Chapter 35 Maritime Peril 10

Chapter 35: Maritime Crisis 10

In room 428, the middle-aged man quickly located towels and threw them to everyone.

Zhong Rui smirked, with a glimmer of realization in his eyes. "So, you are from the Moonfall Guild."

The middle-aged man didn't hide it. "Yes. I'm Zhang Yixiao, and this is my brother Zhang Yihe. The guy with the round face is our friend, Fang Jianhua, usually called Fatty."

The refined man—Zhang Yihe—couldn’t help but emphasize with a heavier tone, "While we did end up benefiting and obtained a lot of supplies, we had absolutely nothing to do with the poisoning incident."

According to the principle of "the one who benefits the most is the most suspicious," many players eyed the Moonfall Guild members suspiciously. Therefore, Zhang Yihe was very reluctant to let others know about his association with the Moonfall Guild.

Zhang Yihe was ready to argue, but Zhong Rui nodded and said, "I believe you."

Zhang Yihe, "..."

He had a lot to say and planned to argue the guild's innocence from multiple angles, but the other party didn't give him a chance.

Su Han remarked nonchalantly, "The Moonfall Guild doesn't bully others, and they were pretty straightforward in their dealings with me. Their demeanor clearly doesn't match."

Zhang Yixiao glanced around and spoke gravely, "Why don’t we start by introducing ourselves? May I know how to address everyone?"

"My name is Zhong Rui," Zhong Rui said as he casually found a seat.

"Yang Shu," the lone young man eagerly took a seat, finally regaining some sense of security.

"Su Han," Su Han was the third to announce her name.

"An Rongyue," An Rongyue was the last to speak.

Though everyone introduced themselves briefly, clearly on guard, Zhang Yixiao ignored it as if he hadn’t noticed. "Given that we’ve all been through tough times together, why not work together and clear the dungeon?"

"That depends on how sincere everyone is about cooperating," Zhong Rui said with a smile. "Why not start with you? Tell us why there are only three people left in the Moonfall Guild?"

Zhang Yixiao remained calm and readily agreed. "Sure."

After gathering his thoughts, he slowly began, "It all started on the first day of the game. After eating at the buffet, Ah He suddenly got a stomachache and was hit with the 'poisoned' status."

"After various investigations, we determined that the drinking water at the buffet was problematic. But by the time we discovered it, many people had already drunk the mineral water."

Amid the chaos, Ah He, Fatty, and I were targeted and got into a big fight. Unexpectedly, we found the ship's storage room. It was stocked with food, medicine, and daily necessities, except for drinking water."

"Since we could freely use medicine, and most of our opponents were sluggish due to negative statuses, we quickly recruited a group of subordinates. We agreed in advance to help them survive until the 10th day with medicine. In exchange, they had to follow my orders."

Using medicine to survive until the 10th day... Su Han’s expression was blank, thinking to herself, this guy is much bolder than she imagined.

Zhong Rui pondered for a while and suddenly realized, "So, the only ones truly with you are these two?" The Moonfall Guild was just a name made up on the spot.

"Yes," Zhang Yixiao nodded. "The others were temporary subordinates, recruited to maintain order in the dungeon."

Zhong Rui was speechless. He had secretly researched for a long time how guilds were established in survival games... It turned out to be just a facade!

"What about the lack of drinking water?" An Rongyue asked, puzzled.

Zhang Yixiao explained, "Some people didn't have many supplies, so they sold their labor. Some had abundant supplies in their Portable Storage, so they proposed trading mineral water for my medicine."

"I agreed. After that, we got along well and coexisted peacefully."

"But one day, the study on the third floor suddenly exploded. Several people whose rooms were nearby were directly killed. Among them was the guy with abundant supplies."

Su Han, "..."

Should someone like her, who only suffered minor injuries from the explosion, be grateful that the heavens didn’t take her out in one go?

"After securing enough drinking water, the other survivors couldn’t wait to leave the dungeon on the 10th day, leaving only the three of us behind," Zhang Yixiao said calmly. "What happened next, you all know."

There are many rumors about the Moonfall Guild, but in fact, most of them are misconceptions.

An Rongyue’s eyes shifted, reflecting a mix of emotions. She had always thought the Moonfall Guild was full of ruthless players, but after hearing Zhang Yixiao’s explanation, she realized they were just like everyone else—trying to survive by any means.

Suddenly, the cruise ship shook violently.

The seven of them quickly pressed themselves against the wall, trying to steady themselves.

The conversation continued.

This time, Zhang Yixiao took the lead, asking, "How did you all manage to survive?"

Su Han gestured casually toward Zhong Rui and said offhandedly, "He and I are partners. We had enough supplies, so we made it this far."

An Rongyue said flatly, "After entering the dungeon, my luck was always at level E. Luckily, when I was on the brink of disaster, I met a kind stranger and traded for the supplies I needed. My Portable Storage has food, daily necessities, and bottled water. I just scraped by until now."

Yang Shu shrugged, "I holed up in a corner, eating and drinking my way through it."

Everyone fell silent, exchanging glances.

Whether they believed it or not, no one was dumb enough to challenge it. Instead, they all nodded, as if it made perfect sense.

