Mary followed her gaze and saw a tattered little sailboat slowly and crookedly approaching from the western horizon.
====================
After finishing the last exam...I feel like I'm half dead.
Please give me some monthly tickets to comfort my wounded heart QAQ
Leave request (one day)
I've been busy moving things for most of the day during the holiday, and I'm a little tired, so I'll take a day off~~
Chapter 523 Lifeboat
When Meili heard Qi Ji's words, her first reaction was that there was some danger. She immediately ran to the front deck as if facing a great enemy, stepped on the center of the ritual diagram that had just been drawn by Nuss, and directed the crew to take their positions.
"Huh? Is that a boat?"
After injecting spiritual power into the diagram beneath her feet as requested, she noticed the shadow of a ship gradually approaching from the west...it didn't look threatening.
The ship was more like a larger sampan with a sail than a sail. Its total length was no more than ten meters. The sides of the ship were covered with cracks and damage, and the entire hull was crooked, giving people the impression that it would sink at any time.
On the top of the simple mast, there was a tattered white flag, fluttering sickly in the sea breeze.
In sailing, raising a white flag not only symbolizes surrender, but also represents a signal for help, meaning to seek help from any ship that sees you.
But even if the white flag was not hoisted, the ship knew at a glance that it was in a bad situation.
"It's a lifeboat, and it should be carrying survivors who have experienced something similar to ours."
Meili covered her forehead with her right hand, looked carefully into the distance for a while, and made such a judgment.
At this distance, it was difficult for her to see how many people were on the boat with her eyesight, but based on the size and condition of the target, the number of people on board would not exceed ten, otherwise such a small sampan would have been sunk.
"White flag... they are asking us for help."
A nearby crew member frowned and said, he was one of the sailors on the Challenger:
"Captain, what should we do? Should we ignore it?"
His proposal sounded cruel, but considering the current situation of his group, even if he really did not help the person in danger, it could not be considered an atrocity that was against the will of heaven.
After all, although this two-masted light sailing ship was in quite good condition overall, it was probably because it was originally laid down on the mudflat to paint the bottom of the ship, so the internal space was specially cleaned and the stored supplies were extremely limited.
The dry food could only sustain the survivors' group of a dozen people for less than a month, and there were no fishing tools such as fishing nets and mines, which meant that the group had almost no way to replenish food at sea.
From the Steel City to the "Giant Island" on the southern continent, one needs to pass through Jie Lian Island as a transit station and supply station. The voyage from the Steel City to Jie Lian Island is exactly about a month.
This is just an ideal situation. If there is any accident during the journey, such as wind and waves, getting lost, etc., the time will definitely be extended.
In other words, the supplies on this ship can only be said to be barely enough and cannot be given to other outsiders.
In such a difficult situation, facing the lifeboat slowly approaching from the west...if they didn't change their profession to pirates on the spot, eat up the enemy and then abandon them, they would have been considered to have a moral level far higher than that of ordinary people.
Meili could certainly think of this, and her expression became much heavier. She thought for a while with a serious look in her eyes, and then she sighed helplessly:
"Oh...don't pay attention to them, let's keep going."
After hearing such an order, the crew members' eyes dimmed a little, but they did not show any overly surprised expressions. After all, it was reasonable for Mary to make such a choice, and there was nothing to blame.
If you can’t even survive yourself, who would care about the life or death of others?
Everyone is just trying to survive.
So the brig ignored the damaged lifeboat and continued on its original course, heading southwest.
Since the light sailing boat that the survivors were riding was sailing with the wind, the lifeboat, which was heading in the opposite direction, was of course sailing against the wind. It had no way of relying on wind power and could only be rowed with two thin oars. Naturally, its speed was far slower than that of the light sailing boat.
According to the current trajectory, the distance between the two ships will get closer and closer, and eventually they will be completely separated a few hundred meters behind the light sailboat.
No matter how hard the lifeboat tried, it would not be able to catch up with the light sailboat, which was traveling much faster than itself.
"Keep an eye on their movements. If they change course and try to pursue us... then report it to me and I will give them a warning."
Meili said with a gloomy face. She was still standing on the ritual array in the center of the front deck. The spiritual power that was mobilized in her body did not relax, but was ready to maintain the operation of the array.
