Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 623: Sea Cage

Chapter 623: Chapter 623: Sea Cage

God knows how much time had passed. As Gu Fan woke up, he found himself locked in a prison cell, surrounded by darkness and chilling coldness. Not to mention the sight of several people lying listlessly in nearby cells, a disheartening sight to behold.

Seeing Jie lying next to him, Gu Fan hastily woke him: "Hey, wake up. I’m scared on my own, I need you to be scared with me."

"Ah~" As Jie woke up and took note of their predicament, he asked, "Where is this place?"

Gu Fan took another inspection: "We’re probably inside that large wooden ship, we’ve been locked up, I don’t know how gently we’re going to be treated."

"You’re sure we’re going to get gentle treatment?" Jie didn’t look convinced, rattling the cage here and there in a futile attempt to find an escape route.

At this moment, a familiar voice chimed in: "Don’t bother, if there was any escape using your methods, I’d be long gone."

"Oh my, Leng Le, my ex-girlfriend, you’re still alive!" Gu Fan was somewhat excited, the voice came from the cell opposite him. Although the light was dim, he could still vaguely make out a slender figure.

Leng Le responded offhandedly: "Yes, it’s your ex-girlfriend, blessed with both beauty and intelligence. How did you, my misfortunate ex-boyfriend, end up in such a dire state?"

Listening to her condescending words, Gu Fan’s morale took a hit: "What’s that you’re saying? Who knows, I might come up with a plan for escape, and save you on the way."

Leng Le quashed his hopes: "Take a good look at our surroundings. Cries for help get no answers and even if you did escape, all you’ll find is an endlessly vast ocean. Can you really escape this ship?"

"Theoretically, that might not be feasible, but can’t we try reasoning with them?" At Gu Fan’s naive suggestion, not only was he met with Leng Le’s ridicule, even the other prisoners could not help but break into laughter.

"Big bro, I think you’re just trying to lighten our mood since we have no hope of escape. We appreciate it,", said a pirate who was locked up with them.

Due to the language barrier, Gu Fan wasn’t clear on what was being said, but he had a feeling it wasn’t praise.

Eventually, Leng Le helped with the translation, much to Gu Fan’s surprise: "I didn’t realize my ex-girlfriend was such a polyglot. All I noticed before was your cunning nature, never your good side. What a wasted opportunity. Had I known, I wouldn’t have broken up."

"Hmph!" Leng Le ignored Gu Fan’s flattery.

Jie warned Gu Fan: "Bro, if you keep trying to make nice with your ex-girlfriend like this, be careful or Lin Xi will punch you."

"Please, promise me you won’t tell her..." Gu Fan was interrupted by an eerie sound, a groaning mix of low howls and a palpable agitation.

New to their surroundings, both Gu Fan and Jie were a little shaken hearing the sound, uncertain as to what was about to occur. However, Leng Le, along with the other prisoners, were visibly petrified, huddling into the corners of their cells.

Suddenly, a figure passed through the wall like it was paper, and it drew near to Gu Fan. Its hideous face animated with greed and exhilaration, its low grunting echoing, and the way it hovered in mid-air reminded Gu Fan of the Wandering Sea Ghost.

The Wandering Sea Ghost cast a glance around the room, its gaze landed on both Gu Fan and Jie, a cold glint in its eyes as if Gu Fan was its chosen target. This realization left Gu Fan scared stiff.

However, the Wandering Sea Ghost did not attack, instead, it flew into another cell. Following that, Gu Fan heard frantic screams that soon fell quiet as the Ghost began draining the life force from the prisoner.

Witnessing this for the first time, both Gu Fan and Jie watched wide-eyed as the Ghost and the prisoner did not physically touch. They saw what looked like Qi being drawn from the prisoner and flowing into the Wandering Sea Ghost.

Ten minutes later, the previously hovering Wandering Sea Ghost was now on the ground, and the prisoner slumped lifelessly onto the floor, as if the life had been sucked out of him.

Once the draining was complete, the Wandering Sea Ghost left. It opened the cell door and swaggered out with an air of arrogance.

Noticing this, Gu Fan frowned. Just moments ago the Wandering Sea Ghost could phase through walls and float, but now it had to walk out the door. Could this be corroborating the idea that the Ghost’s body had solidified as the Boss suggested?

Leng Le let out a sigh: "The prisoner before had been drained five times, I suspect he wouldn’t survive the next attack, the next target might be us."

"Please, chap, hang in there..." Gu Fan and Jie prayed silently. However, their hopes were dashed as a few figures came and carried away the drained prisoner, signaling he was of no more use.

Leng Le admitted she had seen this happen several times already. Everyone knew escape was not an option and that their turn was inevitable. Yet, when the moment did come, they would still scream in desperation.

Indeed, everyone wanted to avoid disaster. Everyone wanted to return home. But when the end draws near, only instincts prevail.

With Gu Fan’s original plan of gathering Intel and boosting their odds of a decisive battle compromised due to their current predicament, they were left helpless and stuck.

"Wait, how often do these Wandering Sea Ghosts come to draw your Qi?" Gu Fan worried. The Boss and Lin Xi alone wouldn’t be enough if the Ghosts were numerous.

Leng Le replied: "At least one a day, and mostly different ones each time. I believe they are preserving food to ensure they don’t drain us all at once."

The words from Leng Le confirmed Gu Fan’s earlier suspicions – the Wandering Sea Ghosts needed live humans’ Qi to solidify. Without it, they couldn’t capture more humans. So, they needed to keep a few humans as reserves.

Gu Fan developed an escape plan – if all the living humans could flee, the Wandering Sea Ghosts would lose their ability to function, nullifying the threats on the sea.

However, even if the Wandering Sea Ghosts couldn’t board ships to capture more humans, they could still trick others into boarding the large wooden ship, capturing them, and refilling their reserves. Therefore, the only way to permanently end the threat this ship posed was to set it ablaze and let it burn to ashes.