Aiven complained verbally, but in his heart, he already loved Milan's careful (tan) thoughtful (sheng) cautious (si) nature, even bringing a box of Alchemy Bombs on board that were technically only authorized for Level 4 Battleships and above.

Inside the box in front of them were four Alchemy Bombs the size of coconuts.

Originally, as a Level 5 Battleship, the "Silver Wings" could no longer independently perform rewarding ocean missions due to its lower rank, but the actual benefits still reflected Gel's original rank, and at least the rights to use the "Sea Monster Compass" and "Alchemy Bombs" had not been revoked.

Having been fortunate enough to witness the might of Alchemy Bombs on the "Silver Wings," Aiven naturally had not forgotten about these precious things.

"Well done! Milan, you're really reliable at critical moments!" Aiven slapped Milan's shoulder hard, not holding back on his praises.

"Haha, of course!" Milan puffed out his chest, accepting Aiven's compliment, but was scared half to death by his next action.

Aiven actually crouched down, picked up an Alchemy Bomb, and began dismantling it.

'Can this thing just be taken apart for fun?!'

His scalp was tingling, and if not for the sea monster outside, Milan nearly yelled out.

Aiven shot him a reassuring glance, his hands never stopping. After all, having been part of the "Alchemy School" for so long, even if he wasn't in the "Alchemy Tools and Enchantment Project" branch, he was not fazed by simple operations and maintenance.

Otherwise, how could he have collaborated with Anthony to create the "Siren's Song," a subsonic weapon that combined alchemy and scientific knowledge?

The extraordinary physical qualities of an extraordinary person granted Aiven extraordinary dexterity and precision, his hands moving swiftly. In Milan's stunned expression, it only took a few minutes for him to create a timed explosive using a refined silver pocket watch and two Alchemy Bombs.

Thinking it over, fearing the gunpowder might not be powerful enough to kill the sea monster, Aiven also linked the remaining two from the box.

"Finished!"

Aiven set the timer for fifteen minutes. As the second hand ticked away, he packed the Cluster Bomb into a sealed medium-sized wine barrel. Meanwhile, Milan followed Aiven's instructions and brought a plump live sheep from the hold.

It's said that raising sheep on ocean-faring ships in this era was a traditional program with many uses, and the "Conch" was no exception.

Apart from solving the need for meat, they would leave a few as they passed deserted islands to let them breed naturally for anyone who might be shipwrecked in the future, and there was another unspeakable use for the crew as well... cough, anyway, Aiven claimed he absolutely had never seen it!

Listening to the faint ticking sounds, Milan, sweating profusely, tied the wine barrel and the sturdy ewe together, while Aiven pried open the sheep's mouth to drip some antidote to the Sleep Potion.

"Baa baa baa..."

Once it regained consciousness, the ewe immediately bleated in terror. Aiven quickly covered its mouth and wrapped it with a cloth strip.

"Quick! Quick! To the deck!"

Soon, the two clumsily herded the sheep onto the deck, released its mouth, and quickly returned to the cabin, shutting the door.

Baa—

The sudden bleating of the sheep on the silent deck sounded piercingly loud in such a dead atmosphere.

Hiding in the cabin, listening to the sounds, the two clearly felt the speeding ship pause briefly. Obviously, the sea monster had reacted to the noise from the ship.

Swish—

The "Mirage Sea Star" moved even faster than they imagined. The sheep had just bleated when it responded.

It probably also wondered why there was still an awake creature on the ship, and without bothering with indirect control through mist anymore, it flung out a long tentacle, snatching the poor sheep and dragging it into the water.

Splash!

Under the icy seawater, beneath the vibrantly colored body of the sea star, a terrifying mouth full of small serrated teeth opened, swallowing the sizable sheep and the wine barrel tied to it whole.

Listening to the loud splash, the two exchanged glances and unsheathed their longswords, quietly opening the cabin door and sneaking out, though now they could no longer move as freely as before.

The appearance of a conscious creature likely aroused the sea monster's vigilance, with tentacles occasionally reaching onto the deck to check for activity, adding difficulty to their stealth actions.

Especially Milan, although he had successfully become an official wizard, the "Prophet" profession really had nothing to do with strong combat capabilities.

In truth, the more advanced a society, the more detailed the division of labor, making it impossible for every extraordinary person to be a jack-of-all-trades or have fighting abilities. In a sufficiently advanced civilization, each person has their place, complementing each other to achieve combined strength.

This situation is precisely that.

"Stay behind the mainmast for a minute..."

"Slow down, slow down, we retreat near the stern cabin...."

"Okay, make a dash to the foredeck. Don't move."

Under Milan's command, it took eight minutes of maneuvering before they succeeded in returning to the foredeck, quietly lying low.

As time passed, they grew increasingly tense. Would the Alchemy Bomb explode on time? Would the barrel resist the corrosion of the sea monster's stomach acid? Would the explosive power be enough to kill the terrifying sea monster...

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five...."

At this moment, Aiven, with "Data Visualization," counted accurately in his mind.

"Three, two, one!"

Silence....

After a long extra second.

Just as Aiven thought his plan had utterly failed, prepared to fight the sea monster barehanded.

Boom—

"Hahaha, explosion is art!"

A huge fireball erupted on the sea outside the ship, and its massive power shook the ship violently, pushing it far with turbulent waves, even making an eerie creaking sound.

"Scared me to death, this damned discrepancy! I'm going up!" Feeling like riding a roller coaster, swinging from valley to peak in one second.

[White Sail Swordsmanship: Sword Form: Jumping Wave!]

Aiven leapt from the bow, stepping on the water as if on solid ground, rapidly rushing towards the location of the "Mirage Sea Star."

While confident in the terrifying momentum created by the newly made Alchemy Bomb, only witnessing firsthand could truly set his mind at ease.

Soon, the scene of the explosion appeared before Aiven, and honestly, it was a bit... pixelated!

As a soft-bodied animal, the "Mirage Sea Star" was clearly less resistant to Alchemy Bombs than Aiven had encountered in the past, like the "Impact Sea Shell." Especially with an internal explosion, even with firm shells, what could be done?

After the explosion, there was clearly no need for Aiven to finish it off.

A huge gash split its body into uneven halves, half-cooked innards mixed with blue blood stained the sea, and the burnt smell, bloody odor mingled with the aroma of cooked meat made it unbearable.

Even though its numerous tentacles were still wriggling instinctively, Aiven had confirmed this guy was done for!

For common starfishes without brains, such damage might result in regrowing limbs or even becoming two individuals instead of one.

Yet, although sea monsters possessed extremely resilient life force, evolving a certain intelligence also led to losing the "undying" trait of lower creatures.

Circumnavigating the explosion site, stepping on wave crests on the sea, Aiven ran a circle to confirm no further abnormalities, then accelerated with a leap.

Whoosh—

With a push from the rail, lightly landing on the foredeck.

"Seems our luck isn't great; while the explosion solved the sea monster, we didn't gain a sea monster's extraordinary traits." Seeing Milan also breathe a sigh of relief, Aiven joked lightly.

"Avoiding direct confrontation with such horrifying creatures, even with no spoils, no, surviving is already fortunate. By the way, what do you plan to do with the sea monster's corpse? Send it to Saint Martin Island Naval Base?"

Milan pointed at the fragmented sea monster still writhing on the sea, speaking oddly. Although sea monster meat was a rare delicacy and supplement, benefiting extraordinary people, with this creature dying so ugly, he certainly didn't want to eat it.

"Hehe, I have a better idea."

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