In a daze, the Mist Phantom King was shocked to find that, without it noticing, a hole had suddenly opened in what was originally the solid, sturdy bottom of the cabin. The edges around the hole were smooth and neat. Clearly, it wasn’t blown up by force, but a mechanical structure designed long ago.

Before it could even figure it out, massive pressure dragged it down and slammed it into the ocean.

Kevin checked the drone’s infrared feed and saw the Mist Phantom King had completely plunged into the deep sea. He finally let out a breath.

The Two-Masted Sloop was now sinking to eighty meters down. The pressure was already squeezing Kevin’s lungs, making each breath a struggle.

He forced a deep breath, raised the Wraith Revolver, and summoned the EliteFish Fiend.

At the same time, to be safe, Kevin pulled out a Restoration Potion he had gotten earlier and chugged half of it straight down.

"Take me back to shore."

The EliteFish Fiend nodded. It scooped Kevin up onto its back, smashed a hole through the safe room wall with one punch, and dove straight into the water.

The moment Kevin’s body touched the horror-choked water, a flood of nightmare images flashed before his eyes.

Alarms blared in his head:

Sanity -1...

Sanity -2...

Sanity -3...

The rapid sanity drain made Kevin’s eyes burn bright red.

That glowing red gaze stood out in the dark depths, quickly drawing a swarm of underwater Eldritch Entities.

They had been heading straight for the ships.

Now that Kevin was in the water, he became an instant lure.

Instead of rushing the ships, the horde suddenly changed direction and swarmed straight for Kevin.

The Survivors on the deck, who had been gearing up for a last stand, just stared in confusion.

From the deck, they could already see the snake heads poking out of the waves. It was clear these monstrous sea serpents were the ones attacking the ships tonight.

Some of the serpents were five meters long, others ten. Just seeing their massive sizes from a distance sent chills down their spines.

But now, the sea serpents were all pulling back. That left the Survivors completely in the dark.

On the deck of the deep-sea fishing boat, Toti stroked his beard with one hand and gripped his spear with the other. He watched the retreating serpents with a frown. "Looks like everyone on that ship actually hit the water."

As Raphael’s right-hand man, Toti knew the dirty secret: putting a human in the water sends the Eldritch Entities into a frenzy.

It was obvious that a human had gone overboard on the Two-Masted Sloop, and now the creatures were just tearing each other apart for the bait.

Toti sighed. "Poor bastards. Can’t even get peace after death? This damn Eldritch World."

He raised a hand and traced a quick cross over his chest, silently praying for the drowned Survivors.

But before he could finish his prayer, the sound of spinning rotors echoed from the sky.

But this roar was way heavier than a drone’s buzz.

Toti looked up at the sound, his eyes snapping wide.

On the distant horizon, an armed helicopter was banking toward the swirling water.

The miniguns on both sides of the chopper spun up. Bullets ripped through the air, spraying the sea like it was nothing.

Hundreds of sea serpents took the direct hit, shredding their bodies into pieces.

And just like that, the mangled Eldritch corpses floated in the water, becoming new bait.

The Eldritch Entities in the surrounding waters were drawn to the corpses and swarmed over in a frenzy.

Some were twisted Grotesques, others were jellyfish with human faces glowing in the dark, and some were deep-sea centipedes with hundreds of human legs and arms.

These creatures risked the helicopter’s gunfire to rush right into the center, scrambling for even a single scrap of an Eldritch Entity’s broken body.

Soon, the entire area was choked with stinking corpses. Not a single Eldritch Entity was left in sight.

Then, the five-meter-long EliteFish Fiend broke through the water.

Luna dangled over the armed helicopter, her face pale, as she tossed down a rope ladder.

Another Fish Fiend swam up, grabbed Kevin from the back of the EliteFish Fiend, and hauled him aboard the chopper. Only then did it dive back into the water.

Kevin’s body was turning purple, his eyes burning red, his face twisted into a feral snarl.

Seeing Kevin in this state, Luna’s heart broke. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. "It’s okay. It’s over. We did it. Kevin, snap out of it! Look at me!"

Kevin didn’t react to Luna’s voice. He shoved her aside and grabbed her shirt, tearing it off in one motion.

