Chapter 11. Port City

The pirate group's ship continued to fly in the sea of clouds to keep moving away from Frincaal town.

Day after day passed.

A brown-haired man with a red bandana and an incision scar extending from his right cheek to his left temple was standing guard on the ship's sail net.

This man was named Clark.

He is a member of the Red Trickerss pirates who is tasked with watching the surroundings as well as a fairly shrewd dagger and bow user.

Clark had an Innate Skill called {Distant Eye} that allowed him to see something miles away.

At that moment, Clark saw something looking with his {Distant Eye}.

Clark narrowed. He suddenly turning pale and immediately shouting at Ben.

"Ben! We have to fly lower! Behemoth Eleventh, Catacombull will soon cross our path!"

"What!? R-right away...!"

Ben quickly lowered the flying altitude of their ship to several hundred meters under the sea of clouds.

The rest of the crew immediately became interested in Clark's warning and scattered out.

Even Martha also came out of the Captain's Cabin and watched out.

After flying for several tens of minutes, the gigantic figure was finally visible to all the ship's crew.

Behemoth Eleventh, Catacombul!

A giant pure white jellyfish that had the same color as the clouds passed over everyone's heads and made their ships covered in shadows for a while.

Catacombul.

As a resident of this world, all the members of Red Trickerss pirates had naturally heard of it and the other 19 Behemoths.

Catacombul and other Behemoths are not Zombie creatures.

They are legendary existences in this world that have existed for billions of years.

20 Behemoth never attacked Humans who did not disturb them.

They are like Divine beast that guard the world. 45 years ago, before the Zombie Plague struck, it was said that there was actually a religion aimed at indoctrination of them.

There was even a case of someone being chosen by one of the Behemoths and given a blessing.

Some of the older members of Red Trickerss knew that all is truth, but for generations after the Zombie outbreak like Martha, it was all like a fairy tale. After all, for some reason, those Behemoths stop to approach any Human since Zombie plague.

Even so, seeing the figure of Catacombul, which is more than 5000 meters in size, still makes any Human heart tremble.

As a sea of cloud explorers, this wasn't the first time Martha and the other Red Trickerss pirate members had seen Behemoth.

And that also applies to everyone in this world now.

Yet, whenever they encounter a Behemoth like Catacombul, they are always fascinated by their holy aura.

There is no need to question it. As one of the 20 Behemoths, Catacombul is certainly very powerful. Much, very much, stronger than Z-Emperor pouch. They are not even worth comparing.

But even so, Martha and the others didn't feel intimidated at all. They get a friendly impression from Catacombul. It was as if Catacombul was smiling and greeting them.

10 seconds passed, Catacombul flew past them and continued to fly in the opposite direction of the Red Trickerss ship, but Martha and the others were still fascinated.

This world may have been on the verge of being destroyed, but a holy existence like Catacombul seemed to always overshadow this world. For some reason, they became calm and felt grateful to have been born into this world.

It also included Zen, who peeking through the eyes he grew from his dark tendrils.

Zen felt goosebumps.

"What the hell is this holy creature..."

He also felt happy for a reason that he didn't even know.

***

-5 days later.

After flying back through the sea of clouds and occasionally descending to avoid dangerous high-level creatures, the Red Trickerss ship finally reached port city of Limmitia.

Above a dormant volcanic crater lake, a city filled with white buildings looks neatly built and full of ship bridges that extend in all directions float steadily.

In the past few days, Zen had managed to master his innate ability, {Darkness Grip}, very well.

In addition to his arms, it seemed that his entire body could also be transformed into a semi-physical form in the form of a collection of dark tendrils.

These tendrils can even penetrate solid objects such as walls easily without destroying them.

Zen was also able to grow body parts on his tendrils as he did when he peeked out of the storage room to watch the stunning sightings of Catacombul.

Ever since he discovered this ability, Zen had spread his tendrils all over the ship without anyone noticing. Of course, Zen at least avoided spying on toilets and very private rooms of the crew.

Thanks to that, Zen has learned about the ultimate destination that the group is heading to - a city called Floating City Magnel - in order to get back their Captain's younger sister from a man.

Zen also learns that this group is actually a group of pirates called Red Trickerss. They were a group of low-level pirates with only a single ship and dozens of crew members.

Although their destination was Floating City Magnel, they seemed to intend to stop at a port city called Limittia on the way to repair some of their cannons and refuel.

When Zen saw the fantastic view of the port city of Limittia, he immediately burst into awe.

"As expected from Fantasy world!"

In his head, Zen immediately weighed in on a plan to explore this beautiful city.

With Magic and Innate Skill he had been practicing for the past few days, Zen was confident of his success.

Even though he was an illegal passenger on this ship, who said he had to hide all the time? He also has the right to have fun!

"Hehehehe~..."

The voice of a young zombie's laughter echoed faintly from within the storage room.

***

Red Trickerss ship was docked in the row of guest ships.

