On the deserted island, a lone man and woman. The man was responsible for swimming and gathering wood. The woman was in charge of fishing, collecting cloth, fresh water, and food.Although it was a bit tiring, compared to the previous nerve-wracking voyage at sea, this was downright cozy. If it were possible, finding an island to settle down on and do some farming wouldn't be a bad choice. But Yang Yi knew that was impossible. He looked behind him, in the direction he'd sailed from. There, at the edge of his vision on the sea's surface, was a thick patch of black. It was the black mist. Today, that patch of black was even darker. This meant the mist was getting closer, and they needed to escape this sea region as soon as possible.Three days had passed since he woke up. All told, Yang Yi and Suna had been on this island for nearly four days. Today would be the fifth.They were still 72 units of wood short. The cloth and stone were already sufficient. Yang Yi had even asked Suna to gather some extra stone to bring onto the ship, just in case. Although stone was easy to find here, it was hard to come by at sea. You could only get it by fishing, which was extremely inefficient. After all, stones, like steel, didn't float on the water, unless you happened to find a resource chest.If nothing went wrong, they should be able to gather all the materials needed to rebuild the Nyxstar by the end of the day.After breakfast, Yang Yi set out early to begin the day's logging. After these few days of training, he wouldn't dare call himself a swimming champion, but he could definitely be called an expert swimmer. With the boost from the sharkskin swimsuit, he'd even dare to compete against a real champion.His first three trips went very smoothly. He collected 57 units of wood. Just one or two more trips, and he'd have enough. But on the fourth trip, something strange happened. The sea began to churn.Yang Yi was just about to blast the second tree with his gun. Suddenly, a massive school of fish rushed past him. There were fish large and small, many of which he'd never seen before and couldn't name. But they all had one thing in common: they were swimming forward for their lives, as if a demon was chasing them, as if they were fleeing for their lives. Even ferocious, carnivorous sharks had lost all interest in hunting, streaking past him like the wind. The current they created was like a shockwave, tossing Yang Yi around underwater until he was completely disoriented. He struggled to surface.Yang Yi wasn't injured, he'd just swallowed a few mouthfuls of seawater. The fish had only brushed past him, as if deliberately avoiding him, not wanting to stop for even a second. It was the first time in his life he had ever seen such a phenomenon.Thanks to this, the log he had prepared had been washed away, who knows where. Even Yang Yi himself was being pushed forward by the current created by the school of fish."Yang Yi, are you alright? Something seems wrong with the sea!" Suna sent him a private message. She was fishing on the shore and had also noticed the abnormality, but Yang Yi had already experienced it firsthand."I'm fine, just swallowed some water! The fish in the sea have gone crazy, they're all swimming forward like their lives depend on it. I think the black mist is coming! I'm swimming back to shore, come give me a hand!" Yang Yi replied. His energy was low, and he wasn't confident he could make it back on his own, so he wanted Suna to help him out.Thankfully, he'd thought ahead. With Suna's help, he made it back to shore. His energy was down to 23. They were still 15 units of wood short, just that little bit. He managed to get to his feet and looked behind him.A horde of giant worms was swimming this way, following the fish. But strangely, as soon as these worms entered the safe zone of the buffer area, they simply vanished. It was as if they had passed through a membrane into a different dimension, a different world."Good thing the worms can't get through," Yang Yi breathed a sigh of relief, then he felt a tremor run through the ground beneath his feet. The whole island was shaking. He looked down, his eyes widening."Suna!" he yelled, pointing frantically at the beach. "Look!"The sand on the beach was shifting, swirling in unnatural patterns. Before Suna could even respond, the ground in front of them erupted. A massive, segmented worm, identical to the ones in the sea, burst from the earth. Its head was easily the size of a small boat, its four blade-like mandibles snapping open and shut with a sound like grinding stone. It wasn't just one. All around them, the island was being torn apart as more and more of the worms burst forth from beneath the sand.They hadn't passed through a membrane. They had tunneled under it.And now, he and Suna were trapped on a small, shrinking island with them.If that thing got in, he figured he'd have to