abcnovels
Chapter 154:
Chapter 154:
Chapter 154:
Chapter 154
“Yu-hyun! Wake up!”
“Yu-hyun! Snap out of it!”
I opened my eyes at the sound of the voices ringing in my ears.
Kwon Jia and Kang Hye-rim were looking down at me with concern.
The sky was dark with storm clouds and rain was pouring down like a waterfall.
My whole body was soaked with seawater and rainwater.
“Ah.”
I realized that I had lost consciousness for a brief moment.
A delayed pain shot through my body. But I didn’t grimace at the agony.
It was a sign that I was alive.
I pushed back my wet bangs and got up from my spot.
I was standing on solid ground.
“Is everyone okay?”
“I-I’m fine.”
“I’m okay too, except for some scratches.”
I recalled what happened before I blacked out.
Right before we reached the island, Moby Dick unleashed its ship-destroying power and shattered the Pequod.
Of course, it was only the stern of the ship that collapsed, but the problem was that it happened when we were at full speed.
The Pequod lost its direction and crashed into a huge rock.
That’s where my memory ended.
“…”
I looked around.
The island was made of sharp rocks that rose irregularly.
We had finally arrived at the graveyard of shipwrecks, our destination.
And Moby Dick, who had chased us all the way here, was stuck in a crevice between the rocks, exposing most of its body above the shallow water.
Its eyes, bigger than a human’s, glared at us with murderous intent.
The sailors who had fallen down got up one by one.
The ones who came down from the broken Pequod stared at Moby Dick.
“Finally.”
Captain Ahab stepped forward and bared his teeth.
He seemed too happy to bear it.
“This moment has come.”
Ahab’s voice, filled with vengeance, made Moby Dick tense up.
It tried to escape somehow, but it had exhausted too much energy to get here.
The sea monster that had nothing to fear in the world was now weary.
We couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity.
“Nottang! Now’s the time!”
[I know. Nautilus, surface.]
Splash!
The Nautilus emerged from the water spray, where it had been waiting.
[I applaud the courage of the officers who led this reckless operation to success.]
The Nautilus fired a torpedo immediately.
The torpedo hit the rocks below the water surface near both sides of Moby Dick’s tail.
Boom! Rumble!
The rocks exploded and collapsed.
The debris fell on Moby Dick and crushed it.
Moby Dick writhed violently, but it couldn’t ignore the mass of the huge rocks that pressed down on its back, half of its body sticking out of the water.
Luring Moby Dick into shallow water and immobilizing it.
That was the beginning and end of Operation Name.
“Even so…”
I clicked my tongue at the sight of Moby Dick’s white bulk filling my eyes.
“It’s daunting to fight against such a huge beast.”
I hadn’t won yet.
At best, I had barely brought the situation from a zero percent chance of victory to a slightly favorable one.
I didn’t think Moby Dick would stay stuck here forever.
As time passed, he would recover his strength, clear the debris behind him, and escape from the island.
So, the only opportunity was now.
Before he healed and ran away, I had to end this annoying hunt that had been biting and biting.
“Everyone, grab your weapons! Is the ammunition safe?!”
“Be careful not to wet the gunpowder! It has to be done now!”
The sailors took out their weapons from the half-sunken Pequod’s gunpowder store.
The harpooner Queequeg, the mate Starbuck, and the novice sailor Ishmael also loaded their guns and harpoons.
“Let’s go!”
It was Ahab who announced the start of the fight.
He was impatient to end his burning revenge as soon as possible.
Ahab grabbed three harpoons mounted on his back and threw them in sequence.
Zing!
The three harpoons that cut through the air in a straight line pierced Moby Dick’s defenseless skin.
Woooooo??!!
Moby Dick twisted his body in pain.
Red blood flowed over his white skin.
The sailors who had been suffering until now felt a ray of hope.
The same was true for the surviving collectors.
That Moby Dick, the ocean’s terror that shattered a ship in one blow, was in pain.
In the end, he was also a living creature that bled.
“Kill him!”
“Get rid of that devil!”
The sailors threw their harpoons and took out their guns from the ship and shot at Moby Dick.
The collectors’ feats were even more dazzling.
As if to prove that they couldn’t fight properly because of the sea environment, the collectors raised their power on land and fiercely slashed Moby Dick’s body.
Moby Dick didn’t stay still among the increasing wounds.
He had come up to the shallow water, which was clearly a big opportunity for us. But that didn’t mean Moby Dick was weak, let alone just taking hits.
