The sight of the boats drifting toward them filled everyone with dread.
The boats seemed to be controlled by some force, drifting toward them with purpose.
They were about to collide.
"Damn, there are so many boats! There's no way we can dodge them all!" Liu Shuai said.
"It's fine, keep rowing!" Sun Jingyu said. "If one's about to hit you, switch boats immediately!"
His words gave everyone an idea. As long as they kept switching boats, everything would be fine as long as nothing happened to the boats they were in.
As one boat was about to hit Liu Shuai's, he immediately jumped onto the empty vessel. He was extremely nimble and landed on it without trouble.
He hurriedly grabbed the oars and rowed with all his might, and the two boats were no longer in danger of colliding.
Then he looked gratefully at Sun Jingyu. Without his reminder, Liu Shuai really wouldn't have thought of that.
It wasn't a difficult solution, but in an emergency, people's minds never worked as quickly as usual.
Just then, Wang Ruoxi and Chen Yan's boat was also about to collide with another. Chen Yan immediately stood up, watched the approaching boat and jumped straight onto it.
Having seen Liu Shuai do it, she made the jump easily.
But just as she was about to pick up the oars, the boat suddenly fell apart.
It all happened too suddenly. If she had been prepared, she could definitely have stepped on the floating planks and jumped onto another boat.
But she had never expected the boat to fall apart so suddenly, or so completely, and she fell straight into the water.
She vanished beneath the surface in an instant, giving everyone else a fright.
Chen Yan soon resurfaced. She could no longer keep a smile on her face, because she could feel a group of things swimming toward her.
It was the Water Ghosts!
"Help me! Pull me up, quickly!" Chen Yan cried.
Wang Ruoxi hesitated, but still went to the bow and reached out to Chen Yan.
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out,
"A visitor has violated Paradise's rules. Elimination imminent!"
Wang Ruoxi quickly withdrew her hand, because she knew Chen Yan was beyond saving.
She had violated at least three of the amusement park's rules.
No swimming, maintain a cheerful mood, and no loud noise.
"What are you doing?!" Chen Yan cried when she saw Wang Ruoxi pull her hand back.
"I'm sorry, I can't save you." Wang Ruoxi looked at Chen Yan with reluctance. She wasn't cold-blooded, but there really was nothing she could do.
In this instance, breaking the rules meant certain death.
"You... you bitch! Pull me up now, or I won't let you off even as a ghost!"
Wang Ruoxi knew she had even less reason to save Chen Yan now. She had seen it in other instances: people on the verge of death dragging others down with them.
It was far from uncommon.
Judging by the situation, if she acted rashly, Chen Yan would definitely pull her into the water.
She was a Shaman-type Ability User, while Chen Yan was a Monster System Ability User. She wouldn't be able to resist at all.
Wang Ruoxi hurriedly grabbed the oars and rowed backward. She had to get away from the dying Chen Yan.
Her action was undoubtedly wise. With death about to descend, Chen Yan had thrown all caution aside. She slapped desperately at the water and swam quickly toward Wang Ruoxi.
She was going to overturn that boat and drag the woman who had refused to save her into the lake. She absolutely would not let this woman leave alive!
Chen Yan lived up to her status as a Monster System transcendent. Even in the water, she was fast, reaching Wang Ruoxi's boat in just a few seconds.
"Die, you bitch!"
She grabbed the gunwale and was about to pull, but at that moment, she felt a powerful, invisible force envelop her, pressing inward from all sides.
Chen Yan immediately sensed danger. She knew the power of Paradise's rules had descended.
That power was immense, crushing her like a mountain. Her own strength was utterly insignificant in comparison.
She could no longer pull Wang Ruoxi into the water. Her madness faded in that instant, replaced by fear and anxiety.
It was the despair and terror of facing certain death.
No one could remain calm in the face of death, and with so many things she was unwilling to leave unresolved, she was even less capable of it.
That power filled her with despair.
"Ah—"
She let out a furious, unwilling roar.
But no matter how unwilling she was, she was going to die here.
Boom!
Her body turned into a pile of ketchup.
Bright red blood spread through the lake. Its bloody scent stimulated the Water Ghosts, driving them into a frenzy. They gathered rapidly beneath the water and surrounded everyone's boats again in the blink of an eye.
Everyone had no time to worry about much else and began rowing for their lives.
After seeing what had happened to Chen Yan, none of them dared jump onto the empty boats that came at them. They would rather change direction and take a longer route around.
After all, no one knew whether the boat they jumped onto would be sound or fall apart.
"What do we do now, Brother Sun?"
Liu Shuai looked at Sun Jingyu, a painfully strained smile on his face and anxiety filling his eyes.
"Please think of something. There are only four of us left."
"You two keep control of your boats. Leave the Water Ghosts below to the two of us," Sun Jingyu said.
"Just make sure you don't collide with any boats."
"Okay, Brother Sun." Liu Shuai's tone was somewhat ingratiating.
He knew full well that Sun Jingyu and Zhao Guodong were the main force now. He and Wang Ruoxi couldn't be of any help at all.
Liu Shuai added, "Please don't abandon me. It's not that I'm useless; it's just not time for me to show what I can do yet."
"Don't worry. If I can save you, I definitely will!" Sun Jingyu said.
They had only cleared two stages, and just four people were left. If this continued and they lost more teammates, they could run into serious trouble in the later stages.
There were at least three more stages to clear before they could finish the amusement park.
No one else could die. Their teammates were their most important resource now.
Everyone rowed with all their might. Whenever a Water Ghost grabbed hold of a boat, Sun Jingyu used his power to drive it away.
They also did their best to steer around the other boats as they headed for the finish.
Before long, the Water Ghosts disappeared, and they could see the finish line, a little over a hundred meters away.
With victory in sight, the group rowed even harder.
But just then, a gust of wind blew through. The boats they had left behind suddenly picked up speed, riding the wind as they raced toward them.
"What's going on?" Liu Shuai nearly burst into tears. Fortunately, he hadn't forgotten to keep smiling.
Otherwise, he could have been declared dead too.
"It's the Water Ghosts. They've gotten into the boats! They're rowing," Wang Ruoxi said.
Everyone could now see that although there was no one in the boats, the oars were rowing at tremendous speed, like electric fans. It had to be the Water Ghosts rowing.
"They can do that?!" Liu Shuai was on the verge of cursing.
Sun Jingyu no longer dared use his ability, because the Water Ghosts were with the boats. If he used it, he could very well damage them.
They weren't allowed to damage the amusement park's facilities.
Besides, there were at least dozens of boats and dozens of Water Ghosts. Even if the two of them worked themselves to death, they couldn't possibly kill them all.
"There's nothing we can do. Every person for themselves. We absolutely can't let them catch us!" Sun Jingyu said.
Everyone rowed even harder, but they were still much slower.
In the blink of an eye, those things were only a dozen or so meters behind them.
They were only fifty meters from the finish now.
But they knew full well that they would be caught after rowing another twenty meters.
Even Sun Jingyu was getting flustered.
Although both people in his boat were Control-type Ability Users, they would struggle to escape from so many enemies.
"I have an idea!" Wang Ruoxi suddenly said.
Her words gave everyone a much-needed boost.
"Sister Wang, what is it? Tell us quickly!" Liu Shuai asked.