Grand Voyage : Surviving on a Ghost Ship

Chapter 50 - Return to the island, again

During the day, Yang Yi only explored about one-third of the island, harvesting 20 adult spider corpses and 327 units of spider silk.

If he explored the whole thing, the numbers could have easily multiplied several times since there had to be a spider nest somewhere. If all the spider silk could be collected and made into sweaters to sell, he could make a fortune!

When night began to fall, Yang Yi steered the ship away from the island because he planned to return the following day. It wasn't safe to stay too close at night, as there probably were some creatures lurking.

He planned to wake up early and arrive before dawn to ensure there would be enough daylight.

"Suna, go rest in your room!" Yang Yi said as he walked into the cabin.

The woman had no sense of moderation and would easily lose track of time when researching.

He glanced at her, noting her sanity level had dropped to 53.

After urging her several times, Suna finally emerged from the lab, looking somewhat incredulous and muttering to herself.

"He only has a single organ in his abdomen, an enormous stomach. The other organs seem to have degenerated, and all his body fluids are stomach acid. Even the brain is directly connected to the stomach. If this continues, he might not even need a brain..."

"Alright, enough. Check your sanity!" Yang Yi pushed her out onto the deck. "There are two more vending attempts left. Try it out!"

Suna had no enthusiasm for the vending machine and half heartedly gave it a few spins, not even bothering to pick up the capsules that dropped.

Yang Yi reluctantly collected them himself.

?You have obtained Woodx5?

?You have obtained Crystalx1?

All basic materials.

It suggested that the vending attempts on the same ship were shared among the crew. Two spins and then the quality of the items continuously declined.

There was one more task to complete: turning the 300+ units of spider silk into clothing.

Even if Yang Yi didn’t really know how to knit sweaters, the system would force him to understand.

In only 15 minutes, he managed to hand-spin a pair of wool trousers.

The entire process felt magical, and Yang Yi had no idea how he did it — he just somehow managed to make them!

In 45 minutes, with a 9-point reduction in energy, he spun two pairs of trousers and one sweater.

Yang Yi laid aside the three pieces of clothing with two sweaters left behind by Hu Wei to keep them for personal use.

Afterwards, he returned to the captain's cabin and, routinely, opened the world chat channel.

People asking for tools were still as numerous as ever.

At that moment, no one had yet discovered a way to mass-produce them.

Yang Yi left a message: "Willing to pay a high price for tools."

It took less than a second for someone to behave like a parrot and repeat exactly what Yang Yi said.

It looked like it would be hard to get his hands on any.

Yang Yi wasn’t in a rush, though. After all, there was still some time before the frozen sea zone would spread to them.

He drank a bottle of Coconut Juice, locked the door, and lay down to sleep.

Yang Yi woke up before dawn.

He checked his status. Aside from his energy, which was only at 93, all other stats were full.

A long breakfast after, he gathered the supplies he needed: 2 litres of fresh water, several long-legged sardines (used to activate the stomach pouch), two sausages, a crystal ball, a magic potion, a bottle of Coconut Juice, weapons, equipment, and a newly acquired Shell Heart Mirror.

A few backup supplies, such as silk sacs and spare regenerative potions, were stored in his stomach pouch.

Once ready, Yang Yi checked his attributes again and found that both his strength and constitution had increased to 5, reaching the average level for an adult human.

He steered the Nightmare Star towards the island.

Suna wasn't coming along — she was fully engrossed in her research on the corpse.

Ten minutes before sunrise, Yang Yi arrived at the destination.

His goal was to locate the spider nest, eliminate any potential threats on the island, and create a safer environment for future endeavours.

Moreover, the answer to his “Spider’s Kiss” status was likely hidden within it.

As soon as the sun rose, Yang Yi set foot on the island and began heading to its centre since he remembered there was a higher density of spider corpses near there, making it a likely location for the nest.

Yang Yi picked up some silk spider corpses along the way.

His greedy stomach pouch accepted them without hesitation, automatically opening up and swallowing the bodies, consuming all the flesh and leaving only the shells and silk.

It would even eat rotting corpses!

As he continued walking, Yang Yi started to feel puzzled.

"What exactly are these spiders eating to survive? I haven't seen a single small animal on the island, only spiders..."

"And they can't exactly go fishing."

Yang Yi found it rather strange.

After circling around the island's centre, Yang Yi finally found a cave entrance.

It was a vertical opening in the ground, about two metres deep, with a passage slanting downwards into darkness.

The entrance was wide, suggesting that whatever creatures came in and out were quite large, and the lack of any vegetation nearby indicated frequent activity.

Yang Yi approached the entrance, noticing a few small dead spiders lying at his feet, about the size of a palm, their bodies already dry and hardened.

He was at the right place.

He sniffed the air from the cave, detecting a rotting stench.

Many spiders had likely perished — perhaps all of them.

Good news!

Yang Yi picked up one of the spider corpses at his feet and fed it to his stomach pouch, then took out the crystal ball stored inside it.

Apart from displaying sea charts, the crystal ball also emitted a faint glow. Though it was no brighter than a candle, it was better than nothing.

Holding his gun in one hand and the crystal ball in the other, he jumped into the cave.

There was no immediate danger; the ground was littered with spider corpses.

As Yang Yi ventured deeper, the passage widened to about six metres across and over three metres high, allowing the large spiders to move freely without needing to squeeze against each other.

He proceeded cautiously, staying alert, until he made a discovery.

Clusters of mushrooms grew on the cave ceiling, glowing red and packed closely together, all about the same size.

?Name: Luminous Mushroom?

?Description: A special type of mushroom that emits red light in the dark and grows rapidly. Its juice is mildly toxic and not recommended for consumption. Some ants and spiders use this mushroom as a primary food source.

After reading the information, Yang Yi immediately understood.

The mushrooms were likely cultivated by the silk spiders — they knew how to farm!

With the red glow illuminating the cave, the light from the crystal ball became unnecessary.

He stored the crystal ball back in his stomach pouch and switched to holding the Sea Serpent's Fang, then continued forwards.

The more he walked, the wider the cave became.

Additionally, he noticed a faint breeze blowing through, its source a mystery.

He didn’t rush to collect the corpses, prioritising safety for the moment.

As he ventured deeper, the density of corpses increased.

He came across two large silk spiders, each with human body parts grafted onto them — one even had a human arm attached, no longer just a bare, spider-like form.

They were all dead, their bodies decomposing and posing no threat.

Yang Yi collected samples from their bodies.

Unlike regular adult silk spiders, they could be used to upgrade the Nightmare Star, so it was worth taking them along.

Passing by another cave entrance, Yang Yi witnessed a horrific sight.

Dissected human body parts were suspended from the cave ceiling, hanging like cured meats, drying in the air.

Some of the bodies were relatively fresh, likely hung up only recently.

“Drying human bodies and then grafting them onto themselves?”

Yang Yi couldn’t understand these spiders' behaviour, nor how they managed to do it.

If Suna were here, she would probably be excited to investigate further, but Yang Yi...all he wanted was to kill these disgusting spiders.

Editor’s note: I couldn’t even fathom witnessing what he just came across. Sort of reminds me of Rudy Cooper’s whole affair in Dexter