Unlocking Trade and Cold Arrows

"....System Announcement..."

"...Congratulations to all players for surviving the fifth day. The trading system is now officially open. Please refer to the logs for details..."

A strange voice echoed in Lucas Hall's mind, and he groggily woke up.

"Fifth day... Did I really faint for over two days?"

Lucas felt as if his limbs were filled with lead, his body icy, lips cracked, and his throat burning. He immediately checked his status.

Status: Severe Injury / Corpse Poisoning (Severe) "The entire body has turned red."

Sanity: 100/100

Energy: 23/100

Health: 14/100 (Below 100 means injured, below 50 means moderately injured, below 30 means severely injured, below 10 means near death. In a near-death state, taking damage may cause instant death.)

Lucas was in critical condition, barely hanging on to life.

He struggled to get up, his throat parched, planning to drink something to replenish his fluids and then check the trade channel for any life-saving medicines.

But as he stood up, he was shocked to find another ship parked beside him.

It was a pirate ship flying a skull flag, about twenty meters long, with two grappling hooks latched onto the Nightmare. A narrow wooden plank connected the two ships.

"This is bad!"

Lucas instantly became alert, but it was already too late.

An arrow flew at him, hitting his left arm with great force and piercing straight through.

The arrow drained 9 points of his health, pushing him into a near-death state. He immediately collapsed, hiding beneath the ship's edge.

Soon, he could hear footsteps on the wooden bridge between the two ships.

The person was likely coming to confirm Lucas's condition.

The arrow wasn't fatal, as it hadn't struck a vital area, but Lucas's quick collapse made it unclear whether the enemy saw through his ruse. They would probably have to come closer to confirm his death.

The enemy, due to the rules, couldn't directly board the Nightmare until they were certain he was dead. They were waiting for Lucas to show himself so they could kill him and then board.

Lucas quickly pieced together the situation and his eyes gleamed with murderous intent.

"If they want to kill me, then I won't mind killing them first..."

He silently swore in his mind, ready to strike back.

Lucas's left arm was wounded, but it didn't hurt. His right arm, however, was fine and capable of aiming and firing the flintlock.

He gripped his flintlock and silently unlocked the boarding restrictions. He was sure the enemy didn't have any formidable firearms, or they would have attacked him long ago.

When the man boarded the Nightmare, he immediately noticed a figure lying on the deck.

The person's face was pale, his eyes bloodshot like a zombie, and his whole body reeked of a disgusting, rotten smell (from corpse poisoning).

What was even more terrifying was that this "zombie" was holding a large-caliber flintlock, and the black muzzle was pointed right at him...

"Don't move! If you try to draw your bow or make any attack, I will blow your head off!" Lucas threatened, slowly sitting up from the ground.

The man froze, unwilling to make a move under the threat of the gun.

However, Lucas wasn't willing to open fire just yet. After all, the gun was at its most threatening when it wasn't firing. Once fired, two things could happen: it could misfire, or it could go off.

If it misfired, Lucas would be done for. If it fired, there was a high chance the man would be obliterated by the powerful shot.

"Drop your weapon, and don't make any sudden moves!" Lucas's voice was hoarse and commanding.

The man hesitated, standing still, unsure if he should drop his weapon.

Lucas, unaffected, slowly got to his feet, a strong stench of rotting sea flesh wafting from him. The smell was so strong that it would make anyone want to vomit.

His left arm still had an arrow lodged in it, but he acted as if nothing was wrong. He stared at the man without blinking and pulled out a giant eyeball fruit from his clothing, biting into it.

The eyeball fruit trembled as if pleading for mercy, but Lucas was too thirsty to resist. He devoured it in three bites, its black, sticky juice smeared around his mouth.

The sight terrified the man.

[Due to the stimulation, your sanity decreased by 10.]

The man glanced down and saw a few rotting long-legged sardines on the deck, a rotten cyst-spiked pufferfish, and a pile of fish heads that had been chewed off.

