Chapter 44: New Mission

An eighth-level ship was no joke.

With the deep, dark sea stretching on both sides, Sules couldn’t even see the end of the ship.

It was also very tall—the ship’s walls were about five people high.

The entire hull of the ship seemed to be made from the hardest Sea Steel Gold on Mercury, remaining incorruptible underwater for centuries.

Just by looking at the exterior, no one would guess this was a sunken ship lost for who knows how long; it might have even seemed like it had just fallen into the sea.

Although she couldn’t see inside, judging by how intact it was, this eighth-level ship could be salvaged and used directly.

Unfortunately, there was practically nothing capable of raising such a massive vessel from the depths.

As soon as Sules got close to the hull, she felt as if the water around her had lost its buoyancy.

She could no longer swim upward.

Apart from the water’s touch, it felt no different from air.

Seeing no one else showed any unusual expression, Sules immediately guessed what was going on.

This eighth-level ship ruin, functioning as a secret dungeon instance, must be restricting upward swimming.

When she played Return to the Sea, entering a dungeon instance was exactly like this—a space similar to air.

She had thought such a mechanic wouldn’t exist in real life, but it seemed it was faithfully copied here.

Zhanm led everyone, feeling along the ship’s wall until they quickly found the entrance.

Usually, the walls of an eighth-level ship had automatic defense devices.

Climbing the hull to trigger traps, then descending only to end up somewhere unknown wasn’t a good idea.

It was better to be honest and enter through the entrance—at least that way they wouldn’t be so passive.

For ships this tall, there was generally a ship door to facilitate crew entry and exit.

After finding the door, Zhanm turned to the mechanic Old Jack. “Jack, can you try opening this door?”

Old Jack nodded and walked over with his wrench, tapping here and pounding there.

Under the lantern light, he found a gap, unscrewed the bolts with his wrench, and quickly signaled everyone to step back.

“Rumble!”

With a loud noise accompanied by a cloud of dust, the double-width door fell to the ground, revealing a staircase leading directly into the depths of the ruins.

Generally speaking, the gates of an eighth-level ship wouldn’t open so easily. But this ship had been corroded underwater for too long.

Although the hull was still intact thanks to its material, small parts like screws had long since deteriorated.

That was why Old Jack could open it with such ease.

Zhanm glanced back, then casually pointed to someone.

“You—yeah, you—lead the way inside.”

The man who was named froze for a moment, then shouted in shock, “Captain! Captain, you can’t do this! I’ve been with you for a while—don’t make me cannon fodder!”

Hearing this, Su Lesi knew the man was doomed.

As an old crew member, if he had a better excuse, Zhanm might have replaced him.

But by disrespecting Zhanm like this, he was on a dead-end road.

Sure enough, a cold glint flashed in Zhanm’s eyes as he ordered mercilessly, “Don’t you take me, your captain, lightly? I’m ordering you to take point. Refuse again, and I’m sure you won’t like the consequences.”

Just then, a fifth-level martial artist beside him stepped forward.

Everyone clearly remembered how this warrior fought sharks barehanded; no one dared to bring him bad luck.

The man realized he had misspoken, blaming his earlier panic.

Though extremely reluctant, he forced a smile and nodded, jogging forward.

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”

Facing the seemingly endless staircase, the man swallowed hard and climbed step by step.

Reaching the top, he saw a wide deck ahead and finally relaxed a bit before stepping onto it.

The next moment, Sules saw the man suddenly lean backward and fall.

Everyone was startled and let out quiet gasps, stepping back cautiously.

The fifth-level martial artist examined him and said calmly, “He triggered a trap above. Looks like a tripwire.”

An arrow was embedded through the man’s head—clearly the cause of death.

Although they had lost someone right at the start, Zhanm remained unshaken.

Turning to the group, he asked, “In that case, rushing up recklessly won’t do. Anyone have ideas?”

His earlier display had clearly served as a warning. Everyone was trembling, afraid to answer.

Zhanm raised an eyebrow and added, “Anyone with a useful suggestion won’t have to be the first to go up.”

Being the “first to go up” was a polite way of saying cannon fodder.

Everyone understood the implication and immediately began thinking.

Su Lesi’s eyes flickered as she raised her hand.

“Captain Zhanm, I think the ship’s supply of arrows must be limited. If we put a target up there to soak all the arrows, then we can go up safely.”

That was a good idea.

Zhanm deliberately asked, “So, who do you think should be the target?”

