Drugging the Ghost

[Barbecue grill: iron block (0/8), stone (0/30), coal (0/10)]

[Range hood: iron block (0/10), magic battery (0/1)]

Xiao Hao had opened so many treasure chests that he had materials to spare. As for the meat...

It came courtesy of the Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp.

Once he crafted the items from the various blueprints, he could place them with ease, as though he were a designer arranging an architectural rendering.

Xiao Hao busied himself as though no one else were there. Being ignored nearly gave the Ghost a brain hemorrhage.

An enormous purple-black claw of energy slammed into the Coral Shell Room, instantly knocking down a large chunk of its mana.

The commotion was so loud that Xiao Hao involuntarily glanced over.

The Ghost stood rooted to the spot, tightly clutching its scythe fingers without moving.

That blow had cost the room several hundred liters of mana, but the Ghost had paid a hefty price too.

Xiao Hao gave it a calm glance, then turned back to his work, as though no matter how much the Ghost flailed around, it was nothing more than a clown in his eyes.

And so, Xiao Hao began grilling meat right under the Ghost's nose. His brazen attitude repeatedly sent it into a fury.

[Now I'm hungry...]

[When we were trying to survive back then, every player was a miserable wreck, cold and starving. How come this streamer gets to have a barbecue?!]

[What did the streamer do for a living? He's so smart that I thought he must have had an intellectual job, but seeing his grilling skills, I'm starting to wonder if he was a chef.]

[Are people seriously having barbecues in a survival game? Are we even playing the same game?]

[So this is what a top player looks like? I'm so jealous...]

Xiao Hao had intended to keep provoking the Ghost, but he noticed that it seemed hungry too. Its eye sockets kept facing the grilled meat in his hand.

The meat slices were as thin as a cicada's wings. The mantis shrimp's knife skills were truly impressive.

On second thought, Xiao Hao decided to stop trying to anger it.

Perhaps he could use the food to slip it something!

They had been enemies for so long that a direct offer would be far too obvious. The Ghost would surely refuse outright.

Xiao Hao decided to take an indirect approach.

Xiao Hao used the Game Panel to take a picture and uploaded it to the forum.

"Holy shit! The big shot is actually eating grilled meat!"

"You can actually have grilled meat at the bottom of the sea?!"

"The bread I worked my ass off to get suddenly doesn't seem appetizing anymore!"

"Please, boss, spare me a slice! Just one!"

Messages refreshed at lightning speed, and the forum overflowed with envy. After so many days of eating nothing but bread and water, the survivors were desperate for anything with flavor.

"Player 869: Anyone have sleeping pills? Trading grilled meat."

"What? How could anyone have sleeping pills..."

"Where would we get sleeping pills..."

"We're all human. You have so much food, so just share some..."

Xiao Hao couldn't be bothered with those trying to guilt-trip him. He waited quietly.

When they were transported here, their beds had come along with them. Perhaps a few people had brought their regular supply of sleeping pills to the seabed too.

Fortunately, after a short wait, someone listed sleeping pills on the marketplace, though there was only half a bottle.

Without wasting words, Xiao Hao traded a large plate of grilled meat for them.

When the large plate of meat suddenly vanished from his hand, Xiao Hao pretended to notice the Ghost's confusion and smiled. "I've got plenty of meat anyway. I'm sharing some with the other players."

Xiao Hao hadn't really shared anything with the other players unconditionally. His words were meant to hint to the Ghost that he was willing to share his grilled meat.

With that, he took more slices of meat from his space slot and continued grilling.

The Ghost clacked its two rows of teeth together, as though mocking Xiao Hao. You can barely look after yourself, yet you're sharing grilled meat? Ha.

Xiao Hao raised his eyebrows. As he ate the grilled meat, which tasted somewhere between fish and shrimp, he even took out a can of beer. Grilled meat and beer-pure bliss.

Thankfully, he hadn't wasted that bedful of snacks back then, or he wouldn't have any beer now.

The Ghost's eye sockets faced the slices on the grill, and its Adam's apple bobbed in its neck, which was covered in bluish-purple veins.

Only when the moment seemed right did Xiao Hao speak. "Want some?"

The Ghost turned its eye sockets coldly toward Xiao Hao.

Unbothered by its icy attitude, Xiao Hao continued tempting it. "The grilled meat is really tasty..."

The Ghost's attack faltered.

After speaking, Xiao Hao used Shadow Transformation to turn the grilled meat into a shadow, then sent it through the gap in the window to the Ghost.

As the delicious meat regained its shape and soaked in the icy seawater, its flavor began to fade. The Ghost hesitated, then swallowed it anyway.

This human had actually given it grilled meat to eat.

"Want more?"

The corners of Xiao Hao's mouth lifted slightly.

Before the Ghost could reply, Xiao Hao obligingly sent out another slice.

The Ghost chewed the meat with its two rows of large yellow teeth, yet Xiao Hao showed no trace of disgust.

It didn't answer Xiao Hao, but it stopped attacking the Coral Shell Room.

After it had eaten for a while, Xiao Hao figured the timing was about right.

The pills in the other beer had dissolved.

"Have a drink."

With that, Xiao Hao used Shadow Transformation to send the beer to the Ghost. Seawater kept diluting the beer. Xiao Hao was anxious inside, but outwardly he continued enjoying his grilled meat.

Hurry up and drink!

If you wait any longer, all the sleeping pills will be diluted away!

Xiao Hao picked up his own beer and took a sip, exaggerating the movement to prompt the Ghost to drink.

