The No. 1 Hunfen King in the Entire Server [Interstellar] Chapter 27

The eurypterid continued its slow march, unaware of the impending danger. Its massive pincers clicked as it navigated the reef. Lingxuan watched in horror as it approached, bringing disaster in its wake.

The nautiloid struck with a sudden dive, blocking out the light as it descended. Its tentacles churned up sand and debris, creating chaos.

“Run!” Lingxuan gritted her teeth, grabbed Karl’s hand, and bolted.

As the nautiloid’s appendages latched onto its prey, its immense body touched the seafloor, sending out shockwaves that nearly knocked them over. Sand and gravel scattered everywhere.

Lingxuan’s wrist-mounted device began to flash red, her stamina rapidly depleting. One wave of the nautiloid’s chaos had already reduced her stamina to 30%.

While the nautilus was entangled with the eurypterid, they seized the moment and sprinted past the massive coral reef, finally reuniting with the others.

To avoid accidents, the group generally moved together. Seeing Ke Lingxuan and Karl rushing toward them so frantically, everyone was bewildered. The man in the floral shirt was the first to react, his face full of confusion. “What did you see? Why are you running like that?”

Ke Lingxuan, panting heavily, exclaimed, “Run! Hurry! A giant nautilus! We just saw a giant nautilus, right behind us!”

Karl, equally alarmed, added, “It definitely spotted us. It’ll come after us. Everyone, hide!”

Elena, holding her camera, chuckled at their panic. “Hey, isn’t this the creature we were talking about yesterday when we were organizing the album? It’s one of the species we need to photograph. Why hide?”

The man in the floral shirt nodded in agreement. “Exactly. Why run? It’s such a rare sighting. Why not just snap a photo from a safe distance?”

Karl lost his patience and snapped, “Suit yourselves.”

Ahead lay a forest of coral reefs, towering like small hills. Underwater plants grew densely over them, and there were caves to hide in. With the tension mounting, Ke Lingxuan didn’t waste time arguing further. She whispered, “Let’s go,” then grabbed Karl and slipped into the reefs.

The remaining group exchanged uncertain glances, momentarily unsure of what to do.

The short-haired girl scoffed. She wasn’t about to follow Elena anywhere. Holding her camera, she leisurely strolled toward the reefs. The man in the black jacket, who had overexerted himself the previous day, had learned the importance of conserving energy. Without any hesitation, he obediently found a hiding spot.

This left only three people standing their ground: the man in the floral shirt, Elena, and another young man.

The young man, who was severely nearsighted and hadn’t brought his glasses into the game, had gained almost nothing the previous day. Now, he wasn’t about to pass up any opportunity.

The man in the floral shirt scoffed, “If you’re so scared of dying, why play this game at all?” Feeling rather heroic after his remark, he turned to Elena and added, “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll stay by your side the whole time.”

Elena’s eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled. “Thank you, darling.”

The nearsighted young man, now immune to their flirting, weakly asked, “Should we head over now?”

The man in the floral shirt responded, “Why stay here if we’re not going over? That thing’s huge. We’ll just keep a bit of distance and snap a quick photo.”

Elena shook her head. “Not too far, though. Otherwise, the photo won’t register in the game’s encyclopedia.”

“Don’t worry, babe. I’ll go first.” 

Drunk on a mix of arrogance and infatuation, he boldly took the lead. Following the direction Ke Lingxuan and Karl had fled, they passed through towering reefs over ten meters tall and finally spotted the giant nautilus feasting.

Its tentacles were wrapped tightly around the eurypterid’s body, violently tearing into its prey. A sharp, beak-like mouth emerged from the nautilus’s shell, ripping flesh as the eurypterid struggled in vain. Blood stained the surrounding sand and water. The brutal and terrifying spectacle of predation unfolded before them, and the sight of the nautilus’s sheer size and ferocity caused the man in the floral shirt to suddenly feel weak in the knees.

The nearsighted young man, too, held his breath, fear creeping into his heart. “This… should we…”

“Let’s just go take a look,” the man in the floral shirt said, trying to maintain his bravado despite his growing unease.

Elena smiled and looked at him with admiration, instantly boosting his confidence again.

