I'm going to kill everyone who calls me Hill.

Because the sea is boiling.

Chapter 8: The Boiling Ocean

"The sea is boiling?"

Xier looked at the sea surface which was gradually becoming hotter and murmured in astonishment. She had never thought that the ocean could be boiled like the water in the kettle. The burning sensation was just like the sun.

"Don't be stunned, go back and get your equipment."

The girl's cry woke Xier up and brought her back to her senses.

"I'll go call everyone!"

Xier ran back to the hall below the deck as fast as she could and shouted, "Emergency, all hunters, prepare for battle!"

Everyone who heard Xier's voice quickly put down what they were holding, picked up the weapons placed aside and ran towards the deck.

"What's this!"

As soon as they arrived on the deck, everyone was shocked by the scene before them.

The originally calm sea surface suddenly became turbulent, and waves like thunder rolled over and hit the boat. The huge ship was drifting in the sea like duckweed.

"Hold on tight! Don't get thrown off!"

The girl leader gave the order immediately.

"Is this a Molten Mountain Dragon?!"

Before Xier could react, she saw the sea surface around the ship changing dramatically, and a red land that looked like flowing magma rose from the sea.

"This is!!"

The ground was still rising. As the leading ship, the ship Xier and her crew were on was the closest to the Molten Mountain Dragon, so they were unable to turn in time and the entire hull was stuck by the hard rocks on the Molten Mountain Dragon.

"Da da da"

As the ship continued to tilt, Miss Aibo, who had been following the leader girl and whom she had met once before, ran past Xier and headed straight for the bow.

"Wait, it's dangerous!" Xier wanted to reach out and grab her. It was quite dangerous to walk on a constantly tilting boat.

"what!"

Suddenly, there was a vibration, and the fulcrum that was originally stuck on the boat slipped off, and the whole boat slid downwards. In order not to be thrown out, Xier could only hold on to the rope wrapped around the mast tightly to ensure her stability.

"ah!"

Miss Aibo, who ran to the bow, lost her grip due to the tilt of the boat and slid down.

"Give me your hand!"

Xier watched her slide towards her and immediately reached out her hand, accurately grasping her belt and stopping her. But before Xier could relax, the ship shook violently again.

"Hier, be careful!"

The girl's voice came, and a piece of wood flew out at an extremely fast speed, knocking away the sack that was about to fall on Xier's head.

"boom"

The sack was blown away by the huge force and fell into the sea.

"Is it okay!"

The girl grabbed the boat's railing with one hand and shouted towards Xier.

"fine!"

Xier, who was almost hit, responded with lingering fear, and at the same time pulled Miss Aibo up with force.

"Wow, I was so scared, I thought I was going to fall."

Miss Aibo said this while patting her chest in shock, her face full of shock at surviving a disaster.

"It's good that you know. Why did you suddenly run up there? It's very dangerous!"

Xier looked at Miss Aibo and scolded her seriously. If she hadn't been there just now, Miss Aibo would have fallen down. And if there hadn't been the help of the leader girl, Xier, who was pulling Miss Aibo, would have been hit by the falling sack. At that time, serious injuries would be minor. The worst case scenario would be that the two of them would fall into the vast ocean together and become bait for sea beasts.

"Sorry, I just wanted to get a closer look at the Molten Dragon, but I didn't expect the whole ship to be lifted up by it."

Miss Aibo clasped her hands together and apologized.

"Huh... I'm glad you're okay."

Xier sighed helplessly. Indeed, no one had expected that the entire ship would be lifted up.

"But the crisis has not yet been resolved."

Xier propped herself up and looked outside the boat. They were still on the Molten Dragon, but the situation was better than before. They were now on a flat ground, not in the dangerous situation like before.

However, if the Molten Dragon makes any big moves, I'm afraid the entire ship will not be spared.

"This is the power of the ancient dragon..."

This was the first time Xier saw a real ancient dragon. She had always heard before that ancient dragons were synonymous with natural disasters, and that disasters would occur wherever they passed. Xier originally found it unbelievable, but now after experiencing it personally, she found that those rumors were not only true but also beautified. A real ancient dragon was indeed like a molten mountain dragon. Its every move could cause changes in heaven and earth, as if it were the embodiment of the rules of the world.

"Xier! Are you okay?"

On the other side, the leader girl who had temporarily settled the others ran over to inquire about Xier's condition.

"I'm fine, I'm not injured."

Looking at the girl holding her hand and carefully checking whether she was injured, Xier felt warm in her heart. This was the first time someone cared about her so much since Master Meiya left.

"Phew, that's good. Hey? Aibo-san, why are you here?"

After checking on Xier, the girl realized that her editor was also with Xier.

"Tsk tsk tsk, you value women over friendship~"

Miss Aibo sighed quietly.

“Ahahahaha. Ahahaha…”

The girl laughed awkwardly, then said, "Although the crisis has been resolved temporarily, our current situation is not good."

"That's right. Although we are riding on the back of the Molten Dragon, there is no guarantee that there won't be any accidents. Besides, the Molten Dragon's body is not a safe place."

