Grand Voyage : Surviving on a Ghost Ship

Chapter 43 - The sudden onset

The two sections didn’t have much content. Even though the editor had enlarged the font, it didn’t hide the fact that there was little substance.

The newspaper provided some information and insights, including introductions to a few fleets, coordinates of several isolated islands, and speculation on the internal environment of the Extreme Winter Sea.

As for the accuracy of the information, it was up to each person to judge.

What was certain was that the islands with discovered coordinates weren’t valuable — either the trees had already been cut down or venturing there would cost one's life.

Yang Yi noticed an old acquaintance, Zhou Dai.

She was recruiting teammates to raid a dangerous island.

It had been confirmed that a powerful werewolf resided on the island.

She was recruiting people to join her, and those who passed the test would get the island's exact coordinates.

"Werewolves…" Yang Yi stroked his chin.

In his memory, werewolves were terrifying creatures — fast, sharp senses, claws and fangs capable of easily tearing through human flesh.

When facing such a creature, the more teammates, the better. That way, during the escape, you only needed to outrun the others.

Yang Yi chuckled and quickly moved on.

He didn’t believe ordinary people could contend with werewolves unless they had a large-calibre machine gun and could shoot accurately.

As he scrolled further, he saw another valuable tip from the captain of the Fisherman, who went by Anonymous.

But Yang Yi knew him as his old friend, He Qi, an experienced fishing enthusiast.

?On Night Fishing?

?First off, I don’t recommend any player try night fishing. I’m writing this report to warn everyone!

You will very likely catch strange creatures. I’ve caught a Drowned Revenant which almost killed me!

There’s a 30% chance the fish you catch will be an abyssal species, like a sardine with four legs, an eel with human lips, or even an octopus with a human-like head. To spare your sanity, I won’t include pictures; they’re incredibly disgusting!

Catching these strange fish reduces your sanity, and eating them does too. I don’t think they’re worth much!

If, after reading this, you still want to try night fishing, I recommend you prepare well beforehand. Danger and opportunity coexist — I once caught a rare fishing rod, but when I sobered up, I felt a deep sense of dread!

At that moment…I might have gone mad from fishing.

In short, night fishing is dangerous. Don’t attempt it lightly. I probably won’t try it again for a long time.

“Classic He Qi, living up to his reputation as a fishing enthusiast and easily doing things I wouldn’t dare to!” Yang Yi mused.

But the abyssal fish He Qi mentioned were all familiar to Yang Yi.

When Yang Yi ate them, exceptions aside, he didn’t lose sanity anymore.

“Unless it’s absolutely necessary, I won’t attempt night fishing again,” Yang Yi decided.

The Nightmare Star was cursed by the Angler’s Curse, and if he tried night fishing again, he might get drowned without warning!

Yang Yi continued to scroll through the monster intel.

It focused on common sea creatures, including their weaknesses, many of which Yang Yi had encountered before.

The Drowned Revenant was fat, clumsy, yet self-destructive with a powerful explosion.

Sirens were highly dangerous to men. Once you heard their song, you had to block your ears within two seconds, or you’d be charmed. They usually hunted at night, so wearing earplugs while sleeping was advised.

"But if you wear earplugs and the Drowned Revenant shows up, you’re doomed…" Yang Yi shook his head in disagreement.

Skeleton monsters were fairly average across the board. Destroying the skull would kill them. Blunt weapons were recommended.

Bobbit worms were massive, blind, and had sharp jaws. Cannons were the way to go about killing them.

...

There were undoubtedly more monsters out there, especially the really dangerous ones. However, because few had survived, there was little information available.

After finishing his reading, Yang Yi noticed there was nothing on the two-headed demon shark, so he contacted the Press Fleet.

“I have monster intel to offer. How much do you usually pay?”

Press Fleet: "At least 200 Shell Coins. The more detailed, the higher the reward — no upper limit! You’ll need to provide related spoils or proof of the corpse.”

That was no problem; the lab still had the skull of the two-headed demon shark.

“The two-headed demon shark can be caught. It’s a social creature, and its two large eyes look like red lanterns underwater. They have two hind legs and are strong jumpers, but they can't climb. Their weak spot is their eyes...”

Yang Yi sent the information to the Press Fleet, and about half an hour later, he received 800 Shell Coins.

Others had likely encountered these sharks, but not many survived to tell the tale.

The next day, before dawn...

Yang Yi suddenly woke up, feeling as if his body was being gnawed on by thousands of ants, the pain and itch unbearable.

He knew what was happening and immediately ran to the helm, steering the Nightmare Star at full speed towards an island.

After sailing more than ten nautical miles, the excruciating pain began to subside.

The urgency of the situation had woken up Suna as well. She stepped out of her cabin to see Yang Yi gripping the helm, barely able to stand, veins bulging, and his eyes bloodshot.

“What’s going on?” Suna asked.

“I…” Yang Yi started to speak but immediately coughed up a large mouthful of blood, with small spiders crawling in it.

He then collapsed into the pool of blood and passed out.

...

Yang Yi had a nightmare, dreaming he was lying on a metal table. Suna, wearing a plague doctor’s mask from the Middle Ages, approached with a surgical scalpel.

"What...what are you doing?!" Yang Yi shouted in terror, trying to resist, but he was paralysed, unable to move.

"You’re sick. I’m treating you," Suna replied calmly.

She used the scalpel to cut through Yang Yi’s skin, slicing into veins and muscles, searching for spiders inside, and then pulling them out. The scene was drenched in blood.

“You still have many left inside. I’ll remove them one by one!”

Suna continued her work...

"No! No! You’ll kill me!" Yang Yi screamed in terror.

Suna's red eyes were becoming more dangerous. Yang Yi suddenly woke up from the nightmare, opening his eyes to a scalpel hovering above him. He quickly pushed it away.

"Awake?" Suna asked.

"What are you doing?!"

Yang Yi, still shaken from the nightmare, was emotionally unstable, his body curled up and on the verge of attacking.

"Calm down. I’m saving you."

Suna replied calmly, pointing to a graduated cylinder on the metal table. It was filled with dead spiders, nearly full, with bloodstains still clinging to them.

“If these parasites aren’t removed, there will be serious trouble!” Suna continued.

Recognising the situation, Yang Yi gradually calmed down.

He checked his condition — his vitality had dropped below 50, and his sanity was only at 37.

His left eyelid seemed to be cut, with blood seeping into his eye that turned his vision crimson.

As he touched it, two small spiders fell from his eyelid...

"Sorry, I had a nightmare," Yang Yi apologised once fully awake.

“Good, then don’t sleep!” Suna smiled indifferently, not minding.

But her left hand, hidden behind her back, tightly gripped a witch's dagger, her fingers slightly trembling with excitement.