The upper outer deck.

  By the time Mario arrived, it was already overflowing. Bodies pressed shoulder to shoulder, people leaning over the railing, the front and left side of the deck completely swallowed by the crowd.

  He edged toward the less crowded left side, slipping between people while excusing himself, then followed the direction of their stares.

  There—

  A black-uniformed, powerfully built man was running across the sea itself, each step striking the water as if it were solid ground. A long spear was clenched in his right hand as he charged toward a massive, shifting shadow far ahead.

  Beneath his foot, a crimson energy appeared before condensing into a solid platform.

  Then with a powerful step he leapt.

  The moment he pushed off, the platform shattered into nothingness, and the sea below shuddered. Waves rippled outward in violent rings, the surface screaming from the force imposed upon it.

  A sharp intake of breath swept through the deck.

  Gasps broke out all at once, rippling through the crowd just like the water below.

  Watching that, Mario also couldn't help but inhale sharply.

  The man lifted his spear, both hands locking around the shaft as he aimed straight down at the moving darkness below.

  The sea bulged.

  Something surged upward.

  A dark sea creature tore through the surface—jagged teeth snapping, a single massive eye fixed at the center of its head. Its mouth yawned open, waiting, as if certain the man would drop straight into it.

  But the man didn't.

  Instead, he came down on its lips and teeth, boots scraping wet flesh, using the impact to kick off mid-fall. His body twisted in the air—a small, precise jump redirecting him toward the eye.

  Crimson aura ignited around his arms.

  Muscle swelled before he drove the spear forward.

  The strike was clean.

  Green blood exploded from the eye, spraying across the water.

  Silence enveloped the upper deck as the crowd of passengers watching the scene couldn't help but be stunned speechless.

  Mario also stood frozen, stupefied by what he had just witnessed. He knew combat only through books and distant descriptions, yet even with that limited understanding, the scene before him was unmistakable—its movements were simple, yet carried a weight so overwhelming it stole his breath.

  Without realizing it, he tightened his grip around the handle of his briefcase. His knuckles whitened.

  He exhaled a sharp breath.

  Before anyone could recover, another shadow formed in the distance, cutting through the water and heading straight for the man. It rose just enough for its shape to be seen—a familiar creature, an antenna protruding from its head, a white sphere at its tip.

  This time, the sphere was not dim.

  It glowed faintly.

  Suddenly, heavy mechanical cogs roared to life.

  Mario and those beside him turned sharply toward the sound. Their gazes dropped to the outer main deck, where the floor at the ship's front split open. Metal groaned as a massive mechanical barrel began to rise, inch by inch, its sheer size announced deliberately—an unspoken declaration that their safety did not rely solely on the man standing on the sea.

  However, the man in the distance, seemingly aware, raised his right hand and gestured with his palm before the barrel fully rose.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  The barrel immediately stopped rising and descended back down as the floor closed along with it.

  The man prepared to rush toward the creature but paused midway in confusion. Everyone saw that the creature, after raising its head slightly above the surface, immediately turned and swam away as though fleeing after seeing something that scared it.

  The man, after a pause, immediately turned to chase the creature after realizing it was fleeing from him.

  Suddenly, another crimson aura appeared at his foot before condensing into another platform. Then another crimson aura appeared after the crimson platform was condensed. The crimson aura enveloped the man's legs, swelling them with power.

  He leapt again.

  This time, the force that spread to the water was more powerful, making the splash and ripple rise higher.

  The creature, feeling the disturbance in the water, looked back slightly, making its antenna turn along with it. Then it dove deeper underwater as if using the depth as cover.

  The man calmly looked at the clever creature that was trying to use the water as cover and shifted his grip on the spear's metal shaft. Time seemed to stretch as he fell and aimed the spear with cold precision at the fleeing creature.

  Another crimson aura erupted, this time enveloping his entire right arm. It pulsed and expanded.

  He threw.

  The spear screamed through the air.

  It entered the surface. At first, the water was silent and no ripple spread out.

  But then—

  The water exploded outward in a violent arc, waves crashing and spraying after the spear had already driven into the sea. Foam and spray shot up like a geyser under the impact.

  Then slowly, calm returned to the surface of the sea.

  The man descended afterward, stepping lightly atop the already calm sea, utterly calm and unshaken.

  After almost a minute, nothing happened, but the man remained standing on the water's surface.

  The crowd beside Mario recovered from the shock they had received a second time.

  The people surrounding him were confused at first, looking at the man who was calmly standing on the surface.

  Then, after a few moments, a red tint slowly began spreading across the ocean surface.

  The crowd gasped, and Mario immediately understood what it was.

  Sure enough, the red tint spread out more while its color deepened, turning crimson.

  After another few moments, a shadow slowly broke the surface.

  First, a metal rod emerged, stabbing upward like a grim flag.

  Then the body of the creature floated into view, impaled through the head. Thick, crimson blood poured endlessly, staining the water.

  —Dead.

