Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

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

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Chapter 30: Floating Ball

The scolder on the deck didn’t have much time for “internal strife”. After his cursing, he immediately threw himself back into the battle with the tentacles, not giving another glance to the troublesome one above.

However, the one atop the mast suddenly stood up, grabbing a bow with one hand and slowly drawing an arrow from the quiver at their waist.

Qian Ai widened his eyes in disbelief. “Damn, you can’t be serious…”

Drawing the bow and shooting the arrow was done in one fluid motion, like flowing clouds and water.

An arrow carrying the wind, with the momentum of breaking bamboo, rushed towards the side of the railing that their three teammates had their backs to, firmly embedding itself into the tentacle that had latched on at some unknown time. The arrowhead sunk deeply, and the pale flesh-colored tentacle trembled with it.

Xu Wang and the others were facing this side, watching clearly.

Qian Ai was dumbfounded. The same arrow, in his hands, was no better than a child’s slingshot. At least a child wouldn’t be hurt by the rubber band. But in the hands of another, it became a real weapon, and what’s more, it was so fucking cool. The drawing and releasing of the arrow had an explosive style, elegant as an immortal!

The person on the mast didn’t even look their way, continuing to draw the bow with movements neither rushed nor tense, stretching as leisurely as if practicing in an archery range.

The second arrow sliced through the wind, entering the tentacle. Then the third and the fourth.

The tentacle was like a living target turning into a porcupine by the continuous arrows. When the sixth arrow hit, the tentacle finally retreated, embarrassingly pulling back into the sea with its “spikes”.

All this happened behind the three teammates, who were completely unaware.

Xu Wang was anxious for them, wishing he could turn their heads back himself. For disagreeable teammates, it’s not enough to just listen; one must observe their actions. If he only just listened to Wu Sheng’s words, he might have disbanded the team ten times over!

However, those three teammates couldn’t hear Xu Wang’s inner screams. They continued to battle another tentacle on the other side, and under their “persistent efforts”, that side’s tentacle count had risen to five.

The term “utterly useless” was indeed unkind, but now it seemed like a fact.

Though these three were not good at fighting, their tongues were sharp. What to do when three against one still can’t overcome a tentacle? Curse, of course.

Amidst the noisy waves, their curses were heard.

“What the hell is this thing—”

“I’m so damn done with this hellhole—”

“Fuck, I told you not to use up all the stationery. Now we have nothing left—”

Xu Wang sighed. After cursing the sea monster, they cursed the Owl, and after the Owl, they turned their anger on their teammates. This operation was quite something.

Comparison brings out the contrast. He now felt that teammates like Wu Sheng, Qian Ai, and Kuang Jinxin were like angels.

There should still be arrows in the quiver, but the person on the mast suddenly sat down again.

Xu Wang didn’t know whether that person decided that only this side of the railing was their responsibility, or if they saw the increasing tentacles on the other side and felt that a few more arrows wouldn’t make a difference—it was simply a drop in the bucket.

Anyway, that person sat back down, bending one leg in a relaxed and leisurely posture.

Xu Wang really wanted to see his expression now. He turned to look for the spyglass but found he wasn’t the only one curious—Kuang Jinxin was already peering through the lens upward.

“What’s going on?” Xu Wang saw his eyes widening and couldn’t help asking curiously.

“So beautiful…” Kuang Jinxin sighed sincerely.

Xu Wang was confused by this completely off-topic answer, doubting whether he and Kuang Jinxin were on the same wavelength. “What are you looking at?”

“That archer above.” Kuang Jinxin casually gave the other “professional” a name he thought was cool, then urged Xu Wang impatiently. “Captain, take a look. Really, he’s as beautiful as a painting!”

Xu Wang reluctantly attached his eye to the telescope. He had thought the man might have used some remarkable stationery, but a man’s beauty? Even if he were handsome, he could only be as good-looking as Wu Sheng…

He regretted. This was the second time today he felt ashamed of his ignorance.

Xu Wang didn’t know how to describe someone’s facial features and eyebrows. He only knew that the appearance of that person atop the mast transcended worldly beauty. Words like “handsome” and “beautiful” seemed pale in comparison to that face. Kuang Jinxin said “like a painting”, and he was right. His facial features were as exquisite as a painting—otherworldly.

