Luo Huayue angrily threw the marker on the ground, pointing at the complex battle plan on the ship’s bulwark:
“No, even if Grandpa comes along, the few of us can barely escape from four mermaids at most, working together to kill two. If more mermaids come—what the heck are they doing?”
The few people in the midst of the war meeting turned around to see the players who had been celebrating on the deck sneak up behind them, gleefully carrying mermaid corpses and dancing, heading towards the bulwark.
“To life!” The leading man’s eyes shimmered with colorful light, shouting.
“To life!” the other players echoed.
“Off to the joyful paradise!”
“Paradise! Paradise! Paradise! Paradise!”
Rong Yi suddenly stood up, “They’re going to throw the corpses back into the sea!”
“But that mermaid is already rotten,” Ice said. “Can it regenerate like this?”
Zhang Haiyang said, “Strictly speaking, only half a day has passed, and this corpse is only partially rotten, with some DNA in the cells still intact.”
“There’s still a possibility of regeneration.”
Raymond Vines urged, “Then go stop them!”
However, they were unable to catch up in time; the players had already danced to the bulwark, shouting, “To life!” and the bodies slipped into the sea!
Vines barely made it in time, the dull, scale-shedding tail of the mermaid in his grasp, with a soft “pop,” the already half-rotten tail couldn’t bear the weight of the mermaid itself, breaking in half. Most of the mermaid’s body “plopped” into the water.
The crowd hurriedly leaned over the bulwark to look down: from the bulwark to the water was nearly six stories high, the loosely organized, rotten bodies hit the water, not much different from falling on concrete ground. The massive splash scattered countless rainbow fish next to the cruise ship, the bodies instantly turned into deformed chunks of meat, slowly sinking into the water.
“Those people are being controlled by illusions…” The old man watched as they threw the bodies and continued to joyfully return to the pool party: “Could it be that all the illusions on this ship are created by mermaids?”
The players fell into illusions, mermaids come at night to prey on players in illusions—a complete predatory chain.
“There will definitely be more mermaids tonight.” Zhang Haiyang anxiously propped himself up on the bulwark edge. “No one knows how many new mermaids they will spawn, nor how fast they regenerate…”
“Very quickly.”
Rong Yi pointed below the sea’s surface where a sudden flash of rainbow light appeared.
There were several brand new mermaid tails.
They did not attack the cruise ship during the day; the rainbow-colored figures flashed and disappeared into the deep sea.
Once the mermaids left, the rainbow fish gathered under the cruise ship again, and Rong Yi quickly looked away.
There was a question she couldn’t figure out.
Even the most skilled hypnotist needs to be present to hypnotize others.
Mermaids don’t even approach the cruise ship during the day, so how are they hypnotizing the players?
The warm sunlight shone on them, reflecting the colorful clouds in the sky over the sea.
A sudden realization flashed through Rong Yi’s mind!
“Is the weather here always this good every day?” she turned to the old man. “Every day you’re here, is it always sunny with floating clouds?”
The old man slowly shook his head, “When we first entered the instance, the weather was like this. But later, as the number of players on the ship decreased, the weather became gloomy. Occasionally, there would be storms.”
“It’s really tough when the weather is gloomy. Not only is drinking water scarce, even the rainbow fish are scarce. I’ve gone without food for three days before.”
Rong Yi asked again, “Do you still remember the food we saw in the restaurant at night?”
Luo Huayue pondered for a moment, then said, “Fish meat.”
“Yes,” Rong Yi straightened up. “I see.”
Ice asked curiously, “What do you know?”
“About this ship, and the truth about this simulation,” Rong Yi replied.
She picked up the marker Luo Huayue had thrown on the ground, drew a line on the ship’s deck, and sketched a small fish below the line. “We speculated before that rainbow fish are inedible, and staring at their skin induces hallucinations.”
“The food we saw in the restaurant confirms this idea: the cruise ship has been feeding players rainbow fish, causing hallucinations after consumption.”
She wrote ‘Hallucination’ over the fish.
“But we hadn’t eaten anything when we first boarded the ship, so how did the hallucinations occur?”
She drew a simple child-like boat in the air with a few clouds hovering above. “The colorful clouds in the sky induce hallucinations, which is a known fact.”
