After breakfast.
Next was anomaly searching time.
"I'm going to go into the sea."
Natsuki took off his clothes and started doing warm-up exercises.
"I'll go with the President." Chika stepped forward and volunteered, "If we encounter danger, we'll use Seize and Eliminate Evil to deal with it."
Natsuki nodded and said:
"Come quickly and form a leg attachment."
"Coming~"
Chika replied, transforming into a leg attachment once again, attaching herself to Natsuki.
Tsubame softly instructed:
"Natsuki-kun, be careful in the sea."
She had previously gone into the sea to pick up seashells and was accidentally trapped by a shark in a coral reef, which was truly too thrilling and exciting; the memory was still exceptionally clear even now.
Of course, the incident of being deceived by Natsuki in the coral reef was also remembered very clearly.
At the time, she felt a little wronged, thinking she had been cheated out of her innocence.
Now… it was clearly an interesting memory worth cherishing.
"Of course I'll be careful." Natsuki lowered his voice and said, "We haven't had a formal date yet, Senpai."
Tsubame's pretty face flushed slightly, her eyes flickered, and she lightly chided him:
"You have to arrange dates for everyone, Natsuki-kun must be very tired, right?"
"Not tired." Natsuki said seriously, "Being able to date Senpai, I'd gladly do it, it's not tiring at all."
"Hmph~"
Tsubame softly hummed, indicating she didn't want to bother with him.
Warm-up completed.
Natsuki then said goodbye to Kaguya, Yukino, Hayasaka, and others, then put on his underwater breathing mask and plunged into the sea with a splash.
As he dived into the sea, the surroundings immediately became quiet, and the light quickly dimmed with the depth of the water.
Fortunately, it wasn't a big problem.
Before entering the sea, Natsuki had specifically drunk a bottle of Witch Potion, allowing him to see clearly in the sea.
First was the beach, which was the part of the sandy beach that extended into the sea.
This area had already been explored by the girls, containing only small fish, shrimp, and shellfish, with no dangers.
Natsuki quickly scanned the area, then swam towards the deeper waters.
A moment later.
Several slow-moving sharks swam past Natsuki's eyes.
"Have I already reached the shark zone?"
Natsuki's expression was calm, not flustered.
Sharks, though seemingly fierce, do not actively attack humans unless there are wounds on the person, as the smell of blood would attract shark attacks.
If one's body is completely intact and without wounds, even swimming with sharks, there is a high probability of not being attacked.
"All of them are just ordinary sharks, not the anomaly itself…"
Natsuki pondered for a moment in the sea, then suddenly, a thought struck him, and he turned to look in a certain direction.
As far as his sight could reach.
There was only dark, cold seawater.
But Natsuki did not hesitate and swam directly towards it.
A moment later.
A giant cruise ship, silently capsized in the sea, quietly appeared in Natsuki's sight.
"Back again."
Natsuki exhaled lightly, a string of small bubbles appearing at his mouth.
The area of the sea was larger than imagined, and in such a situation, randomly wandering to find an anomaly was highly unlikely, akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.
According to everyone's speculation, the anomaly's goal is human fear, and its true form is likely something that induces fear, not an inconspicuous rock, nor would it appear in a deserted place.
Thus, the cruise ship suddenly became highly suspicious.
If Natsuki had not remained conscious, but instead had his memory blocked like the others, he would probably still be trapped in the cruise ship now, right?
Putting aside his thoughts, Natsuki circled the sunken cruise ship.
After several days, the cruise ship seemed to have changed little, still silently submerged in the sea, looking particularly eerie.
After completing a circle, Natsuki did not find any abnormalities and was feeling somewhat disappointed when the corner of his eye suddenly caught a glimpse of a huge black tentacle flashing by, swiftly retracting into the cruise ship.
"Hmm? What was that?"
Natsuki subconsciously narrowed his eyes.
If he hadn't misseen it, that thing just now was indeed a giant tentacle even thicker than a giant python, but unfortunately, the tentacle flashed by and quickly retracted into the cruise ship, so the viewing time was insufficient to trigger a prompt.
