God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 532: Back to the Ship.

Stepping through the Spatial Gate, Cain let out a sigh...

His mind was occupied with what to do. There were many paths to take, but few of them provided good end results.

Fighting the {Redscale Soldiers} was a bad idea. However, he could not be sure of that sinister Queen's intentions. He had a natural distrust for these beings that looked like humans, but weren't.

He couldn't trust Mutant Creatures... except Ruby. She was the sole exception...

Letting out a sigh, Cain plopped down onto a chair.

'We'll soon be getting to the Dead Spots... calling it a Dead Spot seems understating."

Cain thought about it whilst rubbing his chin,

'Then a Dead Zone. Its too big to be called a spot.'

Satisfied with his naming sense, Cain leaned back.

'I have to get things moving as fast as possible. But I can't rush things too much. So troublesome...'

Such was the reality of things. Haste is important, but neglecting important details in such haste could have adverse effects.

Cain went over all the things he had to get done in his mind and categorized them.

'In order of highest priority, we need to get rid of the suck on board.'

Cain's eye bubbled with darkness.

He had kept things on a low for a while now, but it was stime to root them out. In fact, there was no better time to do it than now. Creating new weapons could wait.

However, he also had to.be delicate, so as not to rustle their feathers. If he had his way, he would operate alone, or with a few trusted comrades. However, the future of this world demanded that he preserves as much human like, mutated or not, as possible.

If all human life is wiped away, what would he be fighting for? It was not a noble purpose, but something that just needed to be done.

'Still, now does one go about weeding out the Scum?'

Cain forced his grin back. It was obvious,

'First, one has to throw out a bait. One so sweet and succulent they have no itejr choice but to bite.'

***

Spending an entire day hatching a plan, Cain finally came up to the deck for some air.

Staring at he ocean of blackwater that stret hdd out for nautical mile upon nautical mile with no signs of land, or any other thing besides water, Cain couldn't help but be filled melancholy.

And perhaps he wasn't alone in feeling this way, as a few seconds after he settled into his space, resting on the railing and allowing the salty ocean breeze to bathe him, another presence settled down close by.

Turning his head, he stared straight into the eyes of a smiling person. Cain chuckled,

"What are you doing up here? Shouldn't you be resting?"

Jenny snorted, "It's been more than a day already. I've rested up more than enough."

Cain shrugged, "Is that so..."

A momentary lull appeared between them. These days, apart from the occasional ship gossip, there was nothing to discuss. Most of the things they could discuss needed to be done in a more private setting as well.

Staring at the never approaching horizon, Cain smiled,

"You know, things have always been this strange."

Jenny threw him an inquisitive stare,

"What do you mean?"

Cain smiled, "I just thought about how strange the world has always been. Sometimes things don't make sense, and they seem to have no logical meaning behind them."

Jenny smiled, "Is there a need to thing about things like that?"

Cain chuckled, "Not really."

Jenny's smile because relaxed, "If not, then stop worrying and enjoy the moment."

"I believe that the things that make life worth living are things like this; enjoying the ocean breeze. They might seem inconsequential now, but they do grant a bit of calm, even if it's only for a while. Unfortunately for us, there isn't a lot of calm and peace on oir journey."

Cain became sullen. Suddenly, the delicate ocean wind didn't seem very pleasant anymore.

He hesitated, "Has your outlook always been like this?"

Jenny snickered, "Of course it has."

Cain smiled, a bit resigned, "Then seems like I'm the only pessimist here."

Jenny let out a chuckle.

They fell silent again, their conversation dying out like embers beneath a fireplace.

Cain sighed to himself, 'Perhaps she's right. These moments of short calmness, perhaps they are to be treasured.'

And feared as well...

Because the calm was just a prelude to a storm.

Cain could see things going very badly right here, right now. Perhaps a horde attack, or them accidentally running into a Dead Spot. Anything could happen that could ruin the moment, turning it into a panic filled haze.

So it was best not to keep one's hopes too up...

Still...

Cain shook his head. Turning to face Jenny, who turned to face him as well, he smiled,

"Thanks. I think my outlook on life has been changed by you."

Jenny seemed skeptical, "Really? I don't think you are easily influenced."

Cain shrugged, "To appreciate the little things, huh. I'll keep that in mind."

A slight blush crept onto Jenny's face. Having grown out his hair for some time now, Cain's scar was covered by the wavy hair blown across his face by the wind. It made his features seem much more delicate.

Jenny felt her heart tremble, simply staring at him...

