It was very cold inside the house, and the thin hatch could not block the pervasive cold wind.
Winter has just entered, and it is so cold that I can shiver.
There is a bed in the sloppy houseboat with two sheets of thin cotton wool stacked on top. There is a cabinet at the foot of the cabinet with a bottle of water no more than 200 ml.
Apart from the precious water, the only valuable items left in the cabinet were two bags of high-protein liquid food, enough for two days.
I have to go out to pick up the mission. In addition to having no food, the rent on the houseboat is also about to expire.
Shu Xingbei licked his parched lips, tightened his canvas jacket, took out a foot-long cutting knife from under the bed board, and walked out of the boathouse.
It was approaching noon, but the sunlight was blocked by the tall towers in the distance. Rows of houseboats formed a fan-shaped ring around the tall towers that towered into the clouds.
The houseboats are densely packed one on top of another, with a channel in the middle for small boats to pass through.
The task is published by spear company.
In the sea area outside the houseboat, there are deposited remains of civilization below.
If you salvage the items that Spear Company needs, you can exchange them for food, water, and pay rent.
Yes, the houseboat is also rented by Spear Company.
About two hundred years ago, the entire planet was getting hotter and hotter due to climate warming, which caused the glaciers at the two poles to melt continuously, and the sea water continued to rise, gradually overflowing the low-altitude areas and turning to high-altitude areas.
spread.
The sea water moves toward each other from both sides of the planet, submerging everything along the way. It is like two huge armies, extending from both ends to the middle, with a posture that will not stop until they join forces.
Half an hour later, Shu Xingbei arrived at the mission release area.
"Water, 1000 ml; five bags of food," shouted a mezzo-soprano in the room.
Although there were several people separated, Shu Xingbei knew without looking that she was the deputy manager of the bounty department of Spear Company. She was responsible for issuing tasks to various bounty hunters. After the bounty hunters completed the tasks, they would declare rewards to her.
After completing the task, you can exchange for food and water. The items salvaged are valuable enough, and you can exchange them for more things you want.
More than a dozen bounty hunters showed up without a word.
"1500 ml, five bags of food," the assistant manager pushed up his glasses and shouted again.
Still no one answered.
"What mission?" Shu Xingbei's heart was moved. He gently touched a hunter next to him with his elbow. The other hunter came earlier.
For Shu Xingbei, with 1,500 ml of water and five bags of food, he can live for at least five days.
"This mission has appeared several times before, but has never been completed," the hunter replied softly, "I heard that the hunters who took the mission before were all dead."
Doing missions is just to survive. If you can't even guarantee your life, what's the point of doing missions?
"The food remains unchanged. Add water to 3000 ml, and you can prepay 1000 ml." The female manager pushed up her glasses again.
After hearing that prepayment was possible, the quiet scene was obviously a little loose. Someone was whispering something. Still no one took the initiative to take up the task.
"Forget this task, let's move on to the next task," the female manager lazily prepared to read out the next task.
At this time, Shu Xingbei raised his hand, "I'll do it."
"Is this kid stupid?" someone whispered.
"Young man, you are stupid," there were whispers at the scene.
"I'm afraid I'll die if I can't cross the fog barrier," said the man who understood the situation.
Shu Xingbei ignored these and took the task and walked out. After getting the tools, he was ready to set off.
(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page)
But then he was stopped by a person from behind.
"Is something wrong?" Shu Xingbei looked at her. He didn't know her, and he didn't need to.
Survival is not easy, everyone lives for themselves. Survival is the only purpose, social interaction is not necessary.
Her face was a little darkened by the sea breeze, but it was hard to hide the beauty of her melon-seed face.
The clothes are the same as Shu Xingbei's, made of gray canvas.
There was a hint of gray mist in her bright eyes, "I want to take over this task with you."
"It's not necessary," Shu Xingbei replied calmly.
"That place has to go through a long fog barrier," she said.
Shu Xingbei waved his hand, "That's my business."
He heard the discussion in the boathouse. He was not worried. Since the last time he fought with the sea beast and drank the blood of the unknown sea beast, his eyesight has greatly improved. He can not only see the situation two kilometers away, but also be able to see the situation within two kilometers.
Walking freely on the dark plank.
"There is a detour to avoid robbers," she said earnestly.
There are robbers blocking the road? Shu Xingbei's heart sank, but he was not surprised. There are always people who want to take shortcuts and steal other people's things as their own without having to go to the bottom of the sea to risk their lives, so why not do it.
Some of these robbers wait for the hunters to plunder the trophies when they rise from the bottom of the water after a successful harvest; some are even more despicable. They don't wait for the hunters to dive to their destination, directly cut off the hunters' diving equipment and sell it to those who don't need it.
Accept the mission from Spear Company and salvage the relics on your own.
When delivering a mission to Spear Company, you must also hand in your diving equipment. If you fail to hand it in once, the company will put you on the list of dishonest people. Not to mention that you will not be able to take on future missions, you will not even be able to rent the company's houseboat.
Shu Xingbei ignored her words and jumped onto another ship.