“But I remember that when we boarded, the sky was gloomy with clouds, albeit dark clouds. How were we deceived?”
“My guess is that at that time, the clouds actually had hallucinatory colors; they were just too faint for the naked eye to distinguish.”
“Like infrared or ultraviolet rays, invisible to the naked eye but indeed existent.”
“As players board the ship, they are unknowingly entranced by these invisible colorful rays into resting in the cabins, sleeping. By the next day, with the clouds saturated with deceptive rays and players ingesting food on board, becoming engrossed in it becomes inevitable.”
She also labeled the clouds with ‘Hallucination.’
“With colorful clouds in the day and food-induced hallucinations at night, both methods of deception ensure players have almost no chance of staying sober in the simulation.”
“Of course, almost.” Rong Yi looked at the old man. “I escaped the hallucinations by having no desires for this simulation, but what about you? I suspect your overwhelming desire made it impossible for the simulation to deceive you like the others. Along with your strong will, you managed to stay awake.”
The old man’s wish was to eradicate cancer. What kind of hallucinations would fulfill this wish? Rong Yi thought that whoever induced these illusions must be baffled as well.
Being too indifferent or having too grand desires both offer the possibility of breaking free from hallucinations.
The old man, with droopy eyelids, stared at the distant sea horizon. “The longer I stay in this game, the more absurd it seems. I want to complete this wretched game and see what happens if it fails to fulfill my wish.”
He chuckled as he spoke.
Rong Yi asked, “Do you remember the bait you used for fishing for the first time?”
“How could I forget?” The old man replied. “It was just a piece of steak I picked up on the ship. I didn’t dare to eat it, so I tried to use it as bait.”
Rong Yi said, “All the food on the ship is made from rainbow fish, including the bait you used later, which was also rainbow fish meat. It shows that rainbow fish exhibit cannibalistic tendencies.”
“But why didn’t they devour each other completely near the cruise ship?”
Zhang Haiyang suddenly realized, “Because there’s food here!”
He clapped his hands. “I get it now! It’s a symbiotic relationship!”
He took the pen from Rong Yi’s hand and drew a stick figure next to it, dragging a sharp triangular shape below.
Luo Huayue asked, “What’s that?”
Zhang Haiyang replied, “A mermaid.”
He drew a line connecting the stick figure mermaid and the small fish drawn by Rong Yi. “Many creatures in the ocean have symbiotic relationships; they either cooperate in hunting or defend against common enemies.”
“Rainbow fish and mermaids should have a similar relationship.”
“If I guess correctly, the food of rainbow fish should be the desires of the players. So when we just boarded the ship, the sky was dim because the rainbow fish hadn’t completely arrived yet.”
“After a night, once they were all attracted by the desires of a whole ship of players, the colors of their skins reflected on the clouds, turning the clouds into rainbow colors, bringing clear weather and illusions to the entire ship.”
Luo Huayue: “Clouds – are they reflecting the rainbow fish?”
“Yes, the old man said that when there are fewer rainbow fish, the sky is also gloomy. In fact, this cause and effect relationship should be reversed: because there are fewer rainbow fish, the sky becomes gloomy!”
Ice: “Oh, no wonder the old man said that in their round, the fewer players there are, the gloomier the weather. Because when there’s nothing left to eat, the fish leave.”
Zhang Haiyang nodded: “Yes. Rainbow fish swallow the players’ desires. I think desires may also have a measure, once the desires are completely swallowed, and this person no longer has any cravings, to the rainbow fish, he is just a useless empty vessel, staying on the ship will only consume their flesh.”
“At this point, mermaids will come to eat this person. They are the undertakers of the rainbow fish.”
Luo Huayue: “I remember! The first Raymond, and the second player, both said something like ‘I want to stay here forever’ in their dreams before being chosen by the mermaids. Does this mean that these players have been completely captivated by illusions, wanting to stay here forever, giving up their original desires?”
“Yes, that’s it.” Rong Yi looked at Raymond. “So, do you remember what your wish was?”
Raymond played with a small vine in his hand, making it bloom into a small, bright rose.
