Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 29: The Endless Sea

“Ding—”

The four had just recognized they were at sea, and before they could think of anything else, a new hint was updated in the [Cheat Sheet].

[Welcome to The Endless Sea. Please choose a route. East Treasure Beach/West Treasure Beach/South Flying Island/North Flying Island.]

“Are we starting the challenge already?” Qian Ai looked at the options on his arm, confused. “Are we supposed to sail to the coordinate point?”

Kuang Jinxin glanced at the stern inadvertently and made a new discovery. “Captain, the spyglass!”

Ever since Xu Wang was elected, Kuang Jinxin had been very respectful, updating his address to him, almost like a caring little jacket. If it weren’t for the long journey and tight finances, Xu Wang would have liked to give him a red envelope as a fee for changing the form of address.

It was a single-tube brass spyglass, consistent with the style of the entire sailing ship, looking as if it were straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Although the sea was calm, there were still some fine waves gently rocking the ship. This instability was manageable when sitting or standing but became quite apparent when walking on the deck, unless one was used to being on a ship.

All four went to the stern of the ship, and Wu Sheng, who walked the steadiest, naturally arrived first and became the first person to look into the distance.

Xu Wang, Kuang Jinxin, and Qian Ai were a step behind, shading their eyes from the sun and looking out.

Surprisingly, even with naked eyes, they could see some masts and sails of distant ships, albeit a bit blurry. The silhouettes suggested they were similar to their own ship, scattered across the sea surface…

Were there others?

Xu Wang shuddered and eagerly asked Advisor Wu, who had the clearest view, “What do you see?”

“Lighthouses,” Wu Sheng said.

“Lighthouses?” Xu Wang blinked hard and looked again. Indeed, they were ships. Where were these lighthouses?

“One in the east, south, and west.” Wu Sheng rotated the single-tube spyglass, panning it across 180 degrees without stopping, then continued turning it towards the front of the ship, which was behind the four of them. “And another one in the north.”

“Are they far?” Xu Wang asked.

“Very far,” Wu Sheng replied.

“Can you adjust the focus to see closer?” Xu Wang probably knew where the discrepancy in their observations lay.

Wu Sheng rarely obeyed, probably feeling it was safer to scan both near and far. He quickly adjusted the spyglass to bring the view closer.

What was called “near” had already been a difficult distance for the naked eye, but through the spyglass, it became crystal clear.

“There are others,” Wu Sheng reported straightforwardly.

Xu Wang, already prepared, nodded his head and looked at the faint white sails, feeling as if drums of war were beating on them.

Competitors were enemies.

Long Legs, Handsome, Stick Figure, and Fair Face made them realize this.

“No way. So many people in this round?” Qian Ai had finally seen the few small white dots with the reminder of his teammates. He couldn’t tell whether they were five, six, seventy, or ninety. They were scattered too far, in all directions, bobbing up and down with the waves, appearing and disappearing. Regardless of the exact number, assuming one boat represented one team, and if these teams hadn’t yet submitted their papers, the intense competition that lay ahead was imaginable.

Kuang Jinxin moved closer to Wu Sheng, holding onto the last shred of hope. “Can you see the people on the boat clearly? Could they be NPCs?”

He really disliked fighting, not at all. Why couldn’t everyone just sit down, drink tea, and chat together?

Wu Sheng didn’t answer whether they were NPCs or not. He had been operating the spyglass in one direction for a while. Finally, he took his eye off and looked at his teammates. “Who will help me confirm something?”

The three teammates were puzzled. “Huh?”

“I saw Long Legs, Handsome, Stick Figure, and Fair Face,” Wu Sheng said. “I don’t want to admit my eyes are bad, but I’m even less willing to accept this reality.”

Captain Xu bravely stepped forward to take over the lookout task. Without using the spyglass, he could see clearly with his eyes. “Damn, it’s really them.”

“They’re supposed to be in the first round, right?” Qian Ai pushed the captain aside, personally taking over the identification, and soon recognized the harsh reality.

After all three teammates finished identifying, Kuang Jinxin didn’t bother trying himself, just feeling puzzled. “Even if they passed the first level yesterday, they should be back in the second level today. How come they’re here in the third?”

“Unless…” Wu Sheng gazed thoughtfully at the vast sea. “This isn’t the third level.”

Suddenly, the waves surged, and the sailboat tossed. Initially, they could still stand, but soon they had to cling to the railing to stabilize themselves.

“They’re heading that way!” Qian Ai was holding onto the railing with one hand and the spyglass with the other, bracing the spyglass with his knees for stability. His eye was still diligently spying on the “enemy situation”.

“Which way?” Wu Sheng quickly asked.

