The top floor of the Eastern Star was empty, and Tiran, who had just completed several sets of Qi explosion exercises, leaned against the railing and looked at the boundless deep blue around him.

"I'm so tired..."

Controlling Chi to the extreme level puts a tremendous strain on the body and mind. Even Tiran, as a top-tier warrior, found it a bit overwhelming. Every muscle in his body trembled slightly, as if they had minds of their own.

But despite the exhaustion, it was worth it to continue exercising during this half-month journey if it yielded results. Tiran stared at his right hand, circulated Chi within it, and grabbed it twice to carefully feel the difference. Indeed, compared to the time in Milt, there had been a significant improvement, or rather, recovery. Back then, he was only at the level of an ordinary knight, but now, without considering the laws, he already had about seventy to eighty percent of his peak power as a Silver War Maiden.

Adding the overflowing Chi reserves, Tiran felt confident that he could easily handle any ninth-level threats.

"If Your Highness experiences muscle soreness, allow me to give you a massage," a certain maid's eyes suddenly became fiery. A massage, the thought of it was so exciting! A full-body massage, using her own hands to have physical contact with His Highness' skin.

"Why do I feel like your gaze is a bit terrifying, Mimi..." Tiran fell silent for a moment and slightly stepped back.

"Your Highness is overthinking. I'm simply excited about this opportunity," Mimi lightly rubbed her hands together, her fervent desire unable to be concealed.

"Can I decline?" Tiran wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. The relationship between this maid who had always taken care of him and himself was naturally quite good... but he felt that if he allowed her to give him a "massage," their relationship would become more than just "good."

"Do you really want to decline?" Mimi revealed a sly smile, spreading her fingers wide open with both hands. "I've learned a massage technique that is quite effective for relieving muscle soreness. Additionally, I can control the temperature of my body to provide a warm compress. It's rather comfortable, you know."

"..."

Although Tiran's spirit resisted, his honest body couldn't help but take three steps and arrive at the closest recliner. Hey! I shouldn't give in so easily!

However, when Mimi's hands, filled with warmth, pressed against his back, the spirit of the princess also yielded. The warmth that instantly permeated his body greatly alleviated the soreness and even gave him the sensation of soaking in a hot spring, as if he was in heaven.

"Ah... ah..."

Despite trying his best to control himself, the princess couldn't help but emit a pleasurable *ahem* moaning sound with a flushed face.

"How does it feel, Your Highness? If you don't speak, I'll assume you want me to increase the pressure," Mimi squinted her eyes, continuing to work her hands on Tiran's body.

The only response from the princess was satisfied hums, as the atmosphere in the top floor was filled with a blush-inducing pinkness. Just as Miss Mimi's hands were about to cross a certain boundary, an urgent alarm bell interrupted her plans.

The bell came from the intercom system within the Eastern Star. After the alarm bell ceased, a calm male voice sounded.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am the captain of the Eastern Star. I apologize for disturbing your leisurely sea journey, but we have encountered some difficulties. The ship may experience vibrations momentarily. Passengers within the cabins are advised to remain inside and refrain from moving around, while passengers on deck are advised to find sturdy objects nearby to secure themselves..."

As soon as the words fell, the hull of the Dongjixing ship shook slightly in a series of muffled sounds, causing many passengers who hadn't reacted yet to fall to the ground. Fortunately, the shaking was not severe, and this actually made the passengers react.

At this moment, the crew of the Dongjixing ship had already taken action. Dozens of sailors rushed out of the ship's operational area and quickly arrived at key passages, cooperating with well-trained service staff to swiftly guide the passengers back to their cabins.

The captain had returned to the bridge and assumed command, putting away his usual lazy demeanor and staring solemnly at the screen on the wall.

On the radiant circular screen, representing the Dongjixing ship, there appeared a dense cluster of light spots in front of the rectangular shape, and the number was continuously increasing.

"Are those... sea beasts? What kind of exaggerated numbers are these..."

Fatina's voice trembled slightly. Just like on land, there were magical beasts in the ocean, and compared to those on land, the size and strength of the sea creatures were on a completely different level.

However, these giant creatures usually lived in the deep sea and were rarely seen even once, let alone such a terrifying number at a glance!

Not even Fatina had seen this many, let alone the captain who claimed to have sailed the seven seas for over twenty years.

"Stop the engine room, redirect the surplus magical power output to the defense system, start preheating the autonomous magitech cannons, and immediately activate the magical shield."

Although they had never seen them before, the captain, as a soldier, made a decisive judgment with a calm demeanor. He grabbed the microphone and issued the commands through the internal channel.

Whether it was for the consideration of the passengers on board or the large sum of money invested by the Magitech Kingdom in building the cruise ship, the Dongjixing ship definitely had some defense measures. To some extent, it could also be used as a warship - hiring a former navy captain as the ship's captain had this aspect in mind.

