You made all the streamers on the internet kneel before you when you were asked to make a game.

I don't know how much time passed.

In the darkness inside the coffin, the high-frequency trembling of the little girl in Lu Zhixing's arms finally subsided.

The outside world has also returned to complete silence.

The tide must have really receded.

Lu Zhixing listened intently for a full five minutes, and only after confirming that there were no unusual noises did he use all his strength to push the heavy coffin lid upwards.

"Bang!"

A foul stench, a hundred times stronger than before, mingled with the damp, cold air and wafted towards us.

The light shone in again.

Lu Zhixing squinted and was the first to sit up from the coffin.

The sight before him caused his pupils to shrink slightly.

The entire coffin shop looked as if it had been washed by some kind of giant slimy creature.

The floor, walls, and even the ceiling were covered with a thick layer of translucent green slime.

The mucus was still dripping slowly, making a "drip, drip" sound.

Inside the shop, tangled seaweed and the remains of some unknown marine creatures hung everywhere.

Several half-dead, strangely shaped deep-sea fish futilely rolled belly up in the mucus.

The whole world seemed to have been dragged into the deep sea.

"vomit……"

Even the directionally challenged and the experienced driver opened the coffin lid, and upon seeing the scene, they immediately vomited while holding onto the side of the coffin.

The other two surviving players and the coffin shop owner were also pale-faced, with expressions of terror as if they had survived a disaster.

Only Brother Long's coffin was still tightly sealed.

Lu Zhixing ignored Brother Long.

He jumped out of the coffin, stepped onto the sticky floor, and carefully walked to the doorway.

The scene outside the door was even more horrifying.

The entire town of Seafog was shrouded in a gray fog several times thicker than before.

Visibility was less than five meters.

The streets were also covered with that green slime and barnacles.

The air was thick with the stench of rotting corpses mixed with the stench of the seafood market.

[System notification: You have entered the "Empress of the Tide" state; the scene debuffs have been updated.]

[Dampness entering the body: All players' movement speed -10%, stamina consumption rate +20%, attraction to ghost-like creatures +20%.]

Lu Zhixing glanced at his status bar and frowned slightly.

This debuff is quite deadly.

Reduced movement speed and faster energy consumption mean that escaping becomes significantly more difficult.

The increased attraction to ghosts and monsters only made matters worse.

Lu Zhixing looked at his teammates.

Without exception, everyone, from those with no sense of direction to seasoned drivers, has been affected by this negative status.

Their faces were even paler than before, and their lips were even a little purple, as if they had caught a severe cold.

"Bang!"

The lid of Brother Long's coffin was finally pushed open.

With the help of the ghost bride, Brother Long weakly sat up.

Surprisingly, he was in the best condition of everyone.

Although he was still weak, his face did not have the bluish-purple hue that comes from dampness seeping into his body.

Clearly, the ghost bride's red wedding dress protected him from most of the dampness.

Holy crap! Brother Long has won again!

Is this the true value of a son-in-law who lives with his wife's family? Does he even have built-in moisture-proof properties?

[I've figured it out now: in this game, finding a good wife is more effective than any cheat code!]

Brother Long clearly noticed this as well.

He glanced at the others, who were half-dead, and then at himself. Although weak, he was in stable condition.

He couldn't help but puff out his chest, coughed weakly twice, and had a "basic operation" expression.

Lu Zhixing ignored his smugness.

He's more concerned about something else now.

"Hey, you directionally challenged guy, how's Ah-Xiu?" he asked.

Upon hearing this, the directionally challenged man's face fell.

He tried calling out Ah Xiu's name in his mind, but there was no response.

He could feel that the faint connection behind him was still there.

But Ah Xiu's soul seemed to be in the deepest sleep, cold and weak.

The system notification also popped up at the appropriate time.

[System Notification: Your attached spirit "Axiu" has been severely damaged by the impact of Yin energy during the "Sea Evil Tide" and has entered a deep slumber.]

The directionally challenged man's heart sank to the bottom. This was the team's only "early warning radar," and it was truly and completely offline.

Without Ah Xiu's ability to pinpoint sounds, he instantly transformed from a powerful support character back into a cowardly follower trembling in fear.

The entire team also lost its most important means of reconnaissance.

From here on out, they must rely entirely on their own eyesight and experience to judge the dangers.

In this ghost town where visibility is less than five meters, this is tantamount to suicide.

"Master...Master, what do we do now?" The directionally challenged man's voice trembled.

Lu Zhixing remained silent for a moment, glancing at the thick, impenetrable gray fog outside the door, and then at the deadly debuff in the status bar.

"Let's go find the owner of the paper offering shop first," Lu Zhixing decided.

"I need to get more information about this town from him."

No one objected.

Now, Lu Zhixing is their only pillar of support.

Just as they were preparing to set off.

"Wait...wait a minute!"

The coffin shop owner in the corner suddenly screamed in terror.

He pointed to the doorway, his voice trembling.

"Look... what's that?"

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed.

All I could see was a thick layer of green slime at the entrance.

Clear, black... footprints were prominently displayed.

The footprints were strange; they only showed the toes and soles of the feet, but not the heels.

It looks like someone is walking on tiptoe.

The footprints led towards the grand theater in the town center.

"Should we...follow these footprints?" the experienced driver asked nervously.

"No." Lu Zhixing shook his head decisively, "Go around it."

He pointed to the area around the footprints, which had sunk slightly after being trampled and was covered in a black, sticky substance.

"These footprints are strange."

"Stepping on it might trigger a rule-based kill."

Everyone felt a chill and carefully avoided the row of footprints, stepping into the thick fog.

The slimy sap underfoot was incredibly slippery; every step felt like walking on jelly coated in lubricant, and you could easily slip and fall.

The surrounding buildings appeared and disappeared in the gray fog, like silent behemoths.

Along both sides of the street, there were many huge pickling jars, each taller than a person.

The mouths of the jars were covered with heavy stone slabs, and yellowed talismans were pasted on them.

These tanks did not exist before the tides.

"What... are these?" a surviving player asked in a low voice.

No one could answer him.

Lu Zhixing simply gestured for everyone to quicken their pace and stay as far away from these strange pickling jars as possible.

But an accident still happened.

As the experienced driver passed a pickling jar, his foot slipped, and he stumbled. He instinctively reached out and grabbed the side of the jar for support.

That was it.

"Snapped!"

A swollen, pale hand, with black mud stuffed under its fingernails, suddenly reached out from the vat and grabbed his trouser leg!

That hand was cold and stiff, yet incredibly strong!

The experienced driver was so frightened that he let out a short scream.

"Help...help me!"

Followed by.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

It seemed to be a chain reaction.

All the lids of the pickling jars along the street began to shake violently.

Something is about to come out from inside!

"Run!"