The surrounding seawater, affected by the wind, formed whirlpools around the coral reefs. Liu Zhenhan, clinging onto the lifebuoy, was pulled back and forth by the whirlpools, too weak to control his direction. After much effort, he finally made it to the ship's side, only to find it impossible to climb up. Several corpses in white robes were floating around. Soaked in seawater, they had bloated bellies, and their faces were pale. Even Liu Zhenhan, who had seen his fair share of death, found the sight hard to bear.
The already tilted ship made a series of groaning and creaking sounds like grinding teeth. Liu Zhenhan's heart pounded violently in his chest. He deeply regretted getting on this ship, fearing that it might capsize, raining down on his head.
Fortunately, the large ship swayed once and then steadied. The sound of the wooden planks straining against each other diminished. Weighing his options, Liu Zhenhan decided to untie a vine from his body. He gave one end of the vine to Guoguo, caressing her and saying, "Be a good girl, climb up!"
Guoguo was obedient. Holding the end of the vine in her mouth, she jumped off Liu Zhenhan's head onto a broken mast about a meter above the water surface. In no time, she climbed up to the ship's side, put the vine through a hole in the ship, and jumped down with the other end of the vine in her mouth as if she were parachuting. She landed perfectly on Liu Zhenhan's forehead.
With the rope's help, Liu Zhenhan had an easier time climbing onto the ship. Because the ship was nearly at a forty-degree tilt, it was hard to find a place to stand without slipping. It took him a considerable amount of effort, cautiously walking inch by inch, to make it inside the cabin. Inside, water rushed in and flooded most of the place. The walls of the cabin were marked with signs of damage caused by violent impacts. All the boxes and cabinets that were once neatly arranged had now tumbled together in disarray, floating in knee-deep water.
Outside, lightning strikes followed one after another, casting eerie shadows inside the cabin. Liu Zhenhan, like a man sliding down a slide, searched each cabin for survivors, but aside from shards of broken wood and pieces of fabric, he found nothing.
In the third part of the cabin, Liu Zhenhan found a large lump of dough floating on the water. He picked it up and took a bite. It was hard like iron, seemingly made from unfermented dough. It made him gag. Guoguo also jumped onto the lump that was bigger than her and took a bite, only to spit it out in disdain.
Liu Zhenhan fished out a piece of cloth that looked like a robe and wrapped the giant lump of bread in it tightly, securing it to his back. There were several things like watermelon and cantaloupe floating in the water, but they were all cracked open. Liu Zhenhan tossed them all into his treasure bag.
This was the last layer of the cabin. Seeing that there were no survivors, Liu Zhenhan gave up the futile search and started concentrating on finding useful items. The biggest find was a barrel of alcohol tucked among a stack of boxes. Liu Zhenhan's sense of smell was not particularly sharp for most things, but he had a knack for detecting delicious food and alcohol.
This large barrel of alcohol was so big that it would be hard for a single person to wrap their arms around it. The faint alcoholic scent wafting from the barrel brought a smile to Liu Zhenhan's face. He walked around it excitedly for a while before deciding first to pry it open for a taste. His recent living conditions had left him yearning for something to savor.
He kicked open all the other stacked boxes in the room one by one. The contents of the boxes quickly distracted him from the barrel of alcohol. Some contained clothes, all wide and large white robes. Liu Zhenhan was still pleased, though. Even on the battlefield, when had he ever worn such loose clothing? He felt distinctly uneasy these past few days.
A few brilliant curved blades also delighted him. The blades were not long and curved into a peculiar cant, resembling an antelope horn. The sheaths were ornate and adorned with exotic, foreign patterns, and on the handle were gemstones. Though Liu Zhenhan couldn't tell whether they were real or fake, he guessed they were fake.
As he slowly drew out a blade, a sudden green light filled the dark cabin. The intermittent flashes of lightning from outside allowed Liu Zhenhan to clearly see the evenly distributed carbon elements on the blade's surface. They formed beautiful patterns layered upon the blade.
Liu Zhenhan had long admired his former squad leader's "Kukri" curved blade. Happily, he now owned a blade of his own. The misery of not having been able to save anyone was dissolved by this delightful find.
The largest item was a chest as big as a bed, tightly locked with a padlock. Liu Zhenhan had to kick it three times, but he still couldn't break the boards on top. He knew that the wood must be a high-grade type like rosewood or spruce. Instead, he drew out his curved blade and struck the lock. A spark flew up, but the blade bounced off. Surprisingly, the lock was unbroken. He swung again, harder this time.
With this stroke, not only did the lock fly off, but the blade also got stuck in the wood. Liu Zhenhan struggled to pull out the blade and then, with both hands, pried open the wooden board cover.
A flash of lightning cut across the sky, casting an ominous illumination over Liu Zhenhan's joy-filled face, which was instantly frozen over.
Even Guoguo covered her mouth in shock, perched atop his head.
"Clang..." The curved blade slipped silently from Liu Zhenhan's hand, hit the wooden chest, and "plopped" into the water in the cabin.