Chapter 54.

Chapter 54.

Feng Chen also picked up underwear, socks, and new shoes, placing them all in the bag.

There were over a dozen large sealed bags near the gate, each incredibly large. After Feng Chen put on his hood, the soldiers closed the airtight inner door of the warehouse and opened the outer gate.

The passageway of the gate was quickly filled with water. The three of them worked together to push the supplies out, then closed the door and opened the valve on the sealed bag.

The hissing sound of air filling the bag resounded, and gas rapidly inflated the already large bag. It expanded further, carrying the supplies as it wobbled towards the surface.

However, seaweed constantly entangled from all directions, dragging the supplies downwards. The trio had no choice but to swim around, using their daggers to cut the seaweed.

。

Aboard the large beehive-shaped ship, Yan Bubu woke up from his sleep.

Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and looked around, slowly remembering that he was no longer in the room at the underground settlement, but on a ship.

"Brother..."

Although Feng Chen had mentioned the night before that he wouldn't be there today, Yan Bubu still felt upset. He cried a little while sitting on the bed before getting up and walking barefoot to the window.

The black lion that had been lying beside the bed followed him. It glanced disapprovingly at his bare feet, then returned to the bed to fetch the cloth slippers Yan Bubu had worn the previous night, placing them at his feet.

Yan Bubu, unaware, wiped the condensation from the window. The black lion wagged its tail, gently wrapping it around Yan Bubu's ankle.

Yan Bubu, without turning his head, lifted his left foot to rub against his right ankle.

The black lion's tail had a tuft of fluffy hair, like an exploded dandelion. It used this dandelion-like tuft to nudge Yan Bubu's ankle again.

This time, Yan Bubu finally looked down and noticed the slippers by his feet.

As Yan Bubu noticed the slippers, the black lion's eyes revealed a slight nervousness mixed with anticipation.

However, Yan Bubu only stared at the shoes for two seconds before slipping his feet into them, then continued to doodle on the window with his fingers.

Black Lion: "..."

There came a few knocks at the door. Yan Bubu turned, shouted "Brother!" with joy, and ran to open the door.

When the door opened, a stranger, a soldier, stood outside holding a lunchbox.

"You're Fan Renjing, right? This is the breakfast Colonel Yu asked me to bring you."

Disappointed at not seeing Feng Chen, a hint of sadness crossed Yan Bubu's eyes. Still, he took the lunchbox and softly said thank you.

After the soldier left, Yan Bubu sat on the bed to eat.

The lunchbox, as usual, contained soybeans and potatoes, but he ate heartily, spooning potatoes into his mouth while gently swinging his legs dangling in the air. Wearing only a military T-shirt, his tender, lotus-root-like legs were exposed.

While he ate, Black Lion turned and went to the door, pawing open the handle and quietly left the room.

There were a few people in the corridor, but none noticed as the silent Black Lion passed by them, heading to the front of the ship where clothes were drying. It collected the dried clothes of Yan Bubu and Feng Chen.

However, it was easier said than done to return.

Carrying the clothes in its mouth, and to avoid the eerie sight of clothes flying through the air, Black Lion decided not to return the same way but instead walked back along the exterior of the ship.

Although the ship's outer rim was slick, this posed no challenge for it. Using small protrusions every ten meters for support, it quickly reached the window of room 415.

Black Lion clung to a small protrusion on the ship's side with its hind paws, dangling in an upside-down position, with its head carrying the clothes hanging outside the window.

When it had left, Yan Bubu was still sitting on the bed, eating with his back to the window. Now, Black Lion could quietly enter through the window and stealthily place the clothes on the bed.

But just as it dangled down, its head came face to face with Yan Bubu, who was lying on the windowsill.

Startled, Black Lion shuddered and stared at Yan Bubu with wide eyes, still holding the clothes in its mouth.

Yan Bubu was gazing out the window, wondering where Feng Chen might be and what he could be doing, when suddenly his view was obstructed by something hanging outside.

After realizing those were clothes, he paused, feeling puzzled, then recognized them as familiar.

A black windbreaker, like the one his brother often wore, a light yellow T-shirt, seemingly his own.

Hmm... and overalls... with little ducks on the underwear.

Yan Bubu exclaimed softly, tiptoeing to look left and right, then upwards.

！！！

"Our clothes were hung at the front of the ship last night. Why are they here, floating in the air?"

Yan Bubu was profoundly shaken, his mouth slightly agape. He tentatively reached out and poked the outermost garment. Finding nothing unusual, he pulled the clothes back in and hugged them.

Black Lion still hung upside down, watching him with a gaze that seemed to penetrate, frantically looking around in panic before retracting its head and slamming the window shut.

