Several scenes kept flashing through Lin Yuan's mind.
The powerful Undead Tree, which knew to hide its roots as a fallback;
The Laboratory Undead, which was actually extremely dangerous despite being utterly countered by Lin Yuan and Lilia;
And the laboratory explosion that had suddenly erupted just when he thought everything was over.
Compared with those things, this Skeleton Pirate Captain was nothing to speak of. He was no different from a regular mob.
Lin Yuan hadn't even needed to act before Lilia, the doll specialized in crushing weaklings, had finished him off.
Dying beneath Lilia's scythe meant getting firmly branded a "weakling."
A weakling like this was the dungeon's final boss?
But from another angle, this was actually how things should be.
This was a beginner solo dungeon, after all.
Only a little over two days had passed since the game began.
Apart from an insider like Research Institute 3154, who had an organization backing them, and a lucky devil like Air Force Bro, who had lucked into stat increases, the other players were just ordinary people.
For ordinary people, the Skeleton Pirate Captain really did count as a difficult enemy.
"So what I fought earlier was actually a hidden stage?"
For a moment, Lin Yuan didn't know whether to call himself lucky or unlucky.
He had plunged straight into the arms of a high-difficulty hidden boss.
Fortunately, he was strong enough and had actually managed to brute-force a victory.
"Anyway, let's check the loot first. Lilia, go open that chest."
Lin Yuan put his reflections aside and gave an order.
The Paradise Sea Chart he had received for defeating the Skeleton Pirate Captain had been issued directly by the system. The dungeon's real reward should be that old, large treasure chest.
Normally, opening a boss chest himself would have given the occasion the most ceremony.
But Lin Yuan couldn't be bothered to leave his coffin.
With such a weak dungeon boss, its reward chest probably wouldn't contain anything good either.
Probably ordinary items or equipment, right? Unless my luck goes through the roof and a god of fortune possesses me... holy shit!
Before Lin Yuan could finish that thought, he saw Lilia throw open the chest's lid, and three beams of golden light burst out!
"Three drops at once?!"
He couldn't stay lying down any longer. He threw open his coffin, rose, and came over to the chest.
The three beams of golden light gradually faded, revealing the items within.
There were two blueprints and one item.
The first blueprint depicted a ship.
[Blueprint: Level 2 Hull] [Once all upgrade materials are ready, consume this blueprint and the materials to upgrade the hull to level 2.] [A Level 2 Hull will have more durability, greater tonnage, and more convertible compartments, while also raising the maximum upgrade level of existing compartments.] [Materials required for upgrade: 1,500 units of wood, 100 units of steel.]
The second blueprint depicted a room containing various tools.
[Blueprint: Special compartment, "Production Workshop"] [Once all construction materials are ready, consume this blueprint and the materials to convert an unconverted compartment into a Production Workshop.] [The Production Workshop can produce various tools, items, weapons, and equipment, including ammunition, but excluding supernatural items.] [Materials required for construction: 300 units of wood, 300 units of steel, 100 units of rubber, 1 Steam Core.]
The item was something shaped like a bar of soap.
[Deep-Dive Shield Bubble Soap] [Grade E supernatural consumable] [Can be used on a hull to grant it the ability to submerge for 24 hours, with a maximum diving depth of 500 meters.] [If the hull already has the ability to submerge, adds 500 meters to its original maximum diving depth, up to a maximum of 1,000 meters.] [Uses remaining: 10/10]
"So much loot, and it's all good stuff!"
Lin Yuan beamed as he looked it over.
The Undead Tree's previous drops had all been higher-quality than these three things, but he couldn't use them yet.
These three, on the other hand, were things he could put to use immediately, making them more precious to Lin Yuan right now.
The first two blueprints in particular would provide immediate improvements once he gathered the materials!
"Good! Good! Good!"
Lin Yuan put the three things away, grinning from ear to ear, and happily patted Lilia on the shoulder:
"Lilia, you really have great luck! Pretty impressive!"
"Huh? This counts as impressive? Isn't it normal to get treasure from a treasure chest?" Rather than looking pleased with herself as usual at the praise, Lilia seemed rather puzzled:
"Captain, couldn't you get treasure when you opened chests before?"
Lin Yuan's laughter cut off abruptly.
"Ahem, of course I could... all that wood, and the explosives, the revolver, and the shell pump-didn't I get all those from chests?"
"Oh, oh! Then you've got pretty good luck too, Captain, getting so many things out of one chest!"
Lin Yuan thought of that entire warehouse full of shell treasure chests from before and wisely refrained from correcting Lilia.
"Ahem! Anyway, from now on, you'll be opening all the treasure chests, Lilia!"
Whatever else might be said about the doll girl, even ten Lin Yuans couldn't match her luck.
This was probably what they meant by fools having their own good fortune!
Lin Yuan consoled himself with that thought.
He then put away the three treasures, along with some shell coins that had also come in the chest.
"I've got over 2,000 shell coins now too. I can buy some materials at the trading market later."
He planned to buy the steel and rubber required for the two blueprints at the trading market.
The Steam Core was probably something high-end, so he would have to ask in the regional channel.
As for wood, the material he needed most, wasn't it everywhere on this island?
"Not just wood. There might be other resources on this island too. It wasn't easy getting here, so I shouldn't waste the trip."
Compared with fishing shell treasure chests out of the sea, gathering resources directly on an island was undoubtedly much more efficient.
Of course, although the island wasn't large, Lin Yuan couldn't keep working because he was stranded, and Lilia alone couldn't manage it all.
"This is a perfect chance to try the Death Seed's power!"
With a thought, Lin Yuan retrieved the Death Seed from the treasure collection room into his hand.
At that moment, the Death Seed was very quiet, like an ordinary black ball.
But Lin Yuan knew from the collection room's description that this thing could go berserk at any moment outside, so he didn't dare waste even a second. He gripped it tightly and began trying to feed life energy into it.
As though sensing Lin Yuan's intent, a suction force abruptly arose inside the black sphere.
Then Lin Yuan's durability began to fall.
9900/10000.
9800, 9500, 9000...
"Looks like I can use it!" Lin Yuan was delighted. He had been worried about whether his durability, as a ship, would count as life energy.
Now it seemed that it did.
Soon, Lin Yuan's durability dropped to 5,000. He immediately stopped feeding it in and switched to summoning the Undead Legion.
Countless rays of black light suddenly shot out of the Death Seed, each condensing into a skeleton as it landed.
Lin Yuan counted them. There were a little under 100 skeleton soldiers in total, which worked out to 50 durability to summon one skeleton.
Most of these skeletons looked like Skeleton Pirates, with two or three pirate captains among them. The latter cost more to summon than the former, so the 5,000 durability had bought him fewer than 100 skeleton soldiers.
However, Lin Yuan couldn't actively choose whether to summon Skeleton Pirates or Skeleton Pirate Captains. That seemed to be random.
"That should be enough." Once Lin Yuan finished summoning, he immediately sent the Death Seed back to the treasure collection room.
Then he ordered the skeletons:
"Search the entire island and gather every resource you can!"
"Strip this whole island bare!"
Before you continue