Deep underwater, both light and sound were delayed, easily giving the illusion that time had slowed down. Once the blinding, scorching white faded, it was replaced by red—an intensely unreal red.
Rational cognition told Karen that even if the warships above were pierced and blown apart, claiming countless lives, red blood shouldn't become the dominant color—at least not from his current position and viewpoint.
Yet emotionally, Karen knew that against such a terrifying onslaught, the fleet's destruction was merely a matter of time. Many would die—far, far too many—and blood-red was the clearest, most direct representation of that reality.
Two scenes involuntarily surfaced in Karen's mind. One was in York Port as they prepared to welcome Holy Child Salayina. Sitting inside the VIP carriage, the cup in his hand had shattered, its red juice spilling onto the white carpet, quickly soaking in and spreading outward.
The other was standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Ankara Hotel, gazing out at the heavy, oppressive dark clouds—an undeniable sense of despair and suffocation that made one instinctively want to flee, fitting the present scene with uncanny accuracy.
Karen did not think he had foreseen all this; he simply felt that the present moment mirrored what he had felt that day.
War was cruel—a phrase repeated countless times. Karen didn't know whether he would become a pacifist advocating for peace after today; most likely not. But far more likely, he would avoid putting himself in such dangerous situations again.
Karen would have liked to come up with some noble, grand, philosophical, or profound reflection, but alas, he had none.
The only clear lesson this battlefield observation trip had taught him so far was: never observe a battlefield again.
A massive beam of light from a magic crystal cannon plunged into the sea. Fired in a high arc, it drove straight into the seabed not far ahead of Karen and detonated below.
Karen had yet to feel the blast itself; all he knew was that as the beam streaked past him, he felt like a moth held next to a bonfire.
Though untouched by the fire, the sheer heat was enough to roast him to death.
The Sea God's Armor began rapidly peeling away. Even though it strove to mend itself, its rate of repair fell far behind the rate of peeling.
At this moment, Karen was that moth about to be roasted alive.
He placed his hand on the hilt of the Sword of Arius. With the Dark Moon Blade empowering the sword, a beam of red light shot out, plunging viciously into the sea beast beneath him.
The sea beast felt severe pain, which stimulated its potential, further boosting its swimming speed.
*Hiss...*
Karen felt the searing, scorching pain, but soon that feeling began to drift away. As his consciousness hovered on the hazy border of oblivion, he bit the tip of his tongue hard to force himself awake.
Raising his head, he looked toward the battlefield and used the sword plunged into the sea beast as a "rudder" to adjust their direction.
The sea beast was innocent, but truly intelligent; understanding Karen's intention, it altered its course to steer clear of the Church of Samsara's fleet.
*Thump... thump... thump... thump...*
Karen could sense every beat of his heart. If that magic crystal cannon hadn't grazed him, he could have held out for a very long time, as he felt none of the suffocating lack of oxygen.
Yet it just so happened that he had been wounded, and that wound had pierced straight through the Sea God's Armor to strike his body, and Karen's physical constitution...
Still, now was not the time to switch mounts. Not the slightest delay was permitted; only by leaving this area at maximum speed could safety be assured.
When Karen looked up one last time and confirmed they were roughly out of the danger zone, his consciousness lapsed into a daze once more.
He had originally planned to use his priestly robe to tie himself to the beast's leathery horns for support, but when he went to do so, he discovered that his robe was reduced to mere hanging shreds...
When grazed by the magic crystal cannon, his priestly robe had already been "melted." In that case, what state must his flesh be in?
Right then, a bubble was spat from the sea beast's mouth, and an agile figure swam over, grabbing Karen's hand. Karen instinctively grabbed her wrist in return.
Slender, soft—evidently a girl's hand.
Ashley and Blanche couldn't possibly come out right now; their physical constitutions wouldn't permit them to be sent out in these conditions. That left Philomena.
Karen completely relaxed his mind, letting his consciousness slip into the deep slumber it should have entered long ago.
...
"Coo—coo—coo—"
The sound of what seemed like seabirds drifted into his ears. Karen sensed his consciousness gradually returning to his body. Slowly, he regained slight control over his fingers and eyelids.
Soon, however, regret hit him, as intense pain followed immediately.
If one had to make an analogy, it felt like having one's entire skin flayed off alive and then being repeatedly patted front and back against the piled-up white grains of a salt pan.
However, Karen had experienced far deeper soul-level torments many times. Though this physical pain was agonizing, he quickly adapted.
He opened his eyes to sunlight, the ocean, and a sandy beach.
A small shelter had been erected where he lay to shade him from the sun, and beneath him was a soft mat of leaves.
"Woof! Woof!"
Kevin's barking came from beside him, followed soon after by Purr's voice:
"Oh, my little Karen, you're awake."
"Is everyone... here?"
"Don't worry, everyone is here. Everyone is safe."
Having received Purr's reassurance, Karen closed his eyes again and fell asleep.
...
The next time he woke, it was either evening or morning, for Karen couldn't tell for the moment whether the sun in the distance was rising or setting.
