Chapter 18 – Leaving

When Su Lifeng returned to the shore, he was momentarily stunned by the scene before him. Severed limbs and blood that had dyed the seawater red were everywhere, but a deathly silence hung over both the deep sea and the deck of the Cruise Ship.

From a distance, he could see numerous corpses slumped against the Cruise Ship’s railings… Was it because he had absorbed the Wisdom Species that all the Xenospecies had died?

As soon as the thought occurred to him, Su Lifeng felt something wasn’t quite right.

If that theory held true, how could he explain the disappearance of the Gelatinous Substance?

However, he had no clues, and no new Precognitive Vision regarding the disaster appeared before his eyes…

“I hope I’m just overthinking it.”

Su Lifeng handed Jiang Yushi over to Cheng Xiaomei, telling her to be careful. He observed the water’s edge for a while longer. Once he was certain the two Xenospecies Octopuses were not lurking beneath the surface, he took a deep breath and dove into the sea. He quickly reached the side of the ship, grabbed the rope the tourists had initially used to “welcome” the Xenospecies, and climbed up rapidly.

After confirming that the ship was indeed filled only with corpses and that the Xenospecies had all vanished, Su Lifeng suppressed his nausea. He picked his way through the bodies covering the floor to find some dry rations and bottled water in the dining hall. Next, he took a walkie-talkie from the body of a crew member. After a moment’s hesitation, he picked up an iron rod from the ground. Having endured this nightmare, he felt he could only find a modicum of peace if he was holding a weapon.

It was only then that Su Lifeng finally felt an uncontrollable sense of exhaustion wash over him.

In less than an hour, he had left Earth’s waters, witnessed the deaths of far too many people, and even seen the impending end of the world… He didn’t even know which event to start grieving for first. Because he had “seen” so many disasters since he was a child, Su Lifeng possessed a level of calm that ordinary people lacked, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid. He was just a young man in his twenties. Even though he had only killed Xenospecies, to him, it still felt like the first time he had taken a “human” life.

But it was precisely because of that fear that he had to do everything in his power to survive…

“You’re from that University Student Tour Group, right?” A voice suddenly came from the woods behind Cheng Xiaomei while she was holding Jiang Yushi and staring at the Cruise Ship.

Cheng Xiaomei tensed up instantly, and the joints of her five fingers suddenly loosened.

However, when she saw the two figures emerging from the forest, the terror in her eyes lessened slightly.

A weary-looking man was holding a little girl’s hand. He waved his other hand repeatedly. “Don’t be afraid, I haven’t turned into a monster. This is my daughter.”

Cheng Xiaomei quickly moved her hand behind her back and looked at the little girl with some surprise.

She had seen a few children on the Cruise Ship, but she hadn’t expected any of them to survive this catastrophe. The little girl appeared to have only sustained some minor injuries.

Seeing Cheng Xiaomei looking at her, the girl immediately took a step back and hid behind the man.

“…Hello,” Cheng Xiaomei said, her nose stinging with emotion. This little sister must have been terrified… though she herself wasn’t doing much better.

What she failed to notice, however, was that while the little girl kept her head down, her eyes were staring curiously at the arm Cheng Xiaomei had hidden behind her back. Then, the girl blinked and looked toward the dilapidated Cruise Ship…

“Sigh, it’s good to be alive. Just being alive is enough. We’ve walked all this way and you two are the only living souls we’ve seen,” the man said, his voice heavy. “I’m planning to take my daughter and leave. Why don’t you come with us?”

Cheng Xiaomei replied, “It’s not just the two of us. I have a friend; he’s already gone to get a lifeboat.”

The man froze for a moment, then couldn’t help but glance back at his daughter.

Truthfully, he had originally intended to hide on the island for a while longer because the two monsters in the sea had left such a terrifying impression on him. However, his daughter had insisted on coming here, even claiming they could go home now.

To think this young girl’s friend had the exact same idea as his daughter…

Su Lifeng spotted Nannan and her father from a distance. He pushed the lifeboat to the shore and immediately stepped onto the beach, approaching Cheng Xiaomei and the others. “And you are…?” he asked.

It wasn’t that he was being overly cautious, but the fact that someone else had reached the shore so quickly felt somewhat inconceivable to him.

In fact, based on his judgment and the dead silence hanging over the island, the four hundred-plus people on the Cruise Ship should all be dead.

“Su, this is Ye-Ge1 and his daughter, Nannan,” Cheng Xiaomei introduced them quickly.

“Ye…”

“The name’s Ye Long. If you don’t mind, kid, just call me Ye-Ge. It’s fate that we’re all meeting here alive,” the man said, taking the initiative to speak.

After learning from Cheng Xiaomei that Su Lifeng had saved them, he had expected a muscular young man. He hadn’t expected to meet such a refined-looking youth. It was truly hard to imagine that this was the person who had led those students on an escape.

However, Cheng Xiaomei hadn’t mentioned Su Lifeng’s ability to predict the disaster. She sensed that this was likely Su Lifeng’s secret, and if that were the case, she shouldn’t reveal it lightly.

Su Lifeng nodded and glanced at Nannan.

Curiously, he clearly felt Nannan peeking at him, but the moment he looked over, she ducked behind Ye Long’s back again.

“My daughter and I were hiding in the woods. When we heard a loud bang, we rushed out and didn’t expect to run into you. This is great; we can go back together. It’s pitch black out there, though, and I have no idea which direction to row or how long it’ll take to get out of here… I was a fisherman for many years, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” Ye Long said with a frown. For some reason, he didn’t want to tell the full truth-at least, he didn’t want to mention that he had only found his daughter after the loud bang echoed out…

Moreover, he could feel that after he spoke those words, his daughter’s hand, which had been deathly tight on his shirt, seemed to relax slightly.

That loud bang… it must have been the sound of the Spatial Gate opening…

Su Lifeng nodded, then said with a hint of pleasant surprise, “Ye-Ge, you were a fisherman?”

“That was years ago. I work for a seafood company now, but I haven’t forgotten the basics of rowing and navigation.” As he spoke, he flashed his watch. “This thing has a compass on it.”

“Then let’s get on the boat. As for how to get out of here, leave that to me,” Su Lifeng said, satisfied. Those Xenospecies intended to enter Earth through this point, which meant the Spatial Gate must still be open. As long as they followed the direction the Cruise Ship had come from, they would naturally be able to leave.

Footnote:

1. -Ge(哥): In Chinese, the term “Ge” (哥) is a respectful and affectionate way to address an older male friend, colleague, or brother.  It is often added after the person’s name to show respect and familiarity, similar to how one might use “bro” or “big brother” in English.