A Creature Like a Disaster

The pale, emaciated giant face stared blankly, one of its eyeballs as long as Yu Xing's height. Let's just say it looked like a woman. It had a flat nose and a small mouth, which provided the only red spot on its giant face.

At first, the face appeared quite far from the strategists, but in an instant, as more and more of it was revealed, it got closer and closer to the shore.

By the time her entire face was exposed to the deducers' view, she was practically pressed against the rocks of Dead Silent Island, her thick black hair covering the entire ground like clusters of wriggling earthworms.

The deducers were now powerless to fight back. To avoid the black-haired creatures, they had retreated a long way along that path. Yu Xing only managed to keep up with their escape with the help of Zhao Yijiu. He was indeed very fast, but he didn't want to expose his advantage so early, and the waves of excruciating pain also greatly hindered his performance.

He realized that while he wasn't entirely clear on the specific abilities of each member of this group, their escape speed was exceptional.

They retreated to a small hill on higher ground, which had blocked their view of the island from the coast.

Now that they had reached the top of the hill, they had no interest in observing the island. Each of them looked at the giant face, still in the sea and not yet on land, with tension, fear, and apprehension.

The black hairs clung to them like maggots, but they seemed to reach their limit in length around the middle of the hill. No matter how much the black hairs clamored and rolled, they couldn't go any further.

At this moment, the face in the sea felt anger. She didn't open her mouth, but a cry unique to marine animals instantly swept through the ears of the humans, making their still young souls feel the shock brought by ancient creatures.

"How could there be... how could there be such a huge monster?" The ferryman covered his ears with both hands, staring at the giant face with a horrified expression. "Even in normal simulations, this thing would be considered a boss-level monster!? And this is just the head; its body is still in the sea!"

Yu Xing glanced at him. From their brief interaction, he seemed to have a cheerful personality and was not stingy in expressing his feelings directly.

The information shows that the extraditionist's role in the Hourglass Guild is more focused on physical strength. He is not unintelligent, but his intelligence is somewhat lacking compared to his physical strength. Even so, his test scores are at the same level as Zhao Yijiu's.

I don't know if they got the 30 bonus points or if they scored over 90 on their own.

The black hair whipped wildly through the air one last time, the force of which left deep furrows in the ground, a shocking sight. Then, the expressionless giant face seemed to realize that this was futile, and the black hair was slowly retracted.

While she was doing these things, her eyes were fixed on everyone with a deep, unwavering gaze. Her clear, black and white pupils had an innocent, childlike quality, yet at that moment, they sent chills down one's spine.

Fei Jing squinted, straightened her clothes which were somewhat disheveled from running, and said with an air of knowing all things, "Perhaps it's to drive us onto the island so we can speed up our simulation process."

Xu Huan glanced at her menacingly, feeling that this woman spoke in the unyielding tone of a military drill instructor in front of his trainees, which was truly unpleasant.

The fact that she hasn't been beaten to death despite her personality is entirely due to the skills in her head.

But this isn't the home ground of Mysterious Eye's own guild, nor is it a partner like Hourglass who's used to tolerating her temper. There are many people here who haven't met her before, and there will always be those who speak up... like Yu Xing, who doesn't have a very good impression of Fei Jing.

Yu Xing weakly leaned against a teammate. Compared to Zhao Yijiu, Qu Xuanqing was indeed a bit softer. He calmed his rapid breathing from running, his tone slightly playful. "It's not like that~ This aunt seems to have forgotten that there is no system here, so there is no system's absolute control and urging over our deduction progress as usual. Here, there are only the rules of Dead Silent Island itself. It doesn't care whether we enter the island quickly or set up camp on the coast."

"Auntie, if your thinking is still stuck in the ordinary deduction mode, that's very dangerous. You need to work on changing your way of thinking!"

He looked to be in his early twenties, while Fei Jing was only in her early thirties, but their mature expressions made them appear to have a significant age difference.

If Yu Xing were a child, she wouldn't mind being called "Auntie," but no woman can tolerate a man only slightly younger than herself calling her "Auntie," and Fei Jing was no exception.

