The group returned to their campsite by the lake. The simple huts built by the savages were still there, containing some food they had gathered.
But whether it was due to too much buildup or because the three Sun had dried out all the moisture from the ground, some of the ripe wild fruits, which were full of water, had begun to rot, and several long gourds that looked like cucumbers had become shriveled, as if they had been sitting for several days. Only the fruits with hard shells were still edible.
Everyone found it unbelievable. Were the fruits here really that unusual? Or had they actually traveled back and forth for two or three days?
The thought of this suddenly made people feel very tired, and the hunger in their stomachs became even stronger.
" Mr. Stone, use the atomic clock in your head to calculate how long it's been since we last ate," Boris said.
"The atomic clock of consciousness can tell me how much time has passed on Earth, but here—" Situ pointed to the sky and said, "The time under three Sun can only be felt by yourself."
The sky was still bright, with three Sun hanging there, showing no sign of setting.
At this moment, no one cared about the time; their rumbling stomachs were affecting their brains, and even the driest, most tasteless fruits and vegetables seemed delicious.
The group quickly ate something and then went into the forest to gather more food. Fortunately, the forest was dense and full of wild fruits, and with the food gathered by the cannibals as samples, they weren't worried about eating anything poisonous. The only thing to worry about was the potential traps and poisonous insects in the forest.
The women picked wild vegetables from the ground, while the men climbed higher trees to pick fruit. Anderson and Boris went fishing at the lake. Although they lacked tools, they were both skilled fishermen and caught several fish with just a long spear, except that the fish looked a bit strange.
The group loaded the food onto a small boat and then sailed to the Swordfish frigate, which was moored in the middle of the lake.
They cleaned and gutted the fish in the water, then laid them out to dry on the deck of the Swordfish. The process attracted more fish, one of which looked quite large, somewhat like a shark. Anderson and Boris subdued it and dragged it onto the ship.
"Do you think this guy might have swum a thousand light-years to get here?" Anderson said, patting the big fish's belly.
Boris sliced the fish with his dagger, saying nonchalantly, "Who cares how long it swam? It's destined to end up in our stomachs!"
"I wish the ship's kitchen was usable," Anderson said.
"That's impossible." Ivan came over to help them. " Mr. Stone said this ship has been in the Spacetime Stasis Zone for at least several hundred years, maybe even a thousand. The kitchen is unusable; we need to go back to shore and get some firewood."
They took a small boat back to shore, loaded it with dry branches and leaves, and made many pine resin torches to use for lighting at night.
"I don't think it'll get dark yet, let's start a fire and cook," Situ said.
While on shore, everyone had only hastily grabbed some not-so-fresh food to tide them over, and this suggestion was unanimously supported.
Fortunately, Ivan still had flint on him. The sparks produced by the impact of this stone, of unknown composition, could quickly ignite the dry grass. Otherwise, they would have had to waste their remaining bullets to start a fire.
But Ivan could even begin, Petru suddenly had a brilliant idea. Holding his half of the Soul of Fire, he said, "Let me try."
The crowd was puzzled. They only saw him look up at the Sun in the sky, then point the thinner end of the Soul of Fire at the dry grass among the branches piled up on the deck. He closed his eyes, his expression focused, as if doing so would make the coral branch in his hand breathe fire.
Boris burst into laughter. "What are you doing? Do you think you're holding a flamethrower or a laser gun? You might as well just fire a shot!"
He pulled out his pistol and was about to fire when Ivan grabbed his arm and said, "Are you crazy! Don't waste bullets!"
Boris scratched his head and said, "I was just pretending, I wasn't actually shooting. Look at Redbeard, he's the one who's crazy! I think he's possessed by aliens, um, that must be it!"
Before he finished speaking, white smoke suddenly rose from the woodpile, right where Petru's Soul of Fire had pointed. Then, some leaves emitted a red glow, barely noticeable in the sunlight, but everyone knew they had been ignited.
"Damn, this isn't scientific!" Boris exclaimed.
Qingmu also found it unscientific, but then he remembered that he was a thousand light-years away from Earth, and the dashing naval lieutenant commander he had just met was now a thousand-year-old mummified corpse in the bridge command room. What the hell was the science in that?
His head ached slightly, and he could clearly feel the Crow's claws gripping his scalp. The willow branch in his arms stirred with the life force of spring. He looked up at the Sun in the sky, suddenly remembered something, but his mind became as muddled as a jar of paste.
Su Huilan tugged at Qingmu's clothes and whispered, " Redbeard is suspicious."
Qingmu shook his head and said, "It's not that there's a problem with him, it's that everything here is problematic."
Su Huilan was taken aback. She turned to look at Situ and found Situ squinting and looking up at the sky. Then she looked at Duwa, Duwa was sitting on the edge of the deck, leaning against the railing, meditating. The sunlight shone on her face, making her look like a jade-carved Bodhisattva.
The fire was lit. Anderson placed the skewered fish on the fire to grill, and the aroma made people forget about whether it was scientific or not, constantly swallowing their saliva.
It was too hot on deck, so Qingmu suggested, "Let's all go inside and rest. We can bring the fish in and eat it once it's cooked."
Alice suddenly remembered the mummified corpse in the cabin and said with a hint of fear, "There's a dead person in the cabin."
Boris scoffed, "So what? They're all dead as hell; they're not coming to steal your food."
Alice gave the talkative and rude Russia a disgusted look and said, "I don't want to eat in a room with a the Mummy."
Before Boris could say anything more, Ivan patted him on the shoulder and said, " Boris, let's go make room for that lieutenant commander. It's really unsightly for him to be sitting on the bridge, and it's also inconvenient for him to rest after dark."
Boris, who always obeyed Ivan, said helplessly, "Fine, I've always done the dirty work of throwing corpses into the water. I'm curious what this lieutenant commander will look like when he floats to the surface, whether he'll be all white and fat."
Boris's words were chilling. Alice cried out, "Hey, respect the dead! Can you please not throw him into the water? Put him in the lower cabin with his crew!"
Ivan nodded and said, "Okay."
"Oh, women are such a hassle!" Boris grumbled, grabbing a resin torch and walking up to Petru, extending his hand. "Can I borrow a light, brother?"
Petru pointed irritably to the blazing fire nearby and said, "There's a fire there!"
Boris turned away sullenly. "I just wanted to test how well your new lighter worked."
He lit a torch and walked into the bridge with Ivan. A moment later, people heard Boris's furious roar from the bridge, "Damn it, these clothes turn to ash at the slightest touch!..."
Then there was another clanging sound, and then it quieted down.
Only the crackling of wood in the fire remained on the deck.