The sea wind whipped salty spray against the pink ship's hull.
The white wake left by the "President" stretched across the sea like a mocking scar, lingering stubbornly.
Yu Weiwei stood at the bow.
The enchanting smile that had graced her exquisitely beautiful face moments earlier now froze and cracked away piece by piece.
In its place emerged a bone-chilling menace.
"Qin Yu..."
"You ungrateful trash."
She spat the words through clenched teeth.
The peacock feather fan in her hand creaked under her grip, its normally smooth feathers slightly ruffled from the force.
On the surrounding small boats.
The "fans" who had just survived a life-and-death struggle were paddling back in disarray.
Some had broken arms, others gaping head wounds, blood streaming down their foreheads and blinding their eyes.
"Goddess..."
A drenched man clung to the edge of the pink ship, straining to reach for the hem of Yu Weiwei's dress.
"We... we seized them..."
"Those two oil drums... even though Qin Yu didn't want them... we captured them..."
"My leg seems broken... could I... could I rest on the big ship?"
His eyes brimmed with desperate hope.
A longing for salvation.
Yu Weiwei looked down.
At the blood and grime-covered hand now less than a centimeter from her expensive mermaid silk dress.
Her brows furrowed in disgust.
As if observing a squirming maggot.
Crunch!
Without warning.
Yu Weiwei lifted her foot and slammed her diamond-studded high heel onto the man's fingers.
Grinding down hard.
"AAAH!!!"
The man screamed in agony.
The pain of crushed bones shooting straight to his heart drove him instantly mad.
"Disgusting filth."
Yu Weiwei coldly uttered three words.
With a sudden burst of force from her toes.
Splash!
The man was kicked straight back into the sea.
Silence fell instantly.
A deathly stillness.
The remaining hundreds of men, poised to boast of their achievements or seek comfort, froze in place.
They stared in disbelief at the scene.
At the "Weiwei Goddess" they believed to be gentle and kind - who they thought would weep over a crushed ant -
Now standing like a haughty queen, gazing coldly upon a pile of garbage.
"What are you staring at?"
Yu Weiwei's voice no longer held its sugary sweetness, but carried a hoarse viciousness.
"Worthless trash."
"Taking forever just to seize a ship."
"Even begging him to accept it?"
"You fools have completely humiliated me, Yu Weiwei!"
She took a deep breath, chest heaving violently.
The fury from being ignored and humiliated by Qin Yu finally erupted completely.
She was ranked fourth in the merged servers!
A Succubus with over forty thousand "die-hard fans"!
What man hadn't been captivated by her before? Even that sinister Zhang Nanhai would politely call her "Sister Yu" when they met.
But this Qin Yu.
Actually told her to get lost?
Even pointed a gun at her head?
"Damn him..."
"Damn it all!"
Yu Weiwei's fingers gently stroked the peacock feather fan in her hand.
The fan handle was crafted from some unknown beast bone, smooth as jade throughout, carved densely with bizarre symbols.
On the fan surface.
Seven resplendent peacock feathers emitted a faint, almost imperceptible glow.
No one knew.
That this seemingly decorative fan was her greatest trump card for surviving in this apocalyptic world.
[Item Name: Phantom Sea Peacock Fan]
[Grade: Quasi-S-Class]
[Attribute: Mental/Control]
[Ability 1: Bewitchment (Passive). Holder's charm increases by 500%, generating strong psychological suggestions toward the opposite sex, lowering their rationality and amplifying their desires.]
[Ability 2: Beast Confusion (Active). Fanning creates special frequency sound waves that can temporarily interfere with and confuse sea beasts' nervous systems, causing hallucinations or loss of attack targets.]
[Description: Originally a symbiotic treasure of a high-level mental-type magical beast from the deep sea.]
Quasi-S-Class!
At this stage when most people didn't even possess a decent B-grade blade.
This fan's value even surpassed the heavy machine gun turret on Qin Yu's ship.
This item wasn't obtained through any "lucky" draw.
Yu Weiwei closed her eyes.
The scene from a week ago surfaced in her mind.
Back when regions hadn't merged yet.
She was in a sea area known as the "Death Sea Trench."
There was no sunlight there, the seawater black as ink.
Two giant sea beasts over thirty meters long were locked in combat.
One was a giant octopus with eighteen tentacles, the other a deep-sea crocodile covered in scaly armor.
Waves towered to the skies.
Surrounding players were all scared out of their wits, wishing they had eight legs to escape.
