Nightmare Star, set sail!

"I'm Yu Dawei, captain of the Iron Will. Can you two see my messages?" Yu Dawei posted in the regional channel.

By now, only three players remained in the buffer zone, so he wasn't worried about contacting the wrong people.

"Hello! I'm Yang Yi, captain of the Nightmare Star!" Yang Yi replied.

"Captain Yang, where's your ship? Why can't I see it?"

"It sank."

"Huh?" Yu Dawei was dumbfounded.

He didn't know ships could be rebuilt after sinking and thought he was finished.

Only after Yang Yi explained the situation did he understand.

"You're short seven units of timber?

"That's easy. I'll give you a hundred," Yu Dawei replied immediately. "But once your ship is repaired, could you give me a tow?"

After a moment's thought, Yang Yi agreed.

Time was running short, and the Black Fog was approaching. Only by working together could the two of them escape alive.

Seeing Yang Yi agree, Yu Dawei finally felt his heart settle. He replied, "I'll come closer now. Don't attack me. That's a pistol hanging at your waist, right?"

Yang Yi was a little surprised.

The Iron Will was at least several thousand meters away. How could he make out such details? Did Yu Dawei have a telescope?

But in fact, it was Yu Dawei's talent.

He had two talents.

[Eagle Eye: Perception +2. Exceptional eyesight. Skilled at tracking and aiming.]

His second talent had only unlocked after he killed a large number of giant sea beasts.

[Firepower Above All: As long as you have enough firepower, you dare to face any enemy. Sanity will not fall below 50.

Truth lies only within range of the cannons!]

The Iron Will gradually approached the island. The Black Fog had already covered half the sky and was only fifteen nautical miles from the Iron Will.

At this distance, they no longer needed to communicate through their logs. They could hear each other shout.

Yu Dawei called out.

"I'll send the timber over with the harpoon gun. Don't be scared!"

With that, the Iron Will fired its harpoon, carrying a large bundle of timber that landed a dozen or so meters from Yang Yi.

The bundle contained exactly one hundred units of timber, no more and no less.

With enough materials now, Yang Yi wasted no time. He immediately chose a suitable location and used his log to begin rebuilding the ship.

After he pressed confirm, the materials flew up, scattered into tiny fragments, then assembled into a ship like building blocks.

The ship was about thirty meters long. It still looked like a ghost ship, but it was much larger than before.

The hull was still dilapidated and covered in barnacles. The captain's skeleton was lashed to the bow, with a few strands of seaweed hanging from it, as though it had just surfaced from the sea.

Compared with the Nightmare, the biggest difference was amidships.

An enormous crystal ball had appeared there, in front of the mast.

A small portion of the hull was covered in rusty iron sheeting, making it look considerably sturdier than before.

[Nightmare Star, level 2, durability 1000/1000, capacity 3,000 units, speed 60 knots]

[Ship skills:

Nightmare: Sleep quality aboard the ship is extremely poor and causes nightmares. Energy recovery efficiency -75%. Only affects the captain.

Angler's Curse: Cannot catch normal fish. Increased chance of catching abnormal objects.

Astrology: Displays the surrounding sea chart within a radius of 150 nautical miles, viewable through the crystal ball. Alerts can be set to vibrate when other players appear.

Peering: Search for a ship name or player name to obtain that ship's coordinates and view an image of it. Limited to one target per day.]

[Description: You chose to merge with a ghost ship... hope you don't regret it!]

After reading the ship's information, Yang Yi was fairly satisfied overall.

After the merger, the ship had become sturdier and faster.

In addition, the Astrologer's skills had evolved. The sea chart covered a larger area, and Peering now extended across the entire map.

"Come on, let's get aboard!"

Yang Yi called Su Na aboard.

Upon entering the Nightmare Star, Yang Yi discovered that the ship's interior had changed as well.

Another bedroom had appeared beside the captain's quarters. It was Su Na's room.

The hold was also larger than before, with two expansion spaces where two additional expansion structures could be built.

It was almost as though the potential of two ships had been combined.

Everything aboard was still there, including the pirate outfit, fishing net, fishing rod, coconuts, and some food and fresh water.

Even part of the giant worm's corpse, whose head Yang Yi had blasted apart earlier, had been preserved. That was an unexpected bonus!

Meanwhile, Yu Dawei was feeling uneasy.

He was afraid Yang Yi would abandon him and sail straight off.

Although Yu Dawei was confident he could stop the Nightmare Star from leaving, if... things really came to that, he would be finished too.

Fortunately, Yang Yi was no fool.

[Yang Yi, captain of the Nightmare Star, has sent you a friend request.]

Yu Dawei accepted immediately.

Then Yang Yi sent a private message: "I'm heading to the stern now. Throw your grappling hook over."

After reading the message, Yu Dawei let out a long breath, left the bridge, and went to the foredeck, where he and Yang Yi came face-to-face.

But the Iron Will was bigger than the Nightmare Star, so Yang Yi could only see half of Yu Dawei's body.

Though the latter was somewhat wary, he had still come.

"Captain Yu, your ship is huge!

"So I need to make this clear beforehand. If my ship can't reach fifteen knots while towing your Iron Will, don't blame me for leaving you behind, and don't attack me either. How does that sound?"

After hearing this, Yu Dawei pondered for a moment, his expression shifting.

Only after a long while did he reply, "If that happens, how about letting me take shelter aboard your ship?"

"No problem!" Yang Yi agreed without hesitation.

After all, a lost ship could be rebuilt. People were what mattered most! If you lost your life, it was all over!

Yu Dawei threw the Iron Will's grappling hook over.

After catching it, Yang Yi secured it at several points to distribute the force, so that no single point would have to bear more than it could withstand.

As for the rope's toughness, there was no need to worry. The log said this thing had infinite durability!

Once it was secured, Yang Yi sent Su Na a message telling her to go full speed ahead.

The Iron Will also went to full power.

Both captains' hearts were in their throats as they watched their speed gradually rise.

Eleven knots!

Twelve knots!

Only once their speed passed fifteen knots and reached sixteen did the two tense men gradually relax.

If it fell below fifteen knots... things would be troublesome.

Fortunately, the Nightmare Star's power was no joke either.

Their speed finally reached seventeen knots, two nautical miles per hour faster than the Black Fog behind them.