It turned out that when the Brotha completed that mission, he only received a B+ rating, meaning the system would default to repairing the broken spear for him. However, the specific timing of the repair was not immediate; it was pending! ... It was exactly the same situation Fang Senyan encountered when appraising the acid glands of the Licker! In other words, the Brotha effectively lost the ability to wield that incredibly powerful silver broken spear during this current world setting!

Next, the group proceeded to upgrade all their un-enhanced equipment and weapons by one or two levels. At least the failure rate for reaching +1 wasn't high. The principle adopted was to abandon the enhancement on any piece of equipment if the upgrade failed. Fang Senyan’s return luck was exceptionally smooth this time, perhaps due to facilitating the fortunate match for Uncle Four. While upgrading his gear, he miraculously managed to raise the black-grade item, the Savage Carapace Armor, all the way to +4 in a single attempt. The extra bonus attribute drawn was a special, rare one: When fighting Storyline Characters, the internal cooldown for the Frenzy Injection ability is canceled, allowing continuous activation; however, when fighting any Contractor, the internal cooldown remains fixed at 30 seconds. : Another special rare attribute for this armor was also quite good: Attack power would not decrease after the Frenzy Injection effect was triggered. (Though it wasn't drawn...)

After this round of upgrades, the defense and attack power of the three individuals had increased by about 8% to 10%, which was considered worthwhile. Following this, they purchased some conventional supplies, such as bandages, from the system market.

As the arena battle concluded, prices had once again fallen from their absurd peaks. However, the consumption by the Ace Team had been staggering, so after setting aside enough reserve general points (needed for Reef’s ability release), the three of them were back to being dirt poor.

When the countdown began, the three gathered together, awaiting the appearance of the oval-shaped white portal in the center of the Nightmare Space—the portal signifying entry. This gate resembled a beautified, gaping maw, swallowing the life force of those who entered—who could ever be absolutely certain of returning alive from the next world? Watching the others enter, observing the ripple-like waves emanating from the portal's surface, Fang Senyan couldn't help but feel a sense of awe towards the unknown. Taking a deep breath, he stepped inward.

"Entering Nightmare World..." "Compiling data..." "Initiating pairing..." "World Selected" "Beginning assimilation of characters with this world..." "Entering world..." "The tune of rebellion has begun to play." "The bewildered captain is about to pay the price of freedom." "A mysterious curse lingers between the sea breeze and the treasure." "Ghosts dance with cutlasses under the moonlight, their howls filled with agony." "Death and fortune coexist." "Risk and benefit walk hand in hand." "Restrain your greed, child; that is my only counsel to you!" "Hoist the sails!!!"

As his consciousness gradually returned, Fang Senyan opened his eyes.

The view before him was pitch black, so dark he could barely see his hand in front of his face.

Fang Senyan immediately realized he was bound tightly, and a rough piece of cloth had been stuffed into his mouth.

This was the first time he had received such treatment immediately upon entering a Nightmare World.

His sensitive nose clearly registered that the area around him had recently held fish, and not just once. The faint, fishy odor ingrained in the wood was something Fang Senyan knew intimately and could never forget.

His body was swaying, not because Fang Senyan intended to move, but because the wooden planks beneath him were shaking violently, causing him to almost roll back and forth uncontrollably on the floor.

Yes, this was the hold of a ship, and Fang Senyan and the others were locked inside. Judging by the intensity of the ship’s pitching and rolling, the sea outside was quite rough. Fortunately, the ropes and complex bindings wrapped around the Contractors were utterly ineffective against them. With a slight exertion of Fang Senyan’s brute strength, the restraints snapped.

Besides Fang Senyan and his comrades, there were seven or eight other Contractors in the hold. They were all cursing as they struggled to sit up. But just then, accompanied by a loud bang, the entire ship suddenly tilted sharply to the right.

The angle of inclination this time was certainly more than 45 degrees. Thus, all the Contractors were completely caught off guard by this sudden event; several of them slammed into the bulkhead with cries of alarm! For an ordinary person, a large lump on the head would be the least of it, and being knocked unconscious would not be surprising.

