Monster collectors on the cross-platform

Huo remained calm, pretending not to notice anything, looking around while silently gathering power in his right hand with his axe, waiting for the man in black to get close so he could strike him.

Chapter 27 The Sunken Ship

One step, two steps, until the man in black got close, Huo suddenly turned around and swung his axe horizontally.

"Got you!" The man in black was clearly startled by Huo Huan's sudden turn and attack.

Although surprised that his stealth was ineffective, the man in black reacted quickly, bending over backwards at an extreme angle to narrowly avoid Huo Huan's fatal blow.

Then, by pushing off with his feet, he glided several meters like a fish.

Seeing that his first attack had failed, Huo immediately launched a charge and gave chase.

Unexpectedly, the man in black was quite slippery. Using the debris on the boat, he made several turns and managed to escape Huo Huan's pursuit.

After escaping Huo Huan's pursuit, the man in black did not go far. It seemed that he realized his stealth was ineffective, so he adjusted his position and attacked Huo Huan head-on.

Huo hadn't expected the other side to attack head-on, but this was exactly what Huo wanted; he had been worried that the other side would keep hiding.

Knowing the distance, Huo Huan swung his axe first, but the man in black did not slow down. He moved with strange steps and suddenly disappeared from Huo Huan's sight. Then Huo Huan felt a pain in his side and a wound appeared, along with a tear in his armor.

The opponent's weapon must be a magical weapon. Seeing his armor being easily cut open, Huo realized that the opponent's dagger was not simple.

I bought this armor because of its fire resistance. Its physical defense isn't particularly outstanding; it's about the same as ordinary alloy plate armor. It's rather vulnerable to magical weapons.

Several times in a row, the man in black used his footwork to dodge Huo Huan's attacks and then counterattacked. Before long, Huo Huan had several wounds of varying sizes on his body.

"That's settled then, buddy. Thanks for your company these past few days." When a suit of armor can no longer provide the protection it needs, it's time to say goodbye.

Huo then concentrated his energy in his hands and tore his armor apart inch by inch, burying it in the sea.

Without the armor on his body, Huo suddenly felt a sense of relief, as if a constraint had been lifted.

"Then, the second round begins."

The man in black didn't pay attention to Huo Huan's actions. In his opinion, the other party would have died long ago without that armor. Now that the enemy had taken it off, it would save him some trouble.

The attacks were the same as before, and the dodges were still elegant; it seemed that whether or not one wore armor made no difference.

"Got you?" Ignoring the new wounds on his body, Huo threw away the axe in his hand and suddenly grabbed backward with his right hand. "So many times, do you really think I'm a fool?"

The man in black, whose face had been grabbed, immediately sensed something was wrong and began to struggle violently.

"Take this Seven Injury Fist!" Ignoring the black-clad man's counterattack with the dagger in his hand, Huo Huan grabbed the black-clad man's face with his right hand, his left hand muscles bulging high, energy compressed and condensed, carrying Huo Huan's anger, and struck the black-clad man's abdomen hard.

"Wow!" The man in black was suddenly struck in the lower abdomen, and he curled up like a shrimp, his black face mask stained red.

"A woman?" Realizing that his opponent was a woman, Huo attacked even more fiercely. After all, as the old saying goes, none of the women, old people, or children who can roam the martial arts world are simple.

After three punches, the girl in Huo Huan's arms was already lifeless. After putting away his weapon, Huo Huan casually snapped the girl's neck and threw her body into the sea.

Driven by energy, Huo Huan's wounds began to twitch, stop bleeding, scab over, and fall off. Minor wounds became as if they hadn't been injured in just a few minutes, while more serious wounds also scabbed over. The cost was that a large portion of Huo Huan's energy was consumed.

Huo's battle has temporarily ended, but he is still at a disadvantage overall.

There were very few sailors left on the ship, and most of the passengers who had been forced to fight were dead. The gambler was also entangled with one of the enemy's superhumans.

