novelraw Chapter 503: The Sea of Death
Chapter 503: The Sea of Death
"Then as long as we stay on the ship, we should be safe, right?" a female player said, her voice trembling.
Was the ship safe?
Definitely not. The seventh deck, which had just been restored, had been violently demolished again. They were now pressed against the ship's side by a pile of ornaments and wall debris, unable to go in or out. Either way seemed like a dead end.
"Why can't the train tickets be used!" someone roared furiously. "We're clearly so close to District 011! How is it possible we're not within the game!"
"Can't you see this is intentional on their part?" another person redirected the blame towards Xu Huo and the others. "They deliberately brought us to a sea area where train tickets can't be used to leave! They're determined to kill every single one of us! You're wearing Black Wristbands!"
The crowd glared with hostility, a frantic madness in their eyes, the kind that thinks killing one before dying breaks even, and killing two makes a profit.
"Everyone, calm down a little," Serin raised his voice. "I am a follower, and I always stand by the weak. If you don't believe me, you can ask the people beside me."
The few White Wristband wearers who had followed him earlier hurriedly stepped forward to testify. The crowd tentatively believed him, then pointed at Xu Huo and the black wristband player, especially the latter. He was covered in blood, and other players had seen nobles who killed so voraciously before.
"I also have a White Wristband," Xu Huo showed his original wristband. "As for this friend, he's a good person. He killed several red wristband players. We swapped wristbands for safety. If we were truly on the nobles' side, with such an obvious advantage, why would we also prepare a White Wristband?"
"Besides, the situation is dangerous now. Instead of arguing and entangling here, it's better to think of a way to leave the sixth deck.""We can climb along the ship's outer hull to the seventh deck or down to the fifth deck."
Right now, aftershock waves were still hitting from ahead. The crowd was blocking the debris, barely managing not to be swept off the ship. Once that force was removed, they'd likely be squeezed out immediately!
Apart from the two options Xu Huo mentioned, there were no other choices. Leaving later carried higher risk. So, some players on the periphery immediately used items and characteristics to climb onto the ship's hull.
The vessel's outer wall had a certain slope. As long as the mutated giant octopus didn't directly attack the ship, clinging to the hull was safe.
But there was a problem: too many people wanted to get out first. This led to fewer people holding the line at the front. When Bai Kou's side unleashed another shockwave, most people were flung out the window!
"Whoosh!" This wasn't a cry, but the sound of air rushing past as a tentacle skimmed the ship's hull. Several players were directly cut in half at the waist, and a few others, injured, fell into the sea.
Xu Huo had an item. After exiting the sixth deck, he hooked onto the edge of the floor and, taking advantage of the momentum, flung "Hurt Others, Not Yourself" towards the black wristband player who had been hit by the tentacle.
The other man grabbed the rope and directly smashed through a glass window down to the fifth deck. Xu Huo then retrieved the item and, grabbing a piano wire, also jumped into the fifth deck.
He hadn't counted how many players were on the sixth deck, but after this wave, only a dozen or so made it down to the fifth deck.
Looking at the tentacles still swaying outside, the black wristband player felt a lingering fear and said to Xu Huo, "Thank you for earlier."
"One good turn deserves another," Xu Huo smiled slightly. Earlier, he didn't have to single-handedly deal with so many red wristband players. The other's intervention was probably also because the Mimicry Doll was there.
Regardless, he had received the other's goodwill.
"My name is Lu Yun," the black wristband player shook his hand.
"Xu Huo," Xu Huo glanced at the constantly shaking ceiling. "Right now, we need to find a way to leave."
Lu Yun shook his head. "It's very difficult."
If the ship was merely conducting a hunting game, then perhaps they could hide using some special items until the vessel returned. But now an accident had occurred. The battle between the nobles and the external players was hard to decide, and perhaps even this item ship couldn't be preserved.
"What the hell is this!" a player standing against the wall suddenly screamed, struggling to tear off two black arms wrapped around him.
Xu Huo was relatively close. He swung his sword over, and the two "arms" were severed at the root, falling to the ground but turning into ocean grass.
Lu Yun walked over to look. "They really are arms."
Although the things that fell to the ground had turned into ocean grass, the things growing on the wall surface indeed looked like human arms. The severed ends had realistic human arm patterns; bones and fascia were visible. However, what flowed out wasn't blood, but a greenish-black liquid.
Lu Yun cut a bit off with his knife. "Ocean grass."
"Ocean grass turned into human hands?" Xu Huo swept his gaze over the corridor, which had clearly become thinner, longer, and more numerous than during the day, and said gravely, "I'm afraid this thing is all over the ship."
As soon as the words left his mouth, his feet were suddenly grabbed. Looking down, it was another pair of ocean grass human hands, dragging him with formidable force. Meanwhile, the floor had softened, starting to swallow his feet like quicksand.
He chopped off the ocean grass hands, grabbed a piano wire to suspend himself in the air, maintaining distance from the ship's body while slashing his sword towards the ground.
Sure enough, the sword energy couldn't leave a single trace on the ship's body after its state had changed.
"What kind of ghostly item is this ship!" a player cursed.
"It's at least an A-grade item," Serin floated in the air, calmly dodging the ocean grass hands. "It can change time and also change form. It might be a Spacetime Item, just don't know how long its usage duration is."
"Spacetime Item." Xu Huo's gaze darkened slightly. As long as it wasn't an S-grade item, he could completely use "Three Seconds of a Life" to stop the ship's operation. Even if he couldn't completely shut down this item vessel, it would at least affect its effects.
But the problem was, what should he do afterward?
The members of the Phantom Sound Knights clearly didn't arrive here through regular train travel channels, meaning they had a method to travel between Game Partitions without needing train tickets. Bai Kou probably did too.
Judging by the earlier situation, Bai Kou likely didn't have helpers. If she couldn't achieve her goal, for self-preservation, she would definitely leave directly.
Although the two were in a cooperative relationship, at critical moments, Bai Kou might not necessarily consider him.
Therefore, the best current scenario was for Bai Kou to form a stalemate with the other high-level players on the ship, or force the vessel to return.
"I have a way to deal with this," Lu Yun said, standing on a flying device while smashing ocean grass hands. "When I boarded the ship, I brought a lot of fuel through a special channel. These ocean grasses fear flames. Once a fire starts, they won't dare come out!"
As he spoke, he headed straight for a corridor.
The others, seeking to stick together, could only follow. Xu Huo caught up to him and asked directly, "When you boarded the ship, did you have a plan for an escape method?"
Lu Yun had come prepared. Given his understanding of the ship's characteristics and the events on board, he should have done some investigation beforehand.
"Does this sea area completely isolate dungeons?"
"My originally prepared plan won't work," Lu Yun hesitated for a moment before saying. "You want to use a train ticket? This sea area has no dungeons, but according to the original course, moving forward for half an hour, you'd pass through an unstable space. There, we might be able to try our luck."
"Unfortunately, the ship has already deviated from its course now."