Chapter 93
The clothing hanging on the deck rails were the clothes worn by the brawny man who had disappeared from the cabin.
âWhatâs going on! Why are his clothes here? Did he jump into the sea to escape after seeing the drowned ghosts climb onto the s.h.i.+p?â Tang Mianmian couldnât help guessing.
âDo people take off their clothes when escaping into the sea? Itâs suicides when people take off their clothes!â Xiao Tangqiu retorted.
Tang Mianmian continued to speculate, âMaybe he saw that the drowned ghosts were about to get on the s.h.i.+p and jumped into the sea to commit suicide?â
âHe chose to commit suicide by jumping into the sea, instead of jumping directly into the nest of drowned ghosts? And in terms of his character, he is definitely not a suicidal person.â
Xiao Tangqiu calmly a.n.a.lyzed it. Although he didnât know this guy beforehand, judging from the bed-robbing incident between him and the coward, this guy has an arrogant and self-a.s.sured personality. He definitely didnât seem like someone who would commit suicide. He might believe it if it was someone like the coward who would commit suicide to escape everything.
Tang Mianmian thought for a long time without direction and simply gave up, âForget it, this is not important. This isnât a murder mystery instance anyways! The most important thing now is how to escape this s.h.i.+p!â
More and more drowned ghosts climbed onto the s.h.i.+p, and the small broken s.h.i.+p began to sink little by little. If they couldnât find a solution before the s.h.i.+p sank into the sea, they would follow the s.h.i.+p to the bottom of the sea.
âHow to escape?â Fei You asked with a wry smile, âOnly if you can find an island⦠or another boat.â However, in the vast sea, where was there such a coincidence of encountering another s.h.i.+p or an island when they were about to sink?
Zhang Zuo was covered with cold sweat, âI have been paying attention since I got on the boat. We have never encountered any islands or other s.h.i.+ps here.â
Xiao Tangqiu frowned. What did this mean? Were there no other sea vessels besides their s.h.i.+p on this sea?
âRight! The map! The map in the captainâs room!â He suddenly thought of something and called out, âWill the map in the captainâs room mark where there is land nearby? Letâs go back and look for it!â
Xue Junli glanced at him, âThe map is in my hand.â
Xue Junli unfolded the old yellowed map. Due to the age, the writing on it was illegible, but it was still recognizable.
âGhost Sea⦠Siren Bay⦠Treasure Islandâ¦â Xiao Tangqiu tried to identify the things on the map, âGhost Sea? Maybe we are here now? After crossing the Ghost Sea, itâs Siren Bay. After Siren Bay is Treasure Island. So Treasure Island is probably the destination of this pirate s.h.i.+p.â
Xue Junli suddenly said, âYou can read the characters on this map?â
Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback, âYes, canât you?â
Xue Junli said lightly, âThis map is not in Chinese.â
Xiao Tangqiu nodded. He also knew that the text on the map was not in Chinese, but he could understand it.
Xue Junli continued, âk2026;and itâs not in English, not even any kind of text Iâve seen.â
Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback again, âYou meanâ¦â
âThis is likely an unknown text, and the era and background of this instance may not necessarily be the Age of Exploration that we know of.â Xue Junli looked at Xiao Tangqiu with a probing gaze, âActually, I also flipped through the logbook earlier, it is also incomprehensible.â
Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. Although he realized that the text on the logbook and the map was not Chinese, he thought it was the systemâs built-in translator when he saw that he could understand it. They had previous experience of being able to understand the NPCs despite the language difference, after all. But now Xue Junli said he couldnât understand these wordsâ¦
He subconsciously looked at Tang Mianmian, who shook his head, âI canât understand it either.â
Xiao Tangqiu was completely lost. Whatâs going on? Could it be that after he died once, he dropped all his equipment but gained an awesome new skill?
Tang Mianmian asked Xue Junli curiously, âUnder what circ.u.mstances can we read the text we donât understand in an instance?â
Xue Junli lightly said, âWhen the plot needs it or if something happens to be an important plot item we are looking for, we can understand the text. If we donât understand it, itâs not the plot clue weâre looking for. Or itâs a related plot we have yet to trigger. All important plot items are just ordinary items before the plot is triggered.â
Xiao Tangqiu more or less understood Xue Junliâs meaning. Although they appeared on the pirate s.h.i.+p from the get-go, it did not mean that they already triggered the relevant plot. The instance had only just begun. Maybe they still needed to do something else to trigger the plot, such as finding Treasure Island⦠Before that, everything on the pirate s.h.i.+p was just ordinary things, not story items, just like the quest items he needed to look for when playing games. A gra.s.s he often pa.s.sed by, before receiving the quest, was just ordinary gra.s.s. Only the quest gave it value.
Xue Junli and Tang Mianmian couldnât read the text in the logbook and the map because they had not officially triggered the plot on the pirate s.h.i.+p.
