"That woman actually has a gun. Lao Liu and the others died in vain—damn it, this lunatic even coated the bullets with poison!"
Several fishing boats huddled close together, giving everyone a clear view of the fallen faces on Si Jin's vessel—bodies sprawled, black-purple blotches blooming across their skin. The observers drew sharp breaths. For a lifetime they preyed upon others, only to be pecked in the eye by the goose today.
This woman, who seemed so weak and harmless, turned out even more ruthless than the worst of these underworld scoundrels.
Who knows how many more guns she has up her sleeve...
If close combat was out, then they'd switch to long range. Let her have her pistol—at a distance, it couldn't hurt them. Soon as they separated, they could simply blast the venomous woman off her cursed boat.
It was a shame to abandon the steamship, but it couldn't be helped.
In secret, several of the oared and cannon-mounted boats trained their artillery on the southeast corner. Ye Shu, unfazed, cast a silent look at Xiao Bai.
Jiaoren can command schools of fish—so as for these people and their boats? She wanted them for herself!
Why bother bartering resources in the trade channels or casting lines tirelessly at sea? If someone delivered their ships right to her, wasn’t that a hundred times faster and easier?
No matter how fierce their cannons, with an SSS-tier optimization in hand, as long as her ship’s durability didn’t drop to zero, it could restore itself to full strength.
"Aah! When did so many piranhas get here? The ship’s durability is dropping! Everybody, fend them off!"
"Damn these fish! I finally landed a rich sponsor!"
"Back off! Try it again and I'll stew you myself!"
With these interruptions, their crews had no choice but to split off some resources to deal with the marauding sea creatures—Ye Shu herself was momentarily forgotten.
"Boss Si, what’s that?"
Jiang Chao’s eyes picked out a dark shape leaping onto the enemy steamship.
"Turned out to be a cat! Guess we’re eating well tonight!"
Si Jin barely had time to react before a petite black kitten bounded lightly onto the deck.
He eyed the little feline, recognizing it from beside that woman's side—a pet, perhaps?
Was it so clever as to sense its mistress’s imminent doom and slip away before the end?
Just a little beast. Rarity or not, even in this ocean survival game, the Si family wouldn't fancy it. But Wanwan—his little sister—liked fluffy things. Maybe he could give it to her as a present.
His gaze shifted. The ferocious mask melted to gentleness as he produced a dried fish treat and coaxed, in a muffled baritone, "Here, kitty, come to me. I won’t harm you. As long as you behave, I’ll let you be. Otherwise... I'll make cat stew out of you."
Da Piaoliang looked at the slick, posturing man before her with utter contempt. As if a mere fish treat could buy over an anomaly. She had an owner—as if she’d betray her for that!
"Awoo..."
Ever since her contract with Ye Shu, she hadn't tasted fresh blood or meat. Today, she would feast!
Her jade-green eyes locked hungrily on the gathered crew, tongue flicking out to lick a paw.
Jiang Chao, twice a survivor of terrifying instances, felt a chill down his spine at the sight. This kitten wasn’t some pet from a loot box. Just looking at it made his scalp crawl. "Boss Si... maybe we should kill that cat? It looks odd..."
"Kill? Just because you said so? Is this all the Jiang family could raise—a worthless coward, scared senseless by a survival game and even a kitten?"
Si Jin clicked his tongue, voice laced with open scorn.
"Boom—"
Once more, a shell struck the steamship—right where Ye Shu’s left hand gripped the helm.
Seawater poured into the cabin. The whole ship shook violently, on the verge of sinking.
On a distant boat, Pang Pangzi grew anxious.
If Lady Ye was beset on all sides, and her ship destroyed, it would mean game over. She must be hurt, or those cowardly bastards could never have pulled off a sneak attack.
"San-ge, should we help?"
Fu Shiyi hesitated; in his eyes, Ye Xiao Shu was indeed capable in every respect.
For once, Fu Jingchuan didn’t object—staring into the mist-draped firelight with a trace of annoyance, he growled, "Hurry up and start the boat."
……
Ye Shu calmly pressed both palms against the battered hull.
A flare of white light—and the steamship, moments from disaster, miraculously restored to its original state.
"Boss! Look! The ship’s fixed!"
"That crazy woman is a monster!"
"What do we do now?"
Si Jin stared across the span of water. Moments ago the steamship teetered on the brink of ruin, and now it had repaired itself, as if by magic. Had that woman stumbled upon an artifact in a treasure chest—one that could repair ships?
If so, he had to have it.
Surviving at sea, your vessel was everything. With ten days left, anything might happen. Best to seize every chance with your own hands.
"Awoo..." Stealth attacks—so that’s how they wanted to play it. All that, after it pleaded for them! Shameless creatures.
Then, in a heartbeat, the sleek kitten on deck swelled to monstrous size. Glossy black fur vanished, replaced by five meters of grotesque, veiny mass, sinews striped black, jaws gaping wide—swallowing Jiang Chao whole with a single bite. The crisp crunch of bones broke the spell, snapping the terrified crew back to their senses.
What sort of adorable, clingy kitty was this?
This was a damn anomaly—an outright horror!
Judging by its level, not a low one...
"Bang bang bang—"
Bullets thudded into the grotesque horror, doing nothing—a moment later, they clattered to the deck, harmless.
Si Jin stood frozen, his sniper rifle suddenly felt like nothing more than a child's toy.
This was only his third time in the game. Even the setbacks of the Sweet Home instance hadn't shaken his belief he could succeed—but the anomaly before him, it wasn’t remotely the same tier as Sweet Home. The protection charm at his chest burst into ashes at its approach.
Hot weapons couldn’t kill this thing...
His face turned ashen.
With an anomaly of such terrifying power at her side, it was little wonder the woman survived so long in the game. If only he... Things could have been so different.
Si Jin was swallowed whole.
With the strongest player on the enemy boat devoured, the rest of the crew were quick to abandon ship and flee for their lives.
But Da Piaoliang had no intention of letting her feast escape.
Her ghostly green eyes swept the fishing boats who’d fired upon the steamship, massive bulk springing from deck to deck. The sounds of screaming echoed across the churning sea.
"Wow! The Si family really got it bad. Tried to rob, paid the price! Serves them right!"
"Ha! I knew Sister Ye wasn’t going down that easy."
Fu Shiyi clambered onto the railing, clicking his tongue in admiration.
Pang Pangzi recognized the anomaly as Da Piaoliang and chimed in immediately—Lady Ye was the top player from the first round. Whoever died, it wouldn’t be her.
Within a quarter hour, not a single player remained alive on the besieging vessels.
Da Piaoliang padded happily back, eager for praise. "Mrowww... Master, we can expand our little ship now!"
Ye Shu maneuvered the steamship up to the now-empty fishing vessels.
[Unmanned vessels detected. Disassemble and merge them?]