Chapter 178 - - Born Free_1

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They sailed into the waters near Ergale.

The first thing that caught Duge’s eye was the neatly arranged hundreds of warships, with every sailor on board looking spirited and impressive, forming a stark contrast to Duge’s side.

After all,

In order to create joy, the sailors on Duge’s side had been transformed into a merry circus by him.

Unlike before, Duge had demonstrated a fearsome combat strength on Phoenix Tail Island that surpassed even a Sea Beast, winning over everyone in the pirate group. Moreover, they had acquired the Feather of the Sea God, which granted them the power to move freely through the seas—an invincible emblem.

Serving such a powerful figure brought them honor and joy.

Moreover, compared to the uncertainty of battles, dancing was not an unacceptable alternative.

After all, dancing didn’t kill anyone…

…

The ten men left by Gaul were the optimal group chosen by Mikaro specifically to target Duge.

But Duge’s advanced skills were too deceptive.

They were not ones you could just stop by not laughing, as the rumors about the Black Magic Hand suggested.

Previously, Duge’s pirates felt demoralized and tortured while dancing.

But now, they were genuinely happy.

As long as people were joyful, bad luck would manifest, so much so that Duge hadn’t dared to rehearse during the journey…

…

Invasion Like Fire.

The attributes doubled during an attack, meaning they couldn’t possibly respond like Safra with a defensive posture.

The moment Anders spotted the Sea Fish Pirate Group, he commanded the royal navy to charge.

As the Sea Fish dance troupe encountered accidents like falling overboard, breaking masts, and hitting reefs, the royal navy suffered its own bizarre mishaps.

The helmsman suddenly suffered excruciating stomach pains, losing control of the direction; the sailors handling the sails accidentally got their ankles entangled in the ropes, and in their struggle to break free, they lowered the mainsail, causing a series of collisions between ships…

Of course, there was the classic accidental cannon fire…

When both sides’ warships, totaling over a thousand, added up, various strange non-combat losses occurred.

It looked as though two groups of clumsy, novice pirates were fighting at sea.

…

Despite the continuous mishaps, both sides were still fierce in their momentum. The Feather of the Sea God and Its Speed Like Wind also enhanced their speed.

The two unlucky fleets quickly crashed into each other.

Cannons roared.

The dancing Sea Fish Pirate Group obviously couldn’t match the well-prepared royal navy. At the first encounter, they were immediately overpowered and several of their ships were sunk by the ferocious cannon fire.

The sailors, dressed in skirts, had to rush frantically to their battle stations to adjust their cannon positions and return fire…

To guard against a surprise attack from Paul, Gaul and others hid dispersed among the various naval warships.

Gaul reached out to remove a large crab that had fallen on his head from the splashing water caused by thundering cannon fire.

Looking at the chaotic battlefield, he let out a cold laugh, located the octopus Enke, leaped off the warship, and swam towards him.

The moment he entered the water, his figure had already vanished, blending in with the sea.

His keyword was stealth, a keyword exclusive to assassins.

It was with this keyword that he infiltrated Mikaro’s fleet, witnessed all of Mikaro’s schemes, and figured out everyone’s keywords.

Eventually, when Mikaro had secured the Compass and Vito and the others started to quarrel internally, Gaul took the opportunity to assassinate that candidate who had control over the keywords, quickly rising to second place.

Not only did his attributes soar, but he also obtained Mikaro’s Ring of Gravity.

While others drew Paul’s attention, he felt confident that he could take advantage of the distraction to assassinate Paul.

Having taken down the Compass and over twenty people, yet his combined attributes were still not first.

Gaul couldn’t imagine what exactly Paul had done to boost his attributes so high; even though he had obtained the Destiny Sea Map, the Compass afterward was hijacked by himself!

Eliminate Paul.

By seizing his attributes, and all his equipment, he himself would be the undisputed number one in the simulation.

At this very moment,

A mad obsession had taken root in Gaul’s heart.

…

“Take good care of yourself,” Duge cautioned Mans, then issued the command to attack to Enke.

He couldn’t distinguish who among the opponents was a candidate.

After all, the sea was too chaotic, and in such a situation, no one would be foolish enough to expose themselves.

If they wouldn’t come out,

Then he would sink all their ships.

Without ships, they would naturally have to show themselves.

In any case, he could not allow the Compass to leave Ergale.

