Qin Mao stood aboard the Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance and reached out to haul up the heavy iron anchor.
Two or three hundred meters was not far, and the survivors on the island came running over one after another.
Once everyone was aboard, the ships would be ready to leave at any moment.
Three skeletons appeared on the beach, charging forward one after another without fear of death to intercept the warthog.
But they were no match for the eerie creature. It leaped high and came crashing down, crushing one skeleton into bone fragments.
"Coalesce!"
Yan Qi's face went pale. Light flashed from the Yinling Orb in his hand, and an invisible force gathered the broken bones on the ground into a skeleton once more.
Only now, it was even more battered.
The skeleton swayed as it charged again, only to meet the same fate of being crushed to pieces.
Standing on deck, Yang Fan reversed the old-fashioned wood-and-brass telescope, holding the large end to his eye and pointing the small end at the Bloodfang Warthog on the island.
After watching for a moment, he lowered the telescope and shouted to Yan Qi.
"The eyes! Its weakness is its eyes!"
"All right! I'll try!"
Yan Qi continued forming the bone fragments into a skeleton to lure the warthog into attacking.
The instant the Bloodfang Warthog landed, the other two skeletons also took shape. One swung both claws viciously at its eyes, while the other opened its hollow mouth and bit wildly.
The bony claws moved like lightning, leaving afterimages. Against an ordinary person, that swipe would have pierced straight through their chest.
But when they struck the eyelids of the pitch-black warthog, they only left a scratch on its skin.
"It's no use, Captain Yang! Its hide's too thick!"
"Oink... oink..."
The warthog blinked in pain. Seeing that it could not kill these skeletons no matter what it did, it grew agitated.
Red light flashed across its bloody tusks, and it abruptly accelerated, tossing all three skeletons into the air.
It planted its large snout against the ground and sprang high into the air, crushing another slow-running survivor into bloody pulp as it landed.
"Snort, snort-"
Excited, it opened its huge mouth and swallowed the bloody pulp along with the sand and stones on the ground, crunching them between its teeth.
"Run! Run!"
As the Hope's first mate and the actual manager of the entire fleet, Uncle Zhang shouted breathlessly for the crew to get aboard.
Yan Qi gritted his teeth, pulled two more small skeletons from his pocket, and threw them out.
The skeletons grew as soon as they hit the air, quickly reaching human size. Together with the previous three, they surrounded the warthog.
Though it took a while to describe, all this happened in less than a minute.
At last, everyone was aboard.
By the time the Hope's three ships began moving, Qin Mao had already steered the Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance some distance away.
He was not as strong as that Bloodfang Warthog, and Free Person Sequence 1 had no attack skills. If he did not run, was he supposed to stay and become pig feed?
While the warthog tangled with the skeletons, the fleet set sail and fled.
By the time the Bloodfang Warthog caught up, even the nearest ship, the Yaximu, was more than ten meters away.
Panting heavily, it pressed its snout to the ground and pushed off hard, leaping high in an attempt to jump aboard.
Reacting swiftly, Yan Qi pulled a rib from a skeleton and hurled it, striking the creature.
Though it only hindered the warthog for an instant, it shortened its leap enough that it failed to reach the ship and fell into the sea instead.
"Squeal-squeal-"
The Bloodfang Warthog squealed in panic. Seemingly especially averse to the sea, it struggled back to shore and glared resentfully at the four departing ships, stamping its hooves hard.
Then it turned and began eating the flesh and blood splattered across the island.
The fleet left the island and sailed into the distance.
Yan Qi gazed ruefully at the shrinking island.
In the end, he had only retrieved two skeleton soldiers. The other three remained on the island forever.
Aboard all three large ships, friends and relatives of the dead wept in anguish, staring toward the island for a long time, unable to recover.
Deaths were hard to avoid when gathering supplies. This was a fate everyone had to face. Perhaps one day, even the last person aboard would die at sea.
Qin Mao shook his head as he worked the sails.
