Shackles of Humanity

The colossal steamship roared as it cut through the waves, kicking up spray that glittered like shattered pearls. A large flock of seabirds followed closely overhead, their crisp cries echoing from time to time.

The scent of gunpowder had faded from the sea, and Heaven and Earth returned to harmony. Luo Kai stood at the bow, inhaling the fresh ocean breeze as his mind once again entered a state of lucid emptiness.

A Complete Form Fierce Beast was like a nuclear weapon, a deterrent of unparalleled power. Not only did humanity not dare to reclaim its lost territories, but the beast’s appearance had triggered a massive exodus, with refugees swarming to other Lordship Kingdoms.

The Xingma Kingdom’s limited military forces had all pulled back to the Jinlan Prefecture region. There, along with reinforcements, they established defensive fortifications around the Tieheng Mountain Range.

Luo Kai was powerless to change any of this. After entrusting Xiaozhuo and Erya to Old Fu, he had gone to the port and boarded a passenger liner heading north. He hadn’t said goodbye to the two girls. ’He was destined to be just a passerby in their lives.’

Around noon, Luo Kai returned to his cabin. The ship was a ten-thousand-ton passenger liner with two decks. Tickets for the lower deck were cheaper, and it was consequently much more crowded. Over a dozen people were crammed into a small cabin of about twenty square meters. Most were refugees from the Xingma Kingdom, their faces etched with sorrow. They glanced warily at the long saber on Luo Kai’s back; in a year of great disaster, lawlessness was a given, and people were more cautious when traveling.

Luo Kai walked silently to a corner and rubbed the necklace containing Zilan that hung from his neck. A young man with thick glasses sat beside him, completely engrossed in the book he was reading.

The liner’s final destination was Xinyi Port in the Dongyuan Upper Country, but it would make a few stops at ports along the way.

As dusk fell, the ship docked at a port called Hongji. The refugees scrambled to disembark, and the liner quickly emptied out. Luo Kai went out as well, standing on the deck to gaze at the brightly lit port in the distance.

”Where are you headed, friend?” the young man with the glasses asked as he walked over.

”Xinyi.”

The young man’s face lit up. ”I’m heading to Xinyi too! I hear the Dongyuan Upper Country is technologically advanced and that they have great respect for people like us who study science and engineering.”

Luo Kai smiled but said nothing. ’My features have become more refined lately,’ he thought. ’I really don’t look like a burly warrior.’

The ship remained docked for over an hour before setting off again into the north wind. After about ten nautical miles, the scenery changed. The vast, open sea gave way to a dense scattering of islands. Many people lived on them, and there were numerous dikes that appeared to be the result of land reclamation. Small motorboats zipped back and forth in the surrounding waters.

The young man said excitedly, ”We’ve reached the Dongyuan Upper Country! This is the Thousand Islands Sea Administrative Province. I heard there are exactly one thousand islands here, large and small!”

Luo Kai stared blankly at the islands before him. ’By my calculations, this should be where I lived in my past life. But now... it’s as if the land was shattered, broken into a dense cluster of islands.’

...

That evening, Luo Kai went to the mess hall to buy some rice balls and salted fish. After eating his fill, he closed his eyes and started to doze off. In the hazy state between sleep and wakefulness, he suddenly heard a strange sound. He opened his eyes. Two Fluorite Lamps hung on the cabin wall, and the young man beside him was sleeping soundly, clutching his bag.

The liner had now left the Thousand Islands Sea and had dropped anchor out on the open water. Luo Kai focused, listening intently. An intermittent sound was coming from beneath the hull—it sounded like something bumping against it.

He quietly slipped out of the cabin. Moonlight spilled onto the glittering, rippling surface of the sea. Several small boats were approaching, their hulls mounted with machine guns that gleamed in the dim light.

The sound of frantic footsteps echoed from the upper deck. Clearly, the crew had noticed the approaching boats. Although it was a passenger liner, the ship was also equipped with machine guns and cannons, making its armament quite formidable.

A coarse voice shouted, ”There are boats on the water! They don’t look friendly! Everyone, be careful!”