“…I had actually forgotten.” He chuckled self-deprecatingly. “But after talking to that unlucky captain, I remembered.”
Rong Yi nodded, “That’s good. Never lose yourself, forget your original intention. That’s the secret to surviving in this instance.”
Zhang Haiyang continued to explain the symbiotic relationship between mermaids and rainbow fish: “Mermaids also have another function, which is to eliminate the awakened players on the ship. Because these players would disturb the feeding of the rainbow fish.”
“These two species control the illusions on the ship, along with the biggest boss of this instance!”
Ice suddenly said: “No. You all have forgotten about the captain.”
The cursed ship captain is also a big boss of the opposing faction to the players. He is not part of the symbiotic system of these two species.
Rong Yi: “I guess the captain’s existence is just because he existed before. Three years ago, to prevent him from helping the players under the new rules, the system transformed him into a somewhat marginalized boss.”
“My boyfriend mentioned that the NPCs here are similar to intelligent life forms hatched by AI, so the system may also have to follow certain rules and cannot just erase them.”
As Rong Yi spoke, she took a pen and wrote down the words “three years ago.”
“Every instance I have experienced, every NPC I have talked to, has mentioned this time. Three years ago.”
She muttered to herself, “What happened three years ago to cause all instances to change and become what they are now?”
However, these have already exceeded the scope of the current instance.
What they need to consider now is how to break through.
She took a deep breath, patted the wall of the ship that was covered with writings and drawings, “My plan is that the mermaids will surely increase tonight—”
“Since we know the fundamental reason for the illusions, I want to try to awaken all players and increase our combat strength.”
Zhang Haiyang flexed his muscles, took a few deep breaths, and said softly, “I’m ready.”
Ice gestured on himself, “The stomach is around here, uppercut, strike accurately. Understand?”
Raymond nodded.
The old man wiped the long knife that Luo Huayue had just manifested to him with the rag on his body, tried swinging it a few times, and nodded satisfactorily, “It’s inconvenient not being able to bring weapons into this game. It’s just like my usual one, not bad, not bad.”
Rong Yi looked at the sun, it was almost 2 o’clock in the afternoon, with plenty of time.
She nodded to everyone, “Begin.”
Zhang Haiyang stood at the side of the ship, arms spread open, and whispered, “Activate! [The Great Flood Strikes the Dragon King Temple]!”
This time, he used about sixty percent of his skill power.
The cruise ship trembled slightly, a huge vortex formed at the bottom of the ship, and the rainbow fish around the ship were gradually sucked into the vortex, spinning uncontrollably.
Luo Huayue quickly peeked under the ship and exclaimed, “Wow, Zhang Haiyang, I take back my ridicule of you earlier. Your water pump has improved. Now it’s a super-sized water pump!”
Zhang Haiyang exerted all his strength, sweat beads falling from his forehead, and strained to speak, “…stop… making me… laugh…”
The vortex spun faster, the rainbow fish gradually turning into colorful lights. Zhang Haiyang waved his hands, expanding the vortex, carrying the rainbow fish further and further away from the cruise ship. The colors of the clouds in the sky also faded.
The colorful clouds finally transformed into dark clouds. Zhang Haiyang shouted, and the gigantic vortex with a diameter of a hundred meters exploded instantly, with countless rainbow fish falling into the sea with a crackling sound.
Rong Yi and Luo Huayue had been waiting at the entrance to the cabin, waiting for the colors of the clouds to disappear, all illusions to fade away, revealing the true face of the ship.
“Go in!”
The two rushed into the dilapidated cabin, Luo Huayue leading Rong Yi, all the way to the end of the known map.
Luo Huayue carefully avoiding the bewildered players around, “Rong, do you remember how to proceed from here?”
Rong Yi: “…I’ll try. Anyway, we have to go up!”
The bridge should be at the highest point, that was the only thing she could be sure of.
Luo Huayue slapped her forehead, “Forget it, Rong, just follow me.”
“The structure of each level of the cabin should be similar. We already know the first and second levels, the rest…” Luo Huayue said and indeed led Rong Yi to the upward gangway by going around in circles.
“Awesome!” Rong Yi naturally felt admiration for those who could navigate, following Luo Huayue all the way up, finally reaching the top level.
