### Chapter 132 – Room 107, The Gate Room – ‘Secret of the Esper Ship’ (23)
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)]
Date: Day 46
Current Location: Level 1, Room 107 (The Gate Room)
Wise Advice: 1
—
Han Kain:
— Bang!
With a thunderous crash akin to being hammered, the door shook violently.
Ahri’s anxious voice pierced through the chaos.
“Pero! Can you unleash that scream again?”
Songee, who had naturally taken on the role of Pero’s spokesperson, replied, “Not right now, but if we wait about ten more minutes—”
— Crack!
Before she could finish, a sharp object shot through the glass above the captain’s chamber door.
“What now?!”
— Thud!
Ahri immediately shot the hand that grabbed the spear, but the fight had just begun.
With a deafening bang, something resembling an oxygen tank was dragged from somewhere and slammed against the door. It was only a matter of time before the door gave way!
With no other option, I glanced back.
“Harrison! You’re not seriously expecting us to hold them off ourselves, right?”
“Of course not! I’ve got my own tricks up my sleeve, just hold on for a bit.”
As he suggested, Harrison was busy fiddling with the control panel and carving something into the wall.
Seeing the scene opposite where someone had shattered the captain’s chamber window with a spear reminded me of something.
“Give me all the capsaicin spray you have!”
We gathered all the sprays our party had.
— Ssssss! Ssssss!
“Uuugh! What’s this?!”
“Mustard gas? It’s red! Where on earth did you get this?”
As the hinges creaked under pressure, I started spraying wildly into the space behind the door, not aiming at anyone in particular, just dousing the entire area opposite the door.
And just like that, the chaos outside fell momentarily still.
— Bang! Bang!
“Yikes!”
“Did you hit something, Kain oppa?”
“No, I just grazed it.”
With the crew members keeping their distance, they began firing their weapons toward the broken window.
Ultimately, they couldn’t get close to the window, so they had to maintain their distance as well.
Again, the sound of something like an oxygen tank slamming against the door echoed ominously, and the hinges creaked and finally popped off.
The moment the door burst open, a maddening noise like a thousand voices tickled my ears, and something from the ground surged up to block the door again. Did Harrison pull off something?
A grotesque mass, a blend of opaque tentacles and flesh, blocked the door.
Beyond it, I could see dozens of sinister gazes, a mere fraction of the individuals aiming their malicious stares at us.
Now that the door was gone, we were able to recognize each other.
Tension filled the air, and an eerie voice echoed, “You bastard! I’ll peel the skin off your face while you’re still breathing! Don’t think this chunk of meat will last long!”
Just as I thought I should reply with some curse of my own, something grotesque lunged from behind and opened its beak!
Pero unexpectedly prepared to scream without warning, causing a panic.
I immediately stretched the filter and covered my ears.
Those who had previously experienced Pero’s howl were already shocked into covering theirs and cowering.
…
…
…
???
What the?
Pero was just gaping with its beak open.
…
…
“No way! That feathered trickster is bluffing!”
Wow! Pero’s clever! Was that a bluff just now?
For a moment, I marveled, but then one of the enemies, wearing a square beret, stepped forward, staff in hand.
As he tapped the staff against the wall and mumbled something, the mass blocking the door began to slowly dissolve.
Is this guy what Harrison called someone who had “wandered with him for decades and learned some of the evil secrets?”
Ahri immediately shot at the man, but the mass protecting us from the enemy’s bullets blocked our shots, stopping us from retaliating.
Finally, as the mass melted down more than halfway and a hole opened up—
The grotesque creature once again brought its beak toward that hole.
From beyond the hole, mocking laughter echoed.
“Do you think you’ll fall for it again? Prepare to be fried!”
— Peeeeeoooow!
This time it was for real.
Most of the enemies had already drawn their handguns, and the chaos that ensued was even more intense than before.
— Bang! Bang! Bang!
In an instant, gunfire erupted from beyond the wall, followed by a loud ruckus as they began fighting amongst themselves.
Just then, I heard voice from behind.
“It’s almost over! You held out well. Just a little longer, and we’ll drown them all together.”
Had Harrison finally finished brewing up his malevolent spell?
I moved closer to Harrison to assess the situation and received a gun from Ahri.
— Bang!
“Ah! You scoundrel!”
“Captain Harrison, why the swearing?”
“Wouldn’t you curse if a bullet was lodged in your head?”
“How could I even swear with a bullet in my head? It’s just you who can still talk when your head’s blown off, you crazy fool!”
Despite the chaos, Harrison’s burst head was beginning to reattach itself.
“Hey, Songee! Tell Pero to either swallow that mass or something!”
“Hey, hey, hey! Wait a second! No way! Seriously, you crazy people, we agreed to clean up the guys outside before fighting among ourselves!”
Ahri’s urgent voice came through. “Han Kain! Just leave it for now! The howl’s effect is starting to wear off and they’re regaining their senses. Harrison! How’s that ritual coming?”
“The mad bird could’ve just kept its beak out of my head, and it would have been done by now!”
I rolled my eyes at his excuses, kicking the can down the road still seemed the only option here.
“Alright, I get it. So I won’t interrupt anymore, so hurry it up.”
As we were busy having this disjointed conversation, mocking laughter echoed from outside the door.
“Truly, the leadership of Captain Harrison is always something to behold. How do you manage to hang out with such clowns? When you’ve been betrayed once, it’s those who start a riot that become the problem, don’t you think? But if everyone keeps stabbing you in the back, isn’t it starting to get suspicious?”
