บท 60: Turning Sharply
This examination centre had been around for a long time.
If you calculated it based on the time in reality, it had existed for many years. If you based it on the time in here, it could be considered a century-old island.
For almost a century, the octopuses had based their lair here in this corner of the island.
From one to two and then it became a family of three.
Of course, they also knew about the existence of those pale faces under the ice. They not only knew about it, they have also personally witnessed them grow larger and larger in size, eventually becoming an existence on the island that could not be provoked.
Every time those faces wandered around at night, that sight was truly terrible....
Due to various reasons, they didn't want to interact with those pale faces.
Fortunately, their range of activities were different.
While they ate in the ship cabin, those faces were on shore chasing the examinees. While they returned to the sea after eating, those faces were still on shore chasing the examinees.
Well water does not interfere with river water. (KKnotes: Basically, everyone minds their own business.)
They had thought that life on the island would always be like this.
They had never expected.....that something like this would happen.
The three octopuses were frozen in place.
They froze for a few seconds and quickly turned to flee into the sea.
But at this moment, something clanged———–
Inside the cabin, You Huo slammed his foot against the metal cabinet.
The rusty mass collapsed and accurately fell over the hole on the ground.
And outside the cabin, with one hand supporting himself using the railing, Qin Jiu jumped in and landed in front of You Huo. In his hands, he carried a bundle of rope.
You Huo naturally thought the rope was brought to tie up the octopuses and internally thought their tacit understanding of each other was quite alright. Although it was a bigger commotion than he had anticipated, the aftermath was dealt with excellently.
Contrary to his beliefs, after Qin Jiu stood back up, he gently threw the pre-prepared rope around You Huo.
The great master was caught off-guard. For a moment, he was stunned.
All the compliments and praises instantly evaporated.
What cooperation? What bullshit tacit understanding?
It wasn't until Qin Jiu tightened the knot around his arms that he was able to ask incredulously: "What are you doing?"
"You can't tell?" Qin Jiu looped the remainder of the rope around his hand: "I travelled through mountains and valleys to catch a cheater. Along the way, I also tricked a few thugs over."
"......." The cheater pursed his lips and fell silent for a few seconds: "Can't you prioritise?"
Qin Jiu turned around and looked behind him————-
Thirty plus examinees dropped in one by one like dumplings. All sorts of exclamations and cries of pain were let out as they fell in.
And above them, the system's punishment device and the examination subject had already started to fight.....
The pale-faced army greeted the ugly octopuses directly.
At that moment, the wind suddenly became stronger and howling sounds came from all directions.
For some reason, the pale faces had forgotten about the examinees they were pursing and seemed to possess unimaginably strong aggressiveness towards those three octopuses.
With their necks outstretched, in a blink of an eye they had engulfed the octopuses into a white whirlwind.
It was the first time the examinees saw such violent expressions on those pale faces. Terrified, they quickly retreated into a corner of the cabin.
Qin Jiu turned back and said to You Huo while pointing behind him: "I went and found some thugs first before coming to get you. I think I prioritised well."
"......."
You Huo had no words to say in response to that.
The upper deck of this tattered ship was already broken off. Their view outside was unobstructed.
Those faces had already lifted the octopuses half into the air. Ice fragments and seawater splattered in all directions, hitting the interior of the cabin in successive waves.
The wooden floor pitter and pattered like it was raining.
None of the examinees dared to look out.
The diligent classmate Di Li found a great spot for himself. Crouching next to Qin Jiu and behind a wooden box, he pretended that it helped with blocking some of the ice and water.
He looked out from behind the wooden box, looked at Qin Jiu, looked at the rope and then looked at You Huo before asking curiously: "Brother Qin, what is the ropes purpose? I can't keep up this time."
You Huo said: "A madman's purpose."
Qin Jiu laughed seemingly in silent agreement.
You Huo moved to unbind himself. As he undid the rope, he said to Qin Jiu: "Didn't you bring along medicine? You should take some before you leave."
Di Li finally realised how stupid his question was. He quietly shrank back.
As he shrank away, he heard Qin Jiu answer unhurriedly: "There's none left. All used by the crew."
Di Li: "...….."
The fuck? You can answer like that?
Di Li retracted the rest of his head and decided to act like he didn't exist...…
***
That night, the one thing the examinees regretted the most was the fact that they had lost their fire torches as they ran over.
Those small pale faces were extremely aggressive, but the giant octopuses were also not something easy to deal with.
The two parties struggled with each other for very long time.
From the shore to the sea and then from the sea back to the shore, they moved back and forth over the bare and tattered ship.
It was surprising that there was no breaks in the frozen sea with all this commotion.
Some of the examinees who were on the braver side took a quick look and even doubted whether tomorrow....Oh, that's not right. It's today now. They doubted whether the ice would melt today.
During the remainder of that period, the examinees shivered in the cold.
Those small pale faces were at a disadvantage because they didn't have as many arms as the octopuses. This one battle lasted all night.
It wasn't until the horizon in the distance began to turn grey and the sky brightened up that the small pale faces gradually dissipated along with the morning mist.
