Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance

The injury that had plagued him for two whole days was suddenly resolved, just like that.

His fierce confidence in surviving the apocalypse was rekindled.

"Thank you, Miss Ye!"

Qin Mao solemnly stood and thanked Ye Xuanyin with a deep bow.

"Oh, don't mention it! I'll need to trouble you with repairs on my ship later, too! Just call me Yezi or Little Yezi. That's what all my friends call me, hehe."

"Sure, Yezi. I'll fix everything up good and proper!"

Qin Mao grew even fonder of the lively girl. After spending some time with her, he thought she seemed quite innocent.

"By the way, do you need anyone to help handle your sails?"

Yang Fan suddenly asked him.

Sailing at sea was no joke. It required sailors to work together, handling the ropes to raise and lower sails, steer, keep watch, and perform various other duties.

Qin Mao thought it over. For one thing, the cost of [Just Verdict] stood in the way, and he didn't trust other people either, so he shook his head.

"No, my ship isn't that big. Now that my arm's healed, I can manage on my own for the time being. I'll come to you if I really need people."

Still, he didn't rule it out completely.

The skinny boy nodded, then brought up the ship's name.

"If you're joining the fleet, you can give your ship a name. That'll make it easier to refer to."

Qin Mao thought that made sense.

But what should he name it? Eerie Coconut? No, no, that was unlucky. Besides, as it continued to upgrade, the wondrous item's name might keep changing.

"Hey, buddy, you could hold three skewers of lamb in those forehead wrinkles! It's just a name. Pick whatever you like. It's fine to exaggerate a little!"

"Right!"

Qin Mao thought for a moment, then slammed his right fist into his left palm with a smack.

"I've got it! I'll call it [Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance]!"

"???"

All three people in the cabin looked up together at the pitch-black, single-masted fore-and-aft-rigged ship in the distance, neither large nor small at just twenty meters long, and matching confused reaction memes appeared over their heads.

"Buddy, exaggeration is a figure of speech, not an invitation to bullshit!"

"Ahem, it's fine. That's the name," Qin Mao said, blushing as he forced out a defense.

"I'm an [Apocalypse Shipwright]. It may look battered now, but someday it'll travel ten thousand li a day, like Noah's Ark, carrying the seeds of civilization on a glorious voyage!"

A long while passed.

Yang Fan: "Um... all right."

Ye Xuanyin: "...Hehe."

Yan Qi: "Hey, buddy, your ass is whistling... forget it, I'll stop talking."

In the end, [Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance] was officially confirmed as the name of Qin Mao's ship.

That more or less concluded their discussion.

After leaving the [Hope], Qin Mao hummed as he returned to the Eerie Coconut.

"Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance... Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance..."

"I really am a naming genius! So badass!"

Looking at the Eerie Coconut, which resembled a half-burned lump of charcoal, Qin Mao was in a wonderful mood.

The gun issue was settled, his combat strength had increased dramatically, and his wound had healed. His strength, endurance, agility, and other attributes as a superhuman would let him sail the Eerie Coconut entirely on his own.

When the day truly came that he upgraded the Eerie Coconut into the legendary Noah's Ark... no, into a mighty ship even larger and more imposing than Noah's Ark!

...Then, no matter how vicious the eerie beings were, sounding the horn of a counterattack might not be impossible!

Qin Mao was feeling delighted, but a moment later, a sudden wave of weakness swept through him.

Strength, endurance, agility, recovery... every attribute dropped sharply.

Even his four skills were at risk of failing.

"What? What's going on..."

He carefully sensed his physical condition, searching for the problem.

After a long while, he fixed his eyes on the information for the [Free Person] Sequence.

[Free Person Sequence Cost 2]: A "taboo" refreshes every 3 days. Current taboo: Eating your fill is forbidden. Violating the taboo will cause persistent weakness and disable some abilities.

"Fuck! I forgot about that!"

He wanted to cry but had no tears. It had to be that naan he'd eaten earlier!

He had eaten an entire naan in one go, along with nearly half a liter of water. Of course he was full.

Joy really had turned to sorrow.

"Free Person, Free Person... can it really be called freedom when taboos tie your hands and feet every day?"

