Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 459 - 26 The Dilemma of Food_1

Chapter 459: Chapter 26 The Dilemma of Food_1

"If this is a forest island, does that mean we’re stranded here?" Catherine, gazing at the sea below from the now stable floating ship, posed a question. "This area doesn’t seem to be on a common maritime route, which means the passing vessels are unlikely. Ultimately, we might have to swim across the five kilometers and seek help from the cities of the Sea Country."

"Actually, it doesn’t have to be that difficult. Based on our estimated itinerary, we should reach the City of a Thousand Islands by tomorrow evening. The company always factors in a day of error, which means if our ship, Jeff, isn’t seen at the docking port of the City of a Thousand Islands by the day after tomorrow, it would be assumed that we are in trouble. At that time, they will send out search parties along our route. They would also send a message via the air manta ray to Senaya who would dispatch a team to search the Western Wasteland," the captain said with a composed demeanor. "Hence, our main task is to keep a bonfire going on the beach to create smoke signals. With just five kilometers of sea between us, the search party will surely spot us, and we can easily receive help. The only trouble is that all of us, passengers and crew alike, would have to stay here for at least more than ten days," he concluded.

"If it’s just ten days or so, we can manage it in terms of time," Catherine replied. "But do we have enough food on board? I recall that you restock every time we dock. Therefore, due to weight limitations, I assume you can’t carry too much food? We are more than a hundred passengers and service staff, totaling at least two hundred people. Will the food last?"

"That is indeed a big problem. We only have a five day food supply on the ship," the captain said with a bitter smile. "If we ration the food, it should last until the search parties find us, but it will likely leave a negative impression on our passengers. Many of them wield significant influence in business circles. If they get a negative impression, the company would bear a heavy loss and would face severe criticism."

"So, what’s your point?" Catherine asked. "You are hoping we could come up with a solution, right?"

"Yes. I was hoping that you could help us," the captain replied candidly. "The magi and technicians on board don’t have the ability to handle the magical beasts on this island, but you do. Therefore, I was hoping you could hunt some magical beasts every day for additional food sources. In this way, we can make it through this ordeal without rationing food. The alcohol and the juice might run low towards the end, but the passengers would likely understand given the circumstances, as these items are non-essential."

"What about the water? Do we have enough?" Freya cut in. "I assume the drinking water must weigh more than the food."

"Water isn’t an issue," the captain explained with experience. "We can transfer all the cleaning water supply to our drinking water quota. As for cleaning here, we are by the sea. We can fetch some water, purify it, and use it for bathing and other uses. So, water isn’t a problem; food is."

"There’s no need for all this hassle, and it won’t take as long as ten days," Mr. Pannis said as he casually walked over. "I can send a message to the nearby Sea Race. They can then deliver a message to the City of a Thousand Islands, which would prompt the association to send a few speedboats from a nearby Sea Country city to pick up the passengers. The Sea Race can move several times faster in the water than terrestrial creatures can on land. They should reach the City of a Thousand Islands within a day. Counting in the time it would take for the rescue to get here, it wouldn’t take more than five days."

"You can contact the Sea Race? That’s a huge help!" exclaimed the captain with surprise and joy. "If we can do this, then we’ve solved all of our problems. I am grateful for your assistance; it’s going to be a big help."

"It’s nothing. I really don’t want to spend more than ten days on a deserted island being a hunter and a baby-sitter," Mr. Pannis shrugged, speaking lightly. "I’ll contact the Sea Race now. Please wait for me here."

"Get back here," commanded Lina, who had, at some point, put on her glasses again. Holding a book thicker than her wrist, she spoke emotionlessly. "People with a lacerated intestine need to lie down for treatments. Anything else can be discussed after the treatment - what’s with this roaming around?"

"Well, my intestines haven’t been severed, they’re just punctured," Mr. Pannis, clutching his belly, said. "Don’t go about cursing me for the next time."

"Well, it hasn’t happened... yet." Lina snorted coldly, her words poisonous to the core. "But, I bet if you keep prancing about pretending like everything is fine, they will be. So, it isn’t a curse. I’m just prophesying what’s inevitably going to happen."

"Hey, if it’s inevitable, it doesn’t count as a curse!" Mr. Pannis conceded with a bitter smile. "Okay, I got it wrong. I will contact the Sea Race later. Now, I request you, no, actually, I beg the great Sage Lina for her healing assistance."