A mass and size comparable to a mountain.
Even if he came up to the surface of the water, Moby Dick was a weapon by his very existence.
“Everyone, be careful! Don’t get too close!”
“Don’t let him turn his head! He shoots a huge shockwave from his mouth!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Moby Dick opened his mouth.
His body was so big that his open mouth looked like a dark cave with an endless abyss inside.
A sound of destruction raged like a storm from inside.
Crackle!
One of the sailors was unlucky enough to get caught in front of Moby Dick’s mouth, ten meters away.
His body shattered into pieces and flew far away like fragments.
Someone looked at him blankly.
It was unbelievable that a whale that only lived in the sea could have such power even on land.
“Keep disturbing him so he can’t turn his head!”
“Fire the thousand-shot cannon!”
The last remaining thousand-shot cannon spewed fire.
Explosions occurred over Moby Dick’s exposed skin.
Kang Hye-rim’s Thunder Sword spewed lightning, and Kwon Jia’s aura tore Moby Dick’s flesh.
Yu-hyun’s attack also inflicted wounds on Moby Dick’s back.
“My crew’s revenge!”
Park Cheol-oh’s trait [Man with the Iron Mask] activated.
His whole body turned into metal.
With his enhanced physique, he pounded on Moby Dick’s skin.
Every time his fist landed, Moby Dick’s flesh burst open, spewing blood.
“Ha!”
The strange sorceress Bang Sang-shi also moved.
She swung her axe in one hand, displaying a bizarre spell.
The flesh of Moby Dick that was cut by the axe rotted black.
Flame Knight Kwon In-beom also swung his sword wrapped in flames.
Like red dots on a white canvas, wounds and blood spread one by one on Moby Dick’s body.
“Keep attacking! Don’t give him a chance to fight back!”
“Push him hard, don’t stop!”
Everyone clenched their teeth and poured their attacks on Moby Dick.
They had no choice.
If they couldn’t kill him here, they would die.
They had to kill Moby Dick before he recovered his strength, broke the pile of rocks, and escaped from this place.
But.
‘It’s endless.’
Yu-hyun felt that way as he stabbed Moby Dick’s back with his spear.
It was like digging out a huge mound with bare hands.
They were inflicting wounds, but they were only minor injuries to Moby Dick as a whole.
As befitting his size, his vitality was like the sea itself.
Even though he was being attacked indiscriminately, Moby Dick showed no signs of falling.
‘It’s dangerous to drag on like this.’
The collectors were the ones who were attacking one-sidedly, but they were also the ones who felt anxious.
The Nautilus crew members also joined the fight with guns, except for the minimum staff, but they were not enough.
Moby Dick’s movements gradually became stronger.
The debris behind his back was shaking.
There was not much time left before he started to fight back in earnest.
‘Is this not enough? What else do we need? What is it? What did I miss?’
Yu-hyun’s head spun.
He had to find a way to bring down Moby Dick.
Throwing harpoons, shooting guns, swinging swords, stabbing spears, striking lightning.
It didn’t work.
It wasn’t enough.
‘Think. A way to bring down that guy.’
Yu-hyun instinctively knew. Moby Dick was not an opponent who could be defeated by simply strong attacks.
He needed a hunting method that suited the devil of the sea. And it was surely related to his ‘story’.
What was it?
Yu-hyun was lost in thought when it happened.
[Yu-hyun! Watch out!]
“Damn it…!”
Yu-hyun flew back as soon as he heard Baek Ryeon’s warning.
Right after that, Moby Dick’s body crushed the ground where Yu-hyun had been.
“Moby Dick is moving!”
“He’s trying to get out of here!”
Having recovered some of his strength, Moby Dick began to shake his body violently.
Moby Dick suddenly clamped his mouth shut.
Everyone looked at him with curiosity.
The change was not in Moby Dick’s mouth, but in the blowhole behind his back.
Kwaaaaaa???!!
Moby Dick released all the oxygen he had absorbed through his blowhole.
A huge shockwave swept around Moby Dick like a typhoon.
The blowing wind was offset, and even the falling rain was pushed outwards.
The ground cracked and the rocks that were pressing down on Moby Dick’s back crumbled into sand by the vibration of the sound.
“Crack!”
“Kuhuk!”
The people who were close to Moby Dick also suffered from the shock that shook their whole bodies.
One of the sailors near him spat blood from his eyes, nose, and mouth and died instantly.
Even the collectors, who had sturdy bodies, could not withstand the attack that turned rocks into dust.