“Stevenson! Can’t you just shut your mouth?”
I found my own voice. “Captain, how about you prepare that magic instead of engaging in a verbal duel?”
“You’d better prepare to be fried alive!”
“I’ll ensure your upper body gets fried while the lower half is grilled.”
Hearing the simultaneous threats about how they’d turn me into half-fried chicken, I momentarily lost track of my thoughts.
During this chaos, everyone was diligently preparing.
On the opposite side, the crew and passengers who were late to regain their senses began to melt down the mass blocking the door with some kind of power, while Harrison was preparing his reversal magic, still holding his lolling head.
In the midst of all this, Ahri approached me.
“Stick close to Harrison and don’t stray too far.”
“Why so suddenly?”
“Just a hunch. Do as I say.”
Feeling puzzled, I still moved closer to Harrison while carrying the still-unconscious Elena.
It looked like Pero and Songee also got the memo to move.
At that moment, Harrison’s lolling head turned toward us.
“Sharp as a tack, aren’t you?”
— Wooooooom!
A vibration swept through the entire ship.
“AAAAH!”
A wail echoed outside the captain’s chamber, as if to fill the world.
Earlier, when we fled the party hall, Harrison had somehow bound the crew and passengers to the ship.
Was this an enhanced version of that power? Now not just sticking, they were beginning to meld with the ship!
Electric wires, concrete, and metal plates erupted from the ship, grotesquely covering their bodies, while their flesh began to seep into the ship. They were in such a horrible state, moaning in torment yet dying in vain.
A person becoming one with a ship, and a ship becoming human. What kind of power could warp reality into such a horrid form was beyond my comprehension.
The vibrations engulfed the area outside the captain’s chamber, then began to filter inside, shaking down to the very spot where we had just stood!
The only area untouched by the vibration was where Harrison existed.
I couldn’t help but bang Harrison’s head again.
— Bang!
“Were you planning to turn us into that mess too?”
Harrison responded, incredulous. “You think it’s unfair that I’m shot twice in the head?”
In that moment, I was speechless. I turned to Ahri.
“How did you know?”
“Just a feeling. Whatever kind of magic he’s preparing, it felt like it would wipe us all out too. But at least he’ll safeguard his own self from the effects.”
— Crack!
The returning grotesque creature slammed its beak down, smashing Harrison’s flailing flesh chunks.
… This doesn’t seem like it’ll end here.
Naturally, the voice echoed throughout the ship.
“It’s too late! I have already become one with the 120,000-ton Esper. My protein-based body is now as malleable as clay. I have shed my weak clay body and gained a steel form.”
[Wise Advice: 1 -> 0]
[Jump to the side immediately!]
— Boom!
Before I could react, my body was hurled through the air, colliding with the wall of the captain’s chamber.
What in the world was that?
It felt like the ship had developed muscles. A gigantic mass—created from countless flesh—lifted the metal plate off the floor and violently tossed me away.
Is this what Harrison envisioned by merging the ship and the person?
…
By the way, oh Advisor, you’re at it again.
Couldn’t you read the future a bit, like, 10 seconds ahead and let me know back then?
How the heck am I supposed to act when you only let me know 0.3 seconds before the disaster strikes?
I also felt something was odd.
Sometimes you give enough time to react and warn, while other times you give alerts right before crises so they’re basically meaningless.
There must be some secret behind this difference, for sure.
…
I couldn’t move after slamming into the wall too hard.
It felt eerily similar to when I got hit by that giant tongue that popped out of the pool back in the day.
The pain was too intense, making my whole body’s sensations hazy while my thoughts remained sharp.
At this rate, I would soon lose consciousness.
Gripping onto my fading awareness, I pondered about the ‘contract clock.’
What does the number indicated by the clock’s hands mean?
My first hypothesis was the count of time reversal instances.
However, if the captain’s words held true, the Esper was already sinking when it first made the contract with the demon.
At that time, they must have already reversed time once, so if the clock hands indeed indicated the number of reversals, then it should’ve shown 1 straight from the start, not 0.
Another hypothesis might be the count of sacrifices made.
But that too fell short. Within the 40 years the Esper had drifted at sea, they must have offered countless souls as sacrifices, yet the hands pointed at 0.
Additionally, the first night of that long-gone past had already involved a sacrificial offering, hence it also couldn’t be 0.
Of course, this stage was strictly a ‘space created when we entered,’ so it could possibly only be counting post-our arrival.
Yet, no matter how I slice it, neither hypothesis explains why the hands moved to 2 when the party was disrupted.
At that moment, time didn’t rewind, nor were sacrifices made.
As I racked my brain to knock down one theory after another, a single hypothesis arose.
…
‘Number of contract breaches.’
The currently understood details of the contract between the Esper and Markus were that the ship would host banquets and offer sacrifices while Markus grants immortality.
When the hands turned the first time, we had intruded during the moment of the grandfather’s offering.
While I don’t know the exact events that unfolded, it’s highly likely that Elena broke the ritual.
Since the sacrificial offering couldn’t be completed normally, the hands moved one notch.
The second turn of the hands was when Pero transformed the party hall into a space of madness with its howl.
Since the party couldn’t progress as intended, the hands ticked another notch.
Now, only one notch remains until it reaches 3.
…
Based on these assumptions and the information obtained from Harrison, our formulated plan is Plan Z.
As consciousness began to blur, I glanced toward Ahri.
Plan Z, you’ll pull it off, right? I’m counting on you, so I’m gonna take a little nap.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.