Sitting on the bed with the clothes, Yan Bubu was utterly baffled.

He whispered to the clothes, "Did you want to come back and flew back on your own? Or was it my magic? But I didn't chant any spells..."

The clothes, of course, didn't respond. After pondering for a while without finding an answer, he stopped thinking about it, took off his military T-shirt, and changed into the newly retrieved clothes.

After getting dressed, Yan Bubu softly asked his Bi Nu Nu toy, "Can you fly? Could it be that you can actually fly but just don't want to show me?"

As he mused, his eyes caught the opposite door, where the handle was slowly turning as if someone outside was twisting it.

"Brother," Yan Bubu called out.

There was no response from outside, and the turning door handle also stopped.

Yan Bubu didn't speak again, just stared intently at the door.

Moments later, the handle began to turn again, and the door was silently pushed open, yet no one was outside.

Yan Bubu felt a chill creeping up his spine, every hair standing on end. Holding Binunu, he tiptoed to the door, peeking outside.

The entire corridor was eerily quiet, not a soul in sight.

After standing at the door for a while, Yan Bubu turned back to the room. Just as he was about to close the door, he noticed several damp, dark spots on the dark red carpet in the hallway.

They were footprints.

And they didn’t seem human.

Black Lion, just having entered the room and not yet having shaken off the rainwater in the bathroom, saw Yan Bubu screaming and dashing out the door, sprinting down the corridor.

"Ah!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"

Black Lion lifted a paw to brush aside the mane obstructing its eyes. In its amber-yellow eyes, confusion reigned.

Yan Bubu ran breathlessly to the end of the corridor and then thundered down the stairs to the first floor, where people were gathered. He stopped there, panting and unsettled.

The cafeteria was on the first floor, where soldiers were distributing breakfast. The line stretched from the cafeteria into the corridor. With so many people around, Yan Bubu felt less frightened but still squeezed to the left, looking for a soldier standing there.

"Uncle from the Western Alliance Army, my brother has gone out," Yan Bubu said, looking up at a round-faced soldier.

The soldier glanced down at him: "Hmm, got it."

"He said if I need anything, I can come to you."

The soldier asked, "So, what do you need?"

Yan Bubu glanced around and said, "Lean down a bit, I'll tell you."

The soldier indeed leaned down: "Go ahead."

Yan Bubu took a deep breath and whispered into the soldier's ear: "Two things."

The soldier glanced at the two fingers Yan Bubu was holding up and corrected, "Two matters."

"Two matters."

"The first matter is that I haven’t used any magic, I promise, and I haven’t chanted any spells, but my clothes started flying. They flew from the bow to outside my window, watching me, waiting for me to bring them inside…"

The soldier's brow twitched, and he asked, "And the second matter?"

"The second matter is that there’s an invisible monster in my room. It seems like it took a bath there. I think it wants to eat me… Some people eat children, but it’s definitely not human..."

While they talked, Black Lion stood beside them, its lion face showing indifference.

After Yan Bubu reported the situation to the soldier, the soldier reassured him repeatedly that there was nothing wrong and that he would investigate. Yan Bubu then left, satisfied.

But he didn’t want to go back to the room now, not wanting to be alone there. Since his brother hadn't returned, he decided to walk forward along the first-floor corridor, holding Binunu, and made his way to the deck.

Outside, it was raining, making it impossible to stroll on the spacious deck, so he stood under the shelter of the cabin, gazing towards Haiyun City, hoping his brother might return soon.

The spot where he stood seemed protected from the rain, but in reality, a fine mist kept drifting in. Black Lion, silently following him, stepped forward, using its large body to shield him from the water vapor.

After watching Haiyun City for a while, Yan Bubu withdrew his gaze and turned to look towards the eastern sea. Suddenly, he saw a silvery-gray line appearing on the distant horizon, rapidly approaching their direction.

Because of the heavy rain, Yan Bubu rubbed his eyes in uncertainty before looking again.

This time he saw it clearly: a long line different from the ink-blue of the sea, a grayish-green color, surging forward like a wave.

Amidst it, huge objects were leaping out of the water, trailing long tail fins, resembling enormous fish.

Such big fish!

Although Yan Bubu lived in a coastal city, he had never seen fish this large!

He stepped back and then ran back to the cafeteria, squeezing his way to the round-faced soldier, tugging at his clothing: "Uncle from the Western Alliance Army."

The soldier looked down, saw Yan Bubu, and asked, "Is there a third matter?"

"Yes," Yan Bubu pointed towards the bow, speaking urgently, "I saw fish, lots of them, really big fish."