"With a roar, the rain poured down in torrents."

Despite the cruise ship rocking violently, it held its ground, refusing to capsize!

Out of the blue, Su Han asked, "Do you have any supplies left?"

The three of them blinked, caught off guard.

Su Han said calmly, "By my calculations, even with twenty people, the ship’s supplies shouldn’t have run out. Even if you’ve all filled your Portable Storages, there should still be supplies to spare. Since they’re going to waste anyway, why not share them?"

Zhang Yihe stared at Su Han, his surprise evident.

The stocky man’s eyes widened, then he looked down without a word.

Zhang Yixiao was silent for a moment, then had to admit, "You're right."

He dragged out several large storage boxes from under the bed. "It’s all here. Help yourselves."

Yang Shu and An Rongyue’s eyes gleamed as they eagerly crammed supplies into their Portable Storages.

Su Han didn’t hesitate either, though she was picky, grabbing only soap and shower gel. Food and water resources could be obtained through talents, so they weren’t urgently needed, but daily necessities were different. If it weren’t for peaceful times, they would be hard to come by. Therefore, the more she could stockpile, the better.

In the end, Su Han went all out, stuffing her Portable Storage to the brim with daily necessities!

The three of them were busy, while Zhong Rui stood aside, his expression cold.

Zhang Yihe walked over to strike up a conversation, "Brother, don't be shy. Since these supplies are going to waste anyway, just take whatever you want!"

Zhong Rui sighed heavily, "I’d like to, but..."

"What's wrong?" Zhang Yihe asked eagerly.

Zhong Rui lamented bitterly, "The warehouse is full."

Full... full... full...

Zhang Yihe obediently shut his mouth, no longer looking for trouble.

The rainstorm kept pouring down, and seawater soon flooded the first and second decks. Fortunately, despite the storm, the cruise ship held steady and didn't capsize.

The seven survivors were tense, but time dragged on, making a single day feel like a year. Thankfully, the tense and thrilling 11th day finally came to a peaceful end.

**

The next morning, the weather cleared up, and the rainstorm suddenly stopped. After a day of rough seas, the cruise ship finally stabilized, floating steadily on the sea.

Su Han couldn't help but blurt out, "What's going on? The storm only lasted a day?!"

An Rongyue, pale-faced, replied, "Isn't one day enough?" The constant rocking of the ship had made her vomit.

Su Han went quiet. Given the system's tendencies, the difficulty of the instance would only ramp up over time. She couldn't believe the system would show any mercy. If the storm stopped suddenly, it could only mean tougher challenges were coming...

Sure enough, at exactly 9 o'clock, the system's robotic voice announced, "Day 12 of the game."

"A group of pirates has discovered the location of the C23 Cruise Ship and is rushing over to attack. The pirates are expected to clash with the players in 6 hours."

"Note 1: There are 50 pirates in total, aboard a medium-sized wooden ship."

"Note 2: The pirate ship's location has been marked on the navigation map. Players can steer the cruise ship away from the pirate ship."

"Note 3: If the pirates lose more than 30 members or if the ship's armor is reduced by 50% (the ship's armor value is equivalent to the players' health), the pirates will pull back. If they fail to catch up to the C23 Cruise Ship within 4 hours, the pirates will give up the chase."

An Rongyue, expressionless, asked flatly, "So the question is, does anyone know how to sail a ship?"

Su Han frowned, "Even if someone knows how, it won't help. The ship's equipment was damaged in the explosion and may not function properly."

"So, apart from facing the enemy head-on, there's no other way?" As she spoke, An Rongyue glanced at the others, hoping to find some confidence. Unfortunately, the faces she saw were filled with nothing but confusion.

The room fell into a heavy silence.

After a long while, Zhong Rui slowly spoke up, "It's not entirely hopeless. If you look closely, the system said the pirates have learned the location of the C23 Cruise Ship. If we abandon the ship and escape, we might not encounter the pirates."

However, this would mean drifting at sea for four days.

Recalling the two-day drifting ordeal during the second instance, Zhong Rui felt a strong resistance—legs couldn't stretch, arms had no place to rest. Sitting on the boat all day without being able to lie down was a terrible experience.

Last time, after two days of drifting, his limbs had stiffened by the end of the instance. If they had to drift for four days this time, he couldn't imagine what state he'd be in afterward.

Therefore, if possible, Zhong Rui wanted to avoid drifting on a small boat. But with no other options, he would have to endure it to clear the instance.

Su Han's eyes flickered as she suddenly remembered something. Then, she smiled and declared, "What if we face the enemy head-on? Think about it, we actually have a chance of winning."

Everyone, "..."

Yang Shu, expressionless, asked, "7 vs. 50? We have a chance? Are you sure you didn't mix up the subject?"

An Rongyue looked at Su Han in shock, utterly baffled. How could a girl act even crazier than the men?

Author's note: Su Han (confidently): Stay calm, we can win!

Others (frantically handing out medicine): Quick! The medicine can't stop!

Su Han (proudly and coldly): Foolish humans. Zhong Rui (proudly): My buddy is just amazing!