Nova, who was flying the chopper, turned around and nearly lost her grip on the controls. The helicopter jerked violently in the air.

Nova fought to keep the chopper steady and yelled, "He’s fully gone! The curse is turning him into an Eldritch right now. Give him Holy Spring!"

Luna snapped back to reality.

Kevin was already tearing at her clothes. Luna forgot about her modesty and quickly brewed a bottle of Holy Spring. While Kevin was pulling at her pants, she downed half the bottle in one gulp and pressed her lips against his.

The cool liquid hit Kevin’s throat, and his frantic movements finally slowed down.

Luna didn’t waste a second. She poured the rest of the Holy Spring all over his chest and arms. The purple tint on his skin began to fade, returning to normal.

But his eyes were still burning red. He only paused for a second before going back to tearing at her pants.

Luna started to panic. She quickly brewed another bottle of Holy Spring and fed it to him the exact same way.

This time, Kevin stayed calm a little longer. He stopped attacking Luna, but he didn’t let her go either.

Seeing this, Nova started humming a tune. The melody slipped past Kevin’s ears and wrapped around his soul.

Slowly, Kevin’s rough movements softened.

Nova used the moment to scan Kevin’s soul through the music.

To her shock, Kevin’s soul was as bright and pure as the sun. It was completely untouched by the Eldritch energy or the curse.

Nova gasped in disbelief. "What is Kevin’s soul made of? How is the curse not twisting him? His soul feels warmer and brighter than anyone else’s!"

Lost in her shock, Nova forgot to keep humming.

The second the melody stopped, Kevin’s mind snapped back to madness.

He scooped Luna up, wrapped her legs around his waist, and thrust hard.

Luna let out a soft cry, her whole body hanging on Kevin, weak and limp, while he twisted his hips wildly.

Luna swayed beneath him like he was a heavy storm. Too weak to resist, she could only moan, caught between pain and pleasure.

Nova had been ready to apologize for her earlier mistake, but the sounds coming from behind her made her face flush red.

She didn’t know whether to keep singing or stop.

If she kept singing and Kevin calmed down, would Luna be mad at her for interfering? But if she stopped, what if Kevin lost control again?

Then, Nova suddenly shook her head.

Never mind. That guy Kevin was a freak anyway. His soul was completely fine.

Maybe once he let it all out, he’d just snap back to normal.

Nova thought to herself, listened to the passionate sounds behind her, forced her own nerves to settle, and piloted the helicopter toward the island.

Actually, the whole time, Kevin had been steering George’s old single-masted sloop.

It looked exactly like Kevin’s Two-Masted Sloop only because he used his [Mechanical Sovereign] ability to reshape it.

Kevin’s goal was simple: he wanted to build a prison on the water for the Mist Phantom King.

The trap was built around two main systems: the Vessel Water Supply and Drainage System, and the Vessel Mooring and Anchoring System.

Using [Mechanical Sovereign], he neatly fitted both systems inside the ship’s massive hollow hull.

On one side, the cabin could pump in seawater and store it safely inside the hull.

On the other, it could drain the water out fast, just like a giant toilet flushing its tank.

Even down at eighty meters deep, the system could still drain the water in seconds.

He also hooked two 100-meter iron chains around the King’s legs. That’s how Kevin finally dragged the beast into the sea.

At that thought, Nova glanced at Luna in the rearview mirror, a hint of envy on her face.

She only knew how Kevin’s trap worked because Luna had explained it to her.

In reality, Amelia was the one flipping the switches for the water systems. Luna was the one flying the gunship, clearing out the Eldritch stuff from the water.

Even without much brainpower, Nova could figure it out: Amelia would get the kill credit for the Mist Phantom King, and Luna would take the score for wiping out thousands of sea monsters.

It was clear that once dawn broke, Amelia and Luna would lock the top two spots on the kill board. No other Survivor stood a chance against them.

Nova narrowed her eyes and glanced back at Kevin, who was still moving down there.

A flicker of confusion crossed her face.

What kind of guy are you, really?

You can be so cold to a woman, then suddenly so warm.

I thought you were selfish, but you actually handed over such a massive kill count to the girl you wanted.

I thought you were fair, but you can be so strict with your crew. Sometimes you just make all the calls yourself.

Kevin, which one is the real you?