54: Chapter 54 Delayed

Li Taiping had fallen unconscious. The other crew members weren't faring much better. Only Xia Zhi was still desperately holding on.

The shockwave arrived in an instant.

However, the anticipated death did not descend upon them.

Boom——!

A deafening roar erupted from beside her.

Xia Zhi's eyes snapped open.

She saw that, in the instant before they were swallowed by the shockwave, the out-of-control hull of the Many Children, Many Blessings had crashed heavily into an enormous iceberg!

The violent impact caused the entire ship's course to shift.

That shockwave, capable of annihilating everything, grazed past the ship's side and slammed into the distant sea surface, churning up mountainous waves.

They... had dodged it!

Before the relief of a narrow escape could even well up in their hearts...

...an even more violent shaking transmitted from beneath their feet.

Crack... crack...

The sound of sickening fracturing came from where the hull met the iceberg.

[Third-Rank Many Children, Many Blessings Durability: 2100/10000]

[Third-Rank Many Children, Many Blessings Durability: 1500/10000]

[Warning! Hull severely damaged! Warning! Hull approaching collapse!]

Piercing alarm sirens blared frantically inside the bridge.

The entire ship seemed to be pressed against the iceberg by an invisible giant hand. Under the immense friction, the hull's armor continuously peeled off and shattered.

Xia Zhi was thrown to the deck by the violent shaking. Struggling, she lifted her head to look in the direction of that monster.

She saw that the indescribable shadow, upon witnessing their collision with the iceberg, had actually ceased its pursuit.

It seemed to have lost its ability...

One could even sense it emanating a complex wave of fluctuations.

Its massive body slowly turned on the sea surface, as if hesitating. Finally, it gradually sank into the deep sea and vanished.

Gone?

It just... left like that?

Why?

Was it because this iceberg marked the boundary of its territory? Or...

Xia Zhi couldn't figure it out.

She also didn't have time to think further, as she felt her head growing heavier and the scene before her eyes beginning to spin wildly.

The aftereffects of the mental corruption finally erupted in full force.

She struggled, trying to get up to check on Li Taiping and the others.

But her body was no longer obeying her commands.

Finally, darkness swept over her vision, and she completely lost consciousness.

...

Inside the bridge.

Su Mei, Yun Jinxin, and the Twin Sisters had all succumbed to unconsciousness, collapsing in disarray under the dual assault of the violent impact and the mental corruption.

Only Chu Mengyao, who had remained deep within the cabin earlier and suffered the least mental corruption, was barely maintaining a shred of consciousness.

Leaning against the wall, her face deathly pale, she looked out at the apocalyptic scene, her body trembling like a leaf.

She saw the terrifying monster disappear and also saw Xia Zhi collapse on the deck.

"Ship... Captain..."

Remembering Li Taiping, she struggled, inching her way step by step towards the helm.

She saw Li Taiping slumped over the ship's wheel, motionless and unconscious.

"Captain! Wake up! Captain!"

Chu Mengyao shook his body forcefully, her voice choked with sobs.

Even as she too fell into unconsciousness, Li Taiping showed no reaction.

...

Right at that moment.

A cold, emotionless system notification abruptly sounded in Li Taiping's mind.

Although he was unconscious, as the system-recognized killer, this information was still accurately transmitted to the depths of his subconscious.

[Congratulations on killing the Excellent Grade entity 'Indescribable Shadow'!]

[Detected target is a special spiritual entity. [potent curse potion (excellent grade)] effect trigger delayed... Executing causal law erasure... Erasure successful!]

[Congratulations on obtaining special loot!]

[Obtained: crew release order (Special/Blue) x1]

[Obtained: Power Engine (Excellent) x1]

[Obtained: Extending Greatsword (Excellent) x1]

...

The world fell into a void-like silence.

The Many Children, Many Blessings, like a beached whale, its broken hull firmly wedged against the edge of a massive Ice Island.

On board, chaos reigned.

Everyone had fallen unconscious, their fates unknown.

Only the piercing alarm sirens and the icy cold wind echoed across the unmanned ship.

Time passed, second by second.

No one knew how long it had been.

Perhaps an hour, perhaps half a day.

Li Taiping, who had collapsed at the helm, twitched a finger slightly.

His heavy eyelids slowly cracked open a sliver.

"Ugh..."

A splitting headache made him let out a groan of pain.

He felt as if his head had been drilled through with a power drill, the inside a complete mess.

"I... I'm still alive?"

Li Taiping shook his groggy head and struggled to lift it from the ship's wheel.

What met his eyes was the chaotic scene inside the bridge and the white, icy world outside the window.

He remembered... they were being chased by an Excellent Grade monster, and then... they crashed into an iceberg?

What about the monster?

Li Taiping's heart tightened. Instinctively, he wanted to check the situation outside.

But the moment he moved, he felt as if every bone in his body had come apart, the pain making him grimace.

He glanced down at his status.

[Sanity: 36/100 (Slowly recovering)]

[Health: 100/100 (Locked)]

[Mental Power: 50/100 (Slowly recovering)]

His Sanity had actually started recovering.

It seemed the source of the mental corruption had vanished.

Did it leave on its own? Or...

A thought crossed Li Taiping's mind. He opened the system log.

When he saw the "Congratulations on killing" notification, he was completely stunned.

"K... Killed it?"

"Did I fucking... kill it?"

Li Taiping's face was filled with disbelief.

He carefully read the system notification again.

[potent curse potion (excellent grade)] effect delayed... causal law erasure...

So that was it!

That poison had ultimately taken effect!

Although the process was a bit convoluted and dangerous, the result was good!

They had survived!

Moreover, they had successfully taken down a terrifying Excellent Grade monster!

A wild, post-survival elation instantly surged in Li Taiping's heart.

He couldn't help but want to laugh out loud, but the movement aggravated his injuries, causing him to cough violently.

"Cough, cough... Damn, that was too close..."

He checked the ship's durability.

[Third-Rank Many Children, Many Blessings Durability: 1200/10000]

Only a little over a tenth remained, and they were stuck on this godforsaken iceberg, unable to move.

It looked like the hull needed repairs first.

[Hull durability cannot be repaired during combat.]

...

Meanwhile, in the records of the [Regional Chat Channel] from a few minutes earlier:

"Where is everyone? Why is it so quiet? Where's the Top Rank Boss?"

"@Shen Xiu, weren't you on the scene? Hurry up and tell us, what exactly happened?"

Shen Xiu: "I... I don't know either! Just now, a thick fog suddenly rolled in, then I heard a huge bang. After that, there was no more visual from over there. I didn't dare follow. It seemed like the Top Rank Boss was being hunted."

"It's over, it's over. Did the rank one really crash and burn? If he dies, what do we do?"

"Don't talk nonsense! The Boss is blessed, he's definitely fine!"

"But... what exactly was that monster? Just looking at it from afar made me dizzy and nauseous. The Top Rank Boss was facing it head-on!"

"Too terrifying. How are we supposed to play this game? It's not even seven days, and we're already facing monsters of this level?"

Panic and unease filled the chat channel.

Li Taiping's "disappearance" plunged the Survivor, who had just glimpsed a sliver of hope, back into despair.

Ahead, there were monsters even the rank one couldn't defeat. Behind, the black tide was herding them like ducks.

Survival?

Where could one possibly see even a glimmer of light?

...