"Stop the boats."
Yu Weiwei suddenly spoke.
Her voice was soft, yet carried an undeniable authority.
The hundreds of small boats around her, which had been rowing like frightened strays, instantly fell into disarray.
"Goddess... st-stop the boats?"
A man closest to her, his face smeared with blood from a wound inflicted by pirates during the earlier struggle for fuel barrels, stammered as he looked at Yu Weiwei, his eyes filled with terror.
"The black mist behind us... it's about to catch up!"
"And that sea beast is still lurking nearby..."
"Stopping here is suicide!"
The crowd began to stir.
Fear is humanity's most primal instinct.
Even these brainwashed die-hard fans of Yu Weiwei felt their survival instincts violently reawaken when faced with certain death.
"I said."
"Stop the boats."
Yu Weiwei sharply turned her head.
Her peach-blossom eyes, usually brimming with affection, now swirled with a chilling, heart-palpitating cold light.
The fan in her hand lifted slightly.
A strange purple glint flashed across the feathers on its surface.
The wailing crowd suddenly fell silent, as if an invisible hand had gripped their throats.
The man who had voiced the doubt, his eyes instantly turned vacant.
The next moment.
It was as if he had forgotten all fear, even the black tide behind them.
"Yes... we listen to the Goddess."
"If the Goddess says stop, she must have her reasons."
"Stop the boats! Everyone, damn it, stop the boats!"
He frantically waved his arms on his small boat, roaring at the people behind him.
The hundreds of small boats came to an abrupt halt on the turbulent sea.
They resembled a massive array of floating corpses, bobbing up and down with the waves.
Yu Weiwei snorted coldly.
She was waiting here for someone.
For the person who could help her exact revenge.
Relying solely on these "fans" of hers, who were only good as cannon fodder, to take down that tough nut Qin Yu was simply impossible.
Qin Yu's firepower was too fierce.
That heavy machine gun of his was practically a meat grinder.
She needed stronger firepower to pin him down, needed fiercer wolves to tear into him.
And in these waters.
Besides Qin Yu, there was only one other wolf.
Time ticked by.
The black mist on the horizon drew closer, like a bulldozing wall, gradually devouring the light.
"He's here."
Yu Weiwei narrowed her eyes.
At the edge of her vision, a massive fleet was cutting through the waves.
It wasn't a disorderly "disc formation" like hers.
But a standard attack formation.
At its center was a heavily modified catamaran, its hull pitch-black, adorned with ghastly white skeletons.
At the top of its mast.
A flag bearing a dripping-blood skull fluttered wildly in the wind.
It was the embodiment of malice.
The synonym for slaughter.
Zhang Nanhai's fleet.
"Alert!!"
The peripheral guard boats on Yu Weiwei's side screamed in panic.
Though they were all brainwashed men, facing these genuine sea marauders, their instinctive fear made their legs go weak.
The black fleet was extremely fast.
In the blink of an eye, it closed within five hundred meters.
"Whoosh—!"
A sharp sound.
A thick crossbow bolt, fitted with a barb and rope, shot straight through one of Yu Weiwei's outer small boats.
"Ahh!!"
A man on the ship screamed in agony as his thigh was pierced clean through.
Blood instantly stained the wooden deck crimson.
"Hey, pink bitch up ahead!"
"Get out of the damn way!"
"Move aside if you don't want to die!A rough, gruff voice blared from the flagship's loudspeaker across the water.
They were Zhang Nanhai's men.
Their tone dripped with killing intent and impatience.
They were fleeing for their lives too.
Anyone blocking their path was an enemy.
Yu Weiwei didn't panic.
She smoothed her wind-tossed skirt and reassumed the bone-melting, coquettish smile on her face.
Picking up her loudspeaker, her voice came out sweet and syrupy, carried by the sea breeze.
"Oh my~"
"Isn't this Brother Nanhai's ship?"
"Why so angry~?"
"Little sister has been waiting here so long, just hoping to see you~"
Silence fell on the other side for a few seconds.
They seemed momentarily stunned by the sickeningly sweet voice.
Then.
A man emerged onto the deck of the black flagship.
He was lean, with a scar running from his brow down to his jaw. His eyes were as sinister as a hyena lurking in the shadows.
Zhang Nanhai.
Rank 2 after the server merge.
Nicknamed the "South Sea Dragon King."
He toyed with two iron exercise balls in his hand, his gaze coldly assessing the pink, garishly decorated flotilla before him.
"Yu Weiwei."
Zhang Nanhai let out a cold laugh, his voice raspy like sandpaper grating on wood.
"The Succubus, Rank 4."
"What?"
"Not staying in your den of pleasure, come here to block my way?"
"I don't have time to flirt with you."
