Ch. 41 - Tiny spider

Hu Wei's ship was a third-tier vessel.

Both expansion spaces on the ship had been used to build cannons.

【Name: Standard Cannon**】** 【Type: Ship Equipment**】** 【Quality: Ordinary**】** 【Description: A standard cannon with a range of 200 meters.****Cannon is fixed in the combat room, cannot be removed.】

Yang Yi had thought about whether he could move the cannon to his own ship, but after reading the information, he gave up on the idea.

Hu Wei really was wealthy. He carried a large amount of supplies, all of which were now conveniently Yang Yi's!

The supplies on the ship included:

Wood x832,

Cloth x742,

Stone x935,

Steel x83,

Crystal x63,

Sulphur x35,

Freshwater x50L,

Sausages, bread, and other food items — enough for Yang Yi and Suna to eat for half a month.

Equipment included an ordinary-quality telescope, a simple fishing rod, and two pieces of flintlock clothing.

Yang Yi calculated these supplies were enough to upgrade his ship, the Nightmare Star, to third tier.

Though as for the exotic monster corpse needed for the upgrade, he still had no clue where to find it.

By dismantling the third-tier sailing ship, he could gain an additional 600 units of wood, 300 units of cloth, 300 units of stone, and 20 units of steel.

However, the total supplies would exceed the capacity limit of the Nightmare Star.

For now, the most cost-effective plan was to hold off the dismantlement. Once he obtained an exotic monster corpse and upgraded the Nightmare Star to third tier, then he could go ahead.

For the time being, he could use the ship as a floating warehouse, dragging it behind.

After moving the food, freshwater, and high-value resources to the Nightmare Star, Yang Yi and Suna set sail and left the island.

When the ship had sailed 200 nautical miles, Yang Yi’s expression suddenly changed. His entire body began to itch, as if countless bugs were crawling and biting him.

He immediately stopped the ship and turned it around. As soon as he did, the itching disappeared.

Yang Yi now understood why Hu Wei had stayed on this island — he couldn’t leave.

“What happened?” Suna noticed the movement and emerged from the cabin.

“The spiders inside me won’t allow me to leave this island,” Yang Yi said with a grim face.

Suna frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, “Stop the ship and come with me!”

She pulled Yang Yi along and led him to the laboratory.

There were two large metal tables inside. One of the tables was filled with various instruments, as well as pieces of meat — remnants of Hu Wei’s corpse, which Suna had collected.

“I just finished checking, and I can confirm: this body is hollow!” Suna's expression was more serious than ever.

“Hollow?”

“That’s right! There are no organs, no bones, just a thin layer of skin!” Suna picked up a piece of meat with tweezers and explained, “Didn’t you notice how little flesh there was on his body, and how little blood came out? At first, I thought maybe it was lost in the ocean, but after carefully inspecting each piece, I found there were no bones or internal organs! It’s all just skin and superficial muscle.”

Yang Yi suddenly understood.

“This corpse is completely hollow — no brain, no intestines, no heart! This must have happened the moment Hu Wei died. All of his internal organs and bones were eaten by the spiders!” Suna concluded.

After hearing her explanation, cold sweat dripped from Yang Yi’s forehead.

He realised these spiders likely existed within him as well. His life was no longer in his control; at any moment, they could devour him and leave him to be but a hollow shell!

Suddenly, Yang Yi noticed a fragrance.

Once aware of it, he couldn’t ignore it. It made his mouth water, and he swallowed involuntarily.

It was the power of the gourmet chef, making Hu Wei’s corpse smell delicious.

“Suna, you didn’t sneak a bite, did you?” Yang Yi asked in horror.

Knowing her personality, Yang Yi wouldn’t have been surprised if she had tasted a piece just to see what it was like.

“What are you talking about! This is a precious specimen. How could I possibly waste it?” Suna said, slightly annoyed.

“That’s a relief!” Yang Yi sighed in relief.

He had a feeling that eating something prepared by the gourmet chef would have terrible consequences.

It could even lead to addiction!

“Alright, now it's your turn!” Suna packed Hu Wei’s remains into a glass container, cleared the table, and gestured for Yang Yi to lie down.

“What’s this...?”

“I’m going to examine your body and see how those spiders got inside you,” Suna explained.

Yang Yi felt a bit anxious but eventually lay down on the metal table.

He wanted to know what was happening to him, too.

Suna began examining his body, checking him all over.

“Your body surface looks normal. Open your mouth.”

Yang Yi complied.

Suna peered inside with a magnifying glass, scraped some tissue from his mucous membrane, and prepared a simple slide to examine under a microscope.

Watching her furrowed brow made Yang Yi increasingly uneasy.

He felt like a patient waiting for the doctor’s diagnosis, growing more anxious the longer the doctor hesitated.

A few minutes later, Suna approached, holding a sharp knife.

“What are you doing!”

Yang Yi immediately sat up, retreating to maintain distance.

“Why are you so tense! If you’re afraid of pain, then give me some money — I’m out of shell coins!” Suna’s sharp gaze and steady grip on the knife made her seem formidable.

Yang Yi, feeling numb, transferred 2,000 shell coins to her.

Suna then operated her journal, and soon, a modern blood collection kit appeared in her hand.

“You're just going to take blood?” Yang Yi asked.

“Of course! I was planning to cut you, but since you seem afraid of pain, I’ll use this instead!” Suna approached with the blood collection kit.

Damn it! Yang Yi suspected she had played this trick just to get more shell coins out of him!

Though he had no evidence, he felt it was highly likely.

While Suna drew 300 units of blood from him, Yang Yi asked her about the laboratory’s capabilities.

“Can the lab provide any kind of equipment?”

“There are many limitations. It mainly provides experimental and medical tools. The more complex and larger the equipment, the more expensive it is.” Sёarᴄh the NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“What about a lighter?”

“You can get a lighter, but it won’t have any fuel. Currently, the lab can produce items like glass, metal, ceramics, and plastic, but not fuels like alcohol. Also, any equipment purchased here can’t be taken outside the lab,” Suna replied.

“I see,” Yang Yi nodded.

No wonder the alcohol lamps he saw earlier were empty.

“Can you make flint or some other fire-starting tools?” Yang Yi asked again.

“No, but you can try starting a fire by rubbing sticks together.”

“Forget it!”

Yang Yi didn’t believe he could start a fire on the damp ocean by rubbing sticks together.

Even if he could, it wasn’t a long-term solution. In the freezing regions, he wouldn’t stand a chance at starting a fire this way!

After drawing 300cc of blood, Suna made a blood smear and continued her observations.

“As expected. Come take a look for yourself,” she called Yang Yi over.

Though Yang Yi didn’t know much about biology, he could still look through the microscope.

In the field of view, aside from red blood cells, there were numerous tiny particles.

“Do you see those black particles? Brace yourself!” Suna adjusted the microscope to a higher magnification, and Yang Yi immediately broke out in cold sweat.

What he saw were tiny, clustered spiders curled up together. They were so small that only under significant magnification could their outlines be seen clearly.

By normal standards, spiders shouldn’t be smaller than cells.

Yet Yang Yi was seeing them right there under the microscope.

His body was likely filled with these tiny spiders, lying dormant. Once awakened, Yang Yi would face unimaginable torment and be eaten alive, leaving nothing but an empty shell.

It seemed there was no choice but to return to the island.

There had to be a way to resolve his impending doom there!

“Don’t worry, give me some time,” Suna said, comforting him as she approached. “I’ll try to kill the spiders inside your body.”