25: The beginner period is over!

The spoils were divided.

Chen Du walked to the bow, feeling the sea breeze.

It was already dark.

Strangely, the night was exceptionally thick today.

The sea breeze carried a bone-chilling cold that cut like a knife against the skin.

The temperature was plummeting.

Chen Du glanced at the thermometer on the control panel.

In just ten minutes, it had dropped from 32 degrees directly to 22 degrees!

And it was still falling!

"Achoo—!"

Zhou Qian, who was cleaning up trash on the deck, sneezed, shivering from the cold.

"So cold... why is it suddenly so cold..."

It wasn't just her; all the girls felt this abnormal cold snap.

Fortunately, they had all just changed into new clothes, some even wearing two layers.

Chen Du silently opened the [regional chat channel].

The channel, which had just been lively and mocking Chen Du as a big sucker, was now filled with wails of misery.

[ferry no. 9527: Holy crap! What's going on? Why did the temperature suddenly drop? I'm freezing to death!]

[Bus 3306: Who has clothes? Can the clothes I just sold be returned? I'll pay double... no, triple the rice to buy them back!]

[Lonely Wolf: Help! I sold all my girlfriend's clothes for steamed buns, and now we're huddled together. Can someone please sell me a coat? I'll call you 'Dad' if I have to!]

[High-Speed Rail 1024: Master Du! Master Du, are you still there? I was just running my mouth. Please put out one of those clothes for sale!]

Human nature is so ironic.

One second they were laughing at others for being fools, the next they were kneeling, begging for a way to survive.

"Xia Lai, start a fire."

Chen Du instructed.

Second Sister Xia Lai had long been prepared.

She set up a stove on the center of the deck, fashioned from rocks and an iron frame.

The smokeless coal and charcoal obtained from the previous Sacrifice were lit.

The warm orange firelight dispelled the cold.

Rows of clean beef, sliced fruit, were placed on the grill.

Sizzling with oil, the aroma filled the air.

The girls sat around the fire, the firelight illuminating their delicate faces and beautiful clothes.

Holding roasted meat in their hands and drinking the juice Chen Du had obtained through Sacrifice.

Was this really survival in the apocalypse?

This was practically a yacht party for socialites!

"Wuwuwu... it smells so good..." Zhao Mengmeng, squatting in the corner, drooled all over the floor, smelling the meat.

"Want some?" Chen Du glanced at her.

"Mhm mhm mhm!" Both of them nodded frantically, like two pugs begging for food.

"Deal with this pile of junk, and then you can eat."

Chen Du pointed to a pile of tattered rags at his feet.

Those were Zhou Qian's worn-out bikinis from before, and the dirty clothes everyone had just changed out of that were truly unwearable.

Chen Du casually took a photo and posted it on the trading zone.

[Seller: Master Du]

[Item: Beggar's Warmth Set]

[Stock: 50 sets]

[Price per item: Any packet of instant noodles, or 20 units of basic materials, or one weapon.]

[Remarks: Buy it or not, freeze to death if you don't.]

This was blatant robbery!

Trash that no one would pick up if it were thrown on the ground, now demanded such prices?

Only three seconds passed.

[Ding! Transaction successful!]

[Ding! Transaction successful!]

[Ding! Stock cleared!]

Chen Du looked at the instantly emptied warehouse and the large haul of basic materials and bladed weapons that had come in, feeling incredibly pleased.

"You see, this is a market economy."

He grabbed a skewer of freshly grilled beef, stuffed it into his mouth, his mouth full of oil.

"Follow me, and it'll be hard to die."

The girls around him looked at Chen Du's arrogant and domineering profile, their admiration almost overflowing.

This man, though bad and perverted, truly felt incredibly safe!

Tang Ran bit into a small spare rib and said indistinctly, "Captain, something seems off in the trading zone. Besides us, there are a few other IDs buying strange things in large quantities."

"I saw it too."

Li Yaozhi's expression was solemn. "One called 'Man Butcher' is collecting all kinds of biological blood; another called 'Lady White Bone' only wants bones. The prices are very high."

"Those must be high-level players from other factions," Chen Du narrowed his eyes and said calmly.

This world was vast, and he certainly wasn't the only one who had awakened abnormal talents.

