Chapter 178 – The Long Waterway (Part 1)

The story of the snipe and the clam fighting only for the fisherman to profit is a human tale, so we know the fisherman’s mood must have been, “Holy shit, the heavens finally remembered me TAT.” But what about the snipe and the clam’s feelings?

[Flagship] Ghost of the Gods: Who the hell is this guy boarding first???

[Flagship] Dragon Wonton: Outer Flame, why are you still ganging up on me? Can’t you see someone’s already boarded and scored? Get your priorities straight! How are you gonna get high scores like this!!

And if this fisherman seems familiar…

[Flagship] Snow Drifter: Huh, isn’t that the weirdo who sang against Silence earlier?

[Flagship] Trick or Die: Fuck, lucky bastard.

[Flagship] Big H: Sugar, if I were you, I wouldn’t show my face right now~

[Flagship] Bells in the Rain: Savage roast! Good job!

And if this familiar fisherman is being extra smug…

[Megaphone] Milk is Mom: So the so-called Easy Mode is just boarding being so easy, hahahaha~~~ Mom no longer has to worry about my points, hahahaha~~~~

[Flagship] Scholar Lu: Can I kill him once we board later?

[Flagship] Little Willow: I think I can vaguely understand why Thousand Mountains refused to comment on that guy…

[Flagship] Don’t Stop the Meds: Why didn’t Thousand Mountains mention this earlier? Huaxia Summit has such a cute little guy [heart][heart][heart]

[Flagship] Rain Ceases: Boss Yao, please tell me you’re not serious =_=

[Flagship] March to Liangzhou: Stop the nonsense. If you feel like your guild’s rewards are about maxed out, stop fighting, clear the mobs, and board quickly.

[Flagship] Quicksilver: Who the hell are you? You say stop fighting and we just stop?

[Flagship] March to Liangzhou: Suit yourselves. But I have a feeling that if no Hard Mode players board within fifteen minutes, we’ll definitely hear a new song on the megaphone.

[Flagship] ice Iceborn: The Iceborn Legion from Frostbite Canyon declares a ceasefire.

[Flagship] Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: Damn, someone’s faster than us =_=

[Flagship] Big H: Meteor Blitz, Huaxia Dominion, and Five Peaks Pavilion from Huaxia Summit declare a ceasefire.

[Flagship] Silent Hill: OK, Silent Fortress ceasefire.

[Flagship] Rock N Roll Will Never Die: Silent Fortress isn’t just your Dead Silence guild. Don’t go representing the whole server. Midnight Scream from Silent Fortress declares a ceasefire.

[Flagship] King of the Gods: Outer Flame ceasefire.

[Flagship] Snow Drifter: Brothers’ Legion ceasefire.

[Flagship] Dragon Wonton: Outer Flame ceasefire, then SHOOL ceasefire!

[Flagship] Divine Strategist: The Mercenaries ceasefire.

[Flagship] Don’t Stop the Meds: Don’t all stop, I kinda wanna hear him sing…

[Flagship] X: The Dutch Chamber of Commerce from Holy Light Sanctuary declares a ceasefire.

[Flagship] Scholar Lu: That was close =_=

At this moment, Fang Zheng had no idea that his mere existence had single-handedly brought precious peace and unity to Skull Island.

All he knew was that no one responded to him on the megaphone…

Fang Zheng: “Sigh, so lonely, so desolate.”

Polly: “Don’t worry, a wave of people will board soon to kill you.”

Fang Zheng: “How could you do this? Aren’t you gonna protect me? TAT”

Polly: “Two fists can’t beat four hands; a pro gamer can’t beat a mob.”

Fang Zheng: “Why do you become so eloquent the moment you start roasting me? What’s your motivation?!”

Polly: “Love.”

Fang Zheng: “……”

Perhaps only the Ghost Server Legion Leader had ever experienced such intense love laced with malice, leaving him at a loss for words. He could only wipe away his tears and start studying the Perfect Storm.

The ship’s interface wasn’t much different from the game world below. The bottom-left corner was still the message area, with party members listed on the left—currently, just one beloved bird. The bottom-right still had the minimap, though the map now showed a complex waterway, with the Perfect Storm as a little yellow dot. The game interface settings and other function buttons remained in their usual spots, but the sharp-eyed Fang Zheng noticed a tiny microphone icon among them.

