The moon was even brighter that night, turning the entire beach silver.
Zheng Yang put his backpack down, jumped out of the fishing boat, and sat on a rock, spacing out. He felt very lonely all of a sudden.
The tide rose, and waves sloshed onto the beach.
He continued spacing out for over a dozen minutes, then suddenly stood up without warning and headed back to the fishing boat. He rummaged around the boat for a bit and found a hammer and a handsaw. Then, he went out to comb the shipwrecks on the beach.
He wanted to find some more useable pieces of wood to expand his spirit vessel and create some storage space.
As a result, knocking and sawing noises could be heard time and again on the beach, and he actually did manage to pry seven to eight pieces of wooden materials from the broken vessels, which he dumped onto his boat.
…
He didn't have that eerie dream again that night, and got a good night's sleep instead.
Hans woke Zheng Yang up at half-past four. They were about to head out.
Everything was pitch black, as the moon had already sunk below the horizon. The rumbling of diesel engines broke the silence hanging over the beach as fishing boats started leaving the harbor one after another and headed out to the sea.
Zheng Yang rubbed his eyes for a bit and went to the deck. The breeze off the sea blew over him, making him feel wide awake and refreshed. He stood around for a bit before walking to the gunwale to look at his little boat being towed behind.
Basic Information:
Vessel: Level One Spirit Vessel.
Sealed Spirit: Scaly Demon Bug (larva)
Spirit Power Core: Moonlight Shell
Spirit Power Reserve: 5/100
Base Speed: Five knots
Attack Boost: 5%
Defense Boost: 5%
Power Boost: 5%
…
Main Drive: Single Mast, Triangular Sail
Auxiliary Drive: Manual Oars
Figurehead: Scaly Demon Bug
Figurehead Skill: None
Remark: …
…
Zheng Yang pretended like the remark wasn't there on the page. He thought to himself, "Spirit power reserve restored by five points. Seems like the power reserve can be restored even without a sail. It's just that it takes an excruciatingly long time."
It seemed that the spirit vessel was capable of absorbing power from certain things in the sea. As a result, the hunger he'd sensed from the boat was no longer as intense.
"Seems like a boat should be docked in the water after all," Zheng Yang thought. "Just what the hell was I doing chucking it in that pocket space anyway? That was just so pointless."
The only thing that kept him company throughout the boring trip to the island was the noise from the diesel engine and the sunrise, which he spent the entire trip watching. Even though he'd seen the sunrise countless time before in his current life and had long since gotten fed up with it, there was simply nothing else he could do to kill time at the moment.
Once the sun was completely up, Zheng Yang went inside the cabin to have Old Hans teach him about navigating the seas, but the old man told him stuff that was pretty much common sense.
After sailing for over an hour, the island was finally within sight. As they approached the island, Hans called Zheng Yang to his side and said, "There are currents around these parts, so there aren't many fish. After we drop you off on the island, we're going to head out about 10 nautical miles east of here to cast our net. The trip will take about an hour. If things go well, I should be able to pick you up at about three in the afternoon. You take care of yourself until then."
He didn't bother trying to stop Zheng Yang. After all, they were already there, and he knew all too well just how stubborn the boy could be. There was simply no way the older man could cast his own business aside just to go on a wild goose chase with Zheng Yang. He had a family to take care of, after all.
It was his belief that everyone is ultimately responsible for the choices they make. If something were to indeed happen to Zheng Yang on that island, the most Hans could do was simply report what had happened once he got home.
"Got it. And thank you, Uncle Hans!" Zheng Yang flashed an optimistic grin and yelled his thanks to Old Hans, who was above the cabin at the moment.
Old Hans gestured at the boy, wishing him luck, before turning his attention back to steering the boat. The island was still over a kilometer away, and they could already see rocks sticking out of the surface of the water. They didn't dare to take the fishing boat any further, for fear that the rocks would punch holes into the bottom of the ship.
Zheng Yang slung the backpack over his back and picked up his machete and makeshift bag fashioned out of torn netting. With Hans' assistance, he carefully climbed out of the fishing boat and boarded his own, and then took up the oars and slowly made his way to the island.
Strangely, as he rowed the boat over the water, he could feel the way the water felt as the spirit vessel glided through the ocean, almost as if he were one with the boat and could feel what it was feeling. The boat was moving at a higher speed than he'd expected as well.
