Chapter 24: The Bewitching Mist

Chen Wu and Aya worked together to tackle the rusted water pump. Chen Wu, possessing great strength, attempted to leverage the handle with a mix of brute force and finesse. Aya quickly inspected the structure, pulling small tools and lubricant from her waist pouch. The two soon discovered an inconspicuous groove beneath the handle, which seemed to require something to be inserted into it.

At the same time, Aya observed fine cracks near the seepage points along the hull’s seams, as if the ship itself had a hidden "durability value" that could cause damage to spread. Chen Wu discovered that stomping hard on the deck caused the system to prompt that the hull was suffering a slight "drop in durability."

Meanwhile, Luke was straining to control the helm, finding it extremely heavy and nearly impossible to budge. At the same time, his "Analyzer" emitted a warning light, scanning a region deep within the fog that radiated a faint, threatening fluctuation. He shouted immediately, "Danger to the front-left! Hard to starboard to evade!"

But the helm was too heavy. Even with the assistance of his mechanical spider, he could only manage to shift the bow slightly. "I need help! Steering the ship requires multiple people to operate smoothly!"

Mo Yu, who had been silently directing his black ravens at the bow, flashed over to the helm to help Luke turn the ship’s course. His ravens flew into the wind and mist, returning moments later. Mo Yu said calmly, "The source of the danger has been marked. There is no obstruction directly ahead, but... visibility is below 50 meters, and further out is unknown. To the rear-right... there seems to be an island, about 500 meters away, but it is moving."

Just as everyone was contemplating whether to head toward the moving island, "Ahhh!!" Luo Lin suddenly let out a sharp, startled scream.

Su Liu turned quickly to look. The flame of the kerosene lamp at the stern suddenly dimmed, and the dense fog surrounding it curled up like a living thing, instantly enveloping Luo Lin and the Moon Rabbit she was holding! The mist took on a faint, eerie pink hue!

The moment the pink fog touched her, the terrified expression on Luo Lin’s face froze, replaced by a dazed, dreamy look as she muttered to herself, "So fragrant... such beautiful flowers..." The Moon Rabbit was in a panic, squeaking desperately, trying to wake its master to no avail.

[Warning: Player exposed to "Mesmerizing Pink Mist"! Health points are continuously decreasing!]

A cold system notification rang out in everyone's minds simultaneously! It turned out that the fog not only reduced visibility, but different colors carried different special effects! Areas that lost the protection of the kerosene lamps instantly became death traps!

Therefore, the kerosene lamps must be kept lit at key positions on the ship! They were the core barrier isolating the special "wind and rain"!

"Luo Lin!"
"The lamp! The lamp at the stern!"
Su Liu and Chen Wu shouted at the same time.

"Damn it! Aya! Go fix the lamp! Use something to prop up the pump!" Chen Wu decisively abandoned the pump and rushed toward Luo Lin. The phantom of a Black Tortoise emerged before him, casting a faint halo of light in an attempt to disperse the pink mist, but it had little effect.

Aya reacted with lightning speed, pulling out her tools and diving toward the base of the stern lamp: "Zhi-zhi! Hurry!"

Luke’s face went pale: "Hell! This fog is toxic?! Mo Yu! Are there any other dangers?"

Mo Yu’s gaze remained locked on the rain and mist ahead: "Behind us... a dangerous area is being pushed closer by the current. It looks like a ghost ship. We must stabilize our course as soon as possible. Also, the acidity of the rain seems to be rising slightly."

Su Liu’s internal alarm bells went off: Acidity? It’s just wind and light rain now; could something even more terrifying be coming? She didn't hesitate; while rushing to the stern to help, she shouted to Luo Lin, who was still in shock and being slightly eroded by the pink mist: "Luo Lin! Don’t zone out! Focus! Have your rabbit try to purify it! Or... sing! Do something to fight the hallucinations!"

She intentionally used words meant to distract her. At the same time, her mind stirred, secretly activating the Hourglass of Time to accelerate Aya’s repair of the lamp or the process of purifying the pink mist.

The crisis at the stern pierced everyone’s nerves like an icicle. Luo Lin sat slumped on the wet deck, her expression dazed, whispering about phantom flowers as the pink mist coiled around her like a living creature.

"Hold on, Aya!" Chen Wu roared, the massive phantom of the Black Tortoise expanding before him, attempting to crash its heavy defensive barrier into the spreading pink zone to drag Luo Lin out. But the pink mist seemed to be intangible; the defensive barrier passed through it like a phantom, only stirring it into more violent turbulence.

Aya had already reached the base of the stern lamp. By the faint light, she saw that the edge of the screw cap used for refueling had a piece of metal broken off, causing a seal failure. The precious lamp oil was leaking slowly and fatally—this was the culprit behind the flickering light! Worse still, two of the bolts that secured the base had come loose and fallen off due to the ship’s violent rocking, causing the base to tilt.

"Zhi-zhi!" Aya let out a sharp command.

The repair hamster, "Zhi-zhi," which had been on her shoulder and was only half a palm in size, sprang out at the sound. It leaped like lightning to the critical latch connecting the base to the deck.

Zhi-zhi’s body glowed with a faint brass light, and its two small front paws instantly hardened like refined gold. With incredible precision and speed, it began to "tap" near the damaged interface—not a physical strike, but injecting a strange energy into the wood fibers of the deck and the fractured metal of the base, as if performing invisible micro-welding.

At the same time, Aya nimbly pulled a small tube of viscous paste that shimmered with a silver luster from her tool belt—emergency repair putty. She spotted the position and, without hesitation, precisely smeared the putty over the cracks and gaps of the oil cap.

As soon as the putty touched the broken metal, it hissed slightly, blending and hardening instantly like a hot knife through butter, forming a tough, airtight seal that stopped the oil leak.

[Now! Accelerate Aya!] Su Liu roared in her consciousness.

The Hourglass of Time, which had been suspended in her mental space and flowing with starlight, suddenly stalled, a single drop of sand floating in mid-air. In the real world, Aya’s movements seemed to be "tugged" by a faint yet clear force; her actions of applying the putty and tightening the remaining screw sped up by a half-beat, flowing with inhuman smoothness.

"Hoo!" A faint sound of escaping gas rang out. At the same time, the hamster Zhi-zhi turned into a yellow streak and leaped from the base back onto Aya’s shoulder, appearing to have exhausted all its energy, lying limp and trembling.

The dim kerosene flame struggled, surged upward—and then stabilized completely!

A pale blue halo of light, brighter and more stable than before, rapidly expanded, acting like an invisible wall of fire that slammed into the pink mist surrounding Luo Lin!

"Sss—!"

It was like pouring cold water into hot oil; where the pink mist met the blue light, it instantly hissed with odorless smoke. The pink mist let out a silent shriek, rapidly shrinking and retreating! Within a few seconds, a bright "safe island" was cleared around Luo Lin.

"Puh!" Luo Lin suddenly spat out a mouthful of turbid air tinged with pink, her eyes quickly shifting from daze to terror and clarity. She coughed violently, gulping in the air purified by the kerosene lamp, sweat and rain soaking her hair as her body shook like a leaf.

"Moon... *sob*..." She hugged the equally exhausted but struggling Moon Rabbit, crying heartrendingly.

"It’s contained!" Aya wiped her face, unable to distinguish between rain and sweat, her voice raspy from the narrow escape.

However, before anyone could catch their breath and before Chen Wu could issue further instructions—

"BUZZ—!!!"

A low, oppressive horn blast, as if it had struck their very souls directly from the silt of the deep sea, pierced through the storm without warning and exploded in everyone’s ears!