Chapter 29 Aquaman 10

The bloody battles of the day finally came to an end, and as the sun began to set, the skeletons left the sailboat in groups, crawling back onto their own skeleton ship.

After a while, the skeleton ship started moving, gradually disappearing into the mist, never to be seen again.

Xia Qi and the girl had been hiding inside a barrel all this time. The thick walls of the barrel protected them from the dozens of arrows, leaving them unscathed.

However, after a whole day without food, Xia Qi's stomach was growling, and his lips were parched.

But compared to Xia Qi and the girl, the others were even worse off.

Although they managed to board the fishing boat in time and avoided being killed by the skeletons, there was no cover on the boat. Once the skeleton archers took their positions, the players had to jump into the sea to avoid the rusted arrows.

While jumping into the sea helped them dodge the flying rusted arrows, it also meant they couldn't breathe, so they had to surface periodically for air.

Since the skeletons on the skeleton ship were former sailors, they were wild and cunning. Whenever the players surfaced, the frenzied skeleton archers would shoot at their heads, determined not to let them live.

Thus, the group of players kept their breathing to a minimum, only surfacing for air every now and then.

All the players spent the entire day in the water, their skin turning white from prolonged exposure. The rapid depletion of their stamina and hydration left them utterly exhausted.

Fortunately, the skeletons began to retreat once the sun set; otherwise, even the strongest person wouldn't have been able to endure another night in the water.

"The punishment is over. Please work hard to advance the route!"

"Damn it!" one player cursed from the water.

After the skeleton ship left, the captain and the female first mate slowly rowed back to the sailboat.

The others, who had long since given up, clung to their boats and returned to the sailboat.

Xia Qi and the girl arrived last. The girl climbed up first, and while she was away, Xia Qi bent down and carefully picked up two strands of her black hair that had fallen on the boat during the day.

He gently twirled the black hair, and the system displayed a familiar item name.

"Item Name: TA's Hair Strands"

"Level: No Level"

"Other Description: Tie your hair together with his, and you'll be lovingly bound forever! Quickly tie your hair with his, and you'll be blissfully in love forever!"

Xia Qi: "…"

Ignoring the system's nonsense, Xia Qi put the black strands into his system backpack.

Once they boarded the sailboat, everyone who had survived the skeleton battle complained bitterly. The player with the cooking gadget cooked a pot of seafood for everyone, serving them a quick meal.

Because Xia Qi had protected them today, the male player with the cooking gadget cooked him an extra bowl of cute little clams and said considerately, "Your girlfriend likes these."

Xia Qi: "…"

After dinner, everyone had no desire to socialize and went downstairs to rest in groups. Many were injured and were trading with other players who had medicine.

This made Xia Qi pay attention, planning to focus more on supplies in the future, preparing some daily food and medicine for himself.

As everyone went downstairs one by one, the young master was carried down the corridor by the strong man.

The young master looked extremely tired, his face pale like a ghost, his dark eyes slightly drooping, his expression devoid of his usual innocence, instead showing a hint of coldness and gloom.

The strong man's belly and arms were covered in blood marks from the skeletons' claws, but he still insisted on carrying the young master, walking cautiously as if afraid of jostling him.

Seeing this, Xia Qi thought that although the young master had a terrible character, he was good at manipulating people. Despite the strong man's imposing appearance and seeming lack of brains, he was the best teammate for the young master in this game.

Just as the young master and the strong man reached the room, the strong man saw the broken wooden bed and roared angrily, "How did the wooden bed break? Who the hell did this? I won't let it go!"

Xia Qi: "…"

The girl: "…"

The girl nervously tugged at Xia Qi's sleeve.

Xia Qi was about to retreat to avoid being caught by the young master and the strong man for breaking their wooden bed.

The strong man cursed at the door for a bit, then spoke softly to the young master, as if afraid of startling him, "Lin Qing, sit here for a moment. I'll make a bed for you on the floor."

"Okay." The young master looked up at the strong man and nodded obediently.

At that moment, Tony emerged from the room, pinching his throat and laughing, "Wow, you guys have such great luck, actually making it back alive. I thought you'd all drowned in the sea."

Because his hair hadn't dried yet, Tony's cool Korean bangs hung limply, divided into three strands covering his forehead, making him look like a drowned cat.

Seeing the young master's near-death state, Tony was delighted, hoping the young master would die right there and be sent to the crematorium.

