76: Chapter 76 The Ghost Ship Journey: Too Slow-Paced

Lunch was halfway through when Su Wan finished first.

The girl's appetite had always been small; she polished off the bread in her hand in a few bites, gulped down some water, and then picked up the topic they had been discussing earlier.

She set her plate aside, wiped her hands with a wet wipe, and swept her gaze back and forth between Hu Jinsi and Lin Rui, clearly quite concerned about this issue.

"You two only said half of what you had to say before," Su Wan looked at Hu Jinsi and Lin Rui. "Exactly how many people are going to run the next dungeon? Is it still going to be the three of us? Or are we going to pull in some other people we know?"

Hu Jinsi glanced at Lin Rui, who was burying his head in his bread, showing no intention of taking up the conversation.

So Hu Jinsi answered, "This question mainly depends on whether we can clear all the first six stages this time. If we can, it proves that adding more people isn't necessary. Unless we can be certain that five people can farm [Dragon King Warrior I] twice within 72 hours, only then would it be responsible to both ourselves and the friends we invite."

"If we can't finish it this time," he paused, "then adding people is inevitable."

"But increasing our team size is also a hassle," Hu Jinsi continued. "Although Liu Betti politely declined us, you should be able to tell that she doesn't not want to join; rather, she wants to focus her energy on [The Cathedral]."

"She mentioned before that her class comes from that series of dungeons, where she gets extra class experience and quest rewards. If conditions allow, she will definitely prioritize clearing The Cathedral."

"As for Zhou Wen..." Hu Jinsi frowned. "I think he could be persuaded, but you guys know his mobility. In this dungeon, even you, Su Wan, are having such a hard time; unless Lin Rui carries Zhou Wen, he won't be able to move an inch in the third or fourth stage."

"I don't want to use the word 'burden,' but if he can't solve the mobility deficiency caused by his own physique, even if he teams up with others, it will be very difficult for him in the later stages."

Su Wan was silent for a moment. This topic was somewhat depressing; admitting that one's friend can't help in certain scenarios, or might even become a drag, is not a pleasant thing for anyone.

"Let's just finish this run first," Lin Rui finally spoke, breaking the silence. "We'll see how it goes then. If the three of us can clear it, we will; if not, we'll figure something else out."

The three said no more, packed up their tableware, sorted out their gear, and prepared to step into the portal leading to the fifth stage.

The white light dissipated, and the sea breeze, carrying the scent of salt and rotting wood, rushed towards them.

The three stepped out of the portal, landing on a large ghost sailing ship floating on the water. The deck was covered in slick moss; every step they took sank slightly, and dark seawater seeped through the gaps in the rotting planks.

The towering mainmast was broken in half, and the tattered canvas hung from the mast like a shroud, snapping in the sea breeze. The iron anchors on both sides of the ship were long rusted, and the chains were wrapped in the remains of seaweed and shellfish, emitting dull clanking sounds as the ship swayed.

The entire ship was so silent that only the sound of the wind, the groaning of the wooden planks, and some unnatural churning in the seawater below remained. The air was filled with a damp, musty smell, mixed with the saltiness of the sea, making one involuntarily frown. Sunlight leaked through the clouds, shining onto the deck and illuminating the moss, making it look green and like a disgusting carpet.

"Wait," Hu Jinsi looked around, his brows furrowed. "This ship... isn't a shipwreck."

Clearly, the trio's previous intelligence was incorrect. The ghost ship beneath their feet was not a wreck stranded on a reef, but a living ship still sailing in the coastal waters.

Looking out from the gunwale, one could clearly see the nearby coastline and the outline of the castle on the distant mountain, which was the location of the castle in the second stage. The ship was slowly drifting in the opposite direction.

The sea breeze was not strong, but the ship was still swaying gently. That rhythmic, continuous undulation was like some invisible giant hand supporting the bottom of the ship and rocking it slowly.

As soon as Su Wan stepped onto the deck, her steps became unsteady, and her face turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye. She reached out to hold the gunwale, trying to steady herself, but the contents of her stomach were surging upward uncontrollably.

Lin Rui hurriedly reached out to help, but Su Wan wasn't about to fall; instead, she rushed to the side of the ship and retched.

She gripped the railing tightly with one hand, pressed her abdomen with the other, and bent her whole body like a bow. After vomiting, she still felt dizzy, slid down to sit on the deck while holding the railing, and a layer of fine cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

"Su Wan!" Lin Rui squatted down and handed over a water bag.

