Chapter 92: Who is the Real Ghost

Chapter 92: Chapter 92: Who is the Real Ghost

The person who saw it must have seized on this to push all the suspicion onto Wang Gang.

’Xiao Yi is suspicious!’

’No!’

’Wang Gang is suspicious too. But it’s still unclear who the real ’ghost’ is.’

She stood on the South Sea Coast, the sea breeze blowing against her.

Unlike yesterday’s cool, gentle breeze, today’s wind carried a wave of heat. When it blew against her face, it felt like standing next to a furnace.

"Looks like it’s going to be hot today."

She opened her panel. It showed a high of 35 degrees and a low of 27 degrees for the day.

The sun was in the east, having already fully risen. The sunrise was much faster today than it had been yesterday.

If the day they entered this instance was early spring, then yesterday was spring, and today was the height of summer.

’Tomorrow might well be early autumn, then late autumn, then a harsh winter.’

While Lan Lan and Luo Jiuyin collected supplies on the shore, Shi Zhile checked her Spirit Value. After a night’s rest, it had fully recovered. Not only that, it had actually increased by two points.

"23 Spirit Value. That’s enough for me to go out to sea."

She had no plans to return to the forest and decided to head out to sea again to salvage chests.

She placed the raft in the water, but a second later, a large wave crashed in and threw it back onto the sand.

Ripples spread across the water, and a starry vessel rose from the surface of the sea into the air.

[New Maritime Rules Unlocked:

Rule 1: Each player’s time at sea may not exceed seven hours within a seven-day period.

Rule 2: The monster encounter rate in the deep sea area is 80%. All players are forbidden from entering. Violators will be responsible for the consequences.

Rule 3: Only one player is allowed on the sea at any given time. Besides their means of travel, the player may only use one additional tool for hunting.

Rule 4: The sea is off-limits from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Players may not go to sea during this time.

Rule 5: Disposing of any trash on the sea surface, in the water, on the seabed, or along the shore is prohibited.]

Shi Zhile sorted through her thoughts.

’The rules have now limited my time at sea. I went out at eleven AM yesterday and came back around three PM. That means I used about four hours.’

’In other words, for the remaining days, I have less than three hours left to be at sea.’

’Rule 2 says we can’t enter the deep sea, but all the chests and fish I got yesterday were from there. The second half of that rule is probably a lie, but the monster encounter rate is likely accurate.’

’If I want abundant resources, I have to be prepared to be killed by monsters.’

’Right now, I don’t lack resources, so there’s no need to take that risk again.’

Since the conditions for going to sea were so restrictive, she decided she might as well not go at all.

The rules appeared as ripples in the water, rising into the air with a RUSHING sound that was impossible for anyone to ignore.

Soon, Lan Lan and Luo Jiuyin gathered around. A moment later, Wang Gang, Xiao Yi, and the others also hurried to the shore.

Shi Zhile put away her raft and took the opportunity, while they were all focused on the new rules, to carefully observe each of their expressions.

Surprise.

Fear.

Anxiety.

A whole range of emotions.

Sensing Shi Zhile’s gaze, Wang Gang turned, gave her a nod, and then addressed the others.

"Rule Four’s sea ban is during the daytime, and monsters appear at night, so our only window to go out to sea is from six to eight in the morning.

Rule Three limits it to one person at a time, which means whoever goes out will be completely isolated and without backup.

Going to sea requires a raft, paddles, and a fishing rod. We don’t have any of those things. If we want to go out, I suggest we all pool our wood to build a raft together."

Li Haohao crossed his arms and stood beside Wang Gang. "Who says we don’t have a raft? Shi Zhile already built one and went out to sea yesterday."

"Besides, she’s the one who discovered the new rules on the giant rock and these new rules on the sea. Isn’t it possible she’s a player the island doesn’t accept?"

"In other words... the ’ghost’!"

Lan Lan stepped in front of Shi Zhile. "That’s bullshit! You could be the ghost, but there’s no way she is."

"She’s just lucky and always manages to unlock things no one else can see. And this isn’t the first time it’s happened."

"If she *didn’t* unlock the new rules, *that’s* when you should be suspicious."

Shi Zhile glanced at her, unsure for a moment whether Lan Lan was defending her or throwing her under the bus.

Everyone else remained silent.

’Who wouldn’t want a raft that’s already been tested and proven to be seaworthy?’

’Building a raft isn’t that hard, but it costs resources. Since there’s already a finished one, who would want to waste time and materials making another?’

If last night all suspicion was pointed at Wang Gang, now it was all directed at Shi Zhile.

They wanted her to hand over the raft, and they were willing to use any means necessary to get it. After all, the vast majority of them wanted it. With the minority having to obey the majority, they felt they had nothing to fear.

Even if they killed her and she turned into a monster, she would just become a common enemy for all the players to deal with.

As long as they weren’t the one being targeted, they were happy to profit from someone else’s misfortune.

Shi Zhile knew exactly what they were thinking. She turned to Xiao Yi and changed the subject. "What about Guo Funing’s body?"

Xiao Yi replied, "We burned it. We were afraid it would reanimate or turn into a monster. It was a unanimous decision."

Li Haohao nodded. "That’s right. Xiao Yi’s reasoning for burning the body was solid. None of us had any reason to object."

A flicker of something twisted crossed Xiao Yi’s face, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

Wang Gang glanced from Li Haohao to Xiao Yi, an imperceptible smirk touching his lips.

Shi Zhile took in the atmosphere between them, a smile playing on her lips. She was quite satisfied with this little dog-eat-dog display.

"That’s good."

She looked at Wang Gang, bringing the conversation back on track. "I do have a raft, but only one. It’s 7:10 now, so there’s still some time before eight o’clock. Who wants to go out first?"

No one spoke up.

Everyone knew that the first person to go out would be the guinea pig.

With so many players on shore, any one of them might try to stop the person at sea from returning, just to verify if the rules were true.

Shi Zhile continued, "Today is the third day. There are four days left. There’s only a two-hour safe window to go to sea each day, and only one person can go. And there are so many of you left..."

It was a blatant attempt to sow discord, and everyone saw it. But no one was willing to give up their chance to go to sea during the final four days.

They had to do it for survival, and the sooner, the better.

Shi Zhile placed the raft in the middle of the group. "I’ll provide the raft for free. You all can figure out how to share it. The monsters already started breaking down doors yesterday. To reinforce our cabins, we need to get out to sea as soon as possible."

’With everyone’s attention now on the sea, this is the perfect chance for me to slip into the forest.’

She left without another word and headed toward the forest.

Lan Lan didn’t hesitate for a second, turning to follow Shi Zhile. This time, however, Luo Jiuyin stayed behind.

Inside the forest, Shi Zhile handed Lan Lan an axe and gestured for her to help chop down trees.

Lan Lan kept glancing at her as she chopped. After holding it in for a while, she finally asked, "Sister Zhile, did you really just give them the raft like that?"

Shi Zhile replied, "There’s not enough to go around. Besides, without any salvage tools, it’s useless for them to go to sea anyway."

With a loud CRASH, a tree fell down.

Lan Lan processed the wood and left half for Shi Zhile, then asked, "Between all of them, they have about ten thousand schemes going on. Ever since the new rules came out yesterday, every single one of them has changed.

Out of the eight of us, who is the real ’ghost’?"