Chapter 3: Fire as a Boat

The excruciating pain faded from his mind, leaving behind exhaustion verging on collapse, and that phrase branded into his consciousness with startling clarity—"Light... more light!"Lin Jie's consciousness, teetering on the edge of being torn apart, was violently dragged back to reality.

He gasped a huge breath, the air tinged with the scent of blood flooding his lungs, causing him to cough violently.

He was still sprawled on the cold, slippery deck. The Deep Sea Siren that had been closing in on him moments ago was now hesitating, circling warily due to fear of the muzzle flash from the Webley revolver in his hand.

There was no time for hesitation, no time for thought.

That insane plan was his only lifeline right now.

Lin Jie pushed himself up with one hand, the other gripping tightly the Webley revolver that granted him calm. He didn't fire randomly again. Instead, he aimed the muzzle at the sky and pulled the trigger!

"Bang!"

Another deafening roar exploded over the deck.

This wasn't for killing;it was to attract the attention of all the monsters.

Taking advantage of the moment when most of the sirens on the deck had their "gaze" drawn by the gunshot, Lin Jie transformed into a leopard, leaping up from the ground and launching a desperate, all-or-nothing sprint towards the German-made hand lamp that still emitted a stubborn white light!

"Hiss—!"

Several sirens reacted instantly, immediately closing in to encircle him.

Their movements were as fast as grey lightning, their sharp claws gouging deep furrows into the wooden deck.

In Lin Jie's eyes, there was only the lamp.

He cast aside all thoughts of life and death, his entire will concentrated on this single charge.

Just as the sharp claws of one siren were about to touch his back, he suddenly threw himself sideways in a diving roll. His body slid several meters across the waterlogged deck, and his fingers finally touched the cold metal casing of the hand lamp.

He had done it!

Lin Jie grabbed the lamp, rolled on the spot, and held it high, placing it between himself and the pouncing monster.

A miracle occurred.

The light emitted by the lamp wasn't the yellow glow of ordinary flame, but a pure, steady white light.

When this radiance fell upon the sirens, their bodies immediately began to sizzle with black smoke. They let out agonized, piercing shrieks, frantically retreating as if they had encountered their natural predator.

"It works... it really works!" A wave of wild elation surged in Lin Jie's heart.

But this joy lasted only a second.

He quickly realized the lamp's illumination range was only about a two-meter radius, and part of the light was blocked by his own body.

He was like standing atop a lighthouse that could be submerged by the sea at any moment;more monsters lurked just outside the circle of light, watching intently.

He couldn't survive alone.

He had to turn every person who could still move into a part of the light.

He scanned his surroundings and saw a few surviving sailors and overseers hiding behind masts or piles of debris, trembling, their firearms useless, their faces etched with despair.

Holding the lamp aloft, Lin Jie half-crouched and began slowly moving towards them.

As he moved, he shouted hoarsely in his broken English:

"Light! Light is weapon!"

He pointed at the lamp in his hand, then at the cowering sirens, demonstrating the effect of the light to everyone.

"Fire! More fire!"

He then pointed towards the ship's hold, making "carrying" and "burning" gestures, trying to convey his insane plan.

At first, no one responded.

These seasoned sailors, weathered by storms, had had all their courage shattered by supernatural fear. They looked at this suddenly emerged, seemingly mad Easterner with eyes full of confusion and terror.

Lin Jie understood that words were feeble in this moment;only action could awaken their survival instinct.

He took a deep breath and, carrying the lamp, actually charged proactively towards a lone siren that was trying to crawl towards an injured sailor.

Like a herdsman driving off beasts, he used the light in his hand as a weapon, forcing the siren to retreat step by step until it finally shrieked and tumbled over the ship's railing.

This scene finally rekindled a spark of hope in the eyes of the survivors.

The first one to step forward and respond was actually the Indian Overseer who had once whipped the coolies. He might be fierce and brutal, but he didn't want to die either.

He understood Lin Jie's tactic. With a roar, he drew his short-handled axe from his belt, rushed to the nearest cargo crate, and began chopping at it furiously.

His action became the fuse that ignited everyone's courage.

"Quick! Listen to him!" an older sailor shouted. "Bring out everything that can burn! Rum, kerosene, the spare sails! Hurry!"

The desire to survive finally overcame the fear of the unknown.

Like frantic worker ants under the cover of Lin Jie's moving "safety lamp," the survivors rushed into the ship's hold, bringing out every flammable item they could find.

They smashed open barrels marked "Whale Oil," splashing the viscous oil across the deck;they pried open crates of rum, using the strong liquor as an accelerant;they even tore apart spare mattresses, linens, and planks from some of the cabin doors, piling them into a small mountain in the center of the deck.

It was a race against death.

Lin Jie, holding the lamp, was like a standard-bearer on a battlefield, constantly patrolling the edge of their defensive line, again and again driving back lone monsters trying to break through.

His nerves were stretched taut. Every swing of the lamp, every shout, was madly consuming his already scant stamina.

"Light the fire!"

At the older sailor's command, several torches were lit and thrown into the pile of debris soaked with oil and alcohol.

"WHOOSH—!!"

A wall of fire, over twice the height of a man, erupted into a blazing inferno in the center of the Sea Witch's deck!

The soaring flames instantly illuminated most of the deck as bright as day, the scorching heat waves radiating outwards.

The sirens, accustomed to the deep sea's cold and darkness, let out a collective shriek of pain and loathing in the face of this sudden, extreme light and heat.

They dared not approach an inch further, retreating one after another into the shadows by the ship's rails, fixing their malevolent red eyes intently on this "human territory" sheltered by the flames.

They had succeeded!

The survivors erupted into massive cheers of relief at having narrowly escaped death.

They gathered around the bonfire, gasping for breath, watching the wall of flame that separated them from death. Many were so overcome they wept.

Lin Jie also collapsed onto his backside, the lamp nearly slipping from his hand. Staring at this primitive yet intensely dramatic scene before him, he felt as if a lifetime had passed.

However, the crisis wasn't truly over.

The fuel on the ship would eventually run out, and the sirens were like patient vultures, waiting silently in the darkness.

Just as the bonfire's light showed the first signs of faltering, and people's hearts began to tighten with fear again, Heaven finally opened its eyes.

The sky, unnoticed by all, had become covered with leaden grey clouds.

The sea wind turned violent without warning. The calm sea surface began to churn violently. A long-brewing, fierce tropical storm swept in with the force of a thunderbolt!

Raindrops the size of beans poured down, attempting to extinguish the flames on the deck. Towering waves, like mountains, crashed against the hull of the Sea Witch again and again, making the steel behemoth groan in agony.

This sudden display of nature's might became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

The Deep Sea Sirens seemed to intensely detest this kind of chaotic, violent natural environment.

After a few reluctant hisses, they retreated one after another, as silently as they had appeared, vanishing into the fathomless, pitch-black sea.

They were gone.

But for the survivors on the ship, the ordeal was just beginning.

They had to battle the storm, the ship threatening to break apart at any moment, and the colossal waves until they were utterly exhausted.

After who knows how long, when the storm finally subsided and the first grey light of dawn pierced the clouds, fewer than ten living people remained on the deck.

But they had survived.

Leaning against a broken mast, soaked to the bone and utterly exhausted, Lin Jie felt an unprecedented clarity.

He watched the sun struggling to rise above the horizon, then slowly turned his head.

There, on the distant horizon, a long, distinct coastline came into view for all the survivors.