The Azure Ghost emerged from the boiling cauldron of the Silent Abyss like a ghost rising from the grave. Its hull was scorched, the "Ghost-Steel" plating vibrating with a dying frequency, but it was still moving. Kaito's hands were steady on the controls, though his vision was blurred from the sheer exhaustion of the battle. Behind them, the deep ocean was still trembling from the Depth-Buster's explosion, a haunting white glow lingering where the temple once stood.
"Silas... give me a full damage report," Kaito croaked, his voice raw from the pressure.
"Hull integrity at 42%, Kaito," the ship's AI replied, its voice flickering. "Oxygen scrubbers are failing, and the Abyssal Core energy is stabilizing, but at a very low level. We need to reach the surface, or at least a safe harbor, within the next hour."
Kaito looked over at his father. Commander Ren was leaning back in the co-pilot's seat, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. He looked like a man who had been dead for a decade and was still trying to remember how to live. His skin was regaining some color, but the scars on his arms—ancient marks of the Tide-Walker ritual—were glowing with a faint, sickly purple light.
"The Iron-Empire didn't just want me, Kaito," Ren said suddenly, his voice stronger now. "They wanted the Star-Compass. They believe that the Abyssal Gate is just a door to more treasure, but it's not. It's a prison for the Sun-King."
Kaito's heart skipped a beat. The Sun-King. Every child in the coastal villages grew up hearing the legend of the king who tried to steal the sun's fire and hide it in the deepest part of the ocean. Most people thought it was a bedtime story to keep kids away from the water at night.
"The Sun-King is real?" Kaito asked, his grip tightening on the wheel.
"More real than the air we breathe," Ren replied. "And the explosion you just caused... it didn't just destroy the temple. It cracked the first of the seven seals. General Vane knew exactly what he was doing. He didn't care about the temple; he wanted the seal to break so the Empire could harvest the 'Sol-Energy' leaking from the Gate."
Suddenly, the ship's radar let out a sharp, high-pitched ping. A massive shadow was moving toward them from the upper layers of the Dead Zone. It wasn't an Imperial ship, and it wasn't a monster. It was a fleet of smaller, faster vessels—Scavenger Skiffs.
"Nomads," Kaito cursed. "They must have felt the shockwave. They're coming to pick the bones of whatever survived the blast."
The Scavenger Nomads were notorious for being ruthless. They didn't care about the Empire or the Tide-Walkers; they only cared about scrap metal and magic crystals. And the Azure Ghost, even in its damaged state, was the most valuable prize in the Forbidden Sea.
"Kaito, listen to me," Ren said, grabbing his son's arm. "You cannot let them take this ship. The Azure Ghost is the only thing that can navigate the currents below the Gate. If the Nomads get it, they'll sell it to the highest bidder—which will be the Iron-Empire."
Kaito looked at the radar. Twelve skiffs. They were circling the Azure Ghost like sharks around a wounded whale. He could see their harpoons glinting in the bioluminescent light of the Dead Zone. He was out of magic, out of oxygen, and out of time.
But then, he remembered the feeling of the Abyssal Core. He remembered the flow.
"They want a prize?" Kaito's eyes flared with a spark of the white light again. "Then I'll show them why you never hunt a Ghost."
He didn't fire the cannons. Instead, he channeled the remaining heat from the ship's cooling vents into the water around them. He created a Boiling Screen, a massive cloud of bubbles and steam that blinded the Nomads' sonar.
Under the cover of the steam, Kaito dived deeper into a narrow canyon he had spotted earlier. It was a risky move—the canyon was barely wide enough for the ship—but it was his only chance. He cut the engines and let the natural current pull them through the dark crevice.
As they drifted in silence, Kaito turned to his father. "If the Gate is opening, what do we do? We can't take on the Empire alone."
Ren looked at his son, a sad smile on his face. "We don't go alone. We go to the Whispering Reefs. It's time you met the rest of the Resistance."