Chapter 61: Breaking Waves 154 said, “He actually asks for help?”

The merchant ship returned to its original position; they were tossed around a circle and faced off against the pretty boy again.

The helmsman was flung forward by inertia, nearly planting his face into someone. With a horrified scream, he scrambled backward.

“Everyone! Below deck!”

The captain bellowed from the mast where the ropes were tied.

The white wind was too fierce, making it impossible for him to keep his eyes open.

As soon as he finished shouting, someone yanked him back, and the large crew members jumped into the cabins with trained precision.

A large group of people scrambled to flee, yet You Huo moved forward instead of retreating.

He took a few steps toward the white wind wall, as if wanting to see something…

“Stop looking! Have you lost your mind?!” the first mate shouted in Chinese again, yanking him hard.

“Get down there now!”

In the blink of an eye, the decks of all three merchant ships were cleared, with everyone having rushed into the cabins.

The crew immediately sealed the hatch, then grabbed onto the ropes on the door and sat down heavily on the stairs, their faces drained of color.

The first mate leaned against the rope, panting for a moment, still recovering from the shock.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Everything happened so fast and chaotic, I didn’t get a clear look, I just kept pushing people down.”

Di Li, hanging from the same rope as him, replied weakly, “Your angels, coming to see us off.”

First Mate: “…”

He finally began to doubt the authenticity of the legend and called out with a huff, “Captain—”

The captain, who had just shouted so much he was almost out of breath, was now holding a hat and fanning himself. He also looked shocked by the “pretty boy”

and was clearly displeased.

“What is it?” the captain asked.

The first mate asked, “Where on earth did you hear that legend? Isn’t it quite a bit different from reality?”

The captain spat in disgust, his face turning ashen: “If legends could be verified, would they still be called legends?”

Dili didn’t understand the language, but he could grasp the gist from their expressions.

He cautiously asked the first mate, “Could you ask your captain what else the legend mentions? Are there any more detailed points?”

He knew perfectly well that the clues in the hands of NPCs were never the most direct—they always came wrapped in legends, journals, maps, final words, or some similar guise.

A little discrepancy is fine, as long as there is enough information.

Dili held on to a sliver of hope.

The chief mate asked a few more questions before turning around and explaining in Chinese, “I’ve asked. There’s nothing more. Those legends are from a long time ago, and the content is vague—just the same few sentences repeated over and over. The captain said he told you everything.”

Dili’s hope deflated, and he scratched his head, troubled.

The first mate said, “I’m really sorry for getting your hopes up for nothing.”

Not only the examinees, but actually the crew as well.

They had been filled with hope that they could finally leave this deserted island, only to be abruptly pulled back to reality at the critical moment.

A heavy atmosphere hung over the cabin, weighed down by gloom and anxiety.

Dili counted on his fingers in disbelief, “The merchant ships returning have all been repaired, all three of them.”

“The most valuable cargo, we’ve checked it over, making sure not a single piece is missing.”

“As for the food, it’s already tied up on the ships, and it can regenerate. No matter how long the voyage takes for these three ships, we’ll have enough to eat.”

“And the fuel for warmth is also fully stocked. If we use it sparingly, it’ll last quite a while.”

“…What else is missing? Nothing is lacking.”

Wu Li’s white lab coat was indeed very thin, so she was huddling close to Shu Xue to keep warm.

She sat on the steps, hugging her arms and rubbing them for a while before pulling a voice recorder from her pocket.

“You carry this with you?”

Shu Xue was a bit surprised.

“Lots of meetings, work requires it.”

Wu Li fiddled with the voice recorder, playing a recording.

【1957, three Dutch merchant ships were trapped by the frozen sea while passing through Russia, and temporarily docked on an unnamed deserted island, waiting for the long winter to pass. This is their eighth month living here, with only 15 days left until the end of winter when the sea ice melts. Please help the crew of the merchant fleet return home safely.】

Everyone froze for a moment.

That was the exact original question the system had broadcasted on the day they first entered the stone cave.

It now sounded surprisingly unfamiliar to them.

Human memory is a strange thing, always instinctively focusing on a key point. The key point they latched onto was “escorting the merchant fleet back.”

All other groundwork and descriptive phrases were treated as peripheral details and automatically disregarded.

Now, hearing it again, Brother Li, influenced by professional habit, immediately spoke up, “Let me be precise about the wording: ‘all personnel of the merchant fleet’…”

He emphasized the word “all”

.

Di Li moved his neck away from the rope, “Yeah… yeah! All! Technically, the crew here can’t be called ‘all,’ we have to include the eight who died too!”

Their excitement seemed to stir up the pretty faces outside.

The wind battered the cabin, rattling it back and forth.

Everyone instantly tucked their necks in and lowered their voices again.

“So what should we do?”

“Hang here with the cat for a while, and once the angels have scattered, we’ll head out. We’ll take those few crew members along.”

Before, they feared the deep nights on the desolate island, because with each passing night, someone would be sent as dinner for the octopus.

Now that the octopus itself has become the meal, the threat is gone, so there’s no harm in staying one more night.

