Chapter 382

Without a doubt, the monster possessed intelligence.

It had suffered at Jian Jing's hands before, so given a choice, it would not confront her directly, preferring instead to hunt other players.

Having been burned by fire and oil several times, it naturally learned its lesson.

As soon as flames appeared, its tentacles sprang into action. The burned tentacles were instantly severed and discarded, while the intact ones swayed back and forth, piling up objects in the room to serve as shields.

However, its survival instincts were still too limited, or perhaps it lacked experience dealing with fire, not realizing that more fuel would only make the flames burn more fiercely.

The bed, table, chairs, cabinets, and other furniture were mostly wooden. Throwing them into the fire not only failed to extinguish it but caused it to burn even more intensely.

Numerous tentacles were charred by the raging fire.

The monster awakened.

Its movements became swifter and more decisive: resolutely abandoning useless tentacles, contracting its body, and merging the split tentacles into a single, more powerful limb.

The cruise ship swayed again with its movements.

From the distant liferaft, Jian Jing used the telescope function to clearly observe the monster's response.

It seemed to have discovered that water could extinguish fire, so it retracted its entire body to one side. The ship's center of gravity shifted, and with the lower decks already flooded, it began to sink faster than before.

In the blink of an eye, seawater engulfed the areas below the fourth floor, advancing towards the upper levels.

The broken windows became the greatest accomplice, as seawater rushed in, sweeping through rooms, expanding into corridors, and carrying away everything that wasn't securely fastened.

The Titanic took 3 hours from hitting the iceberg to sinking into the Atlantic. This cruise ship was much smaller, and it was sinking even faster.

Soon, seawater flooded the sixth floor, extinguishing the flames on that level.

"How is it?" Wu Lie asked Andrei, "Is the fire out?"

"No," Jian Jing increased the magnification of the telescope, seeing orange flames flickering in the seventh-floor rooms. "It's burning on the seventh floor now."

There was oil on the seventh floor as well. Despite the extreme humidity, it burned fiercely. Moreover, fire naturally tends to spread upwards, finding any available opening. Originally, the ceiling was reinforced concrete, difficult to penetrate, but the monster had created numerous holes for its predatory activities. Now it was paying the price, losing ground rapidly.

The onlookers seemed to be watching an intense competition.

Seawater continued to pour in, submerging the flames, while the fire burned on relentlessly, desperately seizing the monster's territory upwards.

Water and fire fought to a standstill, with no one able to predict the outcome.

Jian Jing turned her head: "Row further away."

Everyone paddled with all their might once more.

By now, the cruise ship had completely capsized, its hull gradually sinking below the sea's surface, and the burning flames were no longer visible.

The monster, like a giant starfish, clung to the part of the ship still above water, its tentacles hanging naturally, its flexible tail searching for any remaining food.

They couldn't wait any longer.

Jian Jing took a deep breath and detonated the bomb hidden in the fuel compartment.

[Name: Item Card - Bomb (1/1)]

[Description: A bomb of tremendous power, remotely controlled, for use only within the scenario]

[Note: This item is extremely dangerous, please use with caution]

"Bang!"

A massive explosion echoed, accompanied by a blinding, scorching light. Waves of intense flames rolled out, disintegrating the monster's extended tentacles into dust.

Simultaneously, the cruise ship shattered into pieces, sinking at a visibly rapid pace.

The monster frantically tried to escape, desperately clinging to fragments of the ship to prevent itself from sinking, its size drastically reduced to only about the size of a basketball court.

A whirlpool formed, its immense suction pulling in all surrounding life forms, dragging them to the ocean floor.

Jian Jing and the others' liferaft had already moved over a hundred meters away, but they had still underestimated the power of nature. The waves, like the hands of a giant, mercilessly pushed the raft towards the whirlpool in the sea.

The world spun, and in the vast ocean, humans were utterly powerless.

Even Jian Jing, whose physical abilities had been enhanced and who was among the most elite of humans, was equally helpless, only able to cling to the liferaft.

"Help!" She heard someone cry out.

Turning her head with difficulty, she saw that the neighboring liferaft had broken, taking on water and capsizing. Wataru Kojima had fallen into the sea.

The otaku just couldn't handle it.

Jian Jing seized the opportunity, grabbed his collar, and pulled the struggling otaku over. "Don't move, relax," she said.

