"Understood. We’ll head to the coast and find a boat first. Once we find one, you can tell me the details."
Long Ming didn’t waste any time. He led Gu Yi and the others into a nearby alley, making their way toward the coast.
Long Ming was extremely cautious along the way, not letting his guard down just because there were few people around.
"He seems pretty professional."
Tao Sisi remarked with some surprise as she watched.
"Of course he’s professional! Let me tell you, back when Chen Wei and I did our first dungeon, we relied completely on Long Ming to carry us. We would’ve died a long time ago otherwise!"
"You still died and got kicked out, didn’t you?"
"That’s not how it happened! If it weren’t for those bastards, we wouldn’t have died! You know, I even got a purple drop on my first run!"
The more Gu Yi spoke, the angrier he became.
"Brother, the people you’re talking about... it wasn’t the Sin Abyss Guild, was it?"
his sister, Gu Yi, asked timidly.
Hearing her words, Long Ming glanced sideways at her. ’This little girl is pretty sharp,’ he thought.
"That’s right. If Long Ming hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve dealt with them already."
As Gu Yi spoke, he looked like he wanted to charge over and fight them right then and there.
"If I hadn’t stopped you, you would’ve been kicked out of the dungeon."
Long Ming sighed.
"Hehe."
Hearing Long Ming’s words, Gu Yi had an awkward expression on his face.
Just then, they emerged from the alley. Their view suddenly opened up to a vast, azure sea, and a gentle sea breeze blew toward them.
"Wow, it’s so beautiful! So the sea really is blue!"
"Yeah! This is the first time I’ve ever seen a sea so blue."
"The sea outside Mountain City Mountain is all black, and the wind that blows from it feels awful."
Tao Sisi and the other girls exclaimed excitedly.
Gazing at the azure sea, Long Ming’s mood lightened considerably. He said to Gu Yi and the others,
"Come on, let’s hurry up and find a boat."
"Okay!"
Gu Yi and the others quickly ran toward the shore.
However, there were no boats on this stretch of coast, so the group walked along the shoreline.
「Over an hour later.」
Long Ming and the others spotted a small, old fishing boat moored on the distant shore.
"It’s a boat!"
Lin Xiaozhao shouted excitedly.
"Let’s go check it out."
Long Ming immediately led Gu Yi and the others as they ran over.
Soon, they were standing in front of the fishing boat.
The fishing boat wasn’t very large. Its surface was covered in rust spots. Inside the boat were two paddles, and a four-stroke propulsion unit was attached to the stern. The overall construction was very crude.
This made Long Ming worry whether it could still run. He immediately asked,
"Gu Yi, does anyone here know about boats?"
"Don’t worry, we crammed on the relevant knowledge before we came."
Chen Wei immediately guaranteed.
"Alright, then you guys check the propulsion system and see if it can be started."
"You got it!"
Chen Wei and Gu Yi went straight to the stern and began fiddling with the propulsion unit.
Meanwhile, Long Ming got on the boat to inspect the hull.
An hour passed quickly. Gu Yi and Chen Wei still hadn’t started the boat. They were scratching their heads in front of the engine, complaining.
"What the hell? We’re following the guide exactly. Why won’t it start?"
"The propulsion unit doesn’t look broken either."
"Can you two handle it or not?"
Long Ming asked, exasperated.
"Of course we can handle it! The boat’s probably just broken from not being used for so long."
Gu Yi hurriedly made an excuse.
Just then, Gu Yi whispered.
"Big Brother, could it be out of gas?"
Hearing her words, Long Ming turned his head to look at Gu Yi and Chen Wei.
The two of them froze for a second, then immediately checked. Discovering the gas tank was indeed empty, they said in extreme embarrassment,
"Whoops, we’re so stupid."
"Sigh. Gu Yi, you’re less reliable than your own sister. How are you supposed to start it with no gas?"
Long Ming sighed. ’Where are we supposed to find gas out here?’ he wondered.
"Hehe, don’t worry. We brought plenty of gas."
Gu Yi quickly pulled a canister of gas out of his backpack.
"Alright, go fill it up."
Long Ming nodded.
"I’ll do it!"
Chen Wei volunteered, taking the canister and hastily pouring the gas in.
Seeing this, Gu Yi gave the manual pull-cord a sharp tug.
BANG! BANG!~
The propulsion unit instantly roared to life with a deafening noise.
"It worked!"
Gu Yi was grinning from ear to ear.