Tang Mianmian continued to ask, âThen under what circ.u.mstances can I understand the text on the plot items before triggering the plot?â
Xue Junli said lightly, âI donât know the exact circ.u.mstances, but I know there is a type of person who can understand the text on story items before the story is triggered.â
Tang Mianmian immediately asked, âWho?â
Xue Junli paused before speaking, ââ¦NPCs.â
Xiao Tangqiu suddenly s.h.i.+vered and he instinctively denied, âYou think I am an NPC? No way!â
Tang Mianmian also couldnât believe it and exclaimed, âThere must be a mistake! How can my Qiuqiu be an NPC! How can there be an NPC like him?â
Xue Junli glanced at Xiao Tangqiu lightly, âI didnât say that he was an NPC, itâs just that itâs a possibilityâ¦Although we have never encountered an NPC that pretends to be a dead teammate and can cross over instances, it does not mean that it is not possible.â
Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback for a moment. NPCs that can pretend to be players were quite common, but NPCs that could cross through instances were very rare! Only high leveled demons could do it!
And the demons in the last instance were only Lily Marlene and the Abyssal Demonâ¦
His heart jumped, did Xue Junli think he was transformed from Lily Marlene or the Abyss Demon?
At this moment, Shen Yuan who was silent suddenly spoke, âHe is not.â
Xue Junli frowned slightly, âButâ¦â
Shen Yuan interrupted Xue Junliâs words and said coldly, âHe is not.â
Everyone went silent. After a moment, Duan Hongzhen rubbed his ears and said, âSince the captain said he is not, heâs definitely not! Besides⦠why the h.e.l.l would they pretend to be this kid?â
Shen Yuan said coldly, âRegardless, first think of a way to get out of here.â
He glanced at Xiao Tangqiu, âAfter you leave this instance, you can explain⦠about your âresurrectionâ.â
Xiao Tangqiu felt relieved and understood that this issue was temporarily over. No wonder everyone was full of vigilance when he appeared. It turned out that they were suspicious of him⦠But itâs understandable, after all, the last instance they were together had two demons playing around.
Fei You asked blankly, âWhat are you talking about?â
âAhem, nothing!â Tang Mianmian silently raised his head and looked up at the sky, âIf you can get out alive, then you will know.â Although they were born from the same root, who knew if these two could survive to the end? Saying anything now would be meaningless.
Fei You, ââ¦Hey, hey! Donât jinx us!â
Yu Fulingâs expression suddenly tensed, âA storm is coming!â
Not long after her words fell, the whole s.h.i.+p shook violently. The strong sea gales mixed with churning waves. .h.i.t the crumbling s.h.i.+p violently. Although some drowned ghosts were blown off the s.h.i.+p by the sea wind, the situation was obviously worse than before.
Xiao Tangqiu quickly grabbed the rails to prevent himself from being thrown out by the shaking. As the heavy rain struck, the s.h.i.+p sank faster and faster. In a blink of an eye, the cabin was flooded with water and the sea gradually covered the deck. A large wave of drowned ghosts took the opportunity to jump onto the deck.
âQuick! To the observation deck!â Shen Yuan promptly said.
The tallest place on this s.h.i.+p was the captainâs room and the observation deck in front of the captainâs room. These two places should also be the last places to sink to the bottom of the sea. Although they would sink sooner or later, they could at least buy them some time.
No one hesitated to turn to the observation deck. Although they encountered drowned ghosts in the way, they still managed to cut a b.l.o.o.d.y path through the obstacles. No, it was not âbloodâ to be exact. When their weapons pierced the drowned ghostsâ body, what splashed out was not bright red blood, but fishy and black sea water.
When they finally reached the observation deck, the s.h.i.+p was half sunk, the deck was completely immersed in the sea, and they finally saw the surrounding environment⦠The densely packed drowned ghosts were everywhere. They surrounded the s.h.i.+p, spreading out beyond what they could see. Once they fall into the water, they would be torn to pieces by these drowned ghosts!
âThere is a telescope!â Xiao Tangqiu suddenly found a standing telescope on the observation deck and rushed over.
âWhat do you see?â Tang Mianmian asked nervously.
Xiao Tangqiu sighed, âItâs too dark, I canât see anythingâ¦â
âWait! I see something! There is a s.h.i.+p! No⦠itâs a cruise s.h.i.+p! A very big cruise s.h.i.+p!â He cried out in disbelief.
That huge cruise s.h.i.+p seemed to appear out of nowhere. On the originally dark and empty sea, a huge and luxurious cruise s.h.i.+p appeared out of thin air. The cruise s.h.i.+p was full of lights and colors just like a mobile city.
âIs it a mirage?â he couldnât help muttering.
âNo! No!â Tang Mianmian suddenly exclaimed, âLook! Look up!â
Xiao Tangqiu raised his head instinctively and not far ahead of them was a huge luxury cruise s.h.i.+p. There seemed to be a banquet on the deck of the cruise s.h.i.+p and countless men and women in luxurious outfits were playing in the dim lights.