Chapter 4785 — You Noticed It Too

The tension in the air was electric.

Gasps of alarm broke out on every side—five Mountain-Opening sea beasts had revealed themselves in that instant, no fewer than five!

Each one a legend of the deep.

The Abyssal Berserker Shark, the Netherworld Ghost Mother, the Soul-Hooking Monstrous Fish, the Thousand-Legged Overlord Crab, and the Mountain-Seat Whale—every one of them a dread sovereign of the seas whose name alone made men tremble. To meet even one of them would spell annihilation for a human cultivator; an ordinary treasure ship would never withstand their assault. Thank heaven this was an ancient warship.

Yet even a warship of that caliber was not unbowed.

But even an ancient warship—that ultimate weapon of war—could not help feeling the crushing weight of facing five overlords of the sea all at once. Everyone aboard, Oda Ba included, found it hard to breathe.

The air grew thick as lead.

"Ignore them! Kill the Xuan-Sheng ones first—kill them all!" Oda Ba snapped out of his daze and bellowed into the transmission array at the top of his lungs.

It was the only sound strategy.

Only by wiping out those countless Xuan-Sheng sea beasts first could they afford to contend slowly with the five overlords afterward. Otherwise, once they were dragged into a war of attrition, those Xuan-Sheng beasts would grind the defensive array down bit by bit—the final, fatal straw that breaks the elephant's back.

But the enemy had other ideas.

It was the right call, the only call. Yet before Oda Ba's voice had even faded, a colossal shadow, massive as a mountain, had already slammed into them first. A thunderous boom—and a vessel of the ancient warship's tonnage was actually knocked askew by several degrees. Such raw force was simply inconceivable!

The impact sent shockwaves through the hull.

"The Mountain-Seat Whale!" Oda Ba ground out the name between clenched teeth. This was the most massive living thing in all the oceans, bar none. It was no exaggeration to say that every Mountain-Seat Whale, with the slightest movement, could shift mountains and overturn seas—for they were themselves walking mountains!

And it was already upon them.

It was close enough to touch. Its sheer bulk alone imposed an unparalleled psychological pressure on everyone aboard, but that was not the worst of it. The worst came from the frantic report crackling through the transmission array: "Captain! This monster is blocking the firing ports! We cannot lock onto the Xuan-Sheng sea beasts!"

A wall of living flesh.

"It is nothing but a meat shield..." The moment Wei Zhao heard this, he knew things had gone badly wrong. They had just gained the slightest advantage, and the enemy had immediately plugged the gap with the thick-hided Mountain-Seat Whale. Clearly, this Mountain-Opening sea beast—this overlord of the sea—was nothing more than a pawn in the enemy's hands.

All eyes turned to Oda Ba.

Every eye was on Oda Ba now. A decision had to be made at once, without the slightest hesitation. The order he gave next would determine the life and death of everyone aboard.

The weight of command pressed down on him.

Attack? Given the Mountain-Seat Whale's hide, thick and tough as it was, attacking was useless. Even if they blasted dozens of transparent holes through it, it would be no more than a tickle. Don't attack? Then they would immediately fall on the defensive, able only to take hits without striking back—and no matter how strong the defensive array, it could not hold out for long.

It was a dead end either way.

"Cease fire," Oda Ba ordered in a low, heavy voice.

The command fell like a stone.

"Captain, should we activate the Ten-Thousand-Mile Array?" The first mate's voice came through the transmission array, and everyone's eyes flickered. Almost without thinking, they nodded slightly.

It was the only hope left.

"What is the Ten-Thousand-Mile Array?" Wei Zhao asked Huo Yudie in a low voice.

She did not answer.

"The Ten-Thousand-Mile Array means a thousand miles in a day—it can boost the warship's speed to its absolute limit in the shortest possible time. It is our final trump card for escape, and the price is consuming every last reserve of spiritual qi aboard this ship." The one who answered Wei Zhao was not Huo Yudie, but Oda Ba himself.

Wei Zhao was taken aback.

Wei Zhao could not help glancing at him in some surprise. This man had clearly been dead set on sabotaging him before—yet now, of all times, he still had the presence of mind to answer his question. Truly, wonders never ceased.

Having said his piece, Oda Ba did not spare Wei Zhao another glance.

After saying this, Oda Ba did not so much as glance at Wei Zhao again. Instead, he knit his brows and sank into deep thought. The veins on his forehead stood out and cold sweat streamed down his face—proof of how agonizing the choice was.

No one dared breathe.

No one else dared even breathe too loudly—not in the command room, not at any of the combat stations connected to the transmission array. The atmosphere was now unbearably grim. Just as Oda Ba had said, the Ten-Thousand-Mile Array was the final trump card for escape. Once activated, there would be no spiritual qi reserves left at all; whether they could ultimately escape unscathed would be left entirely to the will of heaven.

A gamble with fate itself.

"They come with ill intent. To flee without fighting is to court death—we cannot run!" Wei Zhao suddenly spoke up. He knew that, given his status, no one would necessarily heed him. Under other circumstances, he might not have been willing to open his mouth at all. But they were all in the same boat now, and if it went down, he and Ning Xuefei and the others would go down with it. He had to find a way to talk them out of this foolish notion.

He spoke his mind.

Sure enough, the eyes around him turned on Wei Zhao with a fresh measure of disgust. This brat knew nothing at all, yet at such a deadly, critical moment he had to jump out and sow discord. The enemy facing them was a full five Mountain-Opening sea beasts—and now there was that Mountain-Seat Whale meat shield on top of it. If they did not flee now, were they supposed to stay here and wait to die?!

But the expected outburst did not come.

"Why?" Unexpectedly, Oda Ba did not fly into a rage. Instead, his face grave, he turned his head to look at Wei Zhao—he was actually prepared to give his opinion serious consideration.

The gesture surprised everyone.

Wei Zhao might be an outsider, but he had the earlier warning to his credit. Even if Oda Ba's pride smarted, in his heart he had already acknowledged the man's ability. At a time like this, there was no room for personal grudges—they had to pull together as one.

Survival first.

"If it were only these five Mountain-Opening sea beasts, then even if it would be troublesome, we could probably still escape. But what if the real threat we have to face is not them at all?" Wei Zhao said slowly, sweeping his gaze over the crowd.

A chill ran through them all.

Everyone shuddered, and in an instant they were exchanging uneasy, frightened glances. This fellow truly would not rest until his words shocked the world. The five Mountain-Opening sea beasts before them were already enough to crush them with pressure—could there really be something even more savage lurking behind them?

The question hung in the air.

"You noticed it too?" Oda Ba's counter-question stunned everyone even further. This meant that even he, a captain of vast experience, also felt there was another, more ferocious power pulling the strings!

Wei Zhao's estimation of him rose.

Wei Zhao could not help but regard the man with new respect. He had only learned of it because that ghostly thing had warned him—yet this man, whom he had written off as a buffoon of a captain, had sensed it as well. Sure enough, none of the big shots who could rise to a position like this were simple characters!

Oda Ba caught his look.