Fang Xunjiu thought for a moment, and that made sense. Unfortunately, his combat value wasn't high, so the "good person card" was only somewhat useful; he couldn't, like Mu Anqi, control someone and just kill them directly.
Mu Anqi, Xia Yun, and Fang Yunjiu spread out, searching the cabin for lone "footsteps" and "shadow ghosts." They all had the ability to eliminate ghosts.
What should you do if a ghost ship keeps encountering ghosts along the Spirit Ghost Voyage? Kill all the ghosts—then it just becomes an ordinary ship on an ordinary route.
The antics of this group of players made the ghosts in charge of the route and the planning ghosts frown repeatedly. The planning ghost thought, Why does the script I designed feel like it's going off track? Why aren't the players screaming in fear at the suddenly appearing ghostly shadows and footsteps? Why do they seem completely unaffected by the background of the ghost ship? Could it be that these extras are too weak to convey any sense of danger?
The ghost in charge and the planning ghost seriously reconsidered this group of players. They submitted a request to check these players' past dungeon completions and discovered that among them was a player who had repeatedly achieved S-rank and had even cleared a Black Mirror Vortex in their gaming history. This player was way too out of place!
Immediately, they realized that this player was the "cash cow" recruited by General Ji.
The name of this cash cow… was quite famous in the Taiyin Ghost King circles. You know the Eternal Night Forest dungeon, right? Competitive dungeons like that all have recordings. The dungeon planner had edited an exciting highlight reel and sent it to the major Ghost Kings. While Mu Anqi became unanimously recognized by the Ghost Kings as the most interesting player, she also became the "nightmare of tangled love and hate" for the dungeon planner ghost.
The planning ghost stared at Mu Anqi with a resentful gaze and thought, 'This can't go on! Ordinary extra ghosts can't scare these players at all—they all just end up as free kills! That would cost a huge compensation fee for the Guan Si. Sure, if the clips are edited, they might become a hot topic in the entertainment section, but as a planner ghost who built his career on storylines, there's no way he would allow himself to appear in entertainment headlines! We need reinforcements.'
As for General Ji's faction, that was out of the question; even if those ghosts agreed, it would be for personal gain. Regarding others… the planning ghost thought seriously and did come up with a few ghost candidates. He called a few of them, and after promising compensation of Guan Si, successfully recruited several reinforcements. Some of them were even ghosts in the Barrier-Breaking stage.
Once he had recruited enough ghosts, the planning ghost finally relaxed. Watching Mu Anqi and the others' antics now, his heart was no longer stirred so much—soon, these wouldn't be ghosts that could be easily controlled or instantly killed! He refused to believe he couldn't get the plot back on track. Fear value! Horror value! He couldn't believe that even now, he wouldn't be able to make these players show expressions of terror.
…
On the other side, after Mu Anqi and the others had cleared several shadow ghosts, even Fang Xunjiu lost his fear of the Spirit Ghost Voyage. Now, whenever he heard footsteps, he would excitedly shout as if he had picked up points: "Here! There are footsteps here! There's a ghost here!—" It didn't feel like encountering a ghost; it felt like finding treasure.
The ghost in charge clenched his fists, wishing he could personally go down and teach these players a lesson! Of course, he knew his limits—if he went down, he'd probably end up just as easy prey. So he could only stew in anger. "Where are the reinforcements you called? Why isn't a single one here?!"
"?" The planning ghost glanced at his old colleague, who seemed to be venting his frustration at him, and didn't bother replying. Could reinforcements really arrive the second after being invited? Did he think they could teleport? Even teleporting required at least a three-second channeling!
After Mu Anqi and the others cleared a wave of ghosts, they didn't find the child ghost playing with a ball. They all agreed that this ghost would probably only appear around midnight. These shadow ghosts were as flimsy as paper—killing them was neither difficult nor satisfying, likely intended just to "scare" people. Sure, ordinary people on this ship would be terrified half to death, but they were all players. What big storms hadn't they seen? They weren't beginners. Mu Anqi and the others felt that the game's planning ghost was seriously underestimating them.
"Damn! Why haven't the reinforcements arrived yet? Can't they teleport?!" Hearing this, the planning ghost was enraged. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to overhaul the script. I'll definitely show these players what's what!
"Tomorrow there's supposed to be a sea monster projection, right? I'll pay—make it real! Invite the demons, invite the sharks!"
The planning ghost and the ghost in charge cursed and rubbed their hands together, preparing to teach this ungrateful group of players a lesson.
Unfortunately, the reinforcements were still on the way. Mu Anqi and the others happily had another meal and continued hunting ghosts on the ship. Mu Anqi used special anti-ghost bullets, so she didn't have to worry about damaging the ship. Xia Yun and Fang Yunjiu, however, had to be more careful when killing ghosts. Fang Yunjiu could control the evil god's fire with ease, so the danger wasn't too great. Xia Yun, on the other hand, would have difficulty using her sword techniques in the cramped ship cabin and could only rely on her first skill, a strong strike.
