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The Ship.

A ship as gigantic as a mountain.

A stronghold forged from steel is currently floating on the sea.

That ship is indeed a stronghold adrift on the ocean, a fortress rising from the water.

Its sheer size alone radiates intimidation, and the various weapons attached to it held enough power to turn anyone approaching into ashes.

“A destroyer.”

Japan had a powerful navy.

Well, in reality, Japan couldn’t have an army, which is why they dubbed it the Maritime Self-Defense Force (海上自衛隊)… but its essence was undeniably a navy.

A navy shackled by the need to obtain permission before launching an attack.

However, even with these shackles, the Japanese navy’s might was formidable.

Given Japan’s island nation characteristic, they had no choice but to become accustomed to ships, and historically, the Western powers demanded a strong navy from Japan, contributing to its significant development in that area as well. Furthermore, in modern times, the United States provided substantial support for the Japanese navy to counter Russia and China, thus affording Japan a strength that made finding an enemy quite difficult.

How powerful was that force?

So powerful that there was a fair chance of facing off against China’s navy alone.

Of course, this “fair chance” factored in the reality that China was more show than substance, but even so, the mere comparison with a hegemonic nation’s navy proved the might of the Japanese naval forces.

Of course, due to this abnormal growth, the army and air force were comparatively weaker when judged against the navy.

Corruption in the defense industry due to the collusion between politics and business was a given, and relentless domestic production skyrocketed costs, failing to yield any efficiency in terms of price. Thus, spending excessive money became a norm, and the budget was squandered on trivial matters, leading to a lack of improvements in finer details, affecting necessary supplies as well.

The Air Self-Defense Force (航空自衛隊), situated in the air force position, operated planes which were more expensive than the imported weapons, suffering frequent breakdowns while risking their lives managing their own fighter jets, while the Ground Self-Defense Force (陸上自衛隊) was heavily entangled with defense industry corruption. Additionally, amidst the corruption causing budgets to leak to unwanted areas, funds tended to concentrate more towards the Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Air Self-Defense Force, causing further neglect.

If the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s fortune was yang (陽), then the aspects seen in the Air Self-Defense Force and Ground Self-Defense Force corresponded to yin (陰). At least the Air Self-Defense Force was relatively better off because the government was still somewhat concerned about it after the Maritime Self-Defense Force, but the Ground Self-Defense Force faced waning interest.

As the Ground Self-Defense Force weakened, the difficulty in dispatching them to confront an enemy upon invasion increased, prompting the government to pour more resources into the Maritime Self-Defense Force and Air Self-Defense Force rather than the Ground Self-Defense Force, claiming that it was more prudent to do so.

For the Ground Self-Defense Force, it could be deemed an unfortunate cycle.

But on the flip side, it was a boon for the Maritime Self-Defense Force.

They could construct or purchase better ships with the budget stolen from the Ground Self-Defense Force, and equip those ships with superior weapons.

“Let’s see. The ship may be aging, but it still has its charms.”

Was it the power of the diverted budget?

Despite looking like an old destroyer, it was adorned with fairly decent weaponry.

Not the latest, but certainly not overly dated either.

Had funding been insufficient, those weapons wouldn’t be on such a worn-down destroyer.

“An old ship with quite usable weapons.”

But Jinseong smiled when he saw the armaments on the destroyer.

The smile felt rather eerie.

“The important thing isn’t the weapons…”

Weapons?

They are important.

What could be more vital than weapons during war?

However.

What they faced wasn’t humans.

Those weapons… held little significance.

Rather, what was crucial lay beyond the armaments.

For instance, protections against supernatural beings, such as blessings or exorcisms…

“Few sailors are as sensitive to superstitions. Hence, average ghosts would struggle to approach a ship…”

Sailors were incredibly sensitive to superstitions.

So sensitive that if a woman joined the crew, it was deemed bad luck, leading to the avoidance of women among sailors, and even in modern times, incidents occurred where victims of maritime disasters would perform human sacrifices to escape peril.

Some people wouldn’t cut their hair or beard for months out of superstition, fearing it would bring misfortune on the sea, while others squandered every earned penny on gambling due to beliefs that having money in their bank accounts would increase the likelihood of drowning.

Sailors and superstition could be considered inseparable.

