No wonder the system had provided them with a fishing boat from the very beginning.

If the cave was the Maze’s entrance, there was no way in without a boat in this kind of environment.

As the fishing boat drew close to the cave mouth, the wind and waves gradually calmed, and the rocking of the ship eased.

The boat was slowing down.

Once it entered the cave, the fishing boat came to a complete stop.

Everyone looked at one another.

Outside was pure darkness. Though the ship had lights, their reach was extremely limited; most of the cave remained shrouded in blackness — cold, silent, and unsettling.

They had no idea where the cave led, how long it was, or whether there was any danger lurking within.

“What do we do now?” A’Long had no ideas, and looked to Ashalina with wide eyes.

Ashalina considered for a moment, then stood and went to the helm.

After fiddling around for a bit, she looked back at the group and said: “The ship seems to be working now. Let me try.”

— From the moment they arrived at the starting point, how the ship was navigated was now entirely in their own hands.

……

The seemingly endless cave stretched on as if it had no exit. Ashalina didn’t dare speed up, so she could only ease the boat slowly forward along the passage.

The cave had no forks in the path, and it was so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. The two lights on the outside of the cabin were far too dim. Bai Youwei dug a flashlight from her bag and swept it around, hoping to spot some kind of clue.

Unfortunately, all she could make out were damp stone walls and piles of shellfish. Beyond that, nothing.

Seeing the same kind of scenery too many times gave one the disorienting sensation of going in circles.

Just as Bai Youwei was debating whether to have the boat stop, the way ahead suddenly opened up! The ship emerged from the tunnel into a vast, open body of water!

They were still inside a cave, but this one was far broader and more expansive than the narrow passage before — like a natural hollow at the heart of a mountain.

And directly ahead of them were seven identical cave mouths.

“Now it really is a maze.” Ashalina, still at the helm, spat under her breath. “First there are no forks at all, and then you get slammed with seven at once. How are we supposed to choose?”

Bai Youwei asked: “Which one do you want to try?”

“How about the middle one?” Ashalina said. “If it doesn’t work, we come back and try the others. Nothing else to go on.”

A maze wouldn’t be this straightforward, but at the moment, trying was the only real option they had.

Bai Youwei nodded. “Then let’s try the middle one first.”

No one objected.

Ashalina steered the ship toward it.

They had braced for some kind of obstacle — a dead end, perhaps — but what they found was the same as the very first passage: nothing at all inside the tunnel.

Bai Youwei’s flashlight swept back and forth, revealing only the unchanging stone walls and shellfish.

Three to five minutes of slow progress down the cave, and the way ahead opened up again.

They had arrived at another wide, open body of water.

And ahead of them: seven more cave mouths.

“Hell…” Ashalina muttered in irritation. “How is anyone supposed to choose?”

“Big Sis…” A’Long hesitated. “Do we… pick the middle one again?”

“Feels like we’re just going in circles,” A’Qing said uneasily. “Could these seven caves be the same seven we just faced?”

“Surely not…” Ashalina felt a growing knot in her stomach. If that were true, things were going to get very messy.

She turned to look at Bai Youwei. “How about you pick this time?”

Bai Youwei’s brow was furrowed, her gaze focused and intent as she studied their surroundings. The flashlight beam passed over a mass of shellfish, then swept back — and stopped there.

“What’s that?” she asked, flashlight trained on the pile of shells. “Can someone go take a look?”

Ashalina got up. “…Shells? Scallops? These caves are full of the things.”

“But a lot of them are broken,” Bai Youwei said, eyes narrowing. “Like something has been gnawing on them.”

—