Ashalina gritted her teeth and turned to face the fish monsters, every ounce of grief transformed into fury.

She first consumed A-Qing’s item, “Swan Meat,” boosting her speed by 30%. Using that speed advantage, she slashed open one merfolk’s throat, blood pouring freely.

Next, she deployed “The Last Straw,” pinning another merfolk to the deck so that it could no longer move.

Then, together with A-Long, Teacher Cheng, and Pan Xiaoxin, she locked the final merfolk back into the hold and sealed it inside.

The crisis was over. All three merfolk were subdued.

The cost: two items had been spent.

If they continued to fail to find the exit, facing four — or even more — merfolk without those items would be simply impossible.

Ashalina, having swung through extremes of agony and elation, sank to her knees on the deck, her expression empty.

She had thought this time they were getting out. They weren’t. And on top of that, something had happened to A-Qing…

Bai Youwei opened her mouth, not knowing how to offer comfort. She sighed inwardly, then turned to look at Cheng Weicai and Pan Xiaoxin. “Neither of you is hurt, are you? If there are any wounds, make sure to bandage them — don’t let the mucus get into them…”

Everyone heard this and immediately started checking themselves. In the chaos of pushing and straining, they hadn’t even noticed whether they’d been injured, or whether they had touched any of the mucus.

Bai Youwei also checked her rabbit, quietly lamenting that the charge depleted too quickly. Under normal circumstances, firing off a single lightning orb was already impressive enough, but she had been discharging steadily throughout the fight with barely any effect on the merfolk.

Without realizing it, she had already used up more than half her charge.

At that moment, a sudden *thud* — the hull rocked.

The nerves they’d just relaxed snapped taut again in an instant.

Everyone looked around anxiously.

“What’s happening? Why are there still merfolk?!”

*Thud.*

Another resonating impact.

A dark shape slammed against the hull, grabbed hold of the guardrail, and a fan-shaped dorsal fin gleamed coldly in the dim light.

It opened its mouth full of sharp teeth. Its white, bulging, eyeless gaze was utterly terrifying — and yet it still retained the faint outline of a human face.

Ashalina, who had not cried once through all of it, finally broke down in this moment.

“It’s A-Qing!”

She cried out his name, raised the blade in her trembling hand, tears streaming down her face, and swung it with all her strength toward the figure she had once called a comrade.

But A-Qing was no longer A-Qing.

He had become a merfolk. With a twist of his body, his powerful fish tail deflected the blow, layers of scales hard as armor.

Ashalina was swept by the tail and slammed hard onto the deck.

A-Qing paid her no interest. With a hiss, he turned his sights on A-Long, Teacher Cheng, and Pan Xiaoxin.

Rows of sharp teeth gnashing, he crawled toward them — terrifyingly fast.

A-Long charged at him with his blade. Bai Youwei kept her position to the side, looking for an opening to strike with lightning. Cheng Weicai and Pan Xiaoxin each picked up bamboo poles and jabbed at him whenever they could.

He finally lost patience.

Not only that — he realized he was outmatched, let out a hiss, and swung his tail with tremendous force, as though making one final desperate bid.

The fishing boat lurched wildly from the blow.

Everyone scrambled to maintain their footing, but the merfolk seized the moment and lunged forward again.

Bai Youwei released lightning once more.

He couldn’t dodge it. The momentum of his charge carried his body crashing down — and as he rolled, he somehow caught Bai Youwei’s wheelchair and dragged it with him —

The wheelchair tipped. Bai Youwei fell overboard, and the merfolk pulled her below the surface.

With a splash, Bai Youwei felt the cold seize her entire body.

The briny, putrid water closed in from every direction, swallowing her whole, while the merfolk continued dragging her deeper.

If this went on, she would surely die. Even though she had consumed the salmon and could remain underwater for extended periods, her body couldn’t withstand the water pressure at the ocean floor.

Fortunately, the rabbit was still in her hand.

Bai Youwei released an electric current. The merfolk immediately released her, and her life vest buoyed her upward.

But when Bai Youwei surfaced, she froze at what she saw…

—