An uninvited guest

Before the Tinder Wool Spiders could approach, Yang Yi had already run to the bow, ready to steer the Nightmare Star away.

If all those spiders jumped aboard, the consequences would be unthinkable!

Fortunately, the spiders feared water. They all stopped at the shore without making another move.

Even more astonishingly... these spiders could talk!

Spider A: "That smells so good!"

Spider B (special individual): "There's something delicious here!"

Spider C: "It smells amazing!"

Yang Yi froze for several seconds, hardly able to believe his ears.

"Have I gone mad and started hearing things?"

He immediately notified Su Na.

"Su Na, hurry up to the deck. These spiders seem to be able to talk!"

Su Na received his private message and came running out in a flash.

Her attention was quickly drawn to the special individual with a section of human body atop its head.

"Did you hear that? These spiders can speak human language, and in standard Mandarin, too!" Yang Yi asked Su Na.

She frowned deeply, gave Yang Yi a strange look, and said she hadn't heard anything.

Startled, Yang Yi immediately realized the problem lay with him. He checked his Sanity and found it was over 80. Besides, he couldn't go mad.

That left Spider's Kiss as the remaining possibility.

It had a hidden effect that allowed players to understand spiders, and perhaps even... communicate with them!

Yang Yi immediately gave it a try. Putting on a warm, enthusiastic smile, he called out experimentally.

"Come on! Come on! Come on! I've got plenty more delicious food here! When you eat it, don't forget to take some back to share with everyone!"

As he spoke, he tossed the little spoiled food he had left to the spiders.

Spider A: "Wonderful!"

Spider B: "I'll take some back for Mom to try, too!"

Spider C: "Thank you!"

Yang Yi grinned and tossed a few extra packets of "delicacies" to Spider B.

He wouldn't pity these creatures simply because he could communicate with them. These spiders were monsters that killed without blinking, especially that special individual with a section of human body atop its head.

Who knew how many players they had already killed before Yang Yi arrived?

Yang Yi tossed over all his remaining "delicacies," receiving plenty of friendly words of gratitude in return.

He waved warmly, watching the giant spider with a human body attached to its head leave. As it went, it dragged a large bundle of "delicacies" behind it with silk from its rear.

"Eat up! I'll be back tomorrow!"

Yang Yi shouted, regardless of whether the spiders understood him.

After delivering this batch of "delicacies," Yang Yi sailed away from the island.

While he still had time, Yang Yi caught another three Coral Cagefish and asked Su Na to make over sixty bottles of Dead Spider Potion.

One round of poisoning certainly wouldn't kill all the spiders.

Yang Yi would poison them a few more times before going ashore. That would be safer!

Over the next three days, Yang Yi repeated the poisoning.

Because he bought so much rotten food, he gained a nickname in the chat channel: Scavenger.

Fortunately, Yang Yi preferred trading anonymously, so only a handful of friends knew his real identity.

"What exactly are you doing?" Zhou Dai, captain of the Radiant Goddess, asked in a private message.

She counted as an old friend, so Yang Yi had no intention of hiding it.

"I'm trying poison to see whether I can poison the monsters to death," Yang Yi replied.

"Sounds like you're pretty good at dealing with monsters?"

"I'm all right! These monsters actually die when they're killed, too!"

On the fourth day, Yang Yi continued poisoning them, but not a single spider came running over to ask for delicacies anymore.

That meant most of the spiders on the island were dead. He could go ashore tomorrow.

Today, the Nightmare Star could anchor a little closer in preparation for tomorrow's landing.

That evening, Yang Yi packed his gear in the cabin, bringing everything he needed and putting spare supplies in the Stomach Pouch.

Su Na came over as well.

"What, you want to go too?" Yang Yi frowned at Su Na.

"Yes, I'm going too!"

"But if you go, no one will be guarding the Nightmare Star! What if another player happens to show up?" Yang Yi didn't want to bring Su Na along.

"Can't we just bring the Crystal Ball? The island's only so big. We won't go out of signal range!" Su Na replied.

After much consideration, Yang Yi finally agreed.

Even if he refused, given Su Na's temperament, she might secretly follow him anyway.

