NOVEL NEXT chapter 66
Not long after Yang Yi steps outside, Suna gets up too.
She opens her door, and a blast of frigid sea wind slaps her right in the face. And then… she decisively slams the door shut.
10 minutes later, the door creaks open again.
This time, Suna is fully armed for war against the cold, wearing a wool sweater and pants, a fluffy cotton hat, and a pair of long-pile boots. Her witch uniform might offer some magical warmth, but it’s got nothing on good old-fashioned winter gear.
Yang Yi, being the sharp-eyed bastard he is, quickly notices a key detail—Suna has puffed up a full size—and can’t resist a little jab.
“Is it really that cold? We haven’t even entered the Extreme Winter Sea yet.”
Suna doesn't bother answering him, tacitly admitting she's a total wuss when it comes to the cold.
Meanwhile, Yang Yi is doing his morning exercise in the courtyard. Ever since acquiring Iron Breaker, he's gotten into a new habit: every day, he has to try and lift the colossal blade, which doubles as a great way to train his strength. And he's noticed that since he started using the Appetite Potion, his constitution experience is shooting up, and he's definitely getting stronger. So he needs to work out, to make sure he doesn't bloat up like a goddamn beach ball.
………
After his workout, Yang Yi heads over to check on the fish jerky he's got curing. Another day or two, and they should be perfectly hard.
Ever since discovering the wonders of his skeletal arms, Yang Yi has become a goddamn evil capitalist, driving these boney arms to smoke fish jerky and air-dry eyeball fruit day and night. 24/7, no breaks, because it's not like the undead are going to complain about being tired. Even if they wanted to, they don’t have fucking mouths.
After his inspection, Yang Yi decides to do some fishing. He’d actually tried to get the skeletal arms to do it, but the damn things are too stupid to know when to pull the rod, so that was a bust. Fishing was a job he had to do himself.
An entire morning passes, and he hasn't caught a goddamn thing. This is probably also an effect of the Extreme Winter Sea.
It isn't until the afternoon that he finally gets a bite. He yanks the rod instantly.
“Whoa, this thing’s a big one!”
Yang Yi pulls with all his might and is nearly dragged into the fucking ocean. He changes tactics, loosening the line to let it run for a bit, then yanking it back, starting a war of attrition with whatever the hell was on the line.
“What the hell is this?”
A big, grayish-white disk is pulled to the surface, covered in translucent, jelly-like tentacles. With a mighty heave, Yang Yi hoists the meter-wide disk onto the deck. Only then does he get a clear look at what it is.
It was a massive jellyfish, yanked up upside-down. Its head was a large disk that seemed to be a bony structure, incredibly hard. Yang Yi pokes it a dozen times with his spear, and it finally stops moving for good.
【Name：Ironcrown Jellyfish】
【Description：A giant jellyfish whose head has been hardened by Abyssal corruption. Being stung by its tentacles will cause pain for days. Edible and non-toxic after being heated. The jellyfish's head-shell is extremely hard, high in calcium and iron, very sturdy, and heat-resistant.】
“Heat-resistant, too? Isn't this just a fucking pot?”
Yang Yi had been needing a pot, and now he’d fished one out of the sea.
He lugs the Ironcrown Jellyfish over, has his skeletal arms clear a space, and then places it head-down on the campfire to roast. Soon, the jellyfish's body begins to melt, turning into a puddle of goo that starts to boil and bubble.
Yang Yi takes a tentative sip, tastes absolutely nothing, and then his tongue goes completely numb.
“Did this thing grow up chewing on Sichuan peppercorns or what?”
He was about to toss it, but then it hit him—this stuff could be used like a numbing oil! So he bottles up the melted jellyfish. The remaining Ironcrown skullcap would serve perfectly as a pot.
Evening approaches.
Yang Yi has caught nothing else, so he gives up on fishing and goes back to exercising. Suddenly, he notices a change on the sea chart. An island has appeared on the upper right. Even though only a corner is visible, he can tell it’s probably a decent size. He grabs his crystal ball to get a better look.
We're this close to the Extreme Winter Sea, how did we just stumble upon an island? After a moment's thought, he decides to head over and check it out. Ignoring an entire island just feels like the wrong move.
He changes course and sails toward it. The sea chart begins to reveal the island’s full shape. Yang Yi had misjudged; the island wasn't as big as he thought. It was long and slender, shaped like a spindle, slightly wider in the middle. The whole thing was about 10 kilometers long and 2 kilometers across at its widest point. Bigger than that spider island from before, but not by a whole lot.
There are no other player ships nearby, so an ambush is unlikely. Yang Yi continues to approach.
Before nightfall, the Nyxstar halts about two nautical miles from the island. He pulls out his binoculars to observe, then lets out a surprised yelp.
“Huh! How did a ship get on this island? Did the wind blow it here?”
“Wait a second!”
Yang Yi tenses up. On the shoreline, he spots a pair of glowing green eyes! But the light is too dim to see what the hell it is, though it’s probably some kind of beast. He switches to his left eye, the one with night vision.
“Plaid shirt… is that guy a player?” Yang Yi is a little shocked. “But why the hell is he crawling on the ground?”
Something feels very wrong. He «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» decides to call Suna to take a look.
“Suna, get to the foredeck, quick,” he sends in a message.
“What’s wrong?”
“I found an island. And there's a player with a face full of hair crawling around on it!”
“I’ll be right there!”
Suna comes flying, snatches the binoculars from Yang Yi's hand, and peers through them. Yang Yi, meanwhile, stares at the crystal ball, puzzled. If that… thing used to be a player, then where’s his ship? There’s no way he could have swum here.
Suna watches with rapt fascination for a good while before finally lowering the binoculars.
“His body’s definitely mutated. A normal person's arms aren't that long! …I'll have to catch one for dissection…”
“Tomorrow. It’s too late tonight!”
Yang Yi pilots the Nyxstar away from the island.
Later that night, he lies in his bed in the captain's quarters, thinking about the weirdo on the island. Unlike Suna, he isn't interested in the creature’s bodily changes. He’s stuck on why he couldn’t find its ship. After thinking for a long time, he comes up with three possibilities.
First, its ship was dismantled by other players.
Second, its ship can turn invisible.
Third, its ship vanished after he died.
All three are plausible. As for the last possibility, Yang Yi theorizes it’s some kind of system recycling mechanism. After a player dies, their ship doesn’t stick around forever; it disappears after a certain amount of time.
“System recycling? But if it’s a unique ship, wouldn’t it become a limited edition, gone forever since there’s only one? Or maybe after it's recycled, the blueprints show up again in some other form?”
Yang Yi had no idea, but maybe he’d find out one day.