Chapter 36 Maritime Peril 11

Chapter 36: Peril at Sea 11

Amidst everyone's astonishment, only Zhong Rui became alert and pressed, "What’s your idea?"

Su Han smiled faintly and said two words, "Set them on fire."

Set them on fire? Everyone was stunned.

Su Han then explained, "The system clearly stated that the pirates are sailing a medium-sized wooden ship. Once the ship's armor level drops by 50%, the pirates will choose to retreat."

"So, we can torch their ship before making contact, causing the armor level to drop below 50%."

An Rongyue had to admit, "It could work in theory."

"But it’s pretty risky in practice," Yang Shu dampened the mood, "How do we torch their ship? How long does it take for the armor level to drop by 50%? What if the pirates board and kill us first?"

Su Han replied, "We have lots of cooking oil in the kitchen. If we’ve got bows and arrows, we can wrap the arrows with cloth soaked in cooking oil, light them up and fire. If we’re close enough, we can also throw torches at them. If there’s enough cooking oil, we can even douse their ship with it."

After pondering for a moment, Yang Shu shook his head again, "If this plan backfires, we’ll have to leave the instance. It’s too dangerous. I still think we should just take the small boat and bail."

"Abandoning the cruise ship and escaping by small boat is pretty risky too," Zhong Rui suddenly interjected.

"What do you mean?" Yang Shu was puzzled.

"I’ve spotted sharks out there," Zhong Rui calmly looked back, "As well as other highly aggressive carnivorous fish."

"You’re joking, right? I’ve never seen any," Yang Shu was skeptical, thinking that Zhong Rui was deliberately scaring them to push his companion's proposal.

But Zhong Rui confidently said, "You’ve been hiding the whole time, haven’t you? Of course, you wouldn’t notice."

Yang Shu, "..."

He had no comeback.

"Actually, I’ve seen them too," Zhang Yihe chimed in.

Now Yang Shu had nothing more to say.

So Su Han continued to investigate, "Out of the seven of us, how many have bows and arrows or crossbows?"

Fighting back isn’t a walk in the park either; it requires a lot of preparation. If materials are insufficient to face the enemy, then she would have no choice but to run.

Zhang Yixiao volunteered, "The three of us are fine. We’re equipped with bows and arrows and have practiced specifically."

An Rongyue shook her head, "No bows and arrows, can't shoot."

Yang Shu helplessly said, "I can’t either."

"It’s okay if you can’t. Some logistical work needs manpower," Su Han then said, "I’ve got a slingshot. I can wrap oil-soaked cloth around pellets and shoot them onto their ship. The more flammable materials, the faster it burns, and the more the ship's armor level drops."

Finally, Zhong Rui stated, "I have both bows and arrows and crossbows. Also..."

He hesitated before saying, "I bought ten packs of high-energy explosives. They explode upon detonation and are highly likely to cause fires." Like the fire in the study on the third floor.

The others, "..."

Yang Shu unconsciously moved away from Zhong Rui. He didn’t want to get too close to such a ferocious creature.

The room fell silent.

Su Han cleared her throat, breaking the silence. "Alright, everyone, it's up to you: stay or leave."

"Majority vote?" Yang Shu muttered.

"No, everyone chooses their own path and takes responsibility for their choice," Su Han glanced at him and calmly said. "No matter what you ultimately decide, I'm staying."

Yang Shu was left speechless.

Zhong Rui was the second to declare, "I'm staying too."

These two—one helped grab her to keep her from falling into the water, and the other exchanged medicine with her during the toughest times. Did she really have a choice? An Rongyue sighed softly, then her gaze turned resolute. "I'm staying too."

The Moonfall Guild trio whispered among themselves and quickly reached a conclusion. "There are only seven of us in total. It's better if we all act together."

Meaning they were staying too.

Yang Shu, "..."

He wanted to leave, but the idea of going alone made him uneasy.

Finally, Yang Shu gave in, "I'll stay with you."

"Good," Su Han clapped her hands. "The situation's urgent—let's get moving!"

Next, the Moonfall Guild trio was tasked with moving the cooking oil to the room, while the other four scattered to search for fabric.

When it was just the two of them, Su Han asked softly, "Did you actually manage to get high-energy explosives?"

Though she didn’t think her companion was the lying type, sometimes under pressure, one might say things they didn't mean.

To her surprise, Zhong Rui calmly replied, "It's in my Portable Storage. Want to see?"

Su Han chuckled, "Seriously, you really have it?"

"Seriously, I'm not joking," Zhong Rui said. "Firearms and explosives are powerful—you never know when they might come in handy, so of course, I stock up."

More importantly, if something happened to him, he’d at least drag the one who screwed him over down with him.

So, some people are just not to be messed with. If you push them, it’ll only end in mutual destruction.

"Impressive," Su Han said sincerely. To work more efficiently, the two split up.

An hour later, the seven gathered in room 428.

"The first and second floors are flooded—the fabric’s soaked and unusable. I searched the third-floor rooms and grabbed all the sheets, pillowcases, and tablecloths," An Rongyue was the first to report.

Yang Shu then said, "I searched the fourth-floor rooms, all the usable fabric is here."

