Chapter 28 Aquaman 9

At dawn, thick fog once again rose over the sea.

Today's weather seemed worse than when Xia Qi first entered the game yesterday. Gray mist enveloped the sailboat like dark clouds. Xia Qi reached out into the fog and could barely see his own fingers.

Not only that, but even the sun, which had been faintly visible yesterday, was now just a blurry red shadow.

This was their second day in this game session, with no idea how much longer it would take to clear it.

Since the captain was in his room, the female first mate was steering the ship today.

The female first mate was still acting crazy, as if she had downed ten bottles of rum. Her hands trembled as she gripped the rudder, muttering under her breath, "Hahaha, everyone will die today..."

When Xia Qi passed by her, she didn't even notice him, continuing her mumbling.

"Not satisfied with them..."

The female first mate grew increasingly nervous, her hands slipping on the rudder, causing the sailboat to sway wildly like an amusement park pirate ship. Soon, screams from the players echoed across the deck as someone walking near the edge was thrown off by her erratic steering.

Xia Qi stood behind her for a while, noticing that she kept repeating those few phrases.

What did she mean by not being satisfied?

"Ding! Course progress: +0%, total progress 10%!"

Hearing this announcement, Xia Qi was stunned.

Why hadn't the course progress increased today?

The only difference from yesterday was the appearance of a head at the bow. Could it be that they were only "satisfied" when a head appeared?

Just as Xia Qi was about to leave, a massive black silhouette emerged from the fog on the right side of the sailboat, appearing silently like a ghost. A loud crash echoed as their sailboat collided with the suddenly appearing black ship.

Already unstable due to the female first mate's erratic steering, the impact caused the rudder to spin wildly, tilting the entire sailboat sharply to the left.

Screams of "Ah!" and "What the hell!" filled the air as several players standing on the deck were thrown off by the sudden collision.

With no support nearby, Xia Qi was lifted into the air by the force and crashed into the ship's wall behind him.

Just as he was about to hit the wall, a figure suddenly appeared behind him. The girl, who had not been on the deck before, caught him firmly, and they flew backward together.

The girl's back hit the wall with a dull thud.

He didn't make a sound.

"Are you okay?" Xia Qi, dazed from the impact, managed to get up and turned to check if she was hurt. Unexpectedly, the sailboat, which had not fully capsized, righted itself using its balance.

Xia Qi had to turn around and hold onto the neck of the person behind him.

The girl, surprised by his embrace, her eyes darkened, and she tightly wrapped her right arm around his waist.

"Ahhh—"

They slid back down, and due to the change in position, Xia Qi ended up sitting sideways in her lap as they slid down the deck.

This time, they truly experienced a pirate ship ride, without any safety belts.

The sailboat shook violently, and seawater rained down from above. They tumbled countless times on the deck.

Finally, when things settled, Xia Qi found himself lying flat on the ground, with the girl leaning over him, her face inches from his, creating an intimate scene.

Xia Qi: "..."

They stared at each other, their breaths mingling. Xia Qi cleared his throat and looked away uncomfortably.

"Move aside."

Seeing the young man beneath her with a slight flush on his pale skin, the girl's eyes curved, seemingly delighted, yet she showed no intention of moving.

"Move aside." Xia Qi looked at her and pushed her gently.

Suddenly, the girl grabbed his hands, pressing them above his head. Then, she lowered her head, covering his body completely and blocking his view.

A loud thud echoed, as if something heavy had struck flesh. Xia Qi felt the girl's body shudder, as if hit by something from behind. At the same moment, she released his hands.

"What are you doing?!" Xia Qi pushed himself up, only to find that the girl's back was supporting a thick mast!

It turned out that the mast had broken and fallen directly towards them.

The girl had taken the full impact of the mast.

Xia Qi gritted his teeth and got up, but before he could help her, she lifted the heavy mast effortlessly. To Xia Qi's astonishment, she pushed it aside and sat up.

Xia Qi, wide-eyed, asked, "Are you okay?" His voice sounded hoarse.

The girl slowly raised her head, seeing Xia Qi's worried expression, and seemed slightly stunned, almost disbelieving.

She shook her head and slowly pushed herself up, freeing herself from the mast.

Xia Qi examined her closely, asking anxiously, "Did you hurt your back?"

The girl shook her head, indicating she was fine.

Only then did Xia Qi allow a small smile.

Due to the dizziness from the collision, they hadn't noticed the black sailboat that had suddenly appeared. It wasn't until the nearby female players screamed that Xia Qi snapped back to reality and looked up.

A massive black silhouette loomed against the side of their sailboat. It was a skeleton-like sailboat of similar size, with curved beams and a high stern. A giant skull statue stood at the bow, which had just collided with their sailboat, nearly capsizing them into the sea.

As Xia Qi wondered if this black ship belonged to the captain's enemy, the gray fog suddenly cleared, revealing the black ship's full form.

