Chapter 150: Probing

Chapter 150: Chapter 150: Probing

In the Planting Space, while Jiang Yuxing was checking his messages, Shi Zhile opened her eyes.

When he looked up again, Shi Zhile was gone.

Shi Zhile suddenly materialized on deck. A thick tentacle lashed at her head, but she whipped out her axe and sliced it in half.

The severed tentacle writhed wildly on the deck planks. With lightning reflexes, she snatched it up and stuffed it into her backpack.

Having lost another tentacle, the others clinging to the hull quickly retreated into the water. The sound of rushing water erupted from beneath the ship. At the same time, the massive vessel listed to one side, threatening to capsize.

Shi Zhile rolled with the motion, her hands gripping a railing for dear life.

The ship listed even further, its lowest edge about to touch the water.

If the hull took on water, the ship would be done for.

She had intended to have Shi Zhiyi recall the ship and bring the three others into the Planting Space, but they were too far away.

Thinking of the tentacle she had just stored in her backpack, she took out a section and waved it.

"Octopus! You’re missing so many tentacles, you’ll probably get eaten by other monsters. Here, you can have this one back. Catch!"

She flung the octopus tentacle far into the distance. Then, letting go of the railing, she slid rapidly toward the lowest point of the deck. The moment she reached Shi Zhiyi, she pulled her into the Planting Space.

A SPLASH echoed as the tentacle hit the water. The octopus, which had been attacking the hull, quickly broke off its assault. Its massive head surfaced, and it swam toward the severed limb.

At that same moment, the massive ship it had been holding up slammed back down onto the surface of the sea.

A plume of white water erupted into the sky as seawater sprayed in every direction. The impact with the ocean sent the ship bouncing high into the air once more.

Shi Zhile didn’t have time to grab a handhold. She was flung overboard and plunged into the sea.

The cold water enveloped her. Not far off, the octopus was reattaching its severed limb. She dove silently, closing the distance underwater. When she resurfaced, she was less than three meters from the creature.

Treading water, she summoned all her strength and brought the axe down in a powerful overhand swing.

A gleam of light once again flared from the axe head. The tentacle it touched disintegrated instantly. The light didn’t fade; instead, it lanced out toward the octopus’s head.

With a sharp hum, the massive head split in two before her very eyes. An overwhelming cloud of black ink spread across the surface of the sea, and from the distance, the sound of churning water grew closer.

’From the sound of it, a lot of monsters were closing in.’

She quickly entered the Planting Space. At the same time, a system notification sounded in her ears.

[Congratulations, Player Contentment Brings Happiness, for slaying the Level Four monster "Octopus." You have received Octopus Ink Sac x1 and octopus foot x6. The items have been added to your backpack. Please confirm receipt.]

[Backpack is full. Items will be automatically sent to a temporary stash. Please retrieve them within 24 hours, after which they will be automatically destroyed.]

Shi Zhiyi rushed over.

"Are you hurt? Have you got a death wish? Sliding down from there just to pull me into the Planting Space... you’re absolutely reckless!"

Shi Zhile wiped the seawater from her face all over Shi Zhiyi. With no time to change, she quickly covered Zhiyi’s mouth.

"Stop yelling and listen to me.

This is life or death. I fell into the sea, and tons of monsters are closing in on my position. We don’t know the status of Wen Bai and Wang Peng. The ship is mostly intact, but I don’t know the extent of the damage.

We have to get out there right now. If we’re too late, the ship will be lost, and those two will die."

Jiang Yuxing rose from his lounge chair. He calmly picked up a towel that was draped over the side and started drying her hair.

Shi Zhile swatted his hand away and pulled him closer, right in front of her.

Jiang Yuxing didn’t get angry. He simply smiled and pushed the towel into her hands. "Dry your hair. You don’t want to catch a cold from the sea breeze."

Shi Zhile took the towel and looked at Shi Zhiyi. "Sis, you and Jiang Yuxing entered the Planting Space from the ship, so you’ll exit back onto it.

I’ll send you two out first. Have Jiang Yuxing, Wen Bai, and Wang Peng hold off the monsters. You move the ship somewhere else and try to lure away as many of the creatures as possible.

Send me a message when it’s clear. Once I’m out, we’ll hit them from both sides. We’ll take down as many as we can.

It’s four in the morning now. The sun will be up by five at the latest. That’s when we’ll counterattack."

The biggest disadvantage for players at night was the limited visibility. Monsters could move freely in the dark, and they were especially mobile in the water. Most of the time, they’d slip away the moment a player spotted them.

Sea creatures fear dehydration and direct sunlight. Daytime, especially during extreme heat, is what these monsters fear most.

Once the plan was settled, Shi Zhile sent the two of them out of the Planting Space.

At that moment, Mr. Wen emerged from the cornfield. He looked weary, but his eyes were sharp and alert.

"After you left the Planting Space, Jiang Yuxing just went back to the lounge chair to rest. He didn’t open his interface or do anything at all.

You deliberately left him here and put yourself in danger as a way to test him—to see if he could leave the Planting Space on his own. The result was just as you predicted. I’d say he either saw through your plan, or he really can’t get out by himself."

Shi Zhile shook her head and looked down at the towel in her hands.

"The calmer he acts, the more suspicious he is. That towel was already out, draped over the armrest of the chair.

He was blatantly telling me he knew I was testing him. And he doesn’t care, because he’s the only one who holds the real answer.

It’s just like how, from the very beginning, any information I’ve gotten about the game has only been what he’s chosen to reveal.

I’m afraid Chuyi’s betrayal was part of his plan, too. He might have even intentionally let Chuyi leak information to us to achieve some goal of his own."

’The Planting Space can’t hold him. He can connect to the system, maybe even impersonate it to contact me. I have no privacy around him.’

The more Shi Zhile thought about it, the angrier she became. She clenched the towel in a death grip, and with a sharp tug, ripped it in two.

Mr. Wen handed her a slice of watermelon. "No need to get so worked up. Have some of this, it’ll help you cool down.

We’ve gotten through the worst of it already, so we can handle this. We’ll face our problems as they come. Settle down, and let’s focus on getting through this immediate crisis."

Shi Zhile devoured most of the watermelon slice before her anger finally subsided. It wasn’t that her plan had been discovered that angered her; it was that she still had no idea what Jiang Yuxing was plotting.

Afraid she’d miss a message from Zhiyi, she kept her interface visible at all times.

Seeing how exhausted Mr. Wen looked, Shi Zhile quickly urged him to get some rest.

A few moments later, a message from Zhiyi finally arrived.

There were a lot of monsters swarming the ship, most of them Level Four. The octopus tentacles’ suckers had attached to the hull, and it took them a while to clear them all off.

They had now lured the other monsters to the eastern side of the island. It was the perfect time for her to leave the Planting Space.

When she exited the Planting Space, she was back in the ocean.

The water reeked of a thick, briny odor, and the faint scent of blood hung in the air.

She quickly summoned her schooner and climbed aboard.