Ch. 2 - Ghost Ship Nightmare

【Nightmare: Level 1, Durability 300/300, Capacity 400 units, Speed 40 knots】【Skills: Nightmare: Sleeping on this ship will cause nightmares, reducing energy recovery efficiency by 75%. Angler's Curse: This ship is cursed, and normal fish cannot be caught.】

【Description: After drifting at sea for centuries, the Nightmare has finally welcomed its new master...】

After Yang Yi finished reading the ship's information, his face turned grim.

This is a ghost ship.

The hull was covered in barnacles and seaweed, indicating it hadn't been cleaned in years. The deck was also wet, creaking with every step.

He had played many horror games. In scenes like this, there was a high chance of encountering monsters! Fortunately, after a thorough search, he found no living being.

Yang Yi breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to start the game with an intense battle against some mysterious creature.

He had also figured out the ship's layout.

It was about twelve metres long, composed of the helm, captain's cabin, deck, and cargo hold. The helm was on a platform at the bow, providing a good view. Behind it was the captain's cabin, containing a bed and simple furniture. Further back was the midship, with a tall mast. The stern housed the cargo hold, which led to the ship's interior, used for storing goods.

Yang Yi inspected the cargo hold, finding it empty except for a musty, unpleasant smell. He started off with no supplies...

After all, this ghost ship had been drifting for who knows how many years. If it had food and drink, that would be strange!

Yang Yi opened his logbook and continued checking the world chat, curious about others' discoveries. Most people were showing off their ships. The majority had ordinary vessels, but some stood out.

【Swift Wind: Level 1, Durability 800/800, Capacity 500 units, Speed 70 knots】

【Skill: Breaking Waves: Increases ship speed by 100% for 5 minutes.】

【Description: You won't even be able to breathe, trust me!】

This seemed to be the fastest ship so far.

Other ordinary ships, depending on their size, had speeds ranging from 30 to 40 knots. Larger ships generally had higher durability but slower speeds.

Yang Yi's Nightmare had a mid-to-high speed.

【Cherry: Level 1, Durability 1000/1000, Capacity 1000 units, Speed 35 knots】

【Skill: Blessed Light: The cherry blossom tree on the ship emits an evolving light, occasionally changing the attributes of the crew, potentially causing evolution!】

【Description: Let's hope the crew remains human.】

The world chat fell silent for a few seconds after this information appeared.

"Haha, my ship is awesome. I feel like I'm evolving!" Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ N0vᴇlFire(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

"Are you sure it's not a mutation?"

"Cherry, right? You better sail fast and avoid me, or I'll shove my cannon up your XX!"

The speaker was from the Iron Heart, who had revealed his ship's name. He also posted a photo, taken from the logbook's screenshot feature.

It was a steel warship, armed to the teeth, with twenty cannons on each side, boasting immense firepower. But considering its speed was only five knots, everyone burst into laughter.

"Idiot! Try surviving until tomorrow first."

"Damn it! Just wait and see!"

The chat was filled with meaningless insults, many of which were censored.

"It seems that no matter the language, the system translates it into the user's native tongue..."

Yang Yi silently typed: "Count me in!"

Then he continued scrolling and finally found something interesting.

"Have any of you tried fishing?"

"Quiet, I'm fishing right now!"

"Finding out we can fish makes me not want to die anymore."

"I fish once a week, and each time I fish for a week!"

"I just set up my fishing spot."

"Your ship is moving, how can you set up a fishing spot, idiot?"

"Damn! Why didn't you say so earlier? I wasted my black bread!"

"Guess what I caught? A bottle of Nongfu Spring water!"

Yang Yi's eyes lit up. If he could catch freshwater, that would be great.

His ship also had a fishing rod, lying on the deck.

【Name: Barnacle-Covered Moldy Fishing Rod】

【Type: Tool】

【Quality: Good】

【Description: Trust me, you won't like what it catches. Reduces the chance of catching normal fish, slightly increases the chance of catching unknown items.】

"This unknown item might include freshwater!" Yang Yi guessed.

But before fishing, he needed to adjust the ship's course and speed. Currently, without a specific goal, he planned to sail forwards at full speed in the default direction.

There was a black line on the horizon, likely the boundary of the black fog. So, heading forwards shouldn't be wrong. Controlling the ship was simple, as it required no special skills and was controlled by magic. He just needed to hold the helm to change the ship's direction and operate it if needed.

It felt similar to playing a sailing game. Players could use grappling hooks to grab passing items.

As for power...

Yang Yi looked at the mast, which had some tattered cloth hanging from it. He decided not to think about it and focused on grabbing floating objects.

【Rotten Wood +1】

【Rotten Wood +1】

【Tattered Cloth +1】

【Rotten Wood +1】

The log kept popping up with new activity messages.

The gameplay was like a dynamic version of "Gold Miner".

Items grabbed would be converted into resources and stored in the cargo hold, viewable in the log. Each piece of rotten wood had a chance to be converted into one unit of lumber, and each piece of tattered cloth into one unit of fabric.

Yang Yi estimated the conversion rate to be less than 10%.

Grabbing ten pieces of rotten wood would yield about one unit of lumber. If he intentionally grabbed better-looking driftwood, the probability would be higher.

Yang Yi caught over a hundred floating objects, gathering a total of five units of lumber and three units of fabric in three hours. Not very efficient.

But this was a skill-based activity, and proficiency would improve efficiency. These lumber and fabric could be used to upgrade the ship.

To upgrade his ship to level 2, Yang Yi needed the following materials:

【Lumber 200, Fabric 100, Captain's Remains】

He knew what these remains were — likely the skeleton in the captain's cabin. So, the skeleton couldn't be discarded. Collecting so much lumber and fabric would take at least a week, conservatively.

And this was just a level 1 ship. As levels increased, it would probably get harder. But upgrading a ship required…

Yang Yi realised that special ships might have unusual upgrade materials. He quickly checked the chat and found this to be true. Ordinary ships required fewer materials to upgrade.

They only needed Lumber 100 and Fabric 50, no remains.

As for the Iron Heart...it needed steel to upgrade.

"Damn! Where can I find steel in the ocean? How am I supposed to upgrade?"

"As everyone knows, iron sinks faster than water, lying at the bottom of the sea."

"Fishermen can catch anything! I just caught a unit of steel!"

"Huh?"

"High-priced purchase of steel! Whoever gives me steel, I'll take them as my little brother."

"Idiot! You're still thinking about steel? Try surviving until tomorrow! The black fog is catching up to you!"

"Cherry, right? Don't hide! Just wait, don't let me catch you!"

Yang Yi closed the logbook.

It seemed special ships weren't all advantageous, as their upgrade difficulty was higher, likely causing them to lag in levels.

He picked up the fishing rod, ready to start fishing.