"I found a lot of accelerants," Su Han said, pulling out books and bottles of liquor from the rooms.

Zhong Rui silently brought out several heavy wooden barrels. "These are full of diesel. Since the ship’s not going anywhere, I figured we’d use its fuel."

The room went quiet.

The players thought, if this didn’t take out the pirates, then there’s no justice in the world!

Yang Shu was puzzled. It was supposed to be a very difficult task, but as they prepared, it started to feel like they were absolutely going to succeed. It must be an illusion.

"If there’s nothing else, let’s get to work," Su Han said.

The seven of them sprang into action. First, they cut the fabric into strips finger-width and arm-length, then soaked the strips completely in oil. Next, they tied the oil-soaked strips to arrows, ready to ignite them and attack as soon as they spotted the pirate ship.

Everything was going smoothly.

Suddenly, Zhang Yihe slowly spoke up, "Thinking about it, I’ve got a lot of charcoal stashed away in my Portable Storage. We can light it and hurl it at them."

"I’ve got plenty of cotton thread," An Rongyue added. "Soak the thread in oil and wrap it around the charcoal, and it will burn faster when lit."

"I’ve also got charcoal and solid alcohol stashed away," Zhong Rui calmly replied.

Su Han used a dagger to cut the fabric into suitable lengths and said indifferently, "If we move fast, we can still make it to chop the wooden chairs and beds in the room into blocks."

Yang Shu, "..."

Why did I think of running away earlier? Clearly, we’re the more ruthless ones.

At 2 PM, the system prompted, "Pirates will clash with players in an hour."

The seven of them sat down to rest, grabbing a bite and recharging, waiting for the pirates to arrive.

At 3 PM, the pirate ship appeared in their sight right on time.

"They’ve arrived," Zhang Yixiao reminded.

Su Han silently observed the distance between the two sides, mentally calculating. When the distance was perfect, she shouted, "Attack!"

Instantly, An Rongyue lit the strips tied to numerous arrows.

"Swish, swish, swish." Zhang Yixiao, Zhang Yihe, the burly guy, and Zhong Rui simultaneously picked up their arrows, drew and fired. Some arrows hit the deck, some stuck to the side of the pirate ship, and then they all started burning.

Su Han lit the books and doused them with liquor. When the flames grew larger, she threw the books out.

Yang Shu gritted his teeth, picked up a wooden barrel beside him, and hurled the diesel across the pirate ship!

"Fire!!" Screams broke out on the pirate ship, and numerous figures ran back and forth on the deck, but it all seemed chaotic.

"Keep going! Faster!" Su Han quickly issued orders, determined to crush the enemy in one fell swoop, leaving no chance for a comeback! Fortunately, the pirate ship seemed to lack long-range attack methods, or else it would’ve been a slaughter on both sides.

Arrows rained down, and sparks flew everywhere on the wooden ship.

Yang Shu threw himself into fueling the fire, making the flames burn even more fiercely.

Soon, the books were all thrown, and Su Han switched to throwing liquor bottles. The bottles were hurled over, and with a "bang," the glass shattered, drenching the wooden planks with liquor. The flames, upon encountering the strong alcohol, immediately exploded into life, crackling and burning intensely.

Within just a few minutes of the encounter, several parts of the pirate ship were on fire, and the flames grew larger and larger.

"Has the pirate ship's armor value not dropped below 50% yet? Someone take a look." Arrows were shot one after another, but Zhong Rui didn't dare to stop, aiming and firing immediately—once the pirates had a chance to retaliate, things would get troublesome, given the sheer difference in numbers.

"You keep shooting, I'll check." Su Han threw out the last bottle of liquor and then carefully examined the wooden sailboat.

To her surprise, what she saw was, "Pirate ship, armor value: 43%." In other words, they had already achieved their goal.

Su Han's face lit up with joy, but just as she was about to share the good news with her companions, the pirate ship’s armor value nosedived. It dropped by 1% every five or six seconds, and the rate kept accelerating.

After a brief stunned silence, Su Han quickly realized—the ship was on fire, and the flames were growing. If no one put out the fire, the pirate ship's armor value would automatically drop. This was similar to players suffering from the "burning" debuff, where they continuously lose health.

But... the pirate ship losing armor value was far more thrilling than players losing health. In just over a minute, the armor value dropped from 43% to below 30%.

Zhong Rui wondered why his companion hadn't said anything yet, but just as he was about to ask, the pirate ship’s mast came crashing down!

"Fire, fire!" One pirate, while trying to put out the fire, accidentally caught a spark on his body. No matter how much he slapped at it, the fire wouldn’t die, so he had no choice but to jump into the water.

An Rongyue's expression was complicated as she murmured, "He must not realize the seawater’s toxic..."

During the storm, she had been forced to drink a mouthful of seawater and immediately suffered from the "poisoned" status. Now, seeing the pirate jump into the sea to extinguish the fire, in her eyes, it was no different from suicide.

Author's note: An Rongyue, always saying she regrets staying, but refuses to leave the instance until she's on the brink of death →＿→ Author: A woman who talks one way but acts another.