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Although the announcement on the interface did not have a clear direction, this new message undoubtedly confirmed her guess. Her intuition was correct. The player nicknamed "Du Xiaobei" would never speak on the world channel again.
Since he couldn't see the previous message records, Tao Sai couldn't confirm whether "Du Xiaobei" was the first player to be killed.
It's probably not the first one. The million experience points on the fourth-level shelter ship are definitely not obtained by simply working hard.
She was even more thankful that she had passed by the Level 4 refuge ship last night without being discovered, and had saved her life from the hands of death. If she had made a slight mistake, her name would have been reported on the world channel.
Tao Sai gazed silently at the sea through the transparent system panel, her heart lingering for a long time. She felt an indescribable sense of desolation. She belatedly wondered if she had warned the player immediately upon discovering the Level 4 refuge ship, whether the outcome would have been different.
But she quickly denied it. The fate was sealed when that player took the initiative to expose his coordinates on the world channel. She was just another ant that had escaped by chance.
After an unknown amount of time, new news popped up on the world channel again.
[Only Love Song Wu Yi (Lv4)]: So boring, is there anyone who wants to chat? :)
Tao Sai looked down and realized her hands were shaking. She wanted to speak. Her eyes focused on the input box. The system prompted her to set a nickname before speaking.
Whatever was in his mind would be displayed in the box. Tao Sai came up with a string of random characters as his nickname, but he kept thinking and deleting the content of his speech, and never sent it out.
[Only Love Song Without Memory (Lv4)]:
[Only Love Qu Wu Yi (Lv4)]: Why are they all trash? Leveling up is so slow.
[Only Love Qu Wu Yi (Lv4)]: Not even one is breathing?
[Only Love Song Without Memory (Lv4)]: Coward
Tao Sai ignored these lines of words, exhaled, restrainedly narrowed the world channel to the corner of his vision, and maintained his sanity.
There was no need to get carried away with her words now. However, she would no longer remain silent. If any new players were misled by him again, she would issue a warning.
What she needed to do most right now wasn't to denounce or condemn, as that was meaningless. Instead, she needed to develop and strengthen herself. Protecting herself was the foundation of everything. The player "Wei Ai Qu Wu Yi" was her true greatest enemy so far, and he was so close to her, which invisibly increased the pressure on her survival.
But there is no need to worry too much now. "Wei Ai Qu Wu Yi" has been deceiving other players' coordinates on the world channel, proving that he is not strong enough to easily discover players. The fact that no players have spoken for a long time and his true colors are revealed and his defense is broken can further illustrate this point.
The "Deep Sea Fish" has already sailed into the sea. The ocean is vast enough, and the two ships are quite far apart. There are thousands of routes, and the probability of meeting again is almost negligible.
Tao Sai calmed himself down, slightly adjusted the steering wheel angle according to the instructions on the electronic nautical chart, and continued to go to Donghai City for supplies as planned.
The three of them continued to take turns piloting for the remainder of the voyage, switching shifts every four hours to prevent boredom and fatigue. Tao Sai would occasionally glance at the small box in the corner of her field of view to see if any players were being tricked, so she could intervene immediately.
However, the world channel was very quiet during this period. Apart from "Wei Ai Qu Wu Yi" occasionally coming out to throw out some bait, no one else spoke.
At 6:15 the next morning, the outlines of the island and the city appeared on the horizon, illuminated by a stunning sunrise.
Donghai City, as a shining pearl in the eastern waters of the motherland, has inherited the history and culture of the city while its economy has taken off, especially its highly developed maritime trade. It has a large-scale international trade port and its cargo throughput has been among the best in the world in the past decade.
However, Tao Sai had his own considerations. He did not choose to dock the refugee ship at an international cargo terminal, but instead chose the fishing boat terminal in the old city.
There is no deep-water port here and the water level is generally shallow.
Therefore, if a level 4 refugee ship wants to dock in Donghai City, it cannot choose to dock here because the tonnage does not match. Its first choice must be to go to the freight terminal.
Tao Sai did some quick research and found that the Donghai City fishing dock had a history of over a hundred years, housing nearly 80% of the island's fishermen. The abundance of fishing boats provided a good cover.
