16: Chapter 16 The Fantasy Treasure Chest

A beam of light poured down like a waterfall.

As the brilliant golden light gradually dissipated, a petite figure curled up in the center of the deck.

There were no long legs of a mature woman as expected, nor were there any surging waves.

It was a Little Girl who looked to be only about 1.6 meters tall, her soft little face still showing the confusion of having just woken up.

The most critical part was—

She wasn't wearing any clothes.

Stark naked.

Her chest, flat as a plain, rose and fell slightly with her breathing, a few ribs faintly visible; it was simply a standard "A-cup".

"This is..."

Li Taiping froze for a moment, the information of all his crew members flashing through his mind instantly.

Yun Jinxin.

That cute, naive female college student who had just turned 18 and liked to sleep naked?

At this moment, the young girl on the ground seemed to feel the chill of the sea breeze and opened her eyes dazedly.

Those large, deer-like, moist eyes first wandered aimlessly as if they had lost focus, and then, her gaze locked onto the man and woman in front of her.

Li Taiping was rubbing his chin, his gaze like a torch scanning that youthful body, his eyes carrying a bit of the rigor of a "connoisseur".

Meanwhile, Su Mei had her arms crossed over her chest, a hint of a smile playing on the corners of her mouth.

The air was deathly quiet.

Three seconds later.

The girl looked down at her own pale body, then looked up at the man in front of her.

Her originally fair cheeks instantly swelled into a ripe tomato, the flush spreading all the way to her earlobes and neck.

"Ah——!!!"

A scream loud enough to pierce eardrums rang out to the heavens.

Yun Jinxin hugged her knees tightly, curling up like a frightened shrimp, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

"You... you pervert! Turn around! Turn around quickly, Captain!"

Her voice carried a crying tone, trembling violently.

"Ahem."

Li Taiping gave a dry cough; although he was the captain, this was, after all, a young girl who had just reached adulthood, so he had to show some face.

He reluctantly... oh no, gentlemanly turned around, and incidentally gave Su Mei a look.

Su Mei rolled her eyes at him, that look seeming to say:

Have you seen enough? With a great beauty like me here, you're still staring at that undeveloped little bean sprout?

Li Taiping shrugged, preparing to return to the cabin to avoid suspicion.

However, just at this moment——

"Bang——!!!"

A dull, loud noise came from the bottom of the ship, and the entire second-rank "Many Children, Many Blessings" ship shook violently!

Yun Jinxin, who had just been dying of shame and anger, was shaken so hard that she rolled on the deck, so frightened that her scream got stuck in her throat.

"Enemy attack?"

Li Taiping's eyes instantly turned cold, his previous devil-may-care demeanor vanishing completely.

He strode to the control console in a few steps, his fingers tapping rapidly.

[Warning! The bottom of the ship has been struck by a creature!]

[Current energy remaining: 99%]

[Ship durability: 4999 / 5000]

Looking at this series of almost unchanged numbers, Li Taiping's tense nerves instantly relaxed.

"Is that it?"

Only lost 1 point of durability?

The defensive power of this second-rank "Many Children, Many Blessings" ship was even tougher than he had imagined!

But this didn't mean he could tolerate anything messing with him.

Li Taiping quickly walked to the ship's rail and leaned over to look down.

He saw a huge black shadow swimming around the hull in the clear seawater.

It was a shark over three meters long, its dorsal fin like a knife, its grayish-white skin covered in scars, looking exceptionally ferocious.

It was gathering strength, seemingly preparing to launch a second attack.

[Bloodthirsty Black Shark (Common Grade)]

[Status: Manic (seems to be driven by some more terrifying aura, in an attack state after extreme panic).]

[Evaluation: A low-level predator of the sea; to you now, it's just a dish.]

"Driven by something?"

Li Taiping keenly captured this information, his brows slightly furrowed.

[Treasure Chest Sea, danger level: Extremely low.]

Extremely low doesn't mean none, but looking at this introduction, it seems contradictory; could there be an even more terrifying existence swimming around here?

"Su Mei, watch over that Little Girl."

Li Taiping ordered without turning his head, flipped his wrist, and a set of black tight-fitting diving gear appeared out of thin air.

[Deep Sea Prowler (good grade)]

This was equipment obtained from opening a chest earlier, and he hadn't had a chance to use it until now.

He nimbly put on the diving suit; the material was excellent, fitting his skin without being tight, and it could even provide weak underwater breathing assistance.

Immediately after, that cold-air-exuding [cold iron sword] appeared in his hand.

"You're going down?"

Su Mei looked at him in surprise, "Can't you use a harpoon on the ship? The water is its home turf!"

"Home turf?"

Li Taiping put on his goggles and said seriously, "In this world, I'll have to fight sooner or later. Besides, I ate a Strength Fruit, so I'm confident."

"It's just right to use this beast to practice!"

Before the words had even finished.

"Splash!"

A perfect splash erupted, and Li Taiping dove straight into the sea like a torpedo!

On the deck.

Yun Jinxin, wrapped in a piece of canvas thrown over by Su Mei, watched this scene in astonishment.

"He... he jumped down?"

The young girl's face turned pale with fright, her lips trembling, "That... that's a shark..."

In this survival game, who isn't carefully hiding on their raft?

Someone actually dared to voluntarily jump into the sea to fight a shark hand-to-hand?

Is this captain... a lunatic?

...

The moment he entered the water, the cold seawater enveloped his entire body.

