After the Pharaoh stopped, Gu Rong was immediately lifted away from the ship’s helm.

King Louis XIII’s first order was to have the helm dismantled. “The Pharaoh has already acknowledged its master; it doesn’t need a helm. Rongrong should be able to control it directly.”

Gu Rong rubbed his fists together eagerly: “Rongrong try!”

The King: “…There’s no rush. Let’s rest for a moment first and adjust our battle plan.”

The Aunties in the livestream chat were all laughing hysterically. Zaizai’s steering technique completely silenced everyone it affected.

The phrase sounded vaguely familiar. After the Phantom Ghost Ship had stopped, Uncle Isaac had said something similar.

Gu Rong asked in his milky voice: “What battle plan?”

King Louis XIII had initially wondered why the Phantom Ghost Ship moved further away from the Pharaoh after its ‘water snake’ movements. Now he understood.

Rongrong’s steering skill was like this, so Zaizai’s was likely not much better.

Perhaps they had almost won effortlessly earlier if Zaizai hadn’t stopped steering the ship.

Thinking about how the Phantom Ghost Ship had also almost won effortlessly just now, nearly wiping out the Pharaoh, King Louis XIII’s eye twitched.

King Louis XIII: “For now, let’s just wait and see.”

Captain Alpha, having recovered considerably, immediately agreed: “Indeed, it’s best to stay put.”

The battle hadn’t even started, yet both sides were already nearly wrecked by their respective Little Captains.

Gu Rong couldn’t play with steering the ship, his little voice dropped, sounding wronged: “Okay then.”

The King: “…”

The Captain: “…”

Why did they feel like they had wronged this little cub?

–

The Pharaoh and the Phantom Ghost Ship faced each other remotely, neither willing to move even half a meter.

Both sides were locked in a stalemate.

Gu Rong had specifically come to the Pharaoh to be a little undercover agent, originally intending to lure the Pharaoh closer to the Ghost Ship, but instead, he had increased the distance by another 200 meters.

006 said: [Little host, there is only one and a half days left before the instance ends. We need to hurry.]

Aside from Zaizai’s task, Gu Rong also had to complete Rongrong’s tasks.

Gu Rong was the Little Captain of the Pharaoh, but on the Pharaoh, the captain wasn’t the highest authority; the King was. The captain had to obey the King.

However, it was different on the Phantom Ghost Ship; Gu Rong, the Little Captain, was the highest authority there.

Without hesitation, Gu Rong switched back to the [Nicholas Zaizai] identity card and returned to the Phantom Ghost Ship.

At this moment, Zaizai’s body was lying on the sofa in front of the fireplace. The crew members were gathered around the sofa, looking at the sleeping Little Captain.

A line of skulls also lay neatly on the sofa. These skulls had moved quickly, snatching the good spots, and were gleefully watching the Little Captain.

Other skulls that hadn’t secured good spots were either hanging upside down from the ceiling or stacked head upon head like acrobats, scrambling to watch the Little Captain sleep.

“Why isn’t the Little Captain waking up yet?”

“Shh, don’t be noisy! The Little Captain went to the Pharaoh to be a little undercover agent! This is just the Little Captain’s body; his soul is on the Pharaoh!”

“Could the Little Captain’s undercover identity have been exposed? Was he killed? Otherwise, why would the Pharaoh suddenly retreat 200 meters?”

“Quick, check the Little Captain’s breath…”

Skulls in the back row: “Heavens, did you hear? It sounds like they said the Little Captain has already been killed!”

“What? The Little Captain was killed?”

By the time the news reached the skulls forming the “octopus” tentacles, it had already mutated into the Little Captain, not only being killed, but his corpse being dragged for over 200 meters…

The skulls chattered incessantly, causing headaches.

Sol put his finger under Gu Rong’s little nose to check: “Still alive.”

Isaac rolled his eyes. With such a rosy little face, did they even need to check?

Just as Sol withdrew his hand, the soundly sleeping cub let out a small yawn and woke up.

Seeing Gu Rong awake, everyone immediately stared intently.

The skulls instantly fell silent, and the cabin became exceptionally quiet.

Gu Rong quickly became fully awake, sat up on the sofa, and even stretched his little body.

Isaac spoke first: “Little Captain, welcome back.”

The crew members echoed: “Little Captain, welcome back!”

The skulls started chattering again, congratulating the Little Captain on his return.