When approaching the fishing boat dock, in order not to attract unnecessary attention, Tao Sai temporarily dismantled the attack system [electro-optical cannon], so that the "Deep Sea Fish" still looked like an ordinary ocean-going fishing boat, just a little newer and larger in size.
Tao Sai slowed down and saw a small boat coming towards him.
A fat man with bare chest and flowered shorts stood on the boat. He raised his head and shouted through a megaphone:
"Hey! Boss, are you from out of town? Looking to dock your boat? Berths for rent, reasonable prices!"
Tao Sai handed the steering wheel to Zhou Ning and descended from the cockpit to the deck to discuss the situation. She had no experience docking, and in fact, no one else had experience either, so she had no choice but to go ahead. Zhou Weixing, fearing she would suffer a loss, stood by to support her.
Tao Sai asked, "How do you charge?"
The fat man looked at the girl who was talking, and then estimated the size of the fishing boat. "How about this? For a long-term rental of more than a season, I'll give you 50 yuan a day, and for a temporary rental, 100 yuan a day. Is that okay? We provide free water and electricity at our berth."
The price wasn't too outrageous. Tao Sai was too lazy to bargain with him. He wouldn't be staying here for many days anyway, so he just agreed to it for a few hundred dollars.
With the boat leading the way, the Deep Sea Fish slowly made its way through the narrow maze of fishing boats, like a car searching for a space in an underground parking lot.
It is now the fishing mooring season. Thousands of fishing boats of various sizes and styles are moored at the dock. The boats are connected in a row, arranged in a chaotic yet orderly manner.
Fishermen live on boats, and a boat is like a family.
Most fishermen are locals, likely no longer having homes on land. Their families have moved aboard their fishing boats, where they work, rest, and live. The fishing boat docks have naturally formed a community, where they've lived for generations, fishing for a living and the sea as their home. Compared to the bustling new town, the docks offer a more down-to-earth feel.
The Deep Sea Fish finally came to rest at a berth close to the shore. Flanked by large fishing boats of similar size, they provided excellent shielding for the ship's hulls. Due to the significant height difference between the water and the shore, the shore was almost level with the deck, concealing the new bow hull.
The "Deep Sea Fish" blends almost perfectly into the environment. If pedestrians pass by from the shore, they can't tell the difference at a glance.
Unless someone happened to stop and stare at it, they would notice that the hull of the fishing boat next to it was no longer shiny, but was covered in damage and rust. This was the result of long-term corrosion from the sea water. Only this boat was still brand new. However, no one would stop and study it specifically.
After the boat docked, Tao Sai first paid three days' rent. It would take about three days for all the online shopping packages to arrive and for An Nan and her family to be picked up.
As the Deep Sea Fish neared Donghai City, its signal was restored, and several orthopedic medical staff successfully contacted their families. They had enjoyed a pleasant time aboard the vessel, enjoying each other and having a truly unforgettable experience. However, all good things must come to an end, and they agreed to disembark and reunite with their families.
The only one who did not plan to leave was Liang Yuanzhou. He had no relatives in Nanzhou City and his parents were both abroad.
"What? Xiao Guo, you guys are leaving?" Grandma Zhou asked reluctantly.
She is old and has a bad back. As an orthopedic nurse, Guo Xiaoming has learned many massage techniques outside of her profession. She has massaged Grandma Zhou several times in the past few days. Each time, she can make Grandma Zhou feel refreshed for a while, and it is so comfortable.
Guo Xiaoming hugged Grandma Zhou, also reluctant to leave. Grandma Zhou was kind and amiable, much like her grandmother who had recently passed away. She said, "Grandma, I'll call you. I've already taught Ningning the massage techniques, and she's learned very quickly."
Grandma Zhou looked at their backs and waved like the young people, "Xiao Guo, please take care of yourselves."
"Goodbye, Grandma!"
"Goodbye, uncle and aunt!"
"Goodbye everyone!"
…
Everyone waved goodbye one by one.
"Xiao Tao, thank you all for saving my life. We will meet again if we are lucky!" Feng Bi, who was walking at the end, stepped onto the wooden plank and got ashore with the help of Yin Wen and Mi Hanqing. She immediately turned around and put her hands together to express her gratitude.
"See you again if we're lucky." Tao Sai nodded politely.
