I Arrived At Wizard World While Cultivating Immortality Chapter 660: Assault of the Ghost Ship

The echoes of their footsteps in the ground-floor bookstore were brief, quickly replaced by the sound of the wooden door opening and then shutting.

Standing within the underground "black clinic," Jie Ming cast his gaze downward upon the metal box housing the materials resting on the workbench. He lightly tapped its lid twice with his fingers.

Abruptly, his eyes shifted, almost imperceptibly.

His vision seemed to penetrate the ceiling, extending toward the distant sky.

That particular direction pointed towards… the harbor.

A powerful energy fluctuation registered with Jie Ming's spiritual perception. It felt as though something had forcefully "invaded" the area from the outside. Immediately following this sensation, colossal explosions erupted in the distance.

Rumble…

A series of muffled, continuous explosions emanated from the direction of the harbor. Despite the several kilometers of thick fog and intervening buildings, the sounds reached the old city district in a subdued, indistinct manner.

Yet, embedded within that muffled din was a frequency that inherently unsettled the senses.

Almost instantaneously, Jie Ming's acute senses detected faint screams.

It was a collective sound, the cries of countless individuals melded into one. These screams surged from the harbor like an overwhelming tidal wave, rising and falling. Many were abruptly silenced the moment they began, swallowed by even more colossal noises.

United, they formed a background hum that sent shivers down the spine.

Harding and Dirk, who had not ventured far, also heard the explosions reverberating through the street.

The instant the booms sounded, Dirk’s communicator erupted with noise. A sharp buzzing emanated from the device clipped to his waist.

He swiftly grabbed the communicator and actuated the answer button.

"Harbor under attack! Harbor under attack!" The voice on the other end was practically a shout.

The background was a cacophony of explosions, the shattering of glass, and a deep, resonant rumble suggesting the movement of immense objects.

"It's a Ghost Ship Strange! It materialized from the sea! Its size is colossal, like a cruise liner! Requesting reinforcements! I repeat, requesting reinforcements!"

Harding's countenance shifted the moment the phrase "Ghost Ship Strange" reached his ears.

After all, Ghost Ship Stranges ranked among the most problematic entities encountered on this plane.

This particular type of Strange possessed a rarity in that it did not remain stationary. Instead, it exhibited the capability to move and actively pursue humans, marking it as a highly aggressive variant. Furthermore, owing to the peculiar nature of Ghost Ship Stranges, their appearances were seldom isolated occurrences and typically indicated the involvement of a manipulative force operating from behind the scenes.

"Location!" Harding was already in motion, sprinting towards the harbor, with Dirk close on his heels.

"Pier 3! It's ramming the dock buildings! It's moving too swiftly—conventional firepower is ineffective against it… Rumble!!!"

Listening to the escalating explosions originating from the other side, Harding terminated the call.

"Be careful. It’s a Strange attack. Stay safe!"

Harding’s voice boomed back towards the bookstore behind him, before he rounded the corner with Dirk, vanishing at the terminus of the stone-paved road.

Once more, Jie Ming expanded his spiritual perception. His consciousness transformed into an enormous, invisible eye, soaring above the harbor and surveying every detail of the unfolding events below.

Pier 3 had devolved into an utter state of pandemonium.

Jie Ming's spiritual force now clearly perceived the full form of the Ghost Ship that had inexplicably emerged from the dense fog.

Its sheer magnitude dwarfed any cruise ship Jie Ming had witnessed prior to his transmigration. The vessel's black hull ascended from the mist like a leviathan rising from the abyssal depths of the ocean.

The ship's exterior was marred by rust stains, appearing as though someone had deliberately painted distorted, screaming visages of humans across the hull using rust as their medium. Its movement utterly disregarded the constraints of physical laws.

Such a monumental craft, after colliding with the dock, executed a turn with an agility that defied belief. The prow swayed like a serpent, smashing a cargo crane clean in two.

The fractured steel framework plummeted with a deafening crash, striking the dock and erupting in a cloud of debris and dust.

Without the slightest hesitation, it then surged directly onto the land.

The ship's keel gouged a path across the ground, eliciting a grating metallic screech that pierced the ears. The gravel beneath the hull was pulverized into fine dust.

Despite being unequivocally a ship, its velocity on land did not diminish as it barreled towards the harbor's warehouse district.

Any individual who approached it—or rather, anyone within its approach—was inexplicably pulled onto the vessel.

Jie Ming's spiritual perception distinctly "witnessed" this process unfold.

A dockworker, seeking refuge behind a shipping container, positioned at least fifty meters from the Ghost Ship, merely exposed his head for a brief observation. Instantly, an invisible force seized his body. His feet lifted from the ground as he was inexorably drawn towards the black cruise ship.

