397 Arrow and Flower

The priest who had taken the food looked up. Coldness flashed past his eyes. The one behind him unsheathed the sword soundlessly and stared silently at the door. He could stab the server's skull in an instant. The atmosphere was chilling.

"Anything else?" The priest looked at the server coldly.

He gulped and sweated profusely. Sticking his neck back subconsciously, his forced smile stiffened. He awkwardly pulled out a colorful card. "Sir, would you like some service?" Hands shaking, he offered the card drawn with a scantily clad girl. "Hot Burgundian girl for only six-no, forty pounds…" As he spoke, his words became smoother. Finally, he put on a knowing and lustful smile, oblivious to the fact that he was at the brink of death. "If you have any needs, we have younger ones too!"

"No need." The priest coldly glanced at the card. He tore it apart and threw it into the trash before slamming the door shut in the server's face. Then he took out a black toothpick. After testing for poison, he brought the platter over.

Colt took a few bites of the steak blankly before losing his appetite. He kept thinking through the details for anything that could reveal him. He still could not pinpoint where the feeling of danger came from. Then his finger trembled. Looking up, his expression was drastically different.

"No!"

This ship was a crude put-together short-distance ship. It relied on transporting poor immigrants and even the highest class cabin suite was old and smelled of mold. Rich people would definitely not go on this ship. They could choose safer and more comfortable ones.

Who would spend forty pounds on a prostitute?

"That card!" He spun toward the trash can. "Where's the card?"

The two guards quickly rifled through and found the pieces of paper. But after investigation, they could not find anything abnormal. There was no poison or tricks. It was just a regular piece of paper.

"Relax, Colt." Philip looked up from the old sofa. "There's no need to be paranoid. I am here."

Colt's face alternated between green and white. It was hard to tell if he was frustrated over his mistake or embarrassed over his fear. "Sorry, I'm overthinking."

As soon as he finished, there was a crisp sound.

The god of death had arrived.

-

Twenty minutes ago, the ship was about to set sail. Under the loud whistle, grandmaster Bono brushed past the sailors who were transporting food and grains. He walked off and disappeared in the sea of people.

The bare-chested sailors smoked and happily exchanged crude jokes. Lipstick stains remained on their sweaty bodies. Boxes full of grain and products went from carts and their shoulders to be transported to the bottom hold. However, some men snuck into the messy ship and disappeared.

A few minutes later, someone walked into a sailor's room. After tying up the owner and stuffing him under the bed, he politely changed out of his clothes, stuck on a rubber mask and stuffed a brothel card from the trash can into his pocket.

He looked just right. Studying himself in the mirror, he made a few faces and walked out, satisfied.

"Second floor, suite room C2." A sailor slacking off squatted in the hall to smoke gave him the address. "It's the best room right by the captain's room. They're really careful and can see every change. It's hard so you better be careful."

"When do we ever get easy jobs?" The 'server' stuffed a stack of money into the sailor's pocket. "This is yours. Have you made the holes in the lifeboats?"

"Holes? Do you want me to stuff some candles into it too?" The sailor grinned, somewhat mockingly. "No need. I've been here for six years and no one's ever fixed up the lifeboats. That *sshole captain's sold everything himself. The two lifeboats are dupes. They're gone if they touch water. Honestly, if you wanna do something big, you don't have to do all this. Just wait until we get to a yellow zone and," he mimed an explosion, "no one'll know."

"Some of the people here have sinned but do not deserve death. They should have a chance to atone for their sins before going to hell," the server replied. "Anyway, the client requested to try not to hurt the innocent."

"So professional," the sailor said in awe. "You talk like a priest."

The server smiled and left without replying. When he reached the cabin, the man behind him said, "Say hi to Mr. Holmes for me. I don't owe him anymore." He looked back to see the sailor snuff out his cigarette and leave.

Ten minutes later, the door slammed in his face, flattening the leering smile. He bent over and cried out in pain dramatically. His finger dabbed the paint on his sleeve and discreetly drew some red dots on the cabin wall. When his arm was stuck in the door, he had used the brass button on his wrist to see all their positions clearly.

At the corner of the hallway, he brushed past a group of passengers. When he rubbed his nose, his lips moved slightly.

"One is three steps, the other is six. They're musicians and two more are at the door. They have armor under their clothes."

The group walked away while laughing and talking happily while the server returned to his room.

In a few other rooms, the dust cloths covering the furniture and beds were lifted the moment the door closed. The men and women of various ages took off their jackets, revealing the skintight leather clothing underneath.

The dust clothes revealed various alchemy parts which were put together quickly into a large machine. A black crossbow car, practically half a man's height, was lifted under their teamwork. The carpet was moved aside, showing a space they had prepared. Bloated screws were put in to anchor the car in place.

"Adjust the angle." An engineer with glasses tore off a few pages of notes scrawled with calculations and pasted them onto the car.

"Nine o'clock, adjust sixteen degrees. Twelve o'clock, left eight degrees, sixth level cabin. Seven o'clock, coverage attack."

Under the messy clothing in the suitcase, they completed the setup of an arrow as wide as a child's arm. It was placed into the car, embedding into the machine as the gears turned. As the car moved, it refracted the afternoon sun from outside the window onto a somber face. It created a chilling metallic sheen. With the angle adjustments, the car aimed at the men in the suite through the cabin levels. The final checkup was complete.

Under a mind-numbing muffled sound, the car's coils were pulled taut. With a click, the final protective measures were removed. The fatal arrow would shoot forward with one move.

In the stillness, everyone's faces were calm and serious. They lowered their heads and half-knelt onto the ground, praying under the engineer's guidance.

"The mourning bell will soon sound. For you, my lord." Their voices were low and grave as if melting into the stone. "Please release your judgement so that the sinners would receive punishment, so the ones who received punishment would be saved in hell. We will carry out your judgement and let their souls fill the river flowing toward you for eternity."

The engineer lowered his eyes and drew the holy emblem before his chest.

"Under the name of the holy city, the holy spirit, and the holy son… Shoot!"

Boom! First, the trigger moved and the springs clicked. The gears began turning and steel wires whistled in the air. The heavy black arrow broke through.

As if in slow motion, the sunder arrow tore through the air, leaving behind water-like ripples. It broke past the cabin walls gently like water going into sand. The cabin exploded with a gaping hole. White waves of air surged. Every piece of glass shattered and dropped into the sea. The arrow roared and pierced through the cabin floors like a dragon.

One level, two, three, four… Finally, it tore apart the walls of the suite, entering as a cold metallic flash behind the priest clad in red. The unmoving priest suddenly shook. His metal prosthetic emitted hot steam. Electricity shot from his sheath like a sword, slicing down.

It stopped.

Then the blade shattered. Shards dug into his chest, cutting him. The bones underneath were ghastly white. The arrow continued forward without weakening. It pulverized his chest, spine, and made a tragic hole in his body. Finally, it embedded into the wall, the arrow quivering.

Right before that, Philip's face changed. Cold light shot from his eyes. He put his hands together in prayer and the apparition of the holy emblem appeared behind him, enveloping him.

Pure white light shone from his hands. They shot toward Colt like shooting stars, covering him. In the next moment, the light shook, clasping around the whizzing arrow.

Staring at the arrow only a few centimeters away, sweat poured from Colt.

In that instant, countless arrows suddenly exploded.

Like flowers.