Chapter 25 Aquaman 6

"Ugh—!!!"

The Gold Chain Man and his teammate were still vomiting, and as they did, a disgusting pile of rotting fish and crustaceans formed before them.

The pile contained various types of decaying fish meat and limp tentacles from different creatures. Each piece of meat was at a different stage of decay, some green, some brown, all covered in different colored mucus and their saliva, making it look incredibly revolting.

After a while, the Gold Chain Man and his teammate began to vomit out black seaweed.

The long strands of seaweed resembled a woman's hair. When the Gold Chain Man pulled the seaweed out of his mouth, he almost fainted from shock. However, due to the overwhelming disgust, he had no choice but to keep pulling the seaweed, trying to get it all out, only to find that it kept getting longer and longer, eventually forming a tangled mess on the ground.

"I... I can't take it anymore," the Gold Chain Man said, still vomiting and puffing his cheeks.

Due to constant vomiting, he showed signs of dehydration. Of course, his teammate wasn't faring any better and eventually passed out from exhaustion.

Once he fainted, everyone was horrified to see a live shrimp crawling out of his mouth. The shrimp was covered in a greasy, black substance, and as it passed by their feet, they could smell the stench of death.

The girl watched the two men vomiting, seemingly in high spirits.

Xia Qi couldn't bear to look at them anymore; it was too disgusting, completely ruining his appetite.

"Is it because we can't eat anything from the sea?" someone asked.

"I just ate some, and I'm fine. It tasted good, and I don't feel like vomiting," another person replied. "Did they offend something in the sea?"

Although the group discussed this matter on the side, no one went to help them. Who knew if touching them would bring bad luck?

"It might be..."

Hearing the surrounding players' discussions, Xia Qi frowned slightly. Why did the Gold Chain Man and his teammate suddenly encounter this?

Just moments ago, when they were blocking the path under the boat, everything seemed fine. There was no chance for them to encounter any death or misfortune conditions.

Xia Qi thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure it out. However, there was another problem facing him now:

Should he continue eating or not?

After enjoying the miserable state of the Gold Chain Man and his teammate, the girl turned around and stared directly at Xia Qi.

He pushed the plate forward, indicating that Xia Qi could eat.

Xia Qi looked at him in confusion. He was indeed hungry, and since he had already eaten some, having a few more bites shouldn't be a problem.

"You should eat too." Xia Qi pushed the salmon sashimi towards him.

The girl hesitated, not moving.

Xia Qi raised an eyebrow, wondering if she didn't like fish.

Why wouldn't she eat salmon? It was still wriggling when he cut it, and being able to eat such fresh salmon sashimi was quite lucky.

Xia Qi rarely spoke so much to her.

The girl pursed her lips.

Xia Qi didn't force her and continued to drink the fish soup with a spoon.

After watching Xia Qi eat the fish calmly, the girl got up uncomfortably and picked up the plate, preparing to go outside, saying that eating in the sun was healthier.

Xia Qi turned his head and said, "Are you going to the deck? I want to eat a bit more, so you go ahead."

The girl paused at the threshold, almost tripping over herself again.

Carrying the salmon, the girl reached the deck, intending to throw away the plate, but unexpectedly ran into a male player smoking.

Worried that the male player might report her, she carefully hid the plate behind her back.

The male player blew out a smoke ring and gossiped, "Oh, you even arranged the salmon slices into a rose shape. You young lovers sure know how to be romantic, huh? Tsk tsk."

The girl: "..."

After cleaning up the kitchen, Xia Qi came to the deck for some air.

Initially, he planned to look for the girl, but instead found the female player who had lost her teammate, crouching beside a rum barrel, covering her face and sobbing quietly.

Xia Qi stood nearby for a moment, then walked over to her.

He slowly squatted down and asked softly, "Why did he go into the seaweed forest to catch pearl fish?"

He was referring to the male player whose head was impaled by a trident underwater.

"How... How do you know he went into the seaweed forest to catch pearl fish?" The female player lifted her tear-stained face, looking at him in surprise.

"If you're willing to tell me what happened, I can tell you how he was killed," Xia Qi proposed a deal.

The female player was stunned.

In the Sin Game, she had seen many players who schemed against each other, but a player like Xia Qi, who straightforwardly offered a deal, was rare.

"Okay, I'll tell you." The female player bit her lip, leaned closer, and whispered, "At first, we only caught one pearl fish. It was so hard because there are so few pearl fish in the sea. We spent a lot of effort."

"How did you catch the pearl fish?" Xia Qi asked, puzzled. Before he fell asleep, he hadn't even seen a glimpse of a pearl fish.

She scratched her head and said, "My teammate had a 'Fishing Net' item. The net could be cast far underwater and had barbs, so once a fish was caught, it couldn't escape. But we fished for a long time and only caught one pearl fish."

Her expression grew serious. "Later, we saw a player near the seaweed forest with many pearl fish. My teammate wanted to trade with him, so we followed him into the seaweed forest."

After the teammates left, the female player went back to dig at Pearl Reef, never expecting what would happen later.

Xia Qi frowned and thought for a moment, feeling something was off. He asked in confusion, "At that time... how did the player you saw carry the pearl fish?"