It stands to reason that men who are too beautiful often seem effeminate, but that man didn’t. His beauty was precisely measured—a perfect balance between rugged and delicate. His skin was very fair, and a mole near his eye added a classical charm, making him seem like a nobleman enjoying the unfolding clouds, even as he indifferently watched his three teammates busy below. You would still think he was a scholarly gentleman, admiring the unfolding scenery.

Chi Yingxue. Xu Wang repeated the name in his mind, feeling envious. A well-chosen name meant one needn’t worry about their appearance. Like a clear pond reflecting spring snow, a branch of pear blossoms askew*.

*Clarity: His name broken down means pond/pool [Chi] (池), reflecting [Ying] (映), snow [Xue] (雪).

With his curiosity satisfied, Xu Wang released the spyglass. Kuang Jinxin, as if not yet done looking, pressed back to it. But just as he started, he suddenly jolted. “Captain, he smiled at me!”

Xu Wang looked up again, unable to see the expression on the mast clearly, but he could see the gesture. The man had somehow turned to look their way, clearly noticing their spying. Whether he smiled or not, Xu Wang couldn’t tell, but he clearly saw the man lift his arm, giving a faint wave in greeting to him and Kuang Jinxin.

With his teammates on the brink of annihilation, did he really have the leisure to say hi to the onlookers?

Xu Wang was speechless as the ship, already heavily tilted from the sea monster’s tugging, capsized completely in a sudden, large wave. It all happened in the blink of an eye; the people on the ship didn’t even have time to call for help before the ship overturned on the sea surface. The mast, cabin, and deck were all gone, leaving only the bottom of the boat, lonely, floating on the sea.

Soon, even the bottom of the boat disappeared—the monster dragged the entire ship into the depths of the sea.

The sea suddenly calmed down, the wind stopped, the waves stilled, and a thick fog gradually rose.

In the terrifying silence, Xu Wang shivered. If it weren’t for Qian Ai’s desperate gamble with the Hot Wheels, they themselves might now be engulfed by the cold seawater.

“He wasn’t greeting us,” Kuang Jinxin suddenly said out of the blue. “He was saying goodbye.”

Xu Wang was still in shock, not catching on. “Who?”

“The archer,” Kuang Jinxin said.

Xu Wang: “……”

Sometimes, breaking the mood is also a way to combat fear.

Taking Kuang Jinxin back to the deck to regroup with his teammates, Wu Sheng looked towards where the ship sank with a grave expression, while Qian Ai was utterly disheartened. “Why even choose a course? I might as well just let the dog lead…”

Xu Wang, startled, quickly checked his arm.

In the struggle with the sea monster, he had completely forgotten about choosing the sailing course.

Fortunately, the options were still scrolling and hadn’t resulted in a “timeout and loss of choice” or “default selection due to timeout” kind of tragedy.

The fog was getting thicker, blanketing the surrounding sea. Now, if another ship were just a dozen meters away, they wouldn’t be able to see it even with a spyglass.

“We need to choose quickly,” Xu Wang said. “This fog isn’t a good sign.”

“Let’s go to Treasure Beach.” Wu Sheng retracted his gaze. “Flying Island, I suspect, is a place with moving coordinates.”

“Isn’t that better?” Kuang Jinxin didn’t understand.

Qian Ai rolled his eyes. “Brother, our luggage is still at the departure hall.”

Kuang Jinxin frowned mournfully. “With the Owl so powerful, having a flying island and all, can’t it help us with our luggage?”

“The ability is probably there, but I doubt it would be so considerate.” Qian Ai had lost hope in this malicious world.

Kuang Jinxin, sincerely seeking advice, asked, “But even if we go to Treasure Beach, we’re still moving, right?”

“With the speed of this ship, we won’t go far in four or five hours.” Xu Wang understood why Wu Sheng chose Treasure Beach. “We’ll go to Treasure Beach, get the treasure, then rush back to the airport after returning to reality. The plane might fly off, but we still need to retrieve our luggage.”

Qian Ai frowned. “Is there definitely treasure at Treasure Beach?”

Xu Wang said, “Of course, why else would it be called Treasure Beach?”

Qian Ai’s frown deepened. “Are you sure our luggage will still be at the airport when we return?”

Kuang Jinxin said, “Of course, it has our identification in it. Whoever finds it will hand it over to the airport’s lost and found.”

Qian Ai: “……”

With such a simple and brutal captain and blindly optimistic teammates, he was grateful to still be alive. Thankful for his fate.

