The Dawn Goddess slowly moved on the sea, leaving a faint white water trail.
“Alright!” Luo Huayue happily bounced up.
Rong Yi frowned. She kept her hands on the steering wheel, looking the part.
But only she knew that the steering wheel was locked, unable to adjust direction. They could only blindly proceed towards an unknown direction on the sea.
As long as they could shake off the rainbow fish, it didn’t matter which way they went.
Looking through the panoramic windows of the bridge, she saw many awakened players voluntarily joining the faction that was knocking other players back to consciousness.
The illusion created by the rainbow fish was fading.
“Captain,” Rong Yi asked, “Where is the ship-wide broadcast?”
Players who had just been knocked by the hammer and regurgitated rainbow fish meat were still not fully rational, but they heard two microphone taps on the cruise ship’s broadcast.
“Bang, bang.”
Then a cold female voice sounded:
“Hello, testing, one, two, three, can you hear me?”
“Good afternoon, everyone. I am a player who boarded with you. I have just taken control of the helm of the Dawn Goddess.”
Some scattered cheers were heard on the deck.
“This scenario requires teamwork to clear. Please cooperate with other players. In case of conflicts or attacks—I can awaken you from the illusion and send you back, keeping you on the ship dreaming forever. Please be informed and inform each other. Thank you for your cooperation.”
“Below is the current scenario overview. Based on your situation, please rescue others after self-rescue.”
“As the scenario began, we were trapped in an illusion. Of course, if you have vomited and can understand me clearly now, it means you are awake. Congratulations.”
“Observe the players around you. If their eyes emit a rainbow glow, they are still in the illusion. Please punch them in the stomach to make them vomit out the food.”
“In theory, once the stomach is emptied, the illusion will disappear. Inform the player you helped to find other players still in the illusion to assist them.”
“If the color of the sky clouds changes, control yourself from looking at the clouds. If the broadcast instructs not to look at the sky, please comply. The food on the ship and the colorful clouds in the sky are the two main causes of the scenario’s illusion.”
“For non-combatant players who feel unable to make someone vomit with a punch, find an old man wearing a straw hat. He will teach you how to make a water acquisition device and how to obtain safe food. Do not eat the food in the ship’s restaurant, or face the consequences.”
“After dark, a large number of enemy NPCs will attack. Please prepare quickly. The more awakened players, the stronger our side.”
“We are all on the same boat, and cooperating is our only way out. Please stay alert and avoid harming others.”
“Lastly, players who understand navigation and ship technology, please come to the highest level of the ship cabin as soon as possible. All players need you.”
“This broadcast ends here. Wish us success in clearing the scenario.”
After the broadcast ended, Rong Yi breathed a sigh of relief.
She had 20 minutes left of her skills. She didn’t know what surprises tonight might bring, so she locked the captain in the helm and waited outside with Luo Huayue to see if any knowledgeable sailors would come.
But after half an hour, not a single player had arrived.
Luo Huayue was getting anxious, “Oh goodness, the worst situation is happening…”
“Don’t worry,” Rong Yi walked down the gangway, “All these high-level players are cautious and won’t reveal their skills all at once. Maybe someone wants to observe the situation first before deciding to act?”
“Winning this tough battle tonight will reassure those indecisive players.”
She stood at the corner of the gangway and smiled slightly at Luo Huayue, “We must solve things one by one.”
“Go to the deck and join them. Help the old man teach others how to get food and water.”
“I have something to attend to.”
Passing by the vomit on the floor, players voluntarily cleaning it up, players fighting, players being beaten, the old man giving survival lessons on the ship’s side… Rong Yi turned to the back of the cabin, stepping down the rusty gangway.
The originally quiet engine room began operating as the ship started moving, filled with deafening roars, Rong Yi adapted and walked inside.
Deep inside the engine room, through narrow pipe corridors, was their safe space for the past two days.
In the midst of a pile of rags, a small fabric wrapped around a small, powder-orange octopus. It was curled up like a peach-flavored jelly pudding.
Rong Yi picked it up, gently poking it, “You can sleep through this noise, truly amazing.”
She touched the slightly dry tentacles of the octopus, tucking it against her fractured left arm.
“Let’s go, I’ll take you to a quiet place.”
Rong Yi climbed with the small octopus to a higher level than the cockpit – a lookout where there were no devices, just rusty railings seemingly unsupported.
The sunset dimly sank on the horizon, looking towards the stern, sparkling fish could still be seen in the distance, coming alongside the cruise ship like a rainbow. However, the sunlight was dim, and the clouds above them emitted a dull gray lacking saturation.
The sea breeze tousled Rong Yi’s short hair as she sat cross-legged, watching the hustle and bustle on the deck, more and more players calling out holographic screens.
