The water surrounding the sea monster began to tremble and rise, coiling into unnatural patterns.
Below the deck of the ship, crewmates and those asleep from their long shift were unaware of the impending danger. The dim, rhythmic hum of the engines masked the distant sounds of the sea's unrest.
Above the deck of the ship, awake crewmates continued to scatter the monster repellent dust, which only proved to further agitate the sea monsters.
In that flash of a moment, the larger sea monster had closed in on the ship and launched a ferocious hydraulic bomb attack.
"Enemy Attack!"
One of the Third Mate spotted the scene, hurriedly shouted, and sounded the alarm of a crisis. Alas, the alarm was a little bit too late.
A torrent of high-pressure water, condensed into a dense orb of force, exploded forward like a cannonball.
It hurtled toward the Astral Gale with enough force to crater stone and tear through enchanted steel. The sea beneath the attack split in its wake, revealing the churning, cavernous depths below.
Fortunately, the ship's defensive formation was activated automatically. The damage was minimal, and there was little to no tremor in the ship itself.
Nevertheless, the alarm started to resound everywhere, alerting the crewmates to realize there was an attack.
"This is your Captain Perry speaking. All active crew members must get on top of the deck and fend against a swarm of sea monsters." Captain Perry's voice could be heard through the speakers.
Almost immediately, every member, even those who were sleeping soundly earlier, jolted awake and began to rush to the upper deck.
As for the two crewmates who were guarding the chamber where Leonard resided, they remained in position. No matter the danger or commotion, they were not allowed to leave the crown prince unprotected.
Moreover, they weren't just any regular crewmates.
In fact, they were one of the stronger combatants within Astral Gale, deployed to patrol and protect the crown prince.
While the two "regular crewmates" remained stationary, inside the private chamber, Leonard's eyes were open.
Despite feeling no commotion inside the chamber, he sensed that an attack had been made. His private chamber was specially made to not be disturbed at all, so the high alarm sound didn't travel through here.
"Did you sense that?" Leonard turned to Mirelle, who was somewhat drowsy.
Having exhausted quite a long of her mana reserve, her energy was low and required ample rest. She was originally asleep, but thanks to Leonard's action of getting up from his bed, she was alerted and forced herself to wake up.
"Sense what?" She rubbed her eyes repeatedly and attempted to get up.
Seeing her condition, Leonard shook his head and promptly deactivated all formations and built-in functions in the chamber.
Sure enough, sounds from outside started to travel inside.
"Quick, have people guard the left flank. We can't let them harm any of the engines!"
"Right flank also required manpower. The sea monsters are all so fierce here. I don't know what's gotten into them. Some of them are known to have very mild tempers."
Upon hearing the multiple shoutings, Mirelle's body jolted. She no longer appeared drowsy or exhausted.
Instead, she became vigilant and filled with caution. "Could the enemy have made their move?"
"No, someone just had terrible diarrhea and is sounding the alarm," Leonard responded before rolling his eyes.
"Of course, it's the enemy. Otherwise, you think it would be some coincidence that mild-tempered sea monsters would suddenly target our ship?"
"Based on your antics, I bet it was the gods or fate that brought them here to serve you retribution." Mirelle hissed in response. She only asked a question but received a sarcastic response.
"Hmm, I suppose you have a point there. Retribution shall condemn me and your ideology shall also be buried alongside because it's the gods or fate that willed for it."
"..."
Realizing that her ideology would always be her sore point, Mirelle gave up trying to argue or reason with him. If it weren't for her Master, then she wouldn't have ever strived her best to achieve harmony and equality.
'Was this the difficult obstacle you mentioned to me, Master?' Mirelle exhaled softly and glanced at Leonard, who seemed to be in deep thought.
"The ship's being attacked by sea monsters, so it's probably their best chance for the hidden enemy to make a move on you or me." She approached him and commented.
Not responding to her, Leonard was pondering over the situation.
'Even a normal man would get irritated by the scorching heat, so for mild-tempered sea monsters to target us, something must have agitated them. Could it be that foul stench contained some other properties?' Leonard was prone to believing this was the key reason.
The damaged tube in the fueling room was a problem, but he calculated that even if fuel were to leak, they still had enough fuel for the complete journey, albeit a bit tight. However, the abnormal foul stench present in the fueling room was another weird factor.
"Wait a second…" At this moment, Leonard quickly browsed through his memories and scanned the blueprint of Astral Gale.
The fueling room appeared isolated but each of its tubes was connected closely with other rooms.
He closed his eyes and tried to recall the damaged tube number and what it could lead to.
'Aside from the engine room, the tube could also be connected to the disposal mechanism on the fantail.' Leonard finally realized why there was an uneasy feeling. He was once again trapped in his world's view, and forgotten that the current world functioned and operated entirely different from his.
'The foul stench must have been redirected to being disposed of into the sea that attracted the sea monsters to lock onto our ship.' He had miscalculated severely and underestimated this particular hidden enemy.
Their shrewdness and tactics were far beyond his capability. Now, the remaining crew members in the ship might suffer extreme casualties from the large number of sea monsters.
Moreover, with many rushing to the upper deck to assist the battle, many places were left unguarded.
"Mirelle, we'll need to head over to the engine room now!" Leonard's pupil constricted in dismay.