After the Yin-Yang Woman retreated, the surviving Innate Experts among the enemy also boarded several battered ships and swiftly vanished.
Xumi’s plan to assault the Ghost King Ship that night was thus utterly foiled.
However, the Ghost King’s side had suffered considerable losses as well.
Setting aside the unconscious Mei’er for the moment, the Ghost King Ship had endured repeated barrages and been smashed countless times by the Ghost King in her devil-possessed state. Its hull was riddled with holes, battered beyond repair.
The overused Control Core had forcibly entered cooldown. Right now, the Ghost King Ship was little more than a wrecked vessel stripped of its special abilities.
If another assault like the previous one came, it would be nearly impossible to withstand unless the Ghost King recovered her full Void Treading strength.
After settling Mei’er, the Ghost King discussed the situation with the three women.
“I no longer possess Void Treading strength,” she said. “Though it can still fly, every other aspect has declined sharply. It’s barely stronger than the Innate Realm.”
“Like a Half-Step Void Treading with wings?”
Yin Luan ventured.
“Close enough,” the Ghost King chuckled. “I’ve inspected the Ghost King Ship’s damage. Basic repairs will take a year and a half; full restoration, several years.”
“So it’s hard to regain fighting strength anytime soon?”
Ren Tan mused.
“That demon hag said they’d come back for it,” Xiao Luo said in a precocious tone. “This is bad, very bad… But why are they so obsessed with the Ghost King Ship? Willing to throw a hundred Innate Experts at it just to claim it?”
“I’ve given this some thought,” the Ghost King replied. “The Ghost King Ship’s true value lies in its large-scale combat prowess. Yet the enemy commands a hundred—perhaps even more—Innate Experts. In the Eastern Wastelands, that’s virtually invincible. With that kind of power at their disposal, why seize the ship? Only one foe comes to mind.”
“The Demon Subduing Division…”
What target could hundreds of Innate Experts fail to conquer, aside from the Demon Subduing Division, in all the Eastern Wastelands?
Were these Xumi folk plotting to steal the Ghost King Ship and launch a direct assault on the Demon Subduing Division’s headquarters? Why? What could they possibly gain?
“Then we can’t let them take the ship, no matter what,” Ren Tan said gravely. “Legends paint the Demon Subduing Division as riddled with flaws, but we can’t deny their role in preserving the Great Zhou Kingdom’s peace.”
The Demon Subduing Division seized demons on sight and slaughtered ghosts without mercy. Their ruthless, bloody, and utterly impersonal methods had earned them a foul reputation.
Yet without them, the Great Zhou Kingdom might have fallen amid the demon and evil chaos decades ago.
If they were destroyed, some might celebrate—but the kingdom’s common folk would once again live in terror.
“You’re sharp,” the Ghost King said to Ren Tan. “If you were the Ghost King Ship’s master, what would you do next?”
The Eldest Young Lady pondered briefly before answering.
“First, hide until the Ghost King Ship is fully repaired. Second, seek refuge with the Demon Subduing Division.”
“Mm.” The Ghost King nodded approvingly. “But both paths have pitfalls. Hiding risks discovery; aligning with the Demon Subduing Division brings chains and constraints.”
“Third,” Ren Tan paused, then added, “destroy the Ghost King Ship…”
“Destroy it?”
Yin Luan and Xiao Luo nearly leaped to their feet.
Such a magnificent vessel—how could they destroy it?
Everyone had seen its might the night before. At full power, it had repelled a hundred Innate Experts and a thousand Water Monsters without a single breach.
No exaggeration: with it, they could swagger—or even cartwheel—through the Eastern Wastelands, so long as they avoided a head-on clash with the Demon Subduing Division!
“It’s the best option,” the Ghost King said with a faint smile. “Right now, the Ghost King Ship isn’t an asset—it’s a liability. As long as it exists, I’ll be hunted, and if seized, it could wreak havoc on the world.”
“The ship… such a fine ship…”
Yin Luan wailed in reluctance.
“We’re destroying the hull, but the vital Control Core will be preserved,” the Ghost King explained. “With it, rebuilding from the ashes isn’t out of the question one day.”
Concealing a single Control Core was infinitely simpler than hiding an enormous pleasure barge.
Even if Xumi found it, they couldn’t weaponize it quickly. Transforming the Control Core into the Ghost King Ship had taken decades, after all.
“Scuttling the ship is sound advice,” Ren Tan said, eyeing the Ghost King. “But I’ve heard your life is bound to it…”
“That was then,” the Ghost King replied with a faint smile. “I relied on the pure soul energy it generated from the Control Core to suppress my Heart Devil. No longer.”
She turned then to the Little Snake Demon.
“Just as I told you, the day the Heart Devil is pierced is the day the Ghost King Ship meets its end.”
Whether for her own safety or to protect the world, destroying the ship had to proceed.
With the ship gone, these servants aboard no longer had any reason to exist.
On the deck, gazing at row after row of pallid-faced servants drained of all color, the Ghost King sighed.
“Desire truly is a bottomless abyss.”
The Demon Subduing Division had turned a blind eye to the Ghost King Ship’s existence because the Ghost King had never forcibly abducted anyone.
Everyone who boarded did so of their own free will, wagering their lives and souls willingly.
Its presence posed no threat to the Great Zhou Kingdom’s stability, and those it devoured were hardly deserving of sympathy.
The Ghost King flicked her sleeve, and the majority of the servants crumpled to the deck like ragdolls with their spines ripped out, dead on the spot.
“The rest of you,” she said, “are servants endowed with special powers. I’ve planted soul seeds within your bodies.”
“You now face two choices. First, regain your freedom and depart from here—but the soul seeds will only sustain you for another three to five years. Second, continue to follow me, though I can’t promise you’ll live any longer.”
The surviving servants murmured among themselves for a moment. Soon after, some kowtowed and took their leave, while others elected to stay.
“Very well,” the Ghost King said. “At least you’ve chosen your own paths once more.”
It took several days, but with assistance from Yin Luan, Ren Tan, and the others, they successfully extracted the Control Core from the Ghost King Ship.
The group arrived at the banks of the Long River and gazed out at the grand vessel floating upon the waters—once a beacon of prosperity, now a forlorn relic.
It was like a person: born into the world, reaching the prime of life, descending into old age, and at last ready for eternal rest.
“Sigh… my heart feels so empty…”
Little Snake was still reluctant to let go.
“It’s fine—the ship was merely a vessel,” the Female Ghost’s voice whispered in her ear. “My current state is akin to reincarnation?”
“Eek—hey, why are you still here?”
“I’m bound to the Control Core…”
“Yin Luan, who are you talking to?” “Don’t tell me you’re seeing ghosts?”
Boom—Boom—Boom—
With a series of thunderous explosions, the massive Ghost King Ship disintegrated into rubble and slowly sank into the river…
