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Chapter 84: Survival at Sea, Part VI

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Da Piaoliang wore a proud look on her face, eager for praise, completely missing the tight frown twisting Ye Shu's brows.
With a flourish of her hand, the shabby, battered wooden box was suddenly transformed—now a luxurious crimson and ebony chest, embedded with glittering gemstones like the jade treasure chest from before. Yet the sight of it pricked at Ye Shu’s instincts, setting her on edge. That blood-red hue hinted at more danger than treasure.
"Meow~ If there's a melon inside, don't forget to save a slice for me, Master," Da Piaoliang mewled plaintively, pawing at her empty, sunken belly. There was nothing for her to eat in this sea-bound ordeal; as a once-high-ranking anomaly, she would never lower herself to chew on those tasteless little fish and shrimps. Of course, it had nothing to do with taste. Obviously not.
[Do you wish to open the Crimson Blood Treasure Chest?]
The chest creaked open.
[Crimson Blood Treasure Chest unlocking... Congratulations, you have obtained a High-Level Human-Headed Sea Urchin.]
The world blurred at the edges for Ye Shu. Sprouting from the blood-red chest was a grotesque, oversized sphere—its surface studded with black, needle-like spines, its pale countenance twisted into a ghoulish human face. Only empty sockets and a gaping mouth adorned that sickly visage as it began to roll toward her, wearing a greedy, leering grin.
"Bang—"
Ye Shu twisted to the side, dodging with ease, the bullet frozen mid-burrow in the half-rotting, festering face.
Seeing no point in wasting ammunition, she drew her peach wood sword instead.
It was, after all, an SSS-grade artifact. With a single swing, Ye Shu cleaved a sea urchin's spike clean in two, coating the blade with thick black ichor.
[Peach Wood Sword has suffered corrosion. Durability decreased by 3%.]
[Peach Wood Sword durability decreased by 3%.]
[Peach Wood Sword durability decreased by 3%.]
The human-headed sea urchin, though nearly indestructible, lacked speed. Three swift strikes were all it took for Ye Shu to slice off every one of its barbed spines, leaving only the ghastly pale globe of a human face behind. Nearby, her sailing boat’s wooden planks were already corroded by the toxic ooze, durability dipping to 78%.
With another decisive slash, Ye Shu split the monstrous sea urchin in half. From within spilled a stream of yellow-green fluid, rank enough to make her gag.
[Beep beep! Congratulations Player Ye Shu: Successfully slain Advanced Sea Monster—Human-Headed Sea Urchin x1! Bonus: 10 points. Keep up the good work!]
[Description: This creature dwells in the abyss, notorious for trespassing in damselfish gardens without invitation. Its shell and spines are near-impenetrable, and its secretions are highly toxic—definitely unfit for consumption. Attack: 67%. Defense: 89%.]
Optimization prompt: Sea urchin spines and toxic mucus may be upgraded.
[Sea urchin spines and mucus have been refined into Venomous Bullets. Modification complete. Upon impact, targets are paralyzed within one second; death within ten.]
Ye Shu loaded her pistol with the new bullets and selected a bread crab as her test subject.
The crab’s tough shell was instantly breached. Within a single heartbeat, its frenzied claws twitched and fell still; the entire crab turned a deep purple-black.
Ye Shu was deeply satisfied. She hadn’t expected the venom to be so potent. Unfortunately, after collecting every last spine, she’d only managed to make 123 bullets.
She disposed of the sea urchin’s remains and took the chance to repair her boat.
As evening fell, the air cooled and winds picked up across the water.
The kelp she’d caught was simmered into a steamy broth, and she boiled a squat little bread crab for dinner. Despite its odd appearance, the crab’s flesh was surprisingly tender and white—yet the flavor... was truly awful.
No matter how sweet the meat, a faint stench of rot lingered in every bite.
Ye Shu opened the chat interface.
Once more, she posted her human-faced starfish and bread crab for trade, and the chat soon exploded with comments.
{What is this? A crab with human legs? A starfish with a human face? Where are you fishing, upstairs—don't tell me you're in the black mist?}
{I've fished for two days and caught nothing but regular fish and shrimp—never seen creatures as bizarre as those.}
{Is this mutated seafood? Player Daddy, do you really dare trade these for resources? Where's your conscience?}
{Taotie @daddy: I have wood and nails, do you want to trade?}
{Green Xiaochá @taotie: Are you crazy? Who’d risk eating this mutated seafood? Trying to get killed? I’ve got food and freshwater, big brother—if you don't mind, we can trade!}
"San'ge, how about trying some special sea delicacies?"
Fu Shiyi had hollowed out all the flesh from a human-faced starfish, licking his lips with gusto.
Such a treat was rare—he had to stock up! That Xiaochá girl was such a nuisance; he had zero interest in her standard provisions. More importantly, just eating a starfish had gained him 0.1 experience points—a single log in exchange was a steal.
Fu Jingchuan’s reply was curt, his voice cool as winter steel: "No need."
"San'ge, four game worlds—and other than freaky sashimi, this is the first time I’ve gained experience from eating a starfish! If that boss has any more of these weird sea monsters to spare, I could break through to Level 2."
Fu Shiyi revealed his talent for converting alien food without reserve—after all, it was something he’d shared only with the brother he’d grown up with.
Fu Jingchuan eyed the starfish’s mutilated shell with a complicated look. In the end, he shook his head. "No; if you want, eat your fill."
......
Ye Shu watched her glowing screen in dismay. Her hard-won business... stolen right from under her nose!
Before she could even shut the comments, a twist of fate flickered across the chat.
{Taotie @daddy: Two logs for a bread crab, five nails for a starfish. Prices flexible—PM me.}
{Taotie has blocked and blacklisted Green Xiaochá.}
Taotie cleared out both barrels of Ye Shu’s stock.
Da Piaoliang’s emerald eyes went wide in disbelief. Was this Taotie person some odd breed of human?!
How could anyone willingly eat such revolting seafood?! It was unthinkable.
On the steamboat, Fu Shiyi gazed at his two heaping barrels of human-faced starfish and bread crabs, his face twitching with elation. "San'ge, the Boss really had that much in reserve! I can finally reach Level 2! San'ge, who do you think Boss Daddy is? Four straight leaderboard wins—over a thousand points! Even passing all stages, I can’t even sniff that kind of score."
"Tsk tsk, as long as it’s not Yan Mobai, I don't care who it is. The Yan family pulled every string and only managed twenty ranks up—I’m at nineteen! Ha!"
The feud between their families went way back.
It began, of all things, with some schoolyard melodrama. Yan Mobai’s childhood sweetheart caught a crush on Fu Jingchuan at first sight, and Fu Jingchuan—ever the cold and distant one—could not have cared less. Yan Mobai, unable to stand seeing his beloved suffer, resolved to fight for her sake.
Unable to get at Fu Jingchuan directly, Yan Mobai instead set his sights on Fu Shiyi, the one closest to him...
Every time Fu Shiyi remembered Yan Mobai’s sour face, it cheered him right up.
"Mn."
Fu Jingchuan only grunted, but Fu Shiyi saw his brother's lips curl at the edge—a rare sign of good humor.
Started with a single rod, rely on fishing for supplies!
Fu Jingchuan's luck was cursed. The system had tossed him a busted raft and a broken rod from the start.
If not for Shiyi’s help, he’d never have been able to reinforce and upgrade his raft; he’d have died in the survival game’s opening rounds.