A technomancer's journey in an apocalyptic world

Chapter 147: The Marooned (Part-1)

A loud clanking noise filled the area as the ship dropped its anchors under the watchful eyes of Ryan.

"Your Holiness, I doubt the anchors would be able to reach the seafloor, so why are you dropping  them?"

"Siora, while it is true that the anchors might not reach the bottom, but the ship would be within the next hour, and I hope that the anchors would prevent it from moving from its spot under the influence of some undersea currents."

The sky flashed with a rumble of loud booming thunder while Ryan looked outside, through one of the many holes he had made on the hull, as an annoyed look passed over his face.

"The thunderstorm will be upon us any minute, and the ship has started to rock badly, and I do not wish for my craft to take a plunge into the sea."

"Your Holiness, then shall we return."

Ryan nodded as he spoke, "Yes, I have already rigged the ship to blow and sink, and all that is left for us to move away from it."

As the duo left, Ryan could not help but thank his patron God for giving him a small warning about the incoming storm.

Michalina gritted her teeth as a torrential downpour hit them, and the ship was rocking a bit dangerously, as was evident from the slight slipping of their aircraft.

Michalina spotted his brother and Siora exiting from the island as she shouted out to them at the top of her lungs, "Hurry up!"

Ryan slipped a few times because of the rain but eventually made it to the ramp, and as soon as both Siora and he were safely inside, the ramp began to rise.

Ryan jumped into his seat as the seat belts moved on their own, securing him tightly.

NHASC-001 suddenly found itself flung from the deck as a particular wave hit it hard, making the occupants of the aircraft freeze with fear.

A pulse of mana originated from Ryan, as his tattoos glowed while the cabin lights flickered, and then the aircraft engine shuddered as it suddenly went full power in a blink of an eye.

The aircraft plunged into the dark waters before jumping out and skipping over the waves, and then it managed to climb up towards the sky.

Ryan let out a sigh of relief as the lights returned to normal as he spoke, "We made it, now we have to sink the ship."

He quickly took out the detonator before tossing it towards Michalina as he spoke, "Sis, after we get away a bit further from it, use it to detonate the bombs."

The aircraft moved further away from the ship before turning towards it while hovering in the air.

They watched as the large carrier began to rock dangerously under the onslaught of the giant waves when Michalina decided to use the detonator.

Multiple large explosions rocked the carrier as water began to seep inside it.

Michalina gave a small sigh as she spoke, "There goes a great vessel, a marvelous engineering design from the old world."

Before anyone could say anything, a lightning bolt went past too close for comfort as Xuelong quickly spoke, "Ryan, it is high time we move from here, as I believe under the current condition, the ship will sink fast and well."

Ryan bit his lips as he spoke, "I hope so, the sunrise is a few hours away, not to mention, because of the terrible storm the visibility is very low."

A bolt of lightning came too close for comfort, making Ryan's decision,  as he hastily moved the aircraft higher up into the sky, and within a tense moment later, he was way above the clouds.

"So what now?"

As Michalina spoke, she idly noted that her female companions were praying.

Ryan shrugged as he spoke, "I want to catch some sleep, and since we have nowhere to go for now, I would set the aircraft to hover mode and catch some sleep."

A couple of hours later, Ryan woke up from his sleep, and instead of using the bunk beds, he had decided to sleep on his chair.

As he opened his eyes, he could see the sun well up on the horizon while the storm had moved further away from them.

Shakidra, who was already awake, made her way towards Ryan with a steaming hot cup of herbal tea.

"Thank you, Shakidra."

Ryan took a sip as he sighed with content before he spoke, "This is amazing."

Shakidra bowed while Xuelong spoke with a smirk on her face, "So what now? Where should we go?"

Ryan shrugged as he spoke, "No idea, but let me lower the aircraft a bit closer to the ocean, then maybe we can decide where to go next."

As the aircraft neared the surface, Ryan spotted a pod of whales nearby, making his eyes widen with amazement.

"Sis, look over there, a pod of whales."

Ryan happily moved the aircraft towards the pod, and as he neared the whales, they sprayed water from their blowhole, and in turn, made Ryan feel a sense of awe and amazement to wash over him.

"They are way cooler up close."

Michalina nodded in agreement, but before anyone could speak, a creature that looked like a humongous eel broke the surface.

The creature's maw was giant enough for it to bite one of the whales, and then it proceeded to drag the whale beneath the surface as the water turned red, but it was not the only part that was large as the creature itself seemed to be near about a kilometre long.

