’In this weather, the dead crocodile will definitely go bad if it’s left out for too long. If I can cure it with salt, it’ll last for quite a while!’
Ren Yuanyang rummaged through the supplies from the small boat and pulled out a Boning Knife. Staring at the crocodile before him, he had no idea where to start.
’I should leave this to someone who knows what they’re doing!’ Ren Yuanyang found an excuse for himself, put the Boning Knife back down, and picked up his phone.
The various chat channels were still bustling, but most of the messages were cries for help.
’In this extreme weather, even satellite communications would be affected, yet this chat group is completely fine. This technology must be far beyond anything from Blue Star!’ Ren Yuanyang frowned, lost in thought.
No wonder his ex-girlfriend had said an Advanced Civilization would come to save them.
’If it really is an Advanced Civilization, then what’s their goal in doing all this?’
’They don’t intervene to save us, but they give us a way to communicate. What’s the point?’
’Or maybe... this great flood was caused by the Advanced Civilization?’
Ren Yuanyang shook his head.
’An idle mind really is the devil’s workshop. When you have too much time on your hands, your thoughts start to run wild!’
"Boss, there’s a flying object approaching. Looks like a small drone!" Lu Jiamei suddenly called out a warning.
Hearing this, Ren Yuanyang immediately pulled most of the Round Duckweed under the shipping container, leaving only a few scattered pieces outside.
"Get back inside the container, now!" Ren Yuanyang ordered.
"Right!" Lu Jiamei immediately jumped down.
Ren Yuanyang had already covered the Fluorescent Cactus inside the container. He had retrieved the ones he’d scattered on the water’s surface after finishing the camouflage. Learning a lesson from what happened to that "lucky" guy, they had to make themselves look as ordinary as possible.
"It’s here!" Lu Jiamei reminded him again in a low voice.
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly. A buzzing sound was indeed mixed in with the noise of the rain. He was a little surprised. "I can’t believe a drone can fly in weather this bad!"
"Yes, but in this weather, its patrol range can’t be very far. The person controlling it must be nearby!" Lu Jiamei’s voice was filled with worry.
"Anyone using a drone for patrol must be on a large ship." Ren Yuanyang frowned as well. ’Encountering a large ship right now is not a good thing.’
While the two were talking, the drone had already arrived, about five meters from the container.
It hovered for a moment, then turned and went back.
About twenty kilometers away from Ren Yuanyang, a cruise ship was sailing along, towing two speedboats and twenty to thirty smaller boats behind it.
Even through the curtain of rain, the large characters spelling "Dawn" on the cruise ship’s hull were still clearly visible.
"Captain, report! The drone has spotted two small boats!"
Apparently, they had mistaken the shipping container for a boat. Ren Yuanyang’s camouflage was at least somewhat effective.
"Send the images over!" the captain commanded.
"Yes, sir!"
A few blurry images soon appeared on the screen in front of the captain.
’Isn’t this just an oversized wooden crate? It’s a bit misshapen... those must be ropes. Wrapped around so many times, it must be about to fall apart!’
Because of the heavy rain and the drone’s instability, the images were blurry. He could only look and guess.
Those panels really did look a bit like wood.
’This boat is too small. Can’t be more than a few people on it.’
Another image showed a dark figure standing on the crate.
To save memory and transmit faster, none of the drones recorded video; they only took pictures.
"So there are still people alive. Standing on top of the crate like that, they must be looking for a rescue," the captain continued to speculate.
"Then he jumped back into the crate!" a crew member beside him pointed out.
"Are they playing hard to get?" The captain pursed his lips.
The crew member asked, "Should we go over and bring them in?"
The captain checked his route and found that the cruise ship was currently at its closest point to Ren Yuanyang, about twenty kilometers away. From here on, they would only get farther apart.
After a brief hesitation, he shook his head. "Not for now. This target isn’t valuable. We need to hurry to our destination. Mark their position. If a future mission takes us that way, we’ll pick them up. If not, forget it. We’re not hurting for one more person."
Previously, the Dawn Cruise had used a drone to discover that "lucky" guy using a Water-Type Superpower. Only then did they dispatch a speedboat to bring him back.
Otherwise, he would never have made a special trip with a speedboat just for a single survivor.
The small boats being towed behind the cruise ship showed that they had already gathered a large population along their journey. They really weren’t short one or two people.
Especially since Ren Yuanyang’s group hadn’t shown anything special, there was even less reason for him to go over.
As for that haphazardly tied "big crate," it wasn’t anything special on the seas these days.
Being from inland areas, most people couldn’t find boats and had to make do with all sorts of floating objects.
The Dawn Cruise had already encountered many strange and bizarre floating contraptions; crates of all sizes were among the most normal.
Besides crates, they had seen people paddling in bathtubs with foam tied around them, people who had lashed several wooden doors together to make a raft with a simple tent on top, and even someone sitting on a log, practicing their balance...
Yoga balls, swim rings, paddle boats shaped like ducks from a park’s man-made lake...
To survive, these survivors used anything and everything that could float.
As a result, the sea was now filled with all sorts of bizarre, makeshift flotation devices.
Ren Yuanyang’s big, ugly crate, which looked like it was assembled from wooden planks, was not at all conspicuous.
If Ren Yuanyang and his companion had been directly in the Dawn Cruise’s path, the captain would have certainly absorbed them on a whim. They were cheap labor, and there was no reason to turn them away for free.
Even if they couldn’t work, survivors themselves could provide a bit of food!
But if they weren’t on the route, he had to consider if they were worth the trouble.
Ren Yuanyang and Lu Jiamei nervously watched the direction the drone had gone. They waited for more than half an hour, but no boat approached.
"Looks like our camouflage worked. They’re not coming," Ren Yuanyang said, sighing in slight relief.
Generally, a speedboat travels at 40 to 60 knots, which is equivalent to 74 to 111 kilometers per hour.
’Considering the drone’s limited patrol range in this harsh environment, half an hour should have been enough for them to make a round trip!’
But since they hadn’t come by now, they must have decided there was no value in it.
Lu Jiamei nodded in agreement. "It’s a good thing they didn’t notice anything unusual about the Duckweed. Otherwise, we would have been in danger."
For the first time, Ren Yuanyang felt that not having too much Duckweed was actually a good thing.
"Until we have enough power to protect ourselves, we can’t afford to overextend. Otherwise, it’ll be trouble if we attract attention."
"Exactly!" Lu Jiamei nodded in agreement, but then her mood soured. "It’s just... I couldn’t become an Evolver. I can’t help much."
"Don’t put yourself down. You’ve already helped a lot. Besides, just because you haven’t evolved yet doesn’t mean you never will. We just have to wait and see." It was unclear whether Ren Yuanyang was comforting Lu Jiamei or himself.
After all, he hadn’t become an Evolver either.
"Okay. I’m going back up, then," Lu Jiamei said with a nod. She vaulted back onto the roof of the container and resumed watching their surroundings.
Ren Yuanyang was just about to ask Lu Jiamei to deal with the crocodile, but seeing that she was already back on the container roof, he held his tongue. ’Keeping watch is more important, after all,’ he thought. ’The force behind that drone might still come back!’

Comments

Loading...