No one answered Jin Mantang's surprised question.
Jin Mantang probably doesn't need anyone to answer him.
When cold reality forcefully dominates everything, all words seem pale and inadequate.
Later, more and more people saw the outside view through the circular windows of the mountain.
The crowd initially erupted in uncontrollable panic and commotion, but eventually it all subsided into a deathly silence.
"...Mom, didn't Grandpa and Grandma say they'd be boarding the ship in a couple of days? Where are they?"
The child's innocent question broke the silence, but then brought with it a cacophony of cries.
The mother, who was being questioned by her child, knelt down and hugged her child tightly, wanting to laugh but unable to think of anything to say.
In the end, all he could manage was a distorted, forced expression, and he said in a hoarse voice, "...Sweetie, your grandparents...have already boarded another ship. The waves are too big...we'll go find them after the rain stops..."
The five- or six-year-old girl looked at her mother with her overly clear and bright eyes. She suddenly pursed her lips, nodded as if she understood something but didn't, and said, "...Then, my dear girl, Mommy remembers to take you to see your grandparents."
Her mother's response was an outpouring of uncontrollable tears.
The day after the collapse of the Qingchuan Plateau, at dawn.
More than two million people on the mountain ship witnessed the collapse of the roof of the world.
By this time, almost the entire world was covered by seawater, and the Age of Oceans seemed to have arrived silently.
Due to the persistent rainfall, satellite communications were intermittent. The survivors in Washington State had no idea whether any other survivors remained on the largest ocean in human history.
But the more desperate the situation, the stronger people's survival instinct becomes. People have lost the land they depended on for survival, and countless compatriots and lives, but those who survived tried even harder to live.
The fifteenth day after the roof collapsed.
The turbulent waves have subsided, and although the heavy rain continues, the apocalyptic experience of the landslide and massive waves has subsided, and the wind and rain no longer seem to evoke fear or helplessness.
"I heard they've manufactured another batch of survival orbs! Three thousand of them! Son, didn't you research how to improve the machines? Were you just a little short of getting your share of survival orbs?"
...
"Dad, the research department over at Mount Two sells automatic underwater fishing nets. If I go to the seabed today to look for useful supplies, I'll be able to raise enough money to buy an automatic fishing net!"
"Why are you buying a fishing net? You should use your contribution points to buy better diving equipment! There's a shortage of all sorts of manufacturing supplies on the ship right now. Even just scooping up a few rocks at sea can earn you contribution points!"
...
"Grandpa, I already told you I can go into the sea to retrieve supplies. You don't need to work in the planting pod. You're so old, can't you just enjoy your retirement?"
Jin Mantang, with a headache, spoke to his grandfather, who had lost a lot of weight, only to be slapped on the face by his grandfather: "Look at the situation now, and think about what we ate for lunch today. Do you think your grandfather can still enjoy his old age?!"
Although Grandpa Jin had lost a lot of weight, he was still in good spirits: "After all, your grandpa is a senior agricultural research expert. In the past, I didn't have to do the actual work; I just taught those who hadn't farmed much how to farm better."
"We're short of everything right now, and the growing conditions on the ship are pretty basic. Oh, I'm not going to talk to you anymore. I need to go get some artificial fertilizer so that the potatoes can grow better."
"Also, when Fugui comes back, have him take three of each kind of seed from the box for me. Just three, I want to see if this planting environment can make the seeds germinate."
After saying that, Grandpa Jin left with his majestic black-backed dog, his talkative parrot, and two little squirrels.
Jin Mantang was left with a sense of helplessness.
But Jin Mantang smiled slightly, thinking of his grandfather's enthusiastic attitude and his desire to serve the people. Anyway, it would be boring to sit in the capsule and tell stories to the children every day, so he might as well let his grandfather do what he could.
With the black-backed dogs following him and guards on the other side of the planting area, Grandpa wasn't worried about his safety.
However, after laughing, Jin Mantang sighed again. He glanced at the bored husky, two teddy bears, and four cats beside him, and could only continue to guard the house dutifully.
"When will Fugui come back... When will Brother Xie and Brother Sanchuan come back... Just because I have the worst constitution doesn't mean I have to stay home every day to watch things! It's so boring!"
Jin Mantang groaned in pain outside the capsule. But this didn't stop him from holding a sharp fruit knife, glaring menacingly at everyone who entered the area.
The situation was pretty much the same in other parts of the accommodation area as in Jin Mantang's place, with people with ill intentions loitering around and others carrying weapons and armor, watching their surroundings warily.
This was the fifteenth day after the collapse of Qingchuan. After the painful breakdown of the previous days, the people on the ship quickly ran out of time and energy to grieve.
On the fifth day, everyone noticed that the amount of food served on the ship was decreasing, especially vegetables and meat. If they didn't use contribution points to buy extra food, the amount of vegetables and meat they could get for their work meals was pitifully small.
On the tenth day, the entire ship of Mountain Three was informed that the ship's food reserves had dwindled dramatically. For long-term considerations, only two essential, minimal meals would be provided daily. If anyone felt the food was insufficient, they could go fishing or use contribution points to purchase additional food. However, even the additional food was subject to restrictions.
So the ship began a collective effort to go into the sea to salvage supplies or fish.
But this is not an easy task.
Even those who are good swimmers will find that the real ocean is completely different from the feeling of freely swimming on the beach, in a river, or even in a swimming pool once they go into the sea.
