The players were skeptical, but the ship had been staying in the deep sea for longer than before.
Elvia did not explain to them, but started looking for an exit on the ship. If there really was an escape hatch in the rocks, then there must be a place on the ship to get out.
Seeing that everyone was still in doubt, Zhou Zhou stopped talking and helped Elvia search.
Shirley, Cole and Doreen also started searching everywhere on the ship again.
A few other players saw Zhou Zhou and the others searching everywhere, looked at each other, and also went to other places on the ship to look for an exit.
The remaining players looked at the people who were searching everywhere. Although they felt that many of Elvia's statements were untenable, they had nothing else to do now, so they might as well search together.
"We'll be eliminated sooner or later if we stay here anyway, so we might as well give it a try."
"That's right. If Zhou Zhou hadn't discovered the reason for the loop, we might still be in the loop until the dungeon time limit is up."
"Okay, I'll look for it over there."
"Hasn't this been searched before?"
"Let's look for it again. Maybe there are some places we missed."
After the players finished speaking, they also took action, and everyone on the ship was actively looking for a place to leave.
However, after searching everywhere, everyone still couldn't find the loophole in the barrier. Even if what Elvia said was true, the nearby cave was the escape exit of this copy, but now they couldn't get out, and they could only stare at the cave entrance through a barrier.
Elvia looked at the transparent barrier that separated the ship from the seawater and said, "Maybe the direction we were looking for was wrong from the beginning. We were not looking for a hole in the barrier, but to get out of it through the barrier in some way."
Straight through the barrier?
Everyone pondered these words and searched twice but couldn't find an exit. Maybe they really needed some method, but what was the method to pass through the barrier?
A player looked back at the empty deck and said, "If the captain is still here, I think the sword we are looking for in the main quest might be the key to our escape."
But now there is no sword. The sword disappeared into the sea with the captain, so it can't be that sword.
“Will it require some kind of ritual, like we need to do some actions before we can get out?”
"What action?"
"How should I know? Isn't this brought up for everyone to think about together?"
ceremony? Zhou Zhou muttered to himself, and suddenly looked up at the mast of the ship.
When he let the little octopus go, he wasn't sure whether there was a barrier on the ship at that time. But the little octopus did not leave directly. Instead, it climbed up the mast and jumped into the sea from the top.
So, could it be related to this?
"Zhou Zhou, have you thought of anything?" Elvia asked. He noticed Zhou Zhou looking up and realized that he might have discovered something again.
Zhou Zhou looked at Alvia and expressed his thoughts: "The little octopus left the ship through the top of the mast, so the exit may be at the top of the mast."
Indeed, they had not searched above when they had been looking before. After all, it was generally impossible to go up to the top of the ship. The only place to go up was through the top of the mast.
The ship was a ketch, one of the masts of which was broken, and whether they were sailing or the skeleton was sailing after it regained its human form, they only relied on one mast.
These words immediately perked up everyone, and the player who had previously climbed up the mast because of being chased by skeletons even volunteered to climb up again to have a look.
Everyone was looking at him from below. The player climbed to the top of the mast and reached up with one hand, but his palm still touched a transparent barrier.
I tried every place I could reach, but there was still no way out.
The player shook his head at the crowd below and slid down from the pole.
"No, there are barriers all above us, and we can't find the exit."
Everyone couldn't help but look disappointed.
Zhou Zhou tilted his head to look at the player, twisting the rope of his sweatshirt with both hands, mumbling, "That's not what I meant."
Before the player understood what Zhou Zhou meant, he noticed that Elvia was staring at him, with a hint of helplessness in her icy blue eyes.
"I'll go up and take a look."
Alvia went up the mast.
Shirley, who was below, looked up at Alvia and couldn't help but say, "Look at her, she can climb a pole so gracefully and skillfully."
As he spoke, Alvia had already reached the top. He looked at the dark sea around him and suddenly jumped into the sea.
In the surprised eyes of everyone, he actually left the location of the ship. His movements were smooth and it seemed that he did not encounter any obstacles at all.
The players quickly turned on their lights and followed Elvia's figure. He swam freely in the sea, his black hair slowly spread out with his movements, his facial features were distinct, his eyebrows were sharp, the dazzling light shone on his eyes, and he looked here with a frown.
Obviously, the water pressure in the deep sea is very high and an ordinary person might die instantly if he goes out there, but Elvia was not affected at all. It is obvious that the underwater environment in the game copy is different from that in reality.