Ryan quickly moved away from that place, while Michalina decided to break the silence after a few moments, "What was that creature?"

Ylerias shook her head before she replied to Michalina, "No idea, never have I seen or heard about something like that?"

Xuelong nodded in support of Ylerias's words before she spoke, "Same here, I have never heard or seen about creature like that."

Lance Stormborne prayed to God Xamos, thanking him for protecting them.

Last night a terrible storm had raged, the ocean churned and frothed, and yet in the midst of it, a small island occupied by a few refugees was exempted from its wrath.

The entire raging storm passed by the island in a way that seemed as if an invisible wall protected them.

"High priest, an unknown flying creature was spotted."

Lance frowned, and as he looked towards the direction one of his priests pointed towards, his eyes opened wide, seeing the sight in front of him.

The sun had risen behind the twin peaks while a 'metallic bird' descended from in between the twin peaks.

"Our salvation..."

Lance whispered lowly before he quickly barked some orders to his subordinate, "Whatever happens, do not attack the mettalic bird."

Lance dashed towards the aircraft, which had landed on the beach, and he was not alone in the endeavour, as others from his group did the same.

With a hiss, the back of the aircraft opened, and to their joy, they spotted a familiar figure stepping out of it.

Xuelong stepped down the ramp as she spoke with a smile on her face, "Warm beach after the dreadful storm feels nice."

Lancer and his people suddenly felt a sense of relief upon seeing both Xuelong and Ylerias exiting from the vehicle.

"Greetings, Your Holiness, it is good to see you."

Xuelong narrowed her eyes for a moment before she spoke with a kind smile on her face, "You are Lance Stormborne, High Priest of God Xamos, am I right?"

"Yes, Your Holiness, it is great to see you during this troubling times."

Xuelong gave a nod of acknowledgement as Ylerias spoke, "If I may, High Priest, what brought you to this island?"

"Your Holiness, before the world had changed, I was on a pilgrimage, and since that time, we have been drifting from one island to another, trying to help more and more people."

"But, unfortunately, we are at our limit, and many amongst us have given up hope, we do not belong on the sea that is strange and treacherous, and as such, we are waiting for salvation."

Ylerias eyes roamed over the people's faces, which was bubbling with hope when one of the people from amongst them stepped forward.

"Excuse me, but how is that airplane functioning? When every piece of technology is gone."

"Ah, that would be my doing, my good friend."

The person looked towards Ryan as he spoke with a frown on his face, "Who are you? And how?"

"It is rude to not give you name before asking others, but since you asked, my name is Ryan Von Ruinesca, and I am an Apostle of God Avtis."

A couple of gasps came to Ryan's ears, but he did not pay any heed to them, while the person, who had questioned Ryan, began to introduce himself, "My name is Lieutenant Kason Robinson, Naval Aviator stationed onboard a US Carrier."

Ryan's narrowed his eyes as he spoke, "You were stationed on USS Murphy, were you not?"

Kason frowned as he spoke, "Yes, I was stationed on USS Murphy, but how do you know about it?"

"We came across the ship very recently, and inside one of the rooms, we saw your picture along with some of your crew mates."

Kason's eyes widened momentarily before he quickly composed himself while voicing his concern, "How is her crew?"

"I am sorry to say, but none of her crew survived."

Kason slammed his eyes shut for a moment before he spoke with a pained gasp, "How? What happened?"

"From what we have learned, the ship came to close a cruise ship, that had been overrun, by dangerous creatures, who then proceeded to board the carrier, and then killed her occupants."

"I see, and what about Murphy?"

"The creatures caused damage to the ship, especially the reactor room, and fearing immediate meltdown, we were forced to sent her beneath the surface."

Kason let out a heavy sigh before he spoke, "If you will excuse me, I need some time alone."

As Ryan gave a curt nod, Kason swiftly left, disappearing into the crowds that had begun to form.

Meanwhile, Lance spoke with a huge smile on his face, "Ah, where are my manners, please this way, you all must be tired from your journey."

Xuelong raised her hand, stopping Lance in his tracks, as she spoke, "There is no need to get worked up, High Priest, is there any immediate problems that you need our help to deal with?"

Lance was silent for a moment before he spoke with a sigh, "There are plenty problems that we need your help with, Your Holiness."

"Then, do not hesitate to say whatever you need, and we will do our utmost to help you."