Bude and his companions’ decision sealed the fate of the other passengers.

A few among them were powerful, but Bude’s side had two Extreme-rank and seven or eight Upper-rank fighters. That was more than enough to crush any resistance.

Fighting back now was no different from suicide. Boarding the ghost ship might at least give them a chance to survive.

The passengers grumbled bitterly about being used as scouts, but none dared speak up. Those gleaming blades were no joke.

At this moment, the crew had truly become “pirates.”

Of course, some still tried to escape.

One man saw an opening and leaped overboard. The instant he hit the water, enormous bubbles of blood churned up from below.

The stench of blood instantly silenced everyone else who’d been considering the same thing.

“There’s something underwater?!”

Naturally, Bude and the others had seen it too. They frowned at the bloodstained sea.

This ghost ship clearly wasn’t as simple as they’d imagined. Something about it was deeply unnatural.

“Looks like this trip won’t be peaceful,” Bude said.

He’d also realized how serious the situation was. He wasn’t the sort to let greed completely cloud his judgment.

The unknown might be terrifying. But after weighing the risks and rewards, he’d still gamble if the prize was large enough.

“Send two people over to test the waters first.”

Bude gave one of his men a meaningful look.

“You... and you. Get up there!”

A crewman casually pointed his weapon at two passengers. He ordered them across the gangplank and onto the ghost ship.

The two men looked miserable. Yet under everyone’s watchful eyes, they had no choice but to steel themselves and move.

Both possessed Middle-rank strength, which wasn’t weak among adventurers. Still, neither could be considered an expert.

They drew their weapons and cautiously edged across the gangplank, one step at a time.

“Hurry up! Stop dragging your feet, or we’ll throw you overboard!”

The two adventurers stiffened in terror.

Someone had already shown them what happened in the water. They didn’t want to die.

But the ghost ship ahead was shrouded in darkness. It filled them with an overwhelming fear of death.

They were terrified that some unknown creature would kill them the moment they crossed over.

Still, fear of the unknown couldn’t compare to the immediate threat behind them.

Under the crew’s shouted curses, they quickened their pace. Gritting their teeth, they jumped onto the ghost ship.

“Aaaaargh!”

A bloodcurdling scream rang out at once, making everyone present shudder.

What in the world had they encountered? What could have frightened them that badly?

“Are you still alive?!” someone beside Bude shouted.

“A-Alive!”

A shaken reply came from the other side.

“Then why the hell are you screaming?! What did you see over there?”

“There are... so many bones here.”

“Bones?”

Bude frowned again. He exchanged glances with his companions.

Years of working together allowed them to understand one another without a word.

“Move! We’re all going over. Today, I’m going to see exactly what’s on this ghost ship!”

At Bude’s command, the entire crew sprang into action.

For “safety,” however, Bexia and the other “passengers” were still sent ahead.

Some crewmen remained aboard their original ship to guard the rear and secure their escape route.

Once they boarded the eerie ghost ship, their lights spread across the deck.

Everyone sucked in a cold breath.

The deck was covered in moss and deep-sea shellfish. Bleached bones lay scattered everywhere in complete disorder.

Yet there seemed to be some inexplicable connection between them.

They looked like leftovers from a feast.

Even stranger, the magical lamp could normally illuminate dozens of meters. Here, its light reached only about ten.

Anything farther away became dim and blurry.

Beyond fourteen or fifteen meters, everything was swallowed by absolute darkness.

“You, you, and you... take the front.”

“You lot, take the left.”

“You, take the right.”

“And the rest of you will guard the rear!”

One of Bude’s men assigned positions to Bexia and the other passengers.

These unlucky souls were placed on every side, essentially forming a living shield around Bude’s group.

But Bude and his companions were too powerful. Any resistance would probably amount to suicide.

“Move forward!”

They had boarded near the front of the ghost ship’s port side, close to the bow.

To get below deck, they naturally had to reach the middle or rear sections of the ship.

Everyone practically shuffled forward.

This place was simply too terrifying.

Most of them were seasoned adventurers. They’d seen corpses and bones before.

But the bones weren’t the true problem.

It was the inexplicable terror of the unknown.

“Clack... clack... clack...”

A strange sound suddenly echoed through the dim ghost ship.

Everyone turned toward its source at the same moment.

Within the lamplight, they saw a human skeleton...

No.

An entire mass of bones hung from the ghost ship’s side.

As the wind blew, the bones knocked against one another, producing the sound they’d just heard.

“Hiss...”

Someone sucked in a cold breath.

Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted beneath his feet.

He looked down, but before he could make a sound, a pale arm punched straight through his chest.

The last thing he saw was his own heart, still beating.

“Wakaka! Wakaka!”

Eerie laughter came from every direction.

The bones scattered across the deck slowly began assembling themselves, as though controlled by a pair of invisible hands.

One skeletal undead after another took shape.

“Damn it! We walked straight into an ambush.”

Bude’s expression grew grave as he stared at the densely packed undead skeletons around them.

Without another word, he drew a greatsword.

With a casual swing, he shattered seven or eight skeletons that had come too close.

These skeletons weren’t particularly strong. They were only Lower-rank or Middle-rank.

But there were more than a hundred of them within sight alone.

Their true number was undoubtedly even greater.

What concerned Bude most were the several cold auras approaching them.

Every one of those auras belonged to an Upper-rank existence.

The battle erupted in an instant.

The undead skeletons charged without the slightest fear of death.

Worse, the longer the battle continued, the more despairing it became.

Even after being shattered, the skeletons simply reassembled themselves.

Even the usual method for dealing with undead proved useless—smashing their skulls.

No matter how thoroughly they were pulverized, the fragments still came back together and continued attacking.

Undead weren’t terrifying by themselves.

But monsters that couldn’t be killed inspired absolute terror.

As time passed, their superior strength would no longer matter.

Their stamina was limited. They couldn’t keep fighting forever.

The skeletons’ advantage would only grow as one side weakened and the other remained relentless.

Sooner or later, they would all be exhausted to death here.