A single glance at the port was enough for everyone to understand that there was little left salvageable within the shipyard.

  Anything valuable was a burning ruin. Precious machinery, ship schematics, stockpiles of building materials… All gone.

  Eri’s little expedition was now gathered at the last intact pier of the port. Beside the dock was the captured corvette pirate ship — certainly not the mightiest of war vessels, but at least one of moderate strength and size.

  It could not compare to a dreadnought, but it would serve as an adequate short-gap replacement, especially as Eri had requested the elven twins to perform powerful modifications upon the ship using their legendary biomancy magic.

  Regretfully, those ‘modifications’ could be viewed as a violation of certain moral boundaries, but Eri had deemed such extreme measures necessary in the face of the expedition’s imminent failure.

  Unfortunately, not everyone agreed.

  “No! Absolutely not! I’m not setting foot on that!”

  Eri winced. “C’mon, Bori, it’s not that bad…”

  “Not that bad?! I have seen horrors from the north that might as well be puppies compared to that!” Bori shouted hysterically, pointing at the ship. “Alvine was right about you! You are a demon! A heartless demon!”

  “Actually, I’m beginning to rethink my stance on that,” Alvine said hesitantly. “Demons aren’t usually cruel, just mindless. This seems… way beyond cruel. I’m almost impressed.”

  “Look, they can’t really… feel anything. I think,” Eri tried. “A-and they were evil anyway! Since we were going to kill them, I just… repurpose their deaths. It’s ethically sound!”

  “Eri, you had the flesh and minds of living pirates fused into the hull of their own ship,” Joarris stated uncomfortably. “There’s no way you can spin this in a way that is ethically sound.”

  Behind Eri, upon the shallow waters of the still-burning shipyard, was the moaning once-flagship corvette of the pirate fleet. A pink sheet of stretched skin clung to the outer hull, where six enormous tentacles — malformed patchwork amalgamations of human sinew, muscles, and bones — bulged from its fleshy surfaces.

  Disturbingly, animated faces — complete with mouths, eyes, and noses — periodically appeared and disappeared upon the giant tendrils, adding to its alien and abominable nature.

  Standing atop its deck and looking down on them were the proud smiles of Deyara and Peythra, admiring their work.

  “Took a while for us to get back into the swing of things, but we still managed to get it done in the end,” Peythra called out excitedly. “One functional elven-made Biovore vessel, primed and ready for sail, as you requested!”

  The group below — consisting of Joarris’s party, Dulcina, Captain Lauren, nine household knights, and fifty or so tired-looking dwarves — were all looking at Eri.

  “Eri,” Dulcina began. “You know that I trust you with my life, and that I will always support you. However, none of us knows what’s going on, or why you had the twins construct this… vessel. The dreadnought is destroyed. Our plans for the Slaver Isles appear to be at an end. If you have an alternative solution, I will follow you no matter what. But an explanation would still be greatly appreciated, so that we might… better understand the necessity of your actions.”

  If even Dulcina was having second thoughts, that probably meant he went too far.

  “Okay, first of all, you need to understand that the magic Deyara and Peythra wield is a little different,” Eri began.

  “You have Elgir Haevonculi in your retinue,” Kaz snorted. “Elven Fleshsingers. By our ancestors’ beard, the little Paragon is full of surprises. Which grave did you find these perverse corpse-worshippers from?”

  “Screw you too, you lovable rock-humpers,” Deyara called from above. “Gods, even after thousands of years, the insults haven’t changed…”

  “We haven’t had the displeasure of meeting your misbegotten kind for the last two millennia. Forgive us if our insults are a little rusty,” another dwarf shot back without missing a beat.

  Despite the harsh words exchanged, there was little heat in them. If anything, Eri detected a weary fondness within, as if it were a meeting of old acquaintances rather than enemies.

  “Look, the point is, we need a ship,” Eri told the group. “Not just any ship, but one that can level the playing field. The dreadnought we came for is destroyed. We need… alternative options.”

  “We already captured the pirate corvette intact. Why couldn’t we just use it as it is?” Julie complained, pointing at the ship. “It’s got guns, sails, and enough space for all of us. We didn’t have to… transform it into this nightmare.”

  As if to encapsulate her point, the living bioship groaned, shuddering like a diseased whale as it expelled a ‘gust’ of horrid gas.

