Chapter 36

Amid all the stunned faces, only Zhong Rui looked instantly alert and pressed on, “What’s your idea?”
Su Han’s lips quirked into a smile. She offered two words: “Set it on fire.”
Burn it? The rest blinked, caught off-guard.
She continued, “The system spelled it out: the pirates are coming in medium-sized wooden sailboats. If their ship’s armor rating drops below 50%, they retreat.”
“So, before they even get close, we torch the thing. Set it ablaze, make sure the armor value tanks below 50%, problem solved.”
An Rongyue had to concede, “It could work. At least on paper.”
“But in practice, it’s a nightmare,” Yang Shu said, pouring cold water over the plan. “How exactly do you set their boat on fire? How long would it take to even make a dent in their armor? And what if they board us before that? We’d all be dead before the thing even burns.”
Su Han replied, “There’s a bunch of cooking oil in the kitchen. If we had bows and arrows, we could wrap rags soaked in oil around the arrows, set them alight, and shoot them over. If the two boats get close enough, we could throw burning torches. And if there’s enough oil, just douse it right on their ship.”
After a moment’s thought, Yang Shu shook his head again. “If it doesn’t work, we’re done. We’d have to quit the instance. It’s too risky for me. I still say we take the lifeboats and bail.”
“Ditching the cruise ship for the small boats isn’t exactly safe either.” Zhong Rui suddenly cut in.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yang Shu blinked.
“I’ve seen sharks in the water. And other nasty, carnivorous fish.” Zhong Rui said calmly.
“Come on, you’re making that up. I haven’t seen a single thing.” Yang Shu was half-convinced, half-suspicious; he figured Zhong Rui was just trying to scare everyone to back his friend’s plan.
Zhong Rui just shrugged, unbothered. “That’s because you spent all your time hiding. Of course you didn’t notice.”
Yang Shu, “…”
He had nothing to say to that.
“Actually, I saw them too.” Zhang Yihe chimed in quietly.
Now Yang Shu was completely out of arguments.
So Su Han pressed on, “There’s seven of us here. Anyone have bows or crossbows?”
Staying to fight wouldn’t be easy; they’d need plenty of gear. If supplies weren’t enough, running might still be the best choice.
Zhang Yixiao volunteered, “The three of us are good. We all have bows and arrows, and we’ve practiced a bit.”
An Rongyue shook her head, “No bow. Don’t know how to shoot, either.”
Yang Shu shrugged helplessly. “Same here.”
“That’s fine. We’ll need help with backup jobs too.” Su Han continued, “I’ve got a slingshot. I can wrap oil-soaked rags around ammo, then launch them at the other ship. The more flammables we use, the quicker it burns, and the faster their armor rating drops.”
Last was Zhong Rui, who offered, “I’ve got both a bow and a crossbow. And, well…”
He hesitated, then added, “...I bought up a stash of high-power explosives. Ten packs. Once they go off, they really go off. Plus, they’re likely to start a fire, like what happened in the third floor study.”
The others: “……”
Yang Shu couldn’t help inching farther from Zhong Rui. No way did he want to stand next to a monster like that.
Silence fell, awkward and absolute.
Su Han cleared her throat to break the tension. “Alright, let’s settle this. Stay or go, everyone decides for themselves.”
“Majority rule?” Yang Shu muttered.
Su Han shot him a look, cool as ice. “No. Everyone picks their own path and takes responsibility for it. Doesn’t matter what you all choose, I’m staying.”
Yang Shu was completely at a loss for words.
Zhong Rui was the next to speak up: “I’m staying, too.”
Those two, one who caught her when she almost went overboard, one who traded medicine with her at the roughest moment, what choice did An Rongyue have? She sighed, eyes growing determined. “Count me in.”
The three from Moonfall Guild exchanged a few quiet words, then made their decision. “Just seven of us, best we stick together.”
Which, of course, meant they were staying, too.
Yang Shu, “……”
He wanted to leave, but being the only one to bail? Gave him the creeps just thinking about it.
Finally, Yang Shu slumped. “I’ll stay with you guys.”
“Perfect.” Su Han clapped her hands. “Time’s tight, let’s move, people!”
After that, the three from Moonfall guild took on hauling the cooking oil to the room; the other four split up to scavenge for fabric.
When only two were left, Su Han quietly asked, “You really did stash high-power explosives?”
She didn’t think her teammate was the lying type, but under pressure, people sometimes say what they have to.
Zhong Rui, as serene as ever, answered, “Sitting pretty in my inventory. Wanna see?”
Su Han laughed. “Seriously? You actually have it?”
“Dead serious. Not joking.” Zhong Rui nodded gravely. “Guns and explosives, never know when they’ll come in handy. You gotta stock up, just in case.”
Besides, if something ever happened to him, he’d make sure to take down whoever screwed him, too.
Some people you just can’t cross. Try, and it’ll only end in mutual destruction.
“Impressive.” Su Han said sincerely. To work faster, the two of them split up.
An hour later, all seven met up in Room 428.
“The first and second floors are underwater, so any fabric down there’s soaked and useless. I hit the third floor and grabbed everything, bedsheets, blankets, pillowcases, and tablecloths.” An Rongyue was first to report.
“I searched the fourth floor, everything usable’s here.” Yang Shu added.
