Yang Yi had a nightmare.In the dream he was in the throes of passion with three seductive, sultry women — enjoying himself blissfully.Suddenly the scene shifted. One of the women snapped, leapt at his right arm, tore off a chunk of flesh and chewed it slowly with her mouth dripping blood.Yang Yi froze, staring at her in disbelief — and realized she was not human but a mermaid… or perhaps a sea-siren.The latter smiled with wicked delight, as if complimenting the taste of Yang Yi’s flesh; her eyes were full of affection.(Translated into five words: “Handsome, you taste good!”)A stabbing pain shot through his right arm and Yang Yi woke up. He found himself completely naked, lying on a slimy floor.The light here was dim, like inside a cave; the walls and ground were covered in that glowing, fishy-smelling slime.His body was coated in a thick layer of it. One whiff felt like a jolt of alertness — enough to make a person forget food for three days!He immediately looked to his right.Thankfully, his right arm was intact.The pain’s source was a woman — she had her shell-like teeth clamped into his arm, biting in deep. Yang Yi gritted his teeth from the pain.“Let go — are you a dog? Why are you biting me!” Yang Yi snarled.Hearing his voice, the woman finally released her bite, leaving two deep rows of teeth marks on his shoulder.“You’re awake? I thought you weren’t going to wake up!” she complained, her blood-red eyes dripping with a dangerous allure.“I’m sitting up — do I look awake or not?” Yang Yi said dully, rubbing his right arm; the bite hurt.He studied the woman.A typically Asian face, fairly pretty; her build was slim, a little undernourished, skin a healthy wheat color. She was bound by a tangle of unknown seaweed, and there were crawl marks on the ground where she had dragged herself over — it must have taken her a lot of effort.“Who are you?” Yang Yi asked, his head pounding.“You were charmed by sirens. I saved your life!” the woman reminded him.Yang Yi checked his activity log at once.It displayed a string of charm warnings.His sanity was also at a precarious number.Sanity: 51/100“This bunch of sirens didn’t eat you for three whole days — they fattened you up instead. That’s a miracle!” the woman said, looking at Yang Yi.Yang Yi suddenly understood.“I was captured by sirens… it’s already been three days?” he asked.“That’s right.”“Not just one siren?”“No — there are three of them in this cove. They’re probably a gregarious species; they use song to charm men, as part of courtship… and as food!”Yang Yi looked at his body and, seeing himself utterly naked, felt a chill run through him.Not far away lay a pirate outfit scattered on the ground and a rusted flintlock pistol.“They’re the fantasy creatures from legend, but they actually exist in this world; their habits are similar to the tales…” the woman continued, clearly intrigued by the sirens.Yang Yi felt only dread. He quickly pulled on the pirate clothes and grabbed the flintlock pistol from the ground.[Wearing the bloodstained pirate clothes, an inexplicable chill runs through you — Sanity −1]His sanity was just hanging at 50; a little lower and he’d slip into madness.“This slime is disgusting. How can sirens secrete slime?” he said.“In the sea many mollusks or scaleless creatures secrete slime to protect themselves, so sirens having slime is normal! And this slime glows in the dark — it can light up to attract prey, like the lantern on an anglerfish, to show off their alluring forms and help with the whole hunting process…” the woman explained, mixing in her personal take on sirens.“You’re a player, right? Why are you here?” Yang Yi asked abruptly.The woman’s background was unclear; everything about her felt odd, especially those vivid red eyes, which gave him the creeps — identical to the eyes from his nightmare.That set his guard on edge. Though she seemed not to mean him harm and even appeared to be trying to help, he was still suspicious.“My name is Suna. I was a passing player who got caught by the sirens and became emergency rations,” she said.“You said the sirens target men — why did they capture you?” Yang Yi asked.Suna had a prepared story. She wasn’t going to tell the truth; instead she nodded toward a corner.