Two years ago

As the survivors learned more and more about the apocalypse, they gradually identified patterns and coined terms.

"Who would have thought that one day, classifying weird creatures would become a systematic field of knowledge? Will there be a Weird Creature Compendium someday?"

Qin Mao gave a self-deprecating laugh, feeling that the world was growing ever more absurd and dangerous.

After explaining the first matter, Yang Fan led the three of them over to the three sets of skeletal remains.

These remains had once been controlled by the Chang-Driving Pufferfish, seeking out flesh and blood for it aboard the ships.

By their assessment, one had been a Sequence Transcendent in life: Fu Qingshi, whom Qin Mao had beaten to death aboard the Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance.

With stark white bones and tattered clothes, he looked as though he had been dead for a long time.

The other two sets of remains belonged to ordinary humans, but there were clear differences between them too.

One looked as though it had been dead for a long time, just like Fu Qingshi; the other still had flesh clinging to it, with traces of blood on the bones and relatively new clothes.

Yang Fan covered his nose and pointed at the third set.

"I had Uncle Zhang ask around. These remains are wearing Wang Laosan's clothes, and the height and build match too. This is Wang Laosan!"

Everyone nodded.

"As for the other two, I suspect they've been dead for at least a year or two!"

"Hey, buddy, you know how to examine bodies too?"

Yang Fan pushed up his glasses, a glint flashing across the lenses.

"A little. I got interested in mystery novels during my first year of high school, so I went online and learned some basic forensic knowledge. Just a general idea of the signs bodies show after death under different conditions."

"So that's it! You know way too much stuff!"

Yan Qi wanted to say more, but Ye Xuanyin interrupted him.

"You idiot! Captain Yang's point was 'a year ago'!"

She heavily emphasized the words "a year ago."

"What about a year ago... holy shit!" Yan Qi caught on too. "The apocalypse only started a little over three months ago. How could someone have died here a year or two ago?"

This terrifying sea, filled with whispers and dotted with islands, clearly was no longer a sea on Blue Star.

But the apocalypse had only arrived three months ago. How could someone have come here a year earlier?

Qin Mao idly toyed with the Ram's Horn Hammer and sighed. "Let me explain. I think I know part of the reason."

He then told them about the Azure Moon Sea and the Blood Moon Sea.

He also explained how the farther one sailed into the sea, the greater the difference between the flow of time there and on land became.

The three listened, dumbfounded.

"The Blood Moon Sea? If this were a game, would that mean we're still in the starter village...?"

"Even time flows differently? That's incredible!"

Yang Fan keenly spotted a problem. "But we only set sail recently. Time here couldn't be flowing four or five times faster or more, yet that person has been dead for at least a year or two."

Qin Mao nodded. "Before he died, that skeleton told me he'd set sail in Year 2039, then died at sea."

"In other words... there were signs of the weird descending by Year 2039 at the latest! It only fully descended in June 2040!"

Yang Fan rubbed between his brows, deep in thought.

"So that's how it was... that would explain a lot!"

"Explain what?" the three asked in unison.

"Even if you're all corporate drones, you must have watched the news, right? Starting in 2038, the high school and college entrance exams both added the Complete Guide to Navigation, practical ship handling, and swimming. Students had to start learning them that very year."

Qin Mao blurted out, "Our university added them too! They forcibly replaced our original PE classes and electives with those three courses!"

"After the apocalypse hit, I was secretly glad I'd learned how to steer, handle sails, and raise an anchor. Back then, I thought it was all useless garbage, but it turned out..."

Ye Xuanyin and Yan Qi exchanged a glance. They felt the same way.

"Our law firm made us learn it too, but I didn't put much effort into it. Who knew I'd ever end up at sea...?"

"My old company said it was developing a sailing game and wanted it to be realistic, so they made every employee cram the relevant knowledge..."

After comparing notes, the four stared at one another.

They thought of the densely packed sailboats moored along the shores of coastal cities, the changes in grain and cooking oil prices over the past two years, the inexplicable promotion of solar batteries...

The curtain had actually risen on this apocalyptic exodus two years ago.

Qin Mao finally summed it up:

"Assuming we trace the apocalypse back to 2038, these two people set sail in Year 2039 for unknown reasons and died on the island. A Chang-Driving Pufferfish happened to follow our ships to the waters near the island, discovered these two human corpses, and used its weird ability to control them and slip them into the fleet."

"So Wang Laosan and the other person who went into the sea at the start weren't being mentally controlled either. They were ambushed and killed by the skeletal remains that had infiltrated the group. After they died, the Chang-Driving Pufferfish controlled their bodies and made them walk into the sea."

"Exactly! That ties everything together logically!"

Yang Fan nodded and took a sip of tea.

Yan Qi silently continued fiddling with the skeleton.

Ye Xuanyin lowered her head without a word. This time, her left hand moved around beneath the table.

They were all inwardly coming to terms with the shock the apocalypse had brought them.

Qin Mao adapted readily. Though shocked, he did not dwell on it too much.

Life still had to go on. On this sea, where he might not live to see tomorrow, the truth had nothing to do with him.

Staying alive came first.

But Ye Xuanyin's strange behavior made him particularly curious.

Even if this wasn't a library, surely scratching herself so openly wasn't very appropriate.

After thinking it over, he ultimately kept the question to himself. It would be bad if he accidentally ended up being refined into a Beauty-Preserving Pill instead.

Ye Xuanyin noticed his repeated glances, however. She looked up and smiled sweetly, revealing two little pointed canine teeth, then raised her hand and gave him a cute little wave in greeting.

Qin Mao's pupils contracted, and he returned a friendly smile.

He saw a dense array of blade wounds across Ye Xuanyin's arm.

The wounds were fresh, each around three or four centimeters long, with bright red beads of blood seeping out.

They looked as though they had been made with a thin razor blade or a sharp utility knife.

She normally wore long sleeves that concealed everything tightly, so nothing unusual showed at all.

The next moment, she lowered her hand.

She continued moving her arm as she brooded.

Oracle Healer Sequence 1, Wound Devourer... depression? Borderline personality disorder? A Sequence cost?

Qin Mao felt that her Transcendent Sequence was a more likely cause than a psychological disorder.

There was nothing particularly strange about that.

After all, he himself had the "daily taboo" and "cannot remain in the same location for 24 hours" debuffs!

"Ahem!" Qin Mao cleared his throat, interrupting everyone's thoughts.

Three pairs of eyes turned toward him.

"I have a suggestion."

He gathered his words. "The farther we sail into this sea, the faster time flows. That could mean the weird creatures grow stronger too, and even the chance of running into the likes of pirates could be greater."

"In short... we only set sail recently, so these waters are still relatively safe."

"So I suggest we don't head any deeper. Let's just search for supplies around here and lie low for now!"

Yang Fan, Ye Xuanyin, and Yan Qi remained silent.

"Why aren't any of you saying anything?"

Yan Qi gave a bitter smile. "Hey, buddy, who doesn't know lamb pilaf tastes good? But what can you do if you can't get any?"

"Captain Yang, show him." Ye Xuanyin raised her head, her small face serious.

Yang Fan scratched his hair in distress, turned, opened a drawer in the cabin, and took out a sheet of paper, handing it to Qin Mao with both hands.

The grave atmosphere made Qin Mao a little uneasy.

He took it gently, his heart pounding as he immediately unfolded it, as nervous as if he were holding Pandora's box.

There were words on the paper, but not many.

Qin Mao scanned them, and the blood in his entire body instantly ran cold.