"So, that's what the five percent boost in power meant, then?" Zheng Yang recalled the information he'd read about the spirit vessel. However, the speed enhancement was definitely more than just five percent. Plus, to his understanding, such a boost required spirit power. After thinking this over for a little bit, he realized that it was due to the surreal feeling of "being one with his vessel" that he was able to make his boat travel at a higher base speed.
"Let's see what one point of spirit power will do, shall we?"
Instead of using spirit power to increase the boat's speed, he transferred a single point of spirit power to his own body. It felt very real to him, as if the boat itself were an extension of himself.
He realized right away after giving his order that the spirit vessel had transferred a bit of energy to his body through some special means. The energy spread all over him like a warm current, immediately boosting his strength by 50 percent.
He remained in this state for about three minutes before returning back to normal.
Zheng Yang's jaw dropped open at the results. He was astonished by the fact that he could stay in a state of increased strength for three minutes with just a single point of spirit power. He wondered if he would turn into a superhuman if the spirit power reserve was full enough to constantly feed him spirit power.
Coupled with the move he'd learned in his dream the night before, this enhanced state of being gave him some bit of fighting power.
He took a few deep breaths for quite a while before calming down altogether. From the look of things, he was in a difficult situation, but the spirit vessel was nonetheless able to provide a bit of help.
Swoosh, swoosh!
Suddenly, a fish that was over 20 centimeters long leaped out of the water, and Zheng Yang's eyes gleamed. He quickly recalled the fish monster that was in his dream the night before, and immediately felt nauseous.
However, he hadn't had breakfast or brought any food with him. Starving throughout the day wasn't an option, and since there was fish around, it was imperative that he first catch some fish.
Zheng Yang took out some fishing lines, which he coiled around a wooden stick from his backpack. There was a hook fastened at the end of the line. He then took out a small bottle, which contained two worms. He cut off part of the worm and stuck the piece onto the hook, then started to fish without a rod.
The place was a rather good site for fishing, partly because there were so many sunken reefs in the area that few fishing boats dared to come close. The surrounding waters were teeming with so much fish that it took him less than a minute to feel a pull on his fishing line, which spun furiously on two of his fingers as the line extended.
Zheng Yang then tightened his fingers slightly to increase the friction of the line. Judging by the slack of the line, he was able to tell that the fish wasn't that big. He immediately stopped the line from rolling on his fingers before slowly turning the wooden stick to reel the line in.
Before long, he pulled out a mackerel weighing about three kilograms. He pulled the hook out of its mouth and threw it in his boat.
Without delay, he started rowing again, not staying around for a second longer, and made his way to the island.
About 20 minutes later, he came to shore on a shallow beach, which was filled with rocks of all sizes. He got out, dragged his boat up the beach, and tied it to a rock. Then, he brought his things and the fish out of the boat and walked further onto the island, looking like he was paying a visit to a friend.
The island was filled with densely packed jungle. He had his machete in his right hand and the fish in his left, while the netting bag was tucked into his backpack. He walked around the outskirts of the jungle for over half an hour before collecting some dried weed and dead twigs to make a fire to cook the fish over.
The fragrance from the roasted fish eased his stress for a bit, and he managed to finish half of the fish for the time being.
Shortly afterward, he packed his things and made his way into the woods with his backpack and machete.
According to an old fisherman, the starback wolf spiders lived in groups. A starback wolf spider was a tad bit larger than a person's fist, and they were extremely venomous. Worse still, they moved very fast. Several years ago, a group of young people from the big cities on the continent had come to the island on a yacht for a little adventure, and three of them died after being bitten by one.
"According to the way spiders behave, I should be able to find them in dark, dank caves, or the woods where no light can get through, or on the ground under a pile of fallen leaves. I could take a look in those places first, so I can lower the risk of running into other dangers."
With this thought, he changed his plan, opting to circle around the woods once he got to the outskirts instead of heading inside. He also sprinkled some realgar solution on both his hair and clothes, going about his task carefully.
The trip took him about two hours, and when he came to the edge of the forest, he felt like he'd circled at least half of the island. The mountains on this side were much steeper, the trees much taller. If he continued even further, he would end up on a cliff facing the sea, making it near impossible for him to continue circling around the place.
"Seems like I gotta head into the woods after all, then," he thought.
Zheng Yang had made up his mind, but before he headed into the forest, he suddenly heard intense noises coming from the woods right above him. He froze in place for a second before turning around and running back the way he'd come as quickly as he could.
He had no idea what was in the mountains, but judging by the commotion he'd heard in the woods, he knew without a doubt that it was definitely something he wouldn't be able to take on.