"He was really amazing. Wherever he went, the pearl fish followed him; there was no need to use a fishing net..." As she spoke, the female player's expression turned pale, and suddenly she screamed, "Wait! Why were those pearl fish following him?"

Ever since seeing her teammate's head, the female player had been in a state of confusion, unable to make sense of what happened underwater.

Now, thinking about it, she noticed many issues.

Why were the pearl fish following the "player"? Could it be that the player used an item?

If not an item, then what could it be...

"The 'player' you saw might not be human, nor one of the players on the ship," Xia Qi said coldly after figuring it out.

Not human, then what?

"The creature that killed him was actually a monster from the sea?" The female player tightened her collar, feeling a chill from the wind on the ship, "But why did the monster look so much like us? Could it be that they are..."

Merfolk?

"That's right." Recalling the fierce green eyes of the underwater creature, Xia Qi still felt a lingering fear and nodded, "Your teammate was killed by a monster with a sharp weapon."

"Thank you... thank you for telling me the cause of his death." Upon learning the truth about her teammate's death, the female player was shocked and scared, wiping away a tear. Then, she sighed, "Unfortunately, Lin Qing is missing. He is an advanced player who cleared the high-level dungeon. If he returned, we could follow him and find a way..."

Hearing this, Xia Qi was slightly surprised, "You seem to admire him a lot?"

"Yes, haven't you heard of the Lin Group?" The female player looked at Xia Qi in confusion. Anyone who had spent some time in Central Space would know about the Lin Group.

Xia Qi naturally knew about the Lin Group. In the real world, the Lin Group was already a top global conglomerate, leading in the IT industry.

So Xia Qi asked, "Does the power of the Lin Group extend into the game as well?"

"Of course, they have a vast network in Central Space. It's just that in this game, the helpers hired by the Lin Group didn't appear," the female player said enviously, "Young Master Lin is part of the Lin family. Besides having people to protect him, he must have many items. Having items means more support, making it easier for him to survive."

Xia Qi had witnessed this firsthand.

In the previous scenario, Young Master Lin didn't even lift a finger, waiting for others to complete the tasks for him. In this scenario, without the servants of the Lin family, Young Master Lin had to act personally and even tried to steal someone else's boyfriend.

"By the way, I see that Lin Qing doesn't get along with you. Be careful around him and don't offend him," the female player said worriedly, "The Lin family is not to be trifled with. They say they can even kill across games..."

"Okay, thank you for your warning," Xia Qi said sincerely.

He had always considered Young Master Lin his biggest enemy and never let his guard down.

After finishing the conversation with the female player, Xia Qi's legs were numb from squatting, so he stood up and prepared to leave the deck.

Just as he was about to walk past a rum barrel, he almost bumped into someone.

"What are you doing hiding here?" Xia Qi pushed away from the embrace and looked at the tall and strong girl in front of him with displeasure.

Seeing his expression, the girl pursed her lips and quickly released her hands, reluctantly stepping back.

She pointed behind Xia Qi and frowned, seemingly bothered by his actions.

"You're asking what I was doing?" Xia Qi asked tentatively.

The girl stared at him with red eyes, her mouth slightly pouting, clearly unhappy.

Xia Qi paused, sensing jealousy, resentment, and displeasure in her expression...

Then, she stepped forward again, as if questioning what he had been doing.

Feeling uncomfortable, Xia Qi turned to look in the direction of the female player, then clenched his fists, feeling as if he had been caught.

No, what was there to catch him for!

Xia Qi quickly reacted and explained dryly, "I was discussing the game with her. Don't overthink it."

After saying this, he suddenly felt he had been too impulsive. It was just a few words with the female player, nothing to explain.

Upon hearing his explanation, the girl suddenly smiled and even reached out to grab his sleeve.

Xia Qi sidestepped to avoid her and changed the subject, "Let's go check out those fish-drying racks."

Xia Qi shook his head helplessly and continued wandering towards the stern of the ship. When he reached a rack of wind-dried fish, he suddenly stopped.

Among the countless racks of hanging fish, there were none with pearl fish.

Although pearl fish were very expensive, given the captain's current stock, enjoying one or two should be sufficient.

Xia Qi carefully pondered the conversation with the female player and suddenly realized something.

He guessed the reason the male player was killed!

It was because of the pearl fish.

Previously, when completing a task, he had taken three pearl fish, trading one with the male player who had the cooking artifact. He had originally wanted to try eating one but now dared not do so.

"Stay here and wait for me. I need to talk to the female player for a moment," he instructed the girl before turning to search for the female player behind the rum barrel.

The girl watched him leave, her eyes reddening again, and her hand unconsciously formed a fist.

The female player was about to enter the cabin to rest when Xia Qi came back.

Xia Qi blocked her path and asked anxiously, "When you used the fishing net item, did you injure the pearl fish?"

The female player nodded, saying, "Of course, his fishing net had barbs..."

"The problem should lie here." Xia Qi frowned thoughtfully. When the female player mentioned the fishing net with barbs, he felt something was off.