Rong Yi: Everything going smoothly?
Luo huayue: Smoothly! The floors have been cleared, all players are awake.
Zhang Haiyang: Discussing the mermaid extermination plan for tonight.
Zhang Haiyang: There was an insolent guy saying he wants to be the boss… Oh, never mind. Ice knocked some sense into him.
Raymond: It’s getting dark, proceed with the plan.
Luo huayue: We have enough manpower now, Rong Yi, your arm is still not healed, stay hidden and make sure the cruise ship keeps moving forward.
Rong Yi knew this was part of her plan; she wasn’t the type to rush to the front lines, especially with her arm broken. She would only be a burden to her teammates if she joined the battle now.
She replied with a “good” and switched to communicate with x.
Rong Yi: Why aren’t you waking up?
Rong Yi: Are you dead?
Rong Yi: But the boss can respawn, right? If you die this round, you’ll wake up in the next round, right?
Rong Yi: Do you think I can’t see through Zhang Haiyang’s lies?
Rong Yi: My acting isn’t bad, huh? This is called stabilizing morale.
Rong Yi: Can you at least answer me?
Rong Yi: You’ve changed. You used to respond instantly.
No one praised her, it was disappointing to boast about herself.
X’s account was gray, indicating he had gone offline.
A few drops of warm liquid dripped onto the octopus, moistening its dry skin, then slowly sliding down, not entering the fabric wrapping it.
The last rays of the sun danced on the sea surface, suddenly extinguishing on the horizon.
Night fell.
Players stood ready.
Sounds of tapping on the ship’s hull echoed from all directions on the cruise ship.
Rong Yi, overseeing from above, could clearly see mermaids climbing the ship’s left side toward its bow, where players rushed to capture an exposed section of the railing.
She opened the holographic screen:
Rong Yi: As agreed earlier, every two meters should have at least one player, don’t cluster together. There’s space on the left front, be alert.
Upon receiving the message, team members swiftly moved some crowded players from the middle to the left front. Soon after, mermaids boarded there.
Facing mermaids for the first time, players took some time to adapt to their appearance and the discrepancy between their appearance and strength, each finding their own way to deal with them.
Ice and Raymond also moved among the players, advising those unable to subdue mermaids to guide them into the cabins, taking advantage of their difficulty in moving up and down stairs to attack strategically. They repeatedly reminded all players to prevent injured or dead mermaids from escaping overboard.
With a sword in hand, the old man wandered between small battlefields, Rong Yi saw his long sword gleam and flash, indicating he had activated the “Peerless” skill.
Whether alive, subdued by players, or killed by players, he swiftly dealt with them. Occasionally encountering resilient foes, he would engage in a struggle, if unable to overpower them, he retreated immediately, letting other players take over, never resorting to unnecessary violence.
His mission was not to kill mermaids but to prevent their resurrection.
All the players were clearly divided into different roles, the deck was filled with killing sounds, the transparent and sticky blood of the mermaids and the bright red blood of the players were mixed together in a tragic shape.
In Rong Yi’s eyes, everything was proceeding in an orderly manner according to the previous plan.
“Look, it’s all because you went offline without authorization that we got into this much trouble.” Rong Yi gently stroked the quiet little octopus in his arms: “If you keep the same appearance as when you first entered the copy, and pack the cruise ship, the mermaids won’t dare to get on board. And then help us to explore where is the land, drag the boat over, how convenient.”
“It’s all your fault, you want me to send Fan Xingze some words, look, the words are not finished, but also cause me to lose a general for nothing. I’ll go back and punish you.”
She gently poked the little octopus’s soft head, her tone was intimate: “Admit it or not, huh? Say you admit it.”
Of course the little octopus would not answer her. Only the sounds of fighting in the cabin and on the deck became more and more intense, filling her ears.
“Esteemed passengers, are you lost? This is not the place for you!”
“Damn it! What is this? I can’t kill him!”
“Try fire!”
The sound of conversations coming from underneath her feet gave Rong Yi a jolt of surprise: a player had accidentally trespassed into the cockpit and triggered the evil captain!
She rushed down the stairs and saw two players confronting the captain, who was already half evil, at the cockpit door.
Isn’t this an internal conflict between family members?
“Go! [See the Parents]!”
The blue flames in the captain’s eyes gradually stopped, but the two players couldn’t stop their attacks. This game can not bring weapons into the game, the weapons in their hands are skill to change, one waved a three-foot blade, the other hand rubbed out the□□, straight toward the captain!
Between them, a mermaid’s body fragments – should not have been by the old man 【Gai Shi Wuxi】 – is rapidly proliferating, swarming, gradually forming a brand new mermaid.
