The basement of the Gemstone Grinder factory was like a tomb now. A graveyard of choking smoke and cooling corpses.

  Jack stood over the lifeless body of Baron Baggourd. His expression was flat. The ceremonial dagger he had used felt light and cheap in his hand. A toy that had somehow performed a necessary act. The removal on the city's rotten part.

  "Stinking trash." Jack muttered. Dropping the dagger on the floor without care.

  Rune flew around him. Glowing green in agreement.

  From the other side, Reina walked to his direction. She killed more people than him. All using her fog power. Restraining the use of her hand guns and grimoire magic. They were technically infiltrators after all. They should try to stay hidden and attract less attention.

  Yara Noire was equally efficient. Her blades had completed numerous throat-slits from the shadows. She assassinated even greater number of targets than Reina.

  There were greater number of cultists who escaped through the exit points though. But, they weren't the three's responsibilities. The mercenaries upstairs could handle them.

  Now, it was time for the cleanup.

  Seeing the many corpses in the basement, Jack was tempted. He wanted to use his [Death Refinement] spellcard. Refining a few souls of the dead for item upgrade. He also wanted to transform into his kamaitachi form and used his phantasmal ability to steal some skills from the recent dead.

  But, he restrained himself. The smoke had become less thicker. And Yara Noire was here. He didn't want to reveal those two abilities yet.

  So, to distract himself, he used [Eyes of Judgement] to scan the room. Picking out anything that could spell trouble for them.

  And he found one. A member of the Eternal Soul Cult curled himself behind a stone pillar. His body language showed a mixture of terror, pain, and a lingering, drug-induced euphoria.

  He wasn't dead. Just paralyzed by his injury. And by the drug he consumed to relieve the pain from the injury.

  Jack moved and delivered a precise, heavy blow to the back of his neck. The cultist went limp instantly.

  "We need at least one to talk." Jack said. Slinging the unconscious man over his shoulder like a sack of grain. "The higher ups will want names to put on the paperwork."

  "Reasonable." Yara Noire noted as she appeared not far from him. Sheathing her daggers. She looked toward the stairs. "The noise upstairs has stopped. It seems everything is done up there."

  Jack looked at Rune. She glowed bright green. Indicating that it was safe outside. She led them as they ascended from the basement. Leaving the still-smoking underground area behind.

  Outside, the heavy scent of spent gunpowder and burnt chemicals assaulted their olfactory sense. The factory ground floor was a graveyard for the cultists.

  The union mercenaries had done their job with brutal efficiency. Those who had tried to flee the smoke-filled basement had run straight into a wall of lead and steel.

  Big Bill was waiting near the entrance. Leaning against a crate and drinking from his flask. He straightened up when he saw Jack. "You look like you've been rolling in a chimney, Jack."

  "At least, it's exciting down there. Beats waiting up here trying to compete against so many people for just a chance to attack." Jack countered. He looked straight at the grinning big man and sighed. "Danny will complain a lot later... for not being in this mission, Bill."

  The man laughed. "It's not my fault he took mission out of town too early this morning." He pointed at the one Jack carried on his shoulder. "What's with that man?"

  Jack dumped the prisoner at Big Bill's feet. "Keep him caged, Bill. He's probably the only one left with a working tongue."

  ...

  The victory felt solid. A clean strike against the city's latent danger. They should celebrate this. But the celebration hadn't even started, when trouble came knocking...

  Jack noticed that Rune, floating next to him, suddenly glowed red. Deep dark red. Danger. Great danger.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  As if to confirm it, a piercing sound tore through the night. A high-pitched, mechanical shriek that vibrated in the very marrow of Jack’s bones. It was the warning siren of Sapphire City. A sound they had heard once before. The one indicating the appearance of the ghost ship.

  But this siren was different. Jack could swear that the siren this time was accompanied by a different sound. A low, rhythmic thrumming that felt like a distant heartbeat.

  "The ghost ship." Reina whispered. Her eyes immediately turned toward the direction to the harbor.

  "Again?" Big Bill grunted. Though his hand went straight to his mechanical war hammer. "The harmless ghost ship was supposed to be during twilight. It's already past midnight."

  "That isn't the harmless one." Jack said. His [Eyes of Judgement] narrowed as he looked toward the harbor. He couldn't see much due to the buildings blocking his sight. But he could feel the dread.

  "This might be a real trouble." He concluded.

  Big Boss Lodegrey seemed to have the same conclusion. "All units! To the harbor! At your fastest speed! Move!"

  The mercenaries scrambled. Jack, Reina, and the leaders didn't wait. They moved in front with a full speed. The speed that was born of various supernatural empowerment. Racing through the cobblestone streets toward the Sapphire City docks.

  Jack summoned his [Lightning Hoverbike] and jumped on it. Reina quickly teleported behind him. Placing herself on the back seat.

