Rosa had never seen such a ship. It wasn't alive, of course, and its power wasn't magical, but it was more terrifying than any legendary monster she knew...... More frightening than a dragon.

Dragged into the cabin by Adora, she momentarily thought for a moment that the pirates had hollowed out the body of a dragon to build the ship, and that those pipes were its guts...... But she quickly realized that it was all man-made.

Even when she was hiding from Adora and the other pirates, she tried not to touch the strange metal entrails - yes, the long and short metal pipes were still indistinguishable from the monster's entrails. They were cold, some hot, and let out a regular roar of breath as she walked silently...... But they are dead.

They don't scream or bite her back when she touches them, they look delicate, complex, and even fascinating in some places, but they make her feel a certain discomfort from the depths of her soul, as if she has accidentally fallen into a world that she completely cannot understand, uneasy...... I don't know what to do.

It's been a long time since she's felt "overwhelmed." It gave her an instinctive distaste for the whole ship.

But after gradually realizing that it was these pipes that replaced manpower and gave the huge black ship incredible speed and power, she couldn't deny that the Dragonbone was a miracle that would amaze the world. It is a power that is almost as powerful as magic, but much easier to manipulate than magic.

...... Perhaps it was this that made her particularly uneasy.

"See that?"

Bertram, who was also shocked, was pointing to a row of oars attached to axle wheels, his eyes shining. It looked much more excited than she was, "They don't need to row the boat by hand! there's got to be a mechanism or something, once it's turned on." Even when the wind is dry, the ship is as fast as it is on water...... But they need some kind of energy to ......."

"I'm sorry. Rosa politely spoke, "I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm, but isn't it 'how to leave' that is more important now?"

It's not like she's never been on a ship, she knows the construction of a normal three-masted ship, but the inside of this ship is large and complex, it's like a labyrinth, it's completely different from ordinary ships, and none of the opponents she meets are easy to deal with. She didn't know how powerful the pirates had become. Or is the Dragonbone a special case.

"If we can't scrap this ship, even if we escape, we will easily be overtaken by it. Bertram tapped the brass pipe above his head, "When there's no wind." Not even the Unicorn could escape. Because rowing sailors get tired, these guys don't. I've got to figure out how the hell they work - in fact, as I said, there must be something in this place that can power all of these things. It's like the human heart...... If we can destroy that. The ship is nothing more than a pile of scrap metal. ”

Heart...... It was an easy analogy, and with a strange fear in her heart, Rosa knew that the guy was right.

"Can you find it?" she asked softly, frankly admitting her ignorance, "these things seem to me more of a headache than the mage's spell books—they look almost the same. ”

"Ah...... Magic. Bertram nodded understandingly, "Our little mage always tells me that magic is chaotic and subtle. Its laws are different for everyone who understands and uses it in different ways. But these things ...... This thing is dead, and if even these pirates can manipulate it, its laws must be much simpler—we can find it. ”

Rosa smiled slightly.

She didn't know much about Bertram Grean, aside from the legendary "risk-taking who abandoned her family and identity", but now it seems that this guy is at least very good at dealing with people. He reassured her without a trace, making her naturally willing to approve of his plan...... And even if she saw through this, it didn't make her feel unpleasant that she was being manipulated.

A roar passed through several floors of the cabin, and the hull shook a few times, and calm was restored again.

After the dragon pretended to be dead and "resurrected", this was the third time Rosa had heard its roar...... And apparently weaker each time.

“...... Maybe we'd better be quicker. Bertram said.

He carefully touched everything he could touch, as if he were feeling his pulse...... Or the blood, Rosa stood quietly to the side, listening intently to the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer. In every sense, what humanity lacks most seems to be time is always ...... But she had to speak out to warn Bertram when the enemy approached.

They are literally "narrow roads", the narrow passage is only for one person to walk, and there is no place to hide on either side, if you don't want to be blocked by the pirates, you can only choose to continue to escape.

“...... Go this way!" Bertram waved his hand firmly to the right, as if confident. Rosa followed silently, but couldn't help but laugh - in fact, it was the only direction they could choose.

She didn't think Bertram would be able to figure out where the "heart" was in such a short period of time, but he was able to make the awkward escape seem like the wisest decision after much deliberation...... It's also a talent.

After passing through the two doors, and walking a short distance, more footsteps sounded in front of them, interspersed with a few rude curses in between.

Rosa and Bertram exchanged a look, and they both chose to speed up their pace and move on—there might be more enemies here, but they were also more chaotic, and the group of men who were silently chasing after them were obviously much more difficult to deal with.

Although they had never joined forces against each other, they quickly found their respective positions and posed behind a half-open hatch...... But there is only time to "put on a good pose".

Without warning, the hull of the ship shook, as violently as if it had hit its head on a reef, and as if it had been knocked away by some ferocious beast. Rosa steadied herself and felt a burst of fresh air rush over her face.

...... Did the big fish run back again? Even if the guy was friend or foe, she didn't think it was a good thing—the out-of-control force was too destructive, and she didn't want to die inexplicably.

Bertram, who was not as nimble as she was, sat down on the ground and immediately bounced back again, looking at her with an eye full of unbelievable surprise.

"Did you hear that?" he asked, thoughtlessly.

Rosa raised her eyebrows slightly, and a horn followed the wind, clearly reaching her ears in the chaos.

(To be continued.) )