She was annoyed and was about to confront Yu Xing, but before she could finish her sentence, "Where did you come from, you overconfident newbie?", she swallowed it back because of Qu Xuanqing's cold and extremely oppressive gaze.

After all, Qu Xuanqing is somewhat eccentric, and no one has been able to determine the limits of her strength. Even during the live stream of the Fear Hospital where Han Yan, a Despair-level expert, was present, no one saw Qu Xuanqing's trump card.

Faced with such a powerful and ill-tempered woman, even someone as proud and arrogant as Fei Jing would have to consider whether she would actually be beaten.

With a very unpleasant expression, she changed her tune, still targeting Yu Xing had offended her. "Young man, I haven't changed my mind. So tell me, what brilliant idea do you have? If not, then please shut your meaningless mouth when others are offering even the most potentially valuable opinions."

Yu Xing smiled.

Qu Xuanqing smiled too.

Her cold voice carried a chilling undertone. "Fei Jing, face reality. Although our team has arrived on Dead Silent Island, it doesn't mean we've chosen to accept your orders. Your judgment is wrong, that's a fact. If you still can't find the right words, I don't mind cutting out your tongue... Ha, there's no one here who can protect you from me."

Qu Xuanqing was in the team, always acted like a normal woman, even if she was a bit aloof.

It was only then, in order to protect Yu Xing, that she revealed her terrifying, ruthless side, drawing the attention of everyone present.

Yes, Qu Xuanqing and quietness have almost made people forget that she is a woman who never makes sense.

Zhao Mou also shuddered.

At that moment, he really wanted to say to Qu Xuanqing, "Thank you, female assassin, for sparing my life all this time."

Fei Jing's expression worsened. She was even startled by Qu Xuanqing's sudden change in demeanor and took a step back. Then, realizing her loss of composure, her face flushed red for a moment.

But she quickly composed herself, realizing this wasn't the time to argue; that giant face was still glaring at her. She took a breath and conceded, "Okay, I understand, I'll be careful. So, Yu Xing..."

She had certainly collected information about Yu Xing and had some understanding of Yu Xing: "I'll say it again, what are your thoughts?"

Although she has a bad temper, she is also flexible and adaptable.

Yu Xing wore an enigmatic smile as she patted Qu Xuanqing's shoulder, indicating that she didn't need to be so fierce. "We're all on the same side, no need to be so harsh. After all, Sister Fei Jing was just stating her guess."

The change from "aunt" to "older sister" subtly altered Qu Xuanqing's intimidating aura, causing the atmosphere among the deducers on the hill to ease slightly from extreme tension. Fei Jing also sensed the shift in the situation and, with a slight pursing of her lips, stepped down.

Xu Huan let out a gloating laugh, while Sha Yiran stared blankly at the giant face.

"I think it's very simple. We need to treat this place as a completely chaotic place. The rules will only fulfill their agreement with the two systems, ensuring we arrive on the island unharmed, without interfering with our subsequent journey, whether it's harming or protecting us." Yu Xing's words resonated with everyone present. "So, we don't need to overthink this face. She's probably just a passing ghost that saw some fresh prey on Dead Silent Island and decided to hunt it down for a meal. Once we're far from the coast, she won't be able to touch us, that's all."

Zhao Mou pushed up his glasses. Yu Xing's show of force at this time was probably to lay the groundwork for leaving the team later. Although they didn't need to fight for command, a team without a voice would always be bullied and quietly placed into the position of cannon fodder.

The question of what role to play among his allies in the same camp is a delicate balance that he and Yu Xing must work together to determine.

He adopted his impeccably polite tone and steady, powerful manner, befitting a business elite, and calmly reminded her, "This also proves one thing: the coastline of Dead Silent Island itself isn't particularly dangerous, but it's too close to the sea. None of us know what's in the sea; perhaps some creatures or inanimate objects in the deep sea are far more terrifying than the most frightening things on Dead Silent Island."

The landmass inhabiting the Earth only accounts for 30% of the planet; the remaining 70% is dominated by marine life.

