Noah and the oarsmen were unable to move as the air solidified around them. Roger sauntered onto the deck glowing with blue lifeforce as he was stroking his mouse Basil in his hands whose eyes glowed purple as its whiskers twitched in the direction of the broken-nosed man.

"Excellent, fishbait. You may all now return to your hut. There will no longer be a lock placed outside as you can move freely on deck. I am happy that another will now awaken soon," Roger announced to the gathered men who had become overcome with panic.

"Unless you wish to continue your revolution, then I will just remove the air you breathe and allow you to suffocate," Roger promised.

"What about him?" Noah asked concerning the white guard who had struggled to his feet.

The boy, Louis's eyes burned with hatred as the white guard gave him a smirk then snatched the unmoving makeshift spear from the grip of the broken-nosed man.

"He will continue his task."

"What is his task? Do you want to clarify that to them?" Noah countered.

Roger only gave a mysterious gap-toothed smile with an amused glint in his eyes as he walked back below deck, stroking his pet mouse Basil. The white guard hurried after him while casting back glances over his shoulder with a frown.

The man with the broken nose was handed the black guard's clear origin crystal from the oarsman who had killed him. He then presented it to Noah.

"The men think that you should have this," the broken-nosed man said to Noah.

"If what the ability-user said just before was true, then it's more useful to you. You use it. Just don't forget what you promised" Noah rejected the blank crystal.

"We stand together."

The broken-nosed man nodded with determination before absorbing the grade one blank crystal in a brief flash of white light as lifeforce flowed into his clenched fingers, disappearing beneath his skin.

Under the light from the lantern on its side on the deck, Noah was able to properly see what the broken-nosed man looked like. The broken-nosed man was covered in blood from the black guard's death. He had blonde hair with an unkempt beard, skin hung loosely from his body. He had clearly lost a lot of weight from malnourishment aboard the fishing boat after the arrival of the apocalypse.

"What's your name?" Noah asked the broken-nosed man.

"Greg. What's yours, fishbait?" Greg replied.

"My name's Noah. You all did well."

"Thanks to your overwhelming pep talk. Although this broken nose seemed to wake everyone up. If I'm honest I needed it, I lost myself for a moment. I'm sorry about that" Greg joked as he apologized while touching his split nose, it had stopped bleeding but was now beginning to swell.

"It happens to the best of us. Don't worry about it as long as we all continue to stand together," Noah answered.

"You're right. I'm going to check that everyone isn't hurt."

Noah nodded in response as he walked toward the boy, Louis. He was standing at the corpse of the black guard staring down at it in a daze.

"Are you alright?" Noah asked the boy.

Suddenly the boy grit his teeth as tears began to flow down his cheeks. He aimed a savage kick at the corpse's lifeless head. The boy continued to lay kicks into the body as rigour mortis set in until the boy ran out of energy. He slumped to the deck into a sitting position while cradling his legs and burying his face into his knees. Noah watched silently as he heard sobs coming from the traumatized boy.

"It's okay, he's dead now. He can't hurt you anymore" Noah consoled the boy as he placed his bandaged hand on Louis's shoulder.

Noah stood beside the boy as he released his negative emotions towards the corpse beside him until the sky lit up with fiery light, symbolizing the start of a new day.

The boss, Roger, and the nervous guard arrived on deck after the sky became light. The boss merely glanced at the corpse beside the boy as he gave orders to Roger beside him as he weighed anchor before returning to piloting the fishing trawler.

Roger walked towards the corpse with a rope in his hand. He expertly tied the guard's feet together with one end while leaving the remaining length of rope coiled at his feet. A hum was felt through the deck as green-lifeforce began flowing through the fishing vessel's exposed metal as the boss's ability began to power the propeller.

Once the fishing boat was underway, Roger purposefully tied the other end of the rope around the nervous white guard's feet standing beside him. The white guard looked as if he wanted to resist but lacked the courage to do so.

Noah noticed blue-lifeforce flowing beneath Roger's skin, causing the bound black guard's corpse to become lighter as he made a display of reaching down to pick the corpse up by its armpits, casually tossing it overboard.

Roger took a step back, ignoring the gathered crowd of observing oarsmen as he watched the white guard's face. The guard was currently held immobile by Roger's [Air Manipulation] ability, but his eyes remained fixated on the quickly unravelling coil of rope between them. The rope had almost entirely uncoiled when the white guard was released from his constraint. The rope became taut as the corpse dragging behind in the fishing boat's wake attracted something to the feast.

The terrified white guard lunged towards Roger, but his feet were dragged out from under him while his hands completely missed finding purchase on the indifferent ability-user. The helpless guard was dragged over the rail as his arms scrambled futilely at the deck. He managed to catch the railing by reflex as his legs were pulled over by the corpse of his former companion. The man's face held an expression of terror as he pleaded with Roger in an unknown language.

Roger gave him a gap-toothed grin as he reached down to grip the white guard's wrist. As the man thought he was about to be saved, Roger suddenly smashed down on his wrist with Uncle Joey's meat cleaver. He had somehow concealed the cleaver inside his clothing without anyone noticing. The white guard let out an ear-piercing scream as he was left with a bleeding stump while his severed hand remained to hold the rail.