Qian Ai, not a strategist, couldn’t differentiate between north, south, east, and west and could only gesture with his arm holding the spyglass, swinging it around. “That way—”

Which way is that?

Xu Wang and Kuang Jinxin were bewildered by this answer, but luckily, they had a human compass.

“East.” Wu Sheng quickly determined the direction, glanced at his arm, still scrolling the line [Please select a route.] and had an understanding. “They’ve chosen East Treasure Beach.”

Why, timewise, Long Legs, Handsome, Stick Figure, and Fair Face, who absolutely couldn’t have passed the second level, could appear here and have the right to choose a route just like them?

Xu Wang couldn’t think of an answer but had already made a decision. “We’ll go there too.”

“Uh.” Qian Ai released the spyglass, turning back with a rare hint of compassion. “But targeting the same sheep for its wool isn’t very ethical, is it?”

According to the “Owl’s” nature, on the same route, there would definitely be competition. They had already roughed up Long Legs, Handsome, Stick Figure, and Fair Face once, and to continue pursuing them to bully in a different place was a bit like bullying the weak.

Xu Wang felt conflicted, as unilaterally defining the opponent as a “fat sheep” would only incite more hatred.

Stepping forward to take the spyglass, he continued to track Long Legs, Handsome, Stick Figure, and Fair Face’s ship. “They have more experience than us. Choosing the east must have its reasons. We can follow suit and won’t suffer any big losses.”

As they spoke, the waves grew larger. The deck was completely wet, and everyone’s shoes were soaked through.

What is that?

Xu Wang was about to end his watch when he suddenly saw smaller black dots floating in the open water between the ships. Upon closer inspection, they were floating balls.

Each ball was about a meter in diameter, completely transparent, with a person sitting inside each one, looking like numerous capsule toys floating in the waves.

In the increasingly high waves, these floating balls were hardly noticeable, mostly swallowed by the waves. If not for just now, one had been tossed up by a wave, quickly falling back down, tracing an arc in their field of view, he wouldn’t have noticed them at all.

What kind of operation is this? Can they fight individually?

Xu Wang was puzzled when suddenly, Wu Sheng’s calm voice came from behind. “Quick, look up at the heavens.”

Reflexively looking up, Xu Wang then realized he had complied with such an absurd invitation.

But in an instant, he felt ashamed of his ignorance.

A flying carpet.

A bohemian-patterned flying carpet, carrying four men about ten meters above the sea, was flying northward. All the surging waves had nothing to do with them. They were playing cards, seemingly playing a four-player game of Fight the Landlord by the way they formed words with their mouths.

“That’s fucking possible?!” Qian Ai howled—out the envy, jealousy, and hatred of the four people on the carpet.

How come their items were so targeted? Compared to their own: Death Stare, Hot Wheels, Mr. Thirteen, Cloak of Invisibility… none of which seem capable of navigating water!

Feeling sour like the fox under the grapevine*, a huge shadow suddenly appeared under the sea surface beneath the flying carpet.

*Referencing the Aesop fable The Fox and the Grapes.

A surging undercurrent came from the shadow, causing even their ship, at a certain distance, to shake violently!

A creature, neither fish nor beast, broke through the water, leaping towards the flying carpet!

Its body was several times larger than a whale, fish-like but covered in crocodile-like skin and bony plates, with a crocodilian head but a mouth full of piranha-like sharp teeth!

Without giving those on the flying carpet any chance to react, the creature’s jaws snapped shut, easily swallowing everything, including the people and the carpet, in one gulp. It performed a beautiful tail flick in the air before plunging back into the sea.

The waves rolled violently, like boiling water.

The four spectators clung to the railing, holding their breaths, unable to react for a moment.

“Just like that… are they dead?” Everything happened so fast that Qian Ai couldn’t recover.

“They probably got bounced back to reality… Probably.” Xu Wang couldn’t be certain either, only guessing based on his own experiences of being pounced on by the bear.

Wu Sheng took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, his mood heavy and complicated. “It’s still best to keep a low profile.”

In the completely surging waves, the ship began to tilt.

Initially, the four companions thought it was normal tossing until they realized the tilting direction was consistent and their bodies were increasingly leaning back. They realized something was wrong and turned around one after another to look back.

Then, they understood what it meant to laugh at others while in the same situation*.

*Fifty steps to laugh at a hundred steps (五十步笑百步) Idiom derive from a fable referring to someone having the same shortcomings as others, but to a lesser degree, but still laughing at them.

A huge tentacle stretched out from the waves and had already latched onto the railing on one side!

The tentacle was flesh-colored, like a giant octopus, covered with numerous large and small suckers. The ship was gradually tilting towards the side where the tentacle had hooked!