  They weren't the only one summoning their mount. Jack could see jet packs, mechanical ostriches, hoverboards, and various weird steamrune creations appeared.

  A large majority of the elite mercenaries here were steamrune engineers. But not all of them were. Those who weren't engineer didn't lack their own ways. One of them summoned a gigantic eldritch rooster. Another summoned a flying raft...

  Using these various mounts, they quickly reached the top of the final hill overlooking the coastline. The harbor... The chaotic harbor...

  The scene they saw below was a nightmare. One rendered in shades of sickly green and translucent blue. Mixed with blazing fire that burned many objects there.

  The ghost ship wasn't a shimmering image on the horizon anymore. It was a massive, dilapidated, three-masted oriental ship. A gigantic junk. Its timbers were glowing with an internal, necrotic light.

  It had plowed straight onto the sands of the beach. Its spectral hull was corporeal enough to crush the wooden piers and several merchant vessels.

  The coast was a slaughterhouse.

  Hundreds of undead pirates had swarmed from the ship. They weren't like the slow, shambling creatures people associated with undead. These were different.

  They wore tattered silk robes and leather armor that looked centuries old. They moved with a terrifying, fluid grace. Jumping, spinning, and striking with the precision of master martial artists.

  Jack watched as a city watchman fired his rifle at an undead pirate. The undead warrior didn't flinch or block the bullet. It evaded the shot. It leaned back in a bridge-like pose. The bullet whistling over its chest.

  After twisting its body, it then lunged forward in a blur. Its curved saber flashed. And the watchman's head was gone before his body hit the sand.

  "They're using kung-fu." Jack muttered in astonishment. "Undead martial artist? That’s a new one."

  "They’re slaughtering the sailors." Reina said calmly. Pulling her handguns with practiced ease. "Shall we join the battle, Dear?"

  "On it, Love." Jack replied.

  The elite mercenary force hit the beach like a hammer.

  Big Boss Lodegrey and Lady Gemrose didn't bother with small arms. They summoned two massive objects. They looked like abstract lumps of mechanical metal plates. But with a series of rapid steam-valve releases. The things transformed into two huge steamrune mechas.

  The union president's machine was designed to look like a winged ape. Built from dark steel plates and glowing blue rune lines. Its pistons were pumped full of vigor. The exhaust pipes vented steam all over its joints.

  Its enormous, articulated metal wings spread out in threatening gesture. The hulking monstrosity aimed its steam-cannon on its right hand. And energy blast came out of it. Demolishing several undead pirates like nothing.

  Lady Gemrose’s mecha was sleeker. But it was still a bulky one. This one had more humanoid proportion. But, it was still full of riveted steel and churning gears. Steam was also hissing from its vents as it leaped and lumbered across the ground.

  It was wielding twin vibrating blades that hummed with high-frequency energy. The machines slashed and sliced undead pirates with surprising speed. Turning the tide of the battle by sheer power... and size.

  Jack and Reina dove into the fray.

  Jack stopped and stored his [Lightning Hoverbike] after crashing it to a group of undead pirates.

  He then pulled his signature steamrune shotgun. A dark mechanical armament that fired destructive pellets toward the enemies. Its first target was the three undead pirates who were leaping toward a group of cowering civilian sailors.

  BOOM!

  The blast caught the middle pirate mid-air. Shattering his ribcage and sending him spinning back into the sea. But the other two landed gracefully. Their eyes glowing with a hateful green light.

  Despite being struck by pellets, they didn't feel pain. They didn't feel fear. One of them launched a series of rapid-fire palm strikes at Jack's chest. Each hit carried the weight of a sledgehammer.

  Jack grunted. His high physical durability soaked up the kinetic energy. But he was pushed back. These things were fast. And strong.

  BANG! BANG1

  Reina appeared nearby. Her bullets struck the heads of the two pirates. Leaving trails of grey smoke on the bullet wounds. But it didn't exactly ended the undead duo.

  "They're regenerating." Reina called out. Her voice was strained.

  She was right. The pirate Jack had blasted was already pulling himself out of the sea. His shattered chest was knitting back together with strands of black miasma. The two struck by bullets on their heads also regenerated.

  Rune emitted a bright, warning red glow. Informing Jack that the threat hadn't disappeared. Normal damage methods were just an inconvenience to these undead pirates.

  "Crap!" Jack swore irritably. He immediately activated his [Eyes of Judgement].

  [Name: -]

  [Race: Undead Human]

  [Affiliation: The Lonely Queen]

  [Karma: Negative]

  [Power Level: High]

  [Power Class: Undead Martial Fighter]

  [Power Traits: Dragon Vitality, Hyper Regeneration, Undead Nature]

  [Current Status: Undead]