Xier nodded. After just a short while, she already felt the heat.

The Molten Mountain Dragon is known as the dragon carrying the Fire Prison. Its body is not just made of boulders. Its body fluids are all extremely hot liquids, like magma, and it is these liquefied substances that cool down to form the outer shell on its body.

"boom!"

Just as the three were talking, a burst of explosions was heard, attracting their attention. They saw a shell not far away suddenly exploded, and boiling excrement slowly flowed out like magma. Some creatures that had remained on the back of the lava dragon were instantly swallowed up by the hot lava, leaving no bones behind.

"Gulu..."

Xier swallowed her saliva in fear. She even felt like she was like those creatures being swallowed.

"Let's get out of here soon."

"That's right, the sooner the better."

Similarly, Miss Aibo also nodded quickly. Her enthusiasm for research cooled in an instant. No matter how intense her enthusiasm for research was, could it be as hot as the lava of the molten dragon? The right thing to do now was to retreat honestly and plan for the follow-up.

"But the question is...how do we get out of here..."

The leader girl looked at the hull with some distress. They were now on a flat ground. Although they were no longer in danger of falling, they also lost the possibility of moving. It was impossible for the people on the boat to move such a large ship alone. Moreover, even if they could move it, they didn't know whether the time given by the Molten Mountain Dragon was enough.

Just as the three were thinking about countermeasures, another explosion was heard.

"It looks like the Molten Mountain Dragon is starting to dissipate heat."

Xier said with a serious expression that this proved that they didn't have much time left.

"Pushing... definitely won't work. We need a powerful way to move."

Miss Aibo analyzed that she knew the weight of the boat and that a simple way of moving it would definitely not work.

"So what about explosions?"

The leader girl suggested as she looked at the gushing lava not far away.

"Explosion..."

Xier also looked at the crack that was spewing magma dozens of meters into the air. Such a strong force would definitely be able to propel their ship, but could the ship withstand it...

“Don’t worry about the boat!”

At this moment, a rather old voice sounded from beside them.

"Captain? Are you injured?"

The leader girl recognized the identity of the person.

"Hey, it's just a minor injury."

Although he said so, the captain did not look well. His clothes were wrinkled, and there were bruises on his face and body. One of his legs was touching the ground, obviously sprained. From his appearance, one could tell that he had suffered serious injuries in the recent commotion.

"Still showing off. I wonder who was the one crying out in pain just now."

The one who helped him up was the ship's doctor who had stayed in the cabin. Although she did not look much better than the captain, from her calm tone one could tell that her condition was much better than the captain's.

"nonsense!"

The captain was so angry that he blew his beard.

"When sailing on the sea, this little pain is nothing! I am the proud water... ah ah ah ah... it hurts, it hurts."

"Hey~ Why does a proud sailor care about this little pain?"

The ship's doctor calmly withdrew the finger that was poking at the captain's ribs.

"Anyway... the ship is fine. Even if it is hit head-on by an eruption of that magnitude, it won't be defeated easily. She is my proud Christina!!! Hey hey hey hey!! Take your hand away from me!!!"

The captain suddenly screamed again in the middle of his speech. It was obvious that the ship's doctor was secretly poking his ribs again.

Holding back their smiles, they sent the Captain back to the Captain's room. After receiving the Captain's approval, Seele and the other two began to formally plan the plan the girl named 'Operation Molten Dragon Escape'.

"First, I'll take the heavy crossbow and grenades and head down to try to penetrate the Molten Dragon's shell and trigger its ejection. Aibo, help me keep an eye on the Molten Dragon's movements."

The girl is worthy of being the team leader. She made a plan in just a few minutes. Of course, this was also inseparable from Miss Aibo's calculations.

"what about me?"

Xier pointed at herself curiously. What should she be responsible for?

"Xi'er, just be responsible for cheering me on! With you here, I can exert the strength of a hundred people alone!"

The leader girl gave a thumbs up and smiled brightly.

"How is that possible!"

Xier hit her on the head with a knife. This kind of funny task was not what she wanted to do.

"Well... are you kidding me..."

The girl pouted and said, "Xi'er, you are responsible for helping me stop the falling rocks nearby. After all, I have to wear earplugs, otherwise the explosion at close range will make me deaf. But this way I can't hear the danger nearby, so I have to rely on you to help me stop it."

"Don't worry, leave it to me."

Xier nodded.

"Then... the battle begins!"

After a simple preparation, the three jumped off the boat and landed on the shell of the Molten Dragon.

"Wow... Is this the shell of a molten dragon? It looks very much like volcanic rock, but I wonder if the actual composition is the same."

As soon as Miss Aibo landed, she began to study the shell of the Molten Dragon, which forced Xier to go over and pull her away, otherwise she might stay there to study.

"Really, Ms. Aibo, we have to get out of here first."

Xier grabbed Miss Aibo's arm with one hand and pulled her away from the rock.

"Let me take another look~~"

Miss Aibo let out a cry of grief.

"Dah!"

Xier cruelly rejected Miss Aibo's unreasonable request.

"Cry, cry, cry..."

"Okay, this is probably it."