But Li Taiping didn't feel the slightest hesitation.

The characteristics of the [Deep Sea Prowler] activated, and he felt a sense of fluidity in the water, like a fish in water.

Ahead, that Bloodthirsty Black Shark clearly hadn't expected the prey to dare to enter the water voluntarily.

It froze for a moment, and then the fierce light in its eyes intensified!

In the water, it was the overlord!

"Roar——!"

Although he couldn't hear the sound, the turbulence of the water flow was clearly transmitted.

The shark's tail lashed out violently, its massive body like a cannonball leaving the chamber, opening its blood-filled mouth full of sharp teeth, heading straight for Li Taiping!

The speed was extremely fast!

If it were the previous Li Taiping, he definitely wouldn't have been able to react to this.

But now...

In his eyes, the shark's movements were actually as slow as a slideshow!

Physical fitness five times that of an ordinary person brought not only an increase in strength but also a qualitative change in nerve reaction speed!

"Too slow."

Li Taiping sneered in his heart.

He exerted force with his waist in the water, and his body moved laterally by a meter in an incredible way.

The shark's giant mouth, carrying a foul stench, grazed his diving suit and bit into nothing!

Now is the time!

Li Taiping's eyes narrowed, his right hand gripping the cold iron sword tightly, and taking advantage of the shark's dashing momentum, he struck with a backhand sword!

Five times strength explosion!

"Rip——!"

Without any resistance.

The "sharp" characteristic of the good grade [cold iron sword] was displayed to the fullest at this moment.

The sword edge, like cutting tofu, easily sliced open the shark's tough skin, stabbed deeply into its spine, and then followed through with a downward pull!

Blood instantly stained the seawater red.

The three-meter-long giant beast didn't even have a chance to struggle; its body twitched violently, and the light in its eyes quickly dissipated.

One-hit kill!

"Is this the feeling of strength?"

Li Taiping looked at the long sword still trembling slightly in his hand, an indescribable sense of pleasure surging in his heart.

This power to control life and death was intoxicating!

The next second.

The shark's massive corpse began to turn into light spots and dissipate.

Replacing it was a treasure chest emitting a faint purple glow, quietly floating in the water.

Li Taiping's pupils constricted violently.

This color... it's not wood, not stone, and not black iron!

This is——

[Fantasy Treasure Chest]!

The same type of treasure chest that Li Jun opened to get the "release order"!

"I'm rich!"

Li Taiping's heart raced, he grabbed the treasure chest, kicked his legs, and rushed towards the sea surface.

...

"Splash!"

Li Taiping broke through the water, grabbed the ship's rail with one hand, and nimbly flipped onto the deck.

"Hoo..."

He took off his goggles and casually shook the water droplets off his hair.

The whole process, from going into the water to coming up, took less than two minutes.

Yun Jinxin looked at Li Taiping, who was unscathed and hadn't even gasped for breath, and was completely stunned.

Her large eyes were filled with admiration and disbelief.

This... is this still a human?

That was a shark!

He just went down for a stroll and slaughtered the shark?

"Catch."

Li Taiping casually took out a set of ordinary women's clothing he had obtained earlier from his inventory and threw it to the still dazed Yun Jinxin.

"Although I don't mind the eye candy, it's windy on the ship, so don't catch a cold."

After speaking, he held the treasure chest emitting a purple glow and gave Su Mei a mysterious smile.

"I'm going to open a prize; I'll leave the outside to you."

Su Mei looked at the purple box, a trace of shock flashing in her eyes, then nodded in understanding.

"Rest assured, Captain."

Li Taiping turned and ducked into the cabin, his back looking exceptionally hurried.

No way around it, opening chests is just too addictive!

Especially this kind of high-level goods he had never seen before!

Only two women were left on the deck.

Yun Jinxin hurriedly grabbed the clothes, preparing to put them on, when she suddenly felt the light in front of her dim.

She looked up and met a pair of smiling peach-blossom eyes.

Su Mei had walked up to her at some point and was looking down at her from a height.

The smile was beautiful and gentle.

But for some reason, Yun Jinxin felt a chill down her spine, always feeling like something strange was about to happen.

"Little sister, your figure is a bit lacking, but your skin is quite fair."

Su Mei stretched out her slender fingers, gently lifted Yun Jinxin's chin, her tone lazy yet dangerous.

"Since you've boarded this ship, there are some rules that big sister has to teach you properly..."

"From now on, be obedient, understand...?"

Yun Jinxin swallowed her saliva, shivering:

"Tha... thank you, big sister, I... I will be obedient..."

...

Inside the cabin.

Isolated from the sea breeze and talking outside, Li Taiping couldn't wait to place the [Fantasy Treasure Chest] on the table.

The purple light looked exceptionally eerie in the cabin.

This kind of treasure chest is different from regular supply boxes; it might contain trash, or it might contain heaven-defying life-changing items!

Li Jun's "release order" is the best proof.

"It must be something good..."

Li Taiping rubbed his hands, took a deep breath, and calmed his excited mood.

His current strength is already far beyond ordinary people; if he gets another special item, especially...

"Open chest!"

Li Taiping gave a low shout, no longer hesitating, and flipped open the lid of the treasure chest!

Hum——!

A blinding purple light instantly erupted, illuminating the entire cabin like a dreamlike fairyland!

Immediately after, the system's notification sound exploded in his mind!

[Congratulations on obtaining: ...]