Knock.

A knocking sound came from beneath the deck.

Knock.

Knock, knock.

It started without warning but couldn’t stop once it began.

In the dead silence of the foggy sea, it was like a ghost knocking in the middle of the night.

“I’ll go.” Qian Ai tried to huddle closer to the Advisor. “It’s not that the octopus monster left, and now it’s a siren, right?”

“It can’t be. A siren would just start singing.” Wu Sheng’s reasoning was sound, and his voice seemed brave, but he refused to move an inch and instead raised a brow and shouted towards the vast ocean. “Who’s there?”

Xu Wang was speechless. “Are you seriously thinking they would answer…”

“Me, Mao Qiping—”

And indeed, there was a response.

All four looked over the railing at the sea and saw a floating sphere come up next to their boat. The top half of the sphere had opened up, revealing a man in his thirties sitting inside, looking up at them and waving enthusiastically.

As their eyes met, the man immediately stood up, reaching out from the skylight, and knocked a couple more times on their wooden boat, finally flashing a bright smile with white teeth as if to say, “See, that’s how I was knocking just now. I’m so clever, right?”

“Your friend?” Xu Wang asked Wu Sheng.

It was a normal guess; given the back-and-forth just now and Mao Qiping’s familiar tone, it didn’t seem like they were strangers.

But Wu Sheng shook his head blankly.

Xu Wang stared at him for a long while, finally accepting that the man below was indeed a stranger they happened upon. He turned back to Mao Qiping speechlessly. “Friend, as a stranger, shouldn’t you introduce yourself after stating your name?”

Mao Qiping slapped his forehead in annoyance. “I was negligent!” Then, while rummaging through his bag, he began to introduce himself without lifting his head. “I’m a resident here; that is, I come in every night but don’t team up or go through levels. I saw you guys were new and clueless. I have all sorts of intelligence and information, guaranteed to be real and reliable. I’ll compensate you tenfold for any falsehood. My pricing is clear and fair to all…”

Finally, he pulled something he was looking for from his bag, poking it with a stick-like object, then pressed his thumb. The stick extended segment by segment until the paper at the tip of the stick was presented right in front of the four people.

“Here are my ID, driver’s license, and the first page of my household registration. I guarantee my character and integrity in doing business!” Mao Qiping held the telescopic rod in one hand and patted his chest with the other.

Wu Sheng: “……”

Qian Ai: “……”

Kuang Jinxin: “……”

Xu Wang: “You’ve mosaiced all the critical information. How can anyone see the sincerity!”

“It’s not that. What I want is a sense of ceremony. It makes me look professional.” Mao Qi retracted the telescopic rod section by section, took off the photocopies, and put them away. “But I can’t really give away information for you to track me down. After all, I also have a family to care for outside. It’s not good to involve them in things here.”

Every night they come in, but not to break through the levels… Xu Wang suddenly thought of Sun Jiang for some reason. That former teammate also didn’t want to go to Shaanxi because he couldn’t leave his family behind. If this mentality doesn’t change, then Sun Jiang can only enter the snowfield every day, spending nights there alone.

In comparison, the person under the boat was much more at ease, spirited, and with a healthy glow.

“This is the Endless Sea. You all must have received the message in the [Cheat Sheet].” Without waiting for Xu Wang and the others to speak, Mao Qiping started on his own. “This place doesn’t belong to any specific level but is a transitional zone between levels. When leaving the old level’s coordinates and not yet reaching the new level’s coordinates, you’ll be teleported here. Teams have ships, and lone wolves like me get a sphere…”

“Teleported?” Wu Sheng caught the keyword.

“Yes.” Mao Qiping looked up, searching for a moment before finding his conversation partner. “The Endless Sea is divided by provinces. The province you’re sucked in from, you’ll enter that corresponding Endless Sea. But the landing point has nothing to do with where you enter—it’s all in a fixed area. Take Shaanxi for example; whether you’re in Xianyang, Xi’an, Hanzhong, or Yan’an, the moment you’re sucked in, you’ll converge in this current sea area…”

“To ensure fairness in competition?” Wu Sheng followed this thought.

“Smart!” Mao Qiping generously praised, though they weren’t sure if it was sincere or polite. “The positions of the four lighthouses are fixed. If every team’s entering coordinates are far apart, the teams closer would have an unfair advantage.”

“What happens at five?” Wu Sheng asked.

