91: The mysterious mermaid figure?

Snap!

The sound of a ship's rope snapping echoed!

The broken rope, like a whip, lashed through the air and sea!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

It seemed the first snap triggered a chain reaction.

The ship began to right itself, and the mooring lines snapped one after another!

"Everyone, lie down!"

Before Old Captain could even shout, the veteran crew members had already hit the deck.

These old-timers knew better than anyone the immense power of those snapping ropes.

An old sailor near the edge of the deck, seeing the snapping ship rope, had no time to lie down.

He could only stumble backward.

The broken rope whipped through the air, narrowly missing his face.

The old sailor leaned against the railing behind him, a smile of relief on his face.

Old Captain also breathed a sigh of relief.

But the next second, the rapidly righting ship tilted sharply to the other side again.

The old sailor leaning on the railing shouldn't have made such a basic mistake.

But the intense stimulation of facing death, having just escaped it, had numbed his senses.

He actually fell backward over the railing, tumbling off the ship and plunging into the churning seawater.

Falling off a ship in such violent waves.

It was basically impossible to rescue him, or for him to survive.

Jia Gu Yi Yan knew this old sailor; just the day before, he had brought him freshly sliced fish.

The falling old sailor's expression changed from one of relief to one of despair.

Old Captain's expression stiffened as he watched him fall.

Whoosh!

Jia Gu Yi Yan suppressed the discomfort in his lungs, rushed out at top speed, and grabbed a broken section of ship rope from the ground.

He quickly wrapped the rough rope several times around his palm, then swung it out, coiling it around the railing on one side of the deck.

Then he leaped down!

"!!!"

"Quick!!"

Old Captain was utterly stunned watching Jia Gu Yi Yan jump down so quickly, almost without hesitation, managing to shout only one word.

The remaining crew members and sailors were also stunned.

Jia Gu Yi Yan, who had jumped off the ship, quickly embraced the old sailor who had fallen into the water, his palm stinging painfully from the rough rope tightening under gravity.

"You, you, you..."

The old sailor could barely speak as he looked at Jia Gu Yi Yan before him.

He wanted to say words of gratitude, but the strong emotions in his heart made him unable to form any coherent language.

To think, he would actually risk his life to save an old man like himself.

How could such a person exist in this world?

How could there be such a good person, such a courageous, such a magnanimous person?

"Don't speak, don't move around."

Jia Gu Yi Yan held the old sailor at his waist, clutching the section of rope tightly amidst the waves and rainstorm.

"Don't let go, whatever you do, don't let go!!"

At this moment, sailors on the deck, washed by the rain, shouted at the top of their lungs to Jia Gu Yi Yan below the ship.

Their shouts were intermittent due to the rain and waves, but they were audible.

Then, it seemed as if a group of people on the ship pulled, slowly dragging Jia Gu Yi Yan onto the deck.

But under the immense force and friction, Jia Gu Yi Yan's constricted palm began to bleed, staining the rough rope red.

By the time Jia Gu Yi Yan and the old sailor were pulled back onto the deck by the others, the surrounding Rainstorm and waves still hadn't stopped.

But they were no longer as violent as before.

Washed by the rain, Old Captain and some old sailors stood before Jia Gu Yi Yan and the old sailor.

"There's nothing this old man can say."

"Young man, I am truly impressed by you."

"I've never been this impressed by anyone in my life."

"..."

Jia Gu Yi Yan untied the rope from his hand; his palm was already a bloody mess from the friction.

However, it was just pain; it didn't affect muscle movement or combat.

It's just...

Jia Gu Yi Yan looked at the sea surface where the waves had subsided.

That figure was gone.

Also gone was his Rainstorm E.

He had just thrown out Rainstorm E to stabilize the waves.

But then he lunged to save the old sailor and didn't have time to retrieve Rainstorm E immediately; now that he had recovered, Rainstorm E was already gone.

Rainstorm E was a black-bottomed card, not a card created by a Summoner.

Jia Gu Yi Yan merely possessed it.

Unlike the Light and Fire Finch series, which are cards created by a Summoner, Jia Gu Yi Yan doesn't need to retrieve them even if he loses them.

For these cards, the authority lies with the Summoner.

They can be automatically retrieved at any time.

Was it that mermaid?

What exactly was that creature?

Since it had already happened, there was no need to dwell on it.

Out with the old, in with the new; although natural-type cards were rare, he didn't need to constantly worry about them.

...

Old Captain organized the crew and sailors to inspect and repair the ship.

After experiencing such waves, it was a blessing to have survived.

There was no way they could expect the ship to be completely undamaged.

After tallying the damage, some wooden planks from the ship's cabin were removed to patch up the damaged areas of the ship.

Spare materials stored in the cabin were also taken out one by one to repair the ship.

"Captain, have you ever seen a mermaid?"

The next morning.

Perhaps it was the calm after the storm, today's sunlight was exceptionally bright. Jia Gu Yi Yan sat on the deck, chatting with the now relaxed Old Captain.

Occasionally, crew members and sailors would "casually" pass by, then "casually" stop around the two, listening idly.

After yesterday's events, they had come to regard Jia Gu Yi Yan as a comrade.

And they respected Jia Gu Yi Yan greatly.

Unlike their previous politeness, even when polite before, on ships in this sea area, they still deep down considered Jia Gu Yi Yan an outsider.

But now, respect and acceptance predominated.

They genuinely regarded Jia Gu Yi Yan as a worthy comrade.

"A mermaid, huh? I've never heard of such a fish."

"Do you want to eat it?"

"..."

Jia Gu Yi Yan explained helplessly.

And Old Captain actually laughed, and the surrounding sailors and crew also laughed.

After all, Jia Gu Yi Yan was so earnestly talking about a legendary creature that only existed in myths.

These people, who had lived on the ocean for most of their lives, had seen everything.

How could they believe it?

"Haha, mermaids might exist, I suppose."

"After all, the ocean is so vast, but there shouldn't be any in our waters."

"If there are, it's probably someone pretending to be a ghost."

Pretending to be a ghost.

Jia Gu Yi Yan recalled the figure that swam on top of the mountain-like waves yesterday...

That didn't seem like something one could achieve by merely pretending to be a ghost.

Damn it, they're laughing at me.

Jia Gu Yi Yan wouldn't believe he had misseen it...

Could it really be that he had misseen it?