Public Enemy

Ling Chu was initially a bit annoyed by the news Missing Teeth had leaked, but when she saw the post from the ID called Squid Ball, she couldn't help but laugh again.

Clearly, Squid Ball's verbal combat prowess was far above Missing Teeth's—a few words left him speechless, reduced to spamming question marks.

At that moment, players paying attention to the Nearby Channel all paused their sea urchin digging in unison and switched to feeding the fish.

Ling Chu had already seized the moment when the news was exposed to feed the fish again. After the fish ate the sea urchins, they led her to a hidden treasure chest, but no matter how much she fed them afterward, they just circled around her.

The number of treasure chests in this nearby sea area was limited to begin with; with so many people scrambling for them, they must have been fully divided.

Ling Chu was content—she had harvested four treasure chests in total.

That was much faster than fishing.

Ling Chu continued digging for sea urchins.

The challenge time passed by unnoticed, half gone.

Ling Chu filled another full bag of sea urchins. Just as she put it into her storage space, she didn't notice that not far behind her, a figure was quietly creeping closer.

The one targeting Ling Chu was a man of not particularly tall stature.

He was one of the few still using the initial raft, looking gaunt and sallow.

On the first day he entered the game, his fishing rod had accidentally been dragged into the sea by a fish, losing his fishing equipment from the start. For the past two days, he hadn't had a single full meal, let alone gathered resources to trade for iron ore.

Just as he thought he wouldn't survive the night, he stumbled into this Public Challenge.

As long as he got a rank, he could obtain material rewards—this was his last chance to get iron ore.

He hadn't eaten in two days and had no strength to gather sea urchins; after half a day, he'd only collected half a bag. He hadn't paid attention to the channel messages either, missing out on the treasure chest windfall.

At this rate, he definitely wouldn't get a ranking reward, so he set his sights on someone else.

He had been silently observing the surrounding players. Ling Chu was gathering the most, filling a whole pouch. Just a blink ago, her Fish Basket full of sea urchins was suddenly empty, and she continued collecting as if nothing had happened.

He deduced that Ling Chu must have some kind of spatial storage item on her.

If he could snatch that storage item from her, he'd definitely secure a high rank! And maybe even make a fortune from it.

The man stared at Ling Chu's figure, his hand gripping the Iron Pickaxe trembling slightly.

This was his first time killing someone, and he was a bit nervous, but to survive, he had to do this...

To avoid guilt, the man mentally built himself up.

This challenge had no newbie protection, meaning the rules implicitly allowed players to attack and plunder each other. What he was doing wasn't wrong.

Just as he crept up behind Ling Chu and raised the Iron Pickaxe high with both hands, a muffled gunshot rang out abruptly underwater.

Ling Chu turned at the sound. A bloody hole appeared in the man's chest, the gushing blood dyeing the surrounding Seawater red.

Not far away, Titch was pointing his Revolver at him mercilessly.

[Your servant killed player Zhang Shiba. Your Sin Value +10 points.]

A bullet's range and speed slowed underwater, but its lethality to humans was still fatal.

The man wasn't completely dead yet, staring at them with unyielding eyes, as if wondering why this player would help a stranger kill someone.

He died never knowing that the one who killed him wasn't human at all, but Ling Chu's "summon."

"Captain, are you alright?"

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Titch stepped forward to check on her immediately.

Ling Chu waved her hand, signaling she was fine.

Water pressure underwater affected hearing; she truly hadn't noticed someone trying to ambush her. Good thing Titch had spotted it.

Even if she hadn't heard him approach, the abnormal water flow when he struck would have let her dodge with Ghostly Steps.

Still, giving the Revolver to Titch had been the right call.

After Titch killed the man, her Sin Value increased by 10 points. Ling Chu guessed that killing a player with no Sin Value added 10 Sin Value, while killing a player with Sin Value would add corresponding Justice Points.

It was still unclear what having too much Sin Value would do, or if there were side effects.

[Nearby Channel]

"I heard a gunshot just now. Did someone kill someone?"

"I heard it too. Did a Pirate sneak in among us?"

"How come I didn't hear it? Are you guys trying to distract everyone so you can dig more sea urchins?"

As the crowd in the channel debated, another line of text popped up.

[Player Ling Chu killed player Zhang Shiba.]

That simple line silenced the channel for three seconds.

"There really is a Pirate! How brazen, killing someone in a Public Challenge?"

"Not necessarily a Pirate. This challenge has no newbie protection—anyone can kill."

"It's the pirate! I saw a sailboat with a skull head painted on it earlier. Lucky I rowed far enough away."

"Damn it, pirates are nothing but pests. Is there any big shot out there to uphold justice and step up?"

"That pirate's got a gun. Who'd dare mess with that? I'm not going to die for nothing."

Missing Teeth: "If you don't go, when that pirate comes for you, you won't even have time to cry. Better we all act together and root out that pirate first, kill him. Otherwise, I can't even dig sea urchins in peace..."

Squid Ball: "Oh, where's your saintly attitude now? All quick to kill, huh?"

Missing Teeth: "Killing a pirate isn't murder. It's ridding the people of a scourge."

Squid Ball: "Tsk, with that kind of ferocity, you're wasted out here. Why not come guard my front door?"

Missing Teeth: "? Your mouth's really asking for it. Dare to drop your coordinates? I'll kill you too."

Squid Ball: "I'm so scared. Who's the real pirate here? Could it be you're the one crying thief?"

Missing Teeth: "..."

Missing Teeth: "Don't you slander me!"

Now "pirate" had become a curse word.

Ling Chu's mood was a bit complicated.

She had only killed someone who was about to make a move on her. How had that stirred up public outrage among the nearby players?

Still, with a gun in hand, she felt especially confident. During the newbie phase, players with guns were definitely in the minority.

She wanted to see who else was looking for trouble.

Zhang Shiba's corpse had already drifted with the current, swept into the trench and out of sight.

That was the advantage of killing someone underwater—no need for her to do anything, and the evidence was destroyed.

Ling Chu stared at the messages denouncing her in the channel. After a moment's thought, she gestured to Titch to find a nearby reef to hide behind and wait for the right moment to act.

Titch immediately obeyed, finding a large reef that could conceal his form and hiding there.

Ling Chu stayed put, continuing to dig for sea urchins with her head down.

Before long, four men swam toward her in a group. The man at the front carried a double-barreled shotgun on his back. Ling Chu grew alert but outwardly showed no sign of abnormality, focusing on digging sea urchins while secretly using her eyepatch to check their basic info.

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