"The Black Tide is right on our asses. If you don't want to be crushed to dust, piss off."
Zhang Nanhai was lustful.
But he valued his life more.
And he was deeply wary of this woman.
Any woman who could raise such a large force in the apocalypse relying merely on her words and a fan was definitely not to be trifled with.
Yu Weiwei laughed.
She laughed until her body shook, her ample bosom heaving, making the pirates on the opposing ship stare, their eyes nearly popping out.
"Brother Nanhai is so lacking in romance."
"I came here specifically to bring you a gift."
"A gift?"
Zhang Nanhai warily scanned the surroundings.
"What good gift could you possibly have?"
"What do you have besides that ship full of useless men?"
"I have information on Qin Yu."
Yu Weiwei's smile vanished.
The moment those three words were uttered.
The iron balls Zhang Nanhai was spinning in his hand abruptly stopped.
The air seemed to freeze for an instant.
"Qin Yu..."
A twitch jerked at the corner of Zhang Nanhai's eye.
That name.
Was a thorn in his heart.
During that night's battle, although he hadn't shown himself directly, he had watched clearly from a distance.
Qin Yu's firepower, Qin Yu's methods, and Qin Yu's flying drone.
They had instilled a deep fear in him, this former "overlord."
But more than that.
It was jealousy.
Why did that kid get such a good ship?
Why did he have a heavy machine gun?
"What information do you have about him?"
Zhang Nanhai narrowed his eyes, a trace of greed seeping into his tone.
Yu Weiwei knew the fish had taken the bait.
She waved her hand, signaling her crew to bring the ship a little closer.
"Brother Nanhai."
"Just now, I was right behind Qin Yu."
"That arrogant man spoke of you as utterly worthless."
"He said you were a rat in the gutter."
"Said your ship was a pile of junk."
"And also said..."
Yu Weiwei paused, observing Zhang Nanhai's expression.
"He even said that once he's in a better mood, he'll come back and crush you like the rat you are."
"He'll take all the supplies from your ship and use them as toilet paper."
"BAM!"
Zhang Nanhai kicked over an ammunition crate beside him.
"Bullshit!!"
"That little bastard! He's gone too far!"
Zhang Nanhai knew this was provocation.
But he couldn't control himself.
For someone like him, face and status mattered most.
He had always been the top dog on these seas.
Until Qin Yu appeared.
"He really said that?"
Zhang Nanhai stared intently at Yu Weiwei.
"Why would I lie to you?"
Yu Weiwei sighed, putting on the appearance of a wronged woman.
"He humiliated me too."
"Stole my oil, killed people I wanted to recruit."
"Brother Nanhai."
"We're in the same situation now."
"If Qin Yu doesn't die, we'll always be second or third rate."
"Not even getting scraps to survive."
"Do you know how big his ship is?"
"Do you know how many supplies are piled on his deck?"
"It's a two-thousand square meter steel beast!"
"Just the steel from that ship alone could upgrade both our ships ten times over!"
"And the oil."
"He'd rather pour it into the sea than give us a single drop."
Every word.
Pierced precisely into Zhang Nanhai's greed like a knife.
Two thousand square meters!
Steel hull!
While everyone else was still patching together wooden planks, that was practically an aircraft carrier!
Zhang Nanhai's breathing grew heavy.
Greed overwhelmed reason in his eyes.
"What do you want to do?"
Zhang Nanhai asked coldly.
"Join forces."
Yu Weiwei spoke two words.
"I have hundreds of fearless followers."
"I can send them as vanguard to exhaust Qin Yu's ammunition."
"My fan can interfere with the women on his ship."
"And you."
"You have ships, ballistas, real warriors."
"Combining our forces."
"Even if he's made of iron, we can chew him up!"
"After we succeed."
"The ship goes to you, the heavy machine guns go to you."
"I just want that man on his ship... to vent my anger."
"And those women are yours to deal with."
The terms.
Were too tempting.
Zhang Nanhai was a ruthless man.
He understood that great wealth comes from great risks.
Qin Yu was indeed strong.
But if they really used human wave tactics as Yu Weiwei suggested, they might still have a chance.
More importantly.
If he didn't eliminate Qin Yu, sooner or later Qin Yu would eliminate him.
Strike first to gain advantage.
"Hmph."
Zhang Nanhai sneered, a cruel smile appearing on his sinister face.
"Fine."
"I'll take this deal."
"But."
He pointed at Yu Weiwei.
"Don't try any tricks with me."
"If I find out you're using me as your pawn."
"I'll cut that pretty face off your head and feed it to the fish first!"
Yu Weiwei wasn't angered.
Instead, she smiled even more brightly.
"How could I~"
"I'm counting on you as my only hope now~"