“You little punks—if you don’t want to die, get up and kill him. Show some guts!”

“Do it! Kill Black Bull! That’s the only way any of you gets to join the Black Whale Crew!”

“Yeah, that’s more like it—give us some suspense!”

Chen Qi opened his eyes to a mix of curses and cheering ringing in his ears.

“Ow… what the hell? Where am I? What’s going on?”

He looked around. This wasn’t his familiar bedroom—it was a completely unfamiliar world, aboard a massive ship.

Dark clouds filled the sky. The sea wind howled. Fifty people dressed like pirates surrounded him, like beasts watching a gladiator match.

What the hell is this...?

Could he have been kidnapped? But why at sea?

And with his financial status, there’s no way an international kidnapping ring would target him—unless… it’s because of his looks?!

Don’t tell me I’m about to get sold to some creepy sugar mama island?

What the h*ll is going on… Chen Qi clutched his head, trying to recall.

His memory was crystal clear. Just before arriving here, he had been in his room, getting ready to start a new game.

Wait… game?

He looked at his dust-covered hand. A line of glowing blue text slowly appeared:

【A frail slave with newly awakened spirituality and minor mutation.】

Right then, pain stabbed through his skull like a knife, as an overwhelming flood of information poured into his mind!

Steam world, fleshcraft implants, the Black Whale, sky rifts, the Thirteen Witches, Thirteen Aspects, the world of New Sun, foreign languages...

Chen Qi gritted his teeth, bearing the agony. After about ten seconds, he finally snapped out of the daze.

“I—I… transmigrated into the New Sun game world?!”

New Sun was a steampunk-themed MMORPG built with cutting-edge AI. It had mind-blowing randomness and an unbelievably massive map. Even during closed beta, it had blown up on streaming platforms worldwide.

The game’s world was a steampunk apocalypse. Civilization never made it to the electrical age before destructive rifts appeared worldwide. Lands were corrupted, kingdoms fell, the moon laughed, the sun vanished. In this sunless, freezing world, humanity teetered on extinction.

At the brink of extinction, the survivors studied the creations from the rifts, which led to rapid and chaotic technological growth. Eventually, thanks to thirteen pioneers, a forged sun was born.

Though darkness still reigned in many places, humanity reclaimed a massive habitable land and survived for centuries, giving rise to the New Sun World.

Unlike most games with shallow content, New Sun’s massive open world was full of unknown items and lore. That led to a thriving market of players trading rare goods and intel.

As a dedicated grinder, Chen Qi had made a bit of money selling rare items and walkthroughs. He was even a semi-popular strategy blogger.

“So I really transmigrated…? I guess I have to accept it… yeah right!”

Chen Qi clenched his fists, feeling the sea breeze on his face.

Unbelievable as it was, the pirates around him, the smell of blood, the pounding in his chest—everything forced him to accept reality.

“But what the hell is going on now? What are these pirates gonna do to me?”

Chen Qi pressed a hand to his temple.

According to the memories of this body’s original owner, he had been born in Damarro Town on the Moonstone Archipelago. Orphaned early, he had failed the local spiritual awakening test and didn’t get into college.

Not long ago, during a fishing trip, some unknown creature burrowed into his spine, infecting him with a terrifying mutational disease.

To afford treatment, he left for the big city, hoping to make a name for himself and earn money to cure the mutation.

But before his dream even started, he was tricked by so-called relatives, sold to a human trafficking ring, and resold to the Black Whale Pirates’ Sawshark.

In the end, he became nothing more than entertainment for these pirates’ brutal betting games. Surviving the next second was a miracle.

Orphaned. Terminal illness. Kidnapped...

What kind of h*ll difficulty is this? Chen Qi frowned deeper as he processed the memories.

New Sun featured tons of randomness—including random starts. A player’s origin and talent were rolled at the start. You could begin as an aspiring youth, a student, a detective, a dancer…

Depending on difficulty, you’d get a different spiritual talent.

“I’m a slave kidnapped by pirates…”

Chen Qi winced. The pirates who captured him were from the Black Whale Crew—the top of the Four Emperors ruling the sea!

I’m on a late-game boss faction’s ship… at the very start?

Even though this was just one of their many ships, he was way too weak to handle even a low-tier pirate here. Any of them could kill him ten times over.

Even in the BS-heavy gaming forums, this would definitely be classified as a hell-difficulty start.

