Abandoned Ship

At that moment, everyone on the boat fell silent. No one dared to move, their eyes fixed on the giant snake's eyes, bracing for its next move.

York, the jungle survival expert, half-crouched, signaling everyone to do the same. He whispered, "Everyone, don't move, don't do anything rash. Slowly crouch down..."

Just then, the giant snake moved.

It opened its massive jaws and lunged at the mercenary captain standing in the center of the deck.

The captain rolled to his left, narrowly dodging the attack. However, the snake's body slammed into the ship's mast, snapping it in two.

Then, the black man Wuji roared, raising the staff he held and swinging it at the giant snake's head.

The moment Wuji lunged, York was beside himself. He yelled, "Come back! No!"

But it was too late. Wuji's staff struck the snake's head. Attacked, the giant snake, regardless of its location, recoiled and immediately performed a death coil.

This was a typical constrictor's move, but the sheer size and length of this snake were astonishing. Upon being struck, the giant snake instinctively coiled its body.

Its nearly hundred-meter-long body whipped out of the water, twisting and thrashing on the ship's deck. Anything it touched was caught within its coils and crushed.

Wuji, the black man, was closest to the snake and the first to be ensnared. He tried to push against the snake's body, but in the next instant, he was squeezed into a bloody pulp.

The ship captain's two sons were also caught. They weren't trained fighters and couldn't react properly in danger, so their response was slower than others.

When the giant snake went berserk, they were the first to scream and run, ultimately stumbling into the snake's coils.

At this point, York understood they couldn't stay on the boat. Without looking back, he leaped into the river, shouting, "Everyone jump! Get to shore!"

Perkin reacted the fastest. He took one look at the situation on the boat and, without a word, sprinted towards the edge.

The sound of their running alerted the giant snake. Its body straightened instantly, and it lunged towards the source of the footsteps.

Perkin felt a chill down his spine. He ran faster than he thought possible for his age. Just before the snake bit him, he lunged forward over a meter, clearing the ship's railing and plunging into the river.

The giant snake bit down on the railing, pulverizing the wooden structure.

Seizing this opportunity, the others scrambled towards the ship's edge from various angles. Even the ship captain had no thought of revenge.

The sound of their movement again drew the giant snake's attention. Missing its bite, the snake raised its body once more, flicking its tongue to "listen" to their footsteps.

Without York's guidance, the people on the boat had no idea about moving quietly. Their only thought was to jump into the water before anyone else. They couldn't stay on the boat any longer.

So, they ran with all their might. The sound of their footsteps vibrated the deck, transmitting considerable information to the giant snake.

Only Liu Zhi, closest to the ship's edge, maintained the posture York had taught them, carefully inching towards the side.

He had seen enough on TV to know that snakes primarily used heat and vibration to locate prey. As long as he wasn't the one moving the most erratically, he wouldn't be the snake's immediate target.

Just as Liu Zhi was about to reach the ship's edge, an accident occurred. The mercenary leader, running towards Liu Zhi's side, was targeted by the giant snake.

It wasn't hard to understand. After several deaths, there weren't many people left on the boat. The mercenary leader carried many weapons, and even casual movements usually made clanking sounds.

Let alone when fleeing for their lives; he was essentially a mobile noise source.

The giant snake immediately locked onto the mercenary leader.

As the snake was about to bite the leader, the leader raised his hand and hurled the hand axe from his waist towards Liu Zhi.

Simultaneously, using the momentum of the throw, he leaped off the boat. The sound of the axe hitting the deck perfectly masked the clatter of his other gear, drawing the snake's attention towards Liu Zhi.

Liu Zhi had already retreated to the ship's edge. Faced with this situation, he couldn't afford to move slowly anymore. He placed his hand on the railing, flipped himself over, and jumped into the river.

However, the giant snake reacted much faster than he anticipated. The moment Liu Zhi flipped, the snake's jaws snapped towards him.

Liu Zhi instinctively recoiled, dodging the bite.

This was purely an instinctive reaction. As he dodged, he employed the "Night Ambush" footwork from the Z-Secret Sword. Facing the snake, which was preparing to strike again...

For some reason, a sudden impulse surged through Liu Zhi. He drew the Sailor Scimitar from his waist and, as the snake opened its mouth, slashed at its tongue.

With that strike, Liu Zhi felt his Scimitar cut into something slippery, something that resisted his blade.

Without looking closely, he released his grip, turned, and jumped off the boat.

As he jumped down, he glanced back and saw the giant snake opening its mouth to bite downwards from the ship. And caught halfway in the snake's mouth was his Scimitar, lodged in its tongue.

Liu Zhi frowned, calculating his swimming speed. He knew that the moment he hit the water, the giant snake would catch up to him.

So, Liu Zhi lifted his leg and kicked hard against the ship's hull, using the recoil to propel himself a distance away.

The instant he hit the water, Liu Zhi pushed off the surface with his hands, forcing his body upwards and allowing him to run across the water.

This put the others struggling to swim in the water in an awkward position. No matter how fast they swam, they couldn't match his running speed.

More importantly, their swimming movements were quite large. The giant snake had been on the ship earlier, but now it had clearly entered the water, and everyone again became its target.

The moment the giant snake submerged, those who had been swimming froze. Then, they began to swim frantically. In their eyes, reaching the shore was their only hope of survival.

They didn't even consider fighting the giant snake. If it were just a slightly larger python, they might have had some confidence, but facing this creature, they didn't even dare to meet its gaze. Their only thought now was to escape!