Gu Rong was so happy he lifted his little feet and shook his little head.

Sol pushed forward and said, “Little Captain, was your mission on the Pharaoh successful? Just now, we saw the Pharaoh inexplicably retreat 200 meters; we don’t know what happened.”

Another crew member mocked sarcastically: “The Starsea Continent people are just a bunch of weak and incompetent cowards! They probably retreated at the last minute, hahaha…”

Before he could finish laughing, that milky baby voice piped up: “Zaizai drove it over! Was aiming for here, why did it go further away?”

“…”

A moment of silence.

Next, Gu Rong bababa chattered on, recounting everything that had happened on the Pharaoh to the crew.

After hearing his account, the crew became even more silent, their expressions varied, each person’s mood more complex than the last.

After a moment of silence, the crew members collectively gave Gu Rong a thumbs-up: “As expected of our Little Captain!”

He actually became the Little Captain of the Pharaoh directly and almost wiped out the entire ship! Isn’t that better than just luring the Pharaoh over?

Isaac: “Little Captain, why didn’t you drive just two hundred meters further? I believe the Pharaoh would have been wiped out.”

Other crew members nodded in agreement.

Gu Rong: “Eh?”

Isaac: “No, one hundred meters. Just one hundred meters more, and we could have won effortlessly.”

Gu Rong’s little face was filled with innocent confusion.

[Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter! Zaizai’s driving is deadly, aren’t you scared?!]

[It’s fine, it’s fine, nobody died!]

[You’re lucky to ride on Zaizai’s ship, just be happy about it! Don’t be ungrateful! [Gift Points]]

Gu Rong said: “King Big Brother had someone dismantle the big turntable (helm), ordered to stay put, so Zaizai came back!”

The Pharaoh’s helm could be dismantled, but the Phantom Ghost Ship’s helm was made of skulls and could form a new one at any time.

Everyone sighed again.

After Gu Rong’s maneuvers, the Pharaoh would definitely refuse to move even half a meter now.

Gu Rong said in his milky voice: “Zaizai can’t drive the Pharaoh, so I came back to drive the Big Octopus!”

The crew members turned pale with fright: “Absolutely not, Little Captain!!!”

Gu Rong blinked his big eyes: “Why?”

Isaac said: “Has the Little Captain noticed? For some reason, every time the Little Captain takes the helm, the two ships not only don’t get closer, but get further apart.”

Gu Rong thought for a moment, and it seemed that was indeed the case.

But his little mind was always sharp, and he quickly thought of a good idea: “Got it! Then Zaizai just needs to drive in the opposite direction, won’t that be fine!”

“…Little Captain is wise!” Isaac gave a dry laugh. It was quite something that the Little Captain came up with such a method. “But it’s still not appropriate.”

Gu Rong frowned his little eyebrows: “Why?”

Isaac racked his brains: “If the enemy doesn’t move, we don’t move. How about we also wait and see? Or perhaps the Little Captain can think of other tactics, like dragging the Pharaoh into the Phantom Ghost Realm stealthily, without moving our ship?”

The crew members immediately chimed in agreement.

The key point was Don’t Move the Ship.

Gu Rong’s idea of sailing in the opposite direction was entirely feasible, but no one could guarantee the state of the crew members by the time they reached the other side.

They were immortal, but that didn’t mean they were indestructible. By the time they reached the other side, they’d be like dead fish, half-dead. Wouldn’t that just be serving themselves up on a platter?

Gu Rong’s little face fell: “Zaizai can’t think of anything.”

“It’s okay, you can think slowly.”

“Right, right, think slowly, we’re not in a hurry.”

There was still a day and a half left before the task deadline, so Gu Rong wasn’t in a hurry either.

Since he couldn’t drive the ship, he turned around, dadada, ran out onto the deck, and started playing by transforming the Phantom Ghost Ship.

One moment, he turned the Phantom Ghost Ship into a big shark, the next into a big jellyfish, then into the Pharaoh, and finally back into a giant octopus.

The cub was engrossed in playing. The skulls tossed him into the air, and the octopus tentacles caught him steadily, passing him to another tentacle.

Gu Rong felt like he was on a roller coaster, giggling happily. His crisp, cheerful laughter echoed over the Ghost Realm, extremely infectious.

The crew members all watched the Little Captain play with smiles.

On the head of the octopus, unseen by anyone, Lu Li sat lazily in his black robes, arms crossed, watching His little follower with great interest.

