Messages began popping up in the world chat channel, reporting players who had been attacked by various creatures.
They all seemed to be encountering different types of monsters.
"There are so many red lanterns in the water, they're closing in on me. Has anyone encountered these before? What the hell are they?"
"They're just fireflies, don't be scared!"
"Damn! A bunch of merman things trapped me in the captain's cabin. Anyone want a 1v1?"
"There's a person standing in the sea... blocking my path?"
"I trapped an aberration in my trap, it looks like it's called a Drowned, and I've turned it into a pincushion… wait…"
Lucas Hall silently mourned for the player, knowing the Drowned must have blown up.
Almost every minute, someone was attacked and died.
But there were also a few who managed to escape the stormy sea without incident.
On Lucas's ship, Nightmare, he hadn't encountered any monsters, probably because they set sail later and were somewhat far from the main group.
However, another issue was worrying Lucas.
He was out of food!
Water wasn't a problem; he had vitality coconuts, but protein and energy were another story.
"Seraphina, do you have any food on your ship?" Lucas messaged her privately.
"Only 1L of water," Seraphina's voice responded in his ear. She had just finished repairing her ship and was holding a crystal ball at the bow deck.
This crystal ball was a dynamic nautical map that synchronized with the conditions of the surrounding sea within a 100-mile radius!
Right now, it only showed two ships: Astrologer and Nightmare, both marked close together.
"Your ship's map can be detached?" Lucas asked in surprise.
"This crystal ball is a receiver; as long as it's not too far, it works fine," Seraphina explained.
The map was very simple. Apart from the ships, it only showed large sea obstacles like massive floating objects as small black dots and islands as large shadows.
By avoiding these black dots, they could prevent their ships from getting caught in the chaotic currents caused by giant floating debris.
The presence of the map also ensured they wouldn't lose direction.
Another day passed.
Even if Lucas was made of iron, he still needed to sleep.
The journey had turned into a two-person shift, with one steering the ship while the other took a nap in the captain's cabin when tired.
The nightmare on Nightmare seemed to only haunt the captain, as Seraphina didn't mention having any nightmares herself.
During the journey, Lucas kept an eye on the world chat channel, hoping to buy some food.
But he was destined for disappointment.
Because of the storm, most players were running low on food and wouldn't sell.
The few who had food were the lucky ones who made it out of the storm zone, but the prices were sky-high and impossible to get.
Lucas messaged a few of them, but after over ten minutes, all he got back was: "Sold out!"
Some didn't reply at all...
It was true hunger marketing—if you couldn't buy it, you'd starve to death!
"I can't keep going like this!" Lucas sat up from the captain's cabin, his stomach growling incessantly.
Now it was Seraphina steering the ship, and the wind had reached level 11. Anyone standing on deck had to crouch slightly to keep their balance.
Their clothes were still damp, constantly giving off a salty, fishy smell.
"I need food! If I lose all my strength, it'll be over!" Lucas thought to himself, eating a vitality coconut, drinking all the coconut water, and even finishing the coconut flesh.
But coconuts didn't fill him up—he needed high-energy food to sustain him!
After thinking for a while, the only way Lucas could think of to get food was to fish.
And he just so happened to have a fishing rod.
"Seraphina, we'll starve to death if this keeps up! I'll try fishing, you keep steering the ship!" Lucas messaged her.
"Alright!" Seraphina replied without hesitation.
Lucas took the fishing rod and went to the ship's center to find a suitable spot to cast.
As the saying goes, the bigger the storm, the bigger the fish...
Well, in this case, it seemed like the bigger the storm, the weirder the fish... or maybe just the bigger the fish.
But Lucas underestimated how difficult it would be to fish in a storm.
The boat rocked back and forth, the waves crashing, and the float bobbing out of sight. There was no sign of any fish biting.
An hour passed, and Lucas was close to unlocking the Human Meat Fishing Achievement, but he hadn't caught a thing.
Two hours passed, and still no catch. Lucas was beginning to feel irritated.
He opened the world chat channel and sent out a message.
"Has anyone tried fishing?"
He attached a photo of fishing in the storm.
"Fishing? You still have time for that? Aren't you dodging the floating obstacles?" someone replied.
That's right—only Lucas had time to fish, while everyone else had to watch out for debris.
"If you catch a mermaid, I'll eat you!" another person joked.
In truth, if Lucas caught a sea demon, he wasn't sure who would eat who!
After a flurry of playful replies, one message stood out—it seemed to be from an experienced fisherman.
"The waves are too high, the fish are deep down. Your float won't work at all! If you want to fish, remove the float, extend the line, and hang a heavy object to sink it deeper."
Lucas had an epiphany. He immediately adjusted the fishing line, removed the float, and attached a small piece of stone to the hook.
After all, in this world, you didn't need bait...
Half an hour later, there was finally a reaction—the fishing line began to spin wildly.
Lucas yanked the rod, and a tremendous force nearly pulled him overboard. He quickly braced himself with his foot against the ship's edge to keep from falling into the sea.
He continued to pull, but the other side had stopped struggling.
"What's going on? Did the line break?"
Lucas leaned over to check.
He saw a red glow rising from the depths of the sea, growing closer. It was a red light, the size of a fist.
"What's this?" Lucas immediately became alert and drew out his flintlock rifle.
Before he could react, a shark leaped from the water and charged at him.
It was a Bullhead Shark, about a meter long, with a smooth, red body, sleek like a missile.
Its head was flat like a shovel, with two eyeballs hanging on either side, glowing red in the darkness.
But what was even stranger was that it had two muscular hind legs, like the back legs of a frog.
[This fish seems off, your sanity decreases by 5.]
The shark crashed out of the water, opening its gaping maw to bite Lucas.
Luckily, Lucas was prepared. He quickly dropped to the ground and dodged, simultaneously firing his rifle.
"Bang!"
A burst of flames erupted.
The shot was powerful, and it split the shark cleanly in two, the size of an adult's waist.
But it wasn't dead yet. The upper half kept wriggling, trying to bite Lucas.
Lucas grabbed the Sea Serpent's Fang and, waiting for the right moment, jumped on top of it.
Thrust! Thrust!
After two solid strikes, the shark finally stopped moving.
Name: Bullhead Demon Shark
Type: Food
Description: A Bullhead Shark corrupted by the abyss. It is cruel and bloodthirsty. Its meat can be eaten or used in a gacha game. (If eaten, it cannot be used for gacha—choose one.)
Warning: This is a social creature. If you find one, there's likely a whole group nearby.
Reading the description, Lucas's pupils contracted, and he quickly looked back toward the sea.
Red lantern-like lights were flashing, more and more of them closing in on Nightmare.
They didn't mourn for their fallen kin at all. They rose from the sea, exposing their fins, seemingly trying to jump onto the Nightmare.
There were probably close to a hundred of them.
"Seraphina, we have a problem!" Lucas immediately ran toward the bow deck.
Seraphina also noticed something was wrong. She abandoned the wheel and rushed to join Lucas.
Another Bullhead Demon Shark leapt onto the deck.
These sharks were capable of limited movement on land, using their hind legs like frogs, though they were slow and could only jump about one or two meters at a time.
But with so many of them, it was impossible to fight them off!
Lucas studied the sharks carefully and suddenly had an idea.