Su Na had no choice but to agree to Yang Yi's terms.
But she did not mind in the slightest.
Her ship only had 8 units of wood, 5 units of cloth, and 4 L of fresh water. Giving Yang Yi half hardly mattered.
Her ship, the Astrologer, was special. Upgrading it required no wood or cloth, but crystal ×100 and steel ×50 instead.
Wood and cloth were therefore of little use to her, and she had traded them all for food and water.
Of course, she would not volunteer the fact that she was penniless to Yang Yi.
And she was looking forward to seeing what expression Yang Yi would make when the time came.
Yang Yi knew nothing of this and thought he had extorted a hefty sum from her. After all, they had unequal access to information, and he had no idea Su Na was so poor.
He used the broken bone to cut through the seaweed binding Su Na and set her free.
But Su Na had been tied up for too long and had not eaten for days. She was so weak that she could not get to her feet just yet.
What she did with her hands, however, left Yang Yi dumbfounded.
"What are you doing?" Yang Yi asked in bewilderment.
Su Na was using her hands to gather the slime on the ground into a small mound, then opening her mouth and sucking it in.
That slime reeked of fish...
"I'm thirsty. The slime these Sirens secrete can provide me with water, salt, and some nutrients..." Su Na said flatly, her brow furrowing.
Clearly, the slime did not taste good, but she fought back her nausea and did not spit it out.
"Aren't you afraid the slime is poisonous?" Yang Yi asked.
"No!
"You've been eating it for three days, and you haven't shown any signs of poisoning!"
"Uh..."
Yang Yi had nothing to say. He simply felt that the woman before him was a little abnormal!
After replenishing her fluids, Su Na looked considerably better.
She took a small knife from inside her clothes, lowered herself, and approached the large sailfish's corpse. She sliced through its skin, cut off a few pieces of fresh flesh, then chewed and swallowed them.
This small knife was also a piece of equipment.
[Name: Witch's Dagger] [Type: Treasure] [Quality: Fine] [Description: A dagger favored by witches, with many uses, including slicing open your belly. Can inflict a tiny amount of damage on Otherworldly Demons.]
As Su Na gradually recovered, Yang Yi began examining the cavern.
It was not large, with only one passage leading outside, through which came the patter of rain and the howling wind.
There was also a pool inside the cavern, too deep to see the bottom. It was very likely connected to the sea.
He inspected the male corpse and felt that the man had been dead for some time.
He felt over the corpse but found nothing of value.
"The pool or the cave entrance-which way do the Sirens usually come back?" Yang Yi asked Su Na.
"Either is possible," she replied.
"Do they move together, then?"
"No." Su Na had observed these Sirens for three days and had picked up on some patterns. "They usually split into two groups. The larger one goes alone, while the other two smaller ones, about 1.4 meters long, usually move together."
"I see. Does the big one usually return first, or the small ones?"
"Either is possible. There's no pattern, but the gap between their returns isn't long, around fifteen minutes."
Yang Yi nodded, having gained a rough understanding of the situation.
If the three Sirens habitually moved together, the best plan would be to run.
After all, fighting three Sirens head-on was far too risky!
But if there were two, he had a chance of winning.
"Can you keep one occupied?" Yang Yi asked.
"If it's a small one, I should be able to. I've fought them before," came Su Na's reply.
Having replenished her salt and fluids and eaten some fish, she was gradually recovering.
It was clear that her physical fitness was not bad, and might even be better than Yang Yi's.
"A Siren's main weapon is her song, but it has no effect on women.
"And their upper-body strength isn't great, about the same as an ordinary woman's. Their strength should be around 4, similar to mine.
"If you fight them on land, you only need to avoid their claws and teeth."
Su Na explained.
There were several cuts on her body, though none were deep. They were probably scratches from the Sirens.
"I didn't know there were three Sirens back then, or they wouldn't have caught me!
"You have a gun. That's more than enough to deal with them. Just plug your ears and shoot as quickly as possible!"
Su Na did not know that Yang Yi's gun could misfire, so she thought it would not be difficult.
Yang Yi did not intend to explain, either. Willingly exposing his weaknesses was not in his nature.
He began checking his attribute panel.
Yang Yi Status: Healthy "A spread-eagled human figure, entirely green" Strength: 3 (49/50) Spirit: 7+1 (892/8000) [Talent bonus] Agility: 4+1 (69/100) [Pirate outfit bonus] Constitution: 4 (4/100) Perception: 5 (32/200) Sanity: 50/100 Energy: 92/100 Health: 99/100 (Bitten by Su Na, lost 1 health)
He had already figured out the conditions for improving each attribute.
Physical exercise could increase experience for strength, constitution, and agility.
Getting injured and recovering could grant additional constitution experience.
Changes in sanity, especially drastic changes followed by recovery, could greatly increase spirit experience.
Activities such as fishing, shooting, and using a grappling hook could all increase perception experience.
The methods of improvement were quite realistic.
Combined with Su Na's information, the Sirens were only average fighters on land, had around 4 strength, and did not move as a group of three.
Then he only needed to hurry and raise his strength to 4. Combined with the frenzied strength bonus (+2), he would be able to overpower the Sirens.
They were sea creatures, after all. Their agility on land certainly would not be high.
The only thing he needed to watch out for was a Siren's tail. It was probably very powerful, and he had to make sure it did not strike a vital spot.
Once he had worked this out, Yang Yi immediately got moving. Gaining one point of experience should be easy. He looked around for anything heavy in the cave that he could use to exercise.
At first glance, however, he saw nothing. The cavern was bare, with nothing but stone walls and lightweight bones.
But his thinking was flexible and unconstrained, and he immediately turned his attention to other objects.
Su Na, for example. He could lift her to train his strength.
Or the dead sailfish on the ground. Its weight looked suitable, too.
Or perhaps... the male corpse on the ground.
After weighing everything up, Yang Yi decided the male corpse was the best choice.
The large sailfish offered no good place to get a grip.
If he chose Su Na, she would definitely resist, and he might get bitten.
So the male corpse was best. He would neither resist nor bite!
Although only half his arms remained, his weight was just right, and his head and neck were still there, making him easy to grip.
So Yang Yi gripped the male corpse's neck with both hands, lifted him, and began weight training.
"Is there something wrong with your head? Have you gone mad?"
Su Na looked at Yang Yi, deeply shocked by his bizarre behavior. "Tell me, how much sanity do you have left?"
"Don't worry, my sanity is a whopping 50!"
"50?"
Su Na stared at Yang Yi, her eyes full of disbelief.
A drop in sanity affected one's mental state. Even if it had not fallen below 50, it still had some effect.
Yet Yang Yi seemed completely unconcerned about his sanity, or perhaps... he had been in a subtle state of madness all along.
Su Na's gaze gradually grew fervent as she watched Yang Yi, as though she were looking at some rare animal.
Completely unaware of this, Yang Yi continued his snatches.
Unfortunately, just as he reached his ninth snatch, the sound of some creature wriggling came from outside the entrance passage.
Judging by the sound, there should only be one.
"She's back. Hurry and stuff these into your ears!"
Su Na handed Yang Yi two suitably sized lumps of fish, which she had just cut from the tuna.
But Yang Yi shook his head and refused.
"No need. I have my own way!" He turned to look at the Siren.
Before you continue