"I-I can't swim," Wataru Kojima's face was paler than a ghost's.

"You're wearing a life jacket," Jian Jing wiped the rain from her face. "Stay calm, don't choke on water."

Kumiko Terauchi also reached out, grabbing his belt.

With the added weight on their side, when the next wave came, Ran-er Kim on the other end couldn't withstand the powerful force and was thrown off.

"Save me!" She reached out her hand.

It was indeed a ship.

She asked, "Who called for rescue?"

"The group that left first. I saw them take a satellite phone, so they must have gotten through."

"It's the production team," Connor Lee said. "The captain is with them too."

"No wonder."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the tense atmosphere from earlier vanished. People's morality and kindness suddenly returned. Seeing someone clinging to a wooden board in the distance, they paddled over to pull them up.

This unfortunate soul was the screenwriter, clutching a metal box and gasping for air.

Raj asked, "Why did you keep that thing?"

"This box is worth over 3 million," the screenwriter said. "Borrowed it from the insurance company."

Raj immediately fell silent.

The ship slowly approached. Several crew members pointed from the deck, and soon after, one of them threw down a rope ladder, tossing it to the nearest lifeboat.

People from the lifeboat climbed up one by one.

After they were aboard, more crew members lowered lifeboats to pull in those in the water, then sent them up the rope ladder, with crew members above responsible for pulling people up.

Jian Jing and her group's life raft was the farthest away. Although everyone knew that since the fishing boat had started rescuing people, they couldn't possibly miss them, they couldn't help but worry about being overlooked.

This anxiety, though unspoken, lingered in their minds, impossible to shake off.

They could only make small talk to distract themselves.

"We're lucky there was a ship nearby."

"The fishing ban period is over, so there are many fishing boats at sea now."

"I was terrified. Thankfully the police didn't arrive at the very end."

"Movies are movies, reality is reality. With modern technology so advanced, it's impossible not to contact rescue."

"It's been decades since the Titanic, there must have been some progress."

"It's truly fortunate."

While reassuring each other, they waved their rescue sticks, afraid of being missed.

Half an hour later, those furthest away had been rescued. The fishing boat headed in their direction, similarly dropping a rope ladder for them to climb aboard.

"Ladies first," Hiroto Ishikawa made way.

Ran-er Kim sarcastically remarked, "It's ladies first when there's no danger, but equality when there is."

The gentlemen pretended not to hear.

Ran-er Kim didn't hold back, pushing past them to climb up. The moment her feet touched the deck, she felt her limbs go weak, almost collapsing to the ground.

"Have some hot water," crew members distributed blankets and hot water. "Are any of you injured?"

"My face is cut," Liu Sau-chi said.

A crew member gave him a bandage.

Others were also numb with cold, hanging on by their last bit of strength to climb aboard, collapsing on the deck, unable to get up.

Jian Jing was the last to be rescued.

As she boarded, she looked back at the sea. The cruise ship had completely sunk, the severed tentacles had vanished without a trace, as if nothing had ever happened.

The sun was slowly rising on the horizon.

The view brightened, and the undulating sea didn't seem as treacherous anymore.

"Rest for a while, we'll return to shore soon," the crew members escorted the shivering survivors to the cabins, constantly reassuring them, "You'll be on land after a short nap."

Having survived a disaster, everyone was exhausted beyond words, not wanting to speak, only nodding briefly.

Seeing this, the crew members didn't say much more, arranging for them to rest before leaving.

The fishing boat had limited rooms, with three or four people squeezed into one. But at this moment, even the pickiest person wouldn't complain about the conditions, with people of the same gender huddling together to sleep.

Jian Jing turned off the lights and lay down on the sofa.

Heavy breathing could be heard from Zhang Xue'er and Ran-er Kim on the bed. They were exhausted and terrified. Who could have imagined that participating in a reality show would lead to a scene straight out of a disaster movie?

They had come so close to death.

So close to starring in their own horror film.

Fortunately, it was all over now. All horror movies have survivors in the end, with the main characters usually safe and sound, and if lucky, even some supporting characters manage to escape with their lives.

As Jian Jing pondered this, she heard a soft sound by her ear.

The door was pushed open a crack, letting in a salty sea breeze that caressed her face, refreshingly cool.

"Click," in less than 3 seconds it closed again, and the room returned to its stuffy heat.

Jian Jing opened her eyes and slowly sat up.