The people in the lower cabins heard the commotion as well. In a world with so many threats, most people traveled with knives or guns. Now, they drew their various weapons and surged out of the cabins to see what was happening. Even the man with glasses next to Luo Kai produced a small pistol from his sleeve.

The small boats had now completely surrounded the passenger liner. They were filled with well-equipped soldiers in uniforms resembling fish scales. On one of the boats, a man in his forties stepped forward and yelled, ”We’re from the Thousand Islands Administrative Province Sea Patrol! Lower your gangplank at once! We’re coming aboard to search for a wanted fugitive!”

The liner’s first mate walked out onto the deck. ”Sir,” he shouted, ”please present your Identity Token!”

The middle-aged man pulled a glittering object from his breast pocket, flashed it briefly, and then shouted, ”There! Now hurry up and lower the gangplank! If you hinder my hunt for this fugitive, you’ll answer for it.”

The first mate hesitated. He hadn’t been able to see the token clearly at all. However, they were very close to the Thousand Islands Sea, where pirates were rare. He prepared to order the sailors to lower the gangplank.

Just then, a strikingly beautiful young woman of seventeen or eighteen walked out from the cabins. She had delicate features, fair skin, and a graceful bearing, and she wore a pale green dress. ”What’s going on?” she asked.

The girl’s status was clearly extraordinary, as the first mate’s expression immediately became deferential. He stepped forward and said in a low voice, ”Miss Zhang, the Sea Patrol wants to come aboard to search the ship.”

The young woman walked to the railing and glanced down. Frowning, she said, ”Those men aren’t from the Sea Patrol. My family makes the Scale Armor used by the patrol, and it bears our family’s crest. The armor they’re wearing doesn’t have it.”

The first mate’s face drained of color. He hastily ordered the sailors to their stations, then cautiously walked back to the bow and shouted, ”Sir, please toss the Identity Token up to us!”

The words had barely left his mouth when a bullet whizzed through the air and pierced his chest. He collapsed, twitched a few times, and then lay still.

A fierce barrage of gunfire erupted. The enemy marksmen were astonishingly accurate; the few sailors at the ship’s rail who were manning the cannons were all hit.

The passengers were terrified. One look at the corpse on the deck and their initial surge of courage evaporated. They scrambled to hide back inside the cabins.

During a lull in the gunfire, a gruff voice boomed from the sea, ”Everyone on this ship, listen up! We just want your money, not your lives, so you’d all better fucking cooperate! Anyone who resists gets thrown overboard to feed the fish!”

Just as several pirates leaped from their boats onto the liner, a tall man charged out of a cabin, swinging his saber as he rushed them.

Seeing the cold flash of the blade, the pirate who had just boarded showed no panic. He simply leaped backward, landing on his own boat again. A sneer crossed his face. ”Well, look at this. Someone with a death wish. Brothers, no need to hold back!”

The tall man retreated into the cabin, fighting off the pirates who were pressing forward while shouting, ”These pirates are inhuman! They’re trying to take the ship! If they get on board, those of us they don’t kill will be sold into slavery!”

The man understood human nature well; people hesitate when they feel they have an escape route. Sure enough, his words had an immediate effect. Several other passengers began firing at the pirates, though their aim was nowhere near as good.

In an instant, more pirates leaped from the boats onto the liner. The cramped cabins weren’t suitable for firearms, so they drew the sabers from their waists. Their coordination was flawless as they engaged the passengers in a fierce melee.

Luo Kai stood quietly at the stern, taking no part in the fight. Instead, his piercing gaze was fixed on a dark blue yacht slowly approaching from a distance.

A middle-aged man stood on the yacht’s deck, his hands clasped behind his back. As if sensing Luo Kai’s stare, he looked over, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

A pirate reached the stern, saw him, and immediately charged, swinging his saber.

Luo Kai turned his head, his expression impassive. With a flick of his wrist, he twisted the pirate’s head from his shoulders. His mind sank into thought. ’The aura of that man on the yacht is unfathomable. He’s almost certainly a Body Master. A situation that calls for a Body Master is never as simple as a pirate raid.’