no, no!!!"
Hearing the mention of those terrifying octopus monsters, Mobenni panicked. "I'll do it! I'll do it, okay!?"
At this point.
Mobenni hurriedly knelt on the small boat, scooped some water with his hand, and paddled closer to the Summon's small boat. He was almost lying flat on the boat, his voice trembling, "Your Majesty, I am willing to serve you…"
"You..."
The Summon saw this and gave Fang Mo a speechless glare.
But to be honest, she was getting used to this kind of thing by now. After all, these summoned creatures were indeed quite useful, so she raised her small hand and directly patted Mobenni on the head.
The contract array lit up.
Very quickly, the two signed a master-servant contract.
Blackscale Mobenni could also feel that he seemed incapable of disobeying the other party in any way now. This made him somewhat uncomfortable, but at the same time, he also felt a sense of relief.
Yes, although he had now become the other party's subordinate.
At least his life was spared.
After all, Mobenni, as a notorious pirate, had no sense of shame.
The Iron Scale Pirate Crew also highly valued the survival of the fittest; the strong ruled. He truly wasn't a match for the Queen of Schemes, so working for her was inevitable. Besides, these people seemed much stronger than the Iron Scale Pirate Crew anyway—switching sides wasn't a loss for him.
"Your Majesty."
Thinking this, Blackscale Mobenni seemed to accept this situation.
"…Can't you just use a different title?" The Summon couldn't help but sigh. "Even calling me 'Master' would be fine."
"Mas… cough, cough…"
Blackscale Mobenni opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly his face changed, and he began coughing up blood. Clearly, he was reaching his limit, and he immediately began crying out pitifully, "Master, save me!"
"I…"
The Summon wiped her face, then turned to Fang Mo. "Lend me your sashimi knife."
"Here."
Fang Mo handed her the healing dagger.
"Bear with it."
The Summon slowly stood up on the boat, then raised the small knife and immediately plunged it into Mobenni's lower back, near his tail. With a squelching sound, the knife sank in, and the crocodile-like creature let out a wretched scream.
"I told you to bear with it! Stop yelling!"
The Summon's face darkened, but her hands didn't stop. She stabbed the bloody knife into him several more times, saying as she did, "…Don't you want to live?"