She has just been born in this world, all things are ignorant, open the first eye, see two angry men toward their own.
The captain of the ship pulls her away, but a sword pierces through her skeleton body, followed by an explosion that can be seen with the naked eye!
The mermaid, who was pulled aside by the captain, saw the situation, and with her tail sticking out, she blocked the captain’s body.
The jab hit her in the waist and abdomen, the mermaid’s body was tough and her skin seemed undamaged, but Rong Yi still heard something cracking.
It should be the limestone plate in her body that served as her skeleton shattering.
The mermaid let out a miserable scream and flew two meters away, crashing into the captain, and both of them fell heavily into the cockpit.
Everything happened in an instant, and by the time Rong Yi reacted, the captain had already reached out in surrender and tried to communicate with the two players:
“I am not your enemy, please let us go!”
The player with the sword frowned: “You? Including this mermaid?”
The captain glanced back at the mermaid, who was curled up on the ground in pain. Her moist eyes had not yet been drenched in the psychedelic luster brought by the rainbow fish, and they were pure ocean blue.
It was exactly the same as the mermaid he remembered.
He nodded firmly, “Including her.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t get in the way of your passage.”
The two players looked at each other hesitantly.
Rong Yi said from behind them, “Go help on the other floors. Leave this to me.”
They turn back, and □□□ recognizes her voice, “You’re the one on the radio-”
She nodded, “So you can trust me.”
The two of them looked at her straight and unapologetic gaze, and always felt that there was something written in her eyes, “You are players who know how to drive and navigate, but you are afraid that if you reveal your skills, you will be morally kidnapped by the other players, so you want to come up here quietly to have a look. I understand, I won’t say anything.”
The sword-wielding player unsheathed his sword and nodded with □□□, and the two of them gathered up the pieces of mermaid corpses on the ground and brought them down to the old man for disposal.
The captain struggled to get up, Rong Yi went forward to help: “You want to keep her?”
“…… She saved me.” The captain’s eyes have warmth and confusion: “I’ve seen those mermaids, they are emotionless killing machines. She was obviously regenerated from the corpses of those mermaids as well, so why would she want to save me?”
“Because you saved her first.” Rong Yi saw clearly from the side, “It’s not only the genes that determine what kind of mermaid she is, but also the environment.”
“Maybe your beautiful interaction with the mermaid before was also like this, starting from the first kindness, a positive cycle.”
“…Really?” The captain looked puzzled at Rong Yi. “But she is not her?”
Rong Yi replied, “She is not her.”
The captain lifted the mermaid sideways, she curled up against his chest, relying on him.
She recognized him, the first person to be kind to her since her “birth.”
The battle on the ship was nearing its end. Rong Yi walked with the captain among the scattered mermaid corpses, entering the engine room under the players’ curious gazes.
“It’s a bit noisy, but after the mermaids are eliminated, this safe spot will be abandoned. Normally, in the next round, players won’t come here without the threat of mermaids. You are safe.”
The captain, struggling with his large frame through the low pipes, placed the mermaid among a pile of tattered cloth.
“Since I can’t be of much help, please take care of your mermaid until we clear the level. Don’t let her out, can you?”
The captain nodded gratefully.
Rong Yi wasn’t sure about the captain’s feelings towards the mermaid. Was it a substitute? Or a new affection?
As if reading her mind, the captain smiled slightly. The human side of his face looked gentle and handsome:
“She is more like… our daughter.”
“Although it may sound disrespectful to her, I mean my mermaid. But I have indeed thought, if we had offspring, it should be a naive little mermaid who could freely switch between land and sea.”
“She—” the captain adjusted the mermaid in a comfortable position that wouldn’t harm her internally. “She has 100% of her genes and my guidance. She will be our sensible daughter.”
As Rong Yi left this small world, she glanced back to see the captain tenderly asking the mermaid if she was hungry and mimicking the players by fishing for her.
The mermaid cried out, unable to speak, but her sea-blue eyes were full of trust.
Everyone has their own tribulations, even NPCs. Rong Yi thought the captain had found a way to pass his tribulation.
As for her—
She looked at the small octopus in her arms, gradually losing its original color. In the slightly warm engine room, it began to emit an unpleasant smell.
Since it was small, Rong Yi could tolerate the smell.
She returned to the deck, seeing no more living mermaids, the players busy with the final clean-up. The old man stood by the designated corpse disposal point on the ship’s railing, confirming the bodies before tossing them into the sea.
The players’ faces showed exhaustion but also joy.
They had come a step closer to completing the level.
Infected by their emotions, Rong Yi reassured herself that Aimo was not dead, just disconnected from the copy. Once she left the copy, she might be able to contact him.
At worst, she could find Fēngxīngzé to see what went wrong.