"Let's go inside and see."
Natsuki made a decisive decision, exhaling another string of small bubbles, and swam towards the cruise ship.
Entering the cruise ship.
One could see that the lower few floors of the cruise ship were completely submerged in seawater, the passages were dark and eerie, and imperceptibly, moss and shellfish had already grown on the walls; upon closer inspection, one could even see scratches from friction.
Occasionally, open cabin doors could be seen, with various debris floating inside.
The good news was that there were only Natsuki and his companions on the cruise ship, with no other tourists present; if it were like the Titanic with nearly a thousand victims, diving in would truly require immense courage.
Natsuki delved deeper into the cruise ship while observing his surroundings; along the way, he encountered no dangers or attacks, and even things similar to moray eels did not appear.
Splash.
Natsuki surfaced into a dry cabin, then removed his breathing mask.
"Hoo…"
Natsuki took a deep breath and quickly felt that the air in the cruise ship was quite stuffy and turbid; clearly, oxygen was running low.
If they hadn't escaped the cruise ship, but everyone had remained inside, they probably wouldn't be able to breathe now, right?
Natsuki shook his head and removed his leg attachment.
Thump.
A Chika appeared out of thin air.
"President, President, how did we get inside the cruise ship?"
Chika asked curiously.
In the leg attachment form, the two shared vision, but Chika was not aware of Natsuki's thoughts.
Natsuki explained:
"I just saw a very suspicious giant tentacle…"
Chika put her hands on her hips and nodded:
"Oh, I see."
There were only Natsuki and Chika in the cruise ship; secretary Chika wasn't even in a hurry to put on clothes, as it wasn't the first or second time they had been naked in front of each other.
"If President says so, it does feel very suspicious…"
Chika was still analyzing the situation.
However, Natsuki's gaze shifted downwards, and half of his thoughts involuntarily drifted to secretary Chika.
This secretary Chika was a foodie girl, and with excellent genetic inheritance, her development could be said to be at the pinnacle among high school girls; at a glance, she was truly well-rounded and slender, making one unable to resist wanting to play with her.
"Ah…" Chika let out a soft cry, her pretty face quickly reddening, "President, what are you doing?!"
Natsuki said seriously:
"I am creating beautiful memories."
"Huh?" Chika's eyes widened, her pretty face flushed, "What is that?!"
Natsuki shamelessly said:
"Stranded on a deserted island, trapped on a cruise ship, just the two of us, relying on each other—isn't that a beautiful memory worth cherishing?"
"Where is it beautiful?!" Chika covered her chest, unable to help but retort, "No girl would like such a dark and eerie place!"
Natsuki said:
"Stop talking, let me kiss you quickly."
Chika puffed out her rosy cheeks and said:
"No way!"
Natsuki snorted lightly:
"Then I'll kiss other places."
Chika's pretty face flushed red as she said:
"President is really getting more and more perverted!"
Natsuki: "Thank you for the compliment."
Chika: "I didn't compliment President at all!"
"…"
Though she said no, Chika did not resist.
After all, for Chika, who loved excitement and lively atmospheres, being in an empty, sunken cruise ship, unleashing her inhibitions and natural instincts, was indeed quite thrilling and worth cherishing.
A moment later.
Chika's eyes were misty and she was panting; no longer satisfied with just kissing and hugging, she was about to discreetly signal Natsuki to do something even more exciting when she saw Natsuki's gaze suddenly sharpen, and he abruptly rolled, pulling her with him.
Boom!
A black tentacle covered in suckers suddenly attacked from above, smashing directly onto the ground; the entire cruise ship seemed to tremble slightly.
"Eh, eh, eh, what is that?" Chika's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but gasp, "Is it a tentacle monster?"
The thing that attacked them was not a creature, but a huge greenish-black tentacle, as thick as a woman's waist; after missing its strike, it did not rush to retract, but began probing left and right in the cabin.
"It's not a tentacle monster, it's the Yaarctopus."
Natsuki corrected her while narrowing his eyes at the tentacle.
Chika retorted:
"An octopus is a tentacle monster!"
