Chapter 4786 — A More Terrible Presence
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
"So what you two are saying is, even if we activate the Ten-Thousand-Mile Formation and manage to shake off these five Mountain-Opening sea beasts, we still won't shake off whatever is behind them?" The first mate's sharp intake of breath crackled through the transmission array, and every gaze swung toward Wei Zhao and Oda Ba. This was the very question burning in all their minds.
"I've never seen the Ten-Thousand-Mile Formation in action, so I won't venture an opinion on it," Wei Zhao said with a shake of his head, then went on to analyze: "But if the other side dares to set its sights on our warship, then they must be confident of pulling it off. Sea beasts at that level are hardly fools."
"I don't know. If I had to trust my gut, I'd call it three to seven." Oda Ba pinched the bridge of his nose with a pained expression and added: "Three for us, seven for them."
A heavy silence fell over them all. What he meant was that even with the Ten-Thousand-Mile Formation, they had only a thirty percent chance of escaping cleanly; and if they were caught in the remaining seventy percent, the outcome needed no spelling out. No spiritual energy meant no formation, and an ancient warship stripped of its formation's protection was nothing but a heap of scrap metal—it couldn't even hope to hold off the lowliest Nascent Soul sea beast.
"In that case, there's no point agonizing over it. Only a thirty percent chance, and you'd gamble your lives on it—are you still willing? Even if we stay and fight with everything we've got, our odds of surviving are better than that, aren't they?" Wei Zhao said, his tone flat and light.
That single sentence snuffed out any thought of flight. If running was more dangerous than staying, then what the hell were they running for?
These crewmen were hardened veterans who had weathered battle after battle. Once driven into a corner with their backs to the wall, the morale and ferocity they unleashed far surpassed that of ordinary men. Just look at them now—every last one of them was like a rooster pumped full of blood, itching to charge out and grapple bare-handed with the sea beasts outside. No one so much as breathed the words "Ten-Thousand-Mile Formation" anymore.
"Good! If they're dead set on playing, then today we'll give these ugly bastards a proper game!" Oda Ba suddenly roared, then without a moment's hesitation bellowed his orders: "On my command—activate the Starfall Formation!"
"Aye!" Every crewman answered as one thunderous voice. Even Wei Zhao was startled by this sudden spike of feverish zeal, and couldn't resist tugging at Huo Yudie's sleeve to ask in a low voice: "What in the world is the Starfall Formation?"
"That... I don't know either..." Huo Yudie shook her head. Like the Ten-Thousand-Mile Formation, it had to be one of the warship's core secrets. She wasn't one of the crew—just a temporary passenger. How could she possibly know about such things?
"It's this ship's most powerful offensive formation. Like the Ten-Thousand-Mile Formation, it's a last resort that burns through every last reserve of spiritual energy—except the Ten-Thousand-Mile Formation is meant for escape, while the Starfall Formation is meant for attack," Oda Ba explained in a spare moment, then lifted his head to look at the sky full of stars. His voice carried a note of relief: "Thank heavens the weather's fine tonight—that buys us another twenty percent chance of victory!"
Wei Zhao was somewhat bewildered by this, though he could roughly guess that the Starfall Formation had much to do with the weather. Taking the name at face value—could it be that it meant to harness that sky full of stars?