As the power from the engine ceased, the Dongjixing ship stopped plowing through the waves and peacefully floated on the sea surface. At the same time, a blue shimmering barrier emerged from within, covering the ship's hull beneath the sea, and four large-caliber magitech cannons on each side of the ship's tracks flipped out, their magic inscriptions glowing as they entered partial charge.

With its automatic targeting and high-intensity shield, the Dongjixing ship was more than capable of dealing with anyone who had ill intentions towards the passengers on board. Just with these two systems alone, even if a fleet came close, the Dongjixing ship could shoot them down one cannon blast at a time.

But the problem now was that the Dongjixing ship was not facing human warships, but a large number of sea creatures lurking beneath the sea. Not to mention how much the effectiveness of the magitech cannons would be reduced when fired underwater, just the sheer number of beasts couldn't be resolved by the eight magitech cannons alone.

"Captain! A wave of sea creatures is within range! Requesting permission to fire!"

The crew member in charge of monitoring the gun turret shouted loudly, their nerves tense and ready to fire.

However, the captain remained silent for a long time, as if struck dumb, and continued to gaze at the movements of the sea creatures displayed on the magitech radar.

"Wait for now," the captain's gaze still didn't leave the screen, "Maintain the barrier to protect the power source. It seems like the sea creature group isn't coming towards us."

Fatina was momentarily stunned, but upon careful observation of the radar display, it indeed seemed to be the case. Although the dense cluster of light spots was terrifying, the flowing light seemed to just pass by the vicinity of the Dongjixing ship, causing the shaking of the hull only when they occasionally collided.

Sure enough, as time passed, the light spots on the screen gradually moved away from the Dongjixing ship, and the shaking of the ship's body also subsided.

"Phew..."

Subconsciously, Fatina let out a sigh of relief as she looked at the captain with a newfound admiration in her eyes. "Captain, your more than twenty years of sailing experience is truly reliable."

If the captain hadn't stopped the bombardment and calmed down, they would have surely angered the herd of sea beasts passing by below the surface of the sea. If that had happened, even the advanced and sturdy Eastern Star would have met its demise.

But strangely, the captain didn't joke and banter with Fatina as usual. There was no trace of relaxation in his serious expression.

This scale of a sea beast tide was not common, and even if there were migrations of sea creatures, they usually occurred in the deep sea. To be able to make all these large creatures float up to the shallow sea or even the surface, what could be the situation?

If it was something insignificant, it would be fine, but if it could scare away the sea beasts... in case it was something like a super tsunami, the entire ship would be doomed.

But there was no reason for it, right? The captain was almost like an expert on this route, a well-established commercial route with only two or three closures even during the peak of storms in a year. The probability of a super tsunami occurring was almost zero.

"Captain! There's another situation!"

Fatina's cry interrupted his thoughts. "A flock of Shadowclaw birds!"

"Are you sure?!" The captain thought he had misheard and asked with wide eyes.

However, Fatina didn't need to answer as the sounds of whistling and screeching had already penetrated the cabin wall.

Running out of the door, the captain saw the sight he least wanted to see - a cloud-like flock of birds heading straight for the Eastern Star.

—If it was possible to remain unharmed when the sea beasts passed by, facing the Shadowclaw birds, even if it was just brushing by, that possibility no longer existed.

These fully grown birds had a wingspan of up to three meters and were one of the top predators on the sea. The strength of their feathers was comparable to steel armor, and their claws and grip strength could easily penetrate steel plates, even utilizing some wind-based spells. Most importantly, unlike those sea creatures that only attacked when provoked, these fellows were among the most aggressive on the sea. If an unarmed ship encountered a flock of Shadowclaw birds, it would be doomed.

But where did these things come from? The commercial routes had been thoroughly confirmed; there shouldn't be large groups of Shadowclaw birds or a massive sea beast tide along the way. What kind of luck was at play today?

Even though the Eastern Star had the Magic Shield device, it was now a huge trouble for them.

"Too close! The Magic Shield won't have time to fully cover us!" Fatina, who had followed the captain, estimated the distance between the Shadowclaw birds and the shield coverage speed, and came to the same conclusion as the captain. "Captain, I'll go!"

Of course, she wasn't suggesting using her invincible martial arts, but merely to buy time for the Magic Shield to fully expand. The most reliable strategy was still relying on the Magic Shield. As long as they survived the period until the Magic Shield fully expanded, there was still a chance for the Eastern Star to escape this region.

After all, in terms of the ability to destroy the shield, the Shadowclaw birds were far inferior to the sea beasts.

"Those fellows are flying in the sky; your strong fists won't be able to reach them." The captain pushed her back with a sentence and shouted back into the cabin,

"Rotate the cannons, fire into the sky and drive away those birds! Protect the passengers, don't let them leave the cabins!"