The exhausted octopuses laid sprawled across the reef, like seafood waiting to be dried.
With them no longer moving, the examinees could now take action.
***
Three semi-unconscious giant octopuses suddenly felt suffocated.
When they opened their eyes, they felt pain on their faces.
It was especially painful.
It was like it was pulled hard by someone and then it snapped back like a rubber band.
Soon they realised......It really was like that!
They were actually tied up and bound against a nearby reef.
If it was just their tentacles tied up to prevent it from being thrown around, it wouldn't have been a big deal because they could still detach it on their own accord and escape.
But with prior experience, this time the examinees also tied down their faces.
Missing limbs could be regenerated but regenerating a missing head was impossible.
As they baked under the sun and gradually dried out, anger and despair filled their hearts.
After all that time on this deserted island, this was their first time losing so much dignity...….
But this was nothing. Some demonic examinees were still capable of making them lose even more dignity———-
Even after the sky finally brightened, nothing happened to the surface of the sea.
Letting the octopuses air dry outside, the examinees proceeded to repair the last merchant ship.
Perhaps it was because of their anxiousness, everyone's efficiency was very high. In less than two hours, everything was completely repaired.
Waiting was always the most difficult.
They couldn't sit still and eventually began to find something to do.
The sun changed position. The area where the octopuses were drying were now under some shade. With consensus from the rest of the examinees, a group of ten examinees moved to drag the octopuses onto the ice.
Their soft faces scraped against the ragged reefs the entire time until they reached the shore.
The front of the merchant ships were able to hold the most weight, so the examinees decided to lift the octopuses onto the ships and tie it to the side facing the sun.
As they tied the last knot, Captain Barentz looked out from inside the cave.
He gestured and shouted something.
The first officer also looked out. Using his louder voice, he translated: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING——–?"
The octopuses deformed faces were so disgusting, it was blinding. You Huo removed his eyes from it like he would go blind if he looked at them a second longer.
He was the first one to return to the cave.
The first officer pointed to the ship and asked again: "The captain asked what you're doing with his ship. What have you tied to it?"
"Reserve food. Prepared it for you."
The captain immediately became happy. He shielded the sun and looked over. He recognised those tentacles as the ones they ate last night.
First officer: "The captain gives you his thanks. It looks delicious. He's currently extremely hungry."
As soon as he said that, the first officer's stomach also made a few sounds.
He silently froze. The captain next to him smacked his back and laughed loudly.
All the crew there were extremely hungry but, now that they were about to set sail, they were too excited to calm down and eat.
The octopuses were still hanging from the side of the ships with not a shred of dignity left. They waited there for their final sentence.
...…
The sun slowly began to sink. You Huo leaned against the entrance of the cave.
Soft rustling sounds were heard nearby. He glanced over. It was Qin Jiu.
"What are you looking at?" Qin Jiu looked out with one hand raised to support himself against the cave entrance.
You Huo indicated with his chin: "Waiting to see when the ice will melt."
"In a hurry?"
"It doesn't matter to me." You Huo said: "A few hours earlier or a few hours later makes no difference."
"It's still a little different." Qin Jiu also leaned against the wall outside, "If it only melts when night comes, it might attract those human faces over. At that time, it's going to be rowdy again."
Those words of his came true.
The froze surface was like an old granny's mouth. It stubbornly didn't let a single crack escape.
They waited until the sky darkened and then waited until it was night. When it finally reached late at night, they heard a small sound amidst the silence.
"It's melting!" Several of the older crew members jumped to their feet.
The next moment, all the crew members had rushed out of the cave.
It was the soft sound of ice breaking.
The first was soft. The second was also soft. But with all the ice breaking at the same time, the effect was rather terrifying.
The examinees hurried out carrying their weapons and fire torches and were instantly greeted with deafening sounds.
Although no one dared to look below them, they knew very well that those faces were coming their way.
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Perhaps the next second they would break through the ice and rush over like a tsunami, engulfing everyone in a whirlwind of pale faces.
Although they haven't experienced it personally, they have witnessed it happen to the three octopuses.
And now, they were blindfolded and tied to the ship. Although they were unable to see anything, they still subconsciously writhed their tentacles around in attempt to avoid being beaten up a second time.
If those giant octopuses are so scared, it wasn't surprising for a small human to fear those facestoo...…
But because they needed to help escort the merchant ships out, the examinees could only remain on the ship.
A crew member threw down a rope ladder. One by one, they climbed up onto the ship. As soon as they reached the deck, the white all of wind came.
Roars came one after another. It sounded like it was coming from all directions. The faces desperately stretched their necks out searching for their target.
Despite such ferocity, their expressions didn't change. The contrast between their expression and the actions conversely made it even more terrifying.
"FUUUCKK! Hurry up! Didn't you say that everything is ready? Why aren't we leaving?!"
"Hurry and go!"
"Pull the sail! PULL THE SAIL——-"
The wall of wind composed of pale faces was rapidly approaching the ship.
"Quick