Rather than let that happen, he might as well bring her along.

The two finished their preparations, including weapons and equipment, potions, rations, and fresh water.

Yang Yi's weapons were the Flintlock, the spoiled Sea Serpent's Fang, and a spare chef's knife. He also had one bottle of Red Unknown Potion, two bottles of Regeneration Potion, two bottles of Refreshing Coconut Juice, and two bottles of Dead Spider Potion. (Yang Yi had asked Su Na to make a few more bottles of Regeneration Potion.)

He stored some spare supplies in the Stomach Pouch and carried a few Long-Legged Sardines to make opening it easier.

Su Na's weapons and supplies consisted of the Pirate Longbow, over forty poisoned iron arrows, two bottles of Regeneration Potion, two bottles of Refreshing Coconut Juice, two bottles of Dead Spider Potion, the Witch's Dagger, and the Treasure Bag, which contained two loaves of Black Bread and sausages.

As for fresh water, they each carried 2 L.

Once ready, they returned to their respective rooms to rest and recover their energy, ensuring they would be in good condition tomorrow.

Yang Yi slept lightly and was plagued by nightmares, so he had to rely on Refreshing Coconut Juice to recover his energy.

But shortly after he fell asleep, a vibration woke him, and he sat up.

The Crystal Ball beside his bed was vibrating frantically, indicating that a player had appeared nearby!

Alert, Yang Yi immediately checked the Sea Chart.

The other ship's name was also displayed on the Sea Chart: Good Luck.

He immediately searched the ship's name and activated Peering.

[Searching... Good Luck...]

There were over a dozen results.

That meant Good Luck was an ordinary ship, with a name chosen by its player. (Ordinary ships could be renamed once, provided the name wasn't the same as a special ship's.)

Yang Yi tried one at random, only to find he had picked incorrectly and hadn't selected the target ship.

He could only close the image, check the Sea Chart, and try to deduce why this Good Luck had come here.

"Its speed is about forty knots, but that might not be its top speed...

This course... he's probably heading for the island!"

Good Luck was one hundred nautical miles from the island, yet its course led straight toward it without deviating at all.

This most likely wasn't a coincidence. The other player probably had the island's coordinates!

After some thought, Yang Yi decided to sail over and take a look.

He had made plenty of preparations to tackle this island, and he still had the Spider's Kiss status to resolve there!

He couldn't let someone beat him to it!

"Dawn is five hours away. He probably won't dare land at night."

Yang Yi steered the Nightmare Star toward Good Luck from the side, keeping a considerable distance for safety.

He decided to wait until daylight tomorrow, investigate the situation, then make his next move.

If the ship had cannons, Yang Yi could find somewhere to land quietly, then have a little "chat" with this player onshore.

If it didn't have cannons, things would be easy. He could just charge in and attack.

After all, Yang Yi's ship had a catapult!

And the Nightmare Star also had a piece of Treasured ship equipment-the Giant Bobbit Worm Head! One bite was guaranteed to leave a huge hole in his ship!

"There's another player?"

Su Na had woken up too and found Yang Yi at the helm, his eyes fixed on the Crystal Ball.

"Yes. We'll follow him over and take a look once it's light. I figure no matter how bold he is, he wouldn't dare go ashore at night. No rush!"

Several hours later, the sky rapidly brightened.

Leaning against the helm, Yang Yi had stared at the Crystal Ball all night.

After approaching the island, Good Luck hadn't moved again. Yang Yi had watched all night for nothing.

He woke Su Na and had her take the helm and approach Good Luck.

Meanwhile, he took out his telescope and climbed the mast.

[Name: Ordinary Telescope]

[Type: Treasure]

[Quality: Common]

[Description: An ordinary telescope. In good light, it allows the user to clearly see ships ten nautical miles away.]

As the distance closed, Yang Yi got a clear look at the other ship.

"No cannons?"

"And it's only a level-two ordinary ship?"

Yang Yi was speechless. He felt he had been overly cautious.

This ship was the same design as Hu Wei's sailing ship, but a size smaller. It had to be only level two.

He told Su Na to head over at full speed, ready to see just who this person was.