"I'm fine..." Su Wan waved her hand weakly. "It's just... I'm so seasick... Let me recover for a bit..."

"..." Lin Rui and Hu Jinsi exchanged a glance, and the two reached a consensus instantly.

In this stage, there was no need to count on Su Wan for any help. If she could take care of herself, that would be the greatest help to the two of them.

Because the boss of this stage was not a single enemy, but multiple elite monsters that would leap out from the seabed. To be precise, it was a type of marine Murloc variant with exceptionally powerful jumping ability.

Although they initially held some expectations, hoping these Murlocs were related to the Siren, so that it could satisfy the upgrade requirements for Su Wan's collar. But now it seemed that Su Wan being able to survive this stage in good health was already the two men's biggest hope.

This ghost ship was much larger than the three had anticipated. They had thought it was just the size of a yacht; who would have imagined its length exceeded a hundred meters.

Su Wan needed someone to take care of her, and Lin Rui's equipment was not suitable for moving on the ship; the ship was truly a bit too dilapidated, and Lin Rui was worried that if he used too much force, he would step through the deck. After discussion, Lin Rui stayed by the gunwale to take care of Su Wan, and Hu Jinsi went to clear the small monsters on the deck alone.

Hu Jinsi carried his ironwood staff and moved slowly across the slick deck.

In fact, the trio's original plan was not like this. Su Wan hadn't even thought about the fact that she would get seasick; the initial plan was for Hu Jinsi to run a circle on the ship, gather all the skeletons, and then have Su Wan use [Requiem Chant] to send them all away at once. Now it seemed that this plan had completely fallen through.

A person with the [Siren Songstress] talent actually getting seasick at sea—this had to be said to be a huge irony.

Hu Jinsi carefully advanced in the middle section of the deck, but found no trace of any skeletons. Just as he was puzzled, the sound of battle suddenly came from behind him. He looked back and saw that, not far from where he had just left, Lin Rui was fighting with a group of skeletons.

Hu Jinsi immediately activated [Chi Torpedo], his form returning to the spot like lightning, assisting Lin Rui in smashing those skeletons one by one. Although these skeletons were wielding swords and shields and could perform shield Block, they were not strong; two or three strikes with the staff were enough to finish one off.

"Where did these skeletons pop out from?" Hu Jinsi asked.

Lin Rui looked helpless. "They aren't native to the ship; they are brought over from the sky by seabirds and then dropped onto the ship."

Hu Jinsi looked up in surprise. Sure enough, several huge seagulls were circling in the sky, clutching white, baring skeletons beneath their claws. They circled above the ghost ship like bombers, waiting for an opportunity to drop the skeletons onto the deck.

"That means," Hu Jinsi finally understood, "there wasn't a single enemy on this ship to begin with; all the enemies are in the sky and underwater?"

"It seems so."

That was a big problem. The rhythm of the battle was completely out of their control; they could only fight whenever the skeletons came. Having seen Su Wan's state earlier, the two had intended to finish the fight quickly and leave this hellhole to make her feel better. Now, it seemed they could only wait for the monsters to slowly deliver themselves to their doorstep.

The joke they made earlier about spending the night on the ship was likely going to become a reality.

The two helped Su Wan to the middle of the ship. The rocking here was relatively less severe, and Su Wan had recovered slightly; at least she wasn't vomiting anymore, but she still felt nauseous and uncomfortable. Sure enough, along the path Hu Jinsi had just walked, not a single monster was seen.

It wasn't until Lin Rui helped Su Wan sit on a nearby oak barrel that Hu Jinsi saw, about twenty meters away, a group of seagulls flying over with skeletons beneath their feet.

Hu Jinsi roughly calculated the time; it was about less than twenty minutes per wave.

At this frequency, ten waves of small monsters would take nearly two hundred minutes, which was over three hours. This didn't even count the appearance frequency of the final group of elite Murlocs. If the Murlocs also had this spawn rhythm, the three of them would likely have to experience a night battle at sea; this option was truly quite terrible.

Sure enough, the real world was just like Murphy's Law; it always tended to develop in the worst possible direction.

Clearing these skeletons brought by the seagulls was not a big problem for the team. Su Wan, having recovered, would occasionally shoot an arrow to assist Lin Rui and Hu Jinsi in the fight.

But for most of the time, the three still sat on the ship, zoning out.

