Tan Xiaonan seemed very simple, even a bit naive. Usually, veteran scavengers wouldn't talk about their real lives during a mission.
But Tan Xiaonan did, and with a stranger she had only met ten minutes ago.
"I've still completed over twenty missions," she said, tidying her hair. "It's just that I've always survived by riding the coattails of others."
Nan Yue understood.
"I hope tomorrow's exploration goes smoothly."
Tan Xiaonan whispered, though it was unclear who she was making the wish to.
Nan Yue didn't mind her probing or her little schemes; she had also sought cooperation and help from Lan Jing Shui.
Wanting to rely on the strong wasn't something to be ashamed of.
It was only human nature.
As long as it wasn't taken too far, it was fine.
There were many entertainment facilities on the ship, but the scavengers had no desire to enjoy them, and most returned to their rooms.
The soundproofing in the cabins was poor, and movements in the corridor could be heard clearly. The scavengers in the rooms in front of and behind Nan Yue's had all returned.
In a daze, she heard Gu Xiang Kai and Long Qinghe chatting about previous missions.
Nothing special seemed to be happening.
Time passed quickly. The sun set late at sea, and it was nearly nine o'clock by the time they finished dinner. After a brief exploration of the cruise ship and a short rest in their rooms, midnight was not far off.
With about ten minutes left, people began appearing in the corridor one after another, and the scavengers started heading to the deck to gather.
Nan Yue and her team were no exception.
Although they had made preliminary contact with several scavengers, they still stood in small groups of two or three on the deck.
Even Tan Xiaonan, though not far from Nan Yue, did not enter their circle.
As midnight approached, most of the lights on the cruise ship were extinguished.
The once noisy and bustling cruise ship fell silent, reminding them of when they first entered the mission.
It was so quiet it felt as if no one was there.
The guests had all returned to their rooms to rest.
Soon, all the lights on the ship went out, leaving only a single oil lamp hanging from the mast at the bow.
No one had noticed this oil lamp before; the crew must have hung it while they were in their rooms.
It looked quite old—a black oil lamp with a flame flickering in the sea breeze.
In the silence, Nan Yue whispered, "It's midnight."
Whether it was a collective illusion or not, even the sound of the wind seemed to stagnate at that moment, and the entire space fell silent.
"Where's Steve? Isn't he coming to announce the start of the adventure?"
"Has it started now?"
"Didn't he say midnight? It should have started."
The twenty or so scavengers discussed in low voices. Nan Yue's group of four stood back-to-back, observing the four directions.
They were well aware that the exploration had already begun.
They just didn't know what the mission was yet.
"My god, look!"
A female scavenger cried out in alarm. In truth, everyone saw it without her needing to speak.
In the distance, where the sea met the sky, the once pitch-black horizon gradually began to brighten.
A blood-like red slowly stained the sky, even turning the seawater red.
"Is this... the aurora?"
The group didn't have a strong understanding of the aurora Steve had mentioned. At that moment, a woman's voice rang out.
"This is definitely not an aurora."
Auroras were blue-green, purple, or orange, but never this blood-red.
This was clearly not an aurora...
But as for what it was, Wen Xiang Yuan didn't know.
The crowd watched in stunned silence as the blood-red expanse gradually surrounded the ship. If the Devil's Bay had been traveling through darkness before, it was now sailing through a sea of blood.
"What kind of trial is this?" a scavenger asked, confused.
But in the next moment, as the sea breeze blew over, everyone smelled a thick scent of blood and rot.
Everyone's faces turned pale amidst the blood-red glow.
Splash, splash.
The sound of the waves gradually became strange, becoming...
Very rhythmic.
It was as if something was swimming around the ship.
Splash, splash.
The sound of those things splashing through the waves echoed around them like a prank, testing everyone's nerves.
Soon, the sky and the ocean were dominated by red, and they could see their surroundings clearly even without the oil lamp.
But when they saw clearly, several scavengers with poor psychological stability collapsed onto the deck.
They saw it. It wasn't a sea of blood, but...
Flesh and blood.
The Devil's Bay was sailing on a massive, boundless, mangled biological entity.
There was no sound of waves; those were the noises made when things broke through the flesh to emerge.
They were countless corpses that had died horrific deaths.
Countless bodies buried in the sea.
Some had half their bodies bitten off by fish, some were likely torn apart by propellers, and some had long since rotted away until only withered bones remained...
They swam through this massive, mangled mass of flesh, swimming toward the Devil's Bay.
"Ah!"
"They! They're climbing up!"
Compared to the visual and olfactory shock, what was even more terrifying was that when the seawater turned into flesh, it became very easy for those things to climb onto the ship.
A creaking and grinding sound came from the hull, making everyone's skin crawl.
Those things... were climbing up.
"Run!"
A man screamed and ran toward the cabins. Wen Xiang Yuan's face turned pale with fear, and she nudged Gu Xiang Kai behind her. "Should we... should we run?"
Nan Yue hadn't expected this situation. It seemed these things weren't coming on board just to chat.
But the ship was an enclosed space after all; where could they run?
Was the exploration about not letting these things catch them?
She thought about the cruise ship's layout, considering where they could buy some time.
But she soon realized that with so many things, it was unrealistic to hold out for an entire night.
A mangled humanoid figure soon climbed onto the deck. The nearest scavenger screamed and turned to flee in a panic.
However, she was already standing by the railing. As she dodged, she flipped right over, falling onto the mass of flesh with a scream.
The scavengers nearby watched as her body fused with the flesh the moment she touched it.
The woman let out a piercing shriek, but her body was gradually wrapped and undulated by the flesh until she was quickly swallowed and disappeared.
"She... she was eaten..." the man who saw her end said blankly.
They couldn't stay on the deck. Although she hadn't decided on a hiding place, Nan Yue intended to retreat into the cabins first.
If all else failed, they could go to the guests' rooms.
"A-Nan... no."
Nan Yue's hand was caught by Zhu Xi Ning. Her hand was ice-cold, but her voice was steady.
"I see... no way out."
Nan Yue could hardly believe her ears. "No way out?"
Zhu Xi Ning's voice was trembling slightly, but she still said, "Yes. There's no way out in the cabins or the sea."
"We can't leave this place."
Nan Yue fell silent for a moment, and in the next instant, black mist rose, enveloping the four of them within it.
Rate on N.U.
