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墨書 Inktalez
"I only came over after catching a glimpse of the fishing boat. When I was thrown out of the Sea Surface, I was right there overturning the Qing Dynasty," Mai Lao said, pointing ahead. The direction he indicated was exactly opposite to mine, suggesting that our group had been scattered.
"After I was ejected from the Sea Surface, I first ran into Jenny, who was not far from me, and then I saw Big Guy," Mai Lao continued at a leisurely pace.
Big Guy chimed in, "Yeah, good thing I ran into Mai Lao; otherwise, I would have been dumbfounded. In this vast ocean, if I didn't drown, I'd end up feeding the fish."
"Then... what about Shunzi and the others? Did you see them?" I looked around at everyone.
Jenny shook her head. "No, I didn't see them. I followed Mai Lao all the way to the fishing boat and found Jiao Ba and Li Xin here."
Mai Lao added, "I looked around at that time, but unfortunately, there wasn't a trace of them."
"Damn it, where could Shunzi and the others be? Could something really have happened?" My mind was in chaos; it felt extremely disordered. Our numbers were already few, and we couldn't afford any more mishaps.
"Look over there; isn't that someone?" Li Xin's faint voice came through.
"Where?" I quickly asked.
Li Xin pointed towards the front of the ship. In the water ahead, I vaguely saw something on the Sea Surface. It was a bit far away, so I couldn't tell if it was a person or not; all I could see was a dark spot drifting on the Sea Surface.
"Turn on all the Underwater Lights," I shouted.
Jiao Ba and a few others hurriedly switched on the only two Underwater Lights we had. The bright beams illuminated the water ahead. If it was indeed a person, the light would catch their attention.
"Someone is moving; they're waving! We need to go down and check," Mai Lao said before removing his Oxygen Tank and jumping straight into the water.
Seeing him move made me jump in as well, followed closely by Big Guy. I was puzzled about how this Old Man could see anything; even with the lights on, all I could make out was a blurry dark spot and couldn't tell if it was a person at all.
We three swam forward quickly, and as we got closer, I could see that it was indeed people—Shunzi and Changshan were struggling to support Mantou as they made their way through the water.
Mai Lao turned to me and Big Guy, shouting, "Hurry up! They can't hold on much longer!"
I summoned all my strength and surged ahead. After we reached them, Mai Lao stepped forward and caught Mantou. "How is everyone? Is everyone alright?"
Mantou wasn't unconscious; he was just exhausted, barely able to flounder in the water. Without Shunzi and Changshan, he would surely have drowned.
Shunzi weakly said, "I... I'm okay. I can hold on."
Big Guy and I moved to support Changshan. "Are you alright? You have to hang in there."
Changshan merely nodded; his face had turned pale, looking like he was about to collapse from exhaustion. "Let's go back to the fishing boat first," he said. Mai Lao and Shunzi continued to support Mantou, making their way toward the fishing boat.
With his stronger build, Big Guy carried Changshan on his back while I helped steady him, which eased my burden a bit. I was already feeling completely drained.
The sea wind grew stronger, and the waves became more tumultuous. We were practically rolling and crawling through the water. What should have taken us ten minutes to reach the fishing boat turned into a struggle as a large wave crashed down on us, pushing us further away, forcing us to swim forward again.
We braved the waves for nearly half an hour before we finally managed to return near the fishing boat. However, by that time, the boat was almost completely submerged; there was no point in trying to board it anymore.
Even if we did manage to get on, it would only hasten the sinking of the wreck; it wouldn’t help at all. Both Changshan and Mantou were on the verge of collapse when Jiao Ba jumped into the water and helped pull them up.
Soon after, Old Wang and Little Tiger also jumped in. Little Tiger, a young man in his twenties who had survived as a Maintenance Worker, joined us. Now there were only four people left on the boat: him, Jenny, and Li Xin, two girls.
The rest of us clung to the fishing boat, which allowed us to hold on a little longer. A flash of lightning struck, accompanied by a loud clap of thunder; heavy rain was about to pour down. If we didn’t find land soon or if we didn’t have a boat, we would all sink along with the fishing vessel.
No one could survive in this weather at sea; the chances of luck were almost nonexistent. The tide had begun to rise, indicating that a storm was imminent.
Gasping for breath, I asked, “Mai Lao, what should we do now? The fishing boat is about to sink.”
"Yes, Mai Lao, we need to think of something quickly. We can't just wait to die," Jiao Ba said anxiously. This was a matter of life and death, so it was only natural to be worried.
Mai Lao looked around and said, "There should be an island nearby. We need to find a way to reach it."
Big Guy raised his head and shouted, "There's nothing around here! It's endless water; how are we supposed to find an island?"
Indeed, all we could see was the dark sea, with nothing in sight. The waves were crashing hard against us, tossing us up and down in the water. The terrible weather made it impossible to discern our surroundings.
"What do you suggest we do? There isn't even a single boat in sight. We can't just wait here to die," Mai Lao said, panic creeping into his voice as he realized there were no other options.
Jenny shouted from above, "Everyone, think of something! The fishing boat is about to sink! If this continues, we're all going to die!"