“What do we do?” Qian Ai instantly broke out in cold sweat.

Xu Wang and Wu Sheng exchanged glances, then suddenly, as if struck by inspiration, both ran towards the cabin!

Qian Ai didn’t wait for an answer but saw the two running away, almost going crazy. “You two can’t be serious—”

Despite his howl, he also ran.

Kuang Jinxin, not understanding why, followed the crowd into the cabin, but as the last one to start, by the time he reached the cabin entrance, the three companions had already come out with weapons.

Originally, Xu Wang and Wu Sheng weren’t looking for a place to hide but rather for suitable “weapons”—since there was a spyglass on the deck, perhaps there were other useful items in the cabin. They hadn’t explored the cabin since landing on the ship.

Why not use stationery?

The lesson of the flying carpet was too severe; who knows if using stationery on this sea is a taboo that leads to certain death.

Indeed, there were “equipment” in the cabin, but—

Ax.

Spear.

Bow and arrows.

Is this the fucking era of cold weapons!

“Where’s mine?” Kuang Jinxin, boiling with hot blood, found that his teammate had only brought three weapons out.

“There’s none left.” Qian Ai, holding a bow with arrows under his arm, strained to pull the bowstring. Releasing it, the string snapped back at his hand, almost causing unbearable pain. “Use this.” He decisively offered the bow to his teammate without hesitation.

Kuang Jinxin, who watched the whole process, felt immense pressure.

“Xiao Kuang.” Xu Wang, holding an ax, hurried towards the tentacles while instructing without looking back, “You keep watch. Report immediately for any movement, be it monsters or other ships!”

“Got it!” The ship tilted beyond 45°, and Kuang Jinxin, holding onto the railing, quickly moved to the stern, combining his naked eye with the spyglass.

Qian Ai, failing to switch duties, reluctantly went to meet the captain.

Xu Wang swung the ax at a tentacle, but the first strike slid off. The tentacle was covered in water and mucus!

Wu Sheng arrived with a spear and thrust it straight in, then turned to Xu Wang. “Again!”

Xu Wang raised the ax high and brought it down forcefully!

Bang—

The ax blade embedded deeply into the wooden railing snapping off the tentacle, leaving about half a meter on the deck, which bounced a few times before sliding into the sea with the tilt.

The injured tentacle quickly left the railing, disappearing into the water.

The ship didn’t right itself, as the waves were getting higher and higher. The force of the rough sea was far greater than that of the tentacle, as if it could capsize the ship at any moment!

Another tentacle stretched up.

No, five!

Five tentacles hooked onto one side of the railing, from bow to stern, as if tied with a tow rope!

Xu Wang wanted to continue chopping, but as he raised the ax, the ship suddenly tipped forward!

Except for Kuang Jinxin at the stern, who clung to the railing unmoved, the three in battle lost their balance and lurched towards the tentacles!

Wu Sheng and Qian Ai reacted quickly, grabbing the railing in time. Xu Wang, holding the ax, couldn’t react in time and crashed heavily into the railing. However, the inertia didn’t stop, and he flipped over the railing and into the sea!

The cold sea water instantly submerged Xu Wang’s eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

There was no distinction between reality and illusion; in an instant, he thought of one word: death.

It was the innate fear of the deep sea in humans.

Xu Wang held his breath and struggled upwards. Just below the surface, a wave hit him, pinning him firmly under the water, unable to surface! Struggling desperately, his fingers suddenly touched something. Straining his eyes open in the salty seawater, he saw a spear shaft.

Xu Wang grabbed the spear shaft tightly, as if it had a sensor on it. As soon as he gripped it, the spear pulled up forcefully, quickly lifting him to the surface!

Once at the surface, he saw Wu Sheng hanging outside the ship on a rope ladder, one hand gripping the ladder and the other pulling him up with the spear.

Seeing his head emerge and taking deep breaths, Wu Sheng sighed in relief and pulled him closer.

Xu Wang finally returned to the ship’s side, struggling in the turbulent waves to grab the end of the rope ladder and climb back onto the deck with Wu Sheng’s help.

Reborn, Xu Wang knew he owed Wu Sheng a lot, but all he could muster was a dry, “Thank you.”

Wu Sheng was holding the spear against the deck like a mighty general from the Yang Family*. “Next time, we’ll tie a rope on you.”

*A collection of Chinese folklore, plays and novels on a military family from the earlier years of imperial China’s Song Dynasty. The stories recount the unflinching loyalty and the remarkable bravery of the Yangs as they sacrificed themselves to defend their country from foreign military powers.

Xu Wang gritted his teeth but had to accept his indebtedness.

Looking down, he noticed something new. “Eh? Why isn’t it tilting anymore?”

