Survival on the Internet: A Bizarre Start at Sea

"Hiss...this pattern...it looks so similar to the one on the back of my hand..."

Looking at the pattern left on the deck by the Deep One on the back of his hand, he felt a chill run down his spine.

The pattern, which should have been dark red, has somehow turned completely grayish-blue.

The pattern and the mark on the back of Su Zhisu's hand began to flash simultaneously.

As the patterns and markings became completely synchronized, an ancient and deep hum resounded, spreading into the depths of the strange sea.

A gray-blue beam of light shot into the sky from the deck of the Redemption!

"Boom!" A muffled thunderclap resounded.

As the first raindrop fell from the sky, a torrential downpour began to fall on the eerie sea shrouded in white mist!

[Current Area]: Sea of ​​Mysteries

[Time]: Day 7, 10:15 AM

[Environmental Conditions]: Fog blankets the area, torrential rain pours down, visibility is extremely low.

[World's Strangest Value]: 65↓

[Area Oddity Value]: *%￥&*@

After glancing at the environmental status information, the area's oddity value had turned into a jumble of gibberish.

"The big one is coming!"

He didn't know what this situation, which he had never seen before, meant, but he understood one thing.

In this situation, there's no use panicking; just do what you can.

Having encountered so many unexpected situations in a short period of time, my brain is somewhat numb.

Taking a deep breath, Su Zhisu forced herself to calm down.

Opening his personal panel and finding the ship interface, Su Zhixu viewed the ship information.

Name: Redemption

[Level: lv2]

[Sailing speed: 30 knots (auto-navigation) / 60 knots (with resource sacrifice)]

【Durability: 500/1100】(Repairable)

【Warehouse Capacity: 520/800】(Wood x250, Iron x100, Aggregate x50, Processed Pale Sunfish x5, Submerged Cannon x4, Concentrated Resentment x1, Deep One (Large) (Complete Specimen) x1, Crystallized Blood of the Strange Deep One x1, Mysterious Dust x95, Internet Disaster Coins x4000)

[Special Structures: Bizarre Fishing Rod, Spirit Offering Altar, Night Watch Lamp, Eerie Bone Arm]

[Resources required for upgrade]: 800 wood, 200 iron, 100 aggregate, and 1 any special material.

The warehouse is almost full, and the trading board is filled with countless [Pale Water Bags] and [Purified Strange Seawater] listings.

At the current speed of the Redemption, even if resources are sacrificed, it is impossible to leave this sea area in a short time at the fastest speed of 60 knots. So all that is left is to face it.

With less than half of the durability remaining, Su Zhisu noticed that the word "repairable" followed by "durability".

[Network Notice]: Do you want to spend 150 wood and 100 iron to replenish durability?

"yes!"

As a white flash streaked across the sky, the Redemption was transformed, and the eerie skeletal arms once again adorned both sides of the ship's walls.

The eerie skeletal arms circled around Su Zhisu, sometimes patting his head, sometimes patting his shoulder.

It's like saying, "Welcome back, don't worry, we're with you!"

The pocket watch on his wrist was vibrating wildly, even more so than when he had just seen the phantom in the dungeon.

Looking at the eerie skeletal arms, Su Zhisu smiled and gently comforted them.

"Don't worry, at least I'm still here."

He gripped the "Blessing of the Ocean" in his hand even tighter.

After handing the gleaming harpoons to the ghostly bone-armed creatures, Su Zhixu looked at his personal information:

[Player]: Su Zhisu

【ID】: Su

[Talent]: A yearning for true freedom, my heart will never waver.

[Level:] 4 (10%/100%)

Health Points: 100%

[Rationality]: 100/100

[Strange Power]: 150/150

[Physical body]: 16+1

[Mental Strength]: 14+1

Free attribute points: 0

[Occupation]: Survivor (Initial)

[Passive Skill]: Path to Survival

[Professional Skills]: Survival, Gathering lv.1

[Skill]: Short Weapon Mastery lv.4

[Equipment]: Scimitar Facing the Storm, Thorne's Pocket Watch, Nautical Compass

Health and sanity have been fully restored while absorbing the [Strange Power].

After glancing at his newly acquired talent, Su Zhisu relaxed slightly.

With the blessing of the ocean, a battle may not necessarily occur later; with the eternal vow of my heart, I can maintain my sanity.

At worst, he glanced at the 95 [Mysterious Dust] piled up in the warehouse and said, "Watch me perform a health bar bungee jump in a bit."

Just as Su Zhisu was entertaining herself to relieve her mental stress, everything around her became completely quiet.

On the surface of the strange sea, white mist, like gauze, shrouded everything in a deathly silence.

Thick, dark clouds hung low, seemingly within reach; the air was damp, and the heavy rain had stopped sometime earlier.

The Redemption floated quietly on the windless sea, even the waves seemed afraid to surge.

Su Zhisu stood at the bow of the ship, her fingertips icy cold, her breath almost stopped.

Only the dull, rhythmic "click" sound from the seabed, like a heartbeat, pierced through the water curtain and struck his eardrums.

"Could it be a submarine?"

Before the thought could even settle, the ship suddenly jolted!

The calm sea surface suddenly bulged, and a huge, suffocating black shadow slowly rose from the depths of the sea.

Dark red seawater cascades down its body, forming a waterfall.

That was not a physical body, nor a "submarine," but the body of a steel giant covered in silt and barnacles.

The enormous helmet, forged from steel of unknown material, had shattered glass around the eye sockets, and two inextinguishable flames of the soul burned in the deep eye sockets. The heavy armor was covered with bizarre and twisted seaweed and barnacles, each plate looking as if it had been torn from the wreckage of a shipwreck.

It was so huge that its wet body, standing in the seawater, already surpassed the Redemption.

When it finally broke through the water, Su Zhisu looked up at it, his pupils widening in shock.

"How...is this possible?"

His mind went blank, and the intense sense of incongruity and déjà vu made him almost unable to stand.

This is not some unknown entity, but this image, this outline, and the oppressive anchor it carries on its shoulder.

This is clearly...

[Network Notice]: You have encountered a great being, the Deep Sea Titan. Please remain calm and good luck.

This is clearly a champion from the very popular League of Legends on Earth—Nautilus, the Deep Sea Titan!

Fragments of memory were frantically piecing together, and the legendary ghost of Bilgewater was now standing vividly before him!

Nautilus slowly raised his head, his eyes, which had been burning with eerie blue flames, now as calm as an ancient glacier.

But deep within its eyes, Su Zhisu clearly saw a fury powerful enough to burn one's soul.

It moved!

The giant hand covered in iron armor slowly gripped the massive anchor, and with a scraping sound of thick iron chains, it slowly slammed down, as if to deliver a judgment.

It's going to crash down!

With the shadow of death looming, at this critical moment between life and death, Su Zhixu's mind became increasingly calm, and suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him!

I recalled the scene when I was about to leave the instance.

At that very moment, the gray-blue phantom was created, a notification sounded on the network: the item [Relief of Liberation] had disappeared.

Could it be that there was no fuel for the sacrifice?

Remembering a certain item in the warehouse, Su Zhisu quickly waved her hand.

In the blink of an eye, the instinct for survival overwhelmed everything, and the world-destroying anchor was about to fall.

Su Zhisu shouted with all her might, "Nautilus! No! I need to pay my taxes!"