  “We are outnumbered and alone out here. A regular dinky little corvette isn’t going to cut it,” Eri explained, exasperated. “The enemy has hundreds of larger ships. Their frigates and galleons are practically thrice the size of this ship here. Meanwhile, their capital dreadnoughts are packing enough firepower to blow apart any lesser vessel in a single volley. We’ll never survive.”

  “But turning the ship into this… abomination will help?” Raharim asked uneasily. “I don’t see how adding a few thousand pounds of flesh to the hull improves the design.”

  Surprisingly, it was the dwarves who answered the question.

  “Don’t be a fool; it’s an elf-crafted Biovore ship, and one expertly moulded at that,” the dwarf leader said. “That ‘corvette’ now runs on powerful biomancy. See those tentacles? They can act as both oars and weapons. Makes the ship fast and good for ramming. The hull’s self-repairing, too, provided there’s enough living flesh stowed away. And that’s not even getting into the cannons, which I assumed those two modified as well.”

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  “Didn’t have enough material to mutate all the guns, but we managed to cobble together one decent-sized piece of elven artillery,” Deyara called out. “It’s mounted to the prow and ready to fire.”

  “Don’t you mean mounted to the deck?” Joarris asked, confused. “You can’t mount a gun to the bow of a ship.”

  “Nope, I meant the prow. You’ll see later,” Deyara crackled evilly.

  “You guys don’t have a problem with this?” Bori turned to the dwarves, desperately looking for support. “It’s an elven ship made of humans! I thought dwarves hate elves and like humans!”

  “Considering those ‘humans’ blew up our home, killed half of us, and tried to enslave the other half, I think you’ll find that most of my kin here don’t really care for their fate. As for elves… Eh,” the dwarf chief shrugged. “Our ancestors hated elves because of past wars and feuds, but those grudges are at least two millennia old by now. None of us here has even technically seen an Elf in person before. So long as those two treat us right, we don’t really give a damn about some stupid ancient racial enmity.”

  “Your ancestors would flip out if they heard that,” Deyara laughed.

  “They’re dead. We got enough problems as is,” Kaz snorted. “Maybe if they didn’t horde all their secrets in unlockable vaults and leave our species in this mess, we would care more for their opinion.”

  “Also, we are curious to see how the ship works,” another dwarf added. “We’ve only ever heard of the elven biovore crafts from the war archives. Real horrifying killing machines, supposedly. To study one in person? We would be stupid to pass it up.”

  A bunch of dwarves grumbled in excited agreement.

  “Alright. Fine. The dwarves don’t care. What about us?” Alvine asked, her tone surprisingly calm. “I mean, killing pirates is one thing; this is quite another. You are asking us to accept the active and continuous torture of sentient creatures. That’s far too much; We’re not psychopaths. Or at least I’m not.”

  “It’s not torture. They can’t feel anything. In fact, they are not even alive anymore. Or sentient, at least,” Eri awkwardly argued. “Just ask the twins! Deyara and Peythra know what they are doing. I won’t condone this if they were suffering.”

  The group looked up to the twins.

  “Is what he’s saying true?” Joarris asked.

  Deyara hummed. “That depends. How good are you at accepting well-meaning but ultimately empty half-truths?”

  “That does not fill me with confidence,” Bori flatly stated.

  Peythra sighed and nudged her sister aside. “She’s joking. Eri’s correct. Most of the ‘living flesh’ you see cannot be called ‘thinking’ creatures anymore, even if they sometimes act like it. They are more like… slugs, or jellyfish. Barnacles, even. Yes, barnacles! Just pretend they are fleshy barnacles!”

  The group looked sceptical.

  “Is the ship safe to board?” Captain Lauren asked.

  “Yep,” Deyara answered happily. “So long as you stay within the upper decks, of course. Definitely avoid the bilge, otherwise you’ll get… sucked in.”

  “Okay, screw this,” Bori announced. “There’s no way any one of us is going on that deathtrap!”

  “Eh, I’m okay with it,” Julie shrugged.

  “What?!” Bori whirled on her. “Did you not hear what she said?!”

  “Well, she said it’s safe. Or safe-ish.” Julie hummed. “Plus, I’m a little curious about how well it sails. It’s unique, you have to admit.”

