Alice deliberately changed into men's clothing, saying she found them on the ship.Alice came out and saw that Hurley's clothes were still wet, furrowing her brow. "You should change your clothes too; it wouldn't be good if you got sick."
Hurley hesitated for a moment. "I have no clothes in my space."
"I do." When she did the big shopping before, she bought a lot of clothes, for men, women, and children.She sized up Hurley's height and then pulled out a set of men's clothing. "See if this fits?"
Hurley checked the size of the clothes and grinned. "You have a good eye."The size was just right, not off by a fraction.
"What are you waiting for? Go change."Alice said
"Okay."Hurley said
When Ignatius returned from outside and saw the two of them sitting by the fire, he almost thought he was mistaken.
"Where did you find clothes?"Seeing Alice also dressed in men's clothing, Ignatius was curious.
Hurley casually pointed to the storage room inside. "Found them in there, borrowed them first."
Ignatius glanced in the direction he pointed, not recalling there being clothes inside. Well, someone must have left them there.
Ignatius didn't press further, handing them a few scallion pancakes. "There's not much to eat on the ship, just a few pancakes."
Alice took them and thanked him.
"Base Commander, where are we going now?" After a pause, Alice asked again.
Ignatius sneered, "Of course, it's tit for tat. The R country has repeatedly provoked us, so we'll sail into their waters too, lest they think we're cowards and want to fight us anytime."
Dominant.
Alice silently gave him a thumbs up in her heart.
"I was thinking of sending you back first, but since you've found clothes and changed, let's go together."
"Okay," she agreed.
The three of them sat around the fire eating scallion pancakes while the wind and rain raged outside. Occasionally, a huge wave would hit, causing the whole ship to sway violently.
"Don't worry, the weather was worse before. This ship can sail far even in such conditions; these minor winds and waves are nothing." Ignatius comforted.
In reality, both Hurley and Alice were quite calm, nodding at his words.
"Not bad, indeed capable individuals, wise and calm." Ignatius looked at them with satisfaction.The more I look at them, the more satisfied I feel. These two are truly well-matched, whether it's in appearance, ability, or courage. They can stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone, without dragging each other down. In the past, it might have been acceptable for one to be strong while the other is weak, regardless of gender. But now, in this different survival environment, having one strong and one weak only leads to dragging each other down.
After finishing the scallion pancakes, Ignatius took out two bottles of cola. "Here, have some water." He poured himself a cup of hot water.
An hour later, the ship was getting closer and closer to the R country, and they could vaguely see the island.
"We can't go that way," Hurley said, looking through the binoculars at the nearby island. "There are guards on the beach. We can only show off our skills in front of them."
However, this method wouldn't harm the people of the R country.
Alice suddenly had a bold idea. "Why don't we sneak onto the island and take a look? I heard the R country is in chaos right now. The guards might not be so strict, and besides, we have the map we obtained earlier, so we won't get lost."
Hurley pondered for a moment and finally agreed with her idea. "I think it's worth a try."
Ignatius's face darkened. "Where do you think you're going? Do you think I don't exist? Did you even bother to ask for my opinion?"
Their base was already in chaos; who knew if the R country was even worse? If a fight broke out, they wouldn't be able to go up and rescue them.
Alice frowned, trying to persuade him. "Base Commander, rest assured, we're just going to gather information. We won't be so foolish as to start a fight on someone else's territory."
"It's decided then, objections are invalid," Hurley cut off Ignatius before he could speak, seeing that there were no guards on the nearby shore. "Let's go, we're going down."
Ignatius sighed. Knowing that these two had made up their minds, he couldn't persuade them, so he relented. "Take the satellite phone with you. If anything happens, contact me. Be safe and don't reveal your identities."
The two nodded and then jumped into the water.Hurley and Alice guessed right; the guards in the R country were indeed lax, and they easily made it ashore.
The weather in the R country was somewhat better than theirs, with less wind and rain.
They found a public restroom and changed out of their wet clothes, putting on clean ones and then raincoats before casually strolling down the street.
The R country was small, with only four bases, and many people preferred not to live inside the bases, choosing instead to stay in their own homes.
There weren't many people on the streets, and most of the shops looked deserted. Additionally, the roads were almost completely destroyed by the typhoon, making it difficult to walk with broken branches, debris, and garbage littering the ground.
Turning a corner, they reached the tram station, which was already occupied by homeless people.
A group of them noticed Hurley and Alice passing by, and their previously lifeless faces suddenly showed a sinister smile.
These people were all skinny to the point of being just bones, giving off a sense of déjà vu.
Alice quickly pulled Hurley away to avoid any conflict with them.She hadn't expected the R country to be in such a state; no wonder they were so desperate to occupy their territory.
After wandering the streets for a while without encountering anyone to ask for directions, they eventually arrived at one of the R country's bases.
There were heavily armed guards outside the gate. Upon seeing them approach, the guards spoke in their native language, saying they needed ten pounds of food to let them in.
Fortunately, they both understood the R country's language and could communicate.
Alice replied in the R country's language, "Wait a moment, I'll go get it."
Once they were in an empty area, Hurley asked, "Should we go in?"
Ten pounds of supplies weren't much, but giving them to the R country felt like throwing them into a sewer.
"Let's go in. It's only five pounds per person. I'll give five pounds of rice." Since they were going in to gather information, there had to be some sacrifice.