Chapter 35: You Are Very Polite, the Master Is You

Hua Tian gazed at the eight-meter-long boat and suddenly realized something was amiss. Even fourth-level snake monsters were ten meters in length, already longer than this vessel—had there been a mistake? Was this the standard practice in the advanced rental district of the port? Had they been swindled with this boat? Surely not.

With this realization, Hua Tian rushed to find the district chief. Upon entering, she saw only ships over a hundred meters long, and a throng of robust NPCs constructing wooden vessels. She thought of the thousand-meter-long ships outside and found it odd—if ships over a hundred meters existed, why not sell them? She hadn’t mentioned how many coins she had left. If an eight-meter boat cost two hundred coins, a hundred-meter one would be twenty-five hundred. She probably couldn’t afford it. But could an eight-meter boat really withstand a level eight wild monster, taking sixteen hits? She was skeptical.

After half an hour of searching, she learned the district chief was away, recruiting apprentices in the main city. She then sought information about the strongest being in Muxuan River, but not all players had encountered their “true love” as she had. The answers were always, “No idea,” “I don’t know,” “If I’d seen them, I’d have told you—I’d have struck it rich by now myself…”

Eventually, Hua Tian sensed that further inquiry would yield nothing new, so she started investigating on her own. The official site, maps, and all available resources were irrelevant to her quest. After another half hour, she was still at a loss. At least she could rule out one possibility—it wasn’t at Muxuan Bridge, so perhaps this wasn’t the Greenwater Elf zone. She would have to cross Muxuan Bridge to head north, so she decided to travel south first and buy a boat.

Returning to the rental area, she found the NPC clerk, quickly located the eighth type of wooden boat, paid two hundred coins, and was assigned a guide.

Her guide was an elderly man, gaunt and wiry, whose entire body exuded the scent of black oil. His exposed skin was creased with deep wrinkles, and the darkness seemed pressed deep into every line.

Seeing him, Hua Tian felt a sense of respect for the old man and did not look down on him in the least; her respect was genuine. She followed him through the various boatyards until they reached the eight-hundred-meter ship section. To her surprise, he ascended a ship with sure steps, walked onto the deck, then turned to look at her. Smiling politely, Hua Tian asked, “Sir, didn’t I just buy an eight-meter ship? Why have you brought me to the eight-hundred-meter section? Are you playing a trick on me?”

“Child, do you think I have the leisure to chat idly with you? The eight-meter boat is just a scaled-down version. We haven’t the time to haul every large ship to shore for display, nor will you find a tiny eight-meter craft here. Such ordinary vessels wouldn’t last a moment in this river—any fish wagging its tail would sink it. Alright, you have one day; I hope you’ll return this wooden ship safely. The journey ahead won’t be easy!”

Watching him descend the gangplank, Hua Tian hurriedly jumped down to help him. After seeing him off, she climbed back aboard, and instantly felt the eight-hundred-meter vessel was worth every coin—an overwhelming sense of security washed over her. Consulting the manual she held on piloting ships, she eventually located the captain’s quarters, confirmed everything was in order, and prepared to set off.

She initiated the controls, started the engine, removed the protective shield and fitted it to herself, accidentally triggered self-destruct—what a dignified way to die… Wait! Oops, wrong button. She reset, pushed the throttle forward, steered with the helm, and set her gaze ahead. As long as she didn’t collide with another player’s ship, it didn’t matter what else she hit—survival was the top priority. So advised Elder Player Wang Xuehe.

“How polite is this? This hunk of junk cost me two coins, damn.” Hua Tian leapt up and slammed the manual down.

She looked up at the captain’s console—thousands of flashy, unknown buttons, and above her, two clearly marked: “Activate Shield” and “Self-Destruct” in glaring red. Mouth agape, she stared in astonishment and instantly realized the manual was worth every coin. As she matched the instructions to the console, she suddenly noticed the fuel gauge read empty—no fuel?

She dashed off the ship and ran to the fuel station, where she encountered the same elderly guide once again.

“Sir, it’s you again! I’ve come to buy fuel—how many coins?” Hua Tian silently pleaded that it wouldn’t cost more than five coins. Please, not more than five…!

“I noticed you asking about the strongest being, correct?”

Hua Tian’s heart leapt—he knew something! She calmed herself and said, “Yes, I don’t know who it is.”

“Well, let me tell you. In ancient times, the Greenwater Elves were the lords here. Now, though I don’t know the details, I’ve heard that the strongest being split the southern lands once ruled by the elves in half. The western river, upstream and down, is the domain of the strongest, and the remaining two-thirds still belong to the elves.”

“I understand, thank you, sir. But… the fuel?”

“You want it for five coins? Fine, five coins it is! Since you’re off to seek the strongest in Muxuan River—certain death, that is—I’ll make sure you have enough fuel.”

Hua Tian’s expression froze and she felt a little aggrieved, but from his tone, she gathered the fuel was worth much more and that she’d gotten a bargain. She dared not complain; instead, she hauled the large load of fuel back to the ship, spending an hour getting it all aboard.

With the clumsy luck of a blind cat, she finally got the ship moving. Drawing on her experience from searching for gear, she summarized two lessons:

1. The map must be an ancient one, not a modern update.
2. At the start of a quest, the closest you can get to a reward is ten thousand kilometers. She’d discovered this when, after obtaining her equipment and finding the place where she’d chatted with Captain Han, it turned out to be exactly ten thousand kilometers away, thanks to her speed-cry skill.

“Damn, where’s the horn? This is a weapon—wait, don’t hit it!” After a flurry of button presses, she found herself hauling up fish—she’d heard that sprite creatures loved to eat fish, so she let them gorge themselves.

