The limping monster clearly possessed intelligence. With no one holding it back, it opened its eyes again, though only three compound eyes remained.
Its cold gaze swept over the chaos on deck. Then it shrieked and lashed out again with its fleshy tendrils, each bristling with sharp barbs!
No one could stop it!
Crack!
One tendril whipped toward the pirates guarding the captives at the stern. Bones snapped, sinews tore, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.
Amid screams that made the scalp crawl, countless pirates tumbled into the water like rag dolls torn apart, then vanished beneath the surging waves.
Crunch!
Another tendril slammed into the remains at the base of the mast like a sledgehammer, rocking the entire ship.
With a teeth-grating crack of splintering wood, a branching fissure burst from the mast and raced toward Xia Lun!
Xia Lun grabbed a nearby hanging rope and hopped over the spreading crack, barely steadying himself on the line.
He looked up and saw that the captain had fallen headfirst into the fissure. Whether he lived or died was anyone's guess.
The First Mate gave a cold laugh from the forecastle, but that faint, scornful sound seemed to catch the monster's attention.
The monster turned with a limp and lashed a tendril toward the First Mate.
Boom!
The First Mate's laughter stopped. The forecastle collapsed under the blow!
Buried in the wreckage, the First Mate's fate was just as uncertain.
For the second time in a short span, Xia Lun was stunned. These mutinous pirates had no plan whatsoever for dealing with the sea monster!
What was this, a mutiny on impulse? he couldn't help thinking.
The already chaotic scene descended further into disorder. Darkness and driving rain fed the panic as the pirates on deck fought separately, running around like headless chickens.
But perhaps because its wounds were so severe, the monster moved nowhere near as quickly as before. Even its furious slaughter betrayed a sense of weakness and strain.
Absurd as the pirates' mutiny had been, it had pushed the situation in Xia Lun's favor.
Pirates and monster alike were his enemies. The best outcome for him was for both sides to tear each other apart.
Xia Lun did not rush into action. He stayed in the shadows and studied the monster closely.
Analysis was the mother of action.
The monster had already used a tendril to pull the broken mast from its body, but the mast had left irreversible damage.
Bloodlike mucus poured from its torn, black flesh. Among its humming, trembling tendrils, Xia Lun suddenly caught a glimpse of striking ivory white.
What was that?
He narrowed his eyes. Focusing harder, he finally made out the object's shape.
It seemed to be a book made of white wax, lodged like a flag among the tendrils on the monster's back.
"Could it be a Grimoire?"
Xia Lun's dark pupils contracted, and his heart began to race!
Thump, thump... Thump, thump...
For the first time, he saw real hope of curing his illness!
Even before entering the game, he had thoroughly investigated the experiences of Players who had gained supernatural abilities.
Most refused to discuss it, but some Players whose minds had shattered into madness repeatedly mumbled about one way to gain supernatural power: obtain and study a Grimoire.
According to those madmen, Grimoires were usually closely tied to whatever had given rise to a Scenario, and most were found near the powerful monsters within it. Studying one would bring enlightenment and reveal the truth of the world!
Xia Lun was skeptical about this supposed revelation. After all, everyone who spoke of it had become a pitiable madman unable to tell illusion from reality...
As he understood it, in the terms of the Cthulhu tabletop RPG from before his transmigration, using a Grimoire meant gaining supernatural powers at the cost of one's sanity.
To cure a strange illness beyond the reach of modern medicine, he needed supernatural power. Now a path to it lay before him!
That path might bring endless trouble, but rather than wait quietly to die, he would take his chances.
At least then, his fate would be in his own hands.
"I'm getting that Wax Book, whatever it takes!" Xia Lun's gaze darkened.
He drew a deep breath. The salty, metallic taste of blood on his tongue steadied his mind a little.
Desire could cloud judgment, and acting blindly would only lead to failure. He needed a workable plan first.
Killing the monster and then taking the Wax Book was one option. But by then, the greedy pirates would likely turn on him, so it was hardly safe.
The other option was to exploit the blind spot left by the monster's ruined eyes, circle behind it, and use a grappling hook to snag the Wax Book without anyone noticing.
Which should he choose?
Xia Lun's gaze swept over the rampaging monster, the panicked pirates, the crisscrossing fissures in the deck, and the Revolver in his hand.
He closed his eyes, weighed his options for a moment, and made his decision.
He was close to dying of disease and had nothing to lose. He should choose the high-risk, high-reward plan!
He opened his eyes.
Xia Lun picked up the grappling hook beside a barrel, wound its rope around his right arm, and crouched low. Following the shadows cast by the wreckage of the forecastle and mast, he crept toward the monster's right rear.
Rain hammered the planks. Its roar and the pirates' screams gave Xia Lun's movements perfect cover.
One step, then another...
He carefully climbed over the broken mast. Splinters dug painfully into his palms, but adrenaline smothered the pain almost before it began.
Xia Lun landed lightly and continued creeping forward.
He was close enough now to see the white Wax Book clearly. In the flickering lightning, it seemed to glow faintly, like treasure hoarded by a dragon.
But if the monster turned around now, he would face death again.
Stealthily moving along a knife's edge was a cold, shuddering sensation. Every hair on Xia Lun's body seemed to stand on end.
Soon he reached throwing distance. Beside him was a huge fissure he could duck into if necessary.
It was time...
He crouched carefully and began unwinding the rope from his right arm, loop by loop. Just then—
Smack!
A tendril lashed out, hurling a mangled corpse down right in front of Xia Lun. Warm blood splashed across his face.
Xia Lun nearly jumped out of his skin. His heart seemed to miss a beat as he instinctively looked up at the enormous monster. It had not spotted him; it had merely flung a pirate his way.
The monster shrieked and went back to fighting the remaining pirates.
A false alarm.
Xia Lun took a deep breath and slowly rose.
He looped the end of the rope between his thumb and little finger, clamped his other three fingers against either side of the hook, and relaxed his wrist slightly to adjust its angle.
Then he drove off the deck, dropped his shoulder, and whipped his arm forward!
Clack! The iron hook traced a graceful arc, sailed cleanly over the writhing tendrils, and caught on the Wax Book. The motion was seamless, its success almost unbelievable!
Xia Lun let out a long breath, then tugged with his wrist, trying to pull the Wax Book free.
But at that very moment, he caught a searing flash at the edge of his vision. A piercing sound followed, like water coming to a boil!
Something had changed!
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