  The man walked toward it with measured steps, yanking the spear free with a single hand. With a slow, commanding gesture, he signaled to the ship.

  Mario and the crowd heard another mechanical sound.

  Two boats descended onto the water's surface, rocking gently. Groups of white-uniformed people stood aboard them.

  Before moving toward the man, they raised their hands and waved at the crowd above—faces stiff, awkward, as if compelled rather than willing.

  ---

  The boats reached the first sea creature, its massive body spewing thick green blood into the water, spreading in cloudy streaks. Some of the white-uniformed people pulled out heavy chains, the metal clanking sharply against the boat's frame before they jumped straight into the sea. The water splashed around their waists as they swam toward the corpse and wrapped the chains around its bulk, muscles straining as they secured it to the boat.

  Meanwhile, the other boat changed direction, heading toward the black-uniformed man and the creature he had killed last—the one bleeding crimson into the sea.

  As they approached, the white-uniformed people bowed slightly and clasped their hands toward the man. The black-uniformed man nodded then returned the same gesture.

  Chains were drawn out again. Some of the white-uniformed people leapt down into the water, their movements practiced, and bound the second creature to the boat as well.

  Then the boats turned back.

  They dragged the massive corpses toward the ship, chains groaning under the weight. The black-uniformed man followed behind, walking atop the water in silence, his steps unhurried, as if the sea itself were a solid road beneath his feet.

  After a few minutes, the boats reached the ship.

  Chains splashed and rattled as they were hauled upward. The man lightly jumped back onto the main deck, landing without a sound.

  Mario moved away from the left side and began pushing toward the front of the upper deck, squeezing through the crowd and murmuring apologies as he passed.

  When he reached the railing, he looked down.

  A middle-aged man in a blue uniform stood below, lowering his head toward the black-uniformed man. The black-uniformed man smiled and stopped him from bowing any further.

  Though Mario couldn't hear them from his position, the middle-aged man was likely expressing his gratitude.

  He shifted his eyes from the middle-aged man in the blue uniform and instead looked carefully at the man in the black uniform.

  Despite the battle at sea—despite his muscles swelling unnaturally moments before—his uniform remained neat, clean, untouched, as if he had done nothing more than take a walk.

  After half an hour, some of the curious crowd began drifting away, satisfied.

  Mario, however, remained.

  Below, the first creature was dragged fully onto the main deck. Another group of white-uniformed people emerged from inside the ship and began supporting the massive body, guiding it toward the empty center of the deck.

  The black-uniformed man stayed where he was, waiting.

  When the first creature was placed in front of him, he raised his spear, but some of the white-uniformed people stopped him. The man stopped, then bowed and clasped his hands at them.

  Then the white-uniformed people began working on the creature.

  From above, Mario could see the struggle. They forced open its thick belly, muscles tensing, boots slipping slightly on the blood-slick deck. Even the black-uniformed man stepped forward, as if to help—but he was stopped again.

  Eventually, the belly was torn open.

  Green blood poured out in heavy streams, splashing across the main deck and staining it filthy.

  Mario watched as one of the white-uniformed people climbed inside the creature's opened belly.

  Moments later, the man emerged, slick with gore, holding a jagged blue stone about the size of a fist. He approached and slowly handed it to the black-uniformed man.

  The man took a step back and unconsciously covered his nose.

  Laughter erupted from the crowd beside Mario.

  Realizing what he had done, the black-uniformed man immediately removed his hand and took the blue stone delicately between two fingers, as if unwilling to touch it directly.

  The white-uniformed man froze, visibly embarrassed, then quickly bowed and retreated back inside the ship.

  Watching from above, Mario guessed they were joking with one another.

  He wasn't sure how he understood it—maybe from years of watching people both in reality and in the simulation—but somehow, the meaning felt clear to him.

  Looking at them, Mario's eyes blurred slightly as if falling into recollection again, but he shook his head and forced the feeling and thoughts behind him.

  Soon the second creature was dragged and placed down beside the first one.

  This time, the black-uniformed man stepped forward toward the corpse, whose crimson blood was still gushing from its forehead. Its antenna, the dim sphere at its tip hanging loose at the side of its head, swayed where it had been grazed by the spear earlier.

  Meanwhile, its crimson blood mixed with the green blood of the first sea creature on the floor, darkening it.

  The white-uniformed people didn't stop him, as if aware they couldn't open this creature's belly as quickly as the first one's, since it was covered in dark green armor-like scales.

  The black-uniformed man raised his spear with his right hand and, with a single light thrust without using the crimson aura, pierced the belly.

  After piercing it, he slightly turned the spear and cut the belly in one go.

  Before the white-uniformed people could react, the man didn't wait for one of them to dive inside. He approached the creature and thrust his left hand in.

  He pulled it out, and in it was another blue jagged stone, slightly larger this time—the size of two fists.

  Mario saw that the blood on the man's black uniform was slowly sliding down, as though it couldn't stick to the fabric.

  After that, the man left and walked back inside the ship while the white-uniformed people worked on the creature.

  Mario also returned inside.