Everyone was briefly knocked unconscious by the immense impact.
Only Cheng Shi, with his bright eyes wide open, controlled this makeshift raft, barely qualifying as a floatation device, navigating through the water with difficulty.
Yes, Cheng Shi didn't faint.
The moment the giant wave hit, He had preemptively cast all His skills on Himself, leaving plenty of room.
This also allowed Him to withstand the immense impact and remain conscious.
As for the others...
Forget it, they just coughed up some blood, they won't die.
Who told them they weren't the Captain!
When the battle line shifted from the mountain peak to under the sea, Cheng Shi, who possessed Underwater Healing, transformed from a slacking Priest into a stand-in Captain with extremely high authority!
He only needed to cast an Underwater Healing on Himself, and then share the effect of Underwater Breathing with His teammates through Grace of Sharing Gods, allowing Him to breathe the most air with the lowest consumption.
Not only that, a Priest is a profession with the highest affinity for Water Element besides Element Judge. As long as the operation is precise, they can completely control the "raft submersible" in places without surging undercurrents and become the navigator for everyone!
In fact, Cheng Shi was already doing this.
Zhao Qian's physique was indeed the best; He was the first to wake up.
When He felt that He could still breathe and saw Cheng Shi controlling the raft to continue drifting towards the depths of the seabed, He knew that the situation had been stabilized by His teammate.
He was very relieved.
Not because Cheng Shi had suddenly become reliable, but because Underwater Healing hadn't made Him inexplicably pregnant.
The others woke up one after another, and feeling that their condition wasn't bad, they also breathed a sigh of relief.
The Players' current situation was quite peculiar:
The "hollowed-out logs" hammered out from vines showed good sealing and buoyancy, so they were on top.
Several rattan baskets were hanging upside down under the bamboo raft, with a Player hidden in each basket. Although everyone was submerged in the water, due to the significant effect of Underwater Healing, their breathing was not affected.
If there was anything uncomfortable, it was that breathing air had turned into breathing seawater.
The feeling of inhaling murky seawater into the nasal cavity and then having it disappear was still not pleasant.
However, because the raft had too much buoyancy, it was still somewhat difficult for Cheng Shi to control it at such a deep part of the seabed.
Fortunately, His teammates weren't slackers; they wouldn't just watch like Him when others were working.
Tao Yi immediately took several rattan strips from the scraps extending outside the rattan basket, condensed them into square boards, tied them to her hands, and began to use her arms as paddles, providing manual assistance.
Seeing this, the others followed suit.
Only Zhao Qian remained motionless, observing the surrounding situation.
Cheng Shi glanced at Him out of the corner of His eye, becoming somewhat interested in this Captain.
This follower of war gave Him a strange feeling. Although He automatically took on the role of commander, He would hardly exert any extra effort except when necessary.
Of course, many Players use this conservative Trial style of conserving strength, and it's very effective in the current situation where there isn't much mutual trust.
But Zhao Qian was still somewhat different from them.
He didn't seem like a completely self-interested person, and His eyes were full of a desire for cooperation, yet He did things that were relatively "solitary."
This subtle sense of contrast... was very awkward.
However, as long as He didn't do anything detrimental to Himself, He would let Him be.
He seemed to be thinking a bit too much, Cheng Shi chuckled and continued to be Sun Ce.
Just as Cheng Shi was controlling the bamboo raft and observing everyone, Tao Yi spoke.
"Gurgle, gurgle... Cheng Shi, aren't we going to float up... Gurgle, gurgle..."
"We can't determine the wind and waves above, and our little broken raft can't withstand a second wave this big. It's safer underwater."
"Gurgle, gurgle... Is that so? Can your mental power handle this? My affinity for water is okay... Gurgle, gurgle... If not, let me take over for a while..."
How can that be? I just got addicted to playing!
Cheng Shi enjoyed the fun of being the Captain. With this level of mental power consumption, He could swim underwater for almost an entire day.
The premise was that the water remained this calm and peaceful.
Cheng Shi didn't respond to her directly but smiled and asked:
"Why do you have to gurgle and spit out water when you talk?"
"Gurgle, gurgle... Don't you think it's very much like a fish... Gurgle, gurgle... We are now underwater people... It's so much fun!"
"..."
Innocence defeated the guileless, and Cheng Shi was speechless.
The storm raged on the surface, while it was quite quiet underwater.
Aside from having to avoid some debris and garbage blown in by the seawater, there was almost no danger during the entire underwater journey.
Unfortunately, the good times didn't last.
After sneak for several hours in the sea, an unexpected event occurred again.
Although all senses underwater were far less acute than on the surface, Zhao Qian still seemed to sense something and warned:
"Be careful, something is coming from below!"
Hearing the warning, Cheng Shi's heart tightened.
Their current position was roughly in the upper-middle section of the seawater, just enough to avoid the storm on the surface, but they couldn't see the seabed at all.
Logically speaking, after such a long time since the giant wave hit, things that should have floated up in the seawater should have already reached the upper layer, and things that should have sunk should have already left this area.
At this moment, encountering something rising from the seabed, its danger was obvious.
"What is it? A living thing? Or a dead thing?"
"Cheng Shi, can we turn to avoid it? Let's put in more effort and paddle faster."
"Below? Why can't I see it?"
Cheng Shi was at the very front, with the best forward vision, but His downward vision was similar to everyone else's, and He couldn't see anything below at this time either.
The seawater had swept up too much surface mud, making it murky and the visibility very poor. Zhao Qian being able to warn in advance obviously wasn't relying on His eyesight.
"Can't see anything! Can you sense what it is?"
Zhao Qian closed His eyes and emitted His mental power like sound waves. In an instant, His face turned extremely grim.
"Can't avoid it! It's all around, front, back, left, and right, Cheng Shi! We're going to collide!"
"Whoosh—"
As soon as He finished speaking, the raft was whipped by the turbulent current and began to spin.
"Gurgle, gurgle..."
Countless bubbles rose, and it was truly gurgling now.
"Everyone, protect yourselves! Healer, prepare to heal!"
Without Zhao Qian needing to say more, at the moment the spinning began, Grace of Sharing Gods had already sent seven or eight healing spells surging towards all team members.
Cheng Shi's expression was solemn, not daring to be careless in the slightest.
Because He had already clearly seen what the thing surging from below actually was.
It was a giant beast He had never seen before. Its raw, exposed skin and half-closed white eyes showed that this behemoth was already dead. It was rising from the seabed like an inflated balloon, floating upwards.
However, in the process of floating up, it collided with the Players.
Calling it a collision was actually a bit inappropriate.
Compared to the size of the giant beast, the raft where the Players were located was like a fishing boat under a giant ship, severely out of proportion.
The impact of the raft on this behemoth was probably less significant than the effect of the rolling seawater on it.
But such a collision was devastating for the raft.
Fortunately, however, the bamboo raft did not collide squarely with the giant beast; it was merely sucked forward by a huge suction force, and the entire raft disintegrated and broke apart under the rapid current.
Everyone's faces turned extremely grim, because they finally realized what Zhao Qian meant by "it's all around, front, back, left, and right."
Tao Yi clung tightly to a rattan log, her eyes wide with terror, and asked in disbelief:
"We... This is..."
Cheng Shi pulled Gao Yu, furrowing His brow and replied in a deep voice:
"That's right, it's exactly what you're thinking.
We...
Collided into the stomach of the giant beast."
...