"Stop it," the strong man said, surprised that Tony was ruining the young master's mood, pushing him away.

As the strong man and Tony pushed each other, the young master struggled to stand up, leaning against the wall, and raised an eyebrow at Tony, saying, "Brother Wang protected me. Does that upset you?"

His voice was weak but clear enough for Tony to hear.

"You! Lin Qing, you bastard!" Hearing this, Tony flew into a rage, forgetting about resting, reaching out to grab the young master's face.

The strong man quickly stepped in front of the young master, slapping Tony's hand away and frowning angrily, "Can we stop this today? Can't we just rest?"

"Hmph!!!" Seeing the two team up, Tony felt resentful. He was alone now, and his teammates didn't like causing trouble, so he couldn't fight both of them.

Tony reluctantly withdrew his hand. When he saw the Gold Chain Man passing by, his eyes lit up, and he had an idea. He placed his hands on his hips and shouted like a shrew, "Wasn't it you who led the skeleton ship to us? How could you be so heartless, making us suffer under the skeletons' attacks all day? Everyone, come out! Let's kick these culprits off the boat!"

"Don't spout nonsense!" Hearing this audacious accusation, the strong man gasped, trembling with anger.

Everyone had suffered greatly at the hands of the skeleton army today and was already full of pent-up anger. Hearing Tony's words, which seemed to speak for everyone, the Gold Chain Man stopped and said to the strong man and the young master, "Explain what happened today, or I won't let you board the boat."

The young master didn't expect Tony to be so troublesome. A hint of impatience appeared in his gloomy eyes as he said to the strong man, "Let's go in first."

He had dealt with many people before but never expected to stumble on trouble for the first time. Unfortunately, not everyone could handle things as decisively as Xia Qi. Tony was clearly a big troublemaker and used to run scams; there was no way he would let this go easily with the young master.

"Hmph, you're not going anywhere!" Tony blocked the door, screaming persistently, "You won't get in unless you give us an explanation!"

"That's right, that's right." Seeing someone take the lead, other players from nearby rooms came out to support Tony.

However, some players didn't want to offend the young master, a high-level player. A female player spoke politely, "It's not about giving an explanation; just tell us what happened. After all, everyone is worried about encountering skeletons again tomorrow."

Seeing that he couldn't avoid it, the young master coughed lightly and nodded at the strong man, saying, "You explain."

The strong man scratched his head irritably and told the crowd, "We encountered a group of salmon as soon as we entered the water. They pushed us far away, causing us to lose our bearings at sea. Later, we saw a boat nearby. Only after boarding did we realize it was a skeleton ship. But we didn't bring the skeleton ship here; we didn't want to harm anyone either."

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" The Gold Chain Man was skeptical. How could they have stumbled upon a skeleton ship so easily?

They must be hiding something about the death conditions.

The strong man stepped forward, impatiently saying, "Believe it or not, it's up to you. If you insist on kicking us out, don't blame me for being rude."

Everyone knew the strong man's capabilities, especially since he and the young master survived a whole day on the skeleton ship, proving they were no ordinary players.

Due to the Lin family's extensive influence in the central space, although others minded their presence, they didn't want to offend them.

With the strong man and the young master having made their point, the others reluctantly returned to their rooms.

After carrying the young master into the room, the female deputy came to the corridor and gave each of them a box, saying it was their unpaid reward from yesterday.

The strong man asked about the boxes' origin, learning that everyone had received one. Reluctantly, they accepted the boxes.

"What's inside? It feels like a stone," a voice from next door said before the strong man closed the door.

Xia Qi touched his own box, wondering if the contents varied.

Because the young master and the strong man had returned, Xia Qi had to share a room with the girl.

One sat on the bed, the other on a chair, looking at each other. The girl stared at him intently, her meaning clear.

Xia Qi stood up and said, "I'll sleep on the floor."

The girl quickly grabbed his hand and pointed to the wooden bed behind her.

"No, you're a 'girl.' You should sleep on the bed," Xia Qi glanced at her, his words carrying a deeper meaning.

The girl: ...

She meant for both of them to sleep together.

However, despite her efforts, Xia Qi's insistence prevailed, and she ended up sleeping alone on the bed.

Xia Qi casually laid a blanket on the floor and lay down.

Exhausted, he fell asleep almost immediately.

As before, he heard familiar singing once he drifted off.