She quickly found her way to the cockpit, taking the path she was familiar with and finally reaching it.
She headed straight for the broadcast control panel.
A cold female voice rang throughout the ship:
“All players, please ensure that the mermaid corpses have been neutralized by the old man with the straw hat near the railings before disposing of them at the designated corpse disposal point. Disposing of them in the sea will have serious consequences.”
“You have worked hard. After the corpse disposal is completed, rest assured. I emphasize once again, please do not use the ship’s food.”
“Players who are proficient in navigation and driving, please come to the cockpit. The cockpit is unlocked, and I will leave after the broadcast ends. If you are unwilling, nobody will know who you are. Similarly, no one will force you to complete the mission.”
“Based on current information, the completion condition is to return. Please check the navigation system and sail the ship back along the original route.”
“If you confirm you can complete the return mission, please sound the cruise ship horn to reassure us.”
“If you cannot, please tap three times as a signal during the broadcast, and we will find another way.”
“Thank you for your contributions to all players. This broadcast ends here. I will leave the cockpit within twenty minutes and return to the deck.”
Following the agreement in the broadcast, Rong Yi soon appeared on the deck. The deck was clean, with players sitting on the railing fishing. Occasionally, there were exchanges, the atmosphere not as cheerful as in the illusion but quiet and friendly.
“Miss Rong!” Luo Huayue stood next to the fragrant kitchenware, waving at her. Many players had gathered around the team members. After tonight’s battle, the players already showed signs of looking up to them.
Rong Yi, the low-profile team leader, hung her arms wearily, her face pale. She was holding what seemed to be a dead small octopus, attracting curious glances from other players.
If it weren’t for the first person who woke up in this dungeon making efforts to reverse the situation, the death rate would indeed be very high. But at this point, with the situation turned around, it was almost certain that everyone would survive—except for a few players who were severely injured in the battle with the mermaids. They were currently with Zhang Haiyang, lying in a specially designated infirmary area managed by Ice, where two players with healing skills were healing them.
Rong Yi took the fragrant grilled fish and occasionally looked towards the towering cruise ship’s whistle.
Forty minutes later, a loud whistle sounded, igniting another round of cheering onboard.
Rong Yi lowered her head, smiled, and took the first bite of the now cold grilled fish.
“Did you send it up?” Zhang Haiyang asked.
Luo Huayue nodded, “Sent it up and placed it at the entrance to the cockpit.”
Zhang Haiyang chuckled, “Well, this player who can steer the cruise ship sure is quite mysterious. What’s wrong with revealing himself? Leading all players through to the end, he’d become a hero! Being so secretive, yet you, Rong, still have us send food up to him…”
The sea breeze tousled Raymond’s golden curls. It had been almost half a month since they entered the dungeon. Without any grooming, even the most handsome man would look unkempt, with a face full of grime.
His deep, magnetic voice sounded hoarse due to the scarcity of water resources, “Whether he’s a hero or a criminal is not certain. It’s been such a long time without seeing land. The other players might also have mixed feelings. At this point, the initial hero becomes a punching bag.”
“Do you think Rong Yi had Ice guard the cockpit door to prevent players inside from escaping? No, she feared that players outside would go in looking for someone to vent their frustration on.”
Indeed, initially, when the cruise ship changed direction, everyone was excited and praising the helmsman; but in the past few days, restlessness and discontent had been spreading among the players.
It’s hard to say whether the veteran players who entered this dungeon or the skilled helmsman deserve the title ‘unfazed by glory or humiliation.’ Whether in the beginning with praises all around or now with complaints ringing out, he remained composed and never showed himself.
This was also thanks to Rong Yi’s silent insistence. From the start, she had her team deliver food and water discreetly to ensure no one saw who was actually steering the cruise ship.
Raymond and Ice were also assigned the task of taking turns to guard the cockpit, preventing late-stage player riots that could disrupt the journey.
“Trust people without doubt; doubt people without using them.” That night, during the team meeting, Rong Yi said, “If they don’t utilize this skill to gain benefits and attention, it means they are here solely to fulfill the mission. I choose to believe in such players.”
Because Rong Yi remained composed, the team members also remained composed. Their calm inadvertently reassured other players:
Look, those who woke them up from their dreamlike state and led them to exterminate the mermaids are not panicking. It must be stable. It’s just a bit longer; the ocean is vast, so it’s understandable.
So, in this delicate balance, on the 20th day of entering the dungeon:
“Wha… what is that—”
“It’s land—it’s land!”
They saw the dark continent that had been long-awaited on the horizon.
Author’s Note: The next chapter will mark the end of this dungeon adventure!
Don’t worry, Little Ai will only disconnect due to a dungeon drop, no interactions in reality!