While they were rejoicing, You Huo did not join in.

He borrowed the pocket watch from the captain and was looking at the portrait inside.

Actually, he was the one who brought this pocket watch back.

He had picked it up in the ship’s cabin where the octopus was feeding. Seeing that the pattern resembled items commonly used by the crew, he gave it to the first mate. Unexpectedly, after going around in circles, it ended up in the captain’s hands.

But what caught his attention wasn’t any of that—it was the person in the portrait.

It was a half-profile portrait of a long-haired man with deep-set eyebrows, a high nose, and slightly downturned corners of the mouth, giving him a somewhat stern expression.

What was rather distinctive about this man was a small mole above his upper lip, right at the philtrum, and another one nestled within his left eyebrow.

No matter how lifelike a portrait may be, there will always be some differences from the real appearance—but these two moles would not change.

The moment You Huo saw him, he thought of someone.

No, to be more precise, it was a face—

The first face he had seen under the ice when he patrolled the island with Qin Jiu.

That pale face had looked up at him for a long time. He clearly remembered the identical moles above the lips and in the eyebrows. It also bore eight parts resemblance to this portrait, likely the very same person.

You Huo asked the captain, “Who is this?”

The captain’s normally cheerful expression vanished, as he lowered his eyes and took the pocket watch, his thumb brushing the edge of the portrait.

A moment later, he looked up again, resuming his usual relaxed demeanor and said, “M’n vader.”

You Huo: “…”

He turned and beckoned the first mate over.

The first mate translated, “This is the captain’s father, also the former captain of the merchant fleet, two captains ago.”

His words captured the attention of the examinees.

Only after he finished speaking did everyone learn that over the past century, the merchant fleet had seen many captains, and Barentsz’s father was one of them.

He joined the fleet at the age of 18, and because of his outstanding ability and meticulous work, he became the captain of the merchant fleet at 23. After years of navigating through storms and waves, he successfully delivered countless shipments.

At the age of 29, he and his fleet encountered a storm and perished at sea.

At that time, the current Captain Barents had just turned four years old.

Barents had the blood of a navigator in his veins—he was destined to join this fleet.

The year he became a captain, he was exactly 23 years old, just like his father.

Over the years, he had occasionally indulged in fantasies—perhaps one day, he might discover traces his father had left in the sea.

But he never found them, until today, until just a moment ago…

When boarding the ship, he saw the iron box and pocket watch piled among the clutter, identical to those in his childhood memory.

After thirty years, he finally got his wish.

* * *

Even though they knew these were just part of the test questions, the examinees still felt a sense of emotion.

They digested this information silently for a moment before suddenly realizing an issue.

“So all those… outside… were sailors who died here? From this merchant fleet?”

“That should be the case…”

“What about the bones inside that broken cabin then??”

Everyone looked at each other.

“There should be both crew members and examinees.”

Over these years, batches of crew members had mistakenly drifted into this desolate island.

Those three octopuses captured examinees when they had them, and caught crew members when the examinees weren’t around—they never let themselves go hungry. Day after day, they piled up mountains of bones in that dilapidated cabin.

No wonder those pale-faced ones were so furious upon seeing the octopus…

Lives were lost because of them.

If they had lived, they would have been someone’s parents, someone’s child, someone’s lover, someone’s family…

* * *

You Huo glanced around.

The cabin had one less person, and this actually made him feel somewhat unaccustomed.

Taking advantage of the chaos and clamor among the others, he lifted the trapdoor.

The wind, woven by tangled human faces, carried a damp, watery chill—like a vast, hazy cloud—and swept over the merchant ship’s bow with a roaring, defiant presence.

In front of them stood the person You Huo was looking for.

The hatch creaked as it opened.

Qin Jiu turned to look.

“You didn’t go into the cabin?”

You Huo flipped onto the deck.

Qin Jiu was taken aback for a moment before narrowing his eyes.

“You came out specifically to look for me?”

“No.”

You Huo walked to the bow of the ship and said, “Suddenly thought of something, just came to confirm it.”

“What is it?”

“To confirm how aggressive they are.”

You Huo pointed at those pale faces.

Since the little pale faces were all former crew members and examinees, perhaps… they harbored no malice towards them.

Legend has it that they appear when the ice melts, perhaps just to remind the people setting sail not to forget them, not to leave them stranded here…

You Huo had intended to come up and confirm it while he was at it, but never expected Qin Jiu to beat him to it.

However, this Mr. 001 didn’t get to hear the “story of the pretty boy.”

He said, “I was just curious how badly they could hurt me if we really clashed head-on, so I stayed behind for a while.”

You Huo remained silent, finding it entirely unsurprising.

Qin Jiu raised his left hand, revealing a long but shallow bloodstain across his palm.

“It was quite fierce at first, but now it’s behaving.”

“Why?”

“I can probably guess most of it, so I told them I’d take them away once they settled down.”

And so… the pretty boys settled down mid-air, turning into a large, quietly floating expanse of mist.

* * *

Before long, the examinees and crew members noticed this as well, one after another poking their heads out from under the trapdoor, then letting out a long sigh of relief.