In his dream, a man sang mournfully. This time, the voice seemed closer, and Xia Qi, influenced by the song, entered the dream once more.

This time, he found himself in a large iron cage covered in blood. As he took a step forward, he felt something drip onto his face.

He reached up and found his hand covered in blood!

"What is this?!"

He looked up and met the gaze of a bloody, eyeless head.

The head's eyes were empty sockets, its skin peeled back, and its face covered in blood. Its mouth stretched to its ears, dripping blood, and it glared at him menacingly.

Xia Qi held his breath and stepped back.

To his surprise, stepping back gave him a wider view, revealing many such heads hanging from the top of the cage. Men, women, old, and young, all with shaved heads, gouged-out eyes, and bloody grins, laughed at him in a strange, indescribable manner.

"Ji ji ji..."

The heads laughed, their mouths stretching wider until they bled, then emitted a sound like laughter turning to tears.

As Xia Qi struggled in his nightmare, late at night, a rustling sound like a snake slithering across the floor echoed outside the door.

Then, the familiar, raspy voice rang out again:

"Let me see which little treasure has it?"

The octopus stopped outside a room in the corridor.

A loud crash signaled the door breaking open, and the octopus seemed to extend its tentacles, slipping into the first room.

The sound of a box opening followed, and the octopus chuckled excitedly, "Found my little treasure! It's you!"

Then, it began singing a strange tune, slowly leaving the corridor.

As it climbed the stairs, its tentacles dragged something heavy, making a continuous "thud, thud, thud" sound.

After struggling through a terrifying nightmare all night, Xia Qi woke up in the morning with a throbbing headache.

Sure enough, he found himself lying on the wooden bed.

He frowned helplessly, rolling over, only to find nothing there.

Looking at the indentation on the cushion next to him, Xia Qi was speechless for a while.

He actually fled in fear of punishment first?

Xia Qi slowly got up and ran to the bathroom below deck to freshen up. Just as he was about to climb upstairs, he heard hurried footsteps and a familiar shout from above: "Aaaaah, how did my teammate die?!"

This familiar shout was all too familiar to Xia Qi; he knew it was the Gold Chain Man who lived in the first room.

"Wang Ke's teammate died?" Xia Qi rubbed his temples, vaguely remembering that the person teamed up with the Gold Chain Man was an intermediate player, quite muscular, and similar in build to the Gold Chain Man.

Xia Qi hurriedly climbed up the stairs. As soon as he reached the deck, he unexpectedly bumped into someone. The girl held two large coconuts in each hand and looked at him proudly, seemingly waiting for his praise.

"Coconuts?" Xia Qi looked at her expectantly and then said, "Go to the kitchen first. I'll go check upstairs."

The girl nodded excitedly and went downstairs with the coconuts.

Upon reaching the deck, Xia Qi followed the crowd to the bow of the ship.

In the spot where a head had been placed previously, there was now another bloody head. From the terrifying expression on the face, it was clear that this was the Gold Chain Man's teammate.

Just like the head that appeared on the first day, this one also had its throat pierced by a sharp object, eyes gouged out, hair stripped off, tongue removed, and teeth shattered.

"Aaaaah, what is going on?!" The Gold Chain Man didn't cry like the female players, but his emotions were still very agitated. He shouted in despair, "I slept deeply last night and felt nothing. I didn't even know when he left!"

Hearing the Gold Chain Man's words, everyone else became tense. Someone suddenly murmured:

"The one who died today is him, but who will it be tomorrow..."

Another female player screamed, "Stop saying that! I won't be able to sleep tonight!"

"Do you think you can stay awake? It seems we all fell asleep!"

Everyone's faces were grim, so much so that the coconuts and seafood on the deck no longer caught their attention.

Xia Qi observed the situation on the ship for a while and decided to enter the kitchen for breakfast.

Unexpectedly, he ran into the cheerful female deputy coming down the captain's staircase. She even greeted him cheerfully, saying, "Good morning, eat more today."

Xia Qi watched the female deputy's nearly bouncing back figure and frowned in confusion.

It seemed that today they would not encounter the skeleton ship again.

In the kitchen, the girl had already prepared the two coconuts. They lay split open on a plate, looking as if they had been cleaved by hand. All the water had drained out, leaving only the white flesh inside.

Xia Qi: "..."

Regardless, these coconuts were specially prepared for him. If he didn't eat them, wouldn't it be a waste?

