anwhile, sowhere near Veins Peak Island...
"Damn it... They escaped again," a blonde-haired girl muttered through gritted teeth, riding her flying sword high above the waves. The sea wind whipped past her face, but she hardly noticed it— her focus remained fixed on the empty horizon. Her eyes scanned the vast ocean, but there was no trace of the Phantom Pirates.
Her grip tightened on her fist as she clenched her jaw in frustration. "They’re like ghosts..."
At the sa ti—miles away, aboard a different vessel sailing under a black flag—a loud crack echoed through the dimly lit cabin.
Smash!
A thick wooden table shattered into splinters as Masha, flushed from alcohol, slamd her fist down. Her long coat, marked with pirate symbols and battle scars, flared slightly with the movent. Her eyes, hazy from drink, locked onto the girl across the room who sat casually playing with a glowing cube, its edges humming with faint energy.
"Ughhh..." Masha groaned and slumped into her seat, massaging her temple. "Ask why I broke the table."
"You broke it because the Phantom Pirates vanished again," the purple-haired girl said flatly, not even looking up from the cube. Her cowboy hat was tilted low over her face, and a single feather bobbed at the rim. "And now you’re out of leads. Again. Your clone couldn’t find them again. You also missed your potential Boyfriend you t at the Sea, Again."
"Exactly!" Masha growled, then let out a dramatic sigh. She tried to lift her legs and rest them on the table, only to realize— too late— that she had already reduced it to splinters. Her feet dropped awkwardly to the floor.
Isadora Nightkiss— the infamous Manhunter —clapped her hands once.
A mont later, several dazed pirates, all with dreamy pink eyes, shuffled into the room. Wordlessly, they laid down on top of one another, stacking their bodies like planks until they ford a makeshift table.
Masha blinked at the odd arrangent, then gave an approving nod and placed her feet on them.
"Better," she murmured, smirking.
The groaning of the human table was faint, almost pleasant in the background.
"We still can’t pinpoint where the Orion is going to appear next," Isadora said, her tone shifting into sothing more serious. She finally looked up, her eyes sharp despite her relaxed posture. "If we wander around aimlessly on the sea, we might run into trouble we didn’t ask for."
"I’ve already made arrangents," Masha replied, waving her hand lazily. "I am part of Justice Bandits after all. I told them to inform the mont they sniff out anything about the Orion Cube or its fragnts. We aren’t the only ones looking, Nightkiss. There are those Old Psychopaths. "
Isadora’s playful smile thinned. "You an the Loose Immortals?"
Masha nodded. "Those ancient relics are desperate. They’ve lingered on the edge of true immortality for too long. If they learn we have a fragnt of the Orion Cube..." She let the sentence hang in the air.
"They’ll kill us without blinking and take everything," Isadora finished.
Loose Immortals— beings who once nearly ascended to the Beginner Immortal Realm, but failed —were among the most dangerous Immortal Practitioners in the seas. Stronger and longer-lived than those in the Divine Seeker Realm, yet weaker and more fragile than Beginner Immortals, they existed in a constant state of tension.
"And they’re unpredictable," Isadora added. "Driven half-mad by their stagnation. I don’t want to cross paths with any of them until we’re ready."
"Exactly," Masha muttered, pouring herself another drink from a crystalline bottle. "That’s why we keep moving. Different ships. Never stay in one place long."
Isadora tossed the glowing cube into the air and caught it again. "Good thing I’ve got a treasure that hides us from all forms of divination. Not even a Loose Immortal could locate us."
"I’m still surprised you had sothing that rare lying around."
"Let’s just say I got it from a previous... employer," Isadora replied cryptically.
Masha snorted. "Of course you did. You’ve probably seduced half the world by now."
"Not half," Isadora said with a wink. "Maybe a third. But there are still so who I need to conquer."
She thought of a certain man on the rchant ship. And a Certain Temptress she t in the Maze.
They both laughed. The tension eased just slightly.
"But seriously," Masha said after a pause, swirling the liquid in her cup. "The Orion Cube isn’t just so random thing. It’s a surefire ticket to immortality. Anyone who has its fragnts can enter it and could break through easily."
"And that’s why everyone wants it," Isadora said. "From pirates and sects. Even the Federation is sniffing around."
Masha scowled. "Let them try. I’ll stomp over anyone who stands between and Immortality. Unless they are already an Immortal. I an it’s literally useless for them, also they won’t able to enter it anyways."
To punctuate her words, she slamd her boot down hard on the human table beneath her. The pirates groaned in unison, but their dreamy pink eyes showed no complaint or resistance. They remained in place, like obedient furniture.
Isadora chuckled at the sight. "Careful. You’ll wear them out."
"you’ll replace them if they break," Masha muttered.
A silence followed as both won stared at the cube again, its dim glow reflecting off the wooden walls.
Masha suddenly recalled soone—Tyler White. For so reason, their paths kept crossing, again and again. At one point, she almost suspected he was stalking her. But then she rembered: the ones he t weren’t her real self—they were two different clones. That thought alone made her dismiss the idea of him being a stalker.
Still, she couldn’t forget one thing.
"He did say he’d ask out on a date... when he ets my real body," she muttered with a smirk.
"Huh?"
"Tell sothing, Isadora." Masha asked with serious expression.
"Hm?"
"Do you think n like Won like ??"
The sound of the waves outside, the creaking of the ship, and the distant cries of gulls filled the air.
Isadora’s smile faded a bit. She leaned back, hat shadowing her face.
"If I were a Man , then ... 100 %" she said quietly.
Masha asked nervously, " 100% what?"
" 100 % Smash."
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