The skeletal black ship was entirely pitch-black, its hull resembling a black skeleton, and the masts were in tatters. The sails hung in shreds, as if they had been dug up from an ancient graveyard. Xia Qi's gaze kept rising, and inadvertently, he saw an old acquaintance.

On the highest mast of the skeletal ship, the young master and the muscular man were squatting at the very top.

They hadn't died?

This surprised Xia Qi greatly. He saw that the young master was hugging the mast, his hair disheveled and eyes red, as if he hadn't slept all night. Below him, the muscular man held a knife, hacking away at a skeleton climbing up. However, once this skeleton was knocked down, two more climbed up.

The muscular man struggled to fend them off, and in a moment of carelessness, a skeleton clawed at his chest, tearing his shirt and revealing a half-naked, greasy torso.

Xia Qi felt that the skeletal ship's appearance was too suspicious, as if it had come prepared.

"Ding! Warning: Due to no progress in the route, all survivors will be punished!"

"The skeletal army is approaching the battlefield. Please prepare for the punishment!"

The familiar alarm sounded before Xia Qi could think further. Sure enough, countless skeletons appeared on the bow of the skeletal ship. These skeletons looked ancient, their bodies completely dried out, with bones covered in black and yellow bloodstains, indicating they had been through numerous bloody battles.

These terrifying skeletons began climbing onto their sailboat, wielding various pirate weapons, and there seemed to be quite a number of them.

As more skeletons boarded the sailboat, Xia Qi's hand holding the girl's trembled slightly.

"Run!" Someone who saw the skeletal army immediately abandoned their teammates and fled.

At this moment, competition among players was no longer important; their priority was to save their own lives. Although fewer people meant more resources, no one wanted to face such a large skeletal army alone.

After all, high-level instances often ended in total annihilation.

Xia Qi then rushed down to the deck, searching for the female deputy: "Where's the female deputy?!"

He searched the chaotic deck for a long time but couldn't find her. Other players, either knocked unconscious or injured, claimed they hadn't seen her either.

Xia Qi then entered the cabin and hurried to the captain's door, knocking repeatedly but receiving no response.

"They're doing this on purpose!" Xia Qi kicked the door in anger.

However, due to the captain's door being extremely sturdy, even after three kicks, it showed no signs of breaking open.

Xia Qi kicked a few more times, but still couldn't break it. At that moment, he remembered he had the "Octopus' Broken Tentacle."

The tentacle had broken his door before; perhaps it could break the captain's door too?

Just as he was about to take out the tentacle, a gust of wind suddenly came from his side. Xia Qi quickly dodged, only to see the girl rush towards the door and kick it without mercy.

With a loud "bang" and a ripping sound, the captain's door was kicked open and fell heavily to the ground. Amidst the splinters and dust, the girl stood at the doorway, looking down in surprise at her torn dress.

Her white ankle-length skirt now had a large tear running from the bottom up to her waist, turning the dress into something resembling a qipao.

Xia Qi: "..."

Seeing her somewhat flustered expression, Xia Qi almost laughed.

Seeing the girl standing there with clenched fists, Xia Qi tried hard not to laugh out loud.

"I'll go in and check. Wait for me outside." After saying this, Xia Qi rushed into the captain's room.

The captain's room was spacious and lavishly decorated. Every ornament and object was made of gold, even the toothpicks were pure gold. Each piece of furniture seemed custom-made for his exceptionally tall stature. Apart from a large fish tank covered with a black cloth, there were no fragile items visible.

Xia Qi searched the captain's room and found it empty, except for the balcony window which was still open.

Xia Qi looked out the already opened window and saw the captain and the female deputy sitting in a small boat nearby. One was holding a large shield while the other was rowing vigorously, trying to get as far away from their sailboat as possible.

"These two old scoundrels!" Xia Qi muttered under his breath.

In the escape game, apart from Margaret, who had been turned into a ghost by the old count, he had never encountered an NPC with a kind heart. These two NPCs once again refreshed his understanding. Compared to these scoundrels, even the old count would feel inferior.

Looking down, he noticed several hooks outside the captain's window, which should have been used to hang a dinghy. It seemed they had planned to abandon the ship and escape without telling anyone.

"We need to leave quickly too."

As Xia Qi walked to the door, he suddenly felt something was amiss. He returned to the fish tank and removed the black cloth covering it.

"Pearl Fish and Pearl Reef." Seeing what was inside the tank, Xia Qi was surprised. This was the task the captain and the female deputy had given them when they first arrived on the ship.

It turned out that the captain had kept all the pearl fish and pearl reefs in his room. He counted the pearl fish and found that the captain hadn't eaten any of them. Near the tank, there were seven or eight types of fish food, suggesting the captain had been taking great care of the fish.

So, did the captain really intend to sell these pearl fish and pearl reefs?