“Back to the starting point. No matter how far you’ve sailed here from where you entered, you’ll return to the same place.” Mao Qiping didn’t leave them hanging. “That’s the essential difference between the Endless Sea and the levels.”

Wu Sheng further inquired, “What’s in the Flying Island and Treasure Beach?”

Mao Qiping didn’t answer this time but bent down to rummage through his bag again. This time, it was quicker than the last. In the blink of an eye, he took out three sheets of paper, poked them onto the telescopic rod, and handed them back to the four.

The four companions took down the papers, looked through them one by one, and found they were three lists of questions—

[Rules]

1. Related to coordinates. (50 yuan)
2. Related to injuries and death. (100 yuan)
3. Related to stationery. (100 yuan)
4. Related to [Roster] and [Cheat Sheet]. (100 yuan)
5. Related to [Report Card]. (100 yuan)
6. .…

[Levels]

1. The first level’s content and clearance strategy. (20 yuan)
2. The second level’s content and clearance strategy. (200 yuan)
3. The third level’s content and clearance strategy. (400 yuan)
4. The fourth level’s content and clearance strategy. (600 yuan)
5. The fifth level’s content and clearance strategy. (1000 yuan)
6. Daily level grinding tips and experience sharing. (market price)

Note: As level content may adjust randomly, strategies are not guaranteed universally applicable.

[Endless Sea]

1. What is the Endless Sea? (50 yuan)
2. What are the four lighthouses? (100 yuan)
3. What dangers are there in the four sailing routes? (150 yuan)
4. Optimal strategies for the four sailing routes. (200 yuan/route, bundle price 700 yuan)
5. .…

Sure enough, fair and clear pricing, deceiving neither the old nor the young.

However, in comparison to the dense content of the other two categories, the level category only has six items and one note, filling just half the page and leaving a large blank space, making it look somewhat uncoordinated.

“Why is there only half a page for the levels category?” Xu Wang looked down and asked Mao Qiping.

“I’ve only passed two levels,” Mao Qiping replied with an expression that read “life is tough”. “The rest of the information for the three levels is from buying and selling.”

Xu Wang was puzzled. “Can’t you trade information for levels after the fifth?”

Mao Qiping shook his head.

“You don’t look like someone who deals in big business.” Xu Wang sighed. “If you’re in this line, you have to be willing to spend money.”

Mao Qi also sighed. “It’s not about the money.”

Xu Wang was stunned.

Mao Qi looked up at him. “Those who can make it to the fifth level are determined to fight it out to the end. No one wants to sell the information and strategies for the levels they’ve painfully gathered day and night for a bit of money. Because if they sell the information to me, I will definitely resell it to other challengers. Then everyone will pass the levels smoothly, catch up to them, and make their further challenges even harder, right?”

Xu Wang hadn’t considered this aspect, or rather, his experiences hadn’t made him feel such acute and suffocating heaviness about the “road ahead”.

“Can you be free after passing twenty-three levels, never to return here again?” Xu Wang asked a question not listed in the guidelines.

“I don’t know—no, I should say no one knows.” Mao Qiping gave a bitter smile. “I’ve been here for a year, and the best team I’ve seen on the leaderboard only made it to the thirteenth level.”

“Only thirteen levels?” Xu Wang felt a sinking feeling.

“Yes, you’ll see it too when the leaderboard opens,” Mao Qiping said.

The fog was getting thicker and thicker, so thick that Mao Qiping’s face could barely be seen from the boat.

Mao Qiping hurriedly used the telescopic rod to try and disperse the fog a bit, as if that would help. “Actually, uncertainty isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Uncertainty means there’s possibility, and that’s the most important belief for those warriors who keep pushing forward.”

Xu Wang raised his eyebrows. “Don’t think you can coax us into spending money by sneakily putting a ‘warrior’ hat on us.”

“I just shared so much information about the Endless Sea, isn’t that sincere enough?” Mao Qiping raised his voice so it wouldn’t be blocked by the thick fog and not reach the customers’ ears. “If you find it to your liking, then buy some.”

“……” The slight heaviness that had started to settle on Xu Wang was dispersed by this remark.

Exchanging information sounds like such a sophisticated and classy affair, like something out of an undercover spy thriller, or at the very least, there should be some mysterious code or suspense involved. Yet, with this casual exchange, it sounded more like marketplace banter!

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