"...System announcement..."
"...Congratulations to all players on surviving the fifth day. The trading system is now officially available. Please check your logs for details..."
The strange voice sounded in Yang Yi's mind, and he slowly woke.
"The fifth day... Was I unconscious for more than two days?"
Yang Yi felt as though his limbs had been filled with lead. His whole body was cold, his lips were cracked, and his throat burned.
He immediately checked his status.
Status: severely wounded/corpse toxin infection (severe) "The entire human figure had turned red" Sanity: 100/100 Energy: 23/100 Health: 14/100 (below 100: wounded; below 50: moderately wounded; below 30: severely wounded; below 10: dying. Attacks received while dying may cause immediate death)
Yang Yi was already close to death.
He struggled to get up, his mouth unbearably dry. He intended to eat something to replenish his fluids first, then check the trading channel to see whether he could buy any lifesaving medicine.
But the instant he rose, he discovered another ship right beside his.
It was a pirate ship over twenty meters long, flying a skull flag, with two grappling hooks latched onto the Nightmare.
Planks had also been laid between the two ships, forming a narrow bridge people could cross.
"Not good!"
Yang Yi instantly went on alert, but it was too late.
An arrow flew toward him and struck his left arm, driving straight through with considerable force.
That single arrow knocked Yang Yi's health down to 9, putting him in a dying state.
He immediately dropped down, taking cover below the gunwale.
Then came sounds from the planks between the two ships.
Someone was crossing the bridge.
He was probably coming over to check whether Yang Yi was dead.
The arrow had not been fatal. It had missed his vital areas.
But Yang Yi had fallen so quickly that the other man might not have seen clearly and needed to come closer to confirm it.
The rules prevented him from boarding the Nightmare directly.
So he had kept following, waiting for the ship's owner, Yang Yi, to show himself. Once he killed him, he could board...
Yang Yi instantly pieced together what had happened, a vicious gleam shooting from his eyes.
Since you want to kill me, presumably you won't have any complaints... about being killed yourself!
With that thought, he resolved to kill the man.
Yang Yi's left arm was wounded, but it did not hurt. His right arm was unharmed, so he could aim and pull the trigger.
He gripped his flintlock and secretly lifted the boarding restriction.
He was certain the other man had no powerful firearms, or he would have opened fire long ago.
When the man boarded, the first thing he noticed was someone lying on the deck.
His face was deathly pale and his eyes were blood-red. Like a zombie, his whole body gave off a sickening rotten stench. (Caused by the corpse toxin.)
Even more frighteningly, this "zombie" was holding a large-caliber flintlock, its dark muzzle aimed straight at him...
"Don't move. If you dare draw your bow or make any move to attack, I'll blow your head off immediately!" Yang Yi threatened, slowly sitting up.
With the gun pointed at him, the other man did not dare make any rash movements.
In truth, however, Yang Yi did not dare fire lightly either.
After all, this gun was most threatening before it fired.
Once he pulled the trigger, there were two possibilities: a misfire or a shot.
If it misfired, Yang Yi was as good as dead.
If it fired, the other man would most likely be blasted apart by the powerful flintlock.
"Drop your weapon. Don't make any unnecessary movements!" Yang Yi's voice was low and hoarse, carrying considerable force.
The other man hesitated, frozen in place, unsure whether to drop it.
Yang Yi stood as though he did not care, a thick, fishy, rotten stench wafting from him that made one want to vomit.
The arrow was still lodged in his left arm, but he acted as though nothing was wrong. Without even blinking, he used his left hand to pull an enormous eyeball from inside his clothes and took a bite.
The Eyeball Fruit trembled, seemingly begging for mercy.
But Yang Yi was too thirsty to resist and swallowed it in three bites.
Thick, black juice smeared the corners of his mouth.
The other man was scared witless.
[You received a shock. Your sanity decreased by 10.]
He looked down and saw several rotting long-legged sardines on the deck, a stinking Cystic Spiny Puffer, and a pile of sardine heads that had been bitten off.
[You saw some unidentified creatures bearing signs of having been gnawed on. Sanity decreased by 7. Your sanity is below 30.]
