Chapter 901: Survivors

901. Survivors

"...You want this nightmare world? Are you sure?"

Scarlatti was stunned. Currently, ownership of this Dream World belonged to the Civilization Tower, which was exactly why Lin Ye could stay uninvolved. If he truly became the owner of the Dream World, it would become a part of Lin Ye himself.

This was no joke.

"It's fine. Someone will help me handle this Dream World, and I've already got plenty of troublesome things on me. One more won't make a difference."

Lin Ye knew what Scarlatti was worried about. If he could choose, he wouldn't want to enter a place like this the moment he fell asleep either, but he didn't want to pass up the opportunity to control a Dream World.

"Suit yourself... Once you've taken control of this Dream World, maybe I can come here for a vacation."

Scarlatti said with a smile.

"Then you'll have to wait a while."

Lin Ye couldn't yet control a Dream World of this scale.

"Someone's over there."

Little Guardian interrupted their conversation, pointing into the distance.

Lin Ye looked in that direction. A woman in a leather jacket fell from the sky, but before she could even get close to the sea surface, she was torn to shreds by something in midair.

Lin Ye quickly noticed that many more people were appearing out of thin air in midair. Some were lucky enough to land in the sea, but most turned into chunks of flesh floating in the air.

"Did these people just enter? I was wondering how anyone could last so long. Turns out they've been continuously sending people in."

Lin Ye took over the oars, rowing the boat to avoid the people who had fallen into the water. He didn't need to lift a finger. These people wouldn't survive much longer anyway.

"Damn! What kind of hellhole is this!"

"How did I become an ordinary person?!"

"A tenth-order spiritual energy user just died! Died the moment he got in!"

"This is nothing like what was promised!"

...

Those survivors struggled in the water, crying out in shock.

Some survivors were dragged deep into the sea by something beneath the surface, vanishing without a trace.

"There's something wrong with this sea! There's a lifeboat over there!"

"The man rowing that boat looks like the mission target! If we take him out, the dream will end!"

"Surround him! Let's all go over and finish him!"

The surviving survivors all noticed Lin Ye and began swimming toward the lifeboat.

Lin Ye didn't change direction. Unlike these rookies who had just been sent in, that man from before had survived in the sea for quite some time. So they still needed to prioritize getting away from the direction where the man was.

Several survivors approached the lifeboat. Scarlatti fired a shot at the nearest one.

Bang!

The bullet hit the survivor in the head. Hearing the gunshot, the surrounding survivors hastily dove deep into the seawater.

Lin Ye sped up his rowing, and the lifeboat burst out of the encirclement.

Just then, a figure climbed onto the lifeboat from behind. Scarlatti fired at the figure, but the bullet was deflected by a metal shield.

Lin Ye released the oars and kicked the center of the shield with a Heavy Strike, sending the figure into the water.

Little Guardian took over the oars and continued rowing forward. She had been carefully observing Lin Ye's rowing motions the entire time.

A large number of survivors fell from the sky. Survivors kept approaching the lifeboat. Lin Ye and Scarlatti stood on either side of the lifeboat, weapons in hand, continuously killing the survivors who climbed aboard. The surrounding seawater was stained red.

"Just destroy the lifeboat! Otherwise we'll all die here!"

One survivor roared loudly.

The moment he finished speaking, he was yanked into the depths of the sea by something.

"You row! Leave this to me!"

Scarlatti tossed aside the pistol that had run out of bullets and picked up a longsword gripped in an enemy's hand, then threw away the severed hand still holding it.

Lin Ye didn't waste words. He put down his weapon and swapped positions with Little Guardian.

He rowed continuously, and the lifeboat began to accelerate.

Some survivors tried to approach the boat's path to destroy the lifeboat, but they underestimated Lin Ye's piloting skills. Every survivor who got near the boat's path was sent flying by the lifeboat's impact.

The survivors falling from the sky gradually decreased, and the survivors on the sea surface were nearly all devoured by the things in the water.

"Brother, I'm different from them! I was tricked into coming here! Can you let me on board to take shelter?"

The remaining survivors stopped attacking the lifeboat. Some began to plead.

"Next time, don't get tricked."

Lin Ye kept rowing, leaving those people behind.

Scarlatti dropped her weapon and leaned against Lin Ye's back, somewhat exhausted.

She was covered in bloodstains, even her hair soaked through with blood.

Just then, two silhouettes burst out from the sea, lunging at Lin Ye from two directions.

Lin Ye released the oars and fired a shot at each side.

Bang! Bang!

Both bullets hit their targets precisely in the head. At this distance, with an ordinary person's physical capabilities, there was no way to dodge the bullets Lin Ye fired.

"You were hiding another weapon?"

Scarlatti nudged Lin Ye's back in surprise.

"I just used a waterproof bag to store a box of bullets. I knew two people were hiding under the boat. The rowing resistance was off."

Lin Ye handed the pistol and remaining bullets to Scarlatti.

"Good thing I'm not your enemy."

Scarlatti reloaded the pistol to full capacity.

"Even if you were an enemy, I could still give you a chance to live."

Lin Ye said casually.

"Then I really have to thank you."

Scarlatti had absolutely no desire to ever use such a chance.

The lifeboat pressed forward. The sea surface was eerily calm. The things in the sea didn't attack the lifeboat. Occasionally, chaotic ruins would appear in the sky, and sometimes things would fall from them into the sea.

"Urgh... so hungry..."

Scarlatti suddenly grabbed the bag containing their spare food and stuffed the contents into her mouth.

"Are you okay?"

Lin Ye felt something was wrong and snatched the bag from Scarlatti's hands.

Scarlatti froze in place. It took a while before she recovered.

"It's that virus controlling my body to eat. It wants to complete the transformation. Good thing you interrupted the process, otherwise I might have already transformed into a pile of organs."

Scarlatti said with some lingering fear.

"What state are you in right now? Will the transformation happen again?"

Lin Ye didn't feel anything unusual himself. He didn't know what factors influenced this kind of transformation.

"After the transformation is interrupted, it will restart again after a period of time. This transformation needs to be interrupted while eating, and the degree of transformation must be controlled precisely. If I interrupt too quickly, my body will be digested. If I interrupt too slowly, the transformation process can't be stopped."

Scarlatti understood her own condition very well.

"That's simple. I can control the degree of transformation, but our food supply is already running low."

They hadn't prepared much food to begin with, and Scarlatti had just eaten a lot. The remaining food might not even be enough to trigger a single transformation.

"...So, should we go back?"

Scarlatti asked with a smile.