She checked the map for overlapping areas and found only the southern river. Alright—she would head that way with all her might.

Half a day later, she reached the southernmost part of Muxuan River, her piloting skills now much improved. Ahead, the green waters gradually turned purple-green. Sensing danger, she brought the ship to a halt. Countless water viper snakes appeared, but none were above level eight, so they couldn’t board the ship and were powerless against her.

Looking down, she saw countless water vipers swimming below, and among them, a few high-level ones watching her intently. In the purple eyes of these snakes, she could faintly see her own reflection.

Drifting with the current eastward, Hua Tian soon left the vipers’ territory. As the snakes receded, she breathed a sigh of relief—had things continued, she might have been tempted to kill a few. But this was just as well—she would begin her search here.

Far to the south, she saw high, unknown land rising above the water, and the sky was a deep, endless red. At times, streaks of blood and skulls appeared in the sky. Hua Tian recognized this as the place where the Nightmare Clan was captured—one of the top three most dangerous places in the western continent. Far more dangerous than here. She considered going ahead—she had only just arrived at the vipers’ territory, and they were already unwelcoming; perhaps it was too risky to continue.

The strongest beings usually resided at the heart of their domain, so that any trespassing player would be quickly reported by the vipers.

No pain, no gain. If the old man was right, then the far west was where its lair must be. If all else failed, she could return, find her poor teammates, reclaim her borrowed speed-cry skill, and prepare to punch through the sky and finish the job.

With the mechanical roar fading behind her, the place where Hua Tian had encountered the vipers was once again filled with the snakes, following her distant trail with their gaze.

After about two hours, her information was suddenly blocked. Seeing this, Hua Tian immediately halted the ship and slowly reversed course. Once the block lifted, she quickly stopped and, taking out pen and paper and a disposable map, marked her position.

She was at the southwestern bend of the river. The area that had just been blocked, if a circle with a ten-thousand-kilometer radius was drawn, would mark the edge of the strongest being’s lair—unless it had chosen to nest in the Death Forest, the Red Wall of the Dead, or the Land of Fallen Breath. If it was that wild, so be it. For now, she marked the suspected lair on her map and set her course.

At this very moment, ten thousand kilometers away, within a cavern, a white jade water viper queen two hundred meters long and five meters thick faced a sand python queen whose coiled body extended far beyond a kilometer. The two snakes stared at each other, discussing some unknown matter.

“I bet there are more females.”

“Heh, I bet there are more males.” Just then, a call came from outside the cave.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, urgent news! An eight-hundred-meter-long, level eight wooden ship is racing toward us! All the generals and kings are absent in the south; only you, Your Majesty, can destroy that ship. Oh, Lord Sand Emperor, you’re here as well!”

“A single ship? How interesting. It must have seen my clan’s warning and still dares approach. I’ll sink it and make them swim home!” The purple eyes flashed with a wild temper.

“Sand Queen, let me drive this ignorant player away first. You stay here and enjoy a drink.”

The sand python, thinking of the foolhardy player, gave a sly smile. With a slight movement, she nearly burst the viper’s cavern with her massive body.

“Let’s go together! I suddenly had an amusing thought. If it’s really him, this will be fun. Next time, have your people enlarge your house a bit—every time I turn around in there, I have to be so careful.”

The viper queen’s white head darkened with envy as she glanced at the sand python’s immense length, then at her own mere hundred meters, but the prospect of wreaking havoc cheered her, and she slithered off together.

Along the way, “I wonder what could possibly amuse the Sand Queen so.”

“Let’s settle this first. If it’s not him, I’ll tell you the story over drinks—it’ll be even more interesting that way.”

Hua Tian sped toward the marked spot on her map. As she neared her destination, she slowed the ship, intending to stop and come ashore quietly to collect her reward. But she noticed the water changing: from purple to purple-white, and then to a white reflection. Looking closely, the reflection resembled a snake’s head—a white snake’s head.

Sensing something wrong, she looked up sharply and saw a hundred-meter-tall white snake rising vertically from the river directly in front of her.

She recalled a note from Wang Xuehe: Unlike other snakes, water vipers target the soul. Though players killed by them suffer longer resurrection times, if provoked, do not run to crowded areas—players killed by them will bring a daily outbreak of plague for seven days, which will only subside with time. Strength is not measured by length—never forget this.

Hua Tian, in alarm, pressed the stop button, but the ship continued to drift closer.

She quickly drew her Linglan, stood at the bow, and stared intently ahead. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another massive figure slithering leisurely along the shore—a sand python, at least a kilometer long. Two of them? So be it.

As the white snake was about to attack, the sand python and Hua Tian locked eyes.

Unable to restrain herself, Hua Tian exclaimed, “It’s you!” Just as she was about to attack, the viper queen hesitated and stepped back, glancing at the sand queen.

The sand queen found the voice familiar. Looking closely, she recognized Hua Tian. Opening her mouth, she muttered to the viper queen beside her, who seemed at a loss as to why she was even here, “Do you know each other? Is this the interesting player you mentioned?”

The viper queen, disappointed she couldn’t smash the ship after all, sulked.

She slithered over and said to Hua Tian, “You should leave. Since you know her, for her sake, I won’t destroy your ship.”

But Hua Tian had no intention of leaving. Remembering what the Leaf Envoy had said about her companion’s strength, she guessed she must be close to the strongest being in the river. So she asked, “Excuse me, sister snake, are you the strongest in Muxuan River?”

“Hmm? Me? In Muxuan River, I suppose I am. On the whole western continent, I might rank seventh… I think.” She turned her head, glanced sheepishly at the sand queen on the shore, then suddenly turned back, “Wait—why are you asking me this? What do you want?”