The spawn frequency of the skeletons was simply too slow. The three had arrived at this stage just past twelve o'clock, and now it was already past three in the afternoon, and they had only just finished the ninth wave. The last wave of skeletons and the seagulls carrying them still hadn't spawned.

Time was infinitely stretched in this waiting. Lin Rui dozed off against the mast, his tower shield resting beside him, baking hot in the sun.

Su Wan half-lay on the deck, her head resting on an empty wooden box, eyes closed to rest, occasionally frowning; clearly, the aftereffects of seasickness were still tormenting her.

Hu Jinsi paced the deck in boredom, spinning his ironwood staff in his hands, his gaze occasionally sweeping toward the sky, hoping those damn seagulls would appear sooner.

"This is even more boring than class." Hu Jinsi couldn't help but complain.

"At least you can sleep in class." Lin Rui replied with his eyes closed.

"Can you two have some sense of tension?" Su Wan said weakly. "We are in a dungeon, not having a picnic in the park."

"I can't get tense." Hu Jinsi spread his hands. "We don't even know where the enemies are; who am I supposed to be tense for?"

"Next time we run this dungeon," Hu Jinsi suggested, "we can schedule lunch after entering this stage. There is really too much free time here; even if we fought a wave of monsters and then ate for twenty minutes, it would be enough to finish lunch."

"Rather than boring, it's more like torture." Lin Rui leaned against the mast, looking at the unchanging sea surface. "The previous stages were difficult, but at least our spirits were tense. This 'fight for five minutes, rest for fifteen minutes' rhythm actually makes one feel uncomfortable all over."

However, having said that, the sea view along the way was indeed quite nice. The weather was clear, the ship drifted slowly on the azure sea, and the castle from the previous stage gradually shrank in their field of view.

And in the distance, in the direction the ghost ship was heading, a huge temple loomed on the mountain top; the three knew that this was the location of the final stage of this dungeon: the Mountain Top Temple.

These skeletons were also pitifully barren, dropping only materials like bone powder. However, they didn't see the iron swords in their hands drop; instead, they dropped two round shields, which was just right to replace the wooden round shields in Lin Rui's hands.

Just as the three were bored to death, the last wave of skeletons was finally brought over by the seagulls. Lin Rui and Hu Jinsi rushed up like hungry tigers pouncing on prey, finishing them off in a few quick moves. But what awaited the three was still that cold loneliness.

Apparently, that group of elite Murlocs did not intend to show themselves immediately.

A dejected Lin Rui and Hu Jinsi walked back to Su Wan's side, chatting with her to ease her discomfort while waiting for the arrival of the elite Murlocs.

The three of them spent another hour or so swaying on the ship like that.

Finally, around four o'clock, Hu Jinsi heard a different sound coming from the water around the ship; some kind of creature was circling the hull.

He gripped the gunwale and looked down, and sure enough, several Murloc-like creatures were swimming around the ghost ship, their dorsal fins giving them away.

"Time to work!" he hurriedly called out, waking up a drowsy Su Wan and Lin Rui.

The two of them sorted their gear and adjusted their states, ready for battle at any moment.

Before long, with a 'bang', three Murlocs nearly two meters tall leapt directly from the water onto the deck.

These Murlocs had blue-green bodies, hunched backs, and carried spears as long as they were tall.

The trio was somewhat disappointed upon seeing these Murlocs; clearly, these ugly creatures were unlikely to be the Siren.

But at least the elite monsters had appeared, which meant they would soon be able to pass this stage.

Su Wan still couldn't move easily, but she could barely manage to buff Lin Rui and Hu Jinsi with her singing.

Hu Jinsi and Lin Rui didn't wait any longer; since it was a mob, who knew when the next wave would come up?

The two rushed toward the Murlocs in front of them at top speed, drawing them into battle.

Unexpectedly, these Murlocs weren't particularly strong, but their leaping ability was quite astonishing.

Hu Jinsi estimated the Murlocs' jump height, and it was equivalent to what he could manage with all his buffs active, just to compare to their ordinary jump.

"...Are these mudskippers?" he couldn't help but complain, "Or Murlocs with frog genes fused into them? As Murlocs, they have no Murloc characteristics at all, but are instead so good at jumping.

This world is truly haunted; everything is just so bizarre."

These Murlocs were clearly amplifying the core feature of this stage: exploiting the disadvantage that Awakened had when moving on ships.

Fortunately, besides being tough and good at jumping, they had no extra attack skills, simply thrusting with their spears.