However, the health bar and countdown above his head began to decrease again. It seemed that after they left the ship, they had to find an escape exit before the count ended.
Elvia was unable to speak now, so she gestured to the people on the boat to swim towards the cave they had discovered earlier.
Although the value above your head will decrease after entering the sea, it is still better than waiting here.
The players climbed up the mast one by one and jumped overboard.
As expected, everyone successfully left the ship, and then swam towards the cave pointed out by Elvia with joy on their faces. Even if that place is not an escape hatch, as long as they can break out of the loop and get rid of that ghost ship, it is worth it. It is much better than what they had previously imagined, which was to kill each other and be eliminated together.
There were fewer and fewer people left on the boat. Zhou Zhou pursed his lips and stared at everyone swimming in the sea outside as if facing a great enemy.
Shirley and Keli were also about to leave, but when they turned around they saw Zhou Zhou standing there motionless.
"Zhou Zhou, why don't you leave?"
Zhou Zhou opened his mouth. He wanted to say that he might not be able to walk because he couldn't swim. But after discovering that all the players he met in the dungeon could swim, he still didn't tell anyone about it. Instead, he told Shirley and Keli that he would be the last one to leave.
The two had no doubts and left the ghost ship together.
At this point, Zhou Zhou was the only one left on the boat.
Before, he was concentrating on how to get out, but he didn't think about what he should do after he got out.
The players are all very good at swimming and can hold their breath for very long periods of time while diving in the sea. It is obvious that they are very familiar with such an environment.
But Zhou Zhou had never been exposed to swimming before, and after going out he would definitely not be able to swim as smoothly as others.
He tried it when he first entered the copy of Deep Sea Things.
If Al hadn't suggested using the flying talisman to leave, he might have continued to circle around in the sea holding the wooden board.
Thinking of this, Zhou Zhou suddenly remembered something.
When he entered the copy before and found that Shirley and Keli were not around, Al said not to worry about them because they all knew how to swim.
How did Al know? It was obvious that he didn't know Shirley and the others before, and had never seen them swimming.
Zhou Zhou looked up and saw that most of the players had already swam into the underwater cave and never came out after entering.
Could it be that in the outside world, everyone can swim? That's why Al was so sure.
Thinking of the scene where he almost drowned in front of Al, Zhou Zhou was suddenly frightened. Could it be that he had been exposed?
Zhou Zhou was just worried about how to get out, but now he was obviously more worried that Al would discover his abnormality.
Just as he was pacing back and forth on the deck anxiously thinking of a solution, he found Al staring at him outside the barrier.
Zhou Zhou was shocked, he thought Al had already entered the cave.
Elvia pointed upwards, meaning for Zhou Zhou to come out.
Zhou Zhou shook his head. Since Al already knew that he couldn't swim, he should also know why he was still here.
Alvia looked at Zhou Zhou. The number above his head was still decreasing. He moved closer to the barrier and said something to Zhou Zhou inside.
Although it was just lip movements, Zhou Zhou saw it.
"rest assured."
The anxious and nervous mood he had just felt was instantly calmed down. Perhaps it was because he had received so much help from the other party, or perhaps it was because Mr. Al had saved him at the most critical moment. When he saw the other party say don't worry, he actually felt relieved.
Zhou Zhou pursed his lips tightly and stared at the other person as if to confirm. There was still no change in Elvia's expression. He also looked at Zhou Zhou. His ice-blue eyes looked unusually pure against the dark background of the surrounding deep sea.
Zhou Zhou finally moved and began to climb up the mast, while Elvia outside swam upstream at the same speed as him.
There was no one else around at this point, and all the players had entered the underwater cave.
The original lighting was taken away by the players, and the seabed returned to darkness and silence.
In the vast underwater world, it seemed that there were only the two of them at this moment. While Zhou Zhou climbed to the top of the mast, he glanced at Elvia from time to time to confirm his position.
And Alvia had been waiting for him at the place closest to him. w
Zhou Zhou stood at the top, looked at Alvia outside the boat and shouted, "I'm coming out."
I don’t know if the sound could pass through the barrier, but Alvia should have heard it and nodded at him.
Zhou Zhou was not a hesitant person, otherwise he would not have followed Shirley and the others so decisively to leave his most familiar environment and come to an unfamiliar place.