Several times, Gu Rong flew directly past Lu Li. The wind stirred up a strand of His long hair, and His pair of animal ears twitched slightly.

Gu Rong let out an “Huh?”, seemingly sensing something. He looked back towards the octopus’s large head, but saw nothing besides the countless skulls covered in blooming flowers amidst the rain and fog.

Suddenly, Gu Rong had a flash of inspiration.

And he, a tiny little dumpling, had already been passed from one tentacle to another.

–

“Your Majesty, the Phantom Ghost Ship has stopped moving.” Xiao Lin, constantly monitoring the movements of the Phantom Ghost Ship, reported to the King.

King Louis XIII pondered silently.

After returning from the captain’s room, Gu Rong had fallen asleep again. It was good that he was asleep, lest he randomly control the Pharaoh again.

Both Black Mountain Goat warships shared a common characteristic: they could only be controlled by one captain.

Previously, the Phantom Ghost Ship had no captain and wasn’t controlled by Isaac and the others, but operated autonomously. However, without a captain, its control range was limited, only able to navigate specific areas of the Ghost Realm.

King Louis XIII grasped the Soul Sword at his waist and said in a deep voice: “Then cleave open the Ghost Realm.”

The Soul Sword originated from the Deep Sea Ghost Realm; one slash could split the sea.

Their goal was to retrieve the Soul Ring; they couldn’t remain deadlocked forever.

King Louis XIII led the group onto the deck.

All the players gathered there as well.

The Deep Sea Ghost Realm was still shrouded in black mist, the waves surged violently, and rain splattered onto the sea surface.

Various mutated fish constantly emerged from the sea. Devil Sharks chased the warship but always avoided it, leaping out of the water competitively.

Wu Yao and Xia Wan were truly just here for the excitement. Just to catch a glimpse of that NPC cub, the instance was almost over, yet the two of them acted as if nothing was happening, drinking tea and admiring flowers in the rain.

They were the most leisurely pair among this batch of players.

At this moment, everyone’s gaze was fixed on the Phantom Ghost Ship 400 meters away.

The Phantom Ghost Ship was quietly moored on the Ghost Realm, its shape constantly changing, having already transformed into dozens of forms.

Currently, it has taken on the appearance of the Pharaoh. In the dark and silent rainy night, it looked identical to the Pharaoh.

The only difference was that the Phantom Ghost Ship was covered in bright red roses.

King Louis XIII grasped the Soul Sword, raised it high above his head, preparing to strike down in the direction of the Phantom Ghost Ship.

With this slash, a direct path would be carved between the Pharaoh and the Phantom Ghost Ship.

However, just at this moment, a sudden change occurred.

The quietly moored Pharaoh shuddered violently.

Everyone on board was shaken off balance, some even falling down.

Screams broke out repeatedly.

King Louis XIII was shaken, almost dropping the Soul Sword. He stabbed the Soul Sword into the deck to steady himself.

He frowned slightly, a bad premonition rising in his heart.

“What happened? What’s going on?”

“Why did the ship shake? Did we hit a reef?”

“Ahhh, skulls, so many skulls! No, no, tentacles! Skull tentacles!!!”

“Ghost ship, it’s the Phantom Ghost Ship! The Phantom Ghost Ship emerged from under the sea!”

Soon, everyone saw the skull tentacles emerging from the sea. They belonged to the “octopus” version of the Phantom Ghost Ship.

Eight giant tentacles surged out from all directions, completely surrounding the Pharaoh.

The thousands of skulls making up the Phantom Ghost Ship were all living things. They hummed children’s songs, swarming onto the Pharaoh, brutally dismantling parts of the Pharaoh, with skulls replacing the components.

Everyone on the Pharaoh turned pale, momentarily unable to react.

They looked at the Phantom Ghost Ship still moored 400 meters away. The Phantom Ghost Ship is clearly over there. How could it emerge from under the Pharaoh?!

How could there be a third “Black Goat of the Woods”?!!

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

What they didn’t know, naturally, was that the “octopus” version emerging from the sea was the real Ghost Ship. The one moored in the distance was just the Pharaoh copied by Gu Rong using the Copy Card.

He had copied it when he first boarded the Pharaoh.

The Phantom Ghost Ship’s eight tentacles quickly locked onto the Pharaoh and then began dragging the giant warship towards the Phantom Ghost Realm…