Cave Refuge

If the first wave of octopuses had merely been the appetizer before a fierce battle, then the second creature to climb onto the deck was not easy to deal with.

Just as the attention of the majority was fixated on the deck's edge, someone noticed several whooshing sounds from above the deck.

When the crowd on the deck looked up, they discovered objects resembling stone piers plummeting from the sky.

After this realization, before the martial artists on the deck could react, the rapid acceleration of their Companion Spiritual Treasures underfoot made almost everyone sway and nearly fall over.

By the time everyone steadied themselves and regained their balance, a wave of murderous gazes enveloped Ye Liuyun. Seeing the indignant looks from others, Ye Liuyun could only offer a somewhat helpless explanation, "I figured those things falling from the sky looked heavy.

If they were to smash onto the deck, and should the deck fail to withstand and get punctured, those hiding in the cabins, the old, the weak, the women and children would definitely suffer damage. So, for the sake of those frail and incapacitated, we couldn't just let those things fall directly onto the deck."

Hearing Ye Liuyun's explanation, people reluctantly accepted it. Just as everyone's attention returned to the deck's edge, on guard for whatever monster might climb aboard next, Dong Tianyu suddenly recalled something.

Then Dong Tianyu immediately addressed Ye Liuyun, "Did you just move the ship?"

Hearing Dong Tianyu ask about this matter again, perhaps because he saw that his previous explanation had been accepted by the others, Ye Liuyun spoke with justified confidence, "I did move the ship just now, and I've already said, haven't I? The sudden movement was to prevent those things from the sky from breaking through the deck. That's already the past, so why can't you let it go? What exactly do you want?"

Seeing Ye Liuyun grow agitated as he spoke, Dong Tianyu spoke in a soothing tone, "Don't be hasty; I'm not trying to cause trouble. Do you remember when I spoke of my previous experiences, I mentioned that after the Companion Spiritual Treasure was surrounded by coffins, it was completely immobilized and trapped on the spot?"

Hearing Dong Tianyu's reminder, Ye Liuyun suddenly realized his oversight. When he saw those big objects falling from the sky, he'd momentarily forgotten about Dong Tianyu's words regarding the issue of the Companion Spiritual Treasure being immobilized by the coffins.

But when he calculated that all the things falling from the sky were going to hit his deck, he subconsciously wanted to move the ship to avoid the aerial attack, and in his excitement, he indeed forgot what Dong Tianyu had said.

After figuring this out, Ye Liuyun asked in disbelief, "Are you sure those coffins would stop the Companion Spiritual Treasure from moving forward?"

Hearing Ye Liuyun's question, Dong Tianyu rolled his eyes irritably, "I'm standing right here with you; I wouldn't choose to put my own safety at risk just to deceive you."

"But, but, but."

As Ye Liuyun stuttered, Dong Tianyu had already roughly guessed the key information and then said to Ye Liuyun, "Stop fussing. If my guess is correct, your ship should be temporarily unaffected by the movement now."

Hearing Dong Tianyu's words and learning from the previous lesson, Ye Liuyun first cautiously tried to move forward, then gradually increased speed.

Just as Ye Liuyun thought he could directly leave this area covered by coffins and looked overjoyed, the ship suddenly hit something and came to a complete stop, causing everyone on board to tumble haphazardly due to inertia.

Once the people on the deck steadied themselves again, those looks wanting to cleave someone with a knife fell upon Ye Liuyun once more. Sensing the inexplicable chill, Ye Liuyun awkwardly laughed and said, "Don't blame me; it wasn't intentional, I have no idea why it suddenly stopped."

By this time, Zachary had already used his Divine Sense to scan the area above the water near the ship's bow. When he saw that all the coffins in front of the bow were unopened, it once again confirmed the conjecture in Zachary's mind.

Ye Liuyun noticed that Zachary, by her side, did not show any intention of violence, and to avoid being the focus of others, she quickly started a conversation, "Zachary, have you discovered something?"

Zachary had not noticed Ye Liuyun's ulterior motives, so when he heard her question, he responded candidly, "If I'm not mistaken, those floating coffin lids on the surface of the water will directly block the progress of the Companion Spiritual Treasure if they remain closed. However, if the lids have been opened, then they will no longer have any effect on the Companion Spiritual Treasure."

After hearing Zachary's analysis, the group on the deck first checked the coffins floating on the water near the stern, then rushed to the bow to confirm the status of the coffins floating in the nearby waters.

"Zachary, you're indeed correct. If that's the case, then our current departure from these waters doesn't need to be as troublesome as the ordeal your original fleet faced," Ye Liuyun commented.

Indeed, what Ye Liuyun said was correct; the newly discovered method of departure was much more convenient compared to the original arduous exit strategy. However, there was still a most critical issue that hadn't been considered.

That was the need to open the floating coffin lids on the water's surface before leaving. Other matters could be discussed further, but the main concern was how to deal with the monsters that would emerge from the coffins.

As the ship moved forward just now, Zachary noticed another thing: no monsters were able to climb onto the deck and attack them during the movement of the ship.

Following this line of thought, the ship was trapped by the coffins that surfaced only when the vessels were completely stationary. If this theory was to be continued, as long as the ship maintained movement on the surface of the water, then theoretically, they would not face the awkward predicament of being trapped by the coffins again.

Most fear stems from the unknown, and perhaps because the rules regarding the surfacing coffins had been understood, the atmosphere on the deck was no longer as tense as it had been initially.

Just as everyone on the deck was discussing how to leave, it seemed that everyone had collectively forgotten one thing—that in the beginning, they were not only imprisoned by the Coffin Sea but also attacked by Water Elementals.

However, no one had considered that the coffins that surfaced from the depths did not sign any sort of invulnerability pact or similar agreement with the Water Elementals that resided in the water.

Zachary and the others should indeed be thankful to the Water Elementals; without their appearance, they would not have gained a deeper understanding of the coffins floating on the surface of the water.

While everyone on deck was enthusiastically discussing how to leave more simply and quickly, the forgotten Water Elementals taught them a harsh lesson.

Although individual Water Elementals were small, one should not forget that the water was their home field. When a group of them gathered on one side of the ship and stood in the water, working together to try to overturn the Companion Spiritual Treasure,

if not for the inadequate number and insufficient strength of the Water Elementals, due to the slow speed at which they raised one side of the ship, the people on deck quickly noticed the tilt and all moved to the elevated side, attempting to counterbalance with their combined weight.

They also managed to spot those little ones under the ship while stabilizing the vessel and used various long-range attacks to promptly disrupt their action of lifting the ship.

Otherwise, these inconspicuous little ones might indeed have caused a catastrophic destruction and loss. After all, everyone from Ye Liuyun's original fleet was on board, and they were still in the midst of the Coffin Sea. If the ship was overturned, both the loss of life and material resources would have been considerable.