“The waves outside must be at least a Force Seven!” Fang Senyan immediately made this judgment based on his rich experience: “And it seems this ship is being chased, exchanging cannon fire with whoever is behind us!”

“What damn place is this?”

At that moment, he watched as one Contractor roared, clenched his fist, and brought it down heavily on the bulkhead. The punch whistled as it connected, causing the bulkhead to creak audibly and develop clear fissures.

Fang Senyan inwardly cursed this mistake. Having spent more time on ships than on land, he instantly realized that his group was currently below the waterline in the lower hold! If this idiot managed to breach the bulkhead, there was no doubt that all of them would become drenched men!

Based on Fang Senyan’s experience, being thrown into the sea now would be anything but pleasant. The ship shook violently again. The Contractor spat on the ground, a murderous look flashed in his eyes, and with another roar, he raised his fist to strike the bulkhead once more.

“Stop!” Fang Senyan couldn't help but shout. But the big man’s eyes revealed a look of disdain—Who the hell are you to order me around?—and he brought his fist down heavily on the bulkhead again.

With a resounding CRACK, the wooden plank of the bulkhead bowed outward without hesitation, revealing spiderweb-like cracks, and then shattered completely. The look of contempt in the big man’s eyes hadn't even fully faded before he was violently blasted by the torrent of seawater, losing his footing and sliding to the deck with a thud.

A chain reaction immediately followed. Under the immense water pressure, the entire hull began to crack along that breach and rapidly disintegrate. Fang Senyan quickly called over the Brotha and Reef. In such a situation, plugging the hole was out of the question. Fang Senyan violently struck the adjacent bulkhead with his elbow; with a tremendous CRACK, the entire partition collapsed, and seawater flooded in madly, instantly filling the lower hold.

Reef felt himself plummeting rapidly, and an icy sensation instantly enveloped his entire body. Then a massive wave hit, driving him deep underwater! Fortunately, at this moment, Fang Senyan grabbed him by the back of his shirt, and the two of them vigorously swam towards the surface.

Even so, caught completely off guard, Reef choked down several mouthfuls of murky water, tasting a faint fishiness on his tongue. He looked around and found himself surrounded by an unnatural, thick fog. Although he was in the vast ocean, he felt as if he were only a short distance from familiar shores. In the dark water, there was the scent of blood and gunpowder smoke, suggesting a ferociously brutal battle had just occurred!

On the surface of the water were broken railings, debris, barrels, stools, an overturned parasol. Fang Senyan even spotted an upturned vanity mirror, along with a Chinese mahogany screen split in half, a pipe, and boots. These two Chinese artifacts, if taken to the London exchange, could fetch a high price nearing twenty thousand pounds.

About ten nautical miles away, the booming sound of cannons could faintly be heard, with occasional flashes of light tearing through the dense fog. Within those flashes, vague shapes could be discerned: two fleets were locked together, clearly engaged in the most brutal and critical stage of boarding combat. Straining his eyes towards the horizon, Fang Senyan could even see faint red light staining half the sky through gaps in the shifting fog.

Scattered around the sea near where Fang Senyan and his team were floating were mostly wooden barrels, wreckage, debris, and some small, single-masted sailboats about ten meters long. These unarmed small boats likely served as lifeboats but were mostly ragged; some were even on fire, indicating this area had recently been a battlefield. At this point, the Brotha also surfaced from underwater, gasping deeply.

After swimming several dozen meters with his two teammates, Fang Senyan hauled himself onto a slowly burning small boat. The deck was littered with corpses, sprawled everywhere. These included British sailors dressed in red and white stripes, and fiercely brutal pirates in ragged attire. Many bodies were tangled together in death, having dragged their opponents down with them, clearly victims of a fierce, desperate close-quarters boarding fight.

The three quickly extinguished the fire and then noticed a significant number of sailors and pirates struggling in the water around them; even submerged, they continued to fight each other.

Although the sailors appeared much better organized and equipped, the pirates displayed a higher fighting courage. This was because they knew capture meant certain hanging, so they preferred to drag someone to hell with them before death!

At that moment, both Morgana and Reef simultaneously received a prompt from the Nightmare Mark: “Please save at least ten sailors or pirates to choose your current faction.” RO