Chapter 1 – 1 Deep Sea Affinity
“You brats, if you don’t want to die, get up, kill him, show some guts.”

“Do it, kill the Black Bull. Only then can you become a member of our Black Whale Group!”

“That’s it, let’s have some suspense!”

Chen Qi opened his eyes, surrounded by the sounds of curses and cheers.

“It hurts… Where is this? What’s going on?”

Scanning the surroundings, it wasn’t his familiar bedroom but a totally strange world, on a giant ship.

Dark clouds gathered, the sea wind howled incessantly, and fifty people dressed as pirates surrounded him like beasts observing a coliseum fight.

What on earth is going on…

Could it be that he was targeted by a kidnapping gang? But why would they sail out to sea?

And based on his financial situation, how could he have attracted the attention of an international kidnapping group? It couldn’t be just because of his looks, could it?

Am I going to be sold to some weird Rich Lady Island next?

What happened… Chen Qi pressed his head with his hands, trying hard to recall.

His memory was very clear. Before coming to this place, he was clearly in his bedroom, about to start a new game.

Wait, the game…

Chen Qi looked at his dust-covered hand, and a line of illusory blue text slowly appeared.

[A weak slave who has just awakened spiritually and is slightly deformed.]

At that moment, a sharp pain surged in his head, and a flood of complex information rushed in!

Steampunk world, flesh implants, black giant whale, high sky crack, thirteen witches, thirteen nature forms, New Sun World, foreign languages…

Chen Qi had to grit his teeth and endure the knife-like pain. Only after more than ten seconds did he recover from the overwhelming information.

“I… I… transmigrated into the game world of ‘New Sun’?”

‘New Sun’ was a large multiplayer roleplaying exploration game with a steampunk style, employing the latest AI technology. It had unfathomable randomness and an unimaginably vast map, even during its beta test, it was a hit on global streaming platforms.

The game’s background was a steampunk apocalypse. The world had not yet entered the age of electricity before cracks with destructive properties emerged all over the world. The land was polluted, kingdoms fell, the moon laughed, and the sun disappeared. In this cold world without the sun, humanity nearly went extinct.

At the brink of extinction, the surviving humans studied the creations of these cracks, causing the world’s technology to develop rapidly but chaotically. Eventually, through the efforts of thirteen pioneers, a fabricated sun was raised.

Although there still were many dark areas, humanity once again had a vast land to survive on and maintained that for hundreds of years, forming a new human civilization called the “New Sun World.”

Unlike most games with limited content, New Sun’s vast open world allowed for countless unknown props and content, giving rise to many players trading rare items or information, resulting in a chaotic in-game marketplace.

Chen Qi, as a minor grinder, had made some small money selling rare items and guides and was a moderately famous strategy blogger.

“Transmigrated… I have no choice but to accept it… as if!”

Chen Qi clenched his fist tightly, feeling the sea breeze on his cheek.

Though hard to believe, when scanning the pirates around him, the bloody smell, the beating heart, forced him to accept the reality before him.

“But what is going on now? What will these pirates do to me?”

Chen Qi pressed his temple with his hand.

According to the original host’s memory, he was originally a young man born in Daluo Town of the Moonstone Islands. His parents had died, and he failed the spiritual awakening test in town, thus missing college.

Not long ago, during a fishing trip, an unknown creature burrowed into his spine, causing him to suffer a horrific mutation disease.

To cure his illness, he decided to go to the big city, hoping to make a name for himself and earn the money to cure his “mutation.”

However, his youthful ambition had yet to take off when he was tricked by his so-called relatives, sold to a human trafficking gang, and then resold to the Black Whale Pirate Group’s Sawshark.

Ultimately, he became a toy for these pirates’ betting on “human fights,” where even surviving the next second was uncertain.

Orphaned, gravely ill from the start, and kidnapped…

What kind of hellish starting point… Chen Qi finished recalling the information in his mind, furrowing his brows even more.

New Sun had a lot of randomness, including random starting points and random player origin and talents, starting as an aspiring youth, student, detective, dancer, etc.

According to the difficulty of the start, players would receive different spiritual awakening talents.

“I’m a slave kidnapped by pirates…”

Chen Qi’s head throbbed. The pirates who kidnapped him were presumably the Black Whale Pirate Group, the rulers of the High Seas!

At the start, I’m on the ship of a late-game boss faction?

Even though it was just one of their many ships, it was not an opponent he, currently weak, could challenge. Any low-level pirate here could kill him ten times, a hundred times!

Even in boastful and exaggerated game forums, his starting point would definitely be considered hellish.

A sense of helplessness instantly surged in his heart.

I think I saw a prompt earlier, Chen Qi called upon the panel in his mind, as a transmigrated player and spiritually awakened individual.

