Voyage Through the Storm

Today's weather

The storm has intensified. Please watch out for floating debris at sea.

Location: Origin Sea (Storm Sea)

Daylight duration: unknown

Temperature: 13-18°C.

Wind force: 9

Yang Yi and Su Na had formed a fleet and had been sailing for two days.

Over those two days, they had not seen the sun at all. The sea was pitch-black, and visibility was limited.

The wind force had also risen by one level. Waves churned across the sea, and they would be lucky to maintain even half their original speed of several dozen knots.

When the storm first started, the wind force had only been 4. That had been the golden window for making headway.

During that time, Yang Yi had been bewitched by the Siren and missed that golden window. He had fallen far behind and was now at the tail end of the main group.

He learned this from the chat channel.

His friend Xu Da, captain of the Gale, had broken out of the Storm Sea the night before.

His ship could reach 70 knots, making it the fastest ship in the game at present. If it had already reached level two, it would probably be even faster.

He had shared some information-the waters outside the Storm Sea were calm, and the sun was shining!

Over the next two days, many of the faster ships were expected to break out of the Storm Sea.

Except for the two unlucky souls who had set off halfway through-Yang Yi and Su Na.

"Damn it!"

Yang Yi had not slept for days. His eyes were bloodshot, and his temper was foul.

He drank a bottle of Coconut Refresh to replenish his energy, then sent Su Na a private message through the log.

"Su Na, there aren't any islands or reefs up ahead, right?"

He did not want to blunder onto some island and run aground, or crash into a reef.

"No. Don't bother me. I'm at a critical stage!"

Ever since she had returned to the Astrologer two days ago, she had not shown her face again.

"What exactly are you doing?" Yang Yi asked.

But Su Na did not reply.

She was in the Astrologer's cabin, where a long wooden table stood.

Not far from her was a basketball-sized crystal ball displaying a nautical chart of the surrounding hundred nautical miles.

But her attention was not on the chart. It was on the Siren's corpse on the table.

Using the Witch's Dagger as a scalpel, Su Na cut open the Siren's skin, examined the complex arrangement of nerves and blood vessels within, inferred the makeup of its organs, and took detailed notes.

Some organs had already been removed intact, including the brain and eyeballs, and were soaking in glass jars.

She had spent quite a few resources trading for several glass jars, all for this moment.

"This Siren... has flaws in many parts of its anatomy. Half-mermaid would be a more fitting name.

"There are also immune rejection reactions inside its body, as though human and fish organs were crudely forced together, with the two rejecting each other.

"It needs to eat humans to alleviate this rejection..."

She murmured her findings as she wrote them down.

"But this rejection seems to be weakening. If it disappears entirely, the Siren's body may undergo new changes..."

Meanwhile, Yang Yi was still at the helm, dodging floating debris carried by the currents.

If not for the storm, many people would probably have been happy to snag this debris with grappling hooks.

But now, everyone avoided it like the plague.

The debris was large and fast-moving. Some pieces were outright fragments of ships, belonging to who knew which unfortunate players.

So Yang Yi had not relaxed for a moment. His nerves remained taut as he steered clear of the debris.

His Nightmare was dilapidated. Durability was its weak point, with a mere six hundred. Its hull was made of rotten wood and had nothing to do with the word sturdy.

Just three collisions had cost it over a hundred durability!

A few more, and his ship would fall apart!

With the situation so urgent, Yang Yi had considered using the Pirate blueprint.

But the system informed him that his surroundings were unsafe, so he was not allowed to use a blueprint to modify his ship.

With no other option, he could only grit his teeth and keep sailing.

At the same time, Yang Yi was keeping an eye on the world channel to track changes and developments in the sea.

It was mostly bad news and complaints from players.

"I'm screwed... The wind was so strong just now, I think I went the wrong way. Can someone tell me which direction to go?"

"How much farther is it? Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

"Buying timber at a high price! I've got several million in my bank account. Just give me 10 timber, and it's all yours!"

"Dumbass!"

"Damn it, my ship's taking on water! Who's selling timber? 30 conch coins per unit, buying any quantity!"

Timber could repair ships, so its value was skyrocketing, and it was extremely hard to buy.

Sometimes a single unit of timber could sell for an astronomical 50 conch coins...

"There's something underwater attacking my ship!"

A message suddenly caught Yang Yi's attention.

This could be a new development in the sea-monster attacks!

The player's predicament drew the attention of many others, who began asking questions.

"Bro, did you really hear it clearly? Could you have hit an obstacle?"

"No, I'm already in the cabin. The hull keeps making noises. There's definitely something ramming my ship!"

"My God!"

"Haha, the monsters have started spawning! Have fun, everyone. I can already see the boundary! See you!"

"Save me, it's a fishman..."

The messages stopped. The player had probably died, and the system had sent his final, unfinished words.

Yang Yi grew tense too.

A sheet of spray blew into Yang Yi's face, chilling him to the bone.

He immediately contacted Su Na.

"Su Na, there might be monsters in the sea. We need to get ready! What's going on over there?" Yang Yi asked.

Su Na had finished the dissection. Excessive excitement had sent blood rushing to her face, flushing it red.

Her eyes were scarlet, and her breath was fragrant as she looked at the information that had popped up in the log.

[?????? Conditions met. Otherworldly Demons dissected and studied: 2/2. Your talent has been unlocked-Forbidden Scholar.

Forbidden Scholar: maximum sanity permanently reduced by 20. Occultism System unlocked. You can now construct special buildings, develop original formulas of your own, and craft unique items.

In the end, you still couldn't restrain your curiosity! Little did you know... this might be a path of no return.]

"Su Na, I'm asking you a question! What are you doing? Answer me!" Yang Yi was getting a little angry.

Only then did Su Na take a deep breath, calm herself, and reply.

"What is it?"

"How's your ship's durability?" Yang Yi asked.

"Almost undamaged."

"Good. Come over to the Nightmare! I'll give you permission. Help me repair the ship and bring its durability back to full!"

"All right!"

Su Na agreed.

She put her precious organs and pieces of corpse into the Treasure Bag, grabbed the crystal ball, and headed toward the Nightmare.

The two ships were linked fore and aft by ropes and grappling hooks, with very little distance between them. Normally, laying down a wooden plank would have been enough to walk across easily.

But now both ships were pitching about. Crawling would be better than walking; it would be steadier.

Su Na crawled across the plank. The moment she boarded the Nightmare, Yang Yi called her into the cabin.

"I've already given you permission. Use some stone to make a stone hammer, then restore the Nightmare's durability to full. After that, stay aboard the Nightmare.

"We might run into monsters next. It'll be dangerous if we're separated!"