All of the generals, Warlord, and Leo himself looked shocked at the sight in front of them. Strongest navy member they saw bowing to a pirate?
"Can you explain what's going on?"
Leo yelled in confusion. Unsure if he should recall his summons. He cautiously stood up with the sword tightly gripped in his hand.
"It's been so long, my friend. haha!"
The Sea God jumped up and together with Blackbeard started to laugh uncontrollably, patting each other and chattering.
"Don't worry, he is an old colleague of mine."
In a few moments, the ice started to melt until nothing but water was left around them. Gloppy summoned Ruby back when he realized they were okay to do so.
Blackbeard went back to steering the ship and explaining what happened to his friend.
"So you are a navy official and a Vice Captain of Blackbeard's crew? How does it work?"
Emerald inquired while approaching the two. She was about to meet the same fate as her sisters moments ago as the man sensed her approaching.
"Don't, they are my mercenaries. I hired them to do something for me."
Iceborn looked visibly hurt at his words, a single tear could be spotted falling down his face. This entire time he felt like his Captain left him, so seeing someone else in the place HE should have taken filled him with anger.
"So you found a new crew, new Vice Captain, new family."
His obsession with The Apex started showing even more than before, to a scary degree.
"Why would we want to be a part of a crew filled with corpses , we are just here to complete the quest and get rewards."
Leo hoped that showing him they aren't planning to ruin whatever relationship they had would be enough to calm the ice warrior down, and it seemed to defuse the situation a bit.
"For the sake of old times... I will give you 12 hours before I notify the HQs around us."
After saying that he jumped into the water and swam away. Gloppy and the three girls looked at him in shock that he would do something so reckless with such confidence.
"That was terrifying..."
Blackbeard said as soon as the Sea God had left.
"Wait I thought you were on good terms?"
Sapphire spoke up while slowly going back to control slimes around the ship. The necromancer looked at her with a piercing gaze, drilling a hole in her with his sight.
"With that psycho!? I sent him on a spy mission to just get rid of him!"
He threw his hand in the air, almost crashing the galleon into a coral reef. As all of them heard it, they threw everything away to speed up the process of sailing as much as possible, some slime summons even begged on their knees to be recalled, anything to reduce their weight a bit more.
Luckily for them, the path Iceborn took on his way to Blackbeard, was mostly the same as the one they were taking to his goal. Which allowed them for a way easier passage towards the island.
***
"How long until we reach the island?"
"Around 6 hours at this pace!"
The sooner they would get out, the better. But at the same time, he needed as much XP as it was humanly possible to get.
[Quest completed!]
[Reward: Water Spirit Staff]
As soon as he got the new staff, he threw the other one to the ground and stomped on it, cracking the main part and taking out a shard of it.
Then he took out his Harmonized Orb and put the piece into it. A warm hue spread through the liquid inside and a scarecrow appeared in front of him.
"What does that have to do with bats shooting fire... you know what? Forget it. Gloppy come here."
And once again, they just crouched in front of it pouring the Mana until it became an unbound general. This time it didn't take nearly as long because of having 5 people who could pour it now.
[Unbounding process completed!]
[Generals]
[Status: Unbound]
[Slime Strategist - level 21]
[Slime Strategist - level 21]
[Slime Strategist - level 21]
[Unlit Elemental - Charge 0.0%]
[Summoner Slots 50/90⚚]
A new type of general, he didn't seem to speak or even move. Leo put one summoner slot to him to see what results that would bring.
In a moment, a singular Hellbat appeared above them and flew downwards towards the Elemental. It hung on a piece of it and embraced its core.
[Unlit Elemental - Charge 0.1%]
[Unlit Elemental - Charge 0.2%]
They didn't have anything else to do so they just sat in front of him, waiting to see what will happen. Just to see the outcome faster, Leo put four more slots into the general and felt the exhaustion hitting him again.
"I will... just..."
'I want to check out the new staff! I can't fall asleep.'
But it was too bad, he was sound asleep right after. Sapphire realized that first and she herself found a blanket somewhere on the ship, putting it around Leo to make it at least a bit more comfortable.
She looked at him and smiled, then went back to watching the scarecrow lighting up slowly but surely.
***
Rustle rustle
"Leo."
Rustle rustle
"LEO!"
He pulled up in confusion, looking around. Everything around them was engulfed in flames and the front of the ship had crashed into a rocky beach.
Slimes were running around trying to put out the flames, assisted by their generals.
"What's going on? What happened?!"
Leo jumped up and ran towards the beach to have a better look, Gloppy ran after him explaining.
"The new general ran rampant and tried to burn the ship."
"But that was more than 6 hours ago!"
"We restrained it at the start, but then he escaped by burning the cell doors down and ran off to this island."
As he watched the ship burn, he could tell that there was no way in saving it, he sighed loudly and grabbed his head.
"Yeah, this is pretty unlucky kid, at least we are on the right island."
Blackbeard sat there on the sand and looked at him, sipping on some boiling water and enjoying the show slimes put on.
Once the fire died down, The Apex stood up and dusted off his clothes, reanimating his crew and starting his final walk.
"Let's go. Send a few to scout just in case though."
Gloppy called off the slimes still trying to put off the fire and went after Leo and Blackbeard, preparing thd scouts on his way.
The island gave off very tropical vibes, like images of Hawaii he saw in a traveling agency.
There were no sounds aside from their voices.
But then a scream could be heard.
It was followed by a pillar of fire taller than most trees erupting like a volcano.