After one of the Murlocs was knocked down by Lin Rui's [Tactical Roll], Lin Rui intended to use his body weight to mount the Murloc and attack.

But who knew that the Murloc would perform a "True Murloc Kip-up," without any rising motion, its body lying on the ground simply springing into the air before landing again.

Lin Rui was stunned by this scene and forgot to attack for a moment.

It wasn't until Su Wan nearby used [Street Cursing] to draw the Murloc's attention away from the dazed Lin Rui that he snapped back to reality.

"Jinsi!" Lin Rui shouted urgently, "Don't chase these Murlocs after they fall; they'll just spring up, and chasing them will only expose your weaknesses!"

Hearing this, Hu Jinsi immediately adjusted his tactics.

He tried to predict the Murlocs' landing spots and strike with his staff the moment they jumped, but the Murlocs' jumping trajectories were erratic—sometimes high, sometimes low, sometimes far, sometimes near—as if they were playing hopscotch on the deck.

Once, Hu Jinsi misjudged, swinging his staff at empty air, and was nearly speared in the shoulder by the rebounding Murloc, but fortunately [Parry] activated, deflecting the force of the spear to the side.

Because these Murlocs were always hopping around and were too agile, Hu Jinsi was unable to use [Spinning Crane Kick] to group them together for cleanup.

Su Wan also couldn't find an opportunity to use magic; the Murlocs' strides were too large, making it impossible to aim.

Just as she designated the landing point for [Shattering Sonic Wave], the Murloc had already hopped three meters away.

The three had no choice but to use the most primitive method, taking them down one by one.

The combat process was like playing Whac-A-Mole, except the moles weren't digging underground, but jumping into the air.

It wasn't until 5:30 PM that the three of them finished the battle with this batch of elite monsters.

The difficulty wasn't actually as high as imagined; it was even less difficult than the initial stage of [Burning Village].

But just as disgusting as the skeletons before, after the first batch of three Murlocs appeared, the next batch didn't show up until half an hour later.

There were three batches in total, and the battle dragged on until 5:30 PM.

After the battle ended, the Murlocs turned into specks of light and vanished, leaving behind a treasure chest, but no portal appeared.

The three were somewhat puzzled.

When Hu Jinsi turned his gaze toward the bow of the ship, he discovered that the ship had reached a place not far from the beach.

It turned out that the time delayed throughout this stage was time prepared for the ghost ship's voyage.

The moment the battle ended was exactly the moment the three arrived at the starting location of the sixth stage—the beach.

Inside the treasure chest was a pair of shoes and a spear.

After checking the attributes, Hu Jinsi tossed the shoes directly to Su Wan: "Looks like we won't need to worry about finding shoes after we get out; the instance provided them directly."

Su Wan took the shoes and opened the attribute panel.

[Tide-Walking Footwear]

[Type: Footwear]

[Deck Freedom: The wearer ignores movement penalties caused by swaying, slipperiness, or tilting in environments such as ships, docks, and slippery rock surfaces, and has an advantage when performing climbing and balance-related checks.]

[Item Description: These boots are tanned from the webbed feet of a Murloc leader. The soles are sewn with a special suction cup structure, feeling moist to the touch and emitting a faint salty, fishy smell.

After putting them on, one can walk as if on flat ground on slippery decks, ropes, and even tilted hulls.]

Su Wan's mouth twitched as she looked at the words "tanned from the webbed feet of a Murloc leader" in the item description.

But when she turned her gaze to the ghost ship still swaying gently beside her, and then touched her own old shoes that had slipped countless times on the deck, memory instantly triumphed over her germophobia.

"...I'll wear them." She gritted her teeth, stuffed her old shoes into her backpack, and put on the boots that emitted a salty, fishy smell.

The moment the boots were on her feet, Su Wan felt a noticeable change.

The feeling of walking on eggshells on the slippery deck vanished, replaced by a solid sense of stability, as if invisible suction cups had grown on the soles of her feet, firmly connecting her to the deck.

She tried taking a few steps, even jogging a little, without any signs of slipping.

"Disgusting, but certainly useful," she had to admit.

As for the spear, which had the exact same design as the harpoons held by the elite Murlocs, Hu Jinsi threw it directly to Lin Rui.

Since Lin Rui had given up using spears after the previous one lacked sufficient strength, he hadn't purchased a new one, and this piece of equipment perfectly replenished his arsenal.

[Tide-Raiding Harpoon]

[Type: Military Weapon / Harpoon / Spear]

[Base Damage: 11-16]

[Dual-Use: Can be used as a melee spear or a thrown weapon.]

