"I told you ages ago, if the crew is not enough, the ship is not complete..." Calico the shipwright complained as it sprinted across the deck. "Fine, I admit it, I love this. A new adventure!"
It ran with quick little hops, climbing all the way to the highest point of the mast. From its apron it pulled out a small white horn, took a deep breath, and blew.
The cat’s cheeks puffed into two round balls. The horn call rang through the entire river of ti.
It shouted toward the world docks on both sides, "Rally. Rally."
The sound carried far, all the way to both ends of the river, to every corner of the war cruise ship, to every world dock.
"Ooo. Ooo."
"Requesting support. Ra lly."
"Ra lly."
Rita was almost at her limit. Cat’s Ideal began to lurch wildly. The chains in her hands were still locked in a death grip, but she had been dragged all the way to the stern railing.
Nivalis spread her body and hugged the hull, pulling backward. B80 did the sa. It gripped the top end of the chain and charged toward the bow. Its battery level dropped at a visible speed, yet the ship was still being dragged toward the dock by the world.
"Ooo. Ooo."
"Requesting support."
The cat’s horn and the cat’s shouting echoed across the river of ti and reached the war cruise ship as it drew nearer.
Crab clamped its pincers around Pine Bloom’s and Mistblade’s wrists. "What do we do, what do we do, what is she doing, why am I so nervous? I told you, I told you Sea Pony’s dream would not be wrong. Look, if Four Seasons City is up in the sky, how are we supposed to board?"
Already tense, Pine Bloom pulled out a hamr and swung once, smacking Crab far away. "Get lost."
(You are being watched) (You are being watched)
Through several useless alerts, Rita finally heard the one notification that mattered.
(Serial number L12185511 The chanoids requests to go ho)
(Go ho approved)
7777 landed in front of B80, grabbed the chain, and said, "Sothing this big and you tell this late. Did you do it on purpose?"
B80 said, "If you can co, that is good enough. Y128 is still throwing a fit in the group chat."
Rita used (Shabby Road), and Y128 appeared beside her like this.
It stared at the scene in shock. "I can join too?"
Rita glanced at it with a crooked smile.
She looked a ss. A thin sheen of sweat covered her forehead. Her long hair was blown apart by the gale. Her left hand clenched the black canvas, her right hand clenched the golden lightning chains. From a distance, she looked like a sinner bound to a cross, waiting for judgnt.
Yet her eyes were brighter than the river surface reflecting countless moons. Her expression was vivid, carrying a wild, unrestrained edge, as if she were about to break free, as if she were about to tear open the cage she had woven with her own hands.
Panting, she asked, "Then are you going to help?"
"Gladly!" Y128 shouted and ran for the chain.
One player, one dragon, three chanoids.
They stabilized things for a mont, but a few seconds later the hull shifted again toward the dock. Only a few ters remained between the bow and the dock.
"Rally." Calico was still shouting above.
Rita heard voices from the war cruise ship.
"How many minutes left?"
"Three minutes. In three minutes we return to Lania Kaia. We descend imdiately."
"Get ready to negotiate. In this war, you can keep the war skill I promised you and Peach Crown. I only want Forest Sea fragnts, and her."
It was Wither and Maple Syrup.
Rita’s eyes burned. She shut them hard for a mont. Every buff she could use was already active.
She could not accept it. She truly could not accept it.
She heard the sound of cracks forming in the hull.
Then, suddenly, several whistles ca from different directions.
In the corner of her vision, one nearly translucent cat shadow after another ran across the river of ti.
A cow patterned cat in a pirate hat, Cheese with a pacifier, a one eyed tabby, an orange cat in a chef hat, and a Maine Coon wearing silver rimd glasses.
They sprinted over the river surface, charging straight for Cat’s Ideal.
Calico stood atop the mast with arms spread wide, embracing the sky, laughing loudly. "I have wanted to try this for so long!"
It ran down the mast.
The five translucent cat shadows boarded one after another.
Helmsman in position. Ship doctor in position. Gunner in position. Chef in position. Tactician in position.
Shipwright Calico carried its toolbox around the deck, patching and fixing. Gunner Cheese dashed to the magic cannon console and began firing at the world dock, blasting it wider.
The cow patterned helmsman already had its paws on Cat’s Ideal. The mont those paws gripped the wheel, the unstable ship steadied.
The doctor Maine Coon began layering buff magic on the ship one after another.
The tabby tactician started controlling the wind and waves, pushing the ship forward.