She let out a sigh, "That's one thing, but getting another is another. I believe one is long overdue for you."

Cain touched his hair, a bit perplexed,

"I kind of like it long. I think it makes me look less intimidating."

Jenny raised a brow. She didn't know if that was true or not. Just as she was about to say something, Hunter walked up to them. Behind him was a squad of twenty Beastmen dressed in full body leather armor, and geared with fine weapons.

Hunter's face was a bit grim, it always was, but this time, it was a bit more grim that a little grim.

Noticing something off, Cain walked up to him with an inquisitive gaze.

"What's wrong?" Cain asked.

Hunter sighed, "A lot. But first, let me explain the circumstances."

Cain nodded. Hunter then proceeded to give Cain the rundown of all the things that had happened over the the past day and a half that he wasn't onboard.

Cain scratched his head, "I see... Looks like they finally get the memo."

Hunter nodded, "And they've chosen to retaliate in kind. Many Hunter's are getting robbed of their mana shards. There's been several cases of stolen food now, and someone infected the drinking water with waste. Not only that, but more than a few 'Lightslayers' have been going around provoking us."

Seeing Hunter look so incensed, Cain was taken abaci. It wasn't everyday one got to see this side of him. However, to those that weren't very familiar with him, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between his current attitude, and his usual grumpy one.

Cain chuckled, "It's all good. Remember, they are still a minority on the ship. Gather everyone on our camp. Getting rid of them will be easy. The tough part is finding an excuse. We can't just dump them, alongside a large number of innocents into the ocean altogether, right?"

Hunter let out a short sigh, "But that doesn't mean the others can take the disrespect any more. Li has to put one of the troublemakers to rest not too long ago."

Cain nodded, "I know what I'm doing. If all goes accordingly, we should see some changes soon."

Having nothing else to say, Hunter signalled to the men behind him to have them leave.

"What was that all about?" Jenny asked when they had gone far enough.

Cain leaned back on the guardrails,

"The ship is currently facing what I'd like to call a civil dispute."

Jenny was amused, "Civil dispute?"

Cain nodded, "Indeed."

Jenny was now even more confused, "Mind explaining a bit? I know a lot of people have been causing a lot of trouble recently, but I won't go as far as to call it that, rug?"

Cain suddenly turned to her and stared her down,

"Can I ask you a few questions, Jenny?"

Surprised, Jenny took a step back,

"S-sure..."

Cain nodded, "First and foremost, what do you do to someone who tries to steal from you?"

Jenny didn't need to think about it much,

"I'll take back whatever they stole."

Happy with her answer, Cain asked another one,

"But what if it isn't something you can get back, let's say food that has already been eaten?"

Jenny hummed for a while, eventually settling on an answer,

"Since they can't provide it back, then I'm going to have to demand some sort of compensation."

Cain was beyond overjoyed, "Is that so... Then onto my next question..."

"What would you do, let's say, in a hypothetical situation where you are in your boat with five other people, and two of them keep adding water and holes into the boat to make it drown. However, you have no way to know which two of the five are responsible. What would you do?"

Jenny frowned. The question seemed to be hinting at something she had almost realized.

"The only two options I'd have would be to try to figure out which two of the five are responsible. The other option would be to just throw all five overboard."

While the second option did seem brutal, it was, in her opinion more effective.

Cain's smile seemed to hold deeper meaning as he leaned in,

"But would you do it? Would you really consider the second option?"

A bit panicked, Jenny made to distance herself,

"Of course not!"

Cain leaned back and shrugged, "So that's basically it."

"Eh?" Jenny was shocked.

Cain rolled his eyes, "That's the gist of it. There are a few rodents on the boat trying to burrow holes through and sink us all... All in the name of a 'God'. Its either I cut the problem at the source, or we find ways to identify who the real problems are before taking them out quietly and cleaning, leaving the other three to be none the wiser."

Jenny couldn't help but smile wryly as it all clicked into place in her head,

"I see... So you are trying to keep the bloodshed to a minimum."

Cain snorted, "What would I be if I went around imposing martial law all the time? I'm not a dictator."

Suddenly, all the things Cain had been doing all this time started to make sense to her. She couldn't help but shake her head and smiled,

"You truly are a bit hopeless... So all this time."

Cain massaged his temples,

"Enough of that, alright? Let's focus on other things. Like enjoying the wind..."

Jenny rolled her eyes, 'Trying to deflect so obviously?'

Still, thinking about it made her smile...

In her eyes, Cain suddenly seemed much more... human.