With Mans around, he wasn’t afraid of damaging any number of ships…

The giant octopus roared as it swam out, its massive tentacles wrapping around the Royal Navy’s ships, sinking one in just a couple of shakes.

Duge also charged out and transformed into a humanoid Sea Beast on the ocean floor, rapidly dismantling the ships with the Sword of the Giant Dragon; at the same time, he raised his spiritual power to the maximum, sensing the changes on the battlefield…

One man, one monster, working together.

The Royal Navy’s warships were sinking one after another.

Suddenly.

A voice intruded into Duge’s ears.

“Every blade of grass has the choice to master its own life, Enke, why be controlled by others? Be free, the ocean is where you belong…”

With that voice.

Duge felt his attributes drop significantly.

He froze for a moment, then instinctively looked towards the direction of the voice.

At that moment.

The Sea Beast Enke seemed to have lost its restraints, releasing the ship entangled in its tentacles and turned to rush into the open sea…

Damn it!

Nemesis.

That thing had liberated his property.

Duge didn’t care about wrecking ships anymore, he stuck his head out of the water and blew the Ocean Horn.

The sound of the horn echoed over the sea surface.

But the octopus Enke acted as if it heard nothing, continuing to dive resolutely towards the ocean floor.

MD!

This was real freedom; even the Sea God’s prohibitions had lost their effect!

Duge cursed silently, tossed aside the Ocean Horn, and turned to chase after Enke.

Enke was not just an assistant but also related to his attributes; he absolutely couldn’t let this big guy get away…

As Duge turned to pursue the Sea Beast.

Gaul had locked onto his position, stealthily diving toward Paul, while also turning the Ring of Gravity in his hand, exerting pressure on Duge to reduce his speed…

Then.

He watched, wide-eyed, as Duge shot ahead leaving a trail of dust, swimming farther and farther away.

In the blink of an eye, Duge had disappeared from his sight.

“Damn! How high are his attributes? Can’t the Ring of Gravity hold him down?” Gaul was stunned at that moment, then he quickly realized, “No, it’s the Sword of the Giant Dragon in his hand. The Sword is giving him strength.”

Seeing he couldn’t catch up to Duge, Gaul had to give up the chase, turning back with the intention of lurking beside Jimmy.

Jimmy had released the Sea Beast.

If Duge caught the Sea Beast, he would undoubtedly come to kill Jimmy first.

That would be his opportunity to strike. The skills of an assassin are stealth and a one-hit kill; chasing after Duge would be foolish.

The nine men he left behind served as both helpers and bait.

What “swift action”?

Once he got the Feather of the Sea God, Vaden would be nothing!

As long as he came out on top, any man could be sacrificed…

But no sooner had his head emerged from the water, an unexpected cannonball—flying from who knows where—smacking him on the head without warning, leaving him dazed and bleeding profusely.

Had his attributes not been high enough, that cannonball would have directly eliminated him!

Truly freaking unbelievable!

Gaul covered his head in frustration, feeling the gushing blood, hesitated a moment, then stealthily moved behind a companion of little importance, ended his life with a single strike, and healed his own wounds.

…

“Freedom for humanity is like air to life. People bound by Paul, why not break the shackles on you and fight for your freedom?”

Having freed the Sea Beast Enke, Jimmy’s attributes soared, propelling him to rank 13. Overjoyed, he redoubled his efforts, setting his sights on members of the Sea Fish Pirate Group, liberating anyone he could find within reach.

Top ten!

Breaking into the top ten would be enough for him.

Moreover, he realized that helping members of the Sea Fish Pirate Group regain their freedom resulted in a much higher increase in attributes than helping others.

This proved that these people were indeed controlled by Duge.

By releasing them, Duge would correspondingly weaken, making him easier to deal with.

Anyway.

By releasing Enke, he had already offended Duge, so he didn’t care about offending him a bit more…

While Jimmy was freeing the pirates, Vito on another ship also heard his voice.

Then, he frowned, recalled his own abnormal behavior recently with great joy, looked across at Jimmy on another ship, and wanted nothing more than to hug him and plant a big kiss on him.

…

On the ocean floor, Enke’s speed was incredibly fast.

But a Sea Beast is still a Sea Beast. When it felt the threat of the human behind it, it didn’t think to swim faster but instead turned around to face the enemy. Once its tentacles wrapped around Duge, it transformed from the free Enke back into the pet Enke.

Duge’s attributes were restored.

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