Lord of Prayer - Chapter 173 - 132: Woohoo

Chapter 173: Chapter 132: Woohoo

The members of the White House who remained were Shane, Colin, and the recently injured Fujiwara Shunsuke and Heidi.

Including Zhou Chen, who could no longer afford to slack off, that made five Ascenders in total—more than enough to handle the Ghost Ship. This sudden emergency had already exceeded the scope of a normal mission, making it necessary for the Star Association to intervene.

The pirate ship, once it had grown to its full size, no longer resembled a figurine in the slightest. It had transformed into a real, ancient vessel, reeking of the sharp tang of seawater and a putrid stench that could only come from centuries of decay. The gunwales, deck, masts, sails… the entire ship blazed with an eerie, dark green flame. Its figurehead was a terrifying skull, just like the Ghost Ships from horror stories.

The excited, strange cries of countless sailors echoed from the ship, as if they were in the middle of a frenzied raid. Dozens of powerful Cannons fired in unison, the explosions reducing nearby buildings to rubble. Fortunately, the White House had already used some means to evacuate the area.

Perhaps because the mysterious person was gone, the area was gradually regaining its vibrant colors. Sounds from the outside world began to filter in as the isolated Barrier gave way to reality.

They had to deal with the Ghost Ship quickly before it could reach a populated area and cause serious damage.

’There’s nothing like this in the records of Forbidden Objects. It might be an unrecorded one, or maybe an Extraordinary Artifact that mysterious person created, or some other bizarre item…’

Zhou Chen looked at the assembled members of the White House. “The Ghost Ship is up there. Can you fly?”

Everyone nodded. Before Zhou Chen could speak again, the fierce and hot-tempered Russian girl, Heidi, activated her deluxe Helandy Flying Boots and shot toward the Ghost Ship, taking the lead.

Fujiwara Shunsuke reached behind his back, pulled out a rocket launcher, aimed it at the airborne Ghost Ship, and pulled the trigger.

A flash of fire erupted. The Alchemy Rocket Bomb tore through the sky, leaving a white vapor trail in its wake. With a piercing whistle, it slammed into the Ghost Ship. BOOM! The massive explosion rocked the entire vessel, blowing a huge hole in its hull. But dark green flames immediately swarmed over the wound, beginning to repair the damage.

“Did he really just pull that out of a pocket dimension?” Zhou Chen stared, astonished, as Fujiwara Shunsuke put the rocket launcher away, goodness knows where.

“It’s a Player Backpack,” Shane explained, activating his own Helandy Flying Boots and launching into the sky.

’A Player Backpack?’

Zhou Chen immediately knew what that meant. Any Player who entered Zone 009 received a Storage Artifact: the “Player Backpack”!

Player Backpacks could be brought out of the Restricted Area and freely unbound from their owner. They could even drop as loot when a Receptor died. After all these years, there were at least several hundred Player Backpacks in circulation worldwide. Even if these people from the White House had never been to Zone 009, they could have acquired one through family connections. Each of these storage-type Artifacts was incredibly rare and outrageously expensive, usually exchanged through barter.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Zhou Chen activated his ability. A plume of pale white fire erupted on the deck of the circling Ghost Ship. When he stepped out of the flames, he came face-to-face with three ragged skeleton sailors wielding Sabers.

“Get him!”

It was impossible to tell where the skeleton sailors’ voices were coming from, but they sounded like gruff, middle-aged pirates. They charged, brandishing their Sabers.

Zhou Chen casually conjured an Alloy Long Saber from Essence. The blade glowed with fire as he swung it in a wide arc, slicing off their rusty old Sabers and all three of their skulls.

Eerily, even after their heads hit the deck, the skeletons’ bodies kept moving, flailing and hacking at him with their broken Sabers.

But a second later, the skeleton sailors collapsed as if an engine had stalled or a toy had run out of batteries. They lost all momentum, their skeletons crumbling into piles of gray-white dust.

The faint Extraordinary Essence that animated them had been instantly incinerated by the Soul-Burning Flame.

BOOM!

With a tremendous crash, a fat pirate wreathed in ghastly green Undead Flame flew backward past Zhou Chen like a cannonball and slammed into the ship’s cabin. The skeletons in its path were smashed to pieces, their bones scattering across the deck, only to reassemble under the influence of some Mysterious Power.

The fat pirate slowly climbed out of the splintered wood of the cabin. A clear dent was visible on its massive stomach. It wasn’t a skeleton, but a corporeal, greasy-green Undead. It glared viciously at someone behind Zhou Chen.

“This one’s mine!” A voice whistled past Zhou Chen’s ear. Heidi, the Russian girl wearing Alloy Gloves, shouted, “Ura!” and charged in to fight the creature, which seemed to be some kind of Elite Monster.

Shane, Colin, and Fujiwara Shunsuke were fighting the Undead pirates on deck. They all carried weapons with a Holy Attribute Enchantment, which were extremely effective against these Undead; there was no question of them being unkillable.

As if sensing the immense threat they posed, the Ghost Ship suddenly lurched, tilting to a ninety-degree angle as though capsized by a deep-sea storm. It was trying to throw them all overboard. The Undead crew, however, were completely unaffected—they were one with the ship.

’I wish to find the source of the Ghost Ship’s power.’