Meanwhile, perched on a high reef with a camera, Lin Jing caught sight of the trio through her lens and frowned. “What are they doing?”

Couldn’t they see the apex predator of this era feasting? Were they planning to offer themselves up as a side dish?

Sitting on the reef, Xu Wanzhi also noticed them. He remarked, “The real gameplay of this game is about to begin.”

Lin Jing paused. “What?”

Xu Wanzhi withdrew his deep, distant gaze, his eyes landing on her. He suddenly smiled. “Don’t you remember, babe? I told you on day one what the real gameplay is.”

Lin Jing froze, clutching his camera tightly.

The real gameplay?

Xu Wanzhi said lightly, “This isn’t a team-based survival game.”

Back at the reef, the trio hiding behind the rocks looked visibly anxious.

The cameras provided by Survivor were, unsurprisingly, as unreliable as the game itself. Even from their current position, they couldn’t get a clear shot of the giant nautilus.

“Maybe we should skip this one and look for another target?” the nearsighted young man suggested, already having second thoughts due to the bloody scene.

Elena, however, was determined to play seriously today. She frowned. “But other creatures are even harder to find.”

She wasn’t wrong. Cambrian fauna were relatively limited, but after the Ordovician radiation, the branches of life had exploded. Each class contained countless species, many of which looked extremely similar. They had often captured dozens of creatures, only to find that very few registered in the encyclopedia. Giving up on a guaranteed entry felt like a waste.

The man in the floral shirt, despite his usual bluster and constant flirting, took the game seriously too. 

His encyclopedia progress on day one had nearly matched Ke Lingxuan’s, thanks to his shameless persistence. While cooperation yielded mutual benefits, no one wanted their hard-earned achievements to be effortlessly copied by others. This was why the group mostly moved independently, even when gathered in one place.

Elena said, “It’s feeding. It shouldn’t notice us. Didn’t Ke Lingxuan say it’s a blind creature?”

The nearsighted young man hesitated for a long moment before shaking his head nervously. “I… I’ll wait here for you.”

The man in the floral shirt had been feeling scared himself, but seeing the young man’s cowardice sparked a sense of superiority. He sneered, “Coward. Elena, let’s go.”

Elena smiled softly. “Alright.”

She slipped her arm through his, leaning into him like a delicate bird.

The nearsighted young man hesitated but ultimately stayed behind, waiting quietly.

The scene ahead was chaotic, the giant nautilus’s feast leaving the area a mess of blood and flesh. The crimson water, mixed with sand and mud, was murky and foul-smelling.

One of the nautilus’s tentacles was roughly the size of a human, its dark brown surface adorned with grotesque patterns. Up close, the tentacles writhing in the mud looked like enormous snakes twisting and slithering.

“Are we really going closer?”

Elena seemed a little frightened.

Floral Shirt steeled himself and said, “Give me your camera. I’ll take the photo for you. You stay here.”

Elena smiled sweetly, her voice dripping with affection. “You’re so kind, darling.”

With two cameras in hand, Floral Shirt held his breath and deliberately slowed his steps, inching toward the blood-soaked scene.

In this era, the feather-eurypterid was considered a top predator. It’s tough armor allowed it to withstand most fatal attacks, making this struggle with the giant nautilus particularly protracted. The two creatures remained entangled near the rocky outcrop.

Hiding behind a dense cluster of hydroids, Floral Shirt raised his camera, waiting for the right moment.

Finally, the moment arrived. As one of the crab’s claws was torn apart by the nautilus’s tentacles, the battle was decided. The eurypterid lay limp and near death, its struggling slowing to a halt. Victorious, the nautilus firmly gripped its prey and began to consume the flesh within its shell.

The battle had ended, and the ocean water, thick with blood and silt, began to clear, restoring its crystal clarity.

Sweat beaded on Floral Shirt’s forehead. The shock of the scene had drained his stamina, though it was diminishing at a very slow rate.

Elena, watching from behind him, idly twirled a strand of her red hair.

The blood diluted. The silt settled.

Now was the time!

Floral Shirt, hidden in the hydroids, pressed the shutter button.

The click of the camera and the flash of white light signified success. A printed photograph of the giant nautilus emerged, proof of his achievement.

“Yes!”

Floral Shirt wiped his brow, secretly congratulating himself.