Looking from the outside, one can see the complex pattern drawn by the burn marks. At this moment, an extremely subtle red light is lit up on the surface, and it shakes and flashes irregularly from time to time.
It was as if chaotic electric currents were rushing through it, releasing violent and rapid energy.
"Yes! Captain!"
After receiving the instructions, the sailor hurriedly sent a man to climb up a mast, overlooking the shabby lifeboat that was getting closer and closer from the top and observing its movements.
Perhaps because the lifeboat saw that the other party had no intention of turning around to rescue it, it also showed no signs of changing its course and continued to row due east.
Ten minutes later, the distance between the two ships reached its closest point, and Mary was able to clearly see the situation on the lifeboat with her naked eyes.
The boat was only one-story and had no structures like sheds to block its view. All the people and objects on board could be seen at a glance.
There were seven or eight people on the lifeboat, all of them were in poor condition, all of them were pale and thin, their clothes were dirty and tattered, and some of them were lying on the ground, not knowing whether they were dead or alive. It was obvious that they had been suffering from hunger and thirst for some time.
Coupled with the terrible appearance of the lifeboat they were riding in, it was as miserable as it could be, a classic image of refugees.
Most of the members were dressed as adventurers, and some men and women were even wearing loose wizard robes, which surprised Mary.
"...Those two people are mages? Tsk, I don't know what happened to them. There are so many extraordinary people, but they have fallen into such a situation..."
Meili felt a little sympathetic, but she didn't let her compassion cloud her mind, so she didn't say anything.
While the people on the caravel were looking at the lifeboat, the people on the lifeboat were also looking at the caravel.
The few members who were still conscious glanced at everyone on the deck of the sailboat with desperate eyes, as if they were still silently asking for help with their eyes.
Just when Meili wanted to look away, she found that a few of the people on the other side... seemed a little different?
There were three young people, most likely adventurers, two men and one woman. One of them was the two mages in robes, and the remaining man was probably a swordsman or something like that.
The three men, like the others on the lifeboat, had cast desperate glances at the light sailboat, but when they saw something on the deck, they suddenly showed expressions of extreme shock.
The next second, the three of them stood up, waved and shouted towards this side with extremely excited expressions, and at the same time, they were looking in the same direction.
Due to the distance between them, Meili couldn't hear clearly what they were shouting, but she could vaguely make out... they seemed to be shouting a very short pronunciation repeatedly.
Maybe... a name?
Out of curiosity, she followed the gaze of the three people, wanting to see what they were shouting at.
But the distance was too far, and it was difficult for him to locate where the other party's gaze ended. He could only roughly judge that they should be looking at a certain position on the front deck.
The front deck is where the ritual diagram given by Captain Jack is drawn. Normally no one comes here, so now the only person on the front deck besides myself who is maintaining the operation of the diagram is...
A petite figure in a black cloak came into view.
"One zero five?!"
Chapter 524: Changes on Jielian Island
“…Huh?!”
Meili was shocked. At first she thought she had misunderstood and that the three people were shouting at something or someone else.
But after carefully scanning the entire front deck, he found that apart from himself and 105, there were no other living creatures here.
Not to mention living things, there wasn’t even any “things”—all those oak barrels were piled somewhere else!
Maybe they are looking at the sea?
With such doubts in mind, she turned her head, followed the eager gazes of the three people, and looked over the railing on the other side of the front deck at the vast blue sea.
However, nothing could be seen in that direction except the shimmering sea surface and the rising and falling waves, not even a single fish could be seen.
and so……
"Yao Lingwu, do you know those people?"
After eliminating all possibilities, no matter how incredible the remaining possibility is, it is the possibility closest to the truth.
So Meili stopped deceiving herself and asked Qi Ji, who was leaning on the railing not far away, in a very surprised tone.
At this time, the beautiful girl in a cloak with loose black hair was looking in the direction of the lifeboat, her eyes meeting those of the three young men dressed as adventurers. There was a faint smile on her pretty face, and no one knew what it meant.
Hearing this question, she glanced at Meili from the corner of her eye, shrugged her shoulders, and answered in a nonchalant tone:
"Yes, he is an acquaintance."
"Ah... so you two know each other..."
