Grand Voyage : Surviving on a Ghost Ship

"You want me to kill you?" Yang Yi asked, somewhat surprised.

He hadn't expected that after all the things the witch had said, she was actually seeking an end.

"Yes!" Ronette confirmed once again.

"From the moment I became a Brain Eater, I set a time limit for my life. Before I consume the fifth brain, I must end my life."

Ronette drank from the measuring cylinder. The wine had obviously been stored for quite some time and had become cloudy, but the fragrance was still rich.

She continued explaining.

"In truth...not all living creatures have the courage to commit suicide, especially those that are intelligent and long-lived. They are usually very afraid of death. Take the Brain Eaters for example: they are a powerful and cunning species, and the concept of ageing hardly exists for them. They generally prefer to inhabit the skulls of hosts, using their exterior to get close to prey, and then taking the opportunity to devour their brains, or reproduce..."

Ronette spoke in an objective tone, as though describing a species completely unrelated to herself. 

But Yang Yi understood her meaning. She was extremely afraid of death, and as she couldn't directly express it, she wished Yang Yi would help her.

"I am a scholar, I still consider myself human!... Even though I really want to eat your brain.

In a year, or maybe ten years, as I consume more and more brains, my thoughts and views will change. I will start to believe that I am a noble Brain Eater. And humans will become nothing more than lowly livestock. This is an inevitable, subtle process, and by then, I will be standing against the light of truth. This is something I absolutely cannot tolerate! So, I set a time limit for my life..."

Ronette's thoughts entered Yang Yi's mind.

After hesitating for a moment, Yang Yi finally took the measuring cylinder, drank the wine, and downed it in one go.

Then, he stood up.

The sudden movement caused Ronette's tendrils to tense up. The sickle-like blades waved erratically in front of Yang Yi, and even the straw-like tendril seemed ready to stab into his temple and suck his brain out. 

"Sorry, this is a physiological stress reaction of the Brain Eater that I can't control," Ronette apologised.

Due to the neural connection, Yang Yi could feel Ronette's emotions, including tension, panic, fear, hesitation...and the rationality underlying it all.

Yang Yi ignored the flailing tendrils and began searching the ground, quickly retrieving his flintlock and the Sea Serpent's Tooth that had fallen in the forest.

During the process of picking up his weapons, he was scratched by several of the sickle-like tendrils. The wounds were shallow, but blood droplets were still hanging from them.

"Where do you want to be buried?" Yang Yi suddenly asked.

"The Holy Chest, I suppose. There's no higher class of coffin than that. Then, I’ll have it delivered to the Radiant Holy Church. Let those religious fanatics quiet down a bit." Ronette said calmly.

"Are you ready?" Yang Yi looked at Ronette, holding a weapon in each hand, very close to her head.

"There are two ways to die here. Which one would you choose?"

"Use the gun...that one...!"

Suddenly, the nerve signals became chaotic and turned into a mass of illogical gibberish.

Ronette widened her empty eye sockets, seeming somewhat surprised.

Because Yang Yi had made his move.

With lightning speed, his right hand wielded the Sea Serpent's Tooth, piercing her temple and driving the blade into the hilt.

The strike was too sudden, occurring in the brief moment between their conversation, and Ronette didn’t even have time to feel fear.

Dark purple mucus flowed from her nostrils, and several tendrils twisted wildly like a drowning person, desperately entangling Yang Yi’s head and leaving bloody scratches on his face.

After a few seconds, the tendrils lost their strength and hung limply.

Yang Yi pulled out the Sea Serpent's Fang.

From the moment he picked up his weapons, he had deliberately stopped thinking, clearing his mind and remaining calm.

In just a few short minutes, Yang Yi had mastered how to hide his true thoughts on a conscious level — he didn't need to think!

So, by the time Ronette realised Yang Yi was about to strike, it was already too late for her to be afraid.

With the dust settling, Yang Yi obtained Ronette's information.

【Name: Ronette (Brain Eater)】

【Description: The witch Ronette transformed into a Brain Eater, a heretic fleeing from the Radiant Holy Church. She can be thrown into the octopus vending machine or handed over to the Radiant Holy Church in exchange for a high reward. She bears a holy mark, which can be sensed by nearby Holy Church troops.

Brain Eater: An extremely dangerous creature which enjoys consuming brains, parasitising, and reproducing. After consuming brains for a period of time, it becomes weak and thirsty, and is especially skilled in mental magic.

Yang Yi remained expressionless as he began the dissection.

Following Ronette's death, he turned blind again. Relying on her memory, he roughly severed the brain from his own shoulder.

After about one or two minutes of cutting, Yang Yi managed to separate Ronette from his shoulder.

The effect of the body restoration spell...was hard to describe.

The entire spell took nearly a minute to activate, costing 10 sanity points, and was not suitable for use in combat.

Strictly speaking, it could only be considered a logistical spell.

Yang Yi took out a regeneration potion and drank it. The intense itching made him feel an impulse to rub himself against the wall.

Fortunately, he resisted, but the noise caused was noticeable.

He checked his status panel, especially his sanity points, and found he had 32 left.

"Good, no further contamination!"

Yang Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

The earlier invasion had altered his body, costing him some sanity. But as long as it didn't drop below 10, he was still within safe limits.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Just as Yang Yi was relieved and ready to inform Suna to come get him, there was another sound from the shipwreck.

"Who's there?"

A soft voice echoed.

Someone else?

Yang Yi's heart skipped a beat.

He then quickly thought of the missing Zhou Dai. If there were any survivors, it had to be her.

Despite the collapse of the ship, she hadn't died — she was extremely lucky.

Yet, her appearance wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Because Yang Yi was blind, he couldn't see anything. If Zhou Dai saw him as an enemy, things could...get ugly.

In a moment of urgency, Yang Yi carefully considered the situation and decided to minimise the potential for conflict, trying to defuse the tense atmosphere.

So, he boldly admitted his true identity.

"I'm Yang Yi, captain of the Nightmare Star!" he replied.

"Yang Yi?!" Zhou Dai repeated.

"That's right, who are you?" Yang Yi asked.

Zhou Dai furrowed her brow.

She did recognise that name, after all, they had done two deals and even added each other as friends.

In her mind, Yang Yi was a tough person — often injured, liked killing otherworldly creatures, and sold useful items...

But Zhou Dai didn't immediately believe it. Instead, she opened the chat interface to try sending a private message to Yang Yi and saw his previous messages.

There were two in total.

One was from a few days ago, where Yang Yi had asked if she wanted to buy fire wool clothing.

The other was from today, where he asked if she needed stone and wood materials.

After reading them, Zhou Dai sent a reply.

"Are you on the island?"

"I've just met someone who claims to be Yang Yi, captain of the Nightmare Star. Is that really you?"

"Of course, it's me!"

Yang Yi's voice came through.

From this point on, both of them confirmed each other's identities, and the tension between them decreased by half.

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