"This is troublesome." Seeing yet another pirate ship approaching, Huo realized that this encounter with pirates was no accident.

The sky grew increasingly gloomy, and just as Huo was about to go to help the gamblers, a violent explosion came from inside the ship.

"boom"

"Oh no, the ammunition compartment has been detonated!" The explosion, accompanied by the ship's tilt, abruptly interrupted Huo's plans.

The two sides, who were still fighting, abandoned their battle and began to flee.

"Go find a lifeboat, this ship is about to sink," the gambler said as he nimbly broke free from the other man's grasp and arrived beside Huo Huan.

Before Huo could respond, another violent explosion rang out, and then the ship began to tilt sharply.

"Looks like it's too late," the gambler said helplessly as he steadied himself. "I have to go back to the network. I'm not sure I'll survive if the ship sinks. This team-up is over. I look forward to working with you again next time."

The gambler took off his hat, bowed slightly to Huo, and then opened the teleportation portal and went inside.

His temporary teammates chose to return to the online world, and he picked up the axe on the ground all by himself, turned around, and jumped into the sea.

The most urgent thing now is to get away from the sinking ship; it would be troublesome if we were sucked into the whirlpool caused by the sinking ship.

The pirates, clearly aware of the urgency of the situation, rushed back to their pirate ships, pulled anchor, and moved away from the merchant vessels.

The few sailors on the merchant ship were unwilling to wait for death, so they crowded onto the pirate ship to start a second round of fighting. However, the outnumbered sailors were quickly wiped out by the pirates.

The sea breeze grew stronger, and the sea began to surge. With a clap of thunder, raindrops the size of soybeans began to fall from the sky.

Huo, hidden in the seawater, didn't have to worry about drowning. After getting some distance away, he watched helplessly as the merchant ship gradually sank, while the pirate ship successfully escaped the whirlpool and rejoined the second pirate ship.

The waves grew increasingly turbulent, and the rain poured down so heavily that it was almost impossible to see anything more than ten meters away. The two pirate ships were still not far away and continued to linger nearby, seemingly searching for something.

Seeing that the wind and waves were getting bigger and bigger, the pirates, who had searched for a long time without success, had no choice but to weigh anchor and set sail.

Beneath the surface, Huo, who didn't have to worry about breathing, was still swimming rapidly on the seabed. The merchant ship had sunk and broken apart, and the pirates were gone. Looking at the fragments of the merchant ship, Huo decided to look for anything useful.

The wind and waves on the sea had no effect on Huo Huan. He navigated among the wreckage of merchant ships, but found nothing of value.

"Could I have guessed wrong?" Huo was still somewhat doubtful. Could it be that these pirates weren't after the secret treasure?

Just as Huo Huan was about to give up, a 'corpse' floated around him.

There are quite a few corpses in the sea, so there's nothing to be surprised about. The main thing is that this 'corpse' is still alive, and the rise and fall of its chest clearly indicates that it is still breathing.

A pale white membrane of light clung tightly to the 'corpse,' preventing the person inside from suffocating.

Scratching his chin, Huo casually took the person along. Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, and it was just a matter of course. Besides, judging from their attire, they should be passengers on a merchant ship, not pirates.

Chapter 28 Landing on the Island

Dragging the 'corpse' along with the waves, Huo quickly landed on a small island.

The weather at sea can change in an instant; just a moment ago it looked like a storm, but soon the sky cleared up.

Only after dragging the 'corpse' ashore did Huo have time to look at the 'corpse's' face.

Upon closer inspection, Huo realized something was amiss. The person he had rescued appeared to be a tomboy, whereas he had initially mistaken him for a young man based on his attire.

To be fair, this tomboy is quite pretty, but her makeup skills are lacking; you can tell at a glance that she's a woman dressed as a man.

After dragging the tomboy ashore, Huo found a large tree nearby, climbed up it, and began to look around and explore the island they were on.

The island is not large; Huo could see the whole thing at a glance. There were no large animals on the island, only some birds.