"Ready to sail, Captain!"
Rita clenched her back teeth, a rough edge in her voice. With her right hand she tightened the black canvas and began stepping backward, one step at a ti.
The mont all the vice captains were in place, Cat’s Ideal stopped being pushed back.
It began to move forward.
Inside the cabin, the chef banged and clattered for half a minute, then erged with several canned goods and hurled them at every crew mber.
A flood of notifications rang in Rita’s mind.
(You have received the blessing of canned goods. All attributes temporarily multiplied by five.)
(You are being watched) (You are being watched) (You are being watched)
The ship surged forward. The black canvas stretched taut in the air. A blue water sphere wrapped in black fabric appeared on the dock, slowly rolling forward.
It rolled at an extrely slow pace, because countless glowing threads were still attached to it, stretching from the sphere back into the void it ca from.
Fat Goose grabbed Maple Syrup’s sleeve. "Is that, is that?"
Maple Syrup’s complicated gaze fell on BS Rita.
Blood dripped from both of Rita’s hands, yet the smile on her face only grew brighter. The hint of tears that had flashed in her eyes earlier might have looked like soone else’s imagination, but Maple Syrup knew she had not misread it.
BS Rita. BS Rita actually liked to cry.
The thought made Maple Syrup tug at the corner of her mouth. Why did she cry so easily? She sighed. "Yes."
Those glowing threads were Lania Kaia’s countless anchors, the connections of the invasion sequence.
Only one minute remained before settlent.
The duel between Lania Kaia and BS.
Lania Kaia had succeeded, and it had failed.
As if echoing that thought, the countless threads linking BS began snapping one by one.
(Congratulations to player BS Rita for creating a six star Star Sea skill, Before the Sigh Sounds set sail)
(Before the Sigh Sounds set sail) (Star Sea Skill) (★★★★★★): The world belongs to the Adjudicator. If the Adjudicator wants freedom, BS is free. After using this skill on your world, you may shrink and move it according to your will. During movent, each Star Sea day consus one World Sigh. When your world is on the river of ti, it cannot be connected by the invasion sequence. (This skill can only be used by BS Rita.)
At last, her world dropped onto the river surface. It sank slightly, then imdiately floated back up.
But it was not over.
Every player knew it was not over. Everything was only beginning.
The war cruise ship was already sailing alongside the small boat.
BS Rita looked over. She looked at DawnCicada, pressed her trembling lips, lifted one corner of her mouth, and called out, "You wanted to flatten BS, right? Here is your chance. Do it."
It was a strange scene.
DawnCicada truly did not expect BS Rita to call her out, but she understood what Rita wanted to test.
War skills and world skills existed for war. Within the invasion sequence, within the ga rules, even if a player reached another world through a special skill, before a formal invasion began, before the invasion progress reached a certain stage, war skills and world skills could not be used on that world.
But BS Rita had dragged BS to beyond the sequence.
Was BS still protected by the rules?
Less than thirty seconds remained before the end. DawnCicada raised her hand, aid at BS Rita, and used a war skill.
A scarlet light shot toward BS, then rebounded off a transparent shield.
(You are being watched) (You are being watched)
(Player BS Rita has activated a four star Star Sea skill, The Silent Traveler)
(The Silent Traveler) (Star Sea Skill) (★★★★): When your world has not invaded any other world, no war skill or world skill can affect you or your planet.
The other players could not hear that voice, but they could see the war skill being repelled. They could see BS Rita’s smile blooming, and the tears falling.
This was it.
This was what she had been waiting for.
The World Sighs she had paid, the choices she had made, had finally arrived at this mont.
Under the golden rain, she said, "I succeeded. I succeeded."
"I really did it. I really did it."
(Player BS Rita’s god given talent has upgraded)
A golden bullet fell from the sky and landed beside her.
Rita did not care.
She was busy running across the deck like a child with her arms spread wide. The pressure and fear that had nearly crushed her, the struggle of these days, all turned into tears that fell drop by drop. The tear trail nearly ford a line in the air, yet no one on the war cruise ship laughed at her.
Tears shed while creating a miracle and fulfilling an ideal are no different from teors that make people clasp their hands and wish the mont they cross the stars.
The ga ended.
The last thing the players saw before returning was her silent, tear streaked figure beneath the golden rain curtain.
Unbelievable.
She truly did it.
BS was free.
From now on, the history of the Divine Ga would need a new page for BS Rita alone.
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