Semi-illusory text appeared before his eyes.

[Name: Qi

Nature Form: Lamp (You are a born explorer, your inspiration is far above the average person)

Race: Ordinary Human (Mildly infected, if not treated in time, you are very likely to turn into a tentacle monster obsessed with reproduction)

Occupation Card: None

Equipment: A tattered black burlap outfit with minimal warmth effect.

Attributes:

Constitution: 7 (Affected by infection)

Strength: 8

Inspiration: 35

Agility: 14

Luck: 6 (Average adult human attribute is 10)

Overall Evaluation: A weak slave with slight mutation]

So there is one, Chen Qi was delighted as he scanned the light screen before him.

High inspiration, high agility, average constitution and strength…

And infected in the spine; if not treated in time, he’ll turn into a tentacle monster obsessed with reproduction!

At this moment, another light screen appeared.

[On the high seas, you have awakened the special spiritual talent ‘Deep Sea Falling Star.’]

Spiritual awakening!

Just like in the game, at the start, every player experienced spiritual awakening, gaining a talent that granted special perks for their starting point.

Chen Qi swallowed hard and quickly checked his spiritual talent “Deep Sea Falling Star.”

[Deep Sea Falling Star:

Nature Form: Lamp

Deep Sea Affinity lv1: Although you do not have the bloodline of deep sea creatures, your spirituality still emits a faint aura from ancient beings of the deep sea. Weaker ancient species will see you as their equal, and most deep-sea beasts will no longer regard you as ‘human’ but as ‘kin.’ (This ability can be turned on or off at will)

Lamp’s Enlightenment: You have a higher chance of gaining more enlightening information.]

Two attributes… Chen Qi’s hand trembled slightly.

This is too lucky!

As someone who was usually unlucky, he had never seen such a mind-blowing spiritual talent.

Typically, spiritual talents only had one attribute, offering bonuses like weapon proficiency, increased appetite, increased luck, improved inspiration, or an enchanting demon aura.

The first attribute alone, Deep Sea Affinity, was an extremely powerful one!

According to his knowledge, such an attribute would only appear with a small probability when a player was completely assimilated by an ancient sea monster, resulting in total body deformation!

Not to mention the second attribute, Lamp’s Enlightenment, which was also an outstanding talent.

Getting either one alone was enough to be considered super lucky!

These two-attribute spiritual talents really exist… Chen Qi couldn’t help but marvel. He always thought it was a myth.

Usually, these levels of spiritual talents could only be found in hidden mainline bosses who could torment players repeatedly.

[Your Deep Sea Affinity has influenced the ‘deep sea creature’ in your spine. It feels your terrifying aura, stops infecting your body, and expresses temporary goodwill towards you.]

[Your body has received a 5-point strength and 5-point agility boost due to the mutation infection.]

Can it work like this… Chen Qi looked at the prompt and immediately felt his heavy body become much lighter.

According to the panel, his spine was infected by a deep-sea creature.

This talent could actually suppress the “deep sea creature’s” infection, thereby enhancing his body!

In the early game, a 5-point increase in strength and a 5-point increase in agility was already a substantial boost!

“Good luck…”

Chen Qi immediately stretched his muscles.

Bang!

A loud noise drew his attention back to the pressing crisis before him.

In front of him, a tattooed man resembling a bull swung a powerful punch, hitting a slave in the chest, blood splattering.

“No time to think…”

Chen Qi took a deep breath. In New Sun, the higher the talent, the harder the starting point.

Clearly, this start didn’t give him time to calm down.

Pirates loved gambling, the more thrilling and bloody, the better!

They had dragged out ten slaves from a dark cabin, forcing them to fight on the deck. Only the one who defeated everyone else could enjoy the next meal and become one of them on the Sawshark!

And he was one of these ten slaves!

However, in this ‘human fight,’ the battle was not a chaotic brawl of ten people.

It was a one-vs-nine crushing battle!

A slave called “Black Bull,” with his terrifying two-meter-tall body, was crushing the other slaves into submission.

Even though the other slaves had joined forces beforehand, they still couldn’t shake the slave named Black Bull!

Bam! Bam!

With a roar, Black Bull grabbed the neck of one slave and slammed him onto the deck.

The others were already lying on the ground, lifeless.

Only I am left… Chen Qi slowly retreated, glancing at the deck.

On the deck, there were various weapons thrown by the pirates, available for use.

Chen Qi picked up a nearby scimitar and gripped it tightly.

“Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh!”

Black Bull laughed maniacally, his chest muscles covered in black tattoos moving.

He glanced around and then pointed a bloodied finger:

“Kid, you’re the only one left.”