Chapter 28 Maritime Peril 3

Chapter 28: Maritime Crisis 3

Suddenly, the air grew eerily silent.

After a long while, Cai Cheng ventured cautiously, "As far as I know, there's a group of people gathered on the fourth floor, apparently aiming to expand their power. Players with some strength will be recruited, while those without any value will be eliminated and silenced."

"What about you?" Zhong Rui inquired.

"I'm of no value, but I run fast, so I wasn't silenced!" Cai Cheng showed a hint of pride.

Zhong Rui couldn't quite grasp what this guy was so proud of. The cruise ship is only so big; where could he run to?

Su Han, expressionless, thought to herself, here we go again with PvP. All she wanted was to hunt, fish, and collect resources, but she always found herself dragged into inexplicable situations. What annoyed her the most was that she couldn't avoid it.

"It seems that to prevent others from causing trouble, we need to take control first," Zhong Rui sighed lightly. "Only by controlling the narrative can we ensure the stability of the situation."

Su Han really didn't want to engage in power struggles, but she had to admit that her companion made a good point.

Just then, an announcement came over the ship's speakers, "Attention, the cruise ship has been taken over by the Moonfall Guild. Please remain on the first, second, and third floors. Anyone who ventures to the fourth floor will be killed on sight."

"Repeating the announcement, attention..."

Everyone on the cruise ship heard the broadcast.

Cai Cheng was taken aback, "No trouble if we don't go to the fourth floor? Why? With so many people, they could easily overpower all survivors."

After some thought, Zhong Rui had some ideas, "They likely seized all the ship's supplies, ensuring their members can survive until the end, so they don't want any more trouble."

"I heard all the bottled water on the ship was poisoned," Su Han calmly added. "That means the only fresh water available is from the stockpile. Under such circumstances, recruiting too many followers would lead to a shortage of clean drinking water."

"But without enough followers, their strength wouldn't be sufficient to control everyone on the ship."

"So they decided to step back, managing their own turf and letting other players roam freely."

Finally, Su Han concluded, "It's fine as long as we don't disturb each other."

"After all, having enough supplies doesn't necessarily mean you can complete the instance," Zhong Rui casually added. "This is a maritime instance; what if there's a storm? What if pirates attack?"

Cai Cheng suddenly realized, "So the leaders wouldn't necessarily kill everyone."

"Not necessarily," Su Han changed the subject. "Only those with brains would think a lot. The simple-minded might only think about eliminating everyone."

"Anyway, it seems the Moonfall Guild doesn't want to cause trouble," Cai Cheng said cheerfully.

"But just because the guild isn't causing trouble doesn't mean others aren't," Zhong Rui secretly pointed in a certain direction, mouthing, "Someone's there."

"I plan to return to my room, what about you?" Su Han looked at her companion.

"I'll walk around and get a sense of the situation," Zhong Rui replied casually.

Su Han nodded, "Then let's split up." With that, she turned and left gracefully.

Zhong Rui waved his hand, muttering, "Follow me," and then took the lead.

Cai Cheng, with a bitter face, thought, what's there to understand? He just wanted to stay quietly in his room. But with his bodyguard already far ahead, he had no choice but to reluctantly follow.

**

At 9 o'clock sharp, the system's mechanical voice announced, "Day 2 of the game."

Other than that, there were no further instructions.

Three bottles of milk, a piece of pork floss cream bread, and a piece of chocolate cake mysteriously appeared in the Portable Storage. Su Han took a quick look, then locked the doors and windows before heading back to bed.

She finally woke up around 2 PM after sleeping for a long time.

The room remained empty, and the doors and windows were still intact.

Su Han opened the window and looked over the deck, noticing several people fishing. Although the crowd was scattered in small groups, keeping an eye on each other, there were no conflicts. It seemed that after a night, the players had finally regained some sense.

Looking closer, Zhong Rui and Cai Cheng were also there.

Su Han yawned and walked leisurely onto the deck.

The cooing of pigeons filled the air as a flock flew across the sky.

Su Han suddenly became alert. She took out a slingshot and metal pellets, aimed, and fired.

Bang— The pellet accurately hit the pigeon's left wing, sending it tumbling down.

"Perfect for pigeon soup tonight," Su Han thought.

But before she could retrieve her prey, someone else grabbed the pigeon first, exclaiming gleefully, "Hey, what luck! A stroke of luck."

Su Han's expression turned cold as she snapped, "Put the pigeon down. That's my prey."

"Yours?" The burly man sneered, "Show me proof."

Su Han didn't flinch, staring directly into his eyes, "Take the pigeon, and you'll owe me your life."

The burly man didn't expect a girl to be this tough.

Su Han softened her tone, "We can still settle this without trouble. Don't take what isn't yours. That's common sense."

"Forget your common sense," the burly man snarled, moving closer to Su Han.

Su Han didn't back down; instead, she stepped forward.

"Idiot!" The burly man was about to say something when suddenly, a pistol was jammed into his mouth—Su Han's Desert Eagle.

Cold sweat dripped down the burly man's forehead.

The Desert Eagle inflicted immense damage, dealing 40 damage per shot and was worth 50 points.

Its matching bullets were also extremely expensive, costing 1 point each.

More importantly, the Desert Eagle was a limited-edition item. Only 100 were available each time the shop restocked.

With the gun in his mouth, if she pulled the trigger, the damage would be doubled. The burly man calculated his health points and realized, to his dismay, that two shots would finish him.

