Chapter 58 Tonight’s menu change is fantastic, tonight’s menu change!

The captain said that this merchant fleet had a history of nearly a century—it was an ancient, disaster-ridden, yet divinely blessed fleet.

“Throughout history, this fleet has always held a belief: goods belong to the land, while men belong to the sea,” the first mate said.

“I understand goods going to land, but what does it mean for people to go to the seafloor…” The studious Di Li asked sincerely, feeling that this half-sentence was unsettling.

“Seamen, after all, spend their lives guarding the sea. If they meet misfortune during a delivery, doesn’t that mean they return to the seafloor?” the first mate said.

Having spent a long time with the first mate, the captain had learned a form of ‘mute Chinese’

—he could understand when listening but could only speak word by word.

Hearing the first mate’s words, the captain interjected with a single word: “Wave.”

First Mate: “…”

Di Li: “Huh?”

The captain was scratching the scab on his arm, full of energy as he added some nonsense in foreign language.

The first mate rolled his eyes, showing his disdain for the other’s Chinese proficiency.

Then the translator said, “What the captain meant just now is that sleeping in the sea is a kind of romance unique to sailors. Though you might think it’s kind of sick…”

The candidates thought about it and said, “Well… actually, that makes sense.”

The first mate added, “Oh, right, I almost forgot. I heard you’re sailors too? So you probably think the same way.”

Di Li replied, “No, thanks. I’m still young.”

The captain burst into hearty laughter.

“In any case—”

The first mate forcibly concluded and continued: “The fleet has upheld this belief from generation to generation. Every time we set sail to deliver goods, no matter where we go or what we encounter, someone always manages to survive and deliver the cargo to its destination. Except for one place.”

“Right here.”

“The waters we are currently in are the most treacherous stretch. When navigating this delivery route, we often lose our bearings midway and end up trapped here. Many from the fleet have perished in these waters, and in the most tragic cases, no one survived.”

At this point, the examinee pretty much understood.

The phrase “generations of sailors have perished here”

likely refers to the earlier examination halls. In each exam, there was always a merchant fleet trapped here.

If the examinee could solve the problem, then someone from the fleet could make it back alive.

If the examinee failed to solve it, the crew would gradually die from various issues, ultimately burying the entire team on this desolate island.

“But there are always a few times when you are fortunate, blessed by heaven,” the first mate said.

“So the crew who survived spread the legend by word of mouth… um… the captain said it’s impossible to trace who exactly said it. Anyway, in the legend, the senders on the deserted island symbolize life and hope. What you saw tonight should be the senders. Some call them spirits of the dead, but to us, they are angels.”

“……”

The examinees’ expressions were indescribable, thinking to themselves that their angels were truly terrifying.

The captain, standing nearby, chimed in animatedly and at random.

He always seemed full of vitality, even when he had grown gaunt and haggard, he could still laugh heartily.

Such a captain truly can uplift morale, making even the candidates feel considerably more at ease, as if a simple wave of the hand could bid farewell to this place.

“The captain said that vague concepts like ‘vitality’ and ‘hope’ are absolute nonsense. He had studied some materials thoroughly and learned that the so-called ‘hope’ actually refers to ice melting. The appearance of the send-off means the ice covering the sea will thaw, allowing us to set sail and leave this place.”

The first mate also began to feel happy.

But his cautious nature kicked in; he smiled briefly before becoming serious again and said, “Assuming everything goes smoothly.”

The captain resembled a big monkey, coaxing a nest of crew members to slip out of the cave.

They slipped back in shortly after.

“No sign of the Farewellers for now. Maybe they don’t show up during the day?”

“However, a few pits appeared behind the stone cave, likely knocked out by them.”

The crew members spoke with glowing faces.

The first mate was also flushed, but managed to keep his composure.

The examinees, however, grew pale as they listened.

“What does ‘knocking out a hole’ mean? Did your angel crawl out?”

“Out to greet hope and the sun.”

“Also, the sea surface hasn’t changed much for now, but Vanold says he can feel the restlessness beneath the ice. He’s an old hand at this!”

The sailors linked arms and began dancing a sailor’s jig.

The examinees leaned against the wall, utterly listless.

The captain raked his fingers through his tangled long hair and plopped down in front of You Huo and Qin Jiu. The first mate resignedly followed to act as translator.

“Such a surprising thing isn’t worth celebrating? Your people all seem very calm.”

They had mistaken the other examinees for crew members.

You Huo didn’t offer much explanation, after all, it was impossible to explain things clearly to NPCs.

“If you’re referring to the ice melting, we already knew about it last night, so it doesn’t count as much of a surprise,” Qin Jiu said.

The captain was very surprised.

“How did you know? Have you also heard such legends before?”

Qin Jiu: “Not exactly. I heard it from a rabbit.”

Captain: “A rabbit? Like in a fairy tale? I love those. Which magic rabbit was it? Do I have the honor of meeting it?”

Qin Jiu fetched the roasted rabbit being offered in the corner.

Captain: “…”

He looked at the rabbit with a strange expression.

It was so strange it hardly seemed like an NPC, though only for a moment.

Soon he scratched his head again and muttered something.

The first mate hesitated, then translated: “This fairy tale has a slightly dark ending.”

