"Captain, they're trying to board using small boats!"
"Full throttle! Ram them!"
"Huh?"
"Whatever the enemy wants, we do the opposite! They're prepared for a boarding action, so we'll force a melee! Ram them!"
Shi Ming took the helm himself. He quickly adjusted the Wandering Ship's angle and pushed its speed to the maximum.
Amidst a powerful roar, the Wandering Ship shot forward like an unbridled wild horse, charging toward the other vessel eighty meters away.
The hull of a Silver-grade Wandering Ship was at least five times harder and stronger than a Bronze-grade's. In a violent collision, the other side would be the only one to suffer.
It was just that very few people had ever started a fight this way before.
Because there were far too few Bronze ships with the courage to provoke a Silver one.
He had to admire the huntress's courage.
Eighty meters was an extremely short distance, leaving the enemy little time to react. In less than a moment, the collision of the two ships sent out a violent tremor.
Shi Ming stood at the bow, steadying his center of gravity, completely unaffected. The other ship, however, was far unluckier. At less than a quarter of the Silver ship's mass, its hull wasn't breached, but it rocked violently. Many of the crew were caught off guard and tumbled onto the deck.
"What audacity!"
The middle-aged woman in her hunting attire was stunned. She truly hadn't expected this kid to be so aggressive!
'A common, nameless nobody under Chunyi dares to charge forward to his death?'
Shi Ming drew his saber.
"Martial arts?" The huntress wiped the corner of her mouth. "You can't beat me with just martial arts! The Fighting Techniques of my country are the foundation of all combat!"
"Ridiculous!"
As the two ships collided, many of the exploration team members seized the opportunity. Armed with the weapons Shi Ming had distributed earlier, they charged aboard while the enemy ship was still rocking violently.
"You're very young, and you have a lot of spirit," the huntress said.
"If I had met a man like you in my younger years, I definitely wouldn't have killed you. I would have kept you around to enjoy slowly." She glanced at Shi Ming. "But now, I understand that men are the source of all evil. I am stronger than Chunyi in every way, yet because of my gender, the general has never valued me. But now that Chunyi is dead on New Island, once I kill you and slowly crack this ship's permissions, it will be mine."
Shi Ming had no desire to waste words with this woman. He gripped his saber tightly. Empowered by his Awakening, the blade began to hum as if yearning for battle.
CLANG—
In a flash of sparks, their two blades collided.
In their first exchange, Shi Ming used less than a quarter of his strength, yet the woman's right hand went slightly numb from the impact.
???
'My Snow-Cutting Blade Skill was passed down through my clan. No one is more proficient than me. How can this kid clash with me head-on? Could he be an Awakened, too?'
The huntress was stunned, her heart pounding with secret alarm.
Her family was a prestigious Warrior Clan. She had trained in fighting techniques and bladework since childhood, for more than thirty years now. Even after the world entered the Wandering Era, she had never slacked off, training relentlessly every day.
'To think that a kid in his twenties could clash with me head-on and not be at a disadvantage?'
"I haven't even used my full strength yet! Again!" the woman roared.
"As you wish!" Shi Ming charged forward.
Use others as a mirror, and you can understand your own strengths and weaknesses.
A warrior can only improve in battle. Training in isolation is just a waste of potential. Fighting other Awakened was the true path to increasing one's power. This woman was the second Awakened he had ever encountered—a rare opponent.
'She's also a decent whetstone.'
This was his best chance to understand the power of other Awakened and to compare the differences between S-rank, D-rank, and C-rank.
Therefore, he temporarily held back from using his Arm of Power and kept his strength carefully in check.
CLANG—
BANG—
After just two moves, the woman's heart was filled with shock.
She had originally thought that after Chunyi died exploring New Island, only a disorganized mob would be left on this ship. She assumed its combat strength was mostly depleted, making it a weak target. But she never expected this kid to be so skilled that he could steadily force her onto the back foot.
'I can't waste any more time. I have to end this quickly, use my Awakened power, and cut this kid down,' the huntress thought.
But the woman had no idea that Shi Ming had only been sparring with her to gauge the difference between an S-rank power and that of a normal Awakened.
The saber in Shi Ming's hand once again let out a sharp hum.
After a few exchanges, his goal of probing her strength was achieved.
If he wasted any more time, there might be unnecessary casualties among the crew. The ship was already short on labor; if more were killed or injured, he, the captain, might have to do the work himself.
And that was something he could not tolerate.
"Is this all you've got? And you still dared to come here and provoke us?" Shi Ming said.
He rapidly increased the strength in his right hand, the one gripping the saber, preparing to deliver a vicious strike.
"Didn't your captain teach you that arrogance is a fatal flaw?"
The woman was successfully provoked.
In her eyes, Shi Ming had only inherited the ship because the previous captain had transferred control to him before dying. After all, if the inheritance wasn't personally handed down by the former master, it would take a great deal of time to crack the ship's many systems—a task that couldn't be done in a day or two.
This made her feel even more indignant.
'Why? Why do people like him get to obtain better resources so easily, while I, whose bloodline and skills are second to none, am stuck with a bottom-tier Bronze Wandering Ship?'
"He only taught me that false confidence leads to death."
The saber in Shi Ming's hand descended with the force of a thousand-pound weight, slashing toward the woman before him.
The woman, who had her hair up in a bun, didn't dodge. She just smiled as her hair came undone, cascading down her back.
Her skin began to turn rough, like a concrete surface Shi Ming had seen before.
'Don't be hasty, kid! Let me show you my Awakened skill! I was saving this for your captain! I never thought he'd be stupid enough to die on that island! That island was my gift to him—a fatal gift!' she thought.
Her Awakened power gave her absolute confidence.
The corners of her mouth twisted into a distorted arc.
'C-rank Awakened skill! Steel Shell!'
This was the skill she had Awakened three years ago in a slurry of flesh and blood after killing a Gray Armor Crab!
Once activated, her skin would enter a hardened state, drastically increasing her defense. It could block blades, spears, and bullets—nothing could get through.
Even a point-blank shotgun blast wouldn't leave a single mark on her skin!
This was the source of her confidence!
But Shi Ming just grinned. 'C-rank?'
'Let's see which is harder—my blade, or your skin!'