Natsuki shrugged, holding Chika as he retreated: "Alright, you're right."
"…"
The last time he saw such a large tentacle monster was when Hayasaka was first chosen by the game; at that time, he fought against the Pirate Captain in the Ghost Ship, and there was an Octopus Paul who liked to collect treasures.
However, Paul was completely the younger brother among younger brothers compared to the tentacle in front of him.
After staring for several seconds, a prompt finally appeared before Natsuki's eyes.
[You have carefully searched and finally discovered the anomaly itself…]
[You have carefully observed and found that the opponent's fatal weakness is hidden deep within its body…]
[You continue to observe and find that the opponent can enhance virility]
[You are overjoyed and immediately decide to prepare the opponent as octopus sashimi]
Hey, hey, what the heck is virility enhancement?
This is the anomaly itself, it has no dignity at all!
"However…" Natsuki's eyes brightened, "I'm definitely eating this octopus; even Jesus can't stop me!"
"…"
Never underestimate the innate reproductive drive of male animals.
As long as it can enhance virility, they'll eat a god for you to see!
"Chika, combine!"
Natsuki decisively commanded.
"Eh!"
Chika responded and quickly transformed into a leg attachment, reloading.
Equipment complete.
Natsuki reached out and gripped; the blood-stained fire axe appeared out of thin air, then he heavily swung it down at the attacking octopus tentacle.
Puff!
Mucus splattered.
The tip of the octopus tentacle directly fell off, like a gecko's tail, wildly twitching on the ground.
"Good, it can be cut."
Natsuki gripped the axe with satisfaction.
His current physical quality completely surpassed human limits; with one swing of the axe, even a giant tentacle as thick as a human's waist could be cut in half.
The tentacle, in pain, quickly retracted along the fire pipe, followed by an angry, low roar from somewhere, reverberating through the stuffy cabin.
Rumble!
Natsuki heard roaring sounds coming from all directions, as if something was quickly approaching.
Bang!
The fire pipe above his head suddenly burst open, and a black tentacle swept towards him.
Crack!
Immediately after, the door of a room suddenly shattered, and a second black tentacle attacked.
In the blink of an eye, a total of four or five giant tentacles attacked one after another, the black tentacles coiling and nearly occupying the entire cabin passage.
Natsuki propped himself up with one hand, flipped in mid-air to create distance, and seized the opportunity to swing his axe down again.
Poof!
A tentacle was suddenly split in half.
However, the Yaarctopus clearly held a grudge and did not retract its tentacles due to the pain; instead, it continued its attack, with more tentacles coiling around.
Crash!
The door shattered.
Another giant tentacle appeared behind Natsuki.
The cabin was already cramped, and this time, it blocked all of Natsuki's escape routes.
"There's no other way."
Natsuki sighed helplessly, only able to put away his axe and choose a strategic retreat.
A flicker of light.
Natsuki transformed into a shadow, disappearing within the cabin.
Rumble!
The sweeping tentacles collided with each other, and upon realizing Natsuki was gone, they furiously thrashed, destroying everything around them.
A moment later.
Natsuki had already stealthily reached the outside of the cruise ship, but the duration of his shadow form had also reached its end, making it impossible to swim back to the sea.
So, Natsuki exited his shadow state, put on a breathing mask, and swam out from the cruise ship.
After swimming for a moment, Natsuki suddenly felt a chilling and terrifying gaze fall coldly upon him.
He instinctively turned around and saw a colossal black shadow looming over the cruise ship's surface, its single crimson eye staring back in fury.
Buzz!
The moment their gazes met, Natsuki felt a buzzing in his head, and a surge of violent irritability welled up in his mind, along with an urge to destroy everything, including himself.
He quickly poured some of his consciousness into his black mud clone to suppress the destructive impulse.
"Mental attack?"
Natsuki frowned and chose to continue staring.
A few seconds later.
A prompt appeared before him.
[You have suffered mental pollution.
Your Sunnyty value has slightly decreased...]
[Upon careful observation, you discovered that any target touched by the anomaly's gaze would suffer mental corruption.]