"No, this won't do. This fleet's too weak! One Navigator and one Oracle Healer, with no fighting power at all. Who knows when they'll get wiped out!"
He raised his right hand and casually wiped the bleeding cut on his index finger, which he had somehow acquired, on his clothes, then sighed again.
"There isn't even anyone to take hits up close. It's too dangerous!"
He kept rambling as he pulled the ropes on deck to sail with the wind.
"Don't you think so, Brother Octopus?"
"Yeah. Improving your own strength is still what matters most!"
A lean, muscular, dark-skinned young man in ragged clothes approached and stood beside Qin Mao, a smile in his eyes.
"Speaking of which, I really never thought I'd run into you in the apocalypse!"
"You're telling me, Mao. If we'd met just two days earlier, I'd have treated you to skewers and beer!"
"What do you mean, two days? It'd have to be at least half a year earlier... Ah, I never imagined that when we met again after graduation, it'd be during the apocalypse, out on this sea!"
The dark-skinned young man was Zhang Yu, Qin Mao's old schoolmate.
By an unexpected coincidence, he was aboard the Rose. Qin Mao had run into him while gathering Bluegrass today and brought him back to the Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance.
"Oh, right. Since you've come over here, should I let Yezi know?"
"Oh, no need. I already told Captain Ye."
Qin Mao nodded, not doubting his good friend's words.
With someone he knew helping at the helm, he could take some time to rest. That was pretty nice, too.
The fleet sped onward, leaving the island far behind, but the unease in Yang Fan's heart did not fade. Instead, it grew stronger.
But he was a captain, and more importantly, the fleet's leader. He knew he could not show fear, or the crew would see it and panic.
"Uncle Zhang, those two survivors who walked into the sea to kill themselves... do you think an eerie creature in the sea or on the island clouded their minds?"
The kindly, square-faced older man folded his arms tightly and said uncertainly, "Probably one on the island?"
"We've sailed dozens of nautical miles by now. We must have shaken it off long ago."
"But if it was on the island... why would it make people kill themselves in the sea...?"
"Captain Yang, are you suspecting...?"
"Yes, Uncle Zhang. I suspect this eerie creature either lives near the island or in the sea. If it's the former, that's fine, but if it's the latter..."
"Hiss-"
The kindly, square-faced older man sucked air through his teeth, starting to feel some lingering fear himself.
"If it's from the sea, there's a chance it's still following our ships!"
"Contact the other ships and tell them to be on guard!"
"All right, I'll go right away!"
Soon, a message reached every survivor's ears.
-An eerie creature might well be following the fleet, or might even have boarded a ship. Everyone must remain vigilant, stay in pairs, and avoid going out on deck alone.
When the message arrived, Qin Mao's brow furrowed deeply.
"The Free Person Sequence has no fighting power at all. How am I supposed to fight this?"
He felt deeply helpless, and craved strength even more.
"Brother Octopus, it's dangerous outside. You're an ordinary person, so just stay in the cabin. Don't come out, whatever you do!"
"Okay, okay, Mao!"
Zhang Yu nodded in agreement and headed for the cabin.
The fleet did not sail straight in one direction, but circled on the sea.
Yang Fan did not know whether this would work either. He hoped to shake off whatever eerie creature he imagined was behind them.
The sky soon darkened, and night fell.
The fleet slowed down. As Qin Mao followed it at a leisurely pace, he took out some crackers.
Zhang Yu said he had already eaten in the cabin, so Qin Mao left him alone and began eating.
Afterward, he went to give the Thousand-Faced Eerie Coconut some more blood.
From the looks of things tonight, the sucker would not be coming. He would have to supply the blood himself.
Soon, as everyone ate and drank, a sudden splash rang out, as though something heavy had fallen into the water.
It was out of place amid the surroundings, and people noticed it at once.
Thin mist hung over the green-glowing sea. Indescribable whispers murmured in their ears, and the splash added a further touch of terror to the night.
"...Stop the ships and save them! Save them!"
"Where are they?! They sank straight into the sea to kill themselves. How are we supposed to save them..."
Before you continue