Only she didn't run.
Trained in free diving since childhood, she possessed astonishing lung capacity, capable of holding her breath underwater for over six minutes.
She saw it.
Deep within the canyon where the two giant beasts fought, there was a treasure chest radiating golden light.
It was a gamble with life.
Win, survive.
Lose, not even ashes would remain.
She hid her raft behind the reef.
Stripped off all cumbersome clothing, and like a mermaid, dove headfirst into the piercing cold deep sea.
Water pressure squeezed her eardrums.
The air in her lungs gradually depleted.
That suffocating agony felt like someone choking her neck, tightening slowly.
Above her, every collision between the two giant beasts stirred terrifying underwater currents, nearly crushing her against the rock wall.
Four minutes.
Five minutes.
Five and a half minutes.
Just as she was about to lose consciousness.
She touched the chest.
Without any hesitation, she used her last bit of strength to open it.
It was this fan.
That saved her life.
Right under the noses of those two giant beasts, relying on the fan's "Beast Confusion" ability, she stubbornly swam back.
From that day on.
She knew this world had changed.
No more morality, no more compassion.
Only power, only what you held in your hands, was real.
"Hah..."
Yu Weiwei let out a long breath, opening her eyes.
The fear and memories in her eyes faded.
Returning to cold determination.
"Roar—!"
Right at that moment.
A low growl came from the deep sea beneath the ship.
The water surface began to tremble violently.
The pirates who had just been killed had shed too much blood.
The thick scent of blood finally attracted the true predators.
"There... there's something in the water!"
"It's a giant shark! No! It's a Sea beast!"
"What a huge dorsal fin!"
The men on the surrounding small boats, already terrified, completely broke down now.
Less than fifty meters ahead of them.
A massive triangular dorsal fin sliced through the water's surface.
Then.
A giant mouth filled with sharp teeth emerged from the water, crushing a lone small boat in a single bite.
The man on the boat didn't even have time to scream before being dragged underwater.
The sea instantly turned crimson in a large area.
"Run!"
"Help! Goddess, save us!"
All the boats began frantically moving toward the central pink ship.
It was instinct.
When facing danger, to gather close to the "leader."
But the Sea beast clearly had no intention of letting this buffet go.
It circled underwater.
Its massive tail swung, creating huge waves that nearly capsized the pink ship.
Then.
Those deathly gray eyes locked onto the woman in the gauze dress standing at the bow.
This piece of meat was the most tender.
"We're done for..."
"We're going to die..."
Despair spread through the crowd.
But Yu Weiwei smiled.
She didn't retreat even half a step.
Instead, she stepped forward, positioning herself right at the very front of the bow.
The sea breeze lifted her long hair, revealing an eerie and frenzied face.
"What's all the panic?"
She coldly snapped.
Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried a strange penetrating quality.
"As long as I'm here."
"Even the King of Hell won't dare take the lives of you worthless lot."
She raised the peacock feather fan in her hand.
Pointing it at the giant Sea beast charging at full speed.
And gave it a gentle wave.
"Hummm—"
A visible ripple suddenly spread through the air.
It was an extremely peculiar sonic frequency.
Humans couldn't hear it.
But to the Sea beast's auditory system, it was like a thunderclap.
"Bewilder."
Yu Weiwei's red lips parted slightly.
The charging Sea beast's massive body suddenly stiffened.
Its eyes, originally filled with killing intent, now showed a trace of confusion.
It stopped.
Less than ten meters from Yu Weiwei.
The tremendous momentum pushed seawater onto the deck, wetting Yu Weiwei's shoes.
But she remained completely still.
"Scram."
Yu Weiwei waved her fan again.
This time, all seven feathers on the fan's surface lit up simultaneously.
An invisible mental pressure, carried by the sound waves, fiercely pierced into the Sea beast's brain.
The Sea beast, large enough to swallow a truck whole, actually let out a whimper like a frightened puppy.
It cast a fearful glance at the tiny woman.
Then turned abruptly.
Ignoring all the readily available "snacks" around it.
It desperately dove toward the deep sea.
In just a few seconds.
The sea surface returned to calm.
Leaving only broken wooden planks and the lingering scent of blood.
"A miracle..."
"A divine miracle..."
A man on a small boat stared dumbfounded at the scene.
The shock was even greater than when they had witnessed Qin Yu's heavy machine gun.
The heavy machine gun was technology.
But this ability to make a Sea beast retreat with just a wave of the hand...