The round-faced soldier initially didn't take his words seriously, but the mention of many fish sparked his interest.

Given the current food scarcity, if there really were fish, they could be caught to feed the many hungry people. So, although he didn’t fully believe Yan Bubu, he walked toward the bow, somewhat skeptical, to see for himself.

"Look, over there," Yan Bubu pointed at the advancing grayish-green line in the distance, "See? The big fish are jumping out of the water."

The massive school of fish rapidly approached the ship, their forms becoming clearer.

Each one was at least several meters long, as large as whales in size, but their shape was more like sharks.

The fish had spindle-shaped bodies, broad flat heads, and long, sharply pointed crescent-shaped mouths. Submerged, only their grayish-green backs were visible, but as they leapt, their broad, wing-like pectoral fins and white undersides became apparent.

The soldier watched the swarm of fish, his expression turning to horror: "Those are Qing Shi Sharks, Qing Shi Sharks! But why are there so many? And they've grown so much bigger. Why are they heading towards our ship? What do they want?"

The vast swarm of Qing Shi Sharks numbered in the hundreds, swiftly converging towards the direction of the ships, evidently targeting the four vessels.

The round-faced soldier, in a panic, pulled out his walkie-talkie, his voice trembling: "Captain, a huge swarm of Qing Shi Sharks has appeared in the eastern sea, approaching us. There are hundreds, they're heading straight for our ship. By their size, they must be mutants."

Qing Shi Sharks normally live in the deep sea and are rarely seen in shallow waters. They are fiercely territorial and often move in groups to hunt and drive away medium and large-sized fish in the surrounding waters, earning the nickname 'Sawyers of the Sea'.

They usually don't leave their territory, and fishermen tend to avoid those areas. However, if a vessel inadvertently enters their domain, the sharks won't let it leave unchallenged.

Typically, Qing Shi Sharks are only 2 to 4 meters long and can't leap onto medium-sized fishing boats, but they have their ways, such as collectively surrounding a vessel and creating large waves with their massive side fins.

A group of Qing Shi Sharks surrounds a fishing boat, using their wing-like side fins to paddle in unison, maintaining a consistent frequency and controlling the direction of the water flow, coordinating from both sides.

Initially, the waves are not big, but as the sharks continue this action, they grow increasingly turbulent and higher, eventually reaching nearly ten meters.

The fishing boat rocks and tilts with the waves, and even if it doesn't capsize, the sharks leap aboard when the waves near the gunwale, dragging the fishermen into the sea to be devoured.

Haiyun City is a coastal city, and its stationed soldiers are well-acquainted with the marine life. Seeing hundreds of enormous Qing Shi Sharks charging towards them, several times the size of normal ones, the soldier's face paled, frantically calling over the walkie-talkie.

Yan Bubu stood beside the round-faced soldier the whole time.

Unfamiliar with Qing Shi Sharks and unaware of their danger, he had initially informed the soldier merely because he was astounded by their number. Now, seeing the soldier's reaction, he also grew anxious, retreating continuously, pressing tightly against the cabin wall.

Black Lion stood by his side, squinting towards the distance, claws dug into the ground, muscles tensed beneath its fur.

A shrill whistle sounded on the ship, soldiers rushing from the stern to the bow. The people who had been lining up for food, thinking it was a zombie attack, panicked and rushed out, converging at the bow.

"What's happening? Zombies? Where are the zombies?"

Someone with keen eyesight spotted the Qing Shi Shark swarm, pointing ahead in shock: "Look, what is that?"

Once it was confirmed that there were no zombies on board, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. However, their faces turned pale again at the sight of the massive swarm of Qing Shi Sharks.

"They're Qing Shi Sharks! The Sawyers of the Sea, Qing Shi Sharks!"

"I've been in the seafood business for decades, and this is the first time I've seen Qing Shi Sharks this big."

"Don't worry too much, our ship is a massive vessel weighing thousands of tons. Even with their size, can those Qing Shi Sharks really capsize it?"

"A dozen ordinary Qing Shi Sharks can overturn a fishing boat, and there are hundreds of these giant ones. Who knows if they could flip this ship?"

"Aren't Qing Shi Sharks usually deep-sea dwellers? Why have they come here?"

"Bah! What else but mutations? These Qing Shi Sharks have become mutants too."

Originally standing by the cabin wall, Yan Bubu wanted to return to his room through the corridor, seeing so many people suddenly arrive. But the ongoing influx of people clogging the deck left him no choice but to stay put.

Black Lion stood close beside him, nudging people away with its head as they crowded in.

With the current chaos, those jostled by Black Lion didn't even realize what had bumped into them.