Yang Yi was not fighting alone.

Under his command, a swarm of skeletal arms carried several barrels filled with food and fresh water from the deck into the ship’s hold.

Next came iron pots, piles of scattered timber, fishing rods, nets, the Twilight Veil, a catapult, ropes, and more.

Even the Life Fireplace inside the room was dismantled and stored inside the Scorched Worm Ring.

This way, even if the captain’s cabin was destroyed and scattered, the hearth wouldn’t be lost.

The most difficult item to recover was the Bobbit worm’s jawblade at the ship’s bow, which required climbing to dismantle.

After inspecting the deck thoroughly and confirming that nothing was left behind, Yang Yi rushed towards the ship's hold.

Inside, it was a flurry of activity.

There was simply too much stuff. Bagged sea salt, for instance, was better repacked into wooden barrels, otherwise it would get soaked by seawater and ruined.

Yang Yi scanned the room and stored much of the sea salt in his stomach pouch and ring, reducing the load on the ship, helping it stay buoyant.

But too light a ship wasn’t ideal either, it could easily be swept away by waves or even pushed into the Black Mist…

“Looks like I need to buy more storage gear or upgrade the ones I have to top-tier...”

Yang Yi muttered to himself.

Such gear was rare and hard to acquire. Some were even more expensive than firearms, especially the portable, action-friendly ones.

In the chat channel:

After the initial chaos, all players realised the danger and began preparing.

Ships located in the rear safety zones, close to the Black Mist, were making every effort to move away from it, fearing the tsunami would sweep them right into the mist.

However, few players were worried about their ships being shattered by the tsunami. Most believed the system wouldn’t go so far as to eliminate players in such a brutal way.

After all, if that were the goal, the system could as well just use the Black Mist to wipe everyone out. Same end, less mess.

So, the tsunami likely wouldn’t destroy the ships outright, just drag them underwater and cause flooding.

What they were doing now was similar to Yang Yi: salvaging and securing as much as possible. But unlike him, most players didn’t have skeletal arms to assist and increase manpower.

They were stuck in a dilemma, forced to abandon some items, like food and sea salt on the deck, in order to focus on reinforcing the ship’s hold.

…

One hour later.

With the help of Yang Yi, Suna, and a large number of skeletal arms, the hold of the Nightmare Star had been preliminarily sealed. Only the main hatch remained unsecured with planks.

All other cannon ports and windows had been shut tight with planks and rivets, ensuring the hull wouldn’t flood in the short term.

After confirming that the boundary of the Bountiful Sea hadn’t shifted significantly, the two began further fortifying the hold by adding a layer of thin iron over the wood planks, greatly improving structural strength.

Additionally, barrels inside the hold, along with waterlogged cannons, needed to be tied down with ropes. If left unsecured, they could fly around, damage the hull, or injure someone, broken bones and internal bleeding weren’t out of the question.

The reinforcement process proceeded in an orderly manner.

All specimens and important items from the witch’s lab were packed into Suna’s bottomless bag.

The few things that didn’t fit were handed to Yang Yi.

To make room in his ring, Yang Yi equipped the Penitent’s Armout and donned the right-hand gauntlet, freeing up ring space and allowing the armour itself to be used as extra manpower.

Plus, it ould store some items too, serving as a container.

As for the living and much larger pale worm larva, it had been locked in a wooden barrel filled with a bit of seawater, weighted down on top, so it wouldn’t be able to cause any trouble.

By the time everything was done, three hours had passed.

Only the main hatch and a small ventilation window remained unsealed in the ship's hold.

Yang Yi checked the ocean map: no significant changes to the Bountiful Sea, though the rain outside seemed heavier.

The rain was temporarily helpful.

After all, it solidified into a layer of sugar frosting that didn’t dissolve quickly in seawater, a coating which enhanced the ship’s sealant properties.

Moreover, the system had given players ample time to prepare for this tsunami.

A tsunami still needed time to reach them, and  it would likely manifest as a rapid expansion of the Bountiful Sea, visible on the map.

Since there was still no movement, it meant they had time to spare.

After all, the Bountiful Sea was still four to five days of sailing from Yang Yi’s location. Even a tsunami couldn’t arrive instantly.

After thinking for a while, Yang Yi stepped outside and walked around the deck one more time. Confirming nothing was left behind, he returned to the hold and began reinforcing the main hatch.

Once it was fastened with wooden bars, overlaid with a steel plate, and riveted shut, he finally stopped.

Everything except for the air vents had been completely sealed off.

Hopefully, the tsunami wouldn’t be strong enough to shatter the ship. As long as it floated back up, everything could still be saved.

In truth, the ones most affected by it would likely be the massive fleets of the New World Alliance, with their thousands of ships and mountains of supplies.

Such tightly interconnected fleets could easily drag each other down in a disaster. So, disconnecting the vessels was definitely necessary.

Moreover, with so many ships, they were bound to scatter when the time came, each forced to fight on their own, making the  resulting losses immeasurable.

“A lot of people are probably going to die this time...” Shen Guanquan furrowed his brow deeply.

His ship, the Hope, was not in immediate danger. Though an ordinary vessel, it had been upgraded to level five, giving it a clear edge in durability.

“Sever all ship connections, move all supplies into the hold, make sure everything’s sealed properly.”

He immediately issued the orders, but the reply he received made him leap to his feet.

“What? You’re saying the crops on the Farmer have come to life and are attacking people?!”

…

Most players were still busy with preparations.

But over on Yang Yi’s side, the Nightmare Star’s hold had already been fully reinforced, leaving only the air vents unsealed.

At that point, he even had a bit of free time. After all, he only had one ship, no fleet to manage, no risk of being dragged into someone else’s mess by the tsunami.

As long as he didn’t get pushed into the Black Mist, Yang Yi didn’t care where the tsunami took him, it would just mean sailing a bit farther.

He browsed through the chat channel and noticed many players trying to buy storage items, some even offering exorbitant prices, including members of large fleets.

Yang Yi skimmed through quickly, mainly to check other players’ situations and see if he’d overlooked anything.

Suddenly, the chat bar at the bottom of the screen began flashing wildly, indicating a flood of messages.

“The boundary of the Bountiful Sea is moving!”

“It’s moving fast, 5 nautical miles in just one minute! That’s 300 nautical miles per hour!”“Damn it! How massive is this tsunami?!”

Yang Yi immediately switched to the ocean map and timed the boundary’s shift.

The movement speed essentially reflected the tsunami’s advance, and indeed, it was traveling at 300 nautical miles per hour.

That left him with just under eight hours before the Nightmare Star would make contact with the tsunami.

Thank you for reading! We hope you’re enjoying the story at: i novel translation(dot)com :)

There’s now a Patreon, so feel free to check it out! You can read up to 12 chapters in advance!! :D

Please give the novel a rating and a review on NovelBin (( novel updates(dot)com )). It will help the website and also help people find this novel!