  “Besides, Eri’s got a point. We can’t operate in these waters with just a regular corvette,” Raharim added, albeit with some reluctance. “If he says this ship improves our odds of survival, then I believe him.”

  “Well, what about ethics? Morals?” Bori tried. “I can’t be the only one here who feels this violates, like, ten different levels of basic human decency.”

  “They are pirates. Slavers. Whatever they did had already long violated basic human decency,” Dulcina pointed out unflinchingly. “So long as their torture serves a practical purpose, then I see no issue with it. Their misery is not done out of our indulgence; if anything, it serves as penance for their crimes. That makes it more than acceptable.”

  “Cold. But… I suppose if it’s either this or going back home empty-handed, then it’s not really a choice,” Alvine sighed. “Besides, if they are already as good as brain-dead, then there’s technically no moral conundrum. Their bodies are… recycled to serve a ‘practical purpose’, as the ice princess puts it.”

  Everyone seemed to be coming around to the idea, though they remained understandably disturbed.

  Eri turned to Joarris, who was still studying the ship with a discomforted gaze.

  The man turned to the twins. “Do you two swear that the organisms fused to this ship could no longer be qualified as human beings under any conscionable capacity? Do you promise that they do not suffer any level of undue distress that could be considered cruel to a sentient creature?”

  “The answer to that is not so simple,” Deyara began. “In the first place, there are different degrees of ‘human sapience’, or even just ‘psychologically acceptable sentience’. The biomatter below could be classified as living organisms, in the sense that it requires energy, water, and oxygen to function, but—”

  Peythra pushed her sister out of the way. “Ignore her. I can confidently say that the pirates we used can no longer be considered ‘people’ in any conventional sense. It is far more accurate to call them material, processed from human corpses — humans that were once little better than immoral beasts, I might add.”

  Joarris grimaced. Eventually, he gave in. “So long as they do not suffer, and we do not hurt the innocent in any similar… future ventures, I’ll hold my tongue. However, I would appreciate it if you could ask for our opinion on such matters in the future. I understand that desperation breeds hard measures, but we must not degrade ourselves in pursuit of our goals. This is beneath you, Eri.”

  Eri chaffed at his disapproval. It wasn’t as if he wanted this. The situation was already desperate and stressful enough. He did not need people second-guessing his methods when they offered no viable alternatives.

  Eri opened his mouth for a scathing retort, but Joarris’s following words cut him short.

  “Your matron told me to tell you this if you ever go too far,” the man said softly. “Do not lose sight of your dream of becoming a hero, even in the face of defeat. A proper hero will not give in to evil or despair at the first sign of difficulty. He will take the hardest path to victory before he surrenders his heroic values, even when it carries the highest risk of failure. That is your path to heroism.”

  Eri flinched. For a moment, he didn’t say anything.

  “We should get his mom back,” Bori sourly said. “Ever since that matron left, his morals have been going downhill.”

  Bori’s word brought a heavy shame. He couldn’t deny them.

  If Elen could see me right now, what would she say?

  For a moment, Eri considered telling the twins to dismantle the ship.

  However, Eri had always prioritised the practical over sentimentality, especially since Elen left. Rationality ultimately prevailed.

  “We don’t have time to find another combat vessel. This is the fastest way,” he firmly said. “I have other contingency plans for a warship, but the more time we waste, the higher the odds are that we won’t rescue the coalition in time. I’ll… I’ll try to keep everyone informed in the future. If I ever go too far…”

  “We’ll tell you,” Joarris promised, his voice now much more reassured.

  “I have faith in you, little brother.” Dulcina placed a hand on his shoulder. “But if you are unsure of yourself, then let me shoulder some of the burden. You do not have to bear all the responsibilities of this expedition alone.”

  “You are still young, my Lord,” Lauren added. “ You need not lead alone.”

  Faced with their words, Eri bowed his head.

  He did not agree with them entirely, however. At the end of the day, there were some things that only he could do.

  [New Side Quest! ‘The Om-nom-nom Super-Ship’]

  [Feed your flagship with more people to turn it into a proper Biovore warship!]

  [Current: Tier 1/3]

  [Upgrade to Tier 2 (Requirement: 0/250 Living Humans)]