Except for a few who absolutely stood by Yun Ran’s side, others felt like they had a fishbone stuck in their throat as they watched how effortlessly Yun Ran found three Magic Artifacts.
This behavior was no different than cheating, a substantial dimensional blow to other competitors.
The person in charge of this round’s team competition now had a dark expression on his face. Had there been no precedent, he would have wanted to immediately declare Yun Ran suspended from the competition.
Gu Yuan glanced at Dragon Spirit, who was leisurely sipping tea with his legs crossed, and suddenly understood the relaxation he felt—it was purely a spectator’s mentality.
Yun Ran was just figuring out which direction would be more advantageous to leave from when
the voice of the sea turtle came again: [Eh, why is this person sneaking around? Is what he’s holding a boat? Why is it different from what he told his companions?]
Yun Ran’s gaze immediately followed the direction of the voice, and sure enough, Zhao Ye, who had previously conflicted with them, had already embarked on the freshly assembled boat.
It was clear he planned to leave alone, intending to leave them stranded on this small reef island.
Seeing the boat already tens of meters away from the shore.
This time, Zhao Ye looked back at Yun Ran and the others he had abandoned, his eyes full of malice: "Hmph, I want to see how you people will leave this place. You are too naive to fight against me!"
The sea turtle had finally sensed something wrong.
[This guy wants to escape, huh, he’s heartless. Grandpa told me that those without loyalty are no good. Watch me!]
The sea turtle immediately set its limbs into motion, frantically paddling to stop the boat.
It also called for help: [Friends, come quick, there’s a thief here trying to steal my friend’s boat, let’s stop him!]
Following the sea turtle’s cry, many nearby schools of fish heard the call and hurriedly swam over in groups.
But with their intelligence and size, they could never stop the boat’s advance; instead, they were at risk of being hurt.
The sea turtle finally caught up to the boat, intending to pull at the hull with its paws, but its claws were obviously of no use.
[Watch me ram into you!]
At that moment, the sea turtle remembered its advantage. It accelerated, pulling its head back into its shell, and directly charged at the boat.
With a loud "bang," the boat was hit squarely, not only shaking violently but also nearly flipping Zhao Ye over.
Zhao Ye quickly steadied himself, his face full of caution; after all, there were sharks around.
However, he soon realized that what attacked him was not the dreaded shark but a sea turtle, which made him even more furious.
With that, he pulled out a sharp, small dagger and flung it at the sea turtle.
With his strength and accuracy, even the turtle shell’s protection meant nothing if the sea turtle were to be hit.
Feeling the imminent danger,
the sea turtle retreated its head and limbs, emitting a thunderous cry.
[Ah, help... I’m going to die, someone is trying to kill me...]
Just as the dagger entered the water and was about to hit the sea turtle, Yun Ran’s Peach Wood Sword flashed a beam of sword light.
A harsh metallic clanging sound exploded over the sea surface.
At the same time, the nearby seawater exploded as if a bomb had been dropped into it.
Water splashed up to a dozen meters high, and by the time it settled, Zhao Ye was completely drenched.
Even the already small boat was filled with a significant amount of seawater, threatening to tip over and capsize.
Zhao Ye acted quickly to stabilize the vessel, but his disheveled appearance was enough to prove that, had Yun Ran’s earlier strike hit him, he would have had no chance to escape.
Zhao Ye took out a piece of talisman paper from his clothes and directly stuck it onto the boat’s hull.
If it weren’t for Yun Ran, he would never have wasted such a precious talisman paper. All the humiliations he suffered today were caused by Yun Ran.
At this moment, Zhao Ye truly hated Yun Ran: "You wait for me!"
The boat, which originally required manual rowing, suddenly seemed to have an engine installed. With a whoosh, it rapidly disappeared from their sight.
The sea turtle waited for a while, but the expected pain did not come.
It then cautiously stretched its head out again, only to see many small fish dead around.
A naive sea turtle, having lived freely in the depths of the ocean for 300 years, really couldn’t understand what had just happened.
It muttered to itself: "Thank goodness I sensed the danger and hid. Thank my ancestors for this turtle shell, or else I would have ended up like these little fish, wuu wuu wuu... Thank my great ancestors..."
Yun Ran sighed, retracted her Peach Wood Sword, and rubbed her ears.
Xin Fu did not know that Yun Ran’s strike was meant to save the sea turtle. From what they had seen, he only thought Yun Ran was warning Zhao Ye who sneaked away.
"Lady Yun, what do we do now without a boat?"
"Bring the map over here!"
The reef archipelago nearby, though scattered, was actually not very far apart. Having a boat would have been ideal to go to any Reef Island at will.
Without a boat, they could only swim to the nearest island based on proximity.
Yun Ran looked at the map and made some calculations.
The most advantageous location for them, according to the Divination, was an island to the southeast, but it was relatively far from their current location.
The closest island to them was at least three kilometers away, and it was directly to the west.
"Head in the west direction, swim over!"
Xin Fu had no objections, as without the boat, this was already the best option.
The other three dared not disagree and simply nodded, starting to prepare to enter the water.
Yun Ran, however, walked towards where the sea turtle had been previously. As her hand touched the water, the sea turtle suddenly felt a very intimate sensation.
It didn’t even need Yun Ran to summon it; it eagerly swam towards her side.
Its beady eyes clearly showed happiness.
[(╯▽╰) So fragrant~~ Ah, what’s this smell, is it something delicious for me?]
As it was about to reach the shore, the sea turtle finally saw several shiny objects swaying in the water.
Although it didn’t know what they were, its instincts told it that these were good things for it.
Getting closer, and even closer.
With a gulp, the sea turtle opened its mouth wide and swallowed the shiny objects.
A rush of indescribable comfort instantly swept through its entire body.