You Jing unexpectedly remarked, “Not as dark as the rabbit itself.”

“Did the two of you join forces as shipmates?” asked the first mate.

“Us?”

The first mate pointed at Qin Jiu, then at You Jing.

“You two.”

“Why do you say that?”

Qin Jiu glanced at You Huo before asking playfully, “We don’t look like a pair of sailors?”

The first mate shook his head: “You look more like captains, two captains.”

Qin Jiu pointed at You Huo: “Would a captain ignore people like this?”

The first mate said in all seriousness: “At any rate, there are no first mates who ignore people.”

You Huo: “…”

Faced with being set up, he let out a cold laugh, stood up, and stomped his numb feet before asking the captain, “The ice will melt tomorrow, and we’ll send you back. Tell us now what you need prepared.”

“Tomorrow? Are you sure?”

“Mm.”

The captain jumped up immediately: “That’s a bit tight then!”

There’s a lot to prepare for the return voyage.

The merchant ship has sustained some damage; if it doesn’t affect sailing, it’s fine—we can make do with what works. Anything that does affect it must be repaired.

The return voyage also requires fuel to sustain life within the cabin.

Additionally, the cargo needs to be inventoried.

Eager to leave the shadow of the faces behind, everyone scrambled to help—and also to finish this exam as soon as possible.

Are there breaches in the ship’s hull?

Dismantle that system ship.

Too many holes on the deck?

Dismantle that system ship.

Rudder frozen?

Still dismantling that system ship.

Qin Jiu’s advantage as an invigilator shone through at this moment.

He knew most of the penalty rules and understood that the same offense couldn’t be penalized twice. Focusing on one sheep to shear its wool—whether shearing half of it or shaving it all off—made no difference.

Anyway, since he and You Huo had already been penalized for dismantling the ship, that system vessel was fated to meet its doom.

The examinees’ will to survive was exceptionally strong, and their efficiency in repairing the ships was astonishingly high.

By the end of the day, two of the three merchant ships had been repaired.

At this rate, setting sail tomorrow should pose no major issues.

The crew members made a quick calculation and, once again, began dancing around the bonfire.

However, such commotion did not last for long.

As soon as night fell, the examinees restrained them, urging them to sleep quickly so that the noise wouldn’t attract the “angels”

again.

* * *

At 11:55 p.m., the cave was illuminated by flickering flames and unusually silent.

The excited crew members had all fallen asleep, and the atmosphere returned to one of tension and unease.

Chen Fei and Huang Rui leaned their heads back against the stone wall.

After hearing Qin Jiu’s advice, they hadn’t forgotten to prepare while repairing the boat during the day.

Chen Fei held a torch in one hand and a knife in the other.

The knife was borrowed from a crew member of the merchant ship, coming from the kitchen, suitable for cutting melons and meat.

Huang Rui held two long iron hooks.

He had considered the anchor, knowing that a single blow from it would be incredibly powerful and easily knock a monster unconscious. However, he tried with all his might and still couldn’t budge it, so he had no choice but to give up.

The two of them, clutching their weapons, felt a little more at ease in their hearts.

But their fingers still couldn’t help trembling.

11:57 AM.

The roasted rabbit kicked its legs and suddenly spoke up:

[2 minutes and 15 seconds until midnight, recalculating today’s scores.]

[Today, examinees triggered a total of one scoring point.]

【1、Repair two ships.】

【The specific scoring is as follows:】

[Repairing the merchant ship totals 6 points, including 3 points for preparing materials and tools, and 3 points for performing the repairs.]

On the stone wall, due to everyone’s participation, each score bar extended the same distance.

Each team had gained 6 points.

[All bonus points have been accounted for; now proceeding to calculate deductions.]

[Today, the examinee has incurred a total of one penalty point.]

[1. The crew member did not eat three meals and fell asleep in a state of fatigue and hunger.]

The examinee was speechless.

No one even mentioned anything about meals. How is this our fault?

But the system was still blabbering:

[Detailed scoring breakdown:]

[An extremely hungry state will affect the crew’s ability to return; they won’t have the strength to raise the sails or steer the rudder, leading to endless trouble ahead. Each examinee is deducted 2 points.]

The score bars on the stone wall promptly changed once again.

When you added it all up, the total actually increased by four points.

But in reality, tonight’s rankings showed no changes at all.

You Huo had hoped that roasting the rabbit would deduct some points, but the system seemed to have grown smarter this time.

Perhaps because the roasted rabbit could still make sounds, and both of them had already been punished, the system had sufficient reason not to deduct points from these two troublesome candidates to avoid damaging its punishment tools again.

So this night, Chen Fei and Huang Rui were still last.

No one would come to save them.

* * *

On the damp, cold stone ceiling of the cave, the ugly octopus lay quietly.

It was time for its daily feeding again, but it wasn’t the least bit happy.

It was very troubled…

Last time, the food was too tough and ended up destroying all its tentacles. It had taken an entire day to recover, and if it ran into those two again…

It would rather starve to death—at least that would be with dignity.

It lay there for a while, finally waiting for the final outcome.

Its round, gleaming eyes instantly brightened!

Fantastic, tonight’s menu has changed!

Finally able to have a full meal!

It cracked open its pitch-black mouth, drooling profusely, and extended its sinister tentacles from above.