“I wasn’t alone. My companion was eaten by the sirens. But for some reason they didn’t eat you,” Suna explained.Yang Yi followed her gaze.There was an unfinished male corpse there, already rotted: the abdomen ripped open, organs removed, a distorted face, missing limbs — it had probably suffered inhuman tortures…Around the corpse lay many more human bones, picked clean, evidence of the sirens’ ferocity.But did Suna actually know that man?Not at all.She merely used the corpse to make her story more plausible.In truth, Suna had come alone, trailing Yang Yi and the sirens. She watched as the sirens charmed a man — then two more sirens appeared from behind and surrounded him…She had thought only one siren was involved.As for the corpse, it was already there before Yang Yi arrived. Once Yang Yi turned up, the man apparently lost whatever value he had and was eaten by the sirens… so Suna didn’t know who the poor guy had been or where he came from.After listening to Suna, Yang Yi believed most of it but remained cautious.“You said three days, but why don’t I feel hungry at all?” he asked.He checked his status and found that aside from low sanity, his other stats were nearly full.Suna pointed to another corner.There lay a large sailfish — a fierce marine predator with a sharp, spear-like snout.It was dead, its body showing bite marks.It seemed Yang Yi had survived these days by eating that sailfish.“But what about water? Didn’t I need to drink?” he asked.He had no memory of the past three days, felt foggy and unreal.Suna grew a little anxious.“Can you untie me first? In half an hour those sirens will come back! I don’t want to miss this chance!” she urged.Up until now she’d remained bound, crawling like a caterpillar. She had observed the sirens for three days and only after learning their habits did she risk crawling over to wake Yang Yi.Yang Yi’s gaze toward her was complicated.The woman was clever and didn’t seem malicious. Precisely because of that, he grew more wary — she seemed too composed. Put anyone else in her position and they’d be on the verge of death; they wouldn’t be speaking so smoothly. Also, she had appeared in his nightmare!The nightmare had foretold that this woman would aim a gun at his head, trying to kill him.So Yang Yi was torn — whether to help her or not.He couldn’t bring himself to kill a woman who showed no malice and even some kindness.After thinking a while, he made a decision.He suspected she was hiding something, so he decided to rattle her a bit — whether she had anything or not, he’d rough her up first.His eyes went cold. Pointing the dark muzzle at Suna, he threatened her.“Woman, three words — give me one reason not to kill you!”Suna’s pupils violently contracted; she couldn’t fathom Yang Yi’s logic.“What are you saying — did the sirens eat your brain?” she snapped.“I have a gun.” Yang Yi said with a smile, brandishing the weapon like a brazen robber.He raised a finger with his other hand.“That’s your first word. Two more left — don’t waste your chance.”The gun’s black barrel was silent and the atmosphere grew oppressive.After ten-odd seconds Suna’s face showed panic, regret, and remorse. She spoke rapidly, “I can give you my resources and gear, including the food on my ship!”Yang Yi shook his head. “Not enough. If I kill you, all that becomes mine anyway.”Suna’s breathing quickened, her gaze fluttering.After several seconds she revealed her secret.“I… I can give you sailing charts, so you can navigate more safely!”“Charts?”“My ship is called the Astrologer. It can view nearby sea maps.”“Oh, is that so…” Yang Yi’s smile froze into something chilling.“You lured me here, didn’t you?” he said calmly.He rummaged in the inner pocket of the pirate jacket and produced a paper.“You probably haven’t seen this. It’s a ship blueprint. If you kill a ship’s owner and dismantle his special-grade vessel, you can obtain it. So tell me, why wouldn’t I kill you and take your ship’s skill for myself?”Suna went pale.It was the first time she’d heard of ship blueprints existing. And she knew Yang Yi wasn’t lying — that pirate ship had been taken by him!At last she lost her composure; anger replaced her cold calm. She spat at Yang Yi with hatred. “You’re greedy and despicable — a filthy scoundrel! I spit on you! Go ahead and shoot; I’ll curse you to the ends of hell!”She shut her eyes and waited for the shot.“You do have some backbone. Fine, I’ll spare you,” Yang Yi said coldly.Suna trembled slightly.She waited — but there was no pain and no gunshot. Opening her eyes, she saw Yang Yi searching through the bone pile and prying out a sharp ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) broken bone.“If you hand over half your ship’s supplies and provide one month of charts, I’ll save you,” Yang Yi said earnestly.Suna’s face registered surprise, then anger.She realized Yang Yi had been bluffing.Humiliated, she snapped, “What if I refuse?”“I have a gun. You have to agree.” Yang Yi shook the pistol again, striking a victorious pose.Suna had no choice.

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