This answer was exactly what Mary expected, but she was still troubled. She scratched the back of her head with one hand, looking embarrassed.
To be honest, this fact made her a little embarrassed.
Emotionally speaking, 105 has helped me many times and saved many lives, including my own, from fire and water many times. He either contributed physically or intellectually, but he played a crucial role in reversing desperate situations.
In a sense, it is not an exaggeration to say that Yao Lingwu was a man of great grace who gave his group a new life.
Judging from the behavior of the three people on the lifeboat, it is obvious that the relationship between them and 105 is more than just "acquaintance".
Most of them are close friends, otherwise they wouldn't have such fanatical expressions and shout towards us, as if they had seen a savior.
Therefore, lending a helping hand when a benefactor's friend is in danger is not only emotionally natural, but also an unquestionable reward from a rational point of view.
However... the problem is that this cannot change their group's current situation: their supplies are still scarce, and they simply cannot give them to so many outsiders!
What should I do?
On the one hand, she felt ashamed of Yao Lingwu, and on the other hand, she felt helpless about the current situation. Meili's heart was suddenly caught in an extremely contradictory struggle, and her face was full of embarrassment and difficulty.
"Ah... To be honest, this is indeed too coincidental in many ways. I even wonder if the world has changed again due to my subconscious."
Seeing Meili's conflicted and dilemmatic expression, Qi Ji sighed and stopped making things difficult for her.
With her perception, when the lifeboat was still far away from the light sailing ship, her inspiration captured the spiritual fluctuations of the three members of Frion's team.
That's right, the three guys on the lifeboat who were shouting wildly and waving their coats and pieces of cloth to try to attract his attention were the three adventurers he met by chance in the Great Forest of the East, Captain Frion, Mage Lina and Mage Io.
I have to say, she was indeed a little surprised at that moment.
She originally thought it was a coincidence that she picked up the seriously injured and unconscious Nus while out at sea, but just a few days later, she ran into an acquaintance again!
When coincidences reach a certain level, they can no longer be explained by coincidence.
Qi Ji had reason to suspect that, just like the previous reconstruction of history and reality, he had once again inadvertently affected the operation of the world.
After all, they can even do something like tampering with history... In comparison, just meeting a few acquaintances by chance is not on the same level in terms of scale and difficulty, right?
"Well... let's put it this way, Meili, we can try to take in the people on that boat."
Putting all the disturbing thoughts out of her mind, she said to Mary.
"Well, but... 105, you know the situation on our ship..."
When Meili heard Qi Ji asking her to take those people in, her face suddenly turned bitter and she was at a loss.
In her opinion, Yao Lingwu was not an unreasonable person, but if she really let personal feelings control her mind and forced herself to take him in... then she really had no choice.
You can't just throw your savior off the boat, can you?
"Well, I understand our difficulties. Don't worry, I won't force you to do anything unreasonable."
Qi Ji looked at Meili's gradually bitter face, smiled helplessly, and continued to say comfortingly:
"We are purely considering the interests. They have three extraordinary people. Oh, yes, those three adventurers are all in the second realm. If so many strong people join us, it will surely effectively strengthen our self-defense capabilities, right?"
She stretched out her hand and drew a circle around it, and analyzed seriously:
"Think about it, including me, there are two righteous mages on our ship.
“If we have two more righteous mages and one righteous warrior, we can not only more efficiently activate the magic circle left by Nuss… uh, Jack, to resist more ferocious dangers, but we can also consider fishing activities to extend our survival time on the ship.
"It's the best of both worlds, isn't it? After all, in times of turmoil, numbers mean strength."
When Meili thought about it, it seemed to be true!
There is a shortage of supplies on the ship, mainly food. But if a few more extraordinary people of the second realm were added, it would be a different situation.
They are no longer completely helpless, but are able to work together and try to use spiritual means to make up for the lack of fishing and hunting tools, so as to catch fish and fill the food gap!
Besides, they also have Yao Lingwu, an "earth" wizard who is good at the field of life. When he went out to sea with her for the first time, he also used her power to attract fish in the sea!
"Indeed...it works!"
After realizing this truth, Meili immediately smiled, and the psychological burden of watching someone die without helping was completely eliminated.