A wave of helplessness hit him.

Wait, I think I saw a system prompt earlier—

Chen Qi called up the panel in his mind. He was a transmigrated player and a spiritual awakener.

Semi-transparent text immediately floated into view:

【Name: Qi

Aspect: Lamp (You’re a natural explorer, with far more inspiration than the average person.)

Race: Normal Human (Slightly Infected. Without timely treatment, you may turn into a tentacle monster obsessed with reproduction.)

Class Card: None

Gear: A tattered black hemp robe. Slight cold resistance.

Stats:

Constitution: 7 (Affected by infection)

Strength: 8

Inspiration: 35

Agility: 14

Luck: 6

(Average adult stat = 10)

Overall Rating: A frail, mildly mutated slave】

There it was! Chen Qi lit up, eyes sweeping across the stat screen.

High inspiration, solid agility. Constitution and strength were just okay…

And his spine was infected. If left untreated, he’d turn into a breeding-crazed tentacle freak!

At that moment, another prompt appeared:

【On the open sea, you’ve awakened a special spiritual talent: “Falling Star of the Deep.”】

Spiritual awakening!

Just like in the game—at the start, every player would awaken a spiritual talent to boost their early game.

Chen Qi gulped, quickly checking out his talent Falling Star of the Deep.

【Falling Star of the Deep

Aspect: Lamp

Deep Sea Affinity Lv1: Though no deep-sea blood runs in your veins, your spirituality emits a faint aura of ancient deep-sea beings. Weaker ancient species will view you as an equal, and most sea beasts will no longer see you as ‘human,’ but as ‘one of their own.’ (This ability can be toggled on/off.)

Lamp’s Insight: You’re more likely to receive greater insight.】

Two traits… Chen Qi’s hand trembled slightly.

Holy sh*t, this is broken.

As a long-time unlucky scrub, he had never rolled anything this insane.

Normally, spiritual talents only gave one trait—stuff like weapon mastery, bigger appetite, higher luck, more inspiration, succubus aura…

But this Deep Sea Affinity alone was insanely OP!

From memory, this trait only had a tiny chance of appearing if a player was fully mutated and assimilated by ancient deep-sea monsters!

Not to mention the second one, Lamp’s Insight, was also a high-tier boost.

Getting either of these would make you a top-tier lucky draw—getting both? Total jackpot!

He always thought two-trait talents were just a myth. Usually, you only saw them on hidden mainline bosses that could wipe you hundreds of times.

【Your Deep Sea Affinity has affected the “deep-sea organism” in your spine. It senses your terrifying aura, stops infecting you, and expresses temporary goodwill.】

【Due to mutational infection, your body has gained +5 Strength and +5 Agility.】

Wait, seriously...? Chen Qi read the message and immediately felt lighter.

According to the panel, the creature infecting his spine was a deep-sea monster.

And this talent actually suppressed the infection and even boosted his stats!

In early game terms, +5 Strength and +5 Agility is a huge deal.

“Not bad luck at all…”

Chen Qi flexed his limbs.

BOOM!

A thunderous bang snapped him back to the crisis at hand.

Up ahead, a massive, bull-like tattooed brute smashed his fist into another slave’s chest—blood splattered everywhere.

“No time to think…”

Chen Qi took a deep breath. In New Sun, the stronger your spiritual talent, the harder your starting scenario.

Clearly, his start didn’t give him time to breathe.

The pirates loved gambling—the more brutal, the better!

They’d dragged ten slaves from the dark hull and forced them to brawl on deck. Only the last one standing would win dinner—and earn a spot on Sawshark.

Chen Qi was one of those ten!

But this wasn’t a chaotic free-for-all.

It was a one-vs-nine slaughter.

A slave nicknamed Black Bull, nearly two meters tall, was crushing the others like bugs.

Even though the others tried to team up, they couldn’t even scratch this guy.

Bang! Bang!

With a roar, Black Bull grabbed a slave by the throat and slammed him into the deck.

Everyone else was already down—completely motionless.

Only I’m left… Chen Qi slowly backed away, glancing at the deck.

Scattered around were weapons the pirates had tossed in—they were free to use them.

Chen Qi grabbed a nearby scimitar and held it tightly.

“Heh heh heh! Heh heh heh!”

Black Bull laughed like a maniac, the tattoos on his chest rippling.

He scanned the area, then pointed his bloody index finger.

“Kid… you’re the last one.”