Chapter 91
Su Cheng gripped the rope tightly, as if she were tug-of-war with a raging wind, her palms aching from the tightness.
He struggled to cut the thick rope with the knife in his hand.
With a loud crash, the boat struck the rocks again, and she and the mainsail were thrown heavily to the ground.
The small wooden bucket rolled out from the corner and hurtled towards Su Cheng, but she nimbly flipped over to dodge it.
She stumbled and staggered toward the cabin before hitting the next reef.
"Get back to the cabin!" Modeya cleaned the drain openings on the deck and saw that the other two crew members had already tied up the second mainsail. He called to the others to return to the cabin.
But before everyone could get into the cabin, the Stealth suddenly tilted.
A tremendous torsional force caused the ship to turn uncontrollably, like two magnets drawn together relentlessly!
What happened?
Amidst the torrential rain Modeya's startled and uncertain cry rang out.
This is clearly not the kind of situation that should occur during a storm.
"Clang--"
All objects on the ship were thrown out due to the ship's twisting motion.
Su Cheng heard a desperate scream, "It's a vortex!!"
The sea surface is like soup being rapidly stirred in a pot, and the Stealth and everyone on board are just some side dish in the soup, tossed and turned in the stirring.
The closer the ship is to the center of the whirlpool, the greater the force it experiences, until it capsizes and breaks apart under the force.
In order to avoid drowning in the whirlpool, everyone could only desperately hold onto anything they could grab.
The roar of thunder drowned out the screams, and the tireless whirlpools finally swallowed the towering intruder whole.
A note from the author:
My memory seems to be declining lately. Not only have I done stupid things, but I also forgot to apply for the rankings! I was stunned when I saw the deadline had passed; there won't be any rankings next week.
Chapter 91
After the Stealth was pulled into the whirlpool, all the people still on the deck were thrown out. The seawater submerged their bodies, and it felt like an invisible hand was pulling them towards the center of the whirlpool.
This wasn't the first time Su Cheng had fallen into the water. Although the circumstances were different, she was able to calmly devise a solution.
Before being pulled into the center, she stretched her body as much as possible to reduce the force pulling her towards the middle, and paddled along the direction of the vortex, gradually swimming towards the edge.
Only when it deviates from the center will the tension decrease.
This process cannot be rushed, nor can it be delayed; one must maintain a stable mindset and move towards external influences.
Along the way, she grabbed a large wooden barrel, using its buoyancy to stabilize herself and slowly deviate from the whirlpool's trajectory.
Even as the pull of the water weakened, he dared not stop, holding onto the wooden bucket and swinging his legs faster, only catching his breath after he was far away from the whirlpool.
She arrived at a completely new sea area.
The torrential rain stopped at some point, and the sea, like a child who had successfully caused trouble, returned to calm after its triumph.
After the dark clouds dispersed, the sky was filled with stars, as dazzling as the Milky Way.
The seawater rippled and flowed in the starlight, and under the night sky, it was as black as ink, like an abyss that could unleash a raging storm at any moment.
Su Cheng lay on the wooden tub, her hair wet and clinging to her scalp, the icy seawater submerging most of her body.
Under the starlight, the water droplets on her chin shimmered, sliding down her neck.
She wiped her face, her dark eyes appearing exceptionally clear and serene in the night.
Looking around, she was all alone on the vast sea.
"This is a bit troublesome..." Su Cheng sighed softly in the silence.
It's one thing that the ship's rescue attempt inevitably failed, but the real problem is that she now doesn't know which way to go.
She wasn't very familiar with the sea area in this instance, and getting lost in the vast ocean wouldn't be a good thing.
We still need to try to find other living people.
Su Cheng summoned Mu Ling and asked her to help search for any living people in the surrounding area.
Mu Ling floated on the sea, her soul emitting a faint glow, much like a ghost from a Western movie.
Su Cheng looked around, her gaze finally settling on the shipwreck floating not far away.
She swam over with the large wooden tub in her arms, reached out and grabbed a long plank. When she got to this spot, she realized that besides the planks, there was also a wooden tub.
Su Cheng pondered for a moment, then took out a rope from her bag and tied several floating planks together before attaching two wooden buckets to the sides of the planks.
The buoyancy of the barrel and planks combined to form a simple raft that could accommodate one person.
Su Cheng sat on the small raft. The raft swayed a couple of times but did not sink; its buoyancy was enough to support her weight.
The small, makeshift raft was cramped, and once Su Cheng sat cross-legged on it, she had no room to move around freely. But even so, it meant she no longer had to stay in the seawater all the time.
She bent down and paddled twice, scooping up a piece of wood, which served as a makeshift oar to control the direction of the boat instead of paddling by hand.
After all that commotion, Su Cheng took out a vial of nutritional fluid and drank it to quickly replenish her depleted energy. Her constitution was now excellent, so she no longer worried about catching a cold from getting wet.