Since he has given his trust to the other party, he will no longer doubt it.
He closed his eyes and jumped outside. He seemed to feel a layer of thin film. After passing through the film, his whole body became heavy in an instant, as if it was in shackles and every part of it could not be controlled freely.
When he was caught by someone, Zhou Zhou subconsciously grabbed the other person's collar.
He slowly opened his eyes in the sea and saw Alvia's smooth jawline. When Al lowered his head to look at him, Zhou Zhou saw his cheeks puffing up like a pufferfish from the other's smiling ice-blue eyes.
Although he couldn't swim, Zhou Zhou still knew that he had to hold his breath in the sea. But he looked so weird and a little silly.
Originally, he was planning to pull Zhou Zhou to swim towards the cave together, but he lay in his arms, holding his breath, staring at him stupidly without moving. Elvia had no choice but to maintain this posture and swim towards the cave with him.
There was no light at all in the cave. Elvia swam inside the cave. After walking straight for a distance, the cave passage curved upwards.
He continued to swim upwards, during which time Zhou Zhou remained motionless. Now he came to his senses, but he also knew that it was very difficult for Al to swim with him. If he moved around, the other party would definitely have a harder time, so he just stayed there obediently and didn't cause any trouble.
Soon, Elvia found a light in front of him, and continued swimming towards the light source, and actually reached the surface of the water.
It turns out that there is a naturally formed stone cave hidden here. It is not clear what the exact principle of the cave's formation is, but there is no water in it and there is plenty of oxygen, just as Elvia had guessed before.
From time to time, a few gray-black fish like pancakes would poke their heads out of the water to breathe. It seems that these fish can only survive on the seabed by relying on the oxygen here.
Zhou Zhou and Elvia went ashore together.
Shirley, who was waiting on the shore, hurried over.
"Zhou Zhou, why are you so slow? I almost thought something happened to you."
Originally, she wanted to say something about Al. He was the first to go out, but why was he the last to come in? His health bar was almost reaching the red line. But she didn't dare to say it. She always felt that she was not strong enough in front of the other party.
"Ah Jiang, wake up, wake up!"
Several people were attracted by the miserable shouting from the front.
Zhou Zhou shook the water droplets off his hair and looked over there.
It turned out that a player was eliminated when his health points reached zero while swimming in the sea.
His body was brought up by the players he played with. During the past few days, everyone gradually became familiar with each other and got along very well. It was natural that they felt sorry to see their teammate eliminated.
That's right, this person's expression was too exaggerated. If you didn't know, you would think the person on the ground was really dead.
"His health points were almost reaching the critical value. It took about three minutes to get here from the ghost ship. The health points required are not much, but he consumed too much in the early stage. If you have a good relationship with him, you can contact him after the dungeon is out." The player on the side said sincerely.
The player said sadly: "Dying in the game is of course also a kind of death. We were about to complete the game, how could you collapse here? Where can I find you after I get out? You didn't even leave me any contact information!"
Others: ...The last sentence is the key.
The player was grieving for a few minutes, and suddenly seemed to have thought of something, and asked the others: "You said, Jiang is dead now, so his ghost..."
Everyone paused and looked at the player lying on the ground. There were two red numbers returning to zero above his head, and his face also had a strange red glow under the red light.
Thinking of what happened in the dungeon before, everyone fell silent.
Very likely!
The grieving player immediately stood up and said, "Let's hurry forward and find the escape exit, otherwise we'll waste time again when the ghost Ajiang wakes up."
Because everyone's clothes were soaked in sea water again, their health points were constantly decreasing. Although not as much as in the sea, it was very dangerous for some people who reached the critical value.
Maybe he'll die halfway through the journey.
For example, Elvia, his original stats were similar to Zhou Zhou's, and higher than any other player present.
But now, because he stayed in the sea for too long, his values decreased the most, and he became one of the lowest players.
The group ignored the water stains on their bodies and went deeper into the cave.
The visibility inside the cave is pretty good, not because of the players' lighting tools, but because there are some colorful crystals scattered on the cave walls. These crystals emit light of different colors, which just illuminate the path.
There was a player who was very curious about these crystals and wanted to break off a piece to have a look. However, the moment he touched the crystal, his health points immediately dropped.
If others hadn't reminded him, he would have been eliminated directly.
However, reducing it from one-fifth to the critical value was enough for him to regret why he was so impulsive.
