OPTC Chapter 190. If the Enemy Doesn't Want It, I'll Do It Anyway!
Clang, clang—the massive gate of Thriller Bark slowly closed as the Amber sailed inside its range.
From the outside, it looked like a giant mouth snapping shut, its upper and lower jaws locking together. The seawater stopped flowing in, and both the Amber and the Rumbar Pirates' ship drifted to a halt.
"They actually built a moat inside a ship? Looks like it's got some kind of water intake and drainage system. That way, they can just use that mouth-shaped gate to capture prey whenever they want. Clever design," Zhang Da Ye remarked. He'd never studied Thriller Bark's structure in detail before—he'd just thought of it as an island that happened to look like a ship.
From the deck, they could see the moat's far bank—open ground, a forest, and in the distance, the looming outline of a massive castle. It was night, and with mist everywhere, the whole place gave off a grim and eerie feeling.
"Let's land on that shore," Zhang Da Ye said. "The plan is to cross the forest, reach the castle, and take down Moria. Move out!"
They steered the Amber to the bank. Zhang Da Ye, Tom, Artoria, Shark Chili, and Ye Yan prepared to disembark, while Rui Meng Meng and Brook stayed behind to guard the ship.
"You two sure you'll be alright?" Ye Yan asked with concern, mostly worried about Rui Meng Meng, who seemed too timid. And Brook, being a pervy skeleton, didn't inspire much confidence.
"I'll do my best!" Rui Meng Meng replied, though her tone carried little confidence.
"Yohohoho! I will stake these old bones to protect this ship and Miss Rui Meng Meng!" Brook said, sounding rather reliable for once.
Ye Yan still wasn't convinced. He pulled out two Flags and handed them to Rui Meng Meng. "I'll leave Ma Lao Wu and Lu Dashan with you. The enemy supposedly has someone who can turn invisible—Ma Lao Wu's sense of smell is unmatched, so he'll help. Lu Dashan doesn't have any special skills, but he hits hard. Use them however you need."
Zhang Da Ye gave him a look. "That 'old master' title doesn't suit me at all. And wasn't Ma Lao Wu a horse spirit? Why'd he learn the standard hound skills?"
"He not only learned hound skills, he even studied foreign languages. I've no idea what made him choose those," Ye Yan admitted. His family generally treated the Flag spirits well and didn't meddle in their hobbies.
"Now that's talent. No—monster talent!" Zhang Da Ye sighed in envy. He'd always struggled with foreign languages himself.
Before leaving, Zhang Da Ye rummaged through his inventory and handed Rui Meng Meng something. "This artifact packs a punch. Just be careful you don't hurt your allies by mistake."
Flustered, Rui Meng Meng took Ye Yan's Flags and the so-called "artifact" from Zhang Da Ye, promising, "I'll protect the Amber no matter what!"
"If it comes down to it, don't throw your life away. If you really can't hold them off, just run. We can always build another ship," Zhang Da Ye added, worried about her stubbornness.
…
There was no dock nearby—it was clear Moria had never intended anyone to land here. But as Zhang Da Ye had said, "If the enemy doesn't want it, that's exactly what we'll do."
The group leapt from the railings toward the far shore—only to discover it was actually a trench, dozens of meters deep.
"Boss Zhang, maybe stop overthinking things from now on! Aaaah!" Shark Chili cried. Unlike Kabuda, he didn't have a flying robot. The fall wouldn't kill him, but it would definitely hurt.
"A trap!" Ye Yan screamed as he plummeted, his frail body likely to suffer serious injury from the impact.
Fortunately, he had the Flags. Jin Erpeng shot out of one, catching Ye Yan with one hand and Shark Chili with the other, lowering them safely to the ground.
"Was this a trap?" Artoria asked, lightly springing off the trench walls and landing with perfect balance. Even if she had fallen straight down, she'd have been fine, but she worried about hidden mechanisms on the ground.
Meanwhile, Zhang Da Ye yelled as he fell.
But his speed was shockingly fast, so fast that Tom was left suspended in midair, still perched where he'd been on Zhang's shoulder.
A moment later, a long arm stretched up from below, snatching Tom. Tom blinked at the unseen camera in confusion before being yanked downward.
Zhang Da Ye didn't end up flattened along with Tom. The wind rushing past had inflated Tom in his arms like a balloon, turning him into a parachute.
Holding tight to his Tom-shaped parachute, Zhang Da Ye landed safely. Ye Yan gave him a look full of contempt. "You beast. Maybe Tom should switch sides—I'd never abuse him like that."
"Shut it! It was an accident!" Zhang Da Ye insisted, petting Tom's head. He really didn't mean to abuse the poor cat—these "accidents" just seemed to follow Tom around.
Tom wasn't listening. He was trembling all over, sensing the aura of a natural enemy.
"Woof! Grrr—woof!" Out of the shadows lumbered a four- to five-meter-tall monster.
It was a three-headed dog. And scattered all around where it had emerged lay piles of bones—both human and animal.
"A Cerberus? We're starting off with something this intense?" Ye Yan gasped.
"Why not make it our mount?" Zhang Da Ye suggested. "Artoria has riding skills, doesn't she?"
"My riding skill doesn't apply to magical beasts. And besides, that thing's too ugly," Artoria replied.
"Well, this isn't exactly a real magical beast, is it? Not a true Cerberus," Zhang Da Ye argued.
Shark Chili's scanning system kicked in. "Looks stitched together. Two dog heads and one fox head."
"Grrrrr…" The Cerberus bristled at that, clearly offended by the mention of its fox head. With a furious growl, it lunged.
"Looks like this mutt needs some friendly communication training." Zhang Da Ye whipped out a streetlamp pole he hadn't used in ages.
With his current strength, he could wield it like a staff. He spun it once and brought it down hard on one of the dog heads.
For fairness, he smacked the other two heads as well.
The mighty Cerberus collapsed with three huge lumps on its skulls, wagging its tail and trying to look cute. It was the kind of creature that feared the strong and bullied the weak.
And funnily enough, Zhang Da Ye also happened to have such a cat.
Tom swaggered up to one of the big dog heads, squinting, clicking his tongue, and bouncing in a mock boxing stance to taunt it.
"Slurp—" The taunted head flicked out its tongue and swallowed Tom whole.
"Still not behaving, huh?" Zhang Da Ye's lamp pole came down on it again.
The blow left one eye spinning in a dizzy spiral, and from the other eye, Tom popped out.
Tom calmly knocked from inside. The eye opened like a door with a creak, letting him step out before shutting again.
Ye Yan, still unfamiliar with Tom's antics, exclaimed, "So that's what the zombies here look like inside?"
"No. This has absolutely nothing to do with zombies."
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