The battle on the deck was already winding down.

The Elite Fish Fiend Wraith had pushed almost all the Fish Fiends from around the ship onto the deck. Thanks to the tight teamwork of Kevin’s group, the fiends were basically shot in the head with Fireball ammo the moment they stepped on the wood.

Even if one or two slipped through the bullets, the other five Wraiths by Kevin’s side would block them right away.

The gunfire slowly faded. The dead Fish Fiends were piled up like a small hill on the deck.

Kevin checked his wristwatch, then looked at the five-meter-tall Elite Fish Fiend Wraith. "Next, take the other five. Kill yourselves."

The moment he finished speaking, all six Fish Fiends bared their sharp claws and slashed hard at their own sides.

Blood lines sprayed everywhere. Almost at the same time, the other five slashed their leader’s throat open.

They swayed unsteadily. Soon, they lost their balance from too much blood loss.

Just as they dropped to their knees, a red Eldritch glow flared in their pupils. Their eyes filled with madness and killing intent as they stared at Kevin, Luna, and Amelia.

However, they opened their mouths and tried to swipe their claws, but the blood loss was too heavy. They couldn’t stand up again, let alone hurt Kevin’s group.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

A string of heavy thuds echoed as all six Wraiths collapsed and vanished into nothingness on the deck.

Luna and Amelia watched the scene and both looked surprised.

"Kevin, your timing is too perfect," Luna said, glancing at her watch. Thinking about how Kevin ordered the Wraiths to kill themselves at the very last second, she gained a whole new respect for his judgment, control, and insight.

Amelia clapped without holding back. "Captain, the sun’s about to rise. What’s next?"

Kevin looked at the mountain of Fish Fiend corpses and frowned slightly. "Clean up the battlefield first. Let’s see if any new gear or Eldritch Artifacts dropped."

"Also, their back fins and sharp claws are rare materials. They can be used to Enchant weapons, brew potions, and even give us short-term superpowers just like the Eldritch Eyes."

"Now, collect them and bring everything back to the steering cabin."

Hearing this, the two girls nodded and got to work right away.

Despite fighting all night, they didn’t feel tired at all. If anything, they felt a bit excited.

The cleanup took a full three hours. Luna and Amelia collected a total of 113 pairs of Fish Fiend claws and 63 back fins from the corpses.

In return, through his "Covenant of the Saint," Kevin got his return bonus:

1,200 pairs of claws...

680 back fins...

Unfortunately, even after the three of them finished counting all the bodies, not a single new Eldritch Artifact dropped.

"Bad luck!" Kevin sighed and handed one "Deep Ones’ Small Horn" to each of them. "This is a B-Tier Eldritch Artifact that dropped today. It’s made to boost the kinetic damage of weapons, which fits your guns perfectly."

Luna and Amelia took the artifacts and immediately attached them to the muzzles of their guns, following Kevin’s instructions.

Soon, the "Deep Ones’ Small Horn" fused with the barrels. They looked like dark green silencers snapped onto the ends of the guns, glowing with a bright emerald light.

Once the fusion was complete, Amelia immediately loaded a standard bullet and aimed at the distant sea. She pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Amelia’s shoulder kicked back hard. Her whole body leaned backward, and she quickly took a big step back just to keep her balance.

Looking out at the water, a huge splash about four or five meters high erupted in the distance.

Kevin watched the splash and nodded. "Not bad. Even the range doubled."

Amelia nodded. "I never expected we’d actually find something like this in the real world."

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Kevin’s alarm went off.

Right after, lines of text popped up in all three of their vision. A familiar system voice chimed in their ears.

[Congratulations, Survivors. You survived another dangerous night. Unfortunately, not many made it through.]

[The Survivor Leaderboard is now open. It updates every morning. Compiling stats...]

[Stats complete. Announcing the Top Ten.]

[Kevin, Survivor ID 9527. Total ordinary Eldritch kills: 221. Rank: #1.]

[Amelia, Survivor ID 1086. Total elite Eldritch kills: 1. Total ordinary kills: 27. Rank: #2.]

[Keston, Survivor ID 3210. Total elite Eldritch kills: 1. Total ordinary kills: 19. Rank: #3.]

...

[Bella, Survivor ID 6732. Total ordinary kills: 16. Rank: #8.]

[Luna, Survivor ID 7758. Total ordinary kills: 15. Rank: #9.]

[Justin, Survivor ID 8725. Total ordinary kills: 12. Rank: #10.]

[Congratulations to all listed Survivors. The Top Ten will receive a 250g A5 Wagyu steak, a bottle of 1982 Lafite, and a wedge of blue cheese...]

The moment the leaderboard dropped, the global chat exploded. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Am I seeing this right? The number one spot killed over 200 Eldritch Entities? How did he even do that? Kevin must be crazy!"

"Did he really wipe out an entire Eldritch nest by himself? Why isn’t someone like that on my boat?"

"Am I the only one jealous of the Top Ten rewards? Just thinking about them feasting on Wagyu and Lafite out there while we suffer makes me so jealous!"

"We’re barely staying alive, who even cares about food and drink? Wait, can you trade Survivors on the market? I want to hire Kevin to guard my room tonight! I’ll let him do anything! I’m still a virgin!"

"Kevin! Join my crew! I’m gonna be the Pirate King! My crew needs to be strong, and you’re the only one who qualifies! Just share that Wagyu and wine with me, and I’ll make you my top guy!"

...

Meanwhile, far out on the open water, a modern yacht was slowly drifting.

After reading the prompt, Justin’s eyes went wide with rage. He pointed at the dozen special forces soldiers behind him and yelled, "You useless idiots! What’s the point of keeping so many of you around? A whole squad grinds kills for me, and I still only cracked the top ten?!"

He kept yelling and kicked the dead Eldritch Amphibious Mutant in front of him into the water.

The mercenaries stared in shock as the three-meter-long monster was kicked into the air like a rubber ball by Justin.

Joseph stepped out from the group, lightly patted Justin’s shoulder, and said calmly, "It’s nothing to worry about. Those rewards were just some food and alcohol-completely useless to us."

"Besides, your Talent has limitless growth potential. As long as you keep hunting high-tier Eldritch Entities and absorbing their Eldritch aura, you’ll grow infinitely stronger."

"Be confident, Justin. You’re my brother. You possess the S-Tier Talent ’Resonance Amplification’."

"This terrifying ocean is still waiting for you to conquer it."

Under Joseph’s persuasion, Justin took a deep breath and finally calmed down.

He looked over at Bella, who was steering from the cockpit, and frowned. "Joseph, do you think the person ranked first could be Bella’s boyfriend? I remember her ’trash’ ex also had the name Kevin."

Joseph sneered. "Are you kidding? That loan-slave loser couldn’t possibly be the freak who slaughtered over two hundred Eldritch Entities in two days."

"Besides, there are plenty of people with the same name in the world. Bella’s ex is trash, and he’ll remain trash even here."

"He’s probably already been turned into an Eldritch Entity’s meal by now."

Seeing how certain Joseph sounded, Justin shrugged. "Fine, maybe I’m overthinking it. But seriously, big brother, are you really going to keep babysitting Bella’s dead weight?"

"Her Talent is terrible. She doesn’t even deserve to stand on the same level as us."

Hearing this, Joseph let out a quiet sigh. "Can’t be helped. She’s carrying my child, after all."

"Before this, I wouldn’t have acknowledged this kid at all. But now that we’re trapped in this terrifying sea, I refuse to let our family’s bloodline die out over our own pride."

"For now, until she safely gives birth, you will treat her with the respect and care due to a sister-in-law. Everything else can wait until the baby is born."