The captain said that this merchant fleet had been operating for almost a century. It is an ancient, disaster-prone fleet that is also blessed by God.
"For a long time, we have always withheld a strong belief ——— The goods return to the land, the humans return to the bottom of the sea." The first officer said.
"I understand that the goods return to land but what does it mean by humans returning to the bottom of the sea.....?" The good student Di Li asked sincerely. He truly felt the last half sounded very morbid.
"Crew members spend their entire life out at sea. If anything were to happen while delivering goods, wouldn't you be returning to the bottom of the sea?" The first officer said.
The captain and the first officer had worked together for a very long time so he had also learnt some broken Chinese —— He could understand but his ability to speak was poor.
Hearing the first officer's words, the captain next to him interjected with a single word: "Roman."
First officer: "....."
Di Li: "Huh?"
The captain waved his wounded arm around and added a few more gibberish.
The first officer rolled his eyes to express his contempt towards his level of Chinese.
He then translated: "What the captain meant earlier was that sleeping eternally at sea was something sailors would regard as romantic; their dream. Though you may think that it's strange..."
The examinees thought about it for a moment and said: "Hmm...It's actually understandable."
The first officer then said: "Oh right, I almost forgot. I heard earlier that you guys are adventurers? Then you probably think the same."
Di Li: "No thanks, I'm still young."
The captain laughed heartily.
"In any case———" The first officer forcefully redirected the topic back and continued: "This belief has been carried down from generation to generation. Every time a ship goes out to sea to deliver goods, no matter where it is, no matter what happens, there would always be someone alive to deliver the goods to the destination. There was just one exception."
"This place here."
"This part of the sea here is one of the most dangerous places. When we deliver our goods using this route, we would often get lost halfway and get stuck here. We have lost many people here before and, in severe cases, no one would return alive."
Hearing this, the examinees could basically understand what was going on.
The so-called crew members being lost here generation after generation probably referred to the previous examinations. Every time there was an exam, a group of merchant ships would be stuck here.
If the examinees were able to solve the question, then part of the crew would be able to return alive.
If the examinees couldn't solve it, then all the crew would die from various issues until the bodies of the entire fleet are left behind on this deserted island.
"But there were also several times when we were lucky and were favoured by God." The first officer said.
"And so, a legend was created by word of mouth from the survivors. Uh....The captain said that we no longer know who exactly it was that started it. In any case, the so-called legend mentioned the existence of messengers on the deserted island who symbolised life and hope. What you saw last night was probably those messengers. Some call them spirits but to us, they're angels."
"....."
The examinees expressions were filled with doubt. Internally, they commented: Your angels sure are terrifying.
The captain again interjected energetically.
He appeared to always be filled with energy. Even with his thin and emaciated body, he could still laugh out loud.
Such a captain was indeed inspiring. Even the examinees relaxed a little.
"The captain said that the words life and hope wasn't entirely accurate. He had done some research and learnt that the so-called hope referred to the ice melting. With the appearance of these messengers, it meant that the ice would melt, and we would soon be able to leave this place."
The first officer also rejoiced.
But his personality was stoic by nature. After smiling, his expression turned stern again: "This is on the premise that everything goes well."
The captain was like a big monkey. He coaxed out the rest of the crew members from the cave.
After a while, they all slipped back in.
"For now, we didn't see the messengers. Maybe they don't appear during the day?"
"But there are several holes outside the cave. Maybe it was done by them?"
The crew members chattered excitedly.
The first officer was also excited, but he held himself back.
The examinees who heard it however became nervous.
"What do you mean by that? Your angels came out?"
"Came out to greet the sun and grant us hope."
"Also, for the moment there hasn't been any changes to the ice. But Vanod said he felt the ice moving and he's an experienced sailor!"
The crew started to dance.
The examinees leaned against the wall in despair.
The captain roughly combed through his dishevelled long hair with his fingers and plopped down before You Huo and Qin Jiu. The first officer had already accepted his fate to act as a translator.
"With such good news, isn't it worth celebrating? You people seem very calm."
They had mistakenly thought that the examinees were also ship crew members in a similar predicament.
You Huo didn't explain. Afterall, there was no point clarifying things with an NPC.
"If you're referring to the melting of the ice, we knew about it last night. It's not a surprise." Qin Jiu said.
The captain was surprised.
"How did you know? Have you also heard of that legend?"
Qin Jiu: "That's not it. We heard it from a rabbit."
Captain: "Rabbit? A fairy tale? I like it. Where is the magical rabbit? Will I have the honour to meet it?"
Qin Jiu brought over the roasted rabbit that was left in the corner.
Captain: "...…."
The look he gave the rabbit was a little strange.
So strange that, for a moment, he didn't seem like an NPC. It however only lasted a moment.
Very quickly, he changed his expression and scratched his head before mumbling something.
The first officer hesitated and translated: "The ending of this fairy tale is a little dark."
You Huo coldly inserted his own comment: "Not as dark as the rabbit itself."
