Messages of players being attacked kept popping up one after another in the world chat channel.And the monsters they encountered were all different.“There are so many red lanterns in the water. They’re all gathering toward me. Has anyone else seen these things? What the hell are they?”“Just fireflies, don’t panic!”“Damn! A dozen little fishmen have me trapped in the captain’s cabin! Come at me if you’ve got guts!”“Why’s there a person standing on the sea… right in my path?”“Got one of those abominations in my trap—it called itself a Drowned. I poked it full of holes… wai—”Yang Yi silently mourned for the man.He was most likely blown up by that “Drowned.”Every few minutes, someone else was attacked and killed.But at the same time, quite a few players managed to escape the stormy sea unharmed.As for Yang Yi’s side—Maybe because the Nightmare had set sail later and was far from the main fleet, they hadn’t run into any monsters yet.Instead, another problem was bothering him—He was out of food.Water wasn’t an issue; he had those vitality coconuts.But he needed protein and calories.“Suna, do you have any food on your ship?” he sent in a private message.“Only one liter of water,” Suna’s voice came through beside his ear.She had just finished repairing her ship and walked to the bow, holding a crystal sphere in her hands.That crystal sphere was a dynamic nautical chart, capable of displaying the conditions within a hundred nautical miles.Right now, only two ships showed on it—the Astrologer and the Nightmare—two small icons floating close together.“You can detach the map on your ship?” Yang Yi asked in surprise.“It’s just a receiver. As long as we’re not too far apart, it’s fine,” Suna explained.The chart itself was crude—it only displayed ships and large obstacles at sea.Massive floating debris appeared as small black dots, while islands showed up as large shadowed areas.By steering clear of those black marks, they could avoid being dragged into whirlpools created by drifting wreckage.And at least, with the map, they wouldn’t lose their bearings completely.Another day passed.Even an iron man like Yang Yi needed to sleep.They began taking turns at the helm, one steering while the other slept in the captain’s cabin.The nightmare haunting the Nightmare, it seemed, only troubled the captain—Suna never mentioned having any nightmares herself.During his shifts, Yang Yi kept checking the chat, hoping to buy food from someone.But he was doomed to disappointment.The storm had left most players’ supplies running dry—nobody was selling.The few lucky ones who’d made it out of the storm were selling at insane prices—and even then, stock vanished instantly.He sent private messages, only to get a reply ten minutes later:“Sold out.”Some didn’t even bother responding.Now this was what you’d call real hunger marketing—where players were quite literally being starved to death.“Can’t go on like this,” Yang Yi muttered, sitting up in the captain’s cabin as his stomach growled.Suna was steering now.The wind had reached gale force 11, strong enough that anyone on deck had to crouch slightly just to stay balanced.Their clothes never dried, always clinging damply to their bodies, reeking of salt and mildew.“I need to find something to eat soon. Once I run out of strength, it’s over.”He gulped down another vitality coconut, draining its juice and scraping out every last bit of meat.Coconuts alone couldn’t sustain him—he needed something with real substance and energy.After some thought, there was only one option left—fishing.He happened to have a fishing rod.“Suna, if this keeps up, we’ll starve. I’ll try fishing. You keep steering for now.”“Got it,” she replied crisply.Yang Yi carried his rod to the middeck and picked a decent spot to cast his line.They say, the rougher the sea, the pricier the fish.Here, it probably meant the rougher the sea, the weirder—or bigger—the fish.But he’d underestimated how hard it was to fish in a storm.The boat pitched and rolled wildly. The float was impossible to see, and not a single fish bit.An hour passed—he nearly unlocked the achievement for “using yourself as bait”—but caught nothing.After two hours, he was hungry, drenched, and on edge.Frustrated, he opened world chat.“Anyone tried fishing?”He even attached a picture of him fishing in the storm.“Fishing your sister! You’ve got time to fish? Watch out for the debris!”“Yeah, try catching a mermaid next—she’ll eat you first!”Actually, if he really hooked a siren, it wasn’t clear who’d eat whom.Among the chatter, one reply stood out—a seasoned fisherman’s advice:“With waves like that, the fish are deep. Your float’s useless.Ditch the float, lengthen your line, tie a weight to it, and drop bait deep.”Yang Yi’s /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ eyes lit up.He adjusted his line, cut off the float, and tied a small stone to the hook.Bait didn’t even matter much in this world.After half an hour, the reel suddenly spun like mad.Yang Yi yanked hard—and nearly got pulled overboard by the sheer force.He managed to brace his foot against the railing just in time.Then, nothing. The line went still.“What… did the line snap?”He leaned over the edge—and froze.From the depths, a faint red glow was rising, like a floating lantern, growing larger as it neared.“What the hell…?”Yang Yi instantly drew his flintlock.A second later, a shark burst from the waves, jaws wide open, lunging straight at him.It was a hammerhead shark, over a meter long—its body slick and crimson, shaped like a living torpedo.Its flat, shovel-shaped head bore two bulging eyes, glowing blood-red in the dark.And stranger still—it had two muscular hind legs, knotted and frog-like.【This fish isn’t right. Your sanity drops by 5.】The shark crashed down, snapping its jaws toward him.But Yang Yi was ready. He dropped flat, rolled aside, and fired.Bang!Flame flashed—the shot tore the shark clean in half.Even so, the upper half still writhed, trying to bite.Yang Yi grabbed the Sea Serpent’s Fang, lunged forward, and pinned it down—Squelch! Squelch!Two quick stabs, and the creature went still.【Name: Demon Hammerhead Shark】【Type: Food】【Description: A hammerhead shark corrupted by the Abyss. Cruel and bloodthirsty. Its flesh is edible or can be used in gacha crafting (consuming it removes the crafting option; you can only choose one).Warning: This species hunts in packs. If you’ve found one… the rest are already on their way.】As he finished reading, Yang Yi’s pupils shrank.Out at sea, one by one, red “lanterns” flickered to life—more and more of them, closing in on the Nightmare.They showed no mourning for their fallen kin.Their fins sliced through the water, converging fast—at least a hundred of them.“Suna, we’ve got trouble!”Yang Yi sprinted for the bow.She’d already noticed something was off, abandoned the helm, and ran to meet him.Another demon shark vaulted onto the deck.They could move on land—awkwardly, like frogs, but they could jump one or two meters at a time.And there were too many of them to fight head-on.Yang Yi eyed the swarm—and suddenly, an idea struck him.

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