Chapter 553: Extra Chapter 5: Campaign 1

Summers Twelve stood atop a giant boulder by the shore, gazing into the distance.

The ocean seemed much calmer now than it had five years ago, but only those who had braved its waters knew that countless dangers still lurked in the dark depths beneath the surface.

Setting sail now meant facing numerous hardships, not to mention the constant threat of death.

But they could wait no longer.

For five years, Paige Summers had never let down her guard against Morindale Island.

As soon as Concordia was established after their return from Morindale Island, she began assembling a shipbuilding team. She reassigned most of her apprentices and recruited a considerable number of fishermen and Superpower Users who were familiar with the craft. She placed them all under the command of The Summers, who would guide them, thus beginning a shipbuilding project that would last nearly five years.

The beginning was incredibly difficult.

These people were all novices at shipbuilding and had to learn everything from scratch.

But that was the least of their problems.

The real issue was the health of The Summers themselves. Their bodies had endured so many years of torture; they had been surviving on sheer willpower alone, which was the only reason they hadn’t collapsed. The internal damage was severe. Even with Sean Raines nursing them on the journey back, once they were finally standing on Astorian soil and could let out that long-held breath, their bodies began to fail one by one.

Paige Summers was overcome with guilt, feeling she had been too hasty.

She should have let them recover completely before starting the project.

But she wasn’t the only one who was impatient—the rest of The Summers were even more desperate than she was!

A bone-deep hatred had been buried in their hearts for so long; more than anyone, they yearned to see the fall of Morindale Island. The memory of the Summers’ base being occupied by those outsiders was a pain they could never forget. The thought of the many Astorians who had drifted out to sea, only to be captured and enslaved on that island, stoked an unquenchable fire for war within their souls.

And yet, they had to endure. They had to wait.

While recuperating, they simultaneously taught their apprentices. Even with the significant advantages that Superpower Users brought to construction, it still took more than two and a half years to build the first fleet of warships.

To this day, whenever Summers Twelve recalled the sight of those ten warships arrayed on the water, his heart would pound with excitement!

It was a secret dream he had never dared to dwell on.

He never imagined he would have the chance to see it realized in his lifetime!

A man’s tears are not shed lightly.

Yet Summers Twelve wept.

He wasn’t the only one; nearly everyone present was moved to tears.

Since the apocalypse, the ocean had become a vast, watery grave, its temperamental nature striking fear into people’s hearts. With its unpredictable tsunamis and mutated creatures, even the fishermen who had once made their living from the sea had to admit it was no longer the ocean they knew. To live by its shores was to face constant danger and required immense courage.

Moving away had been their only choice.

But the sea had been central to their lives from the very beginning. Now that there was hope of returning to it, who wouldn’t be ecstatic?

After extensive planning, the ten ships completed their sea trials and began their search missions.

The distance between Astoria and Morindale Island wasn’t too great; a direct voyage would take only about a week. But the many dangers at sea forced them to take detours or reduce speed, prolonging the journey to nearly a month.

In light of this, Summers Twelve proposed establishing maritime bases.

After the proposal was unanimously approved, their ships began the mission of searching for islands and landmasses.

By this time, The Summers had mostly recovered.

They had Paige Summers to thank for that; she had been truly dedicated to their recovery.

She had specifically asked Sean Raines to personally oversee their diagnosis and treatment. Whenever their health was on the line, she became a miracle worker, capable of finding any herb or item required, no matter how impossible the task seemed.

Her efforts were not in vain. Over nearly three years, The Summers not only recovered their health, but their Superpower Ranks also skyrocketed.

This gave them far more confidence for venturing out to sea.

With the exception of Summers Twelve, all of them were deployed, each assigned to a ship.

Over the course of more than a year, they not only located the few remaining islands near the shipping lanes to Morindale Island but also converted them—both large and small—into maritime bases!

Following the completion and successful sea trials of the second fleet, The Power Corps stationed at Maritime Base 3, the outpost closest to Morindale Island, captured one of their ships.

Through interrogation, they learned that the situation on Morindale Island had been steadily deteriorating over the past two years.

Crops wouldn’t grow on Morindale Island, and the provisions they’d brought with them were long gone, forcing them to rely on the sea for sustenance. But they couldn’t survive long without staple foods. In the past, they had relied on their base at Mount Gorrow to trade for food from the Astorian mainland, which they would then secretly ship back to the island.

But ever since that base was destroyed and their agents in Astoria were nearly all purged, that supply line had been completely cut off. They could only rely on themselves.

To make matters worse, the ocean’s bounty had dwindled in recent years.

The mutated sea creatures had grown much more cunning than before. Realizing the waters around the island were unsafe, they no longer gathered there, forcing Morindale Island to send ships farther out to sea to hunt.

They didn’t have many ships.

This was precisely why they had placed such importance on Summers Twelve back then; they were in desperate need of an expert capable of building and improving warships.

But with Summers Twelve gone, they could only rely on their small, original fleet to survive.

With prey growing scarcer, the food shortage became a source of chaos.

Infighting on the island became more and more common, and the Island Master’s authority was greatly diminished.

His subordinates began fighting over the limited nearby waters. Those who couldn’t secure a territory were forced to take enormous risks hunting farther out. The days of multiple ships sailing out to hunt together were gone, as different vessels now represented rival factions, each terrified that their catch would fall into the hands of another.

The ship captured by Concordia’s Maritime Base 3 was one of these small vessels.

It should not have ventured so far out to hunt, but circumstances had forced its hand.

Its combat capabilities were already weak, so it was captured with ease.

They extracted a great deal of intelligence from the crew. Most importantly, one of them mentioned that Morindale Island’s Master was showing signs of wanting to leave. He had dispatched scouting parties several times, even sending some back toward the Rovarian mainland. According to the rumors, the waters there were gradually receding, revealing dry land. They might be planning to make the crossing back home.

Of course, this intelligence wasn’t necessarily reliable, since the captives were not part of the island’s leadership.

But after Summers Twelve and the others analyzed it, they concluded it was highly plausible.

If the people of Morindale Island truly escaped, the chance of ever catching them again would be minuscule.

The voyage from here to Rovaria was too far, exceeding the warships’ resupply range.

Therefore, they could wait no longer.

After a unanimous decision by Concordia’s leadership, the order was given.

Assemble all twenty-two warships and advance on Maritime Base 3! They would use it as a staging ground to launch their attack on Morindale Island.

The time for the final battle with Morindale Island had come!