"You guys are from different ships and now working together?" The first officer asked.
"You guys?"
The first officer pointed at Qin Jiu and then at You Huo: "You two."
"Why would you think that?" Qin Jiu glanced at You Huo and asked jokingly, "We don't look like we're from the same ship?"
The first officer shook his head: "You look like captains. Two captains."
Qin Jiu pointed at You Huo: "Is there such a rude captain like him?"
You Huo: "...…"
In response to being mocked at his face, he snorted and stood up. Shaking off the numb feeling on his leg, he said to the captain: "The ice will melt tomorrow. We will send you home. If you have anything to say, say it now."
"Tomorrow? Are you sure?"
"Mhn."
"The captain instantly sprang up: "Then we don't have much time!"
If they were going back, there were many things they needed to prepare.
The merchant ship was damaged, but it was enough if it could still sail and they could make do. If not, they would need to do some quick repairs.
Fuel and resources are also required to maintain life on the ship.
Furthermore, the goods needed to be checked.
Everyone quickly threw away the shadows left by their recent near-death experience and quickly scrambled up to help. This would also help them finish their exam as soon as possible.
There's a hole on the side of the ship?
Tear down the system's ship.
Too many holes on the deck?
Tear down the system's ship.
The rudder is damaged by ice?
Also tear down the system's ship.
The advantage of Qin Jiu being an invigilator was most evident at this moment.
He was knowledgeable about the majority of the rules and their associated punishments, so he knew that there was no additional penalty for the same rule violation. There was no difference between plucking out a strand of hair versus plucking everything out until it was completely bald.
In any case, he and You Huo had already been punished for tearing down the system's ship. The fate of their ship was already predetermined.
The examinees had a strong desire to live so their efficiency was very high.
In about a days' time, two of the three merchant ships were repaired.
At this rate, it wouldn't be a problem for them to set sail tomorrow.
The crew members calculated it and once again started dancing around the fire.
But this celebration didn't last long.
As soon as night came, the examinees quickly held them down and urged them to sleep to avoid luring the "angel" over.
***
At 11:55pm, the fire inside the cave was still burning strongly. It was eerily quiet.
The excited crew members had already entered their dreams. The atmosphere inside the cave once again turned nervous.
Chen Fei and Huang Rui were leaning with their backs against the stone wall.
After hearing Qin Jiu's words, they didn't forget to make some preparations during the day while they were repairing the ships.
Chen Fei had a fire torch in one hand, and a knife in another.
The knife was something he had borrowed from one of the crew members. It came from the kitchen and was used to cut fruit and meat.
Huang Rui, on the other hand, held two long metal hooks.
He had considered taking the ships anchor. With it, it would be unparalleled in strength. It wouldn't be a problem knocking the monster out. But when he tried to lift it, he couldn't move it a single inch no matter how much effort he exhausted so he could only make do.
Clutching tightly onto their weapons, the two felt a little safer.
But their hands still couldn't help but tremble.
11:57pm.
The roasted rabbit hopped up and suddenly spoke up:
[2 minutes and 15 seconds until midnight. Now recalculating today's score.]
[Today, examinees could earn points from one area.]
[1. Repairing the two ships]
[The scores are calculated as follows: ]
[A total of 6 points for repairing the merchant ship, including 3 points for preparing the materials and 3 points for repairing.]
On the stone wall, because everyone participated, everyone's score increased by the same amount.
Every group earned 6 points.
[All points have now been allocated. Bonus points and penalties will now be applied.]
[Today, examinees could be penalised for one area.]
[1. The crew did not eat three proper meals and went to sleep tired and hungry.]
The examinees were speechless.
They didn't even mention eating yet they still had to carry the blame?
But the system continued to chatter on:
[The score are as follows: ]
[As a hungry and tired state can affect the crew members ability to return home, each examinee is penalised 2 points.]
The scores once again changed on the stone wall.
With all the adding and subtracting, the result was an increase in 4 points.
But in fact, there were no changes to the ranking tonight.
You Huo had hoped that his act of roasting the rabbit would allow him to be penalised but it seems the system had become smarter this time.
Perhaps it was because roasting of the rabbit didn't affect its ability to speak, and because both had already been punished, it no longer wanted to punish these two annoying examinees lest their punishment devices get damaged too.
So tonight, Chen Fei and Huang Rui were still ranked last.
No one could save them.
***
On the cold and damp ceiling of the cave, the ugly octopus laid in wait.
Once again, it was time for it to eat, but it wasn't happy at all.
It was upset...
Its food last time was too mischevious and it resulted in it losing all its tentacles. It took it an entire day to regrow them back. If it was going to meet those two again…..
It would rather starve to death. At least that way it would still have some dignity left.
It laid in wait for a long time before finally receiving the final result.
It's dark, round eyes instantly lit up!
This is great! The menu had changed tonight!
It can finally have a filling meal!
It cracked open its dark, hole-like mouth. Saliva constantly flowed out from this opening as it slowly extended its tentacles down.
KK has something to say:
"Angels"...