[You gnashed your teeth, as long as it can strengthen yang, mental pollution is not a problem!]
Natsuki: "..."
It had to be said, the prompt was too blunt; there was no way to refute it.
Seeing no other prompts appear, Natsuki decisively turned around, endured the destructive impulse, and quickly swam towards the surface of the sea.
The octopus anomaly seemed unwilling to leave the cruise ship and gave up after chasing for a while.
A moment later.
Splash!
Natsuki surfaced.
"It's the President!"
"He's back, he's back!"
"Aoi-chan, don't look."
"Natsuki-kun, hurry and put on your clothes."
Seeing Natsuki return, the girls on the sea rushed over.
"President?" Kaguya furrowed her delicate brows, keenly noticing that Natsuki's condition was not right.
She softly asked, "What happened?"
Natsuki exhaled, put on his shorts, then removed the leg attachment, releasing Chika, and then said:
"Let Chika explain."
"I'll explain, I'll explain!"
Chika, having experienced the underwater adventure, was now full of enthusiasm.
She quickly put on her clothes and chirped about the adventure, while Natsuki supplemented her story from the side.
Hayasaka blinked: "Have you finally found the anomaly's true form?"
"That's right." Natsuki nodded, "It's the Yaarctopus in the sea."
"That Yaarctopus is super huge!" Chika raised both hands, making an exaggerated gesture, "When the President escaped the cruise ship, he looked back for a few seconds.
Through the President's vision, I saw that Yaarctopus was as big as the cruise ship!"
"That's an exaggeration." Natsuki said from the side, "But its size is similar to that monster in Pirates of the Caribbean."
Chika puffed out her cheeks: "It was clearly super big!"
"Yes, yes."
...
After Chika finished speaking, the girls finally understood what the most terrifying danger of the nightmare was.
If Natsuki hadn't stayed awake, and everyone, as ordinary people, had been trapped in the sinking cruise ship, and at that moment, the Yaarctopus, the anomaly's true form, began to attack, like a child taking candy from a bottle, occasionally grabbing someone and eating them... that would have been truly terrifying and despair-inducing.
"I remember a very old movie, Deep Rising." Tsubame hugged her adopted daughter, her face not looking good.
"If we had stayed on the cruise ship, we would have met with disaster by now, wouldn't we?"
Yukino crossed her arms over her chest and softly said:
"It's truly super dangerous."
Submerged in the sea, an enclosed space with nowhere to escape.
As time passed, gradually dwindling oxygen.
Strangers, unfamiliar ordinary people.
And the tentacled monster secretly attacking tourists... just imagining it made one feel that such a nightmare was truly too terrifying, too despairing.
In contrast.
The current island survival, though also very difficult, was at least ten times easier.
"Everyone, don't lose heart." Chika clenched her small fists, cheering them on, "We've defeated so many Bosses.
Now that we've found the anomaly's true form, as long as we defeat it, we can leave successfully!"
"That's right." Kaguya nodded slightly, "We are one step closer to clearing the game."
Hayasaka nodded:
"Kaguya-chan is right, it's just a mere octopus, we won't lose to it."
"There's something I need to add..." Natsuki cleared his throat twice, raising his hand, "That octopus comes with mental pollution.
If its single eye gazes upon you, your mind will become chaotic and filled with destructive desires.
The longer the exposure, the more severe the mental pollution."
Upon hearing this, the girls all frowned.
The octopus anomaly was already difficult enough in the sea, and now it even had mental pollution.
Once gazed upon, would they fall into a state of frantic self-destruction?
Didn't that mean they couldn't even get close, let alone attack it?
Chika suggested:
"The Pure White Bride Skin Card should be able to resist mental pollution."
Kaguya gently shook her head:
"According to the President, the anomaly octopus is tough-skinned, so even with the Skin Card, the time might not be enough."
Senpai pursed her lips: "What if we take turns attracting the anomaly octopus's gaze?"
"Theoretically possible, but the timing would be hard to control." Natsuki shook his head, "...Let's think about this slowly, after Juju and Haruno awaken."