I have encountered robbers and fought alone. They pose no threat to Shu Xingbei.
Although Shu Xingbei is only 17 years old, he reacts quickly and responds quickly. He can dive into the water and run away in a real fight.
Unless you are surrounded by robbers.
"I know the road, I don't want to pay in advance," she shouted eagerly, "If there are more than one person, I can get more."
Shu Xingbei hesitated for a moment and said, "Let's go together."
At two o'clock in the afternoon, they put on their wetsuits and flippers, and carried the oxygen bottles behind their backs. The straw protruded from the helmet. Shu Xingbei circled it around his neck again to confirm that it was tight before inserting the air bottle.
among.
Nie Lan was about to put on his helmet when his stomach growled a few times.
Shu Xingbei glanced at her, took out a bag of liquid food and handed it over.
Nie Lan hesitated and did not answer.
"Eat it. I don't want my partner to die in the water," Shu Xingbei said coldly.
There are too many dangers underwater.
Not to mention the messy seaweed and dense seaweed, the ferocious sea beasts alone are enough to scare people.
Once encountered, as long as a giant sea beast opens its mouth, they will immediately become the prey of the sea beast.
Nie Lan took the food, his eyes were slightly red, unscrewed the lid, and poured a third of the food into his mouth.
The rest was returned to Shu Xingbei.
Half an hour later, white mist blocked their way.
Shu Xingbei looked around and saw that the entire sea area was filled with fog.
The farther they went, the heavier the fog became. Soon, they entered a dense fog area.
Shu Xingbei's alienated vision was also compressed to a range of 50 meters.
But it was enough. He could see behind the mist.
(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page)
The coordinates of where you want to go.
Nie Lan had lost her direction. She couldn't even see Shu Xingbei and was swimming around randomly.
"Follow me," Shu Xingbei turned back with some annoyance and took her with him.
After passing through the fog barrier, the two of them dived into the water one after the other.
There is no seagrass or seaweed on the seabed in this area, but there are kelp several meters long floating on the black seabed. Those kelp have died due to lack of sufficient nourishment value.
The dense kelp seemed to have no fetters, rippling in the water, like headless giant ghosts beckoning them with their claws and fangs.
Shu Xingbei looked at the scale. He and Nie Lan were already 400 meters underwater, but there was no trace of the ruins yet.
Just as he was about to look far into the distance, Nie Lan continued to dive down. She did not forget to give Shu Xingbei a signal to continue going down.
Sure enough, she had been here before. This was why Shu Xingbei agreed to come with her.
The direction in which Nie Lan dived has deviated from the coordinates given by Spear Company.
Without her, Shu Xingbei would not gain anything even if he dived.
500 meters away.
Shu Xingbei glanced at the scale again and hesitated. Another 50 meters would be his limit. The water pressure was getting bigger and bigger, and he couldn't bear it.
The deeper he goes, the greater the pressure, and the longer he needs to recover after landing.
If he dives to this depth again now, without a three-day recovery period, it is impossible for him to take on the next mission.
The current task may not be successful. If you can't complete the next task, you won't be able to pay the rent, not to mention food.
The rent collected on time and paid monthly cannot be paid until Shuxingbei recovers.
Spear will immediately throw his bedroll out of the houseboat.
Nie Lan didn't see Shu Xing coming down from the north for a long time, so he turned around and made a gesture to him, meaning that he would be there if he went down a little further.
Faintly seeing the smile in Nie Lan's helmet, Shu Xingbei thought it was his imagination.
However, he still believed her and dived down again.
At this moment, a piece of kelp wrapped around Nie Lan's leg.
Nie Lan didn't notice this at all. She continued to dive down without realizing it. The kelp got tighter and tighter, and soon caught her.
More kelp was wrapped up, and Nie Lan instantly turned into a rice dumpling. When she looked back, she panicked.
Shu Xingbei shook his head, followed, and casually took out the foot-long cutting knife on his leg. When he was about to cut off the kelp on Nie Lan's leg, he felt a gray shadow floating in front of his eyes.
No, it's a leviathan. A leviathan is a mutated sea beast that appears in the sea after the ocean gradually engulfs the continent. It can grow to nearly 50 meters. This sea beast's appetite is scary.
Before Shu Xingbei could see clearly the appearance of the gray shadow in front of him, the sea beast had already pounced towards Nie Lan, who was using his hands and feet.
In fact, it couldn't pounce at all, it just swam over slowly. In its eyes, Nie Lan, who was as small as an ant, was already its appetizer.
Then, the sea beast stretched out its short huge feet, which were like a small hill, and slapped Nie Lan on the head.
The helmet shattered with one blow. His black hair instantly flew into the sea. Nie Lan, who was so frightened, could only open his mouth in time and made a mouth gesture to save me.
In fact, she was already prepared and waiting for her upcoming bad luck.
Once the helmet is broken, the straw naturally falls down.
Seawater poured into Nie Lan's mouth, and several bubbles popped out of her mouth.
Trouble. Not only did she fail to help, she actually added to the mess.