"What…?!" Speedrun was startled by the voice. He looked around. There was no one around. Did the speaker use an invisibility spell?
He heard the voice again, "You are under arrest for trespassing this mobile fortress!"
This time, the voice sounded much closer, so Speedrun could pinpoint the source. It was coming from the floor. He looked down and saw a tiny mouse in a uniform.
"What the…"
"Yes, yes. I'm a speaking mouse. I get that a lot," Captain Whitebeard said. "Let me just skip to the part where I bite your head off."
With those words, Whitebeard grew into his true form, a giant creature that looked like a cross between a shark and a rat. Due to the advantage of being Tip's companion, Whitebeard gained outworlder fast-leveling benefits. He was now a level 83 rare elite beast.
The sudden transformation surprised Speedrun, but he had a good reflex. He rolled away just as Whitebeard's claw came slamming.
Speedrun was fast, but Whitebeard was faster. With two jumps, where the second one was by bouncing off the wall, he arrived near Speedrun just when Speedrun stopped rolling. The swing of his claw struck Speedrun and sent him slamming to the wall.
"Oof…!" Speedrun felt the air in his body get forced out.
"Damn you, you oversized rat," Speedrun cursed. He was never a combatant. He preferred to flee from confrontation. If not for World Maker, he wouldn't have gotten such a high level. Even now, his thought focused on how to flee instead of defeating Whitebeard.
A paralyzing bomb appeared in his hand. He threw it at Whitebeard who was charging over. Whitebeard deftly jumped to the side to evade the paralyzing bomb.
While Speedrun threw the paralyzing bomb, a different ball appeared in his other hand. He threw this ball into the ground. The ball exploded and created a thick smoke that blocked the view. The ball was the Smoke Bomb from World Ruler.
He quickly moved to a different position within the smoke. Afterward, he used his skill, Exit Strategy. He had prepared an exit portal before infiltrating this mobile fortress. Now that the mission was aborted, it was time to use this exit.
The portal from his skill appeared next to him. But before he could step through this portal, he saw Whitebeard charging straight at him.
'What?! It can't be… Isn't he blinded by the smoke?' Speedrun had this thought.
Whitebeard was very fast. This was because he was using Shooting Dash. Additionally, his charging direction was right in between Speedrun and the portal. Speedrun had no choice but to step away or Whitebeard would collide with him.
As soon as Speedrun stepped back, Whitebeard's dash took a sharp turn. Whitebeard's shooting dash was max-leveled. He could dash a maximum of three times, but two dashes were all he needed. Speedrun couldn't dodge Whitebeard's second dash.
Whitebeard's huge body collided with Speedrun and slammed him into the wall again. Afterward, he pressed Speedrun to the floor using his heavy body. Speedrun was unable to get up.
"You… You can see in the smoke?" Speedrun asked.
Whitebeard couldn't, but he had joined enough of Domon's training session that he learned mana sense. He could sense Speedrun's position despite the smoke.
Two members of Everlasting Heavenly Legends came running due to the noise from the fight.
"Whitebeard, is this the intruder?" One of the members asked.
"He is. Do any of you bring runic rope?" Whitebeard asked in return.
"I have it," the member took out a runic rope from his inventory.
Speedrun struggled to free himself. Getting captured was worse than getting killed in this world, especially since he wore an amulet of rebirth. However, he was powerless against Whitebeard's strength. He could only resign to his fate as he was bound.
Tip received the news that the intruder had been apprehended. The players inside the mobile fortress could now return to focus on defending the fortress. Stefan and the others also started getting used to operating the fortress. The fortress no longer moved about like a drunken spider.
The eldritch beholder was still battling Arlcard and the others up there. Tip instructed the pilot to keep the mobile fortress nearby instead of going into the capital to help the soldiers fight the remaining enemies and Azzarilth's brood. This was to make sure the eldritch beholder's mind control ability was nullified.
It shouldn't be long until the eldritch beholder was defeated. This clone didn't have the self-preservation of a native. It behaved like a regular monster who continued to fight even when near death.
*
Inside Dritzuut, Jeanny and David were rushing to join the battle. Because the battle was spread out all over the capital, everyone split up so they could reinforce all sides. David stayed with Jeanny.
It had been some time since she fought. Her body felt itchy from the absence of action. She was now eager to release all the frustration she felt during her capture.
One regrettable thing was her level remained the same since her capture. She was still level 78. Even so, she could still be considered as high-level among the common players. She was only behind if compared to the top players who already hit level 80.
Jeanny was riding her hippogriff that flew above the street. She didn't fly too high so she wasn't too far from David who was riding his steed on the ground. She suddenly sensed something fast coming at her from her blind spot.
Her spear appeared in her hand. She swung her spear to her back. Her spear collided with something hard. The impact forced her to dismount from her hippogriff and she fell to the ground. She flipped in the air and landed safely on her feet. She sensed whatever had ambushed her was still coming at her from above.
"Jeanny!" David shouted and fired his handgun at Jeanny's assailant, who happened to be an orc.
The orc just tanked David's bullets and focused on Jeanny.
Jeanny vanished before the orc hit the ground. She reappeared again above the orc with her spear pointing down. She used Jump Attack and their positions were now switched.
The orc swung his giant axe which produced a flaming trail. That axe collided with Jeanny's spear. The impact pushed both of them back. Jeanny somersaulted in the air before landing.
"Abasi…?" She said after getting a good look at the orc who ambushed her.