He struggled and cried out in mid-air, his hands clawing desperately at the empty space around him.

The moment he was engulfed by the hull, his screams ceased abruptly.

The man's life signs vanished entirely from Jie Ming's perception, as if he had never been.

Similar harrowing scenes were unfolding simultaneously across every section of the dock.

It was midday, the time when the harbor bustled with the greatest number of workers.

Confronted by this sudden onslaught, a vast multitude of victims were drawn away.

Numerous individuals attempted to escape, yet the Ghost Ship proved too swift. Its terrestrial velocity even surpassed that of a car.

Like a colossal, low-flying dark bird skimming the ground, it traversed from east to west and south to north. Wherever it went, only deserted docks and strewn cargo were left in its wake.

Harding and Dirk made their way to an open expanse on the periphery of the old district.

They remained approximately five kilometers from the Ghost Ship, but the immense black silhouette, moving through the dense fog, was already clearly discernible.

Harding halted, drew a deep breath, and withdrew his hands from his pockets.

Storm Eye.

He ceased suppressing the power of his Strange.

Gale-force winds erupted from his person, spreading outwards with him as the epicenter within moments.

Dirk was propelled back a step by the wind but swiftly regained his footing, grasping Harding's shoulders with both hands.

The tempest enveloped the pair, lifting them from the earth and propelling them toward the Ghost Ship at an exceptionally high velocity.

The distance spanning several kilometers was traversed in mere tens of seconds, propelled by the storm's might.

Jie Ming’s spiritual perception tracked their progress without interruption.

He observed Harding meticulously adjusting the storm’s angle and intensity during their flight, ensuring their arrival directly above the Ghost Ship in an optimal assault position. This individual’s combat experience was undeniably profound, and his mastery over the Storm Eye far exceeded his prior display within the abandoned factory.

Arriving at the harbor, Harding directly confronted the Ghost Ship.

The Storm Eye was unleashed at its maximum potential instantaneously.

Dark clouds billowed forth from Harding’s body, obscuring an area spanning several hundred meters directly above the Ghost Ship in the blink of an eye.

Lightning crackled within the clouds before descending like a torrential downpour. Each bolt precisely struck the Ghost Ship's deck.

The Ghost Ship's surface began to fracture under the relentless lightning strikes.

Rusted metal plates were torn asunder, revealing internal structures that writhed as if alive.

Having failed to absorb the two individuals into its form, the Ghost Ship unleashed a spreading energy shockwave from within.

This wave expelled the surrounding air, creating a temporary void. Harding’s storm experienced a momentary disruption within this vacuum.

Dirk released his grip on Harding’s shoulders. Shadowy tendrils, resembling serpents, shot forth from his palms, ensnaring one of the Ghost Ship’s fractured masts.

Upon contact with the mast, the tendrils initiated a corrosive effect. Dark patterns spread downwards, and fine fissures appeared on the metallic surface wherever they encroached.

The Ghost Ship reacted with notable swiftness.

Its hull contorted violently, dislodging the mast and Dirk’s ensnaring tendrils.

Dirk executed several tumbles in mid-air but was consistently caught by Harding’s storm.

In the span of just a few brief exchanges, over half the structures near Pier 3 had already been demolished.

Warehouses crumbled, cranes snapped, and shipping containers lay strewn like discarded playthings.

Further afield, concealed within the unobtrusive shadows at the dock's edge, a lone figure crouched behind a container.

His attire was unremarkable, his cap pulled low, effectively concealing his features.

His breathing was somewhat labored, suggesting significant exertion.

To any observer, he would appear as a mere civilian recently escaping the pandemonium. However, his gaze was not directed at the Ghost Ship but rather towards the Spirit Medium Association's location.

Jie Ming’s spiritual perception immediately pinpointed the man.

The individual expectorated, his saliva hitting the gravel and being swiftly covered by dust.

He pressed a small communicator against his ear, speaking in a hushed tone.

“The Spirit Medium Association arrived sooner than anticipated. Storm Eye is already engaging the Ghost Ship. My location is the east side of Pier 3. Position is currently secure. Requesting backup.”

A few seconds of silence followed from the other end before a deep voice responded:

“…Withdraw… We have obtained sufficient intel.”

The man offered no further reply. He deactivated the communicator, silently extracted himself from behind the container, and proceeded along the base of the wall, moving away from the conflict zone. His movements were fluid and rapid. He consistently remained within the shadows cast by the surrounding structures, deliberately avoiding any illuminated areas.

Jie Ming’s spiritual perception continued to follow him, observing as he traversed three streets, scaled a wall, and concealed himself within the rear passenger seat of a black sedan parked in a darkened alcove.

The vehicle initiated its movement silently and vanished at the harbor's edge.