“I scored a good stash of stuff to help the fire spread.” As she spoke, Su Han revealed an armful of books and a couple of bottles of baijiu from her scavenging run.
Zhong Rui silently produced several heavy wooden barrels. “They’re filled with diesel. Since the cruise ship’s dead in the water, I figured I’d just siphon the fuel for our own use.”
The room went utterly silent.
The players all thought: If this doesn’t burn those pirates to a crisp, I swear there’s no justice left in the world!
Yang Shu was baffled. This was supposed to be a nightmare mission, so how come, the more they prepared, the more it felt like they couldn’t possibly lose? Must just be his imagination.
“If nobody’s got any objections, let’s get started.” Su Han called out briskly.
The seven of them got to work. First, they cut the fabric into strips, about as wide as a finger, as long as an arm. Then they soaked every strip in oil. When the cloth was thoroughly drenched, they tied the oily strips to their arrows, ready to light them up and attack the moment they spotted the pirate ship.
Everything proceeded in perfect order.
Suddenly, Zhang Yihe spoke up, slow and thoughtful: “Now that I think about it, I’ve got plenty of charcoal stockpiled in my personal inventory. We could toss those when things are lit up.”
“I brought loads of cotton thread,” An Rongyue added. “Soak it in oil, tie it to the charcoal, once it’s burning, it’ll catch way faster.”
“I’ve got charcoal and solid alcohol, too.” Zhong Rui answered steadily.
Su Han sliced cloth with her dagger, cutting it to size. “Move faster, if we hurry, we’ve got time to break up the wooden chairs and plank beds in this room too, turn them into kindling.” Her tone was light, but the knife moved with ruthless efficiency.
Yang Shu: “……”
Why did he even think of running just now? Obviously, they were the scarier side here.
At 2pm, the system warning chimed: “Estimated time to direct pirate-player conflict: one hour.”
The seven sat down to rest, eating and drinking, saving up their strength for the coming fight.
By 3pm, right on schedule, the pirate ship sailed into view.
“They’re here,” Zhang Yixiao called out.
Su Han was already studying the gap between ships, calculating rapidly. As soon as the distance was perfect, close enough, not too close, she shouted, “Attack!”
The next instant, An Rongyue lit up the oil-soaked strips on their arrows, fire leaping from tip to tip.
“Thwip, thwip, thwip!” Zhang Yixiao, Zhang Yihe, the big guy, and Zhong Rui all raised their bows at once. Arrows flew, striking deck and hull, sinking deep into the pirate ship’s sides, everywhere fire sprang up, hungry and fierce.
Su Han set a book ablaze, doused it with baijiu for good measure, and hurled it over. As the flames roared higher, she lobbed it onto the enemy’s deck without hesitation.
Yang Shu grit his teeth, hauled up a barrel, and dumped diesel in a mad arc straight toward the pirate ship!
“Fire! We’re burning!” The pirate ship erupted in chaos, panicked voices shrieking, shadows dashing madly across the deck.
“Don’t let up! Faster!” Su Han snapped, voice sharp as steel. No half-measures, cripple them now, don’t leave any room for a comeback. Thankfully, it looked like the enemy had no ranged attacks; if they did, this would’ve turned ugly, fast.
Arrows rained down, sparks bursting everywhere along the old wooden deck.
Yang Shu kept dumping fuel on the blaze, determined to make the inferno truly unstoppable.
Books ran out fast, so Su Han just switched to hurling bottles of baijiu. Bottles smashed with a hard “crack,” dousing planks in pure liquor. The moment fire met high-proof spirits, it flared up like it had just taken a double shot of adrenaline.
Barely a few minutes after meeting, the pirate ship was already burning in several places, the flames growing wilder by the second.
“Anyone got a read on the hull armor? Has it dropped below 50% yet?” Zhong Rui kept shooting, one arrow after another, not daring to pause. If the pirates managed to regroup, things would get ugly quick, they were still outnumbered, after all.
“Keep shooting, I’ll check!” Su Han tossed one last bottle overboard, then fixed her gaze on the burning ship.
And there it was: “Pirate Ship, Armor Integrity: 43%.” Target achieved with flying colors.
A triumphant spark crossed Su Han’s face, she couldn’t wait to share the news, but then the pirate ship’s armor started freefalling. Drops of 1% every five or six seconds, getting faster and faster.
She blinked in surprise, then put it all together, the ship was burning, and the fire was spreading uncontrollably. Without anyone to put it out, the armor would keep draining, just like a player hit with a continuous “burn” debuff, health ticking down second by second.
Still… watching armor drop like this was way more satisfying than a little health bar. In barely a minute, it plunged from 43% to under 30%.
Zhong Rui wondered why no one was celebrating yet, then, before he could ask, saw the pirate ship’s mast come crashing down!
“Fire! Fire!” Someone tried to extinguish the flames, but a stray spark caught his clothes. No matter how he slapped at them, he couldn’t put it out, finally, with no other options, he dove into the water.
An Rongyue’s expression shifted, her voice barely more than a whisper, “He probably doesn’t know the seawater’s poisonous…”
Back during the storm, she’d accidentally swallowed a mouthful of seawater and landed with the poisoned debuff instantly. Watching the pirates leap into toxic water to douse the flames, it looked like suicide to her.