That was divinity!
"Goddess Weiwei..."
"Long live the Goddess!"
"The Goddess's power is boundless!"
The crowd that had been wailing in despair moments earlier instantly erupted in excitement.
The fervor was more intense than ever before.
This is a true powerhouse!
This is a master worth pledging their lives to!
Yu Weiwei closed her fan.
The icy expression on her face instantly vanished, replaced once more by that compassionate, saintly demeanor.
Though deep in her eyes, exhaustion was evident.
While this fan was powerful, each use consumed her mental energy.
Those two strikes just now had nearly drained half of her vitality.
But the effect was remarkable.
She looked at the surrounding pairs of eyes, once again burning with fanatical fire.
A satisfied curve lifted the corner of her mouth.
The hearts of the people.
They were won back once more.
"Don't be afraid, everyone."
Yu Weiwei's voice was soft and delicate, amplified to reach the entire crowd.
"Qin Yu refuses to protect us."
"It doesn't matter."
"I will protect you."
"As long as everyone obeys, as long as we stay united."
"Nothing on this vast ocean can harm us."
She paused.
Her gaze turned eastward, toward the direction where the President had disappeared.
A trace of venom flashed in her eyes.
"Qin Yu..."
"Do you think having a big ship makes you impressive?"
"Do you think having guns means you can run rampant?"
"My fan can bewitch beasts."
"And it can also... bewitch people."
She recalled the woman who had been standing beside Qin Yu earlier.
That Li Ruobing, holding the heavy machine gun.
If she could just find the right opportunity, if she could get close enough.
A single strike of her fan.
Making her turn traitor on the battlefield, aiming the gun at Qin Yu's head...
The mere thought of that scene made Yu Weiwei tremble with excitement.
"Full speed ahead!"
Yu Weiwei waved her hand.
"Since Brother Qin Yu won't take us with him."
"Then we'll go find that 'Dragon King' Zhang Nanhai."
"Even though he seized a few of our ships."
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
"I believe."
"Boss Zhang will be very interested in this 'greeting gift' of mine."
...
Meanwhile.
Several nautical miles away.
The President was cutting through the waves.
Qin Yu stood on the deck, inspecting the recently reinforced side armor.
Suddenly.
His heart inexplicably skipped a beat.
The feeling was like being targeted by a venomous snake hiding in the shadows.
"What's wrong, Yu-ge?"
Yao Qian, who was helping pass screws nearby, keenly noticed Qin Yu's unusual reaction.
Qin Yu narrowed his eyes.
He glanced back at the vast ocean behind them.
Nothing was there.
Only a few seagulls circling overhead.
"It's nothing."
Qin Yu shook his head, forcefully welding a special steel plate onto the ship's hull.
"Maybe I'm overthinking it."
"But..."
He stroked his chin, deep in thought.
"That Yu Weiwei."
"To rank fourth in this dog-eat-dog world."
"She definitely couldn't have gotten there just by flaunting her charms."
"Earlier, I noticed her hand."
"Clutching that fan tightly the whole time."
"Even when Ruo Bing pointed a gun at her head, even when she was terrified and pale, her grip never loosened."
Yao Qian was taken aback.
"You mean... there's something wrong with that fan?"
"Perhaps."
Qin Yu let out a cold laugh.
"If it were an ordinary accessory, she would have thrown it away by now."
"Since she values that thing more than her life."
"Then next time we meet."
Qin Yu brushed the iron dust from his hands, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.
"We'll chop her hand off."
"And see what tricks that fan is hiding."
Just then.
The system's prompt sounded in Qin Yu's mind.
It broke his brief contemplation.
[Ding!]
[As the host has indirectly caused the destruction of a pirate squad through intimidation just now...]
[Hidden achievement triggered: Killing with a Borrowed Blade.]
[Charge value reward: +10%]
[Current charge state: 76% (nearing full value)]
[Hint: When the charge value reaches 100%, tomorrow's directional draw has a high probability of triggering a critical hit!]
Qin Yu's eyes instantly lit up.
His previously gloomy mood was swept away in an instant.
A critical hit?
A critical hit on a directional draw?
What did that mean?
It meant that instead of drawing only A-grade or S-grade items, he might directly get a double-S, or even a triple-S divine artifact!
--Enjoying the story? Want more chapters? Check out my Patreon and support me for 40+ advance chapters.
Just search for "LegendaryTL" on Patreon!"
Thanks!