Chapter 4783 — Sea Beast Attack

Seeing that the crowd below remained utterly unmoved, Wei Zhao shook his head wordlessly on the lookout platform, paid Okuda Qi's threats not the slightest heed, gathered his true qi, and suddenly bellowed at the top of his lungs: "All hands to battle stations! Protect yourselves!"

That shout was like a thunderclap out of a clear sky, and amplified as it was by the various sound-transmission formations, Wei Zhao's single cry rang out across the entire ancient warship. Not only could the crew hear it, but even the Eastern Continent disciples in the living quarters heard it as well. In an instant the whole ship was thrown into chaos, every corner buzzing and seething with confusion.

Having roared his warning, Wei Zhao wasted no further thought on anything else, paid no more attention to the furious Okuda Qi, and, shielding Huo Yudie, fled straight down from the lookout platform. In calm times the lookout platform was a fine place for taking in the view, but once danger struck, it was usually the first place to suffer and the surest place to die. Wei Zhao had no habit of standing stubbornly beneath a crumbling wall.

Watching this from the No. 2 lookout platform, Okuda Qi was instantly beside himself with rage. The boy had clearly heard his warning, yet he still dared to stir up such unbridled chaos, and now he even meant to run. This was beyond all forbearance. Even if it were not for Ren Zhongyuan's sake, this time the boy would have to be hacked to pieces!

In his fury, Okuda Qi stood atop the No. 2 lookout platform with his aura fully unleashed, so that for a moment it seemed even heaven and earth would change color. This time he meant to take Wei Zhao down with his own hands and execute him publicly, to make an example of him!

Yet just as Okuda Qi was about to act, the genuine lookout man in the No. 2 platform suddenly changed expression and cried out in alarm: "Captain, trouble! A sea beast horde dead ahead!"

"What?!" Okuda Qi stumbled in shock and hastily cast his gaze toward the sea ahead.

Everything looked much as it had before. All around it was still calm and placid, no sign of surging waves ahead, and no trace of any so-called sea beast horde. There was only one odd thing: in every other direction the sea glittered with scattered points of bioluminescence, yet straight ahead the water was pitch black, without a single glimmer of light.

For a moment Okuda Qi did not react. He was no danger lookout, and he was not so sensitive to such subtle traces, but he was a fine hand nonetheless—a top hand of the giant-tier.

Without hesitation he instantly projected his divine sense. There was no sea fog to interfere now, and with Okuda Qi's strength his divine sense could cover a stretch of sea dozens of li out. In that instant his expression changed abruptly. There really was a sea beast horde!

Twenty li away, a vast horde of sea beasts was sweeping toward them in magnificent array, numbering at the crudest count several hundred at least, and coming on with matchless speed.

Okuda Qi went pale with fright. He had roamed the seas for several hundred years and served as captain for decades, yet he had never seen such a terrifying sea beast horde. Every beast among them was at least of the Nascent Soul stage, Profound Ascension beasts were everywhere, and there were even several Mountain-Splitting beasts!

More shocking still, for some unknown reason the horde was charging straight at the warship. By the look of it they were not merely passing through but had made the warship their target outright. What was going on?!

As the ultimate weapon that roamed the boundless seas, the ancient warship was fitted with a beast-repelling formation of the highest grade. Normally no sea beast dared approach within a hundred li, and even Mountain-Splitting beasts kept their distance, not daring the slightest provocation. So why had it suddenly failed this time?

In the blink of an eye the horde closed from twenty li to ten, moving with appalling speed. Their roars were already at his ear, and the once-calm sea was churned into surging waves, heaping up heaven-high swells in an instant that came crushing down upon the colossal ancient warship.

There was no time to think further. Okuda Qi hastily withdrew to the No. 2 lookout platform and, steeling himself, bellowed: "All hands, hear the order! Activate the defensive formations, activate the offensive formations, all hands to combat readiness!"

By now it was impossible to think of dodging. A colossus of such tonnage could not change course in an instant—unless they had reacted at Wei Zhao's first warning, in which case there might still have been time.

With the thrust of this warship's power formations, had they heeded Wei Zhao's warning and turned to flee at once, bringing the engines to full power before the beasts closed in, they ought to have been able to shake off the horde. But now it was all too late.

At Okuda Qi's command the whole ship fell into still greater confusion. The Eastern Continent disciples did not know what to do, but fortunately the original crew were well trained; after a moment of chaos they each took their battle stations, and in an instant every kind of defensive and offensive formation sprang to life, layer upon layer of dazzling multicolored light—a truly spectacular sight!

Boom! The ancient warship shuddered violently. This was the first wave of the sea beasts' charge. No one knew why the horde would commit such near-suicidal acts; against a colossus of the ancient warship's tonnage, even the desperate ramming of a Nascent Soul beast posed not the slightest threat.

Even those mighty Profound Ascension beasts, at the cost of their lives, could at most wear down the warship's defensive formations a little; they could not even reach the hull itself, let alone inflict any damage.

What truly posed a threat were those few Mountain-Splitting beasts mingled amid the vast horde. Once they began to attack with all their strength—especially once they had probed out its weak points—how long the warship's defensive formations could hold was hard to say.

Okuda Qi flew swiftly back to the command room. Though his heart was filled with nameless dread, he now appeared calm and composed, issuing each order to every crew member in methodical fashion. His steadiness was deeply infectious; one by one the men shed their panic, and morale surged.

Wei Zhao and Huo Yudie had at some point mixed into the command room as well. Watching Okuda Qi's performance, they could not help nodding inwardly. Anyone who could hold the captain's seat was surely no worthless man.

Okuda Qi noticed the two of them too. His brows knitted and he was about to open his mouth to drive them out, but then he remembered the warning Wei Zhao had given and swallowed the words before they left his lips, saying nothing more.

"Captain, the first wave of the sea beasts' charge is over—about forty or fifty Nascent Soul beasts. The defensive formations are intact." A familiar voice rang out from the sound-transmission formation. Wei Zhao recognized it as the lazy first mate from before; by the sound of it, he had gone to direct the defense on the spot.

"Don't get careless. This was only the appetizer they sent to test us. I don't know where they came from, but one thing is certain—this horde is coming for us. Brothers, make ready; today we fight a hard battle!" Okuda Qi said in a low voice.