After dinner, night fell. The already gloomy sky turned completely dark, and the icy sea breeze made Mu Anqi, dressed in sportswear, feel a chill.
Luckily, she had many sets of sportswear. Wearing multiple layers of jackets, it wasn't so cold—just a bit inconvenient to move. Wu Sansheng also found some bedding, though it was somewhat damp. She spread several sets on the floor as a base layer and left three sets on top for covering. Fang Xunjiu slept alone on the rest cabin bed wrapped in a set of blankets, while Mu Anqi and the others made a bedding arrangement on the floor.
With the robot that sensed yin energy placed nearby, Mu Anqi took out a flamethrower and shook it up and down ten times. Carefully, she pulled the trigger, lighting a white candle, which she placed inside the lampshade to illuminate the rest cabin.
It wasn't that Fang Yunjiu was embarrassed to use her ability to create fire; it was just that the purple flame looked a bit awkward for nighttime lighting.
Xia Yun slept on the outermost side, since her "Sword Heart" provided strong self-protection—if a ball ghost really appeared, she could stab it. Wu Sansheng slept in the innermost area, next to Fang Yunjiu. Mu Anqi slept between Xia Yun and Fang Yunjiu.
"This feels kind of fun," Mu Anqi murmured, touching her ring. "It's like when I stayed in a university dorm."
"Compared to the last dungeon, this game feels more like a vacation trip," Fang Xunjiu also remarked. "I see some fishing lines on this ship; tomorrow I'll see if I can make a simple fishing rod. I've never fished at sea before."
"If only the weather were better… this gloomy sky makes it feel like it's going to rain," Xia Yun sighed. If a storm capsized the ship, her life sword couldn't carry all five of them.
Perhaps sensing Xia Yun's worry, Wu Sansheng said, "There are plenty of large barrels in the cargo hold. If we pour out the wine and tie the barrels together, it can serve as a simple wooden barrel boat." With those wooden crates and bed boards, making a temporary simple wooden boat wouldn't be too difficult. The only problem… these makeshift boats weren't very sturdy. If the sea could flip this large ship, smaller boats would have even less chance of survival.
As they chatted, Xia Yun suddenly sighed, "Not bathing for seven days… that's going to be tough."
"We can heat some water tomorrow and wash a bit," Mu Anqi suggested. Perhaps because of being "dead," she hadn't had her period since entering the Nirvana game. Without the period and the associated menstrual pain debuff, life was getting more and more comfortable each day. But that was normal—if female players had those few days every month, it would be very inconvenient in a survival game like this.
"Hm, anyway, we have enough fresh water. If we run out later, we can distill some," Xia Yun nodded. She leaned back with her hands behind her head, staring at the ceiling of the rest cabin. Just as she was about to talk about the new ghosts they might encounter tomorrow, she heard faint footsteps and the soft bouncing of a ball. She instantly sprang up. "They're here!"
The high-pitched laughter of a child grew closer. Listening to the footsteps, Mu Anqi could even imagine the child hopping along while bouncing a ball. The moment a smaller shadow appeared at the door, Xia Yun's life sword shot out, piercing straight through. At the same time, Mu Anqi pulled the trigger, and her special anti-ghost bullets fired. Mu Anqi's bullets destroyed the ball. The life sword was a beat too slow, piercing through, yet the child's shadow vanished without a trace, as if it had never been there.
No—it hadn't disappeared.
Mu Anqi quickly canceled the default list and spoke two blessing words at high speed. In the slightly distorted light of the rest cabin entrance, the figure of a small child abruptly appeared. The child looked utterly confused, lifting his legs high in a marching stance. How was he discovered?! He had clearly been invisible and ready to run!
The moment the little boy was trapped, Fang Yunjiu hurriedly recited her overly dramatic lines. Unfortunately, her lines were far too long. Before she could even finish the "Evil God Possession" and seize the ghost's head, Xia Yun had already wielded her life sword and shattered the little ghost.
Mu Anqi, frantically pulling the trigger only to find her bullets gone, muttered: "..."
One moment they were casually chatting at night, and the next they were throwing everything they had into seizing the ghost's head… what truly touching team camaraderie.
Mu Anqi silently looked at Xia Yun. Miss Xia Yun waved her hand, retracting her life sword with an innocent expression: "I was afraid you'd get into danger…"
"…Well, thank you for that," Mu Anqi said, momentarily speechless. She glanced at the younger sister, who had quietly removed her possession, and really couldn't understand—this was only the second game, so how had her shy and reserved little sister already gone astray? Just because she herself always pulled flashy stunts to kill ghosts? But it wasn't even by choice—this was the fault of her skill! Couldn't the players just walk the normal route obediently, instead of leaving her alone to bear all these bizarre clearing methods?
Xia Yun stood up and went outside to pick up the fragments of the exploded ball—and discovered a blood-colored shard.
"This prop… is way too crude, isn't it?" Xia Y
un muttered, staring at her hands slightly stained red from picking up the shard.