Zhou Chen made the wish in his heart and grabbed a loose rope from a sail. A moment later, a powerful force sent him flying. He gripped the rope tightly and began to swing rapidly through the air, like a daredevil on a giant pendulum ride at an amusement park.

“Wooohooo~~~”

The wind howled against his face as his cheers echoed through the air. After swinging in a full circle around the Ghost Ship, he spotted a glowing point visible only to him.

He adjusted his trajectory and used the momentum from the rope to launch himself like a cannonball toward the glowing point on the Ghost Ship.

BOOM!

With a tremendous crash, the wall of the captain’s quarters shattered. The Ghost Captain, sitting at his desk and controlling the ship, jumped in surprise.

The captain was also a greasy-green Undead. He wore a captain’s hat adorned with a skull, had a thick black beard, and his tattered clothes still hinted at their former glory. A Saber was tucked at his waist.

Zhou Chen stepped forward and slashed without a word.

CLANG!

The Alloy Longsword scraped against the Pirate Saber, sending sparks flying.

Immediately after, the pale white fire surging along the blade erupted. The point-blank Burst mercilessly shattered the Pirate Saber. Shrapnel flew everywhere, embedding itself deep in the filthy carpet and rotten wooden walls.

The Ghost Captain stumbled back two steps, the ghoulish green fire covering his body surging violently. He was about to activate an ability when a raging, pale Fiery Fire erupted from Zhou Chen. In both temperature and intensity, it far surpassed the green Undead Flame.

The rolling heatwave carried with it a searing heat that targeted the Spiritual Realm, instantly suppressing the ghoulish green flame.

The Ghost Captain froze, staring in utter disbelief. The green fire on his body seemed to recoil in fright, dwindling to a faint flicker. An instant later, the surging pale flames engulfed the entire captain’s quarters, and a figure could be vaguely seen being incinerated to ash.

With its captain gone, the Ghost Ship lost its power source. The entire crew disintegrated into dust in the blink of an eye, and the massive vessel began to shrink rapidly.

On the ground below, fire flared. Zhou Chen’s figure appeared, and he caught the model pirate ship as it fell from the sky.

Within a single breath, the residual Extraordinary Essence in the pirate ship drained away, and it reverted to an ordinary model.

’A single-use Artifact? There are no signs of Alchemy… Don’t tell me it’s one of the attacker’s Extraordinary Abilities?’ Zhou Chen mused.

At the same time, the area returned to its normal colors. The Tier Three Ascender from the Special Operations Team, who had been waiting for some time, rushed over.

“Brother Sun, you were watching from the shadows the whole time. Didn’t you notice anything amiss?” Zhou Chen asked.

He had contacted Jiang Che earlier to dispatch a Tier Three Ascender as clandestine backup, just in case something went wrong. Logically, Brother Sun should have spotted the trouble and come to help.

Brother Sun, drenched in a cold sweat, explained with lingering fear, “Right before things went down, I was immobilized by some unknown power. I was frozen like a statue, completely unable to move. All I could do was watch.”

“To be able to suppress me so completely without my noticing… it had to be at least a Tier Four, or someone with an incredibly powerful Forbidden Object…”

’A Tier Four…’ Zhou Chen and the others were stunned. ’Would a Tier Four really take such a huge risk for Liu Hanyan? It seems more likely they used some kind of Forbidden Object…’

“Brother Sun, go help Xu Li and the others track down Liu Hanyan. Whatever you do, don’t let her get away,” Zhou Chen said.

“Right.”

Just as Brother Sun nodded, Fujiwara Shunsuke sighed. “There’s no need. The captain said the mysterious person got away with Liu Hanyan. Apparently, they have extremely advanced concealment techniques. Our team couldn’t keep up.”

·

·

“Hah… hah…”

「In a secret dark room.」

Qin Xu collapsed to the floor, panting for breath, his clothes completely soaked in a cold sweat. Snatching someone from the grasp of eleven elite Ascenders was like repeatedly dicing with death.

Staring at the dark ceiling, he asked in a strained voice, “I didn’t leave any trails, did I?”

“Relax,” a sultry voice purred from the darkness. “The Barrier was only up for less than thirty seconds, but it completely blocked all scans and surveillance. I’ve erased all residual Essence and traces of the spatial transfer. The Star Association might detect my presence, but there’s no way they’ll be able to trace anything back to you.”

“That’s good.”

’A Demon wouldn’t lie about something like this,’ he thought. ’If I were exposed, all of its plans would go up in smoke.’

“Congratulations on finally finding the most suitable template. Go on, establish the contractual bond. This prime specimen is a hundred times better than those ’goddaughters’ you’ve been collecting,” the Desire Demon cackled.

Qin Xu said nothing, continuing to lie on the floor and rest for a long while.

A few meters away, the raggedly dressed Liu Hanyan was bound tightly to a surgical table that resembled a gynecological examination chair.

Her face was unnaturally flushed and her breaths came in hot gasps, as if a fire were burning within her. Even her voice was soft and weak.

“Who are you… what have you done to me?”

“I am the Demon of Desire and Procreation. What do you *think* I’ve done?” a sultry, mocking voice replied from the darkness.

Its tone was gleeful, as if it were about to watch a good show.