"Turn it off! We’ll push the boat out first, then start it again!"
Long Ming said to Gu Yi.
"Okay!"
Gu Yi quickly turned off the engine.
Long Ming and the others climbed off the boat, worked together to push the small fishing boat into the water, and then climbed back on.
Gu Yi went to the stern, lowered the propulsion unit, pulled the cord to start it, and set a course for the open sea.
Long Ming then asked,
"Do you know how to get to Prison Island?"
"Of course I do. I spent a fortune on a map."
Gu Yi pulled a map out of his backpack.
Seeing this, Long Ming’s worries eased slightly.
"How long will we be sailing?"
"Under normal circumstances, we should be there in a little over twelve hours."
"That’s not bad. Not too far."
"Brother, just relax and get some rest. I’ll call you when we get there."
Gu Yi said to Long Ming, puffing out his chest.
"Alright."
Long Ming didn’t say anything more.
「Seven hours later.」
A thick fog began to roll in over the sea, and visibility dropped sharply.
Seeing this, Long Ming immediately became alert and reminded Gu Yi,
"It’s getting foggy. Watch your direction so you don’t get lost."
"Don’t worry, we won’t. We’re just heading straight in one direction, so it’s absolutely fine. Besides, we have a map."
Gu Yi assured Long Ming with great confidence.
"Alright."
Since Gu Yi said that, Long Ming didn’t press the issue.
...
「The next afternoon.」
On the vast, endless sea, a battered fishing boat bobbed up and down with the waves.
Long Ming sat in a corner, exasperatedly gnawing on a compressed biscuit. ’They were supposed to arrive in twelve hours, but now it was already noon the next day. Forget Prison Island—we haven’t even seen a ghost of an island so far.’
Just then, his sister Gu Yi walked over and handed Long Ming a bottle of water.
"Brother Long Ming, have some water."
"Thanks."
Long Ming took it.
Meanwhile, Gu Yi was looking at the map, scratching his head and muttering in confusion.
"This shouldn’t be happening... Where did we go wrong?"
At this point, Tao Sisi finally lost her patience and snapped angrily at Gu Yi,
"Gu Yi, are you capable or not?!"
"Sisi, just be patient a little longer. We’ll be there soon."
"Be there soon? By the time you find it, we’ll all be dead at sea!"
"We won’t."
Gu Yi replied awkwardly.
Hearing this, the corner of Long Ming’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.
’I can’t believe it,’ he thought. ’On this dungeon run, I didn’t die to monsters or other players, but I’m going to end up perishing at sea.’
’If we’re truly lost at sea, not even the gods can help us!’
"Won’t my ass! You still believe in that map? Let me guess, another one of your ’friends’ sold it to you, right?"
"A friend sold it to me, but it should be fine."
"Oh yeah? Which one of your friends has ever been reliable?"
Tao Sisi accused furiously.
Hearing this, Long Ming awkwardly turned his head aside. ’It’s true what they say,’ he thought, ’when it’s not your day, you can get hit by a stray bullet even when you’re just lying down.’
Gu Yi stammered,
"They’re not completely unreliable... Let me explain."
"Explain what? I’ve been with you since high school! How many years has it been? You haven’t even gotten the betrothal money ready."
"I’m working hard to earn it, aren’t I?"
"Working hard? You refuse to rely on your family, you don’t want to be a chef, you wanted to start your own business—fine. And the result? You failed spectacularly in business, surrounded by a bunch of good-for-nothing friends! You said this game could make money, but not only did you not make any, you lost a huge sum!"
Tao Sisi was completely fed up with Gu Yi.
...
Hearing this, Long Ming and Chen Wei could only look at each other in dismay.
Just then, Chen Wei scooted over to sit by Long Ming and whispered,
"Sigh... Sorry you had to see that."
"It’s nothing. But what’s the full story?"
Long Ming asked curiously.
"Brother Gu’s family owns a restaurant. They used to be quite wealthy, but business has been bad in recent years, and the family’s been going downhill. You know how it is—everyone in the Upper City District of Mountain City Mountain is from a prominent family. The betrothal money is a heavy burden, not something you can come up with on short notice."
"Yeah, I know."
"So, Brother Gu didn’t want to work at home, follow the old path of being a chef or whatever. He thought there was no future in it, so he went out to make a name for himself. But he failed at everything he tried. He even ended up losing all the betrothal money that Tao Sisi had helped him save over the years."
Chen Wei sighed in resignation.