The octopus version of the Phantom Ghost Ship floated quietly on the sea surface, like a giant sea monster.

The crew members had no choice but to accept Gu Rong as their Little Captain.

The skulls started chattering again, loudly hailing the Little Captain.

“Little Captain, Little Captain!”

“We have a Little Captain!”

006 said: [Little host, we’ve become the Little Captain of the Phantom Ghost Ship. Next, lead the Pharaoh into the Phantom Ghost Realm, and Zaizai’s task will be complete.]

Gu Rong raised his little fist: “Charge!” (T/N: 冲鸭 – Chong ya! Cute/meme version)

The crew members actually felt their morale boosted by this little cub, feeling a surge of hot blood.

This cub truly was the Phantom Ghost Ship’s chosen captain.

A hundred meters away, the people on the Pharaoh watched through telescopes. They saw their second prince on the Phantom Ghost Ship raise his little fist, and those crew members followed by raising their fists. The second prince raised his again, and the crew members followed suit.

The Phantom Ghost Ship was composed of countless skulls. Those skulls chanted “Little Captain” in unison, the sound carrying across the water to the Pharaoh.

Everyone on the Pharaoh heard the rising chorus of “Little Captain” and was utterly shocked.

Little Captain?

Their second prince had actually become the enemy’s Little Captain?!

This, this, this…

“Your Majesty!” The Death Faction Minister finally found the strongest support for his view, speaking forcefully and bowing deeply. “The second prince was raised by lowborn and has indeed betrayed us! Now he’s even become the Little Captain of the Phantom Ghost Ship! We cannot tolerate this, Your Majesty!”

As he spoke, the Death Faction Minister glared at the Reward Faction Minister, the meaning in his eyes unspoken.

Long before the Pharaoh set sail, they had insisted on sentencing Zaizai to death or life imprisonment. Indeed, they had foresight! This Zaizai was a hidden danger and absolutely could not be kept alive!

The Reward Faction Minister, who had consistently advocated for treating Zaizai with the same status as the Little Prince, felt his eyelids twitch upon hearing the chants of “Little Captain” from the Ghost Ship. He argued righteously: “Your Majesty, how could the Phantom Ghost Ship, with over three thousand people, possibly let a two-year-old cub be their Little Captain? There must be deceit involved! Perhaps it’s a scheme to sow discord! If the Starsea Continent punishes General Nicholas’s orphan, how can we answer to the people of the Starsea Continent? We must not chill the…”

“Must not chill the spirits of the fallen soldiers, is that it?” the Death Faction Minister interrupted. “Is that all you people can say? If we indulge a traitor, leading to disaster for the entire Starsea Continent, that would be truly failing the souls of the Nicholas family who died fighting for the country!”

In the meeting room, the King sat at the head, resting his cheek on his hand, watching the ministers arguing endlessly below. He rubbed his temples with a headache.

The Reward Faction Minister was skilled at sophistry: “Anyone with a brain wouldn’t believe the Phantom Ghost Ship would let a two-year-old cub be Little Captain. This is a scheme to sow discord!”

Death Faction: “The Phantom Ghost Ship has its consciousness! Those skulls are all chanting ‘Little Captain’! This means it has acknowledged him as its master!”

Reward Faction: “What if Zaizai plans to cooperate with us from the inside, acting as an undercover agent!”

Death Faction: “Undercover? Haha, ridiculous! Do you even believe that yourself?”

“Enough.”

King Louis XIII raised his hand, stopping their continued argument, seemingly unable to listen any longer.

Both factions of ministers immediately fell silent.

Louis XIII stood up, holding the Soul Sword. His aura was gentle, yet possessed a chilling presence.

Just then, a subordinate came to report: “Your Majesty, the Phantom Ghost Ship is heading towards the Pharaoh!”

“…”

Silence fell upon the scene.

They were still hesitating, but the Phantom Ghost Ship had already charged forward recklessly.

–

The skulls rearranged themselves into a ship’s helm. Gu Rong, wearing a captain’s hat, stood before the helm, turning it with his small hands, sometimes left, sometimes right, like driving a bumper car, looking quite the part.

Under the Little Captain’s control, the Phantom Ghost Ship moved in an S-pattern across the Ghost Realm. The great octopus resembled a water snake, advancing towards the Pharaoh.

The distance between the Phantom Ghost Ship and the Pharaoh grew shorter and shorter.

The “eight-limbed octopus’s” tentacles silently submerged into the sea. The skulls composing the tentacles hummed a little song, cheerfully attacking the Pharaoh, preparing to catch it off guard and drag it from underwater into the Phantom Ghost Realm…

[Hahaha, dying of laughter! In Zaizai’s hands, the Ghost Ship is gradually becoming ‘Zaizai-fied’!]

[Zaizai wearing the captain’s hat is just too cute, I’m fainting! Kisses kisses kisses [Gift Points]]

[However… these crew members seem like they’re about to collapse.]

The more fiercely Gu Rong steered the ship, the more the crew members wished they were dead.

They clung tightly to the masts, some lying flat on the deck. Sailors who lived on the sea were being tossed about violently, experiencing seasickness for the first time in their lives.

Some had even started rolling their eyes back.

“Little Captain, retch… shouldn’t we retch… take a break retch…”

“Little Captain, it’s mealtime retch… let’s eat first retch…”

“Little Captain, have mercy! Little Captain, spare us, yue…”

“Where are we going? Are we almost in heaven? I think I see God…”

“…”

Gu Rong looked at the crew members, who were full of life just moments ago but now seemed half-dead and delirious, and tilted his little round head puzzledly: “Huh? What’s wrong with all of you?”

