Chapter 35: Players Receive a Mysterious "Gift"
To be fair, the Shadow Monster is not easy to fight.
Shadow Creatures are creatures that exist between physical entities and phantoms, allowing them to ignore any obstacles. On the other hand, contact with Shadow Creatures also lowers sanity, which means that even before the dragon and his companions have done much, their sanity is already close to zero.
At this point, even Long, who considered himself to have good endurance, was starting to lose his composure.
More and more black cracks appeared in my field of vision, reducing my field of vision to less than 20% of the area in the center. I felt dizzy, vomited, and even more terrifyingly, lost my sense of balance and distance...
Dragon, who almost tripped over his own feet and fell, felt like he had never been so embarrassed in his life.
On the contrary, it is probably because of the player's constitution that Violet adapts the best.
She swung her stone spear and pierced through the shadow monster in front of her. The shadow monster screamed and vanished into the air, leaving behind only a round black ball that kept floating.
Dragon and Bear followed suit, hunting down the shadow monsters alongside Violet. The feeling of low sanity was unpleasant, but since they were already enduring the pain, they decided to gather as many materials as possible at once for later use.
Violet thought so too.
She was reaping the lives of these shadow monsters like a ruthless executioner when suddenly, Violet smelled a faint floral fragrance... like, the scent of roses?
The semi-transparent black shadow in front of them suddenly stopped in a strange way, raised its head slightly, and revealed a blood-red eye with concentric circles.
Violet's stone spear fell mercilessly, slaying the peculiar shadow monster. Where it had stood, besides a ball of nightmare fuel, lay a blooming, delicate, and still dewy fiery red rose.
Violet picked up the rose.
You have obtained the [Fragile Rose]
[A seemingly ordinary rose, its bright red bud resembling a heart just ripped from a chest—is it a greeting or a warning?]
[Currently unavailable for detection]
[Currently cannot be destroyed]
Strangely, when Violet tried to take the rose out of her backpack and put it back on the ground, she was told that she could not take it out.
Doesn't this mean it will always occupy one of her slots? Is this some kind of punishment?
Violet was a little unhappy. As a collector who often found herself in a grid crisis, this rose made her already meager backpack space even worse!
"It's over..." Long looked around. The surrounding night was peaceful and serene, as if the scene of the shadow monster riot just now was a figment of his imagination after eating the poisonous mushrooms. "Finished fighting?"
It seems no new Shadow Monsters have been reborn.
Big Bear, hands on his knees, was also panting heavily. Fighting monsters with his sanity almost zero was just too difficult.
After several unsuccessful attempts to retrieve the [Fragile Rose] from her backpack, Violet angrily placed it in the outermost slot. She then picked up the remaining [Nightmare Fuel] from the ground and shouted, "Lo, help! I need you!"
Luo, who had been waiting for a long time, rushed up and handed the banana milkshake that he had prepared to Violet.
A banana milkshake restores 33 sanity points and requires 2 bananas and 2 pieces of fruit. Violet currently doesn't have a stable source of bananas; the bananas in her refrigerator were randomly dropped when she chopped down trees.
After drinking a banana milkshake and restoring her sanity to a level where the shadow monsters wouldn't spawn, Violet couldn't bear to drink any more.
Violet: "There are a few banana milkshakes left, give them to Long and Big Bear."
Why drink banana smoothies? Why not just go pick flowers in the woods together tomorrow morning?
Each flower picked restores 5 points of sanity. Pick just enough for 12 flowers to make a wreath for yourself.
Luo had no liking for this group of guys who had done nothing since arriving on the island, leaving Viole to run errands for them.
Luo: "But I held it up for you for half the night, and my arms are sore."
The islanders on island number one are different, and Vera immediately said, "Then I'll drink them all right away."
After finishing three banana milkshakes, Violet immediately perked up. Looking at the listless bear and dragon, she built a campfire and roasted the remaining green mushrooms.
Eating roasted green mushrooms will deduct 1 health point and restore 15 sanity points.
Looking at the roasted mushrooms that Violet handed over, even though Big Bear and Dragon were sure that Violet wouldn't harm them, they were still... a little scared.
Dragon: "Well, scientific research shows that it's not advisable to eat immediately after exercise; it's best to rest first..."
"What's the point of resting? The Shadow Monster will be back soon." Violet shoved a bunch of roasted mushrooms into the dragon's mouth, causing its neck to bulge into an exaggerated ball shape. The dragon scratched at the air with its fingers for a moment, then rolled its eyes before finally swallowing the mushrooms.
Dragon: "Has my sense of taste gone wrong? Why does it taste spicy?"
It's not spicy, it's deducting health points, but the deduction is so small that the dragon can't feel it, it just feels a little spicy.
Violet looked at the bear again, and the bear took the roasted green mushroom from her hand and said, "I, I can do it myself."
“Okay.” Violet didn’t forget to make a flower wreath for herself, Big Bear, and Dragon. “Wearing this will slowly restore your stamina.”
Having completed all the cleanup work, Vera could finally calmly calculate the gains of this operation.
Aside from the [Fragile Rose] whose purpose is unknown, Violet and her companions collected a total of 15 [Nightmare Fuel], more than enough to make a [Life Amulet] for Ginny, and the remaining materials could be used to make [Abigail's Flower].
Violet: "So what we're missing now is a live rabbit to make the [Magic Decomposer]."
Do you know where there are rabbits?
——
"Are these revolutionary soldiers rabbits? They're always hiding in their burrows and never come out?"
The naval officer on lookout lowered his binoculars, came down from the lookout tower, and walked to Kuzan's side: "Reporting, Admiral, there is no sign of any personnel activity!"
Kuzan: "That can't be right, I didn't misremember the time, did I?"
