Chapter 377: Abandoned Cruise Ship
Lin Ye used the waves to quickly row the small wooden boat toward the depths of the sea. In the pitch-black water below, vague shapes could be seen swimming.
"Aren't you hungry? I'm starting to feel a bit hungry."
The old man looked at the dark sea water, unsure if there were any fish here that could serve as food.
"I'm fine. Don't get too excited. Intense emotional fluctuations will speed up energy consumption. And you should be more worried about drinking water. Starving to death is pretty difficult;
dying of thirst is much easier."
Surrounded by dark sea water on all sides, Lin Ye didn't know which direction to row either, so he could only follow the waves, rowing away from the coastline.
"I can't stay as calm as you... Can't we drink this sea water either?"
The old man wanted to lick a water droplet that had splashed onto his hand.
"Don't be in such a hurry to die. Let me row a while longer. If we still can't find land, then you can try."
The sea water here contained spiritual energy. Lin Ye was afraid he would undergo Alienation after drinking it, and then Lin Ye would have to deal with the consequences.
"You're the boss." The old man leaned against Lin Ye's back, using his shoe to scoop out the stagnant water accumulated in the boat's hull. The wooden boat had limited freeboard after all. No matter how skilled Lin Ye was, he couldn't prevent waves from splashing into the boat.
Lin Ye rowed the wooden boat with great effort. Even using various techniques to conserve stamina, he was starting to get tired.
This body's physical stamina was so poor that Lin Ye began to question how it had even become a D-Class personnel.
Fortunately, the Spiritual Energy Concentration in the environment was gradually increasing. Lin Ye could absorb spiritual energy to slowly strengthen this body.
Suddenly, a dark shadow shot out from under the water. It was extremely fast, aiming straight for Lin Ye's head.
Lin Ye forcibly used a Severing rune, manipulating a spiritual energy blade to slice through that dark shadow.
"Are you okay?!"
Seeing Lin Ye clutching his head and collapsing in the boat, the old man asked nervously.
"...Fine... You lie down in the boat too... It's not safe here."
Lin Ye, barely enduring the intense pain in his head, managed to say.
This body simply couldn't support him using mental energy to control external spiritual energy, especially not this kind of high-intensity, short-duration usage.
The thing that attacked Lin Ye was a small, pitch-black fish. The black fish, cut in two, fell into the boat and was still twitching.
"...Can I try it? If I don't eat something soon, I don't think I'll make it until tomorrow morning."
The old man lay in the stagnant water, feeling cold all over.
"Up to you... Leave half for me."
Lin Ye was also almost at his limit. This body was even more fragile than when he was a teenager.
The old man stuffed the half of the black fish with the fish tail into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed it.
"How does it taste? How do you feel?"
Lin Ye lay on his back in the wooden boat, letting it drift with the waves. Even as the boat spun in the waves, he could still determine the direction of the coastline.
"Tastes pretty good. After eating it, I feel a bit more comfortable."
The old man looked at the fish head in Lin Ye's hand and swallowed hard.
Lin Ye took a bite of the fish meat. The fish meat seemed fine and was rich in spiritual energy.
After eating the fish head, Lin Ye felt a bit better. His head didn't hurt as much either.
"If the fish is okay, does that mean the sea water is okay too?"
The old man hadn't given up on using sea water to quench his thirst.
"If the sea water could replenish water, then eating the fish would also replenish water. There's no need to drink the sea water."
The black fish were creatures from this sea. Eating the fish naturally involved contact with sea water, but the amount was small. Lin Ye didn't think drinking sea water was completely risk-free.
"Cough, you're the boss... But if things continue like this, we might not make it until tomorrow morning."
The old man felt somewhat unwell. Getting a fever in a place like this would be the end.
"It's fine. Eating more fish should make us feel better."
Lin Ye got up and continued rowing. This time, however, he prepared the setup for using the Severing rune in advance nearby. As long as he didn't use mental energy rapidly, it wouldn't cause too much impact on his brain.
Not long after, another black fish attacked Lin Ye. But this time he was prepared, and the black fish was cut in two by the spiritual energy blade.
The two shared the black fish. The old man regained some strength and got up to replace Lin Ye at rowing.
Lin Ye dealt with a few more black fish. He wanted to stockpile some food for unexpected needs.
"There's something ahead! Might be an island!"
The old man suddenly let out an excited cry.
Lin Ye turned to look in the direction the old man pointed. There was a massive shadow there, looking like part of an island.
He hurriedly rowed the wooden boat toward that shadow.
As they got closer, they realized that massive shadow wasn't an island at all, but a giant cruise ship floating on the sea's surface.
"Hey! We're here! Help!"
The old man shouted excitedly toward the cruise ship.
The cruise ship showed no reaction. Only the sound of waves could be heard around them, as if no one was on board.
Getting even closer, Lin Ye noticed the cruise ship was covered in rust marks, looking as if it had been abandoned for a long time.
The old man shut his mouth. He suddenly realized there wasn't a single normal thing here. This abandoned cruise ship was clearly problematic too.
Lin Ye steered the small wooden boat toward the cruise ship. No matter what trouble was on that ship, it was safer than staying on this wooden boat that could sink at any moment.
"Are we really going there?"
The old man felt this giant cruise ship was like a massive beast standing in the sea, ready to devour any vessel that approached it.
"Yes. We need to find a way back. Of course, if you don't want to go, you can stay here."
Lin Ye rowed the boat to the underside of the cruise ship. There was a metal ladder here that allowed boarding.
"No, I'll go up with you."
The old man certainly didn't want to become a second burly man.
The two climbed aboard the ship via the gangway ladder. The deck was eerily silent. Even the sound of the sea breeze had vanished.
Lin Ye cautiously stepped onto the deck. The deck structure was complex. Not far away was a dark passageway leading into the ship's interior.
"Do you smell that? There's a strange smell here I've never smelled before."
The old man sniffed the air, looking around, trying to locate the source of the smell.
"There's only the smell of sea breeze and rust here. No strange smell."
Lin Ye didn't smell what the old man described.
"How is that possible? The smell is so obvious here!"
The old man said excitedly.
"...Right."
Lin Ye gave a perfunctory reply. The moment they boarded the cruise ship, one of them had developed a problem.
"See! I'll go find the source of the smell!"
After saying that, the old man ran into the passageway leading to the ship's interior.
Lin Ye didn't stop him. This cruise ship had major issues. His current condition was average. If he acted recklessly, he could easily die here.
Even if the simulation failed, he needed to collect enough information before dying.
Lin Ye walked a circle around the deck. As far as he could see, there were no lifeboats or similar equipment. He wasn't very familiar with cruise ship structure and didn't know if this situation was normal.