The ship had somehow regained its balance, still bobbing but far more stable than the one-sided tipping before.

“Lao Qian really couldn’t get the hang of the bow and arrow, so he changed tactics.” Wu Sheng gestured towards the bow.

Xu Wang looked up and didn’t see Qian Ai but saw a “human fireball” clinging to the railing, smacking and pounding the remaining tentacle.

The flames around him were over three meters tall, engulfing Qian Ai’s body, or rather, the flames seemed to burst from his body like a “fire coat”, burning intensely. Even standing where Xu Wang and Wu Sheng were, they could still feel the heat hitting their faces.

The fire illuminated the bow, charred the railing, and burned the tentacle.

“Still acting tough? Ah? If I don’t turn you into grilled squid, I wouldn’t live up to my ID Lao Qian Eats All Over China*!”

*[Shen Zhou] (神州) It’s a poetic name for China.

Xu Wang swallowed hard, hesitated for a long while, and didn’t dare to approach, fearing being scorched by his frenzied teammate.

“[Invincible Hot Wheels]?” That was the only fire-related thing he could think of.

“Uh-huh.” Wu Sheng affirmed.

“Can we use stationery?”

“So far, no issues have been found. The flying carpet earlier might just have been an unfortunate accident.”

“Were those tentacles burned away by him?”

“Charred.”

Xu Wang suddenly realized, no wonder after returning to the deck, he always smelled a barbecue aroma.

The last tentacle, using all its might, finally escaped the “clutches” and pitifully retreated back into the sea.

The waves were still large—obviously, the sea floor wasn’t truly calm—but a whiff of burnt smell diluted the tension pervasive in the sea breeze.

The flames of the “human fireball” gradually weakened and finally disappeared, revealing Qian Ai’s face, charred red.

The scorch marks on the railing were all his medals.

“Impressive.” Xu Wang gave him a thumbs up.

Qian Ai returned to his comrades, nodding slightly and giving off a hint of hidden achievements and fame.

Xu Wang patted his shoulder. “Don’t hold it in.”

Qian Ai slightly shook his head. “I thought [Invincible Hot Wheels] would conjure up a cool-looking vehicle that I could ride under my feet and hit people with…”

Xu Wang sighed. “I understand.”

Qian Ai’s dignified expression instantly collapsed. “Why did I turn into a fire wheel! It’s not cool at all, and it’s so hot!”

While Classmate Qian was questioning fate, a warning from Kuang Jinxin at the stern echoed. “Captain, there’s a ship!”

Xu Wang and Wu Sheng were startled, immediately running towards the stern, with Qian Ai, still warm, following a beat behind.

Kuang Jinxin didn’t use the spyglass and was simply staring ahead, not even raising his hand to point out the direction to his teammates, because that ship had already come close to them.

The two ships were no more than ten meters apart, bobbing with the same wave.

The people on the other ship also saw them, eyes meeting, both sides wary.

It didn’t seem like they were heading towards them—just that, coincidentally, the two ships bobbed together.

Suddenly, a charred tentacle tip slowly hooked onto the railing of the opposite sailing ship.

The sea monster that suffered a loss here had found a new target!

Kuang Jinxin quickly shouted, “Watch your back!”

The three people on the opposite deck were startled, reflexively turned back, and quickly saw the tentacle on the railing.

Paying no more heed, the three quickly ran to the cabin and soon came out with an ax and spear.

The same ship, the same weapons.

So, where’s the bow and arrow?

Xu Wang, harboring doubts, noticed not only the absence of a bow and arrow on the opposite side but also one less person. He looked around and finally found the fourth person atop the mast.

That person sat at the top of the mast. They were too high, so he couldn’t see their face clearly—only a slender and well-proportioned body outline could be seen. They were wearing a jacket that was quite nice-looking.

Just like what they had encountered, the other ship also began to tilt under the tentacle’s force.

The one holding the ax among the three was also the main fighter but was less lucky than Xu Wang, hacking twice without really hitting.

The one with the spear jabbed for a long time without really helping. The unarmed one got directly angry, looked up at the mast, and shouted, “Chi Yingxue, fucking get down here and help—”

“Don’t struggle in vain,” the person on the mast said in a leisurely and mockingly cool voice. “With you three’s poor fighting ability, falling into the sea is inevitable. Why waste your energy.”

“What do you mean, ‘you three’!” The shouting person got angry, wishing he had wings to fly up and fight with the one surnamed Chi. “Aren’t you part of the fucking team?!”

The person on the mast pondered for a moment. “In terms of appearance, not really.”

“Fuck!” The one below exploded in rage but could do nothing but curse to the sky. “Recruiting you was really a blunder of my eyesight—”

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