If his guess was correct, the mermaid in the water might be the protector of the pearl fish. If someone harmed the pearl fish, it would seek revenge on that person.

"What? Could it be because he hurt the pearl fish and accidentally triggered the death condition?" the female player said, disbelievingly.

Xia Qi furrowed his brow and nodded solemnly. "However, this is still inconclusive for now. We must proceed with caution."

"Alright. I understand. Thank you." The female player clenched her fists nervously.

After learning about this, even if she were beaten to death, she wouldn't dare harm a single scale of the pearl fish again.

After finishing their conversation, Xia Qi emerged from behind the barrel but unexpectedly got tackled by someone again.

This time, the girl pinned him against the wall, one hand pressing above his head, looking down at him with red eyes.

"Let me go." Staring into her questioning gaze, Xia Qi's breath caught, remembering the feeling of being forcibly filled with air underwater.

The girl frowned and slowly took a step back.

Xia Qi regained his composure first and said dryly, "There's movement over there. Let's go check it out."

In the evening, a gentle breeze blew, and the weather unexpectedly turned clear. As the sun began to set below the horizon, the captain suddenly stopped the ship and called all the sailors to the deck for a game.

"Brave sailors, let's play a spear-throwing game! Don't worry, everyone will receive a reward!" The captain, clutching a bottle of rum, had drunk himself red-faced, looking like a mad drunkard.

"Captain, what rewards will we get?" Gold Chain Man asked anxiously.

Given how brutal each game in the Sinful Game had been, the mere mention of "game" made everyone feel physically uncomfortable.

"These rewards are my treasures!" The captain took a swig from the bottle and pointed to a table with twelve small black wooden boxes. "These twelve treasures are your rewards. Each box contains different prizes, and whoever throws the spear most accurately gets to choose their box first!"

Hearing that they needed to compete for ranks, everyone's faces darkened even more.

Another competition and choosing the final reward—this sounded suspiciously like a death condition.

However, upon reflection, they realized this game heavily relied on luck. Choosing randomly without knowing what's inside the boxes meant there was no real difference between picking early or late.

The only concern was the contents of the boxes. If they were tied to passing the level or interacting with NPCs, it could become complicated.

Of course, although everyone showed little enthusiasm for the random selection, no one wanted to fall behind. They lined up and started throwing spears as instructed by the captain.

When it was Xia Qi's turn, he realized it was essentially a dart game, but in this era, there were no professional dartboards; the aiming marks were carved into the cross-section of wood.

Soon, it was Xia Qi and the girl's turn. Xia Qi tossed the not-so-heavy spear at the cross-section.

"Perfect score!" The captain whistled excitedly. "Once we're off the ship, you can apply to be a male servant in the palace, accompanying the king in playing spear-throwing. Since you can't even tell directions at sea, you're not fit to be a sailor anymore."

Xia Qi: "..."

He didn't know why he was so accurate. Ever since he could remember, he had always had good aim.

After everyone finished throwing spears, the captain began letting them choose their reward boxes based on their rankings.

Xia Qi and the girl chose first. When they reached the table, Xia Qi noticed the girl's serious expression as she nervously stared at the boxes.

Xia Qi placed his right hand on a box, intending to pick it up, but the girl suddenly tapped his shoulder.

"You want me not to take this box?" Xia Qi asked, puzzled.

The girl nodded.

Xia Qi wondered if she had the same ability as the old man.

They tried another box, and the girl shook her head. On the third try, she finally nodded.

After everyone chose their boxes, three boxes remained on the table.

One box was for the deceased male player, while the other two belonged to the young master and the strong man.

"You can't open these boxes until we're off the ship. That way, it'll be a surprise," the captain said mysteriously after finishing the entire bottle of rum.

Everyone immediately stopped trying to open their boxes, fearing they might unleash some demonic creature.

Xia Qi shook his box, sensing a spherical object rolling inside.

What could it be?

Holding the box, Xia Qi leaned against the ship's railing, gazing out at the sea.

Evening was short, and the red sun finally set, leaving the sky shrouded in darkness, with not a single star visible.

Xia Qi felt helpless; he couldn't even see the North Star and had truly become a sailor who couldn't tell directions at sea.

At night, the female deputy led everyone to the lower deck cabins.

It seemed another malicious intention of the game; there were only six adjacent rooms on the lower deck.

However, there were twelve players in total, meaning each pair had to share a room.

Since they had already formed teams at the start of the game, everyone naturally chose to stay with their teammates and entered the rooms together.

Seeing everyone leave on their own, Xia Qi sensed trouble and quickly walked to the room door, pushing it open.

As expected, there was only one large wooden bed inside, which looked quite unstable, the type that would creak strangely with every turn.

Xia Qi withdrew from the room expressionlessly, noticing the girl staring at the fragile bed.

Embarrassed, he coughed and pointed to the room that should have belonged to the young master and the strong man, saying bluntly, "You stay in this room tonight, and I'll go to the young master's room. After all, men and women shouldn't share quarters."

As the young master and the strong man are currently out of contact, the room they shared is vacant.

The young girl: “...”

The author has something to say: Someone: Damn it, men and women should not be too intimate.