[Ship-Breaker: Deals double damage when attacking wooden structures (such as cabins, wooden shields, wooden doors).]

[Water-Stagnant: Upon hitting, has a chance to halve the target's movement speed in water for the next 1 minute.]

[Item Description: A spear polished from a giant fish bone, with a barbed spearhead and anti-slip seaweed wrapped around the shaft.

This is the standard-issue weapon of Murloc raiders, once used to pierce hulls from underwater.]

Although this [Tide-Raiding Harpoon] didn't have increased damage compared to the previous standard-issue spear, it was at least much stronger and more durable in terms of material strength than the original wooden shaft.

Hu Jinsi weighed it in his hand; the fish-bone-polished shaft was heavier than imagined, with a solid, steady feel in his grip.

The barbed design of the spearhead was also very practical, causing secondary tearing damage when pulled out after piercing an enemy's body.

Although Hu Jinsi felt that the [Ship-Breaker] and [Water-Stagnant] special effects wouldn't see any use this semester, as they had no plans to fight at sea.

But overall, it could serve as a backup weapon for Lin Rui.

The heavy sword in Lin Rui's hand wasn't very effective against large-bodied bosses; the blade was too short, requiring him to get close for every swing, making it easy to be hit by the boss's counterattacks.

And equipment like a spear that could increase attack range was better suited for mobile combat, helping Lin Rui maintain an appropriate fighting distance and find a balance between safety and damage output.

As the trio finished distributing the loot, the ghost ship slammed into the reef with a clatter, running aground near the shore.

The three discussed it and decided to get off the ship and camp on the beach.

Not to mention how creepy this ghost ship was, it also had rotting planks, slimy moss, the pervasive smell of the sea, and that faint, sinister feeling.

If it were carried away by the current during high tide at night or low tide tomorrow morning, that would be trouble.

Moreover, as long as Su Wan remained on the ship, her seasickness symptoms would be hard to completely alleviate; getting off the ship was the only choice.

They didn't head deep into the coast; according to the intelligence, once they started moving toward the cliffs at the edge of the beach, they would encounter the enemies of the sixth stage.

Lin Rui and Hu Jinsi dismantled a pile of wood from the ghost ship and lit a bonfire on the seaside.

They didn't prepare a grand feast for dinner today, mainly for fear that the aroma of the food would attract nearby enemies.

The Harpies by the seaside would attack from the sky, which was quite annoying.

Dinner was just simple porridge.

Hu Jinsi took out three portions of semi-finished porridge from his backpack and heated them simply in an iron pot over the seaside bonfire.

The porridge was made with rice, lean meat, and ginger strips; although simple, it emitted an enticing aroma in the sea breeze.

The three sat around the bonfire, each holding a bowl of hot porridge, drinking it slowly.

Su Wan held the hot porridge, drinking it in small sips.

The warm food slid down her esophagus into her stomach, dispelling the chill brought by the sea breeze and also alleviating the nausea caused by seasickness.

That sensation of churning in her stomach finally subsided, and her stomach gradually settled down.

Her complexion finally returned to normal, even becoming a bit rosier than before.

The bonfire cast flickering light on the three's faces, and the distant waves slapped against the reef.

Moonlight fell on the sea, and the entire sea area shimmered with a silvery-white glow.

The silhouette of the ghost ship appeared and disappeared in the moonlight, like a stranded giant beast quietly lying on the shore.

"Tomorrow is the final stage," Hu Jinsi said, looking at the temple on the mountaintop in the distance.

The towering structure was bathed in moonlight, its spire piercing the night sky like a ladder to the heights.

"The mountaintop temple; I have to say, I hate climbing mountains.

I don't even want to imagine what kind of terrain this instance will use to torture us in the final stage."

"Whatever it is," Su Wan put down her empty bowl and smiled slightly, "at least I'm not seasick anymore."

"People with seasickness are fine after drinking hot porridge," Lin Rui teased, "This porridge is more effective than any healing potion.

Jinsi, next time Su Wan gets seasick, just cook a pot of porridge; it's guaranteed to cure the ailment."

"That's right," Hu Jinsi said proudly, "This is a craft I learned from Bin City.

The seafood porridge there is truly a masterpiece; if there's a chance, I'll take you both to try it."

The three looked at each other and laughed, the sparks from the bonfire drifting into the night sky, instantly vanishing into the sea breeze.