From her terrified expression, I could tell she was extremely scared. If it weren't for us being there with her, I feared she might go mad. The depths of the ocean were unbearable for anyone.
Just then, Shunzi suddenly yelled, "Look! There seems to be a light ahead!"
Sure enough, in the sea ahead of us on the right, there was a faint light followed by a low rumble. I could see what looked like a ship moving forward, but it was far away—so far that it appeared no bigger than a fingertip.
However, the ship wasn't heading our way. "Hey... is anyone there? Hey... over here!" We all waved our arms and shouted, hoping to catch the ship's attention. Unfortunately, no matter how loudly we called out, the ship continued on its course, becoming more and more indistinct.
"Damn..." Just as I was about to swim after the ship,
Mai Lao grabbed my arm and said, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going after it! We can't just wait here to die!" I felt a surge of desperation; when life hangs by a thread, one must fight for survival.
"Nonsense! Do you think you can swim faster than it? By the time you reach it, you'll be dead in the water. Even if you manage to get there, that ship will have long gone. You'll exhaust yourself and still end up dead," Mai Lao shouted at me with wide eyes.
In that moment, I suddenly calmed down. He was right; I had been reckless. Going after it would only lead to my demise. I nodded slowly and said, "I understand now. But we have to come up with a plan; we can't just keep wasting time."
"This is it, we're doomed," Big Guy said sadly, his voice nearly breaking.
"Everyone, calm down for a moment. While the surroundings haven't completely sunk yet, let's gather everything we can and follow me. I believe there must be an island nearby," Mai Lao spoke with determination, though it felt like a gamble.
With such huge waves, how far could we swim? By the time we found an island, we'd probably all be drowned. But looking at the situation, we had no choice but to fight for our lives. If we were going to die anyway, we might as well go all out.
We gathered our gear and prepared to set off with the only two Underwater Lights we had when Jenny suddenly shouted, "Oh my God, you guys, look! What... what is that?"
Her scream startled me, and Jiao Ba quickly turned on the light to scan the area. As he shone the light around, I saw a group of dorsal fins emerging from the Sea Surface around us.
My heart sank. Oh no, this is bad. Creatures that surface like that are usually sharks. "Crap! It's a school of sharks! Everyone, get to the bottom of the boat!"
I shouted and scrambled toward the bottom of the boat. Upon hearing there were sharks, everyone frantically climbed down as well. The scene quickly became chaotic; everyone was grabbing onto each other without caring about sinking anymore—survival was the priority.
Once I got up, I reached out to pull Jiao Ba up. The sharks were getting closer and closer. Jiao Ba yelled frantically, "Hurry! Pull me up! Pull me up!"
I pulled hard on Jiao Ba, but just at that critical moment, my grip slipped. Jiao Ba had just made it halfway when he fell back into the sea, and at that moment, the sharks were already near him.
"Brother Yi! Save me!" Jiao Ba screamed desperately as he struggled to climb back up.
I raised my Spear, ready to strike when suddenly I froze. A dolphin popped up from the water, making a clucking sound at me while bobbing its head.
After a few seconds of shock, I realized it wasn't a school of sharks; it was a group of dolphins. Jiao Ba below was laughing, "Haha! It's not sharks; it's dolphins! Dolphins, Brother Yi!"
"I see it now! Damn, I almost attacked!" Luckily, I reacted quickly; otherwise, I would have mistakenly harmed them.
The dolphins swirled around our capsized fishing boat, poking their heads out and clucking adorably. Jenny and Li Xin exchanged glances and both laughed. In this atmosphere filled with death, seeing dolphins felt like a good omen.
"What cute dolphins! What do you think they mean?" Li Xin reached out to touch one on its head as it swayed back and forth in the water.
"Yeah, what do they want? We're about to die, are they here to mock us?" The Big Guy said something quite foolish.
"You actually figured it out, Mai Lao. It seems like these dolphins have some intention," I said, looking at the dolphins in the water.
"Yeah, I noticed that too. Let's go down and take a look," Mai Lao said as he dove into the sea first, and we all followed suit, jumping into the water.
The dolphins swam around us, occasionally calling out to us. "Are they trying to take us somewhere?" I remembered hearing stories of dolphins rescuing people when we went out to sea, but I had never encountered it myself.
"Why not give it a try?" Mai Lao said as he grabbed onto one of the dolphin's dorsal fins. Sure enough, the dolphin began to swim forward with him.
"Hurry, grab onto a dolphin's dorsal fin!" I shouted, grabbing the nearest dolphin. We were all led by the dolphins, weaving through the vast ocean.
Heavy rain poured down relentlessly, waves crashing one after another, with lightning and thunder constantly flashing. The entire sea surface was tumultuous; without these dolphins, we would have perished in just a few minutes.
I dared not close my eyes because I didn't know where the dolphins were taking me. I clung tightly to the dolphin's dorsal fin, not daring to relax for even a moment. All I knew was that it would occasionally surface and then dive back down, pushing forward against the waves.
I lost track of time and had no idea how long had passed until a flash of lightning illuminated my surroundings. In that brief moment of light, I saw an island appear before me—an island that seemed mysterious and almost magical...
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