Chapter 30

Room 106. Ding Yikai was about to lose his mind. He slammed out, “It’s already day three, why the hell haven’t we seen Gu Siyuan yet?!”
Wei Zhong’s face was grim. He spat out his answer, heavy as stone: “It’s not looking good.”
Ding Yikai was on the edge, growling, “Out of the three of us, he’s the only one with a personal inventory! Most of our supplies were on him! How can he just vanish into thin air?!”
Wei Zhong looked terrible. He pressed his lips together, forcing himself to stay calm. “Why are you yelling at me? I’m just as anxious as you. I’m thinking, aren’t I?”
“Thinking, my ass! We’re doomed!” Ding Yikai’s nerves were shot. “No drinkable water, no essential supplies, how the hell are we supposed to last 'til day ten? We’re toast!”
Their plan had been simple: most people on the cruise would be poisoned, leaving them to do a little easy cleanup.
But reality bit back: far fewer players drank the contaminated water or caught debuffs than they’d expected. Plenty of sharp eyes caught the signs, and some even used the chaos to loot for themselves.
By the time they realized solo acts wouldn’t cut it, Gu Siyuan had already disappeared.
So much for their perfect scheme. Instead, their hard-won supplies were now in the hands of the so-called Moonlight Guild. And now, thanks to the shortage, they were staring down elimination themselves.
This must be what they call shooting yourself in the foot.
The more Ding Yikai thought about it, the angrier he got. He was fuming inside, so pissed he just wanted to punch somebody.
Wei Zhong took a steadying breath and gave a cold rundown: “After we lost contact with Gu Siyuan, didn’t we rob a few people? We still have Sprite, Fanta, decent drinks, and as for food, there’s jerky and milk snacks. It’s not as dire as you think. Calm down.”
Ding Yikai sneered, “What about daily supplies? What’s your plan for those?”
A hard light flashed in Wei Zhong’s eyes. “We pick an easy target and go for a sneak attack. If that fails, we use force. Simple as that.” He jerked his chin up as if already scoping out the ceiling, the intent obvious.
Ding Yikai’s face darkened. He warned, “Thinking of going after the guild? Don’t forget, they’ve got over twenty people.”
Wei Zhong’s lips curled in a disdainful smile. “Only twenty? My poison could wipe out hundreds in one shot. The only thing we’re missing is a chance.”
Ding Yikai finally relaxed a little at that.
At exactly 9:00, the system’s robotic voice announced, “Day 3 of the game.”
Su Han received four bottles of milk, one piece of black bread, one meat floss cream bun, and one chocolate cake. She couldn’t help but feel blessed, life without having to worry about food was truly sweet.
Meanwhile, Cai Sheng looked like he was about to turn purple.
His 1% innate skill rate had actually triggered! He hit the jackpot, a glass-green imperial jadeite the size of a volleyball!
Heart pounding, Cai Sheng clutched his chest. From what he knew, that piece was the real deal, beautiful color, top quality. It had to be worth at least a few million Bei, maybe even tens of millions if sold right.
But he’d already promised Zhong Rui to hand over all gemstones he found this round. Worse, he didn’t have a personal inventory, or anywhere to hide the jadeite...
He shut his eyes in bitter agony. Giving up this jade felt about as painful as giving away the love of his life.
After gnashing his teeth, mourning, and silently cursing his fate, he finally squeezed his eyes shut and handed over the jade.
“A precious-grade gemstone?” Zhong Rui looked genuinely surprised, but didn’t hesitate in the least to take it, tossing it into his inventory like it was nothing.
But after a moment, he actually took pity and said, “Since you coughed up a precious-grade gem, you can keep the rest of your payment. We’ll call it even.”
Cai Sheng finally felt his pain was at least a little bit worth it.
“How about fishing?” Zhong Rui invited his crew.
But Su Han just shook her head politely. “Still haven’t finished yesterday’s catch. I’m planning to hole up in the room for a couple days.”
“Alright then.” Zhong Rui shrugged and headed out with Cai Sheng in tow.
At this hour, the deck was bustling.
Players who’d just been watching from the sidelines decided to join once they saw there weren’t any big fights breaking out. People fished, hunted, or just milled around. Everyone minded their own business.
Cai Sheng took one look around and realized the deck was way more crowded than yesterday.
Some players were even hawking goods by setting up stalls.
“Toothpaste, toothbrush, perfume! Looking to trade for meds or ready-to-eat food.”
“Military-grade knife, insanely sharp! Only trading for medicine.”
“Bottled mineral water! Will swap for food, daily supplies, or meds.”
The instant the third person started shouting, a hush fell over the crowd.
Someone couldn’t hold back and muttered, “Who even dares drink someone else’s mineral water these days? I sure wouldn’t risk it.”
The booth owner, a young woman, snapped right back, all icy sarcasm: “If I had poison, why bother with the water? I could put it in the food and you’d never know.”
That shut most people up. Their faces changed quick, clearly rethinking the whole idea of bartering.
The stallkeeper didn’t miss a beat. “If you want to trade, I’ll drink straight from the bottle in front of you. See? No tricks.”
The player who first spoke up just chuckled, then said with a blank face, “Suit yourself. Keep your water.”
The girl running the stall didn’t seem to mind. “Once the fresh water runs low, even the stubborn types will have to toughen up and try it. I can wait.”
After all, water is the source of life. You can’t survive without it.
The longer Zhong Rui listened, the more familiar the voice seemed. He glanced over, and sure enough, he recognized her. Just yesterday, this stall girl had traded him two bulletproof vests for a pile of medicine.
Cai Sheng whispered, “She’s swapping bottled water for food, daily necessities, and meds… Think she stockpiled a ton of drinking water before this?”