"Hmm." With a satisfied grunt and pushing up her glasses, Lina said. "Sit in the lounge chair. The treatment will take about twenty minutes."

"We cannot thank you enough for your help, Mr. Pannis," the old captain said taking off his hat in formal gratitude once Pannis was seated in the lounge chair. "Without your discovery, our floating ship would have been stolen, and River would have been falsely accused. Instead, right now, his family can receive a profound condolence money."

"No need to thank me." Pannis said, lying half-reclined, "I didn’t expect it to develop like this, after all, I was only opposing that dried corpse."

"If possible, Mr. Pannis, could you elaborate on this," the captain said solemnly, "so I can report more clearly to the association?"

"Yes, we’d also like to know," Catherine chimed in, "Though we roughly guessed the process, it’s still just conjecture, so we’d like to confirm some details. Just tell us."

"Actually, we were really lucky this time. If it weren’t for the scream of the female tourist at the very beginning, I’m afraid he would have succeeded," Pannis explained without hesitation," I don’t even know what that dried corpse is called. Do you remember the temple I mentioned before? I met him there. The three of them were defeated in the battle with us and escaped in a unique way. We were in no situation to hunt them down. I thought they would be expelled to another world along with the temple, but it turned out that they had escaped the temple’s range early and were lurking in the Yarran World."

"When I heard the female tourist describe what she had seen, I didn’t think it was him," Pannis said, "But looking back now, it must have been a coincidence that his influence was captured by the Wall of Memories and replayed before the woman’s eyes. I still didn’t know of his existence then, but an undead with wisdom is cause for serious concern."

"I was worried and that’s why I was observing all around at the Hot Spring Inn that night," Pannis paused and shook his head, "Not that I was observing a specific target, but because I was worried something might happen."

"As it turns out, my concern was justified. He must have been amongst the tourists then, still in his original form, that of a mummy. At the inn, he also discovered me and managed to avoid detection. Unfortunately for him, we had seen his shadow everyday - you would also have noticed if you saw it. We just hadn’t made the connection yet."

"But this morning, after we got on the deck and saw River, I smelled a hint of medicine on him and his skin tone was minutely different from when we parted two days ago. Although I didn’t know what the medicine was, from the few ingredients I could discern, I knew that it wasn’t for treatment, so I continued to observe him suspiciously. However, his disguise was perfect, even down to the smallest detail of his target’s habits. I guess he must have swallowed River’s soul directly to obtain his memories. Only in this way could he avoid detection by the people who were closest to him. Captain, I think you were one of them."

"It wasn’t until Vivian was about to return to the cabin that the wind blew from behind and I realized why the shadow seemed familiar. Of course, it couldn’t have been Vivian, as she was right beside us. Apart from Vivian, the first ones that came to mind were them, the only others I knew of with similar figures. Taking into account the non-medical smell I had sensed and the abnormalities I noticed with River, I could guess what had happened."

"He must have planned this long ago; replace River, blend in amongst us and then seize the ship when the opportunity arose. The intelligence the association received was accurate, there really were people plotting against the floating ship."

"That’s basically what happened, and it’s likely that River too was a victim. He was probably murdered the night we docked at Senaya. In essence, Captain, you can report to the association that although the ship suffered some damage, you successfully foiled the enemy’s plot to seize the ship. You made a great effort to prevent the floating ship from crashing and also cleared River’s and the association’s names. With these three achievements, you probably won’t face any censure, and may even be awarded."

"I’m not thinking about awards," the captain shook his head, "At this time, I just hope that there’s still a chance to fly in this child again, that’s enough for me."

"Alright, treatment is over," Lina suddenly patted Pannis’ stomach, "It’s much faster than I expected. It looks like your intestines won’t rupture again anytime soon."

"Is it really okay for me to see that regretful expression?" Pannis asked with a sidelong glance, "Just how much were you hoping that my intestines would burst?"

"Go contact the Sea Race quickly," Catherine waved her hand to usher Pannis away, "We’ll wait for you in the cabin. Captain, sorry, but we want to go back and rest for a while. We’ll contact you again in the evening."

"Please," the captain nodded, "In any case, I must express my gratitude to you all once again." (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to qidian.com to vote and support. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)