NOVEL NEXT chapter 92
Yang Yi rubbed grease over all his frostbitten areas, and immediately felt much better.
He leaned closer and sniffed—it had a pleasant fragrance, not pungent at all.
Then he put on his shoes and sent Suna a private message.
“By the way, I’m making some bread porridge. Want some?”
“No!” Suna replied instantly.
“You’ve got a cold. Eating something warm will help.”
“But your cooking tastes awful!”
“Really?” Yang Yi scratched his head.
He thought it tasted fine—after all, most of the pot had gone into his stomach last time.
To verify, he decided not to take any appetite potion this time. He cooked a small portion of porridge and tried a spoonful.
“Pffft! How can it taste this bad?”
Yang Yi’s face darkened.
He finally understood why Suna had looked so pained before—not because she was sick, but because his food was truly disgusting.
“Looks like adding pepper oil to bread porridge was a terrible idea…”
After a moment of regretful reflection, he still forced himself to finish it.
Couldn’t let food go to waste!
Checking the time, he saw there were still two hours until sunset—just enough to cast a few lines and test out his new Pale Worm Fishing Rod.
The rod guaranteed a 100% catch rate once per day, even in the depths of the frozen seas.
He found a spot in the ship’s central deck sheltered from the wind, sat down, and began to fish.
The hook, baited with a pale worm, arced through the air and splashed into the icy water.
What would he catch this time?
Yang Yi was full of anticipation.
About half an hour later, the rod jerked sharply, and the reel began to spin fast.
With a swift tug, Yang Yi pulled up a fish onto the deck.
It had four legs, a sleek, slender body, and intelligent-looking eyes—a long-legged sardine!
“Damn it!”
Yang Yi couldn’t help himself; he slammed the rod onto the deck.
“Again?! Enough already!”
He looked up at the sky, feeling a pure, malicious intent—like some cosmic curse mocking him.
Could it be that this “guaranteed first catch” was always a long-legged sardine?
Impossible!
And yet… by nightfall, he hadn’t caught a second fish. Without the rod’s effect, he’d have been completely skunked.
Unwilling to give up, he checked his fishing net—only to haul up a mess of crushed ice.
In this frozen sea, fish stocks had plummeted. The nets were practically useless.
Relying on fishing to survive was a fantasy now.
Yang Yi sighed, browsed the trade chat, and bought two scarves.
[Type: Treasure]
[Quality: Fine]
[Description: A warm, windproof scarf that covers the neck and face. Very comfortable.]
He’d wanted a waterproof one, but none were for sale, so he settled for this.
Total cost: 2,000 conch coins.
After leaving one scarf in Suna’s room for her, he resumed steering the ship toward the White Mist.
Two days later, Suna’s cold had completely healed.
In about a day, Nyxstar would reach the White Mist zone.
The temperature had dropped further—to minus 22°C.
Suna and Yang Yi had resumed their alternating night watch routine:
Suna took the first half, Yang Yi the second.
It was safer that way—though it left little energy for physical training.
During these days, Yang Yi had also fished up a new species:
a strange sea urchin caught by a pale worm.
[Name: Ice Urchin]
[Description: A special sea urchin tainted by the Abyss. Found only in frozen seas.
Its semi-transparent shell is formed from its own secretions, extremely hard.
Delicious and non-toxic—best eaten raw.]
Yang Yi hadn’t dared touch it with his hands at first.
Using two sticks to lift it up, he obtained its information.
“Good stuff—finally something new to eat!”
He roasted it lightly to melt the icy shell and scooped out the urchin’s golden meat—
though this one’s “gold” was actually pale blue.
He tasted it first: sweet, delicate, and melting on the tongue.
He saved half for Suna and ate the rest himself.
That afternoon, Yang Yi blasted apart an iceberg and discovered another pale worm hiding inside.
After a few confirming shots, he dragged the carcass aboard.
It was smaller than the previous two, but should yield about 300 liters of grease—plenty.
By evening, Yang Yi returned to the captain’s cabin to rest.
As usual, he checked the world chat before sleeping.
Most messages were meaningless chatter—complaints about the cold or poor fishing. He ignored them.
Supply prices had risen slightly, especially wood, needed for both heating and ship repairs.
Food prices, however, had doubled—since fishing yields had crashed, everyone’s rations were running tight.
Yang Yi wasn’t worried; Nyxstar was well-stocked with both food and lumber.
After scanning a bit more and finding no intel about the White Mist, he rolled over and fell asleep.
He still had the second half of the night watch later.
Then came the nightmare.
Just like before—he burned, turned into a man of fire, skin sizzling, the smell of scorched oil thick in the air...
The agony of being burned alive gnawed at his sanity.
Suddenly, he felt a hand touch his forehead.
He jolted awake and grabbed it instinctively.
“You were having a nightmare.”
It was Suna.
She’d somehow snuck in and now stood beside his bed, hand still on his forehead.
“I’m fine,” Yang Yi said, exhaling as he released her hand.
He glanced at the small hole in the wall—
so that’s how she got in.
The captain’s cabin door could only be unlocked by him, and he remembered locking it.
“You’ve been having nightmares constantly,” she said seriously.
“Once or twice is fine, but if this keeps up, you’ll lose your mind.”
“Relax. I’m the last person who’d go crazy.”
Yang Yi waved it off and sat up.
But Suna wasn’t convinced.
From her perspective, his mental state was already on edge,
even if he couldn’t feel it himself.
“Drink this. It’ll help you sleep.”
She handed him a vial filled with a beautiful sapphire-blue liquid.
[Name: Sleep Elixir]
[Type: Consumable / Potion / Unique]
[Quality: Rare]
[Description: An original potion by witch Suna.
Brewed from holy water and bile from a pale worm larva.
Induces dreamless sleep. Upon waking: +20 Sanity, +50% Sanity Recovery Speed, lasting one sleep cycle.
Warning: causes drowsiness immediately.]
“You made this…?” Yang Yi blinked in surprise.
He hadn’t expected Suna to be capable of such a potion—
and holy water? Where had she gotten that?
“Go on. Drink it,” she urged.
“Nah, I just woke up,” he said, getting out of bed.
“It also works by subcutaneous injection,” she murmured absently, rummaging through her bag.
Yang Yi froze for a moment—then, wordlessly, took the elixir from her.
“Remember to turn on the Twilight Veil.”
With that, he drank it down.
It was smooth, surprisingly sweet—almost too sweet, overpowering even.
He hadn’t known potions could «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» taste like candy.
A wave of drowsiness washed over him.
Before long, Yang Yi drifted back into sleep.