The unknown on land is enough to keep humanity exploring for countless years, but the ocean... especially the things in the deep sea, are a source of fear for some sensitive humans. Thalassemia and megalophobia are just the tip of the iceberg of humanity's fear of the unknown in the ocean.

It was a bizarre phenomenon that modern humans were completely unable to resist. Its danger ranking in maritime simulations remained consistently high within the Absurdity System. Whether it was an island or a ship, researchers would subconsciously stay away from events that could cause them to fall into the sea.

"Stop talking, I'm getting phobias." Zeng Lai, a child with a rich imagination, stopped Zhao Mou from describing the scene to him in that persuasive voice. "What you're implying is that we should go to the island sooner, right?"

"Go to the island," Sha said softly.

In this strange, somewhat harmonious yet unsettling atmosphere, the twenty people reached a consensus. They turned their heads to look at the other end of the hill, the direction leading to the island. There was still only one road that looked like it had been artificially created, with strange low shrubs growing on both sides. As far as they could see, the low shrubs were gradually replaced by some tall trees, and at the end of their sight, there was only a forest that seemed to stretch to the horizon.

Neither the trees nor the shrubs were dense, but they appeared enormous and sprawling. Their bare roots and branches, devoid of leaves, grew silently in the gray moonlight. In the air above these plants, the land was very steep and rugged, with gullies and ridges, making one wonder what might be beneath the surface.

But one thing is certain: this road did not grow naturally; it is a man-made structure. This means that there must be man-made facilities around the road. What they urgently need now is these man-made facilities to restore their condition. Dead Silent Island is so large that the area "next to" the so-called starting point should be quite large. They also need to find blank notebooks in the man-made facilities to activate their ghost notification letters.

It's quite obvious that the notebook's existence is a result of the rules and the cooperation between the two systems, but it couldn't just appear out of nowhere on the bare ground and reefs. That doesn't fit the nature of Dead Silent Island. Although the researchers haven't discussed this topic yet, they all know that the notebook should be in the first facility they can see.

"Let's go. We need healing supplies and new clothes," Bai Xiaobing suggested. Her vice president had just been humiliated, so she didn't dare say anything. She just felt that Yu Xing was much more assertive than she had seemed at first. This must be a person who is very good at disguising themselves and Impermanence, a person on the Mutation Path... or Fallen Path.

The twenty people began to head towards the island when, just then, an angry scream came from the coastline behind them.

They all turned to look behind them, fearing that the pale, enormous face might cause some trouble again.

As the giant face saw its prey about to leave, with no chance of turning them back, it became truly enraged. Its black hair spread out in mid-air, obscuring the sky, making its once calm face appear exceptionally eerie.

At that moment, Zhao Mou let out a soft exclamation, a glint of light flashing on his glasses. "That doesn't look like a human face, but rather a..."

Before she could finish speaking, the pale, gigantic face suddenly split open from her nose and forehead, dividing her face into three halves. The split was filled with densely packed sharp teeth, like an evolved version of shark teeth.

Six pairs of eyes, arranged in a row, peek out from under the black hair on both sides of the face near the cheeks, while the eyes and mouth on the face itself seem to remain unchanged, just like a painting on the surface.

"Holy crap, it's a fish!" More than one person exclaimed in surprise, though it was hard to tell who it was.

Indeed, this pale, gigantic face seemed to be abandoning its disguise to corroborate Zhao's earlier claim of an unknown marine creature, revealing its true form. Judging from the position of the six pairs of eyes arranged in a row, what was floating on the surface should be the upper half of a giant, monstrous fish. Based on this, one could imagine that this fish might have at least three enormous mouths at its front.

In short, it's incredibly disturbing. It has a bizarre quality that transcends human aesthetics, and it feels more like a disaster movie than a horror film.

Shock, palpitations, and the ability to easily draw one's mind in, turning it into a state of chaos and madness akin to those strange and indescribable things.

"Stop looking!" Fei Jing warned. "We're just ordinary people now; we shouldn't look directly at this kind of thing, it'll affect our minds!"

The twenty people quickly looked away and descended the hill along the path leading into the island, leaving the strange noises from the fish behind.