Chapter 513: Chapter 389: Escape Starting Move: First, Fire a Flare for Friendly Forces!_2

Violet, having put on the First Mate’s Key Ring, began trying to communicate with the Ship Spirit, attempting to usurp Dagon’s control over the Legendary Warship.

The melodious sounds of the harp and the singing in the sky above the battlefield showed no signs of stopping; instead, they grew more spirited and fervent.

"Ah, this song, this maiden’s voice,

Follow the bright sun and go forth,

To the warriors at the distant frontier,

Deliver Katyusha’s greetings..."

The [Singer]’s voice, additionally aided by the instruments, was even more powerful than the original version.

Among the Artisans, there is a specific category known as [Harp Makers].

The violin in Jacqueline’s hands was a [Second-Level Wonder Violin: Lady Anne Brontë]. Worth a staggering twenty thousand pounds, it was an absolutely treasured musical instrument. It was not from the collection of the Iris royal family, but rather a "first love token" from a "certain boat" she had boarded during her studies at the Vinaia Art Academy.

In any case, according to her own words: "Don’t ask me how many exes I’ve had; if you’re willing to be my first love, then all of them were just practice for you. Every confession I’ve made in the past was a rehearsal for our meeting today."

She possessed not a hundred, but at least eighty such "first love" tokens, most of which were quite valuable.

This "flirtatious woman’s" personal stash was far more substantial than Byron’s.

The only commendable thing about her was that Jacqueline never targeted daughters from poor families, which was one of the few instances of honor this "Chameleon" possessed.

As one song ended, the accompaniment resumed, and Jacqueline switched to a high soprano coloratura technique, her voice even more piercing.

The morale of the heavily damaged Deep Sea Clan instantly plummeted to rock bottom, turning the previously stalemated battlefield into a one-sided massacre.

Now, it was as if three Fourth-Order Lancasters were working in perfect harmony. Alongside a troop of Guardsmen, a group of Mid-Sequence Transcendents, and one First-Rate Ghost Ship, they were all attacking Dagon.

He quickly reached his limit.

Dagon saw Mordent Gray, the Sailboat Collector on The Phantom Bottle, now free to join the fight. He knew that if he didn’t leave immediately, he wouldn’t be able to escape at all.

He tossed the Spiral City Manual in his hand, which served as a bridge between the tangible and ethereal gateways, and roared, "Luanyun City, invert!"

In the Luanyun City below—half in water, half on land; half in reality, half in dreams—the sound of a great door creaking open and shut suddenly echoed.

All nearby Transcendents were instantly struck by a bone-chilling sense of crisis.

"Not good! He’s trying to imitate the Living Hatch of Fortress Bridgehead. This will cause the Material World and the Primordial Ocean to invert, allowing him to escape into the Dream Realm, or even the Primordial Ocean itself! Be careful not to be swept away with them! Retreat quickly!"

Violet, who had obtained the Tentacle Girl form and its corresponding dream abilities, had the keenest senses and immediately warned Byron and the others.

Byron knew that snatching something from Dagon’s hands was even more difficult than killing the Pseudo-God himself. Therefore, he abandoned the idea of using the Goddess card, decisively gave up the struggle, and withdrew without hesitation.

He didn’t forget to whip up a fierce gale. It swept all those Guardsmen and former comrades who had gathered around him back onto the deck of The Blue Dragon King.

A large group of [Storm Knights] on the ship immediately joined forces to drive the storm, pushing the warship to retreat desperately.

As for himself, he pulled Violet back to The Golden Deer. Aided by the wind stirred up by his elders, he fled even faster than The Blue Dragon King, slipping away quicker than anyone else.

As the inversion completed, the solitary dragonhead ship gradually blurred.

Many ship-coffins, interred within the Bayfolk’s collective subconscious in the Hall of Valor, were also disgorged en masse by the inversion.

A chorus of low moans arose from them. The corpses packed in empty wine barrels each had two coins placed over their eyes. Those of high status or the particularly vicious had gold coins. Ordinary people had silver coins, and those of the lowest status had copper coins.

A dense mass of them floated out, instinctively wanting to attack the living.

However, in the very last moment before the dragonhead ship disappeared, a torrential battle axe, shrieking piercingly, formed in Dagon’s hands. Yet, it didn’t strike at Byron or any of his companions.

Instead, it was fiercely hurled towards the likewise fleeing... Father of the School of Sharks, Bonaparte.

"ARGH—! Dagon!"

The giant beast, already in agony from a dislocated tail joint, instantly had its tail severed by its supposed ally, losing most of its mobility.

Before it could curse aloud, Dagon and his Legendary Warship had already vanished through the Dream Realm, leaving only one sentence behind, "Bonaparte has Fifth-Order whale oil and the most cutting-edge whale oil technology on him! Go get it!"

Prince Sorrenberg and the Sailboat Collector, who had intended to pursue, couldn’t help but stop in their tracks.

Byron gasped.

HISS—!

"Dagon, you are ruthless! I acknowledge the purity of your Bayfolk bloodline. When escaping, the opening move is always to fire an illumination flare at your own allies—truly a beautiful maneuver! You’re even more ruthless than that. You directly exposed the treasures your ally carried and even crippled him. Absolutely brilliant!"

Byron felt as if he had once again witnessed the traditional dark humor of the pirate nations in Dagon’s actions.

But this was a blatant scheme.

Since acquiring the Legendary Warship was too difficult, obtaining the Fifth-Order whale oil and its related technology was an excellent alternative. Without hesitation, everyone pounced on the Leviathan Whale.

The Father of the School of Sharks was instantly overwhelmed. In his despair, he unleashed his life’s final Calamity Curse.

He even picked a soft target, cursing the Phantom Fleet led by the King Edward, which was bombarding him wildly, "I curse you! For all your days, you shall have but one day a year to set foot on land! The rest of your existence shall be spent drifting upon the seas, never to return to your homeland!"

Any of these Ghost Battleships with a Class lower than the Father of the School of Sharks would be bound by this curse, only able to break it upon advancing to the Fifth Order.

Prince Sorrenberg frowned but didn’t take it too seriously. To him, wherever Byron was, that was home. He wasn’t eager to return to Hightins anyway.

Looking at the giant floating corpse on the sea and the overflowing Spirituality, just as the crowd thought everything had finally settled...

In the patch of water near The Golden Deer, surrounded by Ghost Ships, a piercing laugh suddenly erupted from one of the many ship-coffins. These contained Bayfolk deceased and awaited Ghost Ships to convey them back to the Hall of Valor:

"I’m alive! HAHAHA! I... Red Beard, am finally seeing the light of day again! Day after day, I counted them. I’ve been drowned countless times, nailed to death countless times! In just three more months, my yearly blood sacrifice would have been due. The Creator truly watches over me! Traitor ’Executioner’ Bill! Mad Hunt! And Bayfolk Princess Violet! I’ll make you all die a miserable death! GAHAHA..."

Aboard one of the ship-coffins, an Iron Maiden crafted from Law-Breaking Stone appeared. From within the damaged contraption, a figure riddled with bloody holes, yet healing at an astonishing rate, sat up.

After his manic laughter, he looked up. He saw himself surrounded by a large group of figures whose Divine Light was so intense it was almost blinding. Arms crossed, they were all curiously observing him, a truly imposing audience.

Vaguely, he seemed to recognize one of the fast cutters, and some of the people looked ever so slightly familiar.