The wind and rain would obscure their vision, the water underwater was icy cold, and they would occasionally encounter exceptionally ferocious and hungry sea fish.
Therefore, those who went into the sea dared not leave the vicinity of the giant ship. Most people would buy a long rope, tie it to the surviving lifeboat, and then go down to dive and retrieve fish or supplies.
In the end, there was some gain, but only a few people gained anything; most people just experienced the hardships of fishermen.
Due to increased physical activity and reduced food intake, most people on the giant ship lost a significant amount of weight in just two weeks.
Only those who are particularly good at diving or swimming, or those who survived and had their own lifeboats, were able to survive well.
Whale Fugui is clearly one of the very few people who are living a good life.
From the moment it became possible to go fishing in the sea, the wealthy and beautiful woman would bring back several fish or a bagful of crabs and shrimp every day.
Even Xie Tianlang, the super wolf, is no match for Jing Fugui when it comes to simply diving to catch fish and gather supplies.
So much so that whenever the people on the boat saw this long-haired young man return with a full catch, they would grit their teeth in envy and hate themselves for not having such good fishing skills!
But when Jing Fugui returned today, his expression was somewhat solemn.
He caught another ferocious fish this time, but the fish looked really strange and ugly, so ugly that it was hard to look at. And there was a glowing "little lantern" hanging on the fish's head.
Gou Fugui carried the one-meter-long ugly fish back to the capsule, causing many people to give way along the way.
Jin Mantang noticed the commotion and was initially very happy to turn around to greet his wealthy brother, but he almost cried out the moment he saw the ugly fish.
"…Holy crap! What the hell is this?!"
Whale Rich rolled his eyes: "Haven't you ever seen an anglerfish before? The lantern on its head is so obvious."
Jin Mantang twitched his lips: "Of course I've heard of anglerfish, but seeing such a fresh, dead anglerfish for the first time is quite a shock."
Then Jin Mantang asked the most basic question that every Washingtonian would ask: "Is this fish tasty? It looks a bit ugly."
Whale Fugui scoffed, then proudly raised its head: "If it weren't tasty, would I have caught it?"
So Jin Mantang was relieved, while the other onlookers around them were both relieved and secretly envious.
At this moment, Jin Mantang noticed that his brother Fugui's complexion was not good.
"What's wrong, bro? Aren't you happy about catching a big fish?"
Whale Rich twitched the corner of his mouth, thinking to himself, "It's precisely because we caught a big fish we shouldn't have caught that we're worried."
Did you know that these large anglerfish live in the deep sea at a depth of 1,000 meters?
Jin Mantang didn't immediately notice the problem: "Deep-sea fish or shallow-sea fish, as long as it's edible... wait, where did you catch this fish?!"
Jin Mantang finally realized what was happening.
Then he heard his wealthy brother reply, "A sea forest area a hundred meters below the seabed."
Then, Whale Rich added, "...Can you imagine, that entire sea forest is dead."
Sea forests are like forests on land, and are probably one of the most popular gathering places for marine life.
There should be many different schools of fish swimming there, and many shellfish, shrimp, and algae living there.
But when Gou Fugui transformed into a black and white killer whale and swam there using his sensitivity to the ocean, he saw only a lifeless seabed and deep-sea anglerfish that shouldn't be in shallow waters.
The dead sea forest and the anglerfish in the deep sea made the usually calm and collected Gou Fugui feel that indescribable, almost bone-chilling horror once again.
He was just like everyone else on the ship, naively believing that a landslide and tsunami was the limit of disaster, and that everything would return to peace after the sea covered the entire world.
After drifting safely at sea for half a month, he almost forgot that this was a world destined for destruction.
Until I was slapped hard by the sight of the seabed.
The end times have come, and the disasters are far from over.
Not only was the land that people could see submerged by the sea, but something terrible and uncontrollable must have also happened on the seabed that people could not see.
Life in the sea is also dying in large numbers.
Gou Fugui lowered his eyes and said in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"Starting today, secretly store some food. The more the better."
Jin Mantang didn't quite understand what the Fu Gui brothers meant at first, but twenty days later, he witnessed the evil in human nature.
"Where's the food in my capsule?! Who stole the food from my capsule?! I saved every single bite of it every day, how could you be so cruel?!"
"Most of the vegetables in the planting base have been stolen! From now on, the ship will only provide one steamed bun per day! Are they trying to starve us?! We can't catch any fish at sea, and the crew on the ship won't collect any supplies from the seabed! Where are we supposed to find food?!"
"It is said that according to calculations, there may be another 'immeasurable' tsunami and undersea earthquake in the future. I was thinking about what to do before, but now I think it's ridiculous. I may starve to death before the tsunami and undersea earthquake even happen."
The hungry people complained, were angry, and cried in the ship's cabin.
Someone else walked up to Jin Mantang, Old Master Jin, and Song Sanchuan, who were guarding the capsule, and said:
"Hand over your dogs. We only need one today, that useless husky."
"When people are starving to death, what's the point of keeping animals around?"
Jin Mantang's eyes widened in disbelief at that moment. Then he noticed that the previously chaotic and noisy capsule accommodation area had suddenly become quiet.
It seemed as if everyone's eyes were now fixed on them.
Like that tunnel in the rainy night, with its scarlet-eyed wolves.
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