Those who play with blood, those who play with bones... they don't sound like good people.

Just then.

The faint golden barrier above the ferry suddenly shattered.

Everyone's movements stopped, even the sound of chewing vanished.

Chen Du looked up.

In the upper right corner of his vision, the red countdown had completely reset to zero.

[00:00:00]

Immediately after, a cold, grand mechanical voice echoed in the minds of all survivors.

[Server-wide Announcement: Novice protection period has ended.]

[Vehicle durability will decrease! Abyssal Devourer will begin their pursuit!]

[PVP mode is officially activated!]

[Hint: In this world, what is more terrifying than monsters is always your own kind.]

[We wish you all... a pleasant hunt.]

As the voice faded, the thick white mist shrouding the sea quickly dispersed.

The view suddenly widened.

"Wha... what the hell is that?!"

An Nuonuo suddenly pointed at the sea to the front-left and shrieked.

Following her terrified gaze.

Less than a nautical mile away, a steel behemoth was sprawled on the inky black sea.

That was not a proper ferry at all.

It was more like a floating prison cobbled together with scrap metal and rebar.

The hull was covered in dark red rust, like dried bloodstains.

What was hair-raising was... three desiccated female corpses hung from the towering ramming bow.

Their messy long hair tangled in the sea breeze, their hollow eye sockets staring in the direction of ferry no. 0819.

At the highest point, a black flag adorned with a dripping skull fluttered wildly in the wind.

That was a predator's signal.

"That's... a slave ship. The Blood Hand?!"

The deck, which had been filled with the aroma of roasted meat and resembled a Milan Fashion Week runway just a second ago, instantly dropped to freezing point.

Everyone felt a chill shoot straight to their heads.

"Ugh—"

Several girls with weaker mental fortitude covered their mouths and vomited the beef they had just eaten.

It was too disgusting.

Even strong individuals like Li Yaozhi and Tang Ran looked a little pale.

This wasn't a movie effect, nor was it pixelated.

This was the naked truth of the apocalypse, where humans were treated like livestock.

Chen Du slowly chewed the beef, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed it.

At the same time, the other side had clearly discovered this "fat meat" delivered to their doorstep.

Whoosh—!

A low, deep whistle came from that ship.

Blinding searchlight beams cut through the darkness like sharp swords, locking onto ferry no. 0819.

The sea breeze suddenly stopped.

The two ships confronted each other across the dark sea, the distance quickly closing to less than fifty meters.

To the left was Chen Du's ferry no. 0819.

Brightly lit, with the aroma of roasted meat wafting.

On the deck stood a group of stunning beauties in haute couture dresses, black silk cheongsams, and pure desire swimsuits.

The air was filled with the scents of Chanel and cumin beef.

To the right was a steel warship.

Its hull was welded with sharp ramming spikes, and the deck was covered in filth.

Over twenty bare-chested men, covered in fat, stared at the opposite ship like hungry wolves.

The air froze for three seconds.

Then, a series of extremely lewd cackles erupted from the blood hand ship.

"Holy crap!! Big brother! Pinch me, did I just see Balenciaga on that woman?!"

A skinny monkey with yellow teeth rubbed his eyes, his drool dripping directly onto the rusty railing.

"Where the hell is this survival? Is this like opening an 'Heaven on Earth' on the sea?!"

"We're rich... this wave is definitely going to make us rich!"

The Fat next to him, carrying a bloody steel pipe, had his eyes glued to Li Yaozhi as if with glue.

Especially the snow-white thigh revealed by the cheongsam's slit, which made his eyes bloodshot and his breathing heavy.

"That leg... hiss... I could play with that for a year! No, until I die!!"

This blatant voyeurism carried a primal bestiality.

This undisguised leering made the girls instinctively tremble.

PVP mode wasn't a game.

Losing was worse than death.

Clack.

Chen Du casually tossed the leftover bamboo skewer onto the deck.

He stood up and clapped his hands to remove the grease.

"Wipe away your tears."

"If you don't want to end up as dried meat hanging from the bow, then grip your weapons tightly."

Chen Du's eyes narrowed, showing the excitement of a hunter seeing his prey.

"Everyone, prepare for battle!"