give up for real."Suna, we're still 15 units of wood short. It's impossible to go back in the water for it now! Fishing is too unstable. Let's try to dig up some tree roots!" Yang Yi directed.Fifteen units of wood didn't sound like much, but trying to get it through fishing could take two people all day. And the black mist might not give them another day.After recovering some energy, Yang Yi joined in on digging up the roots. But the efficiency of getting wood from roots was really, really low. By evening, they had only managed to dig up 7 units, still a good distance away from their goal of 15.Yang Yi was burning with anxiety. He could already see the shadow of the black mist in the distance. What's more, three massive worms swam over. Each one looked as if it had been hand-picked, with a diameter of seven or eight meters. They advanced side-by-side, crashing into the buffer zone and disappearing instantly. Where the three worms vanished, three giant harpoons fell into the sea. This was followed by cries of grief and howls of anguish."Big Bro! Second Bro! Dog Egg! How did the three of you just disappear?!"Behind the three giant worms, a massive steel warship followed. The one shouting was the ship's captain, Yu Dawei.Yang Yi recognized the ship at a glance. Even though smoke was billowing from several places on the hull and it was scorched black, the steel-forged body and its colossal two-hundred-meter frame could only belong to the Heart of Steel. He didn't know how, but Yu Dawei had somehow managed to get 1,000 units of steel, upgrade his ship to level two, and fight his way out of the swarm of giant worms.The ship was covered in the marks and bloodstains of a fierce battle. There was even a huge, sharp mandible stuck in the deck, belonging to some unfortunate, exploded worm. After its upgrade, the number of cannons on the ship was staggering. Aside from the super-cannon at the bow with a caliber of nearly five meters, there were no fewer than forty gun barrels extending from its sides, though many were bent and broken.The captain, Yu Dawei, stood alone on the bridge, a cigarette dangling from his lips, cursing and muttering as he frequently glanced back at the black mist not far behind him. Not long ago, he had been an overweight, middle-aged man. But now… after a thrilling, high-intensity voyage, he was enviably thin, with two dark circles under his eyes, looking like a completely different person.As for the Heart of Steel's speed… you couldn't call it slow, only very, very slow. To Yang Yi, who was used to sailing at speeds of several dozen knots, this ship was pitifully slow.Suna stood beside Yang Yi, both of them watching the behemoth. Further behind it was the black mist, moving at fifteen knots, but still a great distance from the Heart of Steel. Without the giant worms to pull it, the ship couldn't outrun the mist. The captain was as frantic as an ant on a hot pan, jumping up and down.Finally, he spotted the man and woman standing on the island ahead. His eyes lit up, and ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) he immediately waved and shouted."Hey, you two! A little help over here, I'm in a pinch!"But the distance was too great; his voice couldn't carry. Left with no choice, Yu Dawei could only start sailing towards the island. After the upgrade, his ship's speed had increased by 100%![Heart of Steel, Level 2, Durability 5829/10000, Capacity 20000 units, Sailing Speed 10 knots][Ship Skills:Full Firepower: Cannon firing rate increased by 200% for 15 minutes.Triple-Shot Whale Harpoon: Can penetrate and latch onto an object. Cooldown: 1 hour.Sea Monster's Bane: A super cannon with astonishing power, capable of sending sea monsters back to where they came from. Cooldown: 4 hours per shot.][Description: It's bigger, stronger, and sturdier! Speed increased by 200%!]When Yu Dawei saw Yang Yi and Suna, he was surprised at first but quickly came to a realization. These two must be the other two survivors from the storm region. If they were willing to give him a tow, he could probably be saved. In this buffer zone… he couldn't find any suitably sized giant creatures to help pull his ship.Seeing that shouting was ineffective, an idea struck Yu Dawei. He began to try using the Regional Chat in his log. (TL Note: Dog Egg" (狗蛋, gǒudàn): It's an old-fashioned, very folksy kind of nickname in Chinese. The idea behind it is actually a little sweet, in a superstitious way! People used to believe that if you gave your precious baby a silly or "bad" name, you could trick evil spirits or gods into thinking the child wasn't valuable. The spirits would look at a kid named "Dog Egg" and go "Pfft, nothing important here!" and leave the poor baby alone, letting them grow up healthy and strong.Sooo, it's a name that's supposed to protect something you care about :D!)

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