But the flash appeared to trigger something ominous. The giant nautilus suddenly halted its meal.

Floral Shirt, oblivious to the shift, smugly grabbed Elena’s camera, intending to snap a second photo.

As he crouched and peered through the viewfinder, he saw the giant nautilus releasing its tentacles from its prey’s corpse. Slowly, it floated free of the seabed. The massive ten-meter shadow loomed toward his direction, ghostly and menacing.

Floral Shirt froze, his body stiffening, blood rushing to his head. Panic overtook him, and he bolted without even pressing the shutter. But the nautilus had already propelled itself forward, parting the water with incredible force. The resulting turbulence knocked Floral Shirt off his feet, sending him sprawling into the sand. His stamina bar plummeted, but that was the least of his concerns.

“Elena!” He caught sight of her standing not far away.

The enormous predator descended over him like a reaper. Snake-like tentacles lashed out, pinning him to the seafloor.

The warning light on his wristband began to flash red—an alert from the system. Yet he had no chance to press the button for an emergency return to the submarine.

The tentacles were coated in viscous slime, emitting an unbearable stench that suffocated him. Pale and paralyzed with fear, Floral Shirt couldn’t even look back. He stretched out his right hand, desperately reaching for Elena, screaming hoarsely, “Help me! Elena! Send me back!”

Elena, framed by the vibrant coral behind her, simply stood and smiled faintly.

For the nautilus, small prey like this was devoured in one swift motion. It hoisted Floral Shirt into the depths, leaving him no room to escape.

His eyes bulged in sheer terror, his face contorted with rage. He screamed, “Elena! Save me!”

Elena took a step forward, as if to help. Her hand brushed his outstretched one. Floral Shirt exhaled in relief, believing rescue was imminent.

But then, Elena gave him a coquettish wink. Her crimson lips curved into a serpentine smirk. “Goodbye, darling.”

She didn’t press the button to save him. Instead, she deftly unfastened the wristband from his hand.

As the wristband fell away, the ocean’s crushing pressure, bone-snapping constriction, and suffocating torment rushed in all at once. Right before being devoured by the nautilus, Floral Shirt’s expression twisted from shock and disbelief to pure, unrelenting fury. The words he wanted to curse remained caught in his throat. Everything went black as his consciousness was forcefully expelled from the game—a mental trauma severe enough to leave a lifelong impact.

The nautilus floated upward, releasing a crimson bloom of “fireworks” in the water.

As the wristband detached, Floral Shirt’s camera also shattered, scattering countless photos like snowflakes drifting through a bloody sea.

Elena narrowed her eyes, stretched out her hands, and caught the falling photos.

Her smile lingered, but her expression suddenly shifted. Turning, she fixed her icy gaze on the nearsighted man, who had witnessed the entire scene in stunned silence.

Lin Jing, too, had seen it all and was dumbfounded. He glanced down at his own wristband and the red emergency button on it. So, it was a lifeline from the system all along?

Was the directive to retreat during the mass extinction events just to ensure their safety?

Lin Jing was in a daze.

Looking back now, his first teammate, Feng Haozhong, who had annoyed him with his arrogant words, suddenly seemed endearingly naive compared to Elena. At least he had never schemed or plotted.

This was his first time witnessing such player-on-player cruelty, and not even in PvP mode.

After a long silence, Lin Jing muttered, “Will she… even dare return to the submarine after this?”

Xu Wanzhi, sitting calmly nearby, tilted his head and replied, “Why wouldn’t she?”

Lin Jing frowned. “She’s been seen. Won’t someone expose her?”

Xu Wanzhi appeared equally puzzled. “Expose her? And then what?”

Lin Jing hesitated. “…”

Exactly. What could anyone do? Report Elena and get her kicked out of the game?

Xu Wanzhi chuckled. “The submarine is even more dangerous than the seabed. On the final day of the game, that’s when everyone shows their true colors.”

Lin Jing fell silent, deeply unsettled.

Indeed.

In this game, taking photos of others’ prey made it your own.

Someone was bound to exploit this rule, sooner or later.

On the eve of the third mass extinction, the submarine would become a battlefield.

Xu Wanzhi gazed at Lin Jing quietly for a while, then spoke. “So don’t go back.”