Exploring the unknown had always been the motto of the adventurous Ghost Server Legion Leader, so he clicked it without hesitation. A prompt immediately popped up—Enter the crew chat room?

Naturally, he clicked “Yes.”

The prompt disappeared, but Fang Zheng waited and waited—the screen still showed the Perfect Storm’s interface with no apparent changes. Frowning, he leaned in and scanned the screen meticulously from top to bottom, left to right, finally spotting a new Wi-Fi-like signal next to the microphone. The signal flickered constantly, sometimes full, sometimes weak. Hovering the mouse over it revealed another prompt—Chat Room Members: 1/50. Show list?

Again, he clicked “Yes.”

The screen finally changed. A vertical list of chat room members appeared on the left. To avoid obstructing the main interface, the list was narrow, and the IDs inside were correspondingly tiny. At the moment, aside from the small “Milk is Mom” at the top, the rest of the list was blank. The fluctuating signal was actually the voice volume meter in the chat room—when someone spoke, the volume spiked, filling the bars; when it was quiet, the bars emptied, creating the flickering effect.

Soon, another name appeared below Milk is Mom. Fang Zheng quickly called out, “Polly, Polly, come in! Over!”

Birdy took a deep breath…

“Polly, Polly, are you there? Over!”

And slowly exhaled…

“Polly! Polly!”

Alright, you win.

“I’m here. Over.”

“Wow, I can hear you so clearly!”

No shit, Laozi is right next to you!!!

The two had a blast playing around—or at least, that might’ve been Milk is Mom’s solo experience—until the Perfect Storm finally welcomed its third passenger.

Dressed in plain blue short robes, clean and sharp, this zombie was unlike Birdy’s murderous aura. The soft color of his gear softened the solemnity, and even the faint glow from his Ghostly Claws no longer felt cold—just mildly cool, much like his ID—March to Liangzhou.

Fang Zheng stared at the ID for a while, wanting to speak but hesitating…

“He hasn’t spoken in World Chat, hasn’t spammed megaphones, isn’t part of The Gods, Iceborn, Silent Fortress, or Holy Light Sanctuary—shouldn’t have any aggro.” Only Birdy could read Milk is Mom so well.

But damn, that’s a long list of enemies!!

[Perfect Storm] Milk is Mom: Welcome, new brother! Confetti~~~

[Perfect Storm] March to Liangzhou: Heh, thanks.

This guy was definitely a conversation killer =_=

For the next few minutes, the new crewmate didn’t speak, just strolled leisurely around the Perfect Storm, looking here and there. Occasionally, he’d pass by Milk is Mom and Polly, hopping lightly as a greeting.

Fang Zheng wasn’t idle either. Since the other player allowed gear inspection, he zoomed in and followed him, scrutinizing every inch of his equipment. White Crystal Lake Zombie set, Water Scale Claws, Nether Light Necklace, fully enhanced with gems, stats perfectly balanced. Given that purple-tier gear in the system could be counted on one hand, this near-perfect orange-tier set was undoubtedly top-tier among players of the same level.

However, finding someone of March to Liangzhou’s level on the Flagship seemed unlikely—

[Server] Fairy Dreamland

[Legion] Galloping Through the Yellow Sands

[ID] March to Liangzhou (Commander)

[Level] 69

“Why isn’t he max level yet?” Unable to communicate with March, Fang Zheng turned to Birdy for discussion.

Meng Chudong was also inspecting the other player and voiced his thoughts: “Fairy Dreamland was already a ghost server before the game update. After the update, it didn’t see a resurgence of veteran players like Silent Fortress or Frostbite Canyon, so they probably haven’t cleared the endgame dungeon yet.”

“We’ve tried, just didn’t succeed.” A stranger’s voice suddenly came through the headset, sounding like he was chewing gum, but it didn’t come off as flippant—just calmly steady.

“So you haven’t cleared it, period.” Birdy-kun wasn’t one for arguments. Well, he was just restating his accurate deduction.

“OK, whatever you say.” March to Liangzhou wasn’t one for arguments either. “We don’t have enough people.” Well, no arguments—just an explanation.