[You see some unidentified creatures with gnaw marks, your sanity decreases by 7. Your sanity is now below 30.]

Lucas's actions were enough to completely unnerve the man, whose fear began to rise, interfering with his cognition. Fear often made people doubt, attack the weak, or, in the face of danger, run away.

The man screamed in terror, startling Lucas and almost causing him to fire. Then, the man tossed his weapon aside and turned to flee in panic.

Lucas was confused by the man's behavior, but he didn't hesitate to take the opportunity. He raised his flintlock, waited for the man to run a bit further, and then pulled the trigger.

Click!

The gun misfired. The sound was barely noticeable, and the man didn't even realize what happened.

Lucas immediately went to pick up the man's bow.

[Name: Pirate Longbow]

[Type: Treasure]

[Quality: Good]

[Description: Slightly increases bow accuracy and reduces the strength needed to pull the bowstring. A pirate's trusty companion!]

Without hesitation, Lucas used the arrowhead to poke at the cyst-spiked pufferfish before drawing the bow and aiming.

Whoosh!

The arrow flew out.

Lucas, too weak to pull the bowstring fully, had poor aim, but the distance between the two ships was only three or four meters, so he still managed to hit the man in the thigh. The wound wasn't deep, but it was enough to make the man feel it.

But in truth, Lucas had aimed for the man's chest.

As long as it hit, that was all that mattered.

The man yanked the arrow out of his leg, but he didn't stop to linger. He ran straight for the ship's bow, clearly attempting to escape.

Lucas had no intention of chasing him, instead lying back down.

His condition was terrible, and if the man counterattacked, it would be difficult to predict the outcome.

Thankfully, the man was too frightened to continue, and he fled in his ship.

When the sounds of pursuit faded, Lucas struggled to get up.

Now, Lucas looked like a zombie, but in reality, he was indeed at risk of becoming one. He couldn't feel pain, and his wounds didn't bleed, but his head was dizzy, and his body felt sluggish.

He went into the ship's cabin, replenished his water, ate all the eyeball fruits, and restored some energy before looking out at the sea.

The man was already far away, his ship now just a shadow in the distance.

Lucas maneuvered the Nightmare and followed at a distance.

He was waiting for the man to succumb to the poison.

After all, the cyst-spiked pufferfish was likely a poisoned abyss creature, and pufferfish toxins were infamous for their deadly potency.

After about fifteen minutes, he caught up.

He then used the grappling hooks to latch onto the man's ship, moved closer, and set up a wooden bridge.

It had to be said, Lucas was in such poor condition that even moving the planks took several breaks.

Once he boarded the pirate ship, Lucas held his flintlock and kept alert as he slowly made his way toward the bow of the ship.

The man seemed to be dead, lying motionless on the ground.

But it could also be a trick to make Lucas lower his guard!

What if he had an antidote?

Lucas cautiously approached, keeping a safe distance of four to five meters, and shot him in the head.

Click!

The gun misfired again. This thing was starting to get on his nerves!

But Lucas was patient.

A minute later.

Boom!

The man's head exploded into a mess of gore.

Only then did Lucas approach with caution.

Once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of a rope.

After being tricked by a drowned person, Lucas had learned to be extra cautious.

He checked the man's body and found a glowing orb.

[You obtained 400 Sea Conch Coins.]

This was likely the man's money.

The pirate's outfit was also of good quality.

[Bloodstained Magnificent Pirate Outfit]

[Type: Relic]

[Quality: Good]

[Description: This outfit belonged to a self-proclaimed genius fool. Increases agility by +1. Wearing it will continuously decrease your sanity. Those with a spirit level of 8 or higher can resist the sanity decrease effect.]

The man's sanity was probably not high to begin with; he might even have been insane.

Lucas took the outfit and prepared to loot the pirate ship.

However, he suddenly noticed that the unknown skill's unlocking condition had gone from 0/3 to 1/3.

"Could it be that my unlocking condition involves killing?" Lucas thought, uncertain, as he wasn't sure when the change occurred