Feng Bi suddenly glanced at the large empty warehouse behind the deck. Liang Yuanzhou was sitting alone on a stool, resting his eyes. She whispered to Tao Sai, "Xiao Tao, our Doctor Liang may not have gotten over that incident yet. Please take good care of him."
"Of course, don't worry," Tao Sai said.
Tao Sai had noticed Liang Yuanzhou was quite silent these past few days. At the dinner table, everyone chatted, but he remained silent. At a hilarious movie scene, everyone else burst into laughter, but he remained expressionless.
If Guo Xiaoming hadn't said that Dr. Liang used to be very easy to talk to, Tao Sai would have thought that he was born that way.
After all, someone with strength and background like him is bound to be arrogant.
It was a good thing that he took the initiative to stay. It was worth it for Tao Sai to risk his life to save him. Having a real doctor on the ship is always a guarantee.
From the moment the five orthopedic surgeons boarded the ship, Tao Sai had been observing their loyalty. It was consistently low. Even though they knew this was a disaster affecting all of humanity, they had little desire to remain on the refugee ship. The reason was easy to guess: they had families, concerns, and careers to pursue.
So when he heard that they were leaving, Tao Sai did not try to keep them.
Among these people, only Liang Yuanzhou's loyalty has been increasing, but it is still far from the 60 points required to develop into a character.
After seeing off the four people from the orthopedics department, Tao Sai couldn't sit still for a moment and quickly arranged the next division of labor.
Grandma Zhou and Liang Yuanzhou stayed on the boat. Liang Yuanzhou was actually a good-looking man, tall and strong, but he had been in a very low mood since the beginning of the day, so Tao Sai decided to let him stay.
Tao Sai took An Nan, Lan Xiaojia and Lin Yan to the express station to pick up the packages. There were quite a few packages arriving at the station in the past two days, including a batch of very heavy all-metal supermarket shelf parts, so this group had the most people assigned to it.
Zhou Ning and her daughter Li Yinzhu went to the nearby vegetable market to buy fresh ingredients.
Zhou Weixing went to the life market at the dock alone, contacted a craftsman to come on board to install marble kitchen countertops and integrated stoves, and then added refrigerators and freezers depending on the situation.
Everyone wears a headset and can communicate at any time on the [Command and Control Center·Primary] channel.
The wharf's vegetable market wasn't far from the berth. After asking for directions from passersby, Zhou Ning walked a few hundred meters and found it. The wharf primarily traded seafood, and this was the only market selling ingredients sourced from land.
There used to be a sign at the entrance of the vegetable market, which marked the guide prices of vegetables and meat in the market today, but now the sign has been pushed down and countless footprints are on it.
Zhou Ning stood at the entrance of the market, tiptoeing inside to see a sea of people. She had been wondering why there were so few people on the street, but it turned out most of them had gathered here.
In the past few days, unprecedented disasters have broken out around the world. News and rumors about natural disasters and doomsday have spread like wildfire, and residents on the islands have begun to frantically stockpile food.
The prices of vegetables, meat, rice, flour, grain and oil at various stalls in the market were all shockingly high, with prices increasing exponentially. The market managers tried to put a stop to this profiteering behavior, but were quickly squeezed out by the people who rushed to grab the goods. In the end, they could only acquiesce and helplessly maintain order among the crowd, shouting at the top of their lungs to remind everyone not to crowd and push.
Zhou Ning originally wanted to buy more food because she needed a refrigerator to store the food longer and freeze the meat. But she and her mother finally squeezed into a vegetable stall and saw a cabbage marked with a staggering price of 125 yuan!
This made Zhou Ning's eyes freeze. She suddenly remembered that one time when she was going home from get off work, she saw a vendor pushing a cart selling vegetables at the gate of the community. The sign on the cart read "One yuan per cabbage".
For the first time, Zhou Ning intuitively experienced the meaning of the term "soaring prices."
"If you don't want to buy it, just leave! You're just wasting time!"
The old man behind her yelled at her, and in the moment she hesitated, she was pushed out.
On the other hand, considering that there were too many express deliveries to be picked up, Tao Sai borrowed three carts and rubber bands from the berth owner.
When Tao Sai arrived at the express delivery station, he lined up and reported a pickup code. The guy skillfully picked up the corresponding package and scanned it with a machine. The screen showed that this was a user with multiple packages. Then he saw the number of remaining packages, 203.
Delivery boy: “…”
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