The pain across his body was still sharp, but having mentally prepared himself, it was manageable. His strength had returned considerably. Karen tried to push himself up on his own; as soon as he braced his hands, a pair of arms reached out to support him into a sitting position.
It was Philomena.
"I'm keeping watch," Philomena said. "Should I wake them?"
Karen saw Purr sound asleep on a mat beside him, snoring away, and shook his head. "Let them rest."
"Do you need water?" Philomena asked.
"Yes."
Philomena took a cup and began feeding water to Karen.
Karen thought that compared to Philomena, even Her Highness Ophelia was the epitome of gentle, considerate care. At least when Ophelia fed someone water, she didn't raise the cup so high that the water covered the drinker's nose as well.
Nodding to indicate that was enough, Philomena took the cup away.
"Where is this?"
"An island. An island not marked on nautical charts."
"How long has it been? Here."
"Not long, less than two days. You don't need to worry. We stayed here first because your injuries required rest and recuperation, and second to observe the situation. That cat of yours is very confident she can lead us out of the ocean."
"Our current location shouldn't be far from the battlefield, right?"
"Not far. By warship sailing speeds, you could say it's very close. But over the past two days, there's been no trace of any Samsara warships passing by. After that naval battle, they likely went immediately to relieve the Wenluosi Archipelago."
"Mm."
Karen gave an acknowledging hum. It seemed they truly were safe for now.
"Your injuries were very severe, but you're much better now."
"Thanks to Blanche," Karen smiled.
"No, it's because your body showed not the slightest sign of infection. That gave her, as a priest, much more room to work. Most of her work was helping your wounds mend and restoring your appearance."
With burns, infection was the greatest danger. Karen's body had suffered extensive burns, but because his body had been remodeled by Raniedal, it could withstand far more terrifying corruption; a wound infection... was merely the lowest tier of hazard.
The agony still had to be endured, of course, but once through, there were no lasting complications. All in all, it was worth it.
Wait, restore his appearance?
Karen looked down and saw tender, raw flesh across his chest, with preliminary scabs forming.
Philomena spoke up: "Your cat said there was no need to bandage your wounds, otherwise removing the gauze would tear off another layer of skin and make you suffer twice."
Karen nodded. That was sensible. Since there was no risk of infection and a priest was present, simple and direct was best.
Still, Karen raised a hand to touch his head—no hair. Moving down to feel his brow, there were no eyebrows either.
Philomena closed her eyes, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly.
Karen sensed she was stifling a laugh.
After a long pause, she took a deep breath. "The hair will grow back soon."
"I'm actually quite curious about how I look right now. Do you have a mirror?"
"No."
"My sword."
Philomena helped prop up the Sword of Arius so its broad blade faced Karen. In the dim light, Karen saw his reflection in the blade.
No hair, no eyebrows. He looked excessively clean, but not unsightly.
Philomena said, "Under those circumstances, if you hadn't been steering, we would all be dead."
"It was what I had to do."
"Would you like something to eat?"
"No, I just want to sit leaning against something for a while."
Philomena misunderstood; sitting on her heels, she extended her leg behind Karen, letting her knee support his back.
"Help me over to a tree to lean against, or prop up the mats behind me higher."
"Understood."
Philomena stacked the surrounding mats so Karen could recline half-sitting, like propping up pillows in bed.
Afterward, Karen spent intervals with his eyes open and shut. His body needed more rest, but having slept his fill, his energy was well replenished, and sleep wouldn't come.
As the morning sun rose, the others woke one after another and came over to greet Karen. Because Karen had awakened once before, everyone already knew their captain's life was not in danger, so no one made an exaggerated display of excitement.
Next on the agenda was "building a boat." Not a vessel capable of sailing on its own, but considering the long voyage ahead and how uncomfortable the interior of the sea beast's mouth was, they wanted to build a "cabin" atop the beast's back, using it as a living ship so they could stay inside the shelter.
Though the island wasn't large, materials were fairly abundant. The "cabin" was already taking shape; once completed, they just needed to design clasps to secure it to the beast's back.
At noon, the sea beast surfaced, spewing a large quantity of fish and shrimp onto the beach before diving back down. Not only did it hunt for itself, but it also provided rations for the people ashore.
Purr was very pleased with its performance. However, since she already had Aseroth, she didn't plan on taking it back to Wien. She decided that once they reached a safe area with a teleportation array, she would release its binding and grant it freedom, while bestowing some good things as a reward. As for what those rewards would be, Karen didn't know, and Purr didn't elaborate.
At dusk, the group halted their carpentry work to prepare a seafood barbecue banquet. During the barbecue, an incident occurred: first, the sea beast blew large bubbles underwater, and then Muri, who was keeping watch by the shore, signaled.
It wasn't a danger signal, just an indication of an encounter.
Shortly after, Muri supported two figures over. Both were familiar faces: one was Ansi, who had served as captain of the observation delegation's security detail, and the other was Mota.
