Chapter 145 Swaying in the Storm

Chapter 145: Chapter 144: Swaying in the Storm

The group spent their final night in the office building.

Early the next morning, the last batch of people finally squeezed onto the boats. Nine vessels lay anchored side by side. Nearly ninety people remained from Biyun Resort. Distributing them across eight small boats—which also had to carry vital supplies like fuel, Energy, maintenance tools, food, and medicine—made things extremely cramped.

Except for Han Ning’s boat, the other vessels were packed shoulder to shoulder. It was difficult to even turn around. The passengers could only hide in the cabin rest areas, huddling their bodies together to share body heat. On some of the smaller boats, a few people even had to stay out on the howling, wind-swept decks.

"I wonder how many of them will actually survive," Han Ning thought with a sigh. He stood at the bow of his Wind Chaser Sailing Ship, looking at the bewildered ordinary survivors.

Everyone was waiting for his lead ship to set sail.

"Let’s move out." He waved his hand.

"Estimated water depth is nine meters! Weigh the anchor! Wind direction is north-northwest. Professor Ye, hoist the mainsail!" Xu Ming’s voice was somewhat muffled in the wind and rain. He stared intently at a makeshift weather vane while rapidly calculating the water current speed and starting up the auxiliary engine.

Professor Ye shouted an acknowledgement and swiftly untied the mooring ropes. With arms that had grown incredibly robust, he pulled the winch cables. The massive canvas unfurled upward along the slippery mast. As the sail caught the wind, assisted by the thrust of the engine, the ship shuddered and slowly began to accelerate.

The Wind Chaser Sailing Ship took the lead, its bow cleaving through the churning floodwaters as it moved northeast. Behind it, Chairman Wu’s sailboat and the rest of the fleet sequentially fired up their engines or hoisted their sails. The roar of the motors and the snapping of billowing sails intertwined as the eight boats maintained a set distance from one another. With Han Ning’s vessel at the forefront, the entire fleet sailed in a flattened V-formation. The lead ship was responsible for carving out a safe route so the trailing boats could pass through securely.

"Snow Cake, make sure to clear the obstacles around us and keep the waterway open," Han Ning instructed. He stood at the bow, scanning the waters ahead.

Snow Cake prowled around the ship. Its Earth Element Power quietly spread out, neutralizing the overly turbulent waves surging around the hull. This allowed the Wind Chaser to sail much more smoothly than the other vessels.

Long stood at the bow of a catamaran. His boat was positioned slightly behind Han Ning’s, placing him in the critical role of receiving information from the front and commanding the trailing vessels. Unfortunately, the harsh environment had damaged the radio equipment on most of the boats, so they were forced to communicate using nautical hand signals.

Waving his arms, Long continuously relayed orders to the fleet. "Water depth is eight meters! Current conditions are good! All ships maintain formation! Watch out for underwater obstacles! Lookouts on all ships, stay on high alert!"

On the other boats, the Awakened carried out their respective duties. Water Awakened worked hard to control the currents, mitigating the impact of the wind and waves against the hulls. Power-type Awakened stood guard at the rails, ready to deflect incoming debris with steel rebars or iron rods. The ordinary survivors huddled in relatively sheltered cabins or corners. The fleet hadn’t traveled far before many of them had already turned pale. The first challenge they faced wasn’t the natural environment or monsters, but rather—seasickness!

The fleet forged ahead both arduously and steadily for about five kilometers. At first, things went smoothly enough; aside from the severe weather, they encountered no anomalies. However, when the fleet entered the waters on the outskirts of a half-submerged industrial zone, the situation began to change.

HISS!

From the crevices of the underwater building ruins, black serpentine figures slithered out one after another. The Black Snake Monsters, which had previously vanished, made their reappearance.

HISS!

Over a hundred of the snake-like monsters twisted their bodies as they approached from underwater, lunging straight for the nearest ships.

"Enemy attack! Black Snake Monsters!" an Awakened in charge of observation shouted out a warning.

Almost the instant the snake silhouettes appeared, blue halos of light flared up across the fleet.

HUM! HUM! HUM!