“Who knows?” Zhong Rui was totally uninterested, and went right back to fishing.
“Huff, huff, ” Heavy breaths echoed down the corridor, mixed with the sound of frantic footsteps. One person was running flat-out, sprinting for their life without looking back.
Not far behind, two men gave chase. One taunted, “Nobody’s coming to your rescue. Stop struggling. Be smart, hand over your supplies.”
The speaker was unmistakably Ding Yikai, with Wei Zhong at his side.
Clearly, the two had picked their target and were closing in on their prey.
“Hurry it up,” Wei Zhong said coldly, picking up the pace.
What, does he think I’m his lackey? Ding Yikai was annoyed, but didn’t let it show. He broke into a jog and kept up.
The one being chased ran desperately, blundering straight into the study. When he realized it only had one door, his heart about froze, no way out.
“Who are you?” came a lazy voice from inside.
“Name’s Tian Zhe.” The man sounded like he’d already given up. “You?”
The other shrugged, blunt and direct. “Not like it matters. I’m nearly dead anyway.”
Tian Zhe: “……”
Only then did he spot the youth leaning against the bookshelf, stamina down to a measly 9%. “On his last legs” pretty much described the situation.
He’d actually hoped for backup. That hope died fast as Tian Zhe covered his face, looking more defeated than ever.
“If you took a wrong turn, just go. I’d really appreciate some peace and quiet at the end.” There was a weird sincerity in the young man’s words.
Tian Zhe was about ready to scream. He wanted to leave the study to the youth, sure, but he couldn’t get away!
Right then, Ding Yikai and Wei Zhong caught up.
“Quit wasting everyone’s time and stamina. Hand over your supplies, now.” Ding Yikai snapped.
Tian Zhe gritted his teeth, making up his mind to fight, if he was going down, maybe he could take someone with him.
The young man’s eyes darkened. Suddenly, he asked, “Ding Yikai?”
Ding Yikai faltered for a second. He gave the youth a once-over, but couldn’t place him. “Do I know you?”
“The bottled water on the cruise was poisoned. Anyone who drank it’s been affected.” The young man’s tone was icy, each word deliberate. “But hey, that’s what you get for being greedy, isn’t it?”
A chill ran through Ding Yikai. Those were his exact words, once upon a time!
The youth’s laugh was bitter cold. “Thanks to you, all my teammates were eliminated. I’m barely alive myself, one foot out the door.”
“What’s there to be afraid of?” Wei Zhong said blankly. “He’s already on death’s door. Nothing to worry about.”
Ding Yikai felt an odd twinge of guilt, but recovered instantly. “Exactly.”
“You two poisoned the water?!” Tian Zhe was shocked speechless.
“That’s right,” Wei Zhong said, sounding almost regretful. “Shame our plan ran into a few… hiccups.”
“Go to hell!” Tian Zhe whipped out a handheld crossbow and fired at both of them.
The bolt slashed Ding Yikai’s right arm, sending blood gushing out.
“Tch, what a pain.” In a two-on-one like this, it was just a dying struggle. Ding Yikai couldn’t even be bothered to bandage the wound, he just drew his dagger and charged Tian Zhe.
Wei Zhong pulled out a pouch of powder.
Toxic Dust: On use, -10 stamina; small chance to blind target for one minute.
He grabbed a handful and hurled it in Tian Zhe’s face without hesitation.
“Ugh!” Tian Zhe couldn’t dodge in time, taking the full blast. His eyes burned so badly he couldn’t open them.
Ding Yikai took the chance to give him a brutal kick, sending Tian Zhe flying.
The blow landed square in his gut, Tian Zhe’s hand slipped, and the crossbow tumbled away.
The youth calmly picked up the crossbow and took aim. The bolt flew straight at Wei Zhong.
Wei Zhong couldn’t dodge in time, the arrow struck his shoulder and blood gushed out. Not that he cared much. “Still fighting when you know you can’t win? Is it comforting, somehow, to make it difficult for us?”
The youth suddenly grinned, lips curled in mocking amusement. “Can’t win, huh?” he murmured.
Wei Zhong felt a prickle of dread.
Right then, the youth pulled a bundle from under his shirt, five sticks of high-explosive dynamite.
High-Explosive Dynamite: On use, does indiscriminate damage to all creatures within five meters, -40 stamina each.
One stick is -40 stamina. Five sticks, that’s -200. Just in case his opponents had cleared prior instances for bonus stats, the youth had whittled down their health first, then brought out the dynamite for good measure.
Dynamite was also a limited-edition good. But unlike a Desert Eagle, only 50 sticks were available at each sale. And it didn’t discriminate, enemy or owner, anyone in range got blasted.
He’d stashed a few sticks for his “If I go, you’re coming with me” strategy, never thought he’d actually use them.
“Crazy bastard!” Wei Zhong didn’t waste time warning his buddy, he just bolted for it.
The youth only smiled wider, voice soft and triumphant. “You think I’ll give you a chance to run? Too late for that.”
He barely finished speaking before the dynamite exploded with a deafening blast!
The bookshelf shattered, the study caught fire, and all four inside were consumed by blinding white light, gone, as though they’d vanished into thin air.
Disaster strikes when you least expect it.
Su Han was peacefully sipping milk in her room when, bam! The ceiling collapsed! Fire and searing heat came pouring in, and her skin stung with pain.
She didn’t have time to look, just flung the door open and dashed out, sprinting clear of danger.
It wasn’t until she reached the deck and was sure she was out of harm’s way that Su Han noticed: despite wearing a protective vest, her stamina had still dropped by 54 points, and she’d gotten stuck with the “Burned” debuff.
Su Han was speechless. Seriously? What even was this mess?