Chapter 61 Off to Salvage the Sunken Ship

Dachun arrived at the dock, loaded a portion of the previously prepared food and fresh water, and dragged along the small boat given to him by Piku. After determining his approximate bearing on the world map, he activated the expert-level navigation autopilot.

He then lit the navigation lamp, hoisted the small sail, took up the double oars, and rowed into the boundless, dark sea.

*What the hell? Why did it automatically turn on the lights? That makes me a floating target for pirates in the dark!*

Dachun tried to control himself and forcefully extinguish the light.

—System Prompt: *According to maritime conventions, nighttime vessels must keep their lights on to avoid collisions, hitting reefs, or being misidentified as hostile. Autopilot cannot be engaged with lights turned off.*

What the hell! Fine, I'll keep the lights on, then.

Aside from this annoyance, the feeling of automated idling was truly amazing! But precisely because of this, all players across the world aspiring to go to sea would undoubtedly strive their utmost to reach the expert level. Therefore, his leading advantage wasn't that massive; he had to keep pushing for the grandmaster rank.

Having witnessed the advanced mechanic class, Dachun more or less understood that a major skill enclosing a minor skill formed the prototype of a profession. Thus, navigation was very likely to evolve into a profession as well—perhaps a true ship captain?

In any case, get in and get out quickly. Infuse the Tuna Sea Soul!

As for whether to summon the whale as a bodyguard? No, that Sariel wasn't just a super player, but also an founding developer. Any abnormal movement by the whale would arouse suspicion, and he could not take any risks.

The time that followed belonged to the real world. He uploaded the photos of the Chifenda design blueprints taken by his phone onto his tablet, opened the drafting software, and began 3D analysis and refinement.

After all, this wasn't his specialty, and there was a high probability he wouldn't be able to handle it. He would most likely have to leave the internet cafe and find an expert to solve it. But even when seeking an expert, he couldn't use the raw game photos taken with his phone; otherwise, wouldn't that expose and leak secrets? He had to understand it himself first and create a secondary adaptation.

Soon, however, Dachun felt his head grow heavy and drowsiness overwhelmed him. Not to mention that he hadn't slept much this past night, forcing himself to perform a secondary adaptation in an unfamiliar field was truly tough...

Just as he was racking his brains, Dachun saw lights moving in the distant sea.

*What the hell? Pirates?!*

Dachun's first reaction was to extinguish the light, but he immediately caught himself. His rat plague debuff limited his vision, meaning the other party had actually spotted him long ago, yet they hadn't headed toward him. Perhaps if he didn't extinguish the light, they wouldn't care, but extinguishing it would only arouse their vigilance and invite trouble!

He would just pretend everything was fine and bet that the other party wouldn't bother with a small boat! But he had to recall the Tuna Sea Soul to prevent them from seeing that his small boat was abnormally fast. At the same time, he couldn't row normally; he had to randomly tug and pull at the canvas. He couldn't let them see the special effects of his expert-level navigation, especially not letting other players see it—though it was unlikely any player could be on such a large ship...

Just as he thought this, he saw one of the opponent's lights flash with a blinding glare, as if it had suddenly changed course and was charging at him at high speed. *Holy crap, they mean business!!*

***

The frontline command post was filled with anxious waiting.

This time, the steward had dispatched eight experts along with a mysterious expert, yet they still hadn't managed to take down that crystal bat. It was truly beyond expectations. What was even more annoying was that this operation had actually banished all the players to the upper levels of the dungeon and barred them from watching. Could this mysterious expert be the legendary hidden NPC with demonic power who couldn't be seen? But the more it was demonic power, the faster they should take it down...

Several supervisors found the team of players: "Don't just stand around, go mine in the fourth layer."

The players were startled: "For how long?"

The supervisor grew impatient: "Probably a few days, stop talking nonsense and get to work!"

The young master grew anxious: "Could it be that because they can't catch it for days, our team has to be delayed for days?"

Ryokomaru said: "The miners from the Tata guild who besieged the Count's mansion should be getting out of prison soon. If it really is going to be delayed this long, we can have them mobilize again to besiege the Count's mansion, forcing the Count to recall these experts."

The young master was deeply resentful: "That guild is a bunch of losers, they can't be relied upon at all!"

"Young master, the more useless they are, the better!"

That made sense!

The young master finally snapped out of it and began calling the Tata manager to discuss the operation.

Right in the middle of the haggling, a team member who had set out to sea for Plague Island sent a report: "Young master, we found Dachun! He's in a small boat..."

The young master froze: "Give me the live feed..."

***

The live feed switched to the telescope's perspective. Inside the telescope, it was abruptly Dachun with the red name, bearing the black smoke rat plague mark and an unknown crow mark!

The young master was astonished: "He has two plagues? Is he trying to escape again?"

The member replied: "We've already triggered the Treasure-Hunting Captain's report. Should we report him?"

The young master's resentment finally found an outlet: "Not just report him, take him down too! Last time we let him escape in the sewers, let's see if he can escape this time?"

"Understood, I'll notify the captain immediately."

The young master was intrigued: "Tell me the details of how you found him."

The team member replied: "We were heading toward the lights of Plague Island. At first, we didn't notice him either, thinking it was the island's ambient glow. Then we found that the light was moving—it was a small boat! This is the open ocean area of Plague Island; ordinary NPC small boats and fishermen are unlikely to come this far to such an unlucky place. It's highly likely to be that Dachun, so I had the captain keep an eye out and used this telescope enhanced with a high-beam skill..."

—System Announcement: *Wanted! The Treasure Hunter has reported the plague exile Dachun for escaping.*

The next moment, the live feed went pitch black.

"Young master, he put out his lights!"

The young master sneered: "Is that any use? Let's witness the power of this Count's treasure-hunting ship."