Both looked haggard. Mota was thoroughly exhausted, while Ansi bore injuries, though both remained conscious when brought over.
Ansi sat there with a somewhat numb expression.
Mota took the initiative to speak. There was really no need to describe the outcome of that naval battle: the Moon God Church fleet had suffered a crushing defeat. The flagship ordered a breakout, which failed.
Ultimately, the flagship was sunk. Aside from a tiny handful of warships that managed to escape in the chaos, the vast majority were blasted into debris and sank to the ocean floor.
Mota cleverly avoided mentioning the fact that Karen and his team had chosen to flee right at the start of the battle, as there was no point in discussing it now. Besides, having managed to escape clinging to wooden planks and drifting here, they clearly hadn't fought to the bitter end either.
"Alas," Mota sighed with a bitter smile. "Now we can only head back to the Mipos Archipelago first."
Karen spoke up: "I have two questions for you."
"Please go ahead, Captain Karen."
"First, which person or item in my squad did you leave a tracking imprint on?"
Karen didn't believe Mota had drifted to this exact island by sheer coincidence; he must have had a clear sense of direction.
Mota answered honestly, "I gave Mr. Mars a formation raw stone."
"What..." Mars's face flushed with anger. "The raw stone was in my backpack! You actually..."
Karen raised a hand, gesturing for Mars to stop. He wouldn't blame Mars for this, since Mota had given out many gifts.
"My apologies, Mr. Mars," Mota expressed his regrets, then looked back at Karen. "Captain Karen, your second question?"
"The second question: what makes you think the Mipos Archipelago is still in the hands of the Moon God Church?"
...
*Splash...*
Neo stood up from the water bed and ran his palm over the site of his previous piercing wound. New flesh had already filled it in, and aside from a bowl-sized patch of skin looking somewhat pale and tender, there was nothing unusual.
"Do you know what side effect comes from constantly shifting the position of your heart?"
"What, Commander?"
Richard also sat up from his bed. Having endured several days of unbearable itching, his wounds were now almost healed.
Neo said, "When your heartbeat shifts position, it's easy to get insomnia."
"Then can't you just shift it back?"
"Forget it, I won't. It took so much effort to overcome that problem; shifting it back would just bring the insomnia right back. Better to keep it fixed where it is. It can also confuse opponents and eliminate a weakness to exploit."
"Wise as always, Commander."
"Why did you recover so slowly?"
"I don't know. Maybe after Jerry went into heat that time, it was frightened by Karen and fell into a deep slumber for several days. It just woke up now."
"Communicate with it more. Best to reach an agreement with it: eat some bugs regularly to nourish it."
"Understood, Commander."
"All right, out of bed. Alas, what a pity we missed the battlefield."
"Isn't it?" Richard also wore an expression of regret. "I wanted to brag to my grandpa and dad after being on the battlefield."
"They don't know you didn't go and were lying here brooding eggs instead."
"Huh?"
"I mean, you can still brag to your dad when you get back. Believe me, your dad will definitely look at you with eyes full of admiration. After all, you've seen the world now."
"That makes a lot of sense."
Neo put on his priestly robe, yawned, and looked at Richard. "I really feel like drinking some warm blood right now to replenish myself."
Richard shuddered.
"Just saying. I'm a bloodthirsty aberrant demon; wanting to drink human blood is perfectly normal, even though I can control the urge."
"Commander, don't you find it strange? I felt nothing while lying in bed, but the moment I stepped down, nature called."
"Then go take care of it."
"I want to relieve myself outside to wash away the bad luck."
"Hm?"
"Where our temporary palace is located happens to be the highest point of the Mipos Archipelago. I want to stand there and relieve myself. That way, there's a thrill of watching the sacred ground flourish under my irrigation."
Neo took a pack of cigarettes left behind by Karen, pulled one out, lit it, exhaled a smoke ring, and said to Richard:
"If I were your father, I wouldn't be able to resist beating you either."
"You mean that's too uncouth?"
"No, I mean... let's go together."
The two walked out of the room into the palace's rear garden. It faced the ocean directly, and in the distance beyond the green belt, the figures of guards and servants were visible.
Stepping outside, Neo sensed that the surveillance formations here were still active, and from atop the palace, two gazes were directed their way. Clearly, the Moon God Church people hadn't given up monitoring the two wounded soldiers left behind.
Richard prepared to unveil his performance art.
Seeing Neo make no move, he asked in confusion, "Commander?"
"I need a moment to get things flowing. You go ahead and irrigate first."
"All right, Commander. Hey, haha, look, Commander! The fleet has returned victorious! See, I told you, we just needed to wash away the bad luck and good fortune would arrive! We just got up, and Karen and the others are already back!"
On the horizon, the silhouettes of a fleet appeared, sailing toward the main island.
Neo shielded his eyes with a hand to block the glare of the sun, carefully observing the fleet. Then, drawing a dagger from his boot, he tossed it to Richard. Richard caught it.
"What's wrong, Commander?"
"The fleet is flying the flag of Samsara. Hurry up and cut off your source of bad luck."
Chapter 454