Chapter 140: Grimms' Fairy Tales (1)

The three of them quickly walked out onto the deck. As soon as they stepped onto it, Stanny and Wookey were sighing heavily over two tilapia fish lying flat on the floor.

Chen Cao caught sight of them, walked over, and asked, "What is it? Didn't you catch any fish?"

Stanny heaved a sigh, looking aggrieved as he said, "Boss, I don't know what's going on. When we were fishing yesterday, there weren't this many piranhas around here. When we went down today, suddenly a whole lot of piranhas appeared nearby, and all the other fish ran off. We didn't dare venture too far, so only these two 'escaped fish' got caught. Looks like we're going to bed on empty stomachs today!" As he spoke, he paused to think and then asked, "Boss, can the boat below still run?"

Before Chen Cao could reply, Hua Fo looked at the two palm-sized tilapia with an angry expression and said, "There is no small boat at all, stop daydreaming. We must immediately look for another way out!"

Hearing this, Stanny stared blankly at Chen Cao and Hua Fo, his eyes turning completely ash-grey.

Chen Cao glared angrily at Hua Fo and said, "Will you only be happy when everyone loses all hope?" With that, he tossed some clothes over to Carissa and said, "You guys go and get changed, put them on once they're dry."

Carissa caught the clothes and cast a timid glance at Hua Fo. Hua Fo shrugged, showing complete indifference to Chen Cao's words.

Since there were no boats left, everyone fell silent all at once. Fortunately, Hua Fo had retrieved a fair amount of supplies from his companions, and each person was able to get a small piece of individual combat ration. Even so, it felt like a blessing from the heavens—at least enough to be forty percent full. But this was only a momentary relief; everyone was still deeply worried about food for noon and evening.

Lu Tianming didn't eat anything at all. He held his wife close and handed his share of the food to his smiling wife to enjoy.

The group remained silent like this, each lost in their own thoughts. Meanwhile, Chen Cao and Hua Fo kept thinking about what Lu Tianming had said, merely waiting for the right moment to bring it up. But not right now; as for matters concerning hypnosis, the fewer people who knew, the better—ideally limited just to the three of them, because judging from what Lu Tianming had revealed, this was a deeply hidden secret.

Not long after, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky above the deck, which quickly grew heavier and turned into a torrential downpour. The group retreated into the back room. Carissa had already changed into dried clothes and was taking care of Lucia. Wookey was curled up in a corner, silently stroking the beast-bone necklace around his neck as he looked out at the heavy rain outside.

Stanny had been approved to receive an AK assault rifle. Since he was a veteran with this type of weapon, the support of a firearm temporarily made him forget his unhappiness, and he wiped the gun barrel vigorously.

***

Chen Cao and Hua Fo stood outside keeping watch with guns in hand, smoking cigarettes in silence. Hua Fo took a drag from his cigarette, looked at Chen Cao, and said, "The rainy season in the jungle has arrived, and the first rain will definitely last for a whole week. What should we do?"

Chen Cao flicked away the cigarette butt in his hand and said, "We can't just sit here and wait to die. We have to look for an opportunity!"

At this moment, Lu Tianming appeared before the two of them like a ghost and said softly, "There is only one way."

Chen Cao immediately thought of Lu Tianming's knowledge of the ship's structure: "Start this warship? You must be joking!"

Hua Fo sneered, "What should I call you, Mr. Far-fetched Dreamer?"

Lu Tianming leaned against the railing of the corridor, his demeanor somewhat reserved. He knew that sometimes it was impossible to reason with these soldiers, but he felt that the two men in front of him were not ordinary soldiers. He paused and said, "This warship is clearly maintained regularly, and besides, it's currently the rainy season. As long as we loosen the chains below, we can drift away with the current. I can helm the ship and control the direction. At that point, we'll at least be able to leave this ghost place and figure out a plan!"

"The conditions seem very generous, and it sounds pretty good!" Hua Fo looked at the chains below, pondered for a moment, and said, "It sounds crazy, but I just happen to like crazy people like you, haha!" With that, he heavily patted Lu Tianming on the shoulder with his hand, making the frail Lu Tianming tremble all over.

Chen Cao frowned and said, "But there are piranhas down there. It will be very hard for us to go down."

Hua Fo said, "That's where the adventurous spirit comes in, though I certainly won't go!"

Chen Cao said, "That means you want me to go? Why should I!"

Hua Fo smiled bizarrely, "No particular reason, just for that little girl you saved!"

Chen Cao was taken aback and immediately understood. Hua Fo had followed him all the way from Husum and knew everything about Meimei like the back of his hand. However, he immediately retorted, "Even so, I have even less reason to go down into the water to feed the piranhas!"

Lu Tianming spoke up, "Actually, according to my understanding, there is a period of time when there are no piranhas down there, and I have also figured out a way to break the hypnosis!"

Hearing this, Hua Fo and Chen Cao were both startled and fell silent, looking at the frail man who had been tortured in every possible way by the indigenous people, a sense of confidence now showing in his expression.

Chen Cao said, "Alright, you can tell your story now." With that, he lit another cigarette. Hua Fo listened quietly, a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. No matter what, he now had a way to get Chen Cao to go into the water and untie the chains.

Lu Tianming took a deep breath, looking at his temples where veins bulged, as if recalling memories spanning thousands of days and nights. He said, "I was originally a Mainz naval engineer. After retiring and receiving a substantial pension, I opened a repair shop in California, and the business was doing all right. Lucy was an engineer at a shipyard. We shared the same ideals, loved the ocean, and loved adventure. Using the money we earned, we bought a private yacht and went on sea voyages during every vacation. Because of this, we specifically joined an adventure forum, and on that forum, we met Colby. He claimed to be a biologist. When we first met him, like us, he loved ocean adventures. We hit it off wonderfully, quickly became good friends, and often traveled the ocean together. At the time, we greatly admired his biological knowledge, except that his ideas were a bit extreme."

Through Lu Tianming's narration, Hua Fo seemed to develop an interest in this biologist and asked, "Extreme? I'd like to know just how extreme."

Lu Tianming touched his face, which had lost most of its flesh, and sank back into his memories: "Lucia and I originally thought he was just an ordinary biology PhD. During our gatherings, he would often propose a concept: trying to integrate the abilities of animals to invent a supernatural power as a weapon, and he invited us to help him participate in this experiment. When we first heard this concept, we all thought it was sheer nonsense, but since he was our good friend, we casually agreed."

Hua Fo understood and said, "This idea seems to have been realized to some extent, though I don't understand what he meant by extracting this supernatural power from biology. But you know, among known organisms, there is no extractable power—you aren't talking about sci-fi movies again, are you?"

Listening to Lu Tianming's account and connecting it with his own experiences in the jungle, Chen Cao cupped his chin in his hand and mused, "If he wanted to attract well-traveled adventurers like you, he must have produced something that made your heart skip a beat!"