Not far from the small island, there is a large island, or perhaps a peninsula, but Huo could not see it clearly due to the limited view.

Sliding down the tree trunk, Huo took out food from his spatial backpack. He had eaten a lot last time, but luckily he had brought enough so he wasn't too short for now. However, he should find a place to replenish his supplies.

Perhaps it was the aroma of the food that finally woke the girl who had been lying dead for most of the day.

"Oh, you're awake. The surgery was a success. Congratulations on becoming a girl."

As the girl woke up, Huo continued to tell internet jokes that only someone from a past life could understand.

"Where is this? Did you save me?" the girl asked softly, covering her forehead.

"I saved you, I guess. As for where you are now, I don't know either." Seeing that the girl wasn't responding, Huo lost interest in joking.

"My name is Etris. Thank you for saving my life, sir... Gurgle," the girl stood up and thanked Huo earnestly, but before she could finish speaking, her stomach rumbled.

"Have some," Huo said, not bothering to tease Idris, as he saw her flushed face. He set aside some food and pushed it in front of her.

"Thank you, sir. I don't yet know your name."

"Just call me Dante," Huo casually gave a pseudonym when asked.

Huo has always been wary of strangers, especially those who are not players of the online game.

After a quick meal to replenish my energy, the next step is to figure out how to find a populated area.

As for survival, there's no need to worry about it at all. Anyway, one mission has already been completed. At worst, he can just return to the Zongwang platform. That's the confidence that Zongwang gives Huo Huan. As for Yi Cuisi, well, she's on her own.

"Mr. Dante, what should we do next?" The girl, having finished her food, looked at Huo Huan with a blank expression, her brows slightly furrowed, as if she were worried about her future.

“Let’s go take a look over there. There’s a big island over there, and there might be people living there,” Huo said to Iris, pointing in the direction where they had seen the island earlier.

Etricia had no objection to Huo Huan's suggestion, packed her things quickly, and set off.

The island called "Suzuz" may not look very big, but it has quite a lot of snakes. This is already the third snake Huo has encountered.

Holding a wooden stick, Huo staged a real-life version of "beating the grass to scare the snake."

Huo himself wasn't afraid of snake bites; his main concern was to take care of Idris, who was traveling with him.

Despite the abundance of venomous snakes, Etricias didn't panic like an ordinary girl, which actually improved Huo's impression of her considerably.

After walking for more than half an hour, the two finally arrived at the other side of the island.

Looking across the sea, you can see a large island not far away.

The two islands are not far apart; Huo estimated that it would take less than an hour to swim across.

"Are you sure you can find a place to live if you swim there?" Huo did a few simple warm-up exercises and then turned to ask Iris.

“Uh…no, no,” Yi Cuisi replied stiffly, clearly surprised by Huo Huan’s words.

Huo ignored Yi Cuisi's reply and jumped into the sea, swimming towards the other side.

The fact that she has protective equipment suggests that she is not an ordinary person, and it is very likely that the pirates were after this girl.

However, since the other party wouldn't say, Huo was too lazy to ask; they were just temporary fellow travelers.

In the ocean, Huo didn't completely abandon the other party; at least he would lend a helping hand when the other party was exhausted.

About the same time as Huo had estimated, the two successfully landed on the island an hour later.

As soon as she landed, Etricias collapsed onto the ground, clearly exhausted.

For Huo Huan, who has 15 points of strength and physique, swimming for an hour is naturally a piece of cake.

After Yi Cuisi rested for a while, Huo immediately got to work. It was getting late, and if they didn't find a place to rest soon, they would have to stay out in the open that night.

"Mr. Dante, I really can't walk anymore." After walking for a short while, completely exhausted, Etricias plopped down on the ground and couldn't get up no matter what she said.

Seeing the situation, Huo squatted down in front of Yi Cuisi and waved to her.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Dante," Etricia said, smoothing her hair and leaning on Huo Huan's back with a shy smile.