Qin Mao let out a quiet sigh.

When he first awakened, he had assumed being a Free Person meant doing whatever he wanted, freely and without restraint.

Only now did it suddenly occur to him that perhaps true freedom wasn't doing whatever you wanted.

It was being able to bravely say no when you didn't want to do something.

"I wonder how long this weakened state will take to wear off..."

Qin Mao returned to the Eerie Coconut and was about to draw some blood for the Thousand-Faced Eerie Coconut when he discovered that the wondrous item had already drunk blood today.

Not only had it drunk, but it had drunk its fill.

The coconut trunk serving as the mainmast stood even straighter, and its leaves were greener. At first, only one coconut had hung from it, but now a second had actually emerged, though it was only the size of an egg.

"Oh-ho? Looks like the plan worked!"

Qin Mao saw through it but said nothing.

To make his performance convincing, though, he still cut his wrist and made a show of drizzling blood onto the mast for five or six minutes.

As the ritual ended, he deliberately watched from the corner of his eye. Sure enough, he caught a fleeting glimpse of Su Miaomiao aboard the [Yaximu].

Her face seemed rather pale, too.

That afternoon, Qin Mao decided to make himself something delicious.

He had already broken the taboo anyway. He might as well eat.

During all that time fleeing, there had been few days when he could eat his fill. On Wang Tai's ship, he had eaten nothing but Green Fruit and mulberry stalks at every meal. His mouth had long since become bland enough to raise little goldfish in.

He checked the Solar-Powered Seawater Desalination Device. It had produced over half a bucket of fresh water, a little more than two liters.

The solar-powered ceramic hot plate had also charged to 47%.

He immediately switched it on, set the Delicious Wok on top, and filled it a little under halfway with fresh water.

Two and a half minutes later, the water came to a bubbling boil. Qin Mao opened a packet of White Elephant Old Hen Soup Noodles, added the powder, seasoning, and vegetable packets in order, then put in the noodle cake.

He didn't like cooking them with the lid on; they turned too soft. Leaving the lid off kept the noodles a little firm and gave them more chew.

Then he opened a can of Meimu luncheon meat, used a small fruit knife with a broken blade to cut it into thick slices, and tossed them in to cook together.

After just a little cooking, the aroma of instant-noodle seasoning mingled with the rich fragrance of luncheon meat and filled his nose. The hot steam rising from the food made his eyes moisten, leaving him feeling as though tears might stream down his face.

The aroma drifted on the wind, drawing the gazes of the survivors on the decks of the three neighboring ships. Many swallowed their saliva.

"What a wasteful fool, eating so much at once! With an appetite like that, he'll suffer when he runs short of food!"

"Hiss-I've been eating that can of luncheon meat for seven days, and I still have half left. He's eating a whole can in one meal..."

"Must be nice having no family. Feed yourself, and the whole family's fed!"

"Hmph, what good does eating so much alone do? Who'll look after him when he's old? We two old folks tighten our belts to save food for our grandson..."

Qin Mao turned a deaf ear and rubbed his hands, ready to eat.

Only when he was about to dig in did he realize he had no chopsticks.

There clearly wasn't time to borrow some now. In the few minutes it would take, the noodles would already pass their ideal texture.

So he switched off the hot plate, tilted the rim of the wok slightly, and used the broken fruit knife to shovel noodles into his mouth.

"Ah~ A state banquet! A state banquet!"

Salty, fragrant, delicious, exquisite!

With the Delicious Wok's enhancement, the noodles tasted even better.

He had only ever eaten instant noodles this delicious in his middle-school boarding dormitory after evening study sessions.

Qin Mao wished he could wolf them down in great, satisfying mouthfuls, but out at sea, every packet of instant noodles eaten was one fewer left. He could only restrain himself, reluctantly chewing and savoring them bit by bit before finally swallowing.

Carefully avoiding the blade, he took a full twenty minutes to slowly finish the meal.

By the time he greedily drank the last mouthful of broth, his eyes were brimming with hot tears. He licked the wok sparkling clean, bit by bit.

"Burp-"

He felt he would probably never forget this delicious meal for the rest of his life.

Then...

"Fuck! Why am I even weaker now!"