Everyone looked nervously at Sules, worried the blame might suddenly fall on them.

Unfazed, Su Lesi said naturally, “Of course, a block of wood or something. There are plenty of trees nearby; I’m sure you have a way to chop some down.”

Everyone relaxed at her words.

Zhanm gave Su Lesi a half-smile and nodded toward the martial artist beside him, signaling him to follow her suggestion.

Nearby was an underwater forest.

The martial artist quickly returned with a wooden figure taller than a person and carved it roughly into a human shape with his bare hands.

Zhanm nodded and looked back at Sules.

“Since it was Captain Su’s idea, you’re the one to carry this wooden figure up and test if it works.”

Sules frowned, suspicious.

This old man was definitely targeting her.

Could Anthony have snitched?

But if so, Zhanm could have just forced her to bind with him outright—after all, Zhanm was in an absolute position of power on this ship.

If it wasn’t that, why was Zhanm so openly singling her out?

Whatever the reason, she thought, let the chips fall where they may.

Any conspiracies would reveal themselves eventually.

After some thought, Sules said sincerely, “Sorry, Captain, I’m too weak to carry that piece of wood.”

This wasn’t a lie.

At best, she had the strength of a normal adult woman—there was no way she could carry a two-meter-tall solid wooden figure.

Zhanm looked at the wood, then at Sules, as if judging her honesty.

After a moment, he gave up his earlier plan and pointed at the young captain.

“Then you. Give it a try.”

Seeing his choice, Sules raised an eyebrow and had a sudden realization—it wasn’t just her being targeted, but all the crew.

Because of the previous cannon fodder’s fate, the young captain dared not refuse Zhanm’s order.

As an adult man, he couldn’t say he was too weak like Sules; he had to grit his teeth and go.

Fortunately, Sules’s plan worked well.

Placing the wooden figure on the deck, it attracted the trap’s full firepower.

Soon, the figure was riddled with arrows, looking like a porcupine.

The young captain felt the attacks had stopped but dared not move.

After a while, he peeked out and confirmed the arrow storm had ceased.

“Captain Zhanm! It should be safe now! I’m coming down!” he called, beginning to descend.

Zhanm stopped him.

“Hey, wait. Since you think it’s safe, go back up to the deck. We’ll follow you.”

The young captain was almost in tears.

“No… please, Captain Zhanm, I’ve already…”

Before he could finish, the buzz-cut martial artist stepped forward.

His imposing figure silenced the young captain’s complaints, forcing him to say, “I’m going now.”

If he went up now, he might survive.

But if he came down, the martial artist would likely kill him.

This wasn’t his first voyage with Zhanm; he knew how ruthless Zhanm could be.

He took a deep breath, looked at the broad deck at the top, and summoned his courage to step onto it.

“Safe? Safe!”

After waiting a few seconds with his eyes closed, he shouted excitedly, “I’m fine! There shouldn’t be any more traps here! Hurry up—ah!”

Suddenly, the young captain let out a piercing scream and fell silent.

“What happened?”

“Is he okay?”

“My god, are there still dangers up there?”

The sudden commotion filled everyone with fear and unease.

The towering ship walls seemed all the more mysterious, hiding countless unknown dangers within.

“Rick! Are you okay?”

Captain Zhanm called out.

Rick—the young captain’s name—responded with a somewhat ethereal voice from above after a second.

“I’m fine. I just slipped. Hurry up and come up; it’s safe now.”

Hearing this, everyone finally relaxed.

Zhanm waved his hand.

“Then let’s go up.”

But before leading the way, he cautiously sent another sailor ahead first.

As they stepped onto the deck, Sules heard the system notification sound in her ear:

“Ding! Congratulations, player, you have activated a system quest. Please check the system panel for details.”

Su Lesi glanced around and quickly opened the system panel.

Quest: Successfully disembark from the ship

Reward: A random undiscovered treasure

Failure penalty: Death

She sucked in a sharp breath and immediately wanted to leave the ship.

However, she suddenly realized the previously intact door had vanished, leaving only the hard ship wall.

She grimaced, realizing things were serious.

Giving up on the unrealistic idea, Sules refocused on reality.

Rick was already up there, but she frowned as she looked at him.

For some reason, Sules felt Rick was oddly excited.

Of course, she never judged things subjectively.

Her feeling came from the uncontrollable upward curl of his lips and the tension in his cheekbones.