When disaster struck, I became a big shot surviving in the ocean.
Chapter 23: The Kidnapped Child

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: The Kidnapped Child

"..."

Clatter, a survivor dropped his chopsticks on the ground.

"Ao——!!My family——!!!"

The survivor suddenly let out a wail and flung herself at Chen Qing, hugging her and sobbing.

"Wuwuwu——you have no idea what we’ve been through these days wuwuwu——"

The girl cried messily, her misery palpable.

When she first entered the game, she thought she could defeat the South Mountain Pirates with her fists and kick the Beihai Fish Beasts, but in the end...

Wuwuwu——it was too inhumane.

"It’s alright, it’s alright."

Chen Qing gently patted the girl on the back, patiently consoling her.

"You are safe now."

"..."

Daliya, in the kitchen, was leaning against the doorway, almost seething with resentment that seemed to take nearly physical form, staring intently at the girl.

"Boss, I can wash clothes, cook, clean, and I also can sing little songs. Please take me in wuwuwu——I don’t want to wander anymore."

The girl asked Chen Qing while crying and hoping.

She truly didn’t want to keep wandering the seas anymore. It was really too miserable.

If they were captured by pirates again, who knew if there would be another Chen Qing to save them!

As soon as she said this, other survivors also looked hopefully at Chen Qing—they didn’t want to wander anymore either.

They knew about this boss from the start of the game, for she had been helping other survivors in the help channel.

Now that she had such a big ship and had easily killed a ship full of pirates, staying under her would provide a great sense of security!

Even without any salary, just to be provided two meals a day and a place to stay would be fine!

They could work 12 hours of overtime!

A few of the survivors sneered at the girl’s words; if it weren’t for the pirates’ numerical advantage...

"Sorry, that’s not possible."

Chen Qing shook her head. That was her bottom line; she wouldn’t agree.

The girl looked at Chen Qing with teary eyes.

"However, you can choose to go to reef island. I will take you there."

"Javis."

Chen Qing turned her head toward the kitchen and raised her voice slightly.

Javis quickly fled the suffocating kitchen and repeated to the other survivors what she had discussed with Chen Qing earlier.

"If you don’t want to go to the reef island, I’ll give you new rafts and fishing nets, as well as some basic survival supplies."

The rafts and fishing nets personally made by Chen Qing were definitely better than those provided by the system.

"Alternatively, you can choose to land on Sapphire Island."

Chen Qing gave the survivors three options, patiently allowing them to choose whichever they preferred.

Of course, if anyone tried to take an inch and demand a mile, Chen Qing wouldn’t be soft-handed.

"It all sounds nice, so why don’t you give us that ship."

Someone among the crowd murmured what they thought was quietly.

"Exactly, so much for the boss."

"Such a big ship can’t carry a few more people? As if being a Good Person is that easy."

They might have deliberately said it so Chen Qing could hear, but when everyone’s eyes turned on them, they couldn’t help but panic a bit.

Especially in Chen Qing’s gaze—so calm, yet still capable of instilling fear.

"What kind of face do you all have? Does the boss owe you anything? Pah!"

The girl stood with her hands on her hips, pointing at their noses and cursing, having never seen such shamelessness before.

"Just... just saying."

The first to speak out tucked her head in and immediately pleaded for mercy.

"We debarked at Sapphire Island... thank you."

They were all in cahoots.

Everyone looked disdainfully at that group, as if even the sea beasts in the ocean could hear their scheming.

Chen Qing glanced at them and uttered a soft response.

"And you?"

Chen Qing turned to look at another group of survivors.

"We’re heading to Reef Island."

The girl hastily said, the boss was kind, and if there was a problem with Reef Island, she certainly wouldn’t just leave them there.

After all, she was scared, and living a good life was better than anything.

"Yes, yes, we’re going to Reef Island."

Starting over from scratch wasn’t so bad, farming, they were good at it!

"Oh, right!"

The survivors who had previously sought to take advantage had suddenly spoken up, anxiety written all over their faces.

"I’ve just remembered something, those pirates captured many, many children!"

"But then the ship stopped at a place, and not long after they were captured, all the children disappeared."

The survivor pointed at Javis and his companions.

They simply wanted to take advantage, but they weren’t evil people.

"Those children should be... just like us."

A flicker of compassion crossed her eyes, this damned game was harmful even to children.

How could those children possibly survive on their own!

Chen Qing’s brow furrowed slightly, and Javis immediately spoke up.

"We were captured near a small deserted island, and the merchant ship might have been left there too."

"The pirates probably planned to sell those children to Slave Island."

Javis described what the deserted island they passed by looked like; it was a place with dreadful conditions, so the pirates wouldn’t stay there for too long.

The price for children on Slave Island was high, and although Sapphire Island also had cases of slave trading, they were mostly adult slaves.

"Okay, I understand."

Chen Qing quickly opened the chat channel and explained the situation in both the regional chat and the private channels.

To see if anyone had noticed, or if any survivors in the private channels could help.

If the children were on the deserted island, Chen Qing and her group could still rescue them, but if they had reached Slave Island, even Chen Qing would be at a loss.

Those children might not be able to wait until Chen Qing had the ability to save them.

Most of the survivors in the channel were scattered across a region, and those on Chen Qing’s ship were from the same channel.

There was no distress message from children in the channel; they most likely had been sedated.

The survivors on the ship also saw the message sent by Chen Qing and were astonished at how swiftly the boss acted.

[Damn, those pirates even sell children! That’s just devoid of any morals!]

[They’re pirates, real-life ruthless murderers and plunderers! Did you think they were characters from One Piece?]

[No wonder those children in the channel haven’t spoken up in the past few days, oh my god!]

[Does anyone have information on that deserted island? Please tell the boss quickly!]

The chat channel burst into activity, and even survivors who had previously been quarreling were now eagerly providing clues and analyzing the situation.

Humans are complex creatures, with both good and bad sides; there are not so many absolute good and bad people.

After all, they were a group of children without parents by their side, not brats, previously they were well-behaved in the chat channel.

Soon, a survivor named Shu Yin contacted Chen Qing, providing a key clue.

[I think I’m near that deserted island, I have seen it before, what do you need me to do?]

At the same time, Chen Qing received a message from Zhao Fuli in the private channel.

Zhao Fuli wasn’t far from the sea area where other survivors in Chen Qing’s chat channel were located.

A rescue mission for the flowers of our nation was about to begin!