Zhou Zhou's hand, which was originally ready to move, was put down after he saw the player's health points decreased.
"You guys think this cave could be the escape route, right? Once we get out of here, we'll be cleared."
"It's possible. I encountered it once before, and I also left through a certain passage. It was considered a successful clearance."
"It's finally here. It feels like this instance took a long time."
"After all, this dungeon tests not only your eyesight, but also your IQ, as well as your decryption, association, eyesight, and other messy abilities. I don't know if any of the players who entered this dungeon before have successfully cleared it."
"I don't know, but I can ask on the forum later."
The players were chatting in a relaxed mood, after all, they were about to successfully complete the game.
The light ahead grew brighter, and the players quickened their pace, guessing where in the Nightmare City the outside might be.
Zhou Zhou blinked in confusion. Are we outside now? But that's not right.
In previous copies, you basically exited from the same place you entered.
From what Shirley and the others said about Love Academy, they entered a room and left through the same room; and the strange shadow in the villa entered and left through the elevator of the small shabby house outside the door; the same was true for the Doll's House, both entering and leaving were through the same passage.
When they entered the copy of Deep Sea Things, they passed through Lake Colt. Shouldn't they also pass through the lake when they exit?
Why is the place where I go out different from the place where I came in this time?
As we got closer to the bright light ahead, we walked faster and faster.
When they stepped into the light with excitement, what they saw before them was a larger cave.
Players: “…”
What about the city? What about customs clearance?
Why are there still caves?
This cave is different from the previous narrow path. It is very large, and its height and width are also extraordinary. It is almost as big as a small concert hall.
There are also many caves of various sizes around.
The light source they had seen before was the densely packed crystals in the cave. Clusters of crystals stood on the walls, making an ordinary cave look exceptionally dazzling.
The cave was very quiet. Apart from the players' incredulous questions and the echoes that kept coming back, there was no other sound.
Alvia frowned. How did he hear Zhou Zhou's voice?
Zhou Zhou was clearly standing next to him, with his eyes slightly lowered, and no one knew what he was thinking. He didn't say a word during the entire process. Amid the noisy voices and echoes of the players, Zhou Zhou's voice could be heard.
These players are of different ages and genders, and there is no one among them who has a voice similar to Zhou Zhou’s, so where did the voice come from?
"Did you hear that?" Alvia turned her head slightly and looked at Zhou Zhou.
"Huh? What?" Zhou Zhou came back to his senses and asked blankly.
"Listen carefully to these sounds."
Zhou Zhou put aside his chaotic thoughts and listened attentively to the sounds in the cave.
"There's my voice in there." Zhou Zhou recognized it after listening to a few sentences, and was very sure it was his own voice.
Elvia looked around the cave and suddenly made a gesture to the players. The players who had been making a lot of noise just now suddenly stopped talking after seeing the gesture.
Zhou Zhou was a little surprised and secretly wrote down the gesture that Elvia had just made.
The sounds in the cave continued, but at this time only Zhou Zhou's voice was still speaking, and the content was what the players had just discussed. If it hadn't been picked out alone now, it would have been difficult to find among the voices of other people.
"There's something in here!" A player heard a familiar sound in the cave, looked at Zhou Zhou, suddenly opened his eyes wide in horror, and shouted in a low voice.
...Everyone heard it.
The voice inside suddenly stopped when it realized that it was the only one left.
Peace returned to the cave.
Although the cave looked very empty, there were many caves on the walls of the cave, just like the passage they had walked out of, some deep and some shallow. Moreover, the light inside was very dim at first glance, and nothing could be seen.
Elvia narrowed his eyes and looked around. After leaving the ghost ship, his mental strength had recovered a little, and he was now able to explore various places.
Soon, he was staring at the entrance to the largest cave in the grotto, where there were living creatures.
Zhou Zhou also saw Alvia staring at one spot and asked, "Did you find anything?"
Just as Elvia was about to say that there were living creatures in the cave, suddenly a noise came from the cave.
It sounded like stones falling, or something rubbing against the ground.
Everyone immediately became alert.
I saw a huge monster squeezing out of the cave. It seemed to be a red octopus. Its huge tentacles with suction cups kept rolling forward. Each tentacle was three or four meters long. When it came out of the cave and hovered in the cave, no one could count how many tentacles it had for a while.
The players didn't expect that there would be such a big monster here. Could it be that this was not the exit but the monster's lair?