Yu-hyun also rolled on the ground after being hit by the shockwave.
Kwon Jia, Kang Hye-rim, and Park Chul Oh were in the same situation.
The unlucky collectors were flung far away and knocked unconscious when they hit the hard ground.
‘What is this?’
Yu-hyun felt his head spinning.
He never wanted to feel the shock that rattled his whole body again.
He shook his head and got up from his spot, catching a glimpse of Moby Dick’s movement.
Moby Dick seemed unable to use that attack consecutively, as he was breathing heavily again.
But the biggest problem was that Moby Dick had gotten a chance to escape.
“What…”
For a moment, Yu-hyun and Moby Dick’s eyes met.
Yu-hyun felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at him.
Moby Dick’s eyes were slightly curved as he looked at Yu-hyun.
He was smiling right now.
[The spirits shivered and brushed their arms.]
[Some spirits marveled at Moby Dick’s existence.]
Moby Dick tried to run away.
Yu-hyun became desperate.
‘I have to stop him!’
But how?
Everyone around him was still dazed from the previous blow.
Even those who opened their eyes were shivering and unable to move properly.
Someone had to stop him.
“Aaaaaah!”
At that moment, someone screamed and ran towards Moby Dick.
Yu-hyun’s eyes widened.
“Miss Jia!”
The returnee Kwon Jia, she showed an unbelievable movement in her weakened state.
One of her arms was torn with ruptured muscles, and blood was flowing from wounds all over her body.
She clenched her teeth and held her sword.
A huge beast’s head sprouted from the tip of her sword.
Yu-hyun had never seen it with his own eyes, but it was a familiar energy.
It was Agwi, the skill she had used in the final battle of the Four Worlds.
“Aaaaaah!”
Kwon Jia swung her sword with a bloody determination.
Everyone watched the scene in awe.
The giant beast’s teeth tore off Moby Dick’s head.
Flesh was ripped off and blood splattered.
Moby Dick screamed in pain, perhaps realizing the danger.
The sailors’ eyes regained their light, but Yu-hyun was different.
‘It’s not over yet! That’s not enough!’
Moby Dick felt more urgency and tried to escape to the deeper waters.
Clang!
The giant beast’s head kept biting Moby Dick’s body, but Moby Dick ignored it and tried to run away.
No matter how powerful Kwon Jia’s attack was, she alone could not bring down Moby Dick.
That’s when it happened.
[Nautilus, full speed ahead! We have to block him from escaping now!]
The captain’s shout made the remaining sailors grit their teeth and steer the ship.
Nautilus rammed into the side of Moby Dick, who was trying to escape into the wide ocean at a terrifying speed.
The ram that Nautilus used to cut through the ocean became a giant sword that pierced through Moby Dick’s skin and flesh.
Splash!
Mooaaarrrrrrrr???!!!
Moby Dick’s huge roar echoed throughout the graveyard of shipwrecks. As Moby Dick twisted his body, the hull of Nautilus that was wrapped around him was roughly bent.
Ahab shouted in surprise.
“What the hell, you crazy bastard! What are you trying to do? Are you trying to kill yourself?”
What Nemo was doing right now was nothing short of suicide.
Nemo did not answer him. He had been prepared for his death since the moment he decided to have his last fight here.
He looked at the slowly distorted outer wall and remembered the faces of the remaining crew members in the ship.
“Gentlemen. Thank you for following me. I wanted to survive with you until the end, but it didn’t turn out that way.”
“No, sir.”
“We are more grateful.”
The crew members of Nautilus were all outcasts from the world.
They were those who devoted themselves to their countries, but were abandoned by their states.
They were those who had to wander the sea for survival, but were betrayed by their comrades.
Nemo took them in and treated them like family.
“If it weren’t for you, sir, we would have died long ago.”
“If we can help you in any way, sir, we are more than happy.”
They chuckled as they saw the pieces of Moby Dick’s flesh squirming behind the reinforced glass.
They had already accepted their death and had no hesitation in their actions.
Nemo smiled faintly at their sight.
“Is that so? I’m sorry I couldn’t do better for you. And thank you for following me until the end.”
There was no hesitation left.
With a firm and resolute voice, Nemo gave his final order.
“Fire all torpedoes! Pour out all the last gifts to that damned monster!”
There was no crew member who disobeyed his order.
The torpedoes ejected from the silos went straight into Moby Dick’s wound.
Boom!
A huge explosion occurred inside Moby Dick’s body.