The dragon said today was the trading day, so why hasn't anything happened? Is he planning a sneak attack and steal the supplies from these ships?
Kuzan's gaze sharpened, just then a cooing sound interrupted his train of thought.
Ah, it's a pigeon.
The sailors nearby whispered among themselves, wondering if this was a sign of peace, a confirmation that today's trade fair would be completed smoothly without bloodshed.
A dove of peace... he thought it might be another kind of omen.
A sign that you'll be stood up.
Ugh—how boring! He's almost asleep. Whoever it is, please show up soon.
"The ship's here?!"
"They've finally arrived," Kuzan forced himself to stay alert. "Who's here?" "Which member of the Revolutionary Army is it?"
"It's...it's...the Whitebeard Pirates?!"
Kuzan: "..."
Kuzan: "Huh?"
The marine who was speaking also rubbed his eyes in disbelief, picked up his binoculars again, and confirmed that he hadn't seen wrong; the pirate ship was indeed flying the Whitebeard Pirate Flag.
"Standing at the bow of the ship is Marco, the captain of the Whitebeard First Division!"
With a dull thud, the warship rocked violently, as if something had attacked it underwater!
A figure jumped onto the deck first.
Namur charged at Kuzan: "Damn navy, where did you hide other people's lovely people?!"
Kuzan: "Ara, are you going to start a fight right away? You shouldn't be here, Whitebeard Pirates?"
"Is bullying little girls what you're supposed to do, Marine?!" Miu had already pushed himself to the limit by not immediately searching for Violet over the past few days, and now that he'd seen Kuzan, he naturally wanted to vent his anger. "You scum!"
Kuzan: "..."
Kuzan: "I can't agree to that so easily... Two-pronged spears!"
call--
The sharp ice spear was blocked by the blue flames, and the phoenix's magnificent tail feathers drew a dreamlike trajectory in the air, melting away the heavy moisture in the air like liquid gems.
Marco hovered in the air, looking at Kuzan: "While it may indeed be a bit troublesome, the Whitebeard Pirates won't just sit idly by and watch their brothers' families get hurt."
Kuzan looked like he had a headache.
This is troublesome. Was what he just saw really a pigeon, and not a crow?
Kuzan subconsciously looked back at the ship's side, but the pigeons that had been perched there had long since disappeared.
What a sharp little guy, he runs so fast!
——
"Coo coo".
Lucci raised his hand, letting Hadoli rest on his arm.
Hadori tilted his head and gurgled, while Lucci raised his cold eyes and looked at Kaku and the others opposite him.
"Vice Admiral Kuzan is fighting with Marco and Namur of the Whitebeard Pirates."
What? !
Kaku: "Then it must be not far away?"
Kaku turned to look at the vast sea, trying to glean a glimpse of the intensity of the battle.
Kalifa adjusted her glasses: "Shall we go provide support?"
Kaku looked at Kalifa in disbelief, his expression as if asking her if she had gone mad.
One Ice-Ice Fruit user, one Phoenix Fruit user, and a Fishman whose strength doubles at sea... What support could this group of intelligence agents possibly offer, to serve as human shields for the Navy?
“No,” Lucci said coldly. “We’ll just stand here and watch, waiting for the Navy and the pirates to both be severely weakened.”
Lucci: "They clearly saw a wanted criminal from the World Government, but they didn't report it immediately, and even let the criminal escape. The Navy needs to be taught a lesson."
Kaku and Kalifa silently took a step back as they looked at Lucci, who was emanating black energy.
Just then, they seemed to faintly hear a voice.
Kaku repeated uncertainly, "I...Ice Time?"
In the distance, a white "wall" gradually rose where the sea met the sky. The ice wall, which seemed to have no end, grew out of the sea. This extremely oppressive scene made the three people watching from afar feel a sense of insignificance and powerlessness in the face of natural disasters.
The ice wall pushed open the sea surface, forming dangerous waves, and Lucci and his small boat, which was directly in front of the waves, faced the first impact.
Because they were not formal employees, and the boat was bought with money pooled together by Lucci and his crew, it was pitifully small and was simply swept into the sky by the waves.
Hadori, perched on Lucci's shoulder, flapped his wings desperately, trying to pull Lucci up, but to no avail. Gravity pulled him and the others, along with the small boat, down heavily.
Kaku and Kalifa: "Aaaaaah!"
With a thud, the two crashed heavily onto the deck. Lu Qi, kneeling on one knee, glanced at them disdainfully, then coolly raised his head—only to see an even larger wave coming towards them.
Lucci: "..."
The second time, the group, along with the small boat, was lifted up and thrown down again.
Kaku and Kalifa: "Aaaaaah!"
A few seconds later—
Kaku and Kalifa: "Aaaaaah!"
"Aaaaaah! No, how many more times is this?!"
Kuzan, who was engaged in a fierce battle with Marco and Namuel, tilted his head in confusion. He thought he heard a pitiful scream.
"Phoenix Seal!"
Marco launched a flying kick at Kuzan, who quickly regained his senses and defended himself, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
The immense impact slammed into Kuzan's arms, sending him flying and crashing heavily into the island behind him.
Clang, clang—
Kuzan stood up, supporting himself with one hand on the deformed metal. Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on his chest and arms, and transparent ice shattered from the surface, revealing the undamaged flesh inside.
Marco stood on one foot on the deck: "Where is that child named Vera?"
Kuzan pressed one hand to his face: "Oh my god, were I underestimated?"
"They're just pirates, yet they dare to board a warship looking for someone?"
Marco lowered his eyebrows: "It seems we can't have a peaceful talk today."
"Then let's follow the rules of the pirates: might makes right."
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Author's note: Important item acquired!
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