Birdy: “Ah, server’s a ghost town.”

March: “Yep, server’s a ghost town.”

Birdy: “…”

March: “…”

Birdy: “Naked PK?”

March: “No need, let’s just go.”

Birdy: “My level and gear outclass yours.”

March: “Gear’s lacking, skill makes up for it.”

Birdy: “You’ve successfully drawn aggro, but I don’t bully alts.”

March: “Heh.”

March’s “heh” was genuinely amused, because the moment he chuckled, he started stripping—pants first, then shirt, then necklace… Birdy began stripping too. If they were testing pure skill, naturally, they couldn’t use max-level gear to bully others, so…

Wait a damn minute!!!

There’s a healer here!!!

Who just threw you confetti earlier, March!!!

And who warmed your bed last night, Meng Chudong!!!

You shameless bastards!!!!!!! TAT

The hot-blooded men locked in combat couldn’t possibly hear the audience’s wails. Even if a physical bullet comment appeared now, it’d be blasted away by the dazzling effects of their duel. Well, experts just had a way of sensing each other. Since it was a rainy day with nothing better to do, encountering a fellow expert on the Flagship wasn’t rare—but encountering one of the same class was.

In this game where this pitiful class was nearly marginalized—

Zombie meets zombie, naked PK to convey longing.

While March and Birdy were locked in fierce combat, another wave of players boarded. Fang Zheng, bored by the sight of two unequipped brawlers, turned to greet the new teammates with confetti—

Uh, wait =_=

This time, eight players boarded. Fang Zheng immediately spotted a familiar face—Trick or Die. A closer look revealed all eight were from the Silent Fortress server, split across four different legions: Silence, Dead Silence, Silent Voice, and Double Pupils—likely the commanders and deputy commanders of each. Though the legions had different reputations, a glance at the IDs—

Silent Hill, Insidious, Jigsaw, One Night Resurrection, Trick or Die, Deep Mountain Old Well, Blue Skeleton, Left Eye Sees Ghosts.

Even an idiot could tell these were couple names ╮(╯_╰)╭

Milk is Mom silently retreated to where March and Birdy were dueling, using their combat effects to obscure his graceful figure, then typed from his dark corner…

[Perfect Storm] Milk is Mom: Hi baby~~~~~~~@Trick or Die

[Perfect Storm] Trick or Die: Hi, weirdo.

[Perfect Storm] Milk is Mom: The weirdo who just scored 100 points~~ [flying kiss]

[Perfect Storm] Trick or Die: Don’t stop me, I’m gonna kill this guy! Where are you, come out you bastard!!

[Perfect Storm] Polly: No one’s stopping you. Ship coords (10,44), come at me.

[Perfect Storm] March to Liangzhou: You’re typing when I have barely any health left???

[Perfect Storm] Polly: Friends are here. Next time.

[Perfect Storm] March to Liangzhou: Friends? Looks like they wanna kill your commander 100 times over. Heh.

[Perfect Storm] Silent Hill: Trick or Die, shut up. Can’t you tell he’s a professional shit-talker?

[Perfect Storm] Silent Hill: Polly, stop provoking them. I know your legion—barely any members, yet you’re always pulling aggro. How bored are you?

[Perfect Storm] Jigsaw: Commander, I’ve told you before—the one who loves pulling aggro and showing off is Milk is Mom.

[Perfect Storm] Silent Hill: Get the gist.

[Perfect Storm] Milk is Mom: You started the singing. Don’t shift blame.

[Perfect Storm] Silent Hill: What do you want? Draw a circle and PK? Or all eight of us gang up on you two? I don’t mind bullying. Let’s make it quick—you’re giving me a headache.

[Perfect Storm] Milk is Mom: We’re all grasshoppers on the same boat now, why fight? Come to the chat room, let’s set our ideals free, ride the wind and set sail~~~~

[Party] Left Eye Sees Ghosts: Is this guy for real?

[Party] Insidious: Seems like it =_=

[Party] Trick or Die: Commander…

[Party] Silent Hill: You’re not scared to solo a boss, but you’re scared now?

[Party] Trick or Die: Failing a boss fight just means death…