Unfortunately, the system would not listen to Lin Yuan's complaints. His durability kept dropping bit by bit.
And being grounded seemed to damage his hull more severely than diving did. When Lin Yuan had submerged earlier, he had lost roughly 1 durability every 3 seconds; now he was losing 3 every second.
At this rate, he would not even last an hour on land. How was he supposed to explore anything?
Watching his durability plummet, Lin Yuan instinctively backed toward the sea.
"Cowardly ship, don't tell me these skeletons scared you?" Lilia looked over in disbelief.
"You're not that strong, but I didn't think you were this weak, either?"
Lin Yuan rolled his eyes. He was about to explain that the skeletons were not the problem when an idea struck him, and he looked at Lilia.
Ever since the Doll Girl had come ashore, her coffin had automatically generated a chain that fastened around her waist, letting her drag it along with her.
Right, the coffin!
Lying in the coffin didn't just stop durability loss-it restored durability. I'd already confirmed that!
I could use this method to explore the island!
Lin Yuan's eyes lit up as he looked at Lilia.
"Don't hit me! I just say what's on my mind!" Lilia ducked her head. Her first reaction was that calling Lin Yuan weak had upset him.
"...Don't worry. I never get angry at idiots."
"Huh? Really? Hahaha, you should've said so sooner."
"...Did you just accept being an idiot without missing a beat...? Forget it. Anyway, open the coffin first. I'll lie down inside and see."
"Oh, sure."
Lilia opened the coffin lid as instructed, and Lin Yuan hurriedly lay down inside.
As soon as he settled in, the system's irritating alerts vanished, and his durability began slowly recovering again.
"It really works!"
"What a buggy game. A ship can't dive or go on land, but it can lie in a coffin."
Although this was a player-friendly bug, Lin Yuan still could not help grumbling inwardly.
Suddenly, he remembered something-
There were still a dozen or so skeleton pirates outside!
It was their fault for being so weak. I'd been so busy thinking about being grounded that I'd completely forgotten about them!
They could not withstand a single blow from Lin Yuan, nor did they pose a threat to Lilia, who could respawn indefinitely.
But if they held Lilia up, she would not be able to take him in his coffin farther inland to explore!
Lin Yuan slapped his forehead and lifted the coffin lid again, intending to get out and help Lilia deal with the skeleton pirates first.
But when he poked his head out, he discovered that Lilia was already fighting them.
A skeleton pirate swung its cutlass, striking Lilia's shoulder.
Although Lilia was a wooden puppet, her defense was clearly inferior to Lin Yuan's with his Active Wooden Armor. The blow left a deep wound.
Lilia paid it no mind. Swinging the great scythe she had previously carried on her back, she smashed the skeleton pirate's head apart.
Then she pulled out the cutlass embedded in her shoulder, which immediately returned to its original state.
Just then, another skeleton pirate swung its blade at Lilia's lower leg.
The Doll Girl's legs were slender, and the blow severed her lower leg clean off.
But she did not care at all. With another backswing, she smashed the second skeleton pirate's head apart, then bent down, picked up her severed lower leg, and reattached it.
The instant she reattached it, her lower leg healed completely.
And so, Lilia's battle with the skeleton pirates boiled down to "you do your attacking, and I'll do mine."
Both sides hacked away wildly.
But Lilia could recover endlessly, while the skeleton pirates died when cut down.
And so the skeleton pirates were hacked to death.
The entire process had Lin Yuan raising his eyebrows.
When he had first encountered Lilia, he had smashed her to bits with a single punch every time, so all he had known was that she could revive from her coffin without any damage.
Only now did he learn that if this thing was not killed in one hit, she could also recover on the spot.
She was like a stubborn sticking plaster-no, an unkillable cockroach.
Lilia's own combat strength was not high. Converted into player stats, she had roughly 15 strength and about 250 HP.
Against a powerful enemy, she could only end up spawn-camped.
But if the enemy was not that strong and could not kill her instantly...
Then Lilia would show them what it meant to stomp noobs without mercy!
Watching Lilia wipe out the Noob skeletons, Lin Yuan could not help reflecting that if Lilia's own combat strength were high enough, she would practically be an invincible cheat.
Unfortunately, for now she was just a puppet designed for stomping noobs.
"Huh? Captain, why did you come out again?" Only after killing all the skeletons did Lilia turn around and notice Lin Yuan watching her with his head poking out of the coffin.
"Nothing. I was worried you couldn't beat these skeletons, so I came out to check."
"I could take a hundred of these weaklings!" Lilia planted her hands on her hips proudly, then asked curiously,
"Oh, right, Captain Coffin Thief, why did you choose that exact moment to get into the coffin?"
"Well, the reason is a bit complicated. In short, I can't stay on land for long, so sorry for the trouble, but I'll need you to drag me along as we explore the island from here on. I'll come out to help if there's a problem."
"I see. Don't worry, Captain Can't Hit the Road. Lilia guarantees she'll take you to explore every corner of the island!"
"You should still be careful. If we run into an enemy that's too strong, I can't fight for long."
Although this beginner dungeon seemed very easy so far, Lin Yuan still gave her a warning to be safe.
"Got it, Captain Super Cautious. Leave it to Lilia!"
With that, Lilia dragged the coffin toward the woods.
Strangely enough, Lilia was not all that strong, yet she seemed to drag the heavy-looking coffin, with Lin Yuan lying inside it, effortlessly.
Lin Yuan lay in the coffin, listening to Lilia humming a tune outside as she walked along.
Lilia's in high spirits. Well, that makes sense. Back at sea, I'd at least had things to do, but she'd really been bored.
This works, too. At least she won't slack off... Uh, but does she know what counts as useful?
Lin Yuan was deeply concerned about Lilia's intelligence.
If only I could see what was going on outside.
As he thought this, he suddenly sensed a subtle connection coming from Lilia outside.
Following that connection, Lin Yuan's viewpoint left his own body and moved over to Lilia.
It was like playing a third-person game with Lilia as the main character.
"What's going on?"
"Huh? Captain, are you talking?"
Lin Yuan's and Lilia's voices rang out in both their minds simultaneously.
"Is this... a mental link? Lilia, did you do this?"
"It wasn't me. I don't know what's going on either, but it's pretty interesting."
Not her? Then what was going on?
Was it the contractual bond between captain and crew? Or a special ability of the coffin?
Lin Yuan could not figure it out right away.
Still, this was a good thing regardless.
At least this made communicating with Lilia much easier, which would be a great help with exploring.
"Let's keep moving for now! Go check out that giant skull-shaped rock."
Lin Yuan instinctively felt that it should be the island's core area.
"No problem," Lilia readily agreed, then started moving.
And so, beneath the light of three moons, the Doll Girl with delicate features and a Gothic outfit silently dragged a pitch-black coffin through the woods.
Watching the scene from his third-person perspective, Lin Yuan felt that Lilia looked rather like a dungeon boss.
At least that eerie air of hers had the bearing of someone powerful.
But that air lasted only a few minutes before Lilia stopped and began looking around with a dopey expression.
"What's wrong, Lilia?"
"Uh, I think I'm lost..."
Before you continue