Xia Qi sat down, picked up a metal spoon, scooped some coconut meat, and praised insincerely, "Delicious."

For some reason, the coconuts mysteriously transported onto the ship tasted mediocre and even slightly sour. Xia Qi thought it might be due to the survival game; not all coconuts could be as delicious as those in the real world.

The girl stood by, smiling contentedly as she watched Xia Qi eat the coconut.

After finishing breakfast, they returned to the deck. The bloody head had been thrown away, but the players were still on edge, no longer chatting with each other, and cautiously watching their surroundings and others.

Unexpectedly, the atmosphere among the players changed overnight. When the young master and the strong man came onto the deck, the mood dropped to a frightening low.

Everyone deliberately kept their distance from them, unwilling to talk to them, isolating the two completely. Even the male player with the cooking device refused to share seafood with them.

"If others don't want to talk to us, we'll just eat ourselves." The young master, always thick-skinned, remained unaffected.

Fortunately, the young master had enough supplies. No one knew what they ate downstairs, but after eating, they reappeared before everyone, full of energy.

Since they had already boarded the ship yesterday, everyone had to tolerate their presence and couldn't force them off.

Xia Qi had no time to observe the young master and the strong man. Instead, he walked over to the female deputy steering the ship and asked, "How is the captain doing?"

"Oh, he's much better. Why do you ask?" The female deputy smiled, her hands firmly gripping the steering wheel, showing none of the panic from yesterday when she steered the ship like a pirate ship.

"The captain looked unwell yesterday, so I wanted to check on him," Xia Qi replied.

"No worries, the captain is much better. He'll even come out to steer the ship himself this afternoon." The female deputy whistled.

Sure enough, in the afternoon, the captain came out to steer the ship.

His right hand still wore a glove, with the middle finger missing. However, when he saw Xia Qi on the deck, he immediately looked as if he had seen a ghost.

"Get away from me! Don't let me see you!" The captain quickly stepped back, almost tripping on the stable deck.

Xia Qi tried to reach out to help him, but the captain recoiled in shock and anger, waving his hands, "Don't touch me!"

After saying that, the captain ran away in a hurry.

Xia Qi touched his face. He had only punched the captain ten times; was he really that scary?

Like the female deputy, after taking over the steering, the captain's mood improved significantly.

For some unknown reason, the weather at sea became unusually clear today, with some of the fog blown away. Xia Qi could even see the outline of his hand when he stretched it out into the mist.

"Ding! Course progress: +40%, total progress 50%!"

"Holy crap! The course progress has increased too!" The players breathed a sigh of relief, despite the death, as they had made progress.

Seeing the sun about to set again, someone sighed with relief, "The skeleton ship didn't come today, and the course is correct."

"If those skeletons come again, I might not survive."

The Gold Chain Man stood nervously in a corner, saying, "What good does it do if the skeleton ship doesn't come? People still die at night..."

"Don't talk like that; we might not die tonight," someone consoled themselves.

Although everyone had already guessed that the deaths were related to the progress of the route, no one was willing to say it out loud.

"You're not afraid, of course, since you're in Room Three! I'm in Room One, and this is unfair!" the Gold Chain Man said irritably. After speaking, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly ran downstairs.

After Xia Qi and the girl finished dinner, they went downstairs to their room but unexpectedly found someone sitting inside.

The Gold Chain Man sat on the edge of their bed, arrogantly declaring, "I'm taking this room for today. You two go stay in Room One."

Xia Qi's room was at the far end of the corridor. Yesterday, when the Gold Chain Man and his teammates stayed in Room One, an accident occurred, leading him to believe that the room numbers were the problem.

Xia Qi was amused by his familiar arrogance. Although he knew that the deaths at night might not be related to the rooms, he couldn't tolerate someone else taking over his room.

"The rooms were chosen by yourselves, and you even said Room One had good ventilation. Why do you suddenly want to switch now?" Xia Qi said without holding back.

"Hey, you little punk, don't refuse the polite offer and choose the rough one," the Gold Chain Man stood up abruptly, raised his right arm with a painted blue dragon, and waved his fist menacingly at Xia Qi.

"So, you want to fight me again?" Xia Qi took a step forward and sneered at the Gold Chain Man.

Author's note: Someone: Want to eat octopus?

Xia Qi: No, it's too disgusting.

Someone: Oh well, I was thinking of chopping off a few more fingers.

Goodnight everyone, sleep early.