There was no time to think, the monster had already extended its tentacles and was heading towards the players.
Everyone immediately fled in all directions.
Only when everyone dispersed did they discover that the monster seemed to be targeting Zhou Zhou, and the huge red tentacle was heading straight towards Zhou Zhou.
Elvia on the side immediately took Zhou Zhou to avoid the attack of the tentacles.
The monster missed its attack and its tentacles flexibly changed direction and headed towards Zhou Zhou again.
The others hid in various places, watching Alvia and Zhou Zhou being chased by the monster, and couldn't help but complain: "What's wrong with this monster? Why is it only chasing Zhou Zhou and Al?"
"I hope I won't offend them."
"How is that possible? We have never seen this octopus before, how could we offend it?"
"That might be based on looks. They'll target the two best-looking people."
“…I don’t want to admit it, but it’s possible.”
Zhou Zhou was being led by Elvia to avoid the attack. Hearing the players' complaints, he suddenly turned his head and looked at the giant octopus.
A red octopus, and it was only chasing him, could it be that little octopus?
But the difference between the two is really huge. One is small, round and chubby and looks cute. This one is a giant red octopus, ferocious and scary, completely different.
But Zhou Zhou still looked at the octopus carefully.
Just now, the octopus made the same sound as him, as if it was using his voice to imitate the players' speech.
When he and Al were on the ghost ship, they also heard some strange echoes. Could it be this?
After all, he had only seen one small octopus on the boat, and it was a small octopus that had been on the boat for a long time.
Zhou Zhou was unsure, so he shouted to the octopus that was chasing him closely behind him: "Are you the little octopus?"
This sentence successfully made Elvia pause. He did not expect that Zhou Zhou would actually link this giant octopus with the small octopus.
The players hiding in other places also cried out in surprise. They had all seen the little octopus before, and had been sprayed with red ink in the face by the little octopus because they were discussing the eighteen ways to eat octopus.
But what does it have to do with this monster? These two don’t even look like the same species!
The octopus did not respond, but instead kept chasing Zhou Zhou, trying to catch him.
Zhou Zhou was held by Elvia around the waist. Although this posture was not very comfortable, Zhou Zhou had gotten used to it.
He always felt that if the other party was the little octopus, the purpose of catching him was probably not to hurt him. Although he wasn't sure, he wanted to give it a try.
"Al, stop first. I want to know why it caught me?" Zhou Zhou shouted.
"Are you sure?"
"Um."
Alvia had almost never refused Zhou Zhou's proposal, so he stopped abruptly.
The tentacles behind them immediately surged up and rolled up the two of them.
Before the players had time to think about the connection between this monster and the little octopus, they saw Al and Zhou Zhou being captured.
One player suddenly remembered that he still had a particle cannon, and that it had already passed its cooldown period and had finished gathering energy. He quickly took it out and shouted to the two, "Don't worry, I'll blast the monster up into the sky and save you."
Zhou Zhou and Elvia could both feel that the tentacles were very careful when wrapping around them, as if they were afraid that they would feel uncomfortable.
The sharp-eyed Zhou Zhou finally found evidence to prove that this was the little octopus.
After the giant octopus rolled them up, he saw the handkerchief on the octopus's head. Although the handkerchief was very small and almost negligible compared to the octopus's huge head at this time, he still saw that the small white handkerchief seemed to be stuck on the octopus's head and did not move at all.
Seeing the player take out the particle cannon, Zhou Zhou quickly shouted: "It is a small octopus. It has no ill intentions towards us. It may know the exit."
The player put down the particle cannon, but still couldn't believe that this thing was a little octopus. Was it a genetic mutation? Or underwater radiation?
How much radiation could turn a little cutie into this?
The giant monster rolled the two people and slowly moved in front of itself, looking at them with its two huge eyes.
Anyone would feel scared seeing such a huge monster up close, but Zhou Zhou's attitude was exactly the same as when he faced the small octopus before.
"I know you are the little octopus. Do you know where the escape exit is?" Zhou Zhou asked. The value above Elvia's head is about to return to zero, and if he doesn't get out, he will be eliminated. Zhou Zhou had no time to chat with the little octopus, so he could only ask directly about the customs exit.
Almost as soon as Zhou Zhou finished speaking, the giant octopus ate the two of them at lightning speed.
Players:! ! ! This octopus eats people!
The author has something to say:
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