With nothing but salty, bitter seawater flowing through its throat, the Ghost paused, then pushed the remaining half of its tongue into the beer can.

Seemingly tasting something different, the Ghost perked up and stuffed the entire beer into its mouth, can and all!

The beer can crumpled beneath its teeth, exposing numerous sharp metal shards and corners. The shards pierced the Ghost's gums and mouth, even slicing apart the remaining half of its tongue.

After chewing for a while, the Ghost had crushed the can into a slightly flattened metal ball bristling with shards!

The ball was too large for it to swallow. Xiao Hao thought it would spit it out, but instead, it used its scythe fingers to shove the metal ball into its throat!

The metal ball worked its way down its throat, with shards piercing through the wall. Like a scalpel cutting into flesh, they carved a horrifying gash along its throat!

The seawater had washed its flesh pale, and its blood had long since drained away. Even with its entire throat sliced open, not a single drop of blood emerged.

The lump of metal worked its way down into its stomach. Through the gaps between its ribs, Xiao Hao could clearly see the shards and sharp corners piercing through its stomach. He froze.

A chill shot straight up his spine. Xiao Hao's scalp prickled, and goosebumps rose all over his body.

The Ghost's horrifying nature kept shattering his understanding of the world.

Xiao Hao suppressed his fear and forced himself to keep watching it.

He wanted to see whether the pills would affect the Ghost.

Its body was a corpse to begin with, only brought back to "life" by some force. Surely poison wouldn't work on it...

Still, Xiao Hao was trying anything he could. If it offered even a slight improvement in his odds, he would give it a shot.

Unfortunately...

Huh?

The Ghost's skull suddenly swayed from side to side.

It actually worked!

Although the effect didn't seem strong, as long as it gave Xiao Hao even a slightly better chance of winning, it was a win for him!

Taking sleeping pills with alcohol intensified their sedative effects and suppressed brain activity. In severe cases, it could even be life-threatening.

Xiao Hao had added the entire half-bottle of sleeping pills, but their effect on a monster like the Deep-Sea Ghost was extremely limited.

Now that it had taken the pills, Xiao Hao naturally wasn't going to keep giving it grilled meat.

The Ghost remained dazed for a while, then began clawing at the window again.

It ate his meat, then clawed at his window.

If this Ghost didn't die, there was no justice in the world!

After swallowing the final slice of grilled meat, Xiao Hao wiped his mouth and upgraded both the room and the Guardian to level 10.

When the room reached level 10, a game notification appeared, but Xiao Hao only glanced at it before setting it aside.

He needed to focus entirely on the Ghost now. The battle was about to begin; he could examine the notification afterward.

A glance at the Game Panel showed that he had 500 Spirit Pearls left. With so many available, there was no way the Ghost could break through the Coral Shell Room.

But Xiao Hao didn't intend to use Spirit Pearls to replenish its mana. If the Ghost decided there was no hope of breaking into the Coral Shell Room and simply left, that would be troublesome.

It was about time, and the Seahorse had rested enough.

Darkness Domain descended over them. The Ghost paused, then continued clawing at the window.

Once again, they entered a battle of attrition. Time passed slowly, with neither side making a sound.

The Maintenance Card's eight hours ran out, and it vanished.

Noticing that there was only an hour until daylight, Xiao Hao immediately used the Double Card to double the power of the Seahorse's Darkness Erosion.

The Ghost sensed its vitality draining away, but it had no intention of stopping.

It knew its opponent had used his fifth card, and that he still had a sixth card capable of reflecting attacks.

It would make him exhaust all his cards in one go, then break into the Coral Shell Room!

Every so often, the Ghost unleashed a powerful attack, trying to force Xiao Hao to use the Rebound Card.

Only when the final hour was nearly over did Xiao Hao reflect the Ghost's powerful attack.

The Double Card and Rebound Card were spent, both vanishing.

Dawn arrived. The Ghost's whole body looked rotten, and its entire skeleton creaked.

The moment it had waited for was finally here!

It had been waiting for its opponent to use up all his cards!

Now he would have no chance of turning things around!

But it didn't know that what it wanted to see was exactly what Xiao Hao wanted to show it.

With its next swipe, the Ghost suddenly realized that its attack was weaker than before.

Daylight had arrived. Without the boost from dark energy, its attack power had dropped considerably.

Yet it couldn't bear to retreat just like that.

Seeing the Ghost's attacks slow down, Xiao Hao immediately gave it some encouragement. "It's daytime. Get lost already!"

Sure enough, the furious Ghost clawed at the window faster. Xiao Hao silently congratulated himself for drugging it. Its muddled mind made it easy to provoke. Otherwise, if it wanted to leave, he wouldn't be able to stop it.

Xiao Hao kept watching the Curse-Kill Card on the Game Panel. At last, it glowed purple, indicating that its conditions for use had been met.

The Ghost's health had finally dropped to 30%!

But Xiao Hao didn't intend to use the Curse-Kill Card immediately.

Using the Curse-Kill Card now wouldn't kill the Ghost in a single blow. It would only scare it away and leave trouble for the future.

After clawing for a while longer, the Ghost gradually sensed that something was wrong.

It could already tell that it was badly injured.

That was a dangerous sign.

But the Coral Shell Room looked ready to collapse. Even at level 10, it had been battered into a sorry state by hours of clawing.

The Ghost hesitated, but ultimately chose not to retreat and continued clawing at the Coral Shell Room.

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