But being so sensitive to superstition wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

These superstitions often served to protect the sailors.

Seafarers routinely invited religious figures for blessings and used various talismans or peculiar divine objects to ward off impurities. Moreover, they would perform bizarre actions that might seem odd to outsiders, and no matter how outrageous or noisy it was, as long as it didn’t harm them, they generally tolerated it.

Many of those actions were ineffective superstitions, but several genuinely bore fruit.

For instance… warding off the spirits of those who drowned, preventing the deceased onboard from becoming vengeful ghosts, or inducing unease before entering dangerous waters.

“Ego. I wonder how much of a defense exists on this old ship.”

That would be the means to prevent Jinseong’s attacks and the only barrier to safeguard his life from the ghosts he had brought.

That alone was their lifeline.

Jinseong smiled at the sight of the ghosts approaching the ship.

At the moment they touched the vessel.

In that moment, he would learn just how thoroughly this ship had been “fortified.”

[ Swaying gently. ]

[ The gentle ripples on the water felt like lying on a feather bed, the waves were as soft and fluffy as a comforter. Here we go, swaying and moving, ah, it’s cold, it’s hard iron. ]

[ The floor bore traces of barnacles, rusted prints, and scratches all over. Hehe, let’s climb up on this. There’s a delicious smell wafting from up there, how could that not be enjoyable? ]

Finally, the ghosts arrived at the ship.

Like trash adrift in the waves, the ghosts swayed and collided with the hull, and as soon as they bumped into it, they rolled their eyes back and flailed their limbs.

Their bodies, puffed like balloons, had limbs that were incredibly small compared to their grotesquely bloated form, resembling appendages more than limbs. They almost looked like jarring puppet characters from a children’s TV show.

But if viewed up close, that impression vanished entirely.

Their bodies, swollen to the brink of bursting, exuded a disgust so intense that it could trigger nausea at just the sight, and their sickly hue instantly instilled fear. Just a mere glance risked melting flesh dripping down one’s fingertips, emanating a horrific, rotten visage.

And what about those ghostly limbs?

Those diminutive-looking hands radiated unease.

As they pried barnacles from the ground to construct a ladder on the wall, one could sense an obsession, and even as their flesh melted and tore away, their determination to rub against the hull to ascend was palpable.

“There’s no defense.”

At that sight, Jinseong beamed.

Unlike the eerie smile from earlier, it was a genuinely pleased expression.

“The ship was too old, so the pre-existing defenses had become outdated and ineffective, and they wouldn’t have invested in new defenses due to costs. The most they probably did was offer rituals to prevent the ship from breaking or meeting with mishaps.”

If it were a proper vessel, the circumstances would have been quite different.

As soon as they attached to the ship, the ghosts would likely catch fire, be flung away, or burst, sinking into the sea. If not that, they would have been prevented from even approaching through powerful mystical effects or magical barriers.

Had that been the case, Jinseong would have had to intervene personally.

He would have had to use magic to completely dismantle those defenses, allowing the ghosts to infiltrate the ship through direct action.

Of course, that wouldn’t have been a challenging task.

But considering that magic always demands a price… this was clearly beneficial to Jinseong.

“If there were additional costs for other magics, my recovery might have been delayed…”

Jinseong smiled as he gazed at his own arm.

His arm bore numerous gaping wounds.

It looked as if a cannibal had methodically carved away pieces of Jinseong’s arm with a knife.

Moreover, the depth of those wounds was alarming, exposing even the bone in some places.

“Seeing that my arm isn’t rotting any further, it seems the ritual’s cost has been fully settled…”

This was the price paid to command those ghosts.

The rotting of his flesh was the cost of the preceding magical ritual.

Thinking that he had to carve out the rotten parts with a blade to prevent sepsis, it wasn’t a light cost, but it wasn’t hefty either. After all, his insides weren’t decaying, nor was his entire body rotting, nor was he afflicted with leprosy, or had his bones succumb to decay.

Furthermore, he had acquired his own rotting flesh to use in other magics, which turned into an unexpected gain.

“The ghosts are slowly starting to ascend to the deck. It’d be prudent for me to get moving too.”

With his ragged arm flailing in the air, Jinseong began to move.

Utilizing the ghosts drifting atop the water like rafts.

 

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