She paddled the raft with one hand and took out a powerful flashlight with the other, pointing the beam into the sky so that anyone nearby might be able to see the light source.
"There's someone here! It's your captain from the ship, he's still alive." Mu Ling's voice came through telepathy.
Su Cheng then switched to Mu Ling's perspective and, sure enough, saw Eck lying on the floating wooden door, coughing incessantly.
"You go with him, I'll go to you."
"Okay." Mu Ling agreed, and at the same time quietly pushed the door panel under Eck, changing his drifting direction so that he wouldn't drift further and further away from Su Cheng.
Su Cheng held the flashlight between her knees, grasped the paddle with both hands, and used the water flow to propel the raft towards Mu Ling's location.
As the captain of the team heading out to sea, Eck should know the current sea area better than she does.
Su Cheng rowed very fast, but unfortunately, manual driving was not very efficient.
If she encountered a wooden barrel while swimming, she would inevitably retrieve it and tie it to the bottom of her small raft.
Nearly twenty minutes had passed before she appeared near Eck.
Eck had recovered from coughing and tried to find the presence of others, but found that the door panel beneath him was moving unusually slowly.
As he was pondering the reason, he looked up and saw a bright light. He immediately waved his arms excitedly. "Hey! Over here!"
As the person drew closer, he realized it was Su Cheng.
Having gone through life and death together, he no longer resisted the idea that she was a supervisor, and asked with concern, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine." Su Cheng raised her hand to adjust the new translator by her ear; the previous one had already fallen into the sea. At the same time, she asked Mu Ling to search the surrounding area again for any other survivors.
Eck looked at the small raft beneath her and couldn't help but admire, "Your hands-on skills and adaptability are excellent. Now I understand why Victor made you the supervisor."
Su Cheng nodded perfunctorily, then heard Mu Ling's voice beside her. She had discovered a new survivor nearby— Modeya.
I think I just saw someone else.
Eck's eyes lit up. "Really? It must be the other crew members. We need to get there right away."
Su Cheng responded and looked at the door panel beneath Eck. This wooden plank was quite large and could be used to expand her small raft.
After being modified, the small raft had an increased contact area with the water, and its buoyancy was sufficient to support two people.
On their way to Modeya's location, Su Cheng and Eck gathered all the usable wreckage from the ship to reinforce the raft.
At the same time, Eck described the current state of the sea. "We should have entered the Tranquil Blue Sea, which is actually our destination—the habitat of mermaids."
"The route map was correct; we've been following the correct course the whole time. But we didn't expect to encounter storms and whirlpools right after entering the Tranquil Blue Sea."
Su Cheng: "Where did that route map come from?"
"Victor bought it from a boatman for a fortune. That boatman was the one who caught the first mermaid." Eck frowned. "Victor didn't even tell you that?"
Su Cheng's eyebrows twitched slightly. No wonder they were so sure of the mermaid's existence; they had actually seen a real mermaid.
She lied skillfully. "Victor only told me to make sure the mermaids returned safely, but he didn't tell me anything else. It seems he's hiding a lot from me."
As she spoke, Su Cheng sighed deeply, her acting skills becoming increasingly refined with practice.
Eck frowned and then relaxed. "If Victor hadn't offered the highest price, I wouldn't have chosen to accept his mission. His bad reputation is already widely known."
Su Cheng nodded in agreement, "Our experiences are similar. It doesn't really matter who you work for; when I came out, I already thought I wouldn't make it back alive like everyone else."
After speaking, Su Cheng looked at Eck. He did not deny or doubt her words; in fact, he nodded and sighed in sympathy.
This reaction was enough for her to piece together the complete story:
A boatman accidentally entered the Tranquil Blue Sea and captured a mermaid, causing a huge sensation as the mermaid made her first appearance in the world.
Wealthy merchants, for various reasons, dispatched multiple fleets to sea to capture mermaids, but none returned. The search for mermaids became an extremely dangerous but highly lucrative endeavor.
Since the boatman's route was correct, it means that other fleets may have come here before.
However, they may have also encountered storms and whirlpools, lost their way at sea and died, or encountered even more terrifying dangers; in short, none of them survived.
Su Cheng continued chatting with Eck, seemingly casually, to gather more information about mermaids.
Instead of using straightforward platitudes, she presented her viewpoint and observed the other person's reaction to verify her conjecture.
Even if you say something wrong, you can just make up an excuse to gloss over it. This way, you won't arouse the other party's suspicion, and you can still get the information you want.
According to Eck, the captured mermaid was already on the verge of death when it appeared, and it did not receive any treatment. By the time it fell into human hands, it was already a corpse.
In the photos Victor showed him, it was nearly 2 meters long, its sex was indistinguishable, and its appearance was far less beautiful than humans imagined, retaining only some human features, with its main genes being those of a fish.