Chapter 178 The Red-Eyed Fish

　　On the deck ahead, the same strange fish from the cabins were densely packed, practically covering the entire surface.

　　These red-eyed fish jumped and flopped about, creating a red tide-like scene.

　　Jing Yan, who had gone up earlier, had somehow slipped and fallen, now submerged by the strange fish. His body twisted and struggled incessantly. The only part of him visible was his head, his mouth stuffed with a fish covered in small, blood-red eyes. He made unintelligible sounds of despair and terror.

　　"Ugh! Ugh!"

　　His eyes rolled back, Jing Yan seemed on the verge of death, while the red-eyed fish in his mouth continued to burrow deeper, as if trying to enter his body through his mouth.

　　Fang Yue and Qing Chen finally snapped back to their senses at the sight.

　　"Jing Yan?!"

　　"Brother Ye, save him!"

　　Even without Qing Chen's reminder, Fang Yue was already rushing forward. But before he could condense his black silk, a spear descended from the sky in a rapid, spiraling motion!

　　Buzz... Boom!

　　The rapidly rotating spear pierced directly through the dense mass of red-eyed fish, the tip burying itself deep into the wooden deck, creating a hole right through it.

　　Following the spear, a dark figure landed.

　　As the figure touched down, a wave of energy spread out, scattering the surrounding red-eyed fish.

　　The figure glanced at the stunned Fang Yue and Qing Chen, gripping the spear in one hand and slowly removing their eye patch with the other.

　　The tightly closed, blood-colored eye trembled violently before finally opening.

　　"You... step back!"

　　Black blood flowed slowly from the opened right eye.

　　With a flick of the wrist, the figure swept the spear in a wide arc, leaving a trailing black afterimage in the air.

　　With a resounding boom, the surrounding red-eyed fish were sent flying to the edge of the deck, clearing a space.

　　Then, with the speed of a machine gun, Lin Ling's spear began rapidly stabbing at Jing Yan.

　　Jing Yan only heard a continuous series of whooshing sounds beside his ears, each strike swift and powerful.

　　When he came to his senses, he realized that all the red-eyed fish on him had been pierced and flung away by Lin Ling. The remaining ones were impaled on the spear like fish ready for grilling.

　　"Lin Ling!"

　　"Captain Lin!"

　　Fang Yue and Qing Chen exclaimed in surprise.

　　With Fang Yue present, he wouldn't allow the strange fish to kill Jing Yan.

　　However, his injuries were still present, making him a bit slow in reacting. Seeing Lin Ling jump down and resolve the situation saved him some trouble.

　　"Xiao Ye, what's the situation with these red-eyed fish? I was on lookout duty up there and didn't notice what was happening on deck. When I finally saw it, the entire deck was covered in these fish."

　　Although Lin Ling had jumped down to help, they didn't understand the situation and looked at Fang Yue questioningly.

　　The latter shook their head slightly.

　　There were countless types of strange creatures, and Fang Yue didn't recognize many.

　　The red-eyed fish before them were outside of Fang Yue's, or rather most people's, area of knowledge.

　　Because these were strange creatures produced from the Han River, only a few people would recognize them.

　　Visually, apart from the unsettling red color covering their bodies, the red-eyed fish seemed like ordinary fish.

　　And judging from Lin Ling's effortless, wide-sweeping attacks, the red-eyed fish's strength was average at best.

　　But the concern was the eyes, which might have been problematic, or the red-eyed fish might carry a special curse.

　　The water was different from land. None of them had a physician with them, so if they were cursed, they would have to endure until they reached Jing City to find a solution.

　　As Fang Yue was thinking, Qing Chen had already picked up a red-eyed fish and was examining it closely. They even took out a small knife and began dissecting the fish’s stomach…

　　Fang Yue's eyelids twitched. They felt that Qing Chen was becoming more and more like a strange person. In a way, they were similar to the former Doctor An.

　　Unfortunately, Doctor An was no longer around. Otherwise, they would be drooling at the sight of so many red-eyed fish and loudly announce that the Han River was their fishpond, that they would contract this place to exchange the strange fish for money.

　　Ignoring Qing Chen's strange actions, Fang Yue went to Jing Yan's side and shook him, "Jing Yan, are you okay?"

　　Lin Ling glanced over and said, "Xiao Ye, I'll leave Jing Yan and Qing Chen in your care. I'll go help at the bow of the ship. When I came down earlier, I saw these strange fish jumping onto the ship at both the bow and stern. If Jing Yan is okay, the three of you can clear the red-eyed fish at the stern."

　　"Alright!"

　　Lin Ling had been a captain for many years and was experienced in allocating labor and responding to emergencies.

　　After hearing Fang Yue's response, Lin Ling went straight to the bow of the ship, while Fang Yue began slapping Jing Yan's face.

　　After a few slaps, Jing Yan groggily woke up.

　　"Brother, Brother Ye!? Brother Ye!! Waaah! I'm okay, I'm okay, that's great, I almost thought I was done for! Thank you for saving my life, Brother Ye, thank you, Brother Ye!!"

　　Jing Yan excitedly grabbed Fang Yue's hand, his face covered in tears and snot.

　　In the past, Fang Yue would have thought Jing Yan was making a fuss.

　　But things were different now. The loophole was wide open, and death in the game would be synchronized to reality.

　　Therefore, danger in the game was a real life-or-death situation!

　　Jing Yan was careless, or rather, his strength was low, and he was swallowed by a swarm of red-eyed fish. It was normal for him to feel his life was in danger and think he was done for.

　　Seeing that he was okay now, it was understandable that he was so emotional.

　　Fang Yue comforted him for a couple of sentences and was about to call Qing Chen to go to the stern to deal with the remaining red-eyed fish.

　　But Jing Yan grabbed Fang Yue's sleeve, his eyes tearful, his voice trembling as he said, "Brother Ye! I, I feel uncomfortable in my throat!"

　　"...Let go."

　　"Brother Ye, really, my throat is uncomfortable… No! It's getting more and more uncomfortable! I, I…"

　　Before he could finish, Jing Yan vomited violently.

　　Fang Yue took a closer look. The vomit was a mass of transparent, fish egg-like things, slimy and disgusting.

　　"What the hell is this?!"

　　Fang Yue's expression changed slightly, while Qing Chen suddenly stopped dissecting, eyes lighting up.

　　"So that's it! No wonder there was that kind of organ inside the fish…"

　　Qing Chen said something that neither of them understood, while Jing Yan looked at Qing Chen and then stuck his fingers down his throat, gagging violently. He vomited another pile of fish eggs, and… a heart.

　　Jing Yan's heart!

　　One end of the heart was connected to transparent, vein-like things leading to Jing Yan's mouth, as if even like this, it was still connected to Jing Yan's body.

　　"Ah… Aaaah! Aaaaaaah!!!"