Once you know the problem, it’s not hard to fix.

They ran about on the desolate island, and under the leadership of the first mate, they found the eight crew members buried beneath the ice. They then spent an entire night using torches to thaw part of the ice, peeling away the old ship filled with bones.

Year after year, the bones had long since mixed together, making it impossible to distinguish who was who.

But at least they were all here, not a single one missing.

The crew dropped a long rope, and everyone worked together to securely fasten the old ship behind the merchant vessel.

The horizon began to glow with the first light of dawn, and everything was ready.

An experienced crew member gazed into the distance for a moment and said, “It’s a rare clear day, and we can set off anytime.”

With high spirits, everyone scrambled onto the deck.

But their joy didn’t last long before their excitement turned to disappointment…

“The system said itself that there won’t be a new thawing period anytime soon. But this ‘short-term’ concept is too vague—who knows how long we’ll have to wait…”

Di Li’s courage grew bigger, and after complaining, he began to mutter insults at the system under his breath.

After cursing twice, Qin Jiu said, “It’s not impossible to leave right now.”

Di Li’s eyes lit up: “Huh???”

You Huo glanced at him and asked, “I don’t care either way, but are you sure you can keep playing like this? If you go any lower, there won’t be any place left to degrade to.”

Qin Jiu laughed, completely unbothered.

Dili watched their cryptic exchange, utterly confused.

Soon after, You Huo and Qin Jiu untied the ropes binding the octopus’s tentacles, leaving only the part covering its face.

As soon as the tentacles were free, they immediately began flailing wildly, nearly striking the ship’s sails several times, making everyone hold their breath in fear.

But the two bigwigs seemed quite satisfied.

Then they borrowed a quill from the captain…

Dili cautiously leaned in and saw You Huo casually find a clean wooden board, on which he wrote four numbers:

922 154 021 078

* * *

At the invigilation office on the little white boat, the four invigilators suddenly received an examinee’s request for help.

078 felt like suffocating the moment he saw the examinee’s name.

021 was actually quite the opposite, but she didn’t show it.

922 had a very strange expression on his face.

Only 154 said, “There’s actually a time when he asks for help?”

078 suddenly remembered, “Oh right, didn’t we receive a system message earlier in the evening? They missed the ice-thaw period. Maybe they’re worried about it now?”

You Huo was feeling troubled!

This sentence made the invigilator feel pleased both physically and mentally.

078 wasted no words; he immediately set sail and headed straight for the deserted island.

Twenty minutes later, the little white boat sailed to the edge of the deserted island.

The island was still dozens of meters away when the four examiners stepped onto the deck.

They straightened their coats, intending to reassert their authority. But as soon as they peered out, they saw in the distance three merchant ships swinging countless tentacles, thrashing wildly as they charged forward.

“……”

What in the world is this?!

The invigilator turned on his heel and, without looking back, dove into the cabin.

078 dashed straight for the helm, swinging his arm at once, hoping to make a sharp turn.

Yet no matter how fast the reaction, there was still a process.

The invigilator’s little white boat surged forward dozens of meters, skimming the shore as it turned around, and wherever it went, the frozen seawater automatically melted away.

On the merchant ship, the captain, holding an iron box, gave a command, and the helmsman shouted out as he turned the wheel hard.

The wall of wind made up of fair-skinned men rushed over just in time, and the sails suddenly billowed out fully.

A long wind howled, and the seawater churned.

Three merchant ships, along with a fiercely menacing octopus, pursued the invigilator ship, pecking at it relentlessly.

Wherever the invigilation ship passed, they went through unimpeded.

* * *

First Mate You Huo and Qin Jiu went up to the deck and called out to the captain.

“Here you are? Give me an address. I don’t know what you think, but as far as I’m concerned, I consider you friends. If there’s a chance in the future, I’ll write to you.”

The captain said.

In that moment, he didn’t resemble an NPC at all—just like a living, breathing person.

A living, breathing person in a certain country, a certain city.

You Huo took the pen, raised his hand to write an N, then froze for a moment.

He had lived in many places, none of which began with N. Yet, somehow, he had instinctively written it down.

“What’s wrong?” the first mate asked.

“It’s alright if you’d rather not.”

You Huo shook his head, crossed out the ‘N’

, and wrote down Yu Wen’s address.

“Send it to this one.”

The first mate then handed the pen to Qin Jiu.

But Qin Jiu didn’t take it.

He lowered his eyes to look at You Huo’s handwriting and said, “I can’t receive it.”

Even You Huo was taken aback for a moment.

Qin Jiu smiled again, pointing at You Huo as he told the chief mate, “If the day comes when I can receive it, I’ll ask him for your address.”

The captain and the chief mate nodded in understanding.

……

Behind them, the damp old boat followed.

It had been stranded for many years, broken and dilapidated. Now, loaded with bones, it could actually brave the wind and waves once again.

The long-awaited sun burst forth, guiding this forcibly opened sea route.

White mist surges, angels return home.

Volume 4: Don’t Close Your Eyes to Me