Rina and a few dozen members of the group went into the city after paying the guard while Martha and the others remained on the ship to stand guard and do their respective jobs.

No one noticed the dark worm-like tendrils that pierced through the gaps between the boards on the ship and crept under the bridge.

Needless to say, that was Zen in his {Darkness Grip} full form.

He headed straight to the port city of Limittia and passed through the white concrete wall with little effort, before going into the dark alley between the buildings, and canceling his {Darkness Grip} form.

Dark tendrils fused together to form the pale figure of a naked 12-13 years old boy.

Zen had no other choice.

The {Darkness Grip} only works on his body, so he can't carry his clothes and weapons with him if he activates his full form.

Now that Zen was completely inside the city, he began to feel embarrassed and worried that someone would suddenly pass by and see his naked figure.

"Fck..."

Gritting his teeth, Zen looked around to find something to wear.

Unfortunately, there is nothing around here other than white concrete walls that are slightly soiled by dust and small piles of rubbish, such as, can bottles, or wood, and paper.

"Maybe I should steal in some houses..." Zen began to consider when he reactivated his {Darkness Grip} form and shrank into a tiny black worm.

Zen approached the side of the wall to disguise his figure before starting to move in search of a densely populated settlement suitable for his stealin... Ehem, borrowing target.

Zen passed alley after alley on his way.

If he was forced to cross the street, Zen would force his body to shrink further. He then slip between the gaps in the stone streets so no one would notice him.

Zen must admit, this city is indeed very beautiful.

The all-white theme is amazing. With how cheerful the expression of the civilians was, Zen almost forgot that this world was a world that had been attacked by Zombie plague.

But like most other big and beautiful cities, this city also has its own dark and ugly side.

Zen could only sigh when he entered a dark alley quite far from the street and found the corpse of a woman whose clothes had been stripped and her neck slit.

Needless to say, this woman must have been a rape victim.

Even with a common overwhelming enemy - Zombies - Humans still have free time to hurt each other.

"No, I guess it's because of Zombies that I think they've become wilder than usual," Zen muttered as he returned to his Human form and picked up the white shirt lying on the side of the poor woman's body.

"Thanks for the clothes."

Zen smiled at the woman and closed a pair of lifeless eyes that looked in pain.

Zen was just about to put on the shirt when suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps.

Zen immediately returned to his {Darkness Grip} full form and shrunk into a tiny black worm.

A man's voice rang out from the alley.

"Where's the good stuff you said?"

"Ah! No need to worry, I'd leave it in there."

Good stuff? Zen was suspicious when he heard it.

"... You're sure no one will find it?"

"Sure! Very sure! Come on, we almost there!"

The sound of their footsteps became clearer and clearer.

After a while, a thin man with a long face came along with a tall man wearing beautiful white armor.

The man with a long face smiled at the man in armor while pointing at the woman's corpse.

"How it's? Pretty good, isn't it, Mr. Fred?"

So he was the rapist! Zen glared at the long-faced man.

The in-armor man narrowed his eyes and approached the woman's corpse.

In-armor man smiled slightly. He touch and played with the corpse's cheek.

"It's indeed good stuff. Passable. I'll pay more for you later."

The long-faced man immediately smiled widely.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Fred!"

'Human trafficking? Bodies and organs Trade? Are they some kind of criminal syndicate?'

When Zen was guessing the purpose of these two men, the in-armor man grabbed the head of the woman's corpse, and rushly, he pulled her head out of the body!

Zen was shocked by the unexpected turn of events.

'What is he doing!?'

When Zen was completely confused, the in-armor man opened his mouth.

'!!!!!???'

Zen was once again surprised.

The in-armor man's mouth opened so wide that it looked like it was torned.

His teeth began to grow and sharpen as he bit the woman's head and chewed it hard.

Blood gushed from the man's closed muzzle as he grinded the woman's head intact with his teeth and finally... He swallowed it!

The swallowing sound was completely audible to Zen and left him completely confused.

At first, Zen thought that the most terrible things in this world were just things like Zombies and Monsters, but it seems, even the Humans of this world also held a lot of secrets.

From spying on Red Trickerss pirate group, Zen learned that not only Monsters, but Humans also possessed Innate Skill similar to his {Darkness Grip}.

'Is this this man's Innate Skill?'

Zen began to wonder as he compared the Zombies he saw in Frincaal town and this man. Which is scarier?

No, if about cruelty, maybe this guy is definitely much more ruthless.

In front of Zen's eyes and the long-faced man, who was always smiling, the im-armor man began to devour the woman from the tip of her neck to the last toe.

The crunchy sound that sounded made Zen see the illusion that this man was actually eating very savory chips, while his fizzy drink was a fresh, thick red liquid, that was the woman's own blood!

When the in-armor man returned his face to his handsome Human face again and wiped his face with a handkerchief, only the pile of the woman's clothes remained there.

Not even the bones are visible!