The crew members thought, Nothing’s wrong, we’re just about to die.

Good heavens, before we even reach the other side, our own side is going to be wiped out.

Who could have thought? The Little Captain’s steering makes no distinction between friend and foe, taking out his own people first.

Isaac’s face was also deathly pale… his dark complexion had turned three shades whiter. He leaned against the railing, silent for a long moment.

The livestream chat found it both funny and sympathetic. Yet, Zaizai himself was completely unaffected, his little face even flushed red with excitement.

Isaac finally couldn’t hold back and spoke: “Little Captain, should we pause for a bit first? Eat something?”

Hearing the word “eat,” Gu Rong immediately let go of the helm and nodded: “Okay, Zaizai’s tummy has been hungry for a while!”

The crew members, having retrieved their lives, all breathed a sigh of relief.

The Phantom Ghost Ship finally stopped 200 meters away from the Pharaoh.

The original distance was 100 meters. However, after the Ghost Ship’s water-snake-like erratic wriggling, the distance between the two ships had increased by another 100 meters.

The people on the Pharaoh, constantly observing the Ghost Ship: “…?!”

Is this called ‘advancing towards the Pharaoh’?

Could it be… the second prince is really acting as an undercover agent? Although he’s on the Ghost Ship, his heart is with the Pharaoh?

The Death Faction Minister glanced at the Reward Faction Minister, undisguised confusion in his eyes. However, the Reward Faction Minister showed no expression, though inwardly he was also dumbfounded.

Zaizai is full of surprises! So young yet so resourceful!

Like father, like son! Truly worthy of being General Nicholas’s child!

–

With Xiao Lin’s help, Zhuang Yu and Shen Hanxiao rescued Old John along with the other stokers and returned them to the lower decks.

Old John was extremely worried about Zaizai. His old hands, like dried bark, trembled as he grabbed Zhuang Yu’s hand, asking in a quavering voice: “Zaizai’s big brother, Zaizai… will Zaizai be alright?”

Zhuang Yu patted his hand reassuringly: “Don’t worry, Grandpa John, Zaizai will be fine!”

Old John was still uneasy. With his other hand, he grabbed Shen Hanxiao, seeking confirmation again: “Zaizai’s little brother, will Zaizai really be okay?”

Shen Hanxiao promised: “Don’t worry, Grandpa John, the little ghost will be back soon.”

Old John: “That’s good, that’s good.”

But his brow remained furrowed.

Zaizai was just a two-year-old baby; it was impossible not to worry.

Zhuang Yu and Shen Hanxiao were also worried. With Gu Rong on the Ghost Ship, they couldn’t know the situation over there or what task the cub was undertaking. They were completely unable to help.

Compared to the upper decks, the environment in the lower decks was much worse. A huge rat squeaked and scurried past Zhuang Yu and Shen Hanxiao’s feet.

Both were startled.

This rat was almost the size of a cat. Suddenly darting out and running under their feet was truly quite frightening.

Old John and the other stokers were used to living with rats and found it unremarkable.

“Even such a luxurious cruise ship has rats,” a stoker said sarcastically. “You can’t exterminate all the rats, just as you can’t banish the darkness.”

Another stoker sneered: “We lowborn are these ineradicable rats. No matter how unpresentable, you can’t completely kill us. Not only can you not kill us, but you also have to breathe the same air as us.”

“No matter how much shit stinks, they still have to shit. What’s so noble about them?”

Being inexplicably captured and interrogated, the stokers had been enduring, but suppressed anger had been building up.

Now, their Zaizai had fallen onto the enemy ship, and they finally couldn’t bear it anymore.

Zhuang Yu and Shen Hanxiao listened silently, saying nothing.

The people of Starsea Continent were divided into ranks. Lowborn were not treated as human at all. The moment the lowborn crossed the Deep Sea Ghost Realm, this rock-solid system had already been shaken.

–

Gu Rong stopped steering. The Phantom Ghost Ship remained on the sea surface in its giant octopus form.

Never mind the crew being dizzy; the skulls underwater, which had been humming songs, were also spun dizzy, their eyes rolling randomly, barely conscious.

While waiting for food, Gu Rong was already roller skating on the deck using skull-shaped skates. The skulls were even steadier than actual skates, carrying the Little Captain as he zipped around the deck.

Gu Rong spread his short arms, giggling happily. His laughter was highly infectious, making even the crew members, who were still recuperating, crack smiles.

After playing with the skates, Gu Rong started playing with a skull-shaped swing car, shaking his head and starting to hum “Little Frog” again.

The Little Captain was truly adorable. Seeing that they hadn’t died, the crew members began watching Zaizai play.

The Little Captain, unlike the undead crew, couldn’t eat raw fish and meat; he needed cooked food.

After fiddling around for a long time, several crew members finally managed to whip up a few decent-looking dishes.

Gu Rong rode his swing car over, looking eagerly at the food.

A crew member lifted a lid: “Steamed Devil Shark, please try it, Little Captain!”

Gu Rong clutched his little tummy and said: “Bad fish, gives tummy aches!”

Another crew member lifted a lid: “Little Captain, our secret recipe Braised Three-Headed Shrimp, replenish your protein!”

Gu Rong made a disgusted “Ew” sound: “Big stinky shrimp!”

“Crab-legged Turtle, Roasted Sea Pig, Human-faced Conch…”

Livestream Chat: … Shoo, shoo, what on earth is all this? Take a look for yourselves, is this even edible?!