Zhong Rui, seeing the conflict, was about to step in to help, but the fight was already over, with his friend holding the absolute advantage.

"Need any more proof?" Su Han asked casually.

"Mmmph (No need)," the burly man frantically shook his head.

"The pigeon?" Su Han extended her left hand.

The burly man reluctantly handed over the prey.

Su Han stomped hard on the burly man before putting her gun away and leaving.

The burly man's face turned pale, still shaken by the fear of having a gun shoved in his mouth.

"You moron!" His companion couldn't stand it anymore and ran over to remind him, "Don't think she's an easy target just because she's a girl! No one who's survived this long is easy to mess with. Starting a fight over a pigeon? How dumb can you get?"

The burly man winced and closed his eyes. He realized he had indeed done something foolish.

Su Han walked slowly towards them, carrying the pigeon. As she approached, she noticed her companions were fishing by the shore.

Cai Cheng looked at her with awe, "Miss, you're really something else." She's so bold and fearless.

"I don't like to lose," Su Han replied casually. Then, she asked, "What made you think of fishing?"

"Just killing time, so I came to fish," Zhong Rui answered offhandedly.

"How many did you catch?" Su Han asked curiously.

"Two. One eel and one squid," Zhong Rui replied.

Su Han tied up the pigeon, then took out a fishing rod and joined in fishing as well.

Ten minutes later, she hooked a yellow croaker.

Fifteen minutes later, she landed a grouper.

Twenty-three minutes later, she pulled in a sea bass.

Meanwhile, the other two hadn't caught a single fish.

Zhong Rui couldn't help but glance sideways, "You're cheating, aren't you?"

"Not at all," Su Han thought to herself, this is pure skill!

Zhong Rui thought to himself, no wonder she didn't bother finding companions before, her survival skills are way beyond normal.

By the time the fifth fish was hooked, Su Han decided to call it quits—fishing any longer would draw too much attention, so she deliberately kept a low profile.

Cai Cheng volunteered to help carry the pigeon and the bucket.

Zhong Rui, however, said, "You guys go back first, I'll wander around by myself."

"I..."

Cai Cheng was about to say something but was ruthlessly interrupted by Zhong Rui. In an indisputable tone, he said, "Go back, don't follow me." Then he turned around and left gracefully.

Cai Cheng, feeling rejected, harbored a deep resentment and couldn't help but mutter, "What kind of shady business is he up to?"

Su Han, unfazed, walked in another direction without a second thought.

Not concerned, not caring, not bothered, are these two really companions?

In the buffet restaurant, dishes and plates were in disarray, the floor littered with garbage, yet no one came to clean up. Knowing that the cruise ship's supplies had been taken over and the buffet would no longer provide food, very few were willing to come here anymore.

**

But at this moment, heavy breathing could be heard from under the tables.

Zhong Rui walked into the buffet restaurant, casually closed the door, and then softly said, "Come out, I know you're hiding in the restaurant."

The heavy breathing abruptly stopped, leaving the air eerily silent, as if the previous sounds had been a mere illusion.

"What are you hiding? Do you think you can hide from me?" Zhong Rui strode straight to the dining table and lifted the tablecloth.

The boy crouching under the table was about sixteen or seventeen years old. His expression was one of sheer frustration, his lips pressed into a tight line. But his body was extremely weak, and he couldn't run away.

"Satiety 61%, hygiene 52%, stamina 18%, tsk tsk." As expected, Zhong Rui found a player on the verge of death. He casually squatted down and drawled, "Tell me, how did you end up like this?"

His mouth burned, swallowing was agony, and each word he spoke felt like torture. Even so, the boy still managed to say, word by word, "The water was poisoned. My companions knew it, yet they deliberately gave it to me to drink."

By the time he realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

"Why?" Zhong Rui asked, quite curious.

"I also want to know why," the boy replied stiffly, with a flash of disgust and hatred in his eyes.

He possessed a Portable Storage, stocked with ample supplies, yet his medicine was depleted, and the 'poisoned' status lingered.

He was likely going to die. The boy clearly realized this, but stubbornly held on. Because he could not forgive the betrayers, he was madly seeking revenge!

Zhong Rui stated gravely, "I can save you. But in return, you'll owe me a favor." He made no attempt to hide that this was a transaction.

The boy's eyes shone with an intense light, yet he remained rational. "No problem. But I'm poisoned—how will you save me?"

Zhong Rui placed a detoxification pill, a bottle of mineral water, a piece of compressed biscuit, and a bottle of shower gel in front of the boy.

The boy grabbed the detoxification pill and quickly used it, finally ridding himself of the 'poisoned' state. He sighed in relief, feeling as though he had been brought back from the brink, yet he couldn't help but question, "Aren't you afraid I'll go back on my word?"

Zhong Rui said solemnly, "Heaven punishes the ungrateful." For example, being personally eliminated by him.

The boy remembered something and suddenly smiled. "You're right, ingratitude should indeed be punished by heaven." But his smile was menacing, devoid of any warmth, clearly itching for a confrontation.

"Remember your promise," Zhong Rui said, turning on his heel and walking away. As he pushed open the restaurant door, a slight smirk played at the corner of his mouth.

The poisoning incident struck too suddenly, leaving many players in dire straits purely due to misfortune, not lack of skill. When on the verge of death, if someone appeared, willing to save their lives, what would happen?

A promise is merely an empty gesture. Desperate to survive, some would agree, even if insincerely. Yet, if even a couple honored their word, it would be a significant gain!

"Four more," Zhong Rui muttered under his breath, then set off toward the next target.