However, looking around the captain's room, Xia Qi thought that the captain was already so wealthy, yet he willingly took care of these fish like a diligent fishmonger, which seemed odd.

After checking the fish tank, Xia Qi interrupted the girl who was repairing her dress and led her out of the cabin.

By now, the players on the deck were already fighting the skeletons. The young master and the muscular man had somehow returned.

On the deck, the muscular man fought while retreating, wielding a single sword with great skill, making Xia Qi seriously doubt his past profession.

The young master stood behind the muscular man, holding a purple magic wand with strange wings at its tip, spewing purple mist. The skeletons that accidentally touched the purple mist suddenly became drunk, swaying as if they had drunk rum, allowing the muscular man to cut them down easily.

Seeing a magic wand similar to his beloved one, Xia Qi's eye twitched, and he took a few steps forward.

From the first glance at the young master's magic wand, Xia Qi felt a sense of familiarity. He squinted his eyes to get a better look at the wand.

At the tip of the young master's magic wand, there was a small purple heart with bat wings on either side and a red halo above it...

Was this the sister version of the True Love's Melody Wand?

Or the rival version?

Xia Qi was extremely puzzled.

After a moment of silent contemplation, he suddenly had an epiphany.

In the previous scenario, after he used the True Love Magic Wand on the three members of the Red Side, the young master hardly appeared and did not confront him face-to-face.

In this scenario, the young master also directly expressed that he did not want to be his enemy.

Could it be because the two magic wands were conflicting? Or perhaps both their magic wands possessed powerful forces, making the young master wary of him?

As Xia Qi continued walking forward, the young master turned around alertly. Seeing Xia Qi behind him, the young master quickly hid the magic wand in his sleeve and turned back, pulling the strong man from the bow of the ship toward the stern.

Xia Qi had no time to greet the young master. He rushed to the nearest fishing boat and said to everyone, "The captain and the female first mate have already escaped on the ship. Everyone, jump onto the boats quickly and remember to cover yourselves!"

After reminding everyone, he threw the fishing boat down first, then grabbed two empty wooden barrels and tossed them onto the fishing boat. Finally, he pulled the girl and held onto the rope hanging from the ship, climbing down.

Upon reaching the fishing boat, many players had also lowered their boats and were hurriedly climbing down from the sailboat.

Seeing the skeletons gathering at the edge of the ship, Xia Qi rowed with all his might, desperately trying to get away from the sailboat and head towards the direction of the captain and the female first mate.

"Whoosh—"

Suddenly, a sharp wind sound came from behind him, as if something sharp was cutting through the air.

In the blink of an eye, the girl pushed him to the side of the boat, and the rusty arrow that just flew by grazed her hair, causing a few strands to fall.

The girl pressed Xia Qi tightly beneath her, shielding him with her back. As all the players had entered the water, skeleton archers suddenly appeared among the skeleton sailors, firing arrows wildly in their direction.

The remaining skeletons with large swords stood at the edge of the ship, waving their bony arms menacingly. Their jaws gnawed at the air, and some even broke their teeth, as if roaring in anger.

However, despite their fury, the skeletons did not lower any more fishing boats to chase after them.

Xia Qi looked at the group of skeletons in confusion. There were still several fishing boats on the sailboat, yet they only stood there roaring. Given that the skeletons could set up ladders, wield large swords, and shoot crossbows, they didn't seem completely unintelligent.

"Could it be that they can't touch water?" Xia Qi guessed, looking at the skeletons showing off their power on the ship.

If these skeletons could enter the water, why would they need to shoot arrows from such a distance?

Xia Qi's lips tightened. No wonder the captain and the female first mate fled with shields; they knew not only that the skeleton ship would come but also that the skeletons couldn't enter the water and that there were archer skeletons among them.

"Whoosh—"

While they were talking, more rusty arrows continued to rain down on them. Xia Qi pushed the girl's shoulder aside and sat up.

Just as the girl was confused, Xia Qi directly placed an empty wine barrel over her head and then covered himself with another barrel.

Initially, the girl planned to pull Xia Qi into the water, but instead, she found herself with a barrel on her head.

Silently sitting in the barrel, the girl felt extremely sullen.

"Whoosh—"

"Whoosh—"

"Whoosh—"

Several rusty arrows shot at their barrels again. Since they were now far from the sailboat, the rusty arrows failed to penetrate the barrels covering them.

The girl clenched her teeth, thinking that these rusty arrows were truly useless, unable to pierce through their barrels even after so many shots.

Unlike the girl, Xia Qi, hiding in the barrel, was deeply worried. The skeletons had been shooting at them for quite a while, and he was starting to feel hungry and thirsty. If this continued, he might not be able to hold on.

"Ahh!"

Just as Xia Qi was thinking this, another scream sounded nearby.

The author has something to say: Someone: Another day without underwater play.

Xia Qi: You've had enough.