Under the control of the Awakened, the blue fruits atop the Water Jet Melons positioned at the bows and rails contracted and expanded.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Volleys of deep blue Water Arrows shot out, piercing the water’s surface to strike at the lunging Black Snake Monsters.

Using Water Arrows against these ordinary Black Snakes was a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. But since very few Awakened in the fleet were skilled in water combat, it was the only method available. The Water Arrows pierced through their Scale Armor without any resistance, wiping out large numbers of ordinary Black Snakes as efficiently as pesticide.

By now, however, killing ordinary Black Snakes no longer yielded any experience for Han Ning.

Rather than scaring the snake swarm away, the slaughter seemed to kick up a hornet’s nest.

SPLASH!

Underwater, dark currents surged. Dense throngs of Black Snake Monsters slithered out from various crevices, their eerie green vertical pupils locked dead onto the fleet. They no longer charged mindlessly; instead, they began to systematically circle the boats, hunting for weak points.

"Careful! We’ve entered their occupied waters!" Chairman Wu barked sternly from the bow of another ship. "Close the distance between the boats! Don’t stop firing the melons, but aim for the elite ones!"

Before his voice could fade, a circular wave soaring six meters high suddenly swelled around the fleet. Over a dozen noticeably thicker Elite Black Snake Monsters, exuding a fierce aura, rode the crests. Surfing the waves, they rushed in from all directions. The colossal wall of water bore down menacingly, looking as if it intended to swallow the fleet whole.

Han Ning’s eyes turned icy. Facing the incoming tidal wave and the disgusting snake figures swimming nearby, he didn’t even bother activating his Beast Form. With a mere thought, countless vines covered in faint, frost-white patterns burst forth from the empty air around him.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Fine Ice Crystals condensed on the surface of the vines, radiating a bone-chilling cold. The moment they touched the wall of water, the frigid air rapidly spread.

The wave sweeping in from straight ahead was instantly frozen into a solid wall of ice, frozen in place. The remaining vines continued their trajectory unhindered. The Ice Crystals at their tips branched out into sharp prongs before bursting open with a loud CRACK.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

A dense, overwhelming storm of razor-sharp ice shards rained down, piercing through the skulls of several Elite Black Snake Monsters hiding behind the wave. Their tough skulls were like wet paper before the ice fragments, and their heads and bodies were instantly riddled with holes.

The vines swept forward, snatching several Energy Crystals gleaming with an eerie blue luster from the shredded snake corpses, and retracted back to Han Ning’s side.

[Druid Growth Progress +15]

[Druid Growth Progress +16]

...

On the other ships, fierce battles were also well underway.

"Port side, three o’clock! Melons ready... fire!"

"Hold them off! Don’t let them get near the rails!"

The Awakened roared. Relying on the ship rails and the firepower of the melons, they frantically fended off the Black Snake Monsters attempting to climb aboard.

Streams of deep blue Water Arrows spewed endlessly from the melon fruits, weaving into a dense web of crossfire. Every time a Water Arrow found its mark, it was accompanied by a massive splatter of Black Snake Monster blood.

Lin Qianqian stood by the mast of a catamaran, drawing her Compound Bow into a full moon. An arrow wreathed in a glowing white light left the string, accurately plunging into the eye socket of an Elite Black Snake trying to ambush the bottom of the boat from underwater. On another ship, Vice President Zhao transformed into a Steam Giant. His bulging muscles vented scorching white steam as he swung a massive iron anchor, viciously smashing away a Black Snake Monster that had leaped onto the deck.

Under the frenzied siege of the snake swarm, the fleet was tossed about violently like leaves in a storm, and their forward momentum inevitably slowed. The violent shaking of the hulls proved utterly miserable for the ordinary survivors cowering in the cabins.

"BLEGH! URGH!"

In an instant, several ordinary people who had rarely been on a boat found the extreme turbulence unbearable and threw up on the spot.

For the time being, the Awakened on deck were entirely unaware of the mess below.

"Hold steady! Don’t panic!" Chairman Wu continued to direct the melon fire while stabilizing morale. "Maintain formation and follow Mr. Han’s boat closely!"