"Understood!"

***

While Dachun was feeling apprehensive, he saw the system announcement, and at the same time, a red light flashed before his eyes—

System Prompt: *Warning! Your escape has been publicly reported. Your reputation -30,000.*

*Damn it, reported again!*

Extinguish the lights! Infuse the Four Seas Souls—the opponent had just made a turn, so there was still a complete chance to escape!

The small boat in tow was obviously dragging him down. With a pang of heartache, he untied the rope and abandoned it!

Right at that moment, Elaine's voice rang out: "What's the situation again?"

Dachun had no time to explain: "Elaine, hurry up and turn on the radar!"

The enemy's gunfire flared up, and a line of light dots on the radar slammed toward the exact spot Dachun had just occupied!

Tuna Storm Barrier, full speed!

Sea Emperor Crab Deflection Barrier, activated!

—System Prompt: *Warning! You are being attacked by the player Mist Island Maru team!*

*Holy crap, they really are players! Had I known players could get aboard a large ship this fast, I should have turned off the lights earlier!*

Feeling the rushing sea wind blowing against his face, the giant waves churning around him, and the explosive sound of the small boat behind him being struck, Dachun's heart leaped into his throat!

Fortunately, they survived the first round of bombardment! Being able to survive the first round meant his chances were extremely high.

Before long, the second round of artillery fire rained down once more upon the area of the rear small boat. Meanwhile, Dachun's small boat surged forward like a speedboat in the darkness for several hundred meters—his escape was secure!

Dachun even suspected that the opponent's telescope had only spotted him up front with the lights on, failing to see the small boat towing behind, and thus had mercilessly pounded the trailing boat thinking it was him!

Finally, the third round of artillery fire could no longer be heard, and the lights of the large ship were growing further and further away.

Dachun let out a massive sigh of relief: "We escaped!"

Elaine said in a deep voice: "It seems someone has set their sights on Plague Island again."

Without a doubt, this team called Mist Island Maru must be backed by a consortium; otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to progress this fast.

Dachun sighed: "That's why we have to grow stronger. This trip out to sea is to salvage the gems from the shipwreck to make a magic mirror for you. There is a talented mirror-maker on the island."

Elaine immediately grew eager and expectant: "Hurry up then! A lot of the Count's lackeys have arrived on my end, including a formidable guy I've never seen before. He can turn into a shadow and move through gaps—I suspect that's the legendary Shadow Demon! Once caught by its shadow, there's no escaping. So I can only keep the crystal bat in stealth mode and burrow into the sand and rocks as much as possible to evade their tracking, but I don't know how long I can hide!"

Dachun was startled: "That powerful?"

Elaine said solemnly: "Not only powerful, but it specifically counters the crystal bat's mirror images. Once the black shadow completely covers the crystal bat, I won't be able to transmit skills to it. But I believe that as long as I grow stronger, I have a great chance of countering this Shadow Demon in turn. As long as I can kill it, I will achieve a huge breakthrough!"

So they mutually countered each other! Just like angels and demons—as long as the angel was just a little stronger than the demon, it completely countered the demon, and vice versa.

Elaine added: "However, with so many people coming from their side, it's hard to say whether you can hold onto the magic stones you dropped."

*Damn it!* Dachun hardened his heart: "Doesn't matter. As long as we can distract them and buy time, the loss of these items is worth it. Don't mind those things either; focus entirely on dealing with the Shadow Demon first."

"Then I'm cutting the connection over there and going silent..."

***

The treasure-hunting ship belonging to Mist Island Maru arrived near the small boat that had been blasted into fragments.

"Young master, although the small boat was destroyed, we didn't receive a prompt message for a direct kill. Most likely, he jumped into the sea at the very first moment. In the middle of this vast ocean, even jumping into the sea leaves little chance of survival."

The young master was unsatisfied: "When we land on Plague Island later, if we find him, keep killing him!"

"Understood."

At this time, the treasure-hunting captain ordered the entire ship to extinguish its lights and cease all talking, adjusting its direction to stealthily sail forward toward the glow of Plague Island.

The young master was very satisfied with the captain's caution, and grew increasingly intrigued: "Did this Dachun's two escapes happen because he couldn't handle the ghost city?"

"Young master, it's not strange that he couldn't handle it; the key is how the ghost city's appearance was triggered. Judging from Sariel's questioning attitude toward the Flower of the City, Fafuna, during the celebration, his exile might be related to Fafuna. He very likely holds a special quest item, so the young master must keep a close eye on Fafuna's movements."

The young master's expression darkened: "Anyone who can come into contact with Fafuna's level is unforgivable!"

He immediately asked the monitoring team: "Has Female Number 2 appeared from Fafuna's residence yet?"

"Reporting to young master, she has not appeared."

The young master felt deeply puzzled.

Right at that moment, a flash of fire erupted in the darkness, followed by a series of roaring explosions. The violent waves caused the live stream interface to shake violently!

"Nani?"

"Young master, our ship is being ambushed! Two enemy ships are catching us in a pincer attack..."

***

Dachun rowed manually, and the lights of Plague Island also blurred into the horizon between sea and sky.

Suddenly, fire flared up behind him, and the sounds of explosions could even be faintly heard.

Dachun froze—they were fighting again!

Could it be those two ships fighting Piku? Following the logic of their script, the Great Wraith certainly had more than just Piku under his command. To keep the secret of Plague Island's magic gold, he would definitely dispatch ships to guard the vicinity long-term. So this player team must have been ambushed, right?

Well, he had to give a thumbs-up to this ambush; hopefully, they were strong enough to take their revenge.

As for now, he could consider the danger completely lifted. He resumed autopilot and delved back into studying the 3D parts...