```
"The straw man has no eyes~ the child gave him a pair and yet~ greedily it stole all the child had~"
A sinister nursery rhyme spread across the deck, as Ke Mingye realized something was amiss and covered his ears, but it was already too late.
The bewitching melody filled his ears, instantly taking control of Ke Mingye.
He couldn't move, and goosebumps covered his body. Ke Mingye could only sit there by the railing, staring blankly as Captain Gliva advanced step by step.
In that moment, Ke Mingye saw with horrifying clarity, the captain swung his silver-white broadsword at his skull, even the sensation of his skull splitting registered in his mind.
But the next second, when he opened his eyes again, he found his head intact, protected by a mosaic screen fashioned from dense arrays of data over his head.
The captain's broadsword struck the mosaic barrier, unable to make even a scratch.