“Just keep going straight!” Rong Yi said, “I remember, after the last flight of stairs, there are no more turns.”
They continued forward, indeed seeing the partially opened door to the captain’s cabin!
As soon as they entered, they saw the captain, halfway transformed into an evil spirit, waiting for them. Blue flames burning in his eyes, skeletal hands reaching out to them: “Dear passengers, you shouldn’t be here—”
Rong Yi: “Activate [Meet the Parents].”
The captain instantly changed his tune, “Greetings, ma’am.”
Luo Huayue silently praised in her heart, no matter how many times she saw it, Rong Yi’s skills were always so magical.
Rong Yi walked to the pilot’s control panel on her own, “Although you said you can’t pilot this cruise ship, I remember, you at least know how to turn on the system.”
“Yes, yes,” the captain stepped forward and skillfully turned on the system, “The rest, I don’t know.”
Rong Yi and Luo Huayue stood there, tinkering and pondering for a while:
“Is this it?”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
“As long as the ship starts moving, it’s okay, no need to worry about the destination.”
“Oh… I think we should look for the biggest button…”
“In regular movies, only the self-destruct button is the biggest.”
“That makes sense…”
Captain: “Um, lady, I don’t think a cruise ship would have a self-destruct button.”
… This lady seemed to be delicately balancing between being formidable and a bit clueless…
Zhang Haiyang was drenched in sweat, collapsed on the deck, watching the other three pounding the players who were still in illusions within sight.
Each player who vomited saw the dazzling colors in their eyes fade away. Without the illusion of rainbow clouds, they maintained clarity of mind, and after a while, they could barely figure out the current situation.
“Bang!”
“Ugh—”
The old man was thin but had strength like a young man, laughing heartily, “Refreshing! Refreshing! Last time, I wanted to wake them all up like this!”
“Wake up! Everyone wake up!”
“Then go awaken others still lost in sweet dreams!”
The old man shouted loudly, rhythmic with each sentence and punch:
“Do not! Gently! Step into! That good night!”
More and more players woke up. They were all experts who could enter Grade A dungeons. Understanding the situation, they immediately joined the team of beaters.
On the deck, in the cabins, the sounds of fighting and vomiting filled the air!
“Bang!”
“Ugh—”
“Bang!”
“Ugh—”
Watching the players waking up one by one, Zhang Haiyang felt a sense of achievement like never before.
Before, he was just surviving, “sufficient unto himself in poverty.”
This was his first time, “helping others while succeeding.”
Now, he waited.
The rainbow fish were fish, lively fish. Although blowing them up hundreds of meters away might disorient them and make them dizzy, as long as they were alive, they would be attracted by the food’s scent – the players on the ship – and gather back near the cruise ship.
So, according to Rong Yi’s plan, she and Luo Huayue would try to start the cruise ship after the illusions disappeared, regardless of the direction, just to break away from the school of fish.
If lucky, the mermaids might also be shaken off.
Of course, Zhang Haiyang was pessimistic about getting rid of the mermaids. Based on his understanding of mermaid physiology, these creatures’ swimming speed at sea could probably exceed the cruise ship’s speed.
Anyway, if the rainbow fish returned before the ship moved, Zhang Haiyang would need to use his skills to disperse the fish again, ensuring that the awakened players would not be deceived again.
Although he was unsure how much strength he had left to use.
【The flood hit the Dragon King’s Temple】 The most challenging obstacle to overcome was not the limit of skill and power but his limit of endurance. Prior, just using thirty percent of his strength had exhausted him, and now that sixty percent of his strength had been unleashed, he nearly tired himself to the point of seeing white light in front of his eyes.
If, if the ship didn’t move in a while… his mind blurred with the thought, would he overuse his strength and die…
“Boom—”
A thunderous sound never heard before came from the bottom of the ship!
The old man paused his beating hand, his eyes shining suddenly, “This is—”
He hurried to the stern, leaning over the ship’s side to look down:
The propeller, which had remained motionless since entering the instance, was slowly starting to turn.
“…The ship is moving… the ship is moving!”
Author’s message: Team battle clearance preparations underway…
