Si Xuanyang held up the candlestick and led Yu Sen slowly across the damp floor. The skeletons in the cells on either side indicated that this ship had been adrift at sea for many long years and had long lost any trace of life.

When the sight inside the last cell came into view, the hands of Yu Sen and Si Xuanyang, which were intertwined, suddenly tightened. Instinctively, Yu Sen averted his gaze, covered his nose, and took a step back.

Si Xuanyang reflexively moved in front of him, blocking his view, and asked in a low voice, “Are you okay? Do you feel like throwing up again?”

Yu Sen frowned and shook his head, swallowing the lump that seemed to be stuck in his throat, and pushed Si Xuanyang slightly to the side. “Be careful, don’t turn your back to them.”

The scene in this cell was different from the others. Instead of skeletons, the cell contained bodies that had not decomposed. They had been executed by hanging, with ropes around their necks suspending them in the air. Looking around, all that could be seen were swaying legs.

Their bodies showed no signs of decay, and even their clothes and shoes hadn’t faded. It was as if they had only just died.

Judging by their attire and the weathered look of their faces, these were likely the pirates who had once been on this ship. After being subdued by the sea monster, they were hanged in their own cells.

But the freshly preserved appearance of these bodies made them look nothing like corpses that had been dead for many years. Some of their faces hadn’t even turned gray.

It was as if they were still alive, suffering, but the tightness of the ropes clearly indicated that they had long been strangled to death.

The surroundings were eerily silent, the dim light casting shadows of the perfectly preserved bodies swaying on the walls, making the scene even more unnerving.

“Are they… really dead?” Yu Sen asked, holding Si Xuanyang’s hand tighter as he moved the candle closer to the cell to take a closer look. “Why do they look like they aren’t?”

“If they weren’t dead, the task wouldn’t be to ‘liberate’ the pirates, but to ‘rescue’ them,” Si Xuanyang replied.

“That’s true, but who made that noise earlier? Was it them…?” Yu Sen said, his hair standing on end as he instinctively moved closer to Si Xuanyang.

Si Xuanyang, feeling his cold fingertips, grew concerned. “Maybe we should go back up first and explain the situation to the people above. Then they can come down and take a look.”

Yu Sen rubbed his chest a couple of times, hesitated briefly, then nodded in agreement.

To be honest, if it weren’t for the clues they were searching for, he wouldn’t want to stay here any longer either. The air at the bottom of the ship was stifling, carrying the unpleasant stench of decaying bodies, and just smelling it made the porridge in his stomach churn.

Not to mention the sight of these hanged corpses. The scene was so disturbing that his heart was pounding in fear.

“Let’s go.”

He pulled Si Xuanyang, ready to leave. As the candlelight passed over the shadows on the wall, the metallic clinking sound they had heard earlier quietly echoed again in the silent space.

At the same time, a teasing voice behind them said, “Leaving so soon? Stay a little longer.”

“Who! Who’s there!?”

Si Xuanyang swiftly turned around, placing himself in front of Yu Sen. He drew the short sword he carried and shined the candlelight into the corner, asking harshly.

Yu Sen squinted slightly, his gaze fixed on a shadow in the right front. Somehow, he had a premonition that the sound must have come from that direction.

Sure enough, after a moment of standoff, a man dressed in medieval pirate attire stepped out from there. His features were handsome and deep, and there was a hint of an unruly and sinister smile at the corner of his lips.

He looked at Yu Sen, who was hidden behind Si Xuanyang, and scrutinized him with interest. “Pretty sharp.”

His gaze seemed very interested in Yu Sen, causing Si Xuanyang’s expression to darken even more. The killing intent in his voice was almost palpable. “Who are you?”

The pirate shifted his gaze from Yu Sen to him and bowed slightly with a smile. “You may call me Captain Edward.”

Captain Edward? That sounded like the leader of this ship. Perhaps he could ask about the sea monster, Si Xuanyang thought.

However, Edward’s next words made him completely lose interest in the conversation.

He extended his hand towards Yu Sen, smiling with an elegance that was uncharacteristic of a rough pirate, more like a scheming gentleman. “Would you, my beauty, care to spend the night with me?”

What nonsense?

Yu Sen’s mouth twitched, and he rolled his eyes right in front of him. Seeing that Si Xuanyang was about to raise his sword to kill their mission aid, Yu Sen quickly pulled him back.

“Don’t be impulsive, don’t be impulsive… Yang Yang, don’t be impulsive, don’t lower yourself to the level of a lunatic.”

He looked at Edward’s European face, with green eyes, guessing that the game had some user-friendly settings, directly translating the characters’ dialogue into a language they could understand, to avoid talking past each other.

Otherwise, such ridiculous words wouldn’t normally come out of a European’s mouth.

Yu Sen sneered coldly. “It seems you got yourself killed by the sea monster, truly a case of reaping what you sow.”

He intended to test whether Edward was dead, but the other party directly admitted it openly. “You’ve seen through it, huh? Sharp indeed, not bad. I’m now a dead man, so even if you use a sword, it won’t harm me.”

After saying that, he casually glanced at the short sword in Si Xuanyang’s hand but suddenly focused his gaze, his expression becoming serious.

“That sword of yours… it’s been blessed by the Holy Lord. It can break through the sea monster’s defenses.”

Yu Sen and Si Xuanyang exchanged a glance. They weren’t surprised. There were plenty of cold weapons on the ship, but the clock happened to give them this one for self-defense, so it must be effective against the sea monster.

“Who are you?” Edward lost his smile.

“We’re the ones who can free you,” Yu Sen said coldly. “So before you start flirting, why don’t you first explain in detail the grudge between you, your hanged brothers, and the sea monster.”

Edward’s eyes flickered after hearing his words. “Can you really help me?”

Of course, if we don’t, we won’t survive! Yu Sen clicked his tongue impatiently. “Are you going to talk or not? The smell here is unbearable. If you don’t talk, we’re leaving.”

Edward was stunned. He was already a dead man, having lost all his senses, so he naturally didn’t know what this place smelled like now.

But looking at Yu Sen’s face, which appeared jade-like even in the dim light, and those slightly impatient, star-like eyes, he suddenly blurted out:

“How about we go to my captain’s quarters upstairs? I can tell you everything in detail there. What do you say, my beauty?”