Secrets of the Universe

Chapter 140: Attack on the Sea(2)

*Boom!*

The hit from the sea serpent threw off the three guards who were watching Jake's room.

It took them more than a minute to get up and recalibrate.

The moment they did that, the door of the room they were safeguarding opened and a rope whipped around one of the guards' neck.

The rope was yanked from the other side, dragging the guard inside the room.

*Ahh--!*

This put the other two guards on alert as they listened to the short-lived screams of their fellow guard.

Ignoring their fear, they walked into the room slowly.

Shouting, they taunted the person they were meant to prevent from escaping, "We know you are here!"

Due to the hit the ship received, the light crystals of the room were broken, which in turn made the room dark, only a bit lightened by light from the blue sea.

One of the guards brandished his sword and released a fire that illuminated the room, "I will say this the last time. We kno--."

Before he knew it, a rope swept off his feet.

He tried to get his balance, but the sense of weakness he had gotten from just the brief contact with the rope overcame him.

After slipping, the fire died out and the guard found a knife buried into his skull, killing him in the process.

The remaining guard did just watch this. He instantly burnt the entire room, all except his closest perimeter, which a shadow took to its advantage as it hid behind him.

In a fluid manner, the rope on the shadow's arm was flung around the guard's neck.

Bending down to gain more force, the shadow strangled the guard until the latter gave his last breath.

*Thud*

Like a waning light, the guard joined his fellow comrade in the afterlife.

The shadow was then surrounded by the fire the guards had ignited. 

After removing the ropes from his hand, the shadow blew out a cold breath that extinguished the flames.

It was then the ray from the seawater shone on him and revealed his beautiful looks.

"Perfection," Jake muttered.

He had made sure to be the first to recover from the ship blast and had immediately cut the rope tying him with Nico's knife.

The rope was one of the things he was interested in. It could not be cut by the wearer's energy, but only an external energy force.

The only way to bypass this is for the wearer to use a physical attack, but the problem there was that the wearer's physical strength is also weakened by the rope.

Jake was sure that if he possessed Nico's base strength, he could tear apart the rope, but he didn't. So, he had to use a more innovative way to bypass the defense of the rope!

His answer to that was a sharp object, a knife sharp enough to cut the rope. Nico provided him just that!

'Hmmm.I can't waste it,' reasoned Jake.

He went to the corpses of the guards and placed his palm on the first two's chests.

Showcasing his extraordinary control, Jake summoned two of his [Purple Whirpool] to suck out the guard's [Source Essence].

After he was done with them, he moved on to the last and did the same.

After many days of sleeping while bound by the special rope, Jake felt liberated and was free to use his energy again.

He could use his [Purple Whirpool], which he had not used since he had been captured.

*Boom!*

Another hit landed on the ship, but Jake was more prepared this time.

He was able to hold onto his room door, preventing him from fall heavily.

After the ship regained its balance, Jake bend his head at the ceiling.

He already knew that the ship was targeted by sea serpents. Since the moment he had seen a sea serpent himself, he knew it could not be alone.

This further hastened his plans, as there was no way the ship could defeat one sea serpent, not to talk of a den of sea serpents.

There were bound to lose. That was why Jake was going to escape now. It was a brash decision, but he couldn't exactly wait to die.

No, it was probably his most foolish decision. However, he was given no alternative. 

Dens of Sea Serpents weren't exactly what a ship could take on, especially the southern ships that were particularly rickety.

They were old products moved from the central continent to work till it totally broke down.

If he escaped the ship, he would be met with multiple sea serpents. Hence, he needed to do something...make a distraction, and possibly something bigger than that.

That was why Jake was currently drifting through the lower level corridor to a room well guarded by the ship's deck guards.

He hid at a corner and watched as the guards used a nearby stairway to hurriedly get to the higher levels.

Jake smiled as he expected that. The ship would need every set of hands it could get.

This saved him a lot of trouble. The room he was looking at was the most important room in the entire ship.

It was supposed to be constantly guarded, but the trouble above, which by the way, was regularly tilting the ship, required all the guards' help.

Placing his hand on the door, Jake was greeted with the abundant smell of mineral.

He caught sight of a lot of metal pipes and complicated tubes, but before he could ask he was questioned by those in the room, "Who are you?"

"You are not supposed to be here," shouted another.

"Please leave. This isn't the right time to be in this place," advised another.

Jake ignored them and focused on the path of all the pipes. The complicated system felt more like technology in his previous world, but, surprisingly, it still gave mystical vibes.

Jake, himself, couldn't identify most of the items in the room. From the way, the others in the room acted, he was sure they also couldn't.

Tracing the pipes and tube, Jake found himself looking at a glass cylinder.

Jake's eyes shook as he saw a small crystal kept inside. It occasionally released fiery sparks that made the pipes and tubes connected to the cylinder pulse.

'The [Ephastone], beautiful, but dangerous. Instead of it being protected inside, it is more like the cylinder being the only thing that is protecting us from our death,' smiled Jake.

"Ok, that's it. I'm afraid we are going to force you to leave," offered one of the engine room's crew.

They were tasked with managing the room and a trespasser was not allowed.

Bringing out hidden weapons from their cloth, they attempted to force Jake out, but the latter beat them to the chase.

To the crewmates with a lower cultivation base, it was unknown when he moved, but all they saw was a hand sticking out of their chest.