Notifications kept appearing in the activity log, but the man noticed none of them as intense fear welled up inside him.
That fear could interfere with a person's perception, making them ramble, suspect and attack the weak, or turn tail and run... when faced with danger!
The man let out a ghastly shriek, startling Yang Yi so badly that he nearly fired.
Then he threw down his weapon, turned, and fled in a panic.
Yang Yi was somewhat baffled, unsure what madness had seized the man. But he did not let the opportunity slip by. He raised the gun, aimed, and pulled the flintlock's trigger after the man had run some distance.
Click!
The gun misfired. The sound was quiet, and the other man noticed nothing.
Yang Yi immediately went to pick up his bow and arrows.
[Name: Pirate Longbow] [Type: treasure] [Grade: good] [Description: slightly improves archery accuracy and reduces the strength needed to draw the bow. A pirate's trusty companion!]
Without hesitation, Yang Yi jabbed an arrowhead into the Cystic Spiny Puffer, then drew the bow and aimed.
Whoosh!
The arrow flew.
Yang Yi was weak and could not draw the bow fully. His aim was poor, too.
But the two ships were only three or four meters apart, and he still hit the man in the thigh, leaving a shallow wound.
In fact... Yang Yi had aimed at his chest...
Still, a hit was a hit!
The man pulled the arrow straight out and, without stopping, ran directly toward the bow, seemingly intending to escape.
Yang Yi had no intention of pursuing him and instead lay back down.
His condition was terrible.
If the other man fought back, the outcome would be hard to say.
Fortunately, the man had been frightened out of his wits and sailed away.
Only when the sounds beside him were gone did Yang Yi struggle to get up.
Yang Yi now looked like a zombie, but he was indeed at risk of turning into one.
He could feel no pain, and his wound did not bleed. He was just dizzy, with his body feeling slightly sluggish.
He went into the cabin, replenished some fluids, and ate all the remaining Eyeball Fruit. Only after recovering a little did he look out at the sea.
The other man had already gone quite far, his ship reduced to a dark silhouette.
Yang Yi steered the Nightmare after him, following at a distance.
He was waiting for the poison to take effect.
After all, the name Cystic Spiny Puffer alone suggested it was highly poisonous. It was probably a pufferfish contaminated by the abyss.
And pufferfish toxin was famous for its potency.
After pursuing him for about a quarter of an hour, he caught up.
Then he followed the man's example, catching the other ship with grappling hooks. Once close, he built another bridge with wooden planks.
Yang Yi really was in terrible shape. Just carrying the planks required three or four rest breaks.
After boarding the other ship, Yang Yi kept his flintlock in hand and cautiously approached the forward deck.
The man appeared dead, lying motionless on the ground.
But he might also have been pretending, trying to make Yang Yi lower his guard!
He might have an antidote!
Extremely wary, Yang Yi fired at his head from a safe distance of four or five meters.
Click!
The gun misfired. This thing really left him speechless!
But Yang Yi was very patient.
One minute later.
Bang!
The man's entire head exploded into a pulpy mess.
Only then did Yang Yi feel completely safe approaching.
Once bitten, twice shy.
After being ambushed by the drowned one, Yang Yi had become a hundred times more wary.
He examined the man's corpse and found that it had dropped an orb of light.
[You obtained Conch Coins ×400.]
That was probably the money the man had been carrying.
The pirate outfit he wore was also something good.
[Bloodstained ornate pirate outfit] [Type: relic] [Quality: good] [Description: this outfit belonged to a fool who thought highly of himself. Agility +1. Sanity continuously decreases while worn. Spirit of 8 or above grants immunity to the continuous sanity loss.]
With the man wearing this outfit, his sanity probably could not have been very high. He might already have gone mad.
Yang Yi took the outfit, preparing to loot the pirate ship.
But he suddenly noticed... the unlock requirement for his question-mark skill had changed from 0/3 to 1/3.
"Could my unlock requirement be killing people?"
Yang Yi could not be certain, because he did not know exactly when it had increased.
Before you continue