Chapter 101
The ship was in a destroyed state, slowly recovering as glowing runes began to appear all over its surface.
A giant snake-like sea monster lay dead, and Elijah had already cut off a piece of it and was eating it raw.
Everyone was soaked as Julia worked tirelessly, supporting the runes to repair the ship quickly enough to prevent it from sinking.
Kai, who was drying his shirt, said, "Now I'm more worried."
Tank and Elijah, who were eating, looked at him. Tank, her mouth full, inquired, "Worried about what?"
Julia finished his thought. "That where we're going is filled with Emperor-tier people who are at least at the peak of the Expert realm in martial arts. Considering it took all of us to defeat this Emperor-tier beast, you're worried we might be in over our heads facing a whole group of them."
"Yes," Kai replied.
Mike came from the kitchen and shouted, "Tank, Elijah, stop eating all that meat raw!"
"I'm hungry," Elijah said.
"I can't wait," Tank added.
Mike shook his head, holding a knife in his hand before throwing it at Elijah and Tank. "Do you want me to cook you?"
Elijah and Tank scrambled away, abandoning the meat. Mike sighed, jumped onto the deck, and picked up the knife. In a matter of seconds, he had already cut the meat into several pieces.
"Good cutting there, Shitface," Kai teased.
"Blondie, shut your mouth," Mike shot back.
Kai smirked. "Are you disappointed that now I'm (E -) rank, you can't beat me, Shitface? How's the third-place spot treating you?"
Veins popped on Mike's forehead as flames erupted from his shoes. "If you want to go, let's go, Blondie!"
"I'm always ready," Kai said, unsheathing his swords.
Before the two could clash, Julia slapped both of their heads. "Can you two stop fighting? The ship has already suffered enough damage. Any more, and it could be irreparable," she scolded, shaking her head.
"Anyway, Mike, what do you think?" Julia asked.
"About what?" Mike replied, scratching his head. 'That hurt,' he thought.
"Facing a group of Emperor-tiers," Julia clarified.
"Well, it's clear we can't defeat them alone," Mike admitted as he stored all the meat in the storage space within the watch device on his wrist. "But if Elijah reaches E+ rank and I reach E rank, along with Kai, we might be able to face them. Not sure about you."
Julia nodded and looked at Elijah and Tank, who were whispering about a plan to steal food from Mike's storage. "And our captain seems carefree as always," she sighed.
Adan emerged from below deck, with Stella following behind. She asked, "Is the fight over?"
"Yep, my dear Stella," Mike said. Then he added, "Now we have enough food to last until we reach your continent."
Stella smiled, though it was forced. Julia noticed and thought, She heard us. She's probably worried we'll give up if the enemy is too strong. But what else can we do? If there's a whole group of them, our chances of winning drop to zero. Surviving is another matter, but someone might lose their life.
Julia glanced at Elijah, who noticed her serious expression. He sighed. "Why worry about something we haven't tried yet? Also, remember that in a fight, power isn't everything, no matter how strong the opponent is."
Everyone heard him as Elijah stood up and began walking. "Stella is our friend, and she needs our help. She doesn't have the strength to do this alone. I know I'm not the smartest around, so I'll leave figuring out how to you guys."
"What if our plan fails?" Mike asked.
"That's just a possibility, not reality. We'll find out when we get there. Even so, I doubt it will fail—with the smartest people around," Elijah said confidently.
Everyone smiled but didn't respond.
Adan suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, guys! I think I see an island!"
"What are you talking about? There shouldn't be an island here at all," Julia said.
"Then what's that?" Adan pointed to the distance.
Using her technology, Julia zoomed in several kilometers and spotted a large island. "Wow, that's strange. The map says there shouldn't be any islands in this area."
"Maybe the map was wrong," Stella suggested.
"That's impossible," Kai said.
"Yeah," Mike added, "because this planet was scanned with the most advanced technology. Missing an island would be impossible."
"Can I eat the meat in the water if we've found somewhere to resupply?" Elijah asked.
Kai interrupted. "Meaning that someone somehow blocked the annual planetary scanning process done by the Dominic Family, which is weird."
"Let's proceed, but with caution," Julia advised.
"Yeah," Kai and Mike agreed.
"Can I eat the meat now, please?" Elijah pleaded.
"Shut up!" Kai, Mike, and Julia said simultaneously.
Tank had already jumped into the water to grab the meat but was promptly pushed back onto the ship.
"Where do you think you're going?" Julia asked.
"Adan, can you steer the ship?" Mike asked, heading back to the kitchen. "If you're that hungry, Elijah, let me prepare something special for you."
Elijah's eyes lit up. "Food! Ooh, food! I don't know how you do it, but your cooking is amazing, Mike."
"I know," Mike said. Then he turned to Kai. "Hey, Blondie, do you want some?"
"Don't call me that. And yes," Kai replied.
"For the ladies, I'll make something even more special," Mike added.
"Thanks, Mike," said Julia, Tank, and Stella.
"That's not fair," Elijah muttered.