They slowly fell to the ground. Yet, before their eventual departure, they caught Jake slowly walking to their other friends.

They got confused as catching his movement meant he wasn't that fast. Yet, Jake had killed them without themselves knowing.

In the end, was he fast or not?

They would never receive the answer to their question as the sweet embrace of darkness covered them.

.....................

As soon as the last crew member died, Jake shook his hand, wiping away the blood on it.

The calm breath of silence brushed his face and he found himself looking at the [Ephastone].

There was a red circle drawn around the cylinder, showcasing how dangerous the crystal was.

'An [Ephastone].......' Jake's eyes twinkled as he looked at the crystal again.

The crystal was possibly the most dangerous item on the southern continent. It was gotten from the mineral kingdom, Brilliant Kingdom.

It was said that they had been restricted by other kingdoms on the usage of the [Ephastones]. This was wise as the crystals alone could fill up the roles of weapons of war.

So, based on the agreement, it could only be used for commercial purposes and was to be handled with extreme care.

The crystals eventually found their place in [Pearl Coast]. Coincidences led to one another, and it was found to be a suitable power source for ships.

However, to Jake, that didn't mean it was tame. It still served its destructive purposes, which Jake absolutely required.

Jake put on a set of skintight gloves. He was not dumb enough to not protect himself.

Hiding his fears, Jake steps over the red line.

He counted his breath as he opened the cylinder, keeping his emotions in check.

'One.two.three..four,' continued Jake.

After he felt the hot air inside the cylinder, Jake brought out a bag of [inflammable sand]. This was part of the things he had gotten before he escaped Aztec. Now, it was proving to be handy.

Continuing to count, Jake delicately sprinkled the sand to the edge of the stand where the crystal was being placed in the cylinder.

He could already feel himself suffocating as he breathed the same air as the crystal.

He wondered what he had expected. This crystal was the main power source for the propulsion system of the ship. It was nearly inextinguishable and possessed abundant volatile energy.

One mistake with it could lead to his death!

That was why even the normally cold Jake couldn't help but tremble a bit at his close proximity to the crystal.

A spark and it would be the end of him!

Luckily, he didn't get to see that. After he was done sprinkling the sand all over the crystal's stand, Jake left the cylinder and took a deep breath.

He proceeded to leave a trail of the brown sand as he left the engine room.

The trail stopped at the room's doorstep and despite the ship constantly shaking, the trail path was still viable.

The trail was not a normal smooth trail. At almost every five feet(5ft) was a large chunk of ice serving as the obstacle.

It would act as Jake's timer.

After he was done, Jake covered the end of the trail with multiple chunks of ice. It was easy for him to do as he possessed the [Ice Element], but the quality of the chunks of ice was questionable.

That was why they only served as mere obstacles, instead of being a permanent blockade.

'This should be enough,' sighed Jake.

Everyone's attention was on the attack above. Even if they were able to stop his plan, it wouldn't matter.

Jake sighed as he took up the broken [light crystals]. 

He compressed them together and rubbed his hand with its granulated materials.

Suddenly, a fire ignited on his hand, but Jake was quick to blow it on the inflammable sand. He cooled off his hand afterward.

The sand after being contacted with the fire lit up. It tried to move through its ordained path but the large chunks of ice stopped it.

Nevertheless, it took its time to melt the chunks of ice.

Jake watched slowly, witnessing the fire perseverance.

He estimated the amount of time he had left to the fire surpassed all the obstacles, 'It shouldn't go past thirty minutes.'

Getting half of his plan done, Jake focused on the window where the white serpent watched him patiently and curiously.

He knew this was the moment where he had to take a leap of faith.

Smiling at the serpent, Jake took a step back and locked his eyes on it.

He tilted his head for the serpent to understand him better and it did.

The curious serpent swam around, dancing in the water. In one go, it rushed to the window and slammed its massive body on it.

*Boom*

When its saw that the section of the ship didn't break. It dropped all motions of playing around and opened its wide mouth.

*Screech!*

Summoning a ball of concentrated water with its mouth, it blasted a hole through the ship. Immediately, water gushed into the ship from the hole.

Jake who had prepared himself smiled as the water was about to touch him. 

Swiftly swimming out of the ship through the hole, Jake proceeded to freeze the hole with his elemental powers.

He, himself, couldn't do that much if he was on land, but it was good that he was in the sea.

Jake had communicated with the serpent, telling it to break a hole for him. Since the material used for the ship was strong enough to take a hit from the sea serpent, how could Jake break a hole for himself?

'Finally,' Jake smiled as he floated to the water surface.

This was his plan all along. He would swim to a nearby island, but still, this was too foolish. Thereby, Jake tweaked it.

Using an explosion that would soon come from the ship, Jake would achieve two goals.

One, possibly attracting the sea serpents and blowing them up.

Two, using the blast from the ship to give him the necessary push, but still, it ...was a bit optimistic.

He had no choice as the ship was bound to drown anyway. Also, he hoped that the white serpent would protect him along the way.

If not for the appearance of the serpent, he would have opted to fight the sea serpents to death!

Still submerged in the sea, Jake got a good look at the serpent which coiled around him.

It was beautiful and Jake knew that. Its white crystalline scale was what actually attracted Jake to it.

Jake couldn't deny that he was a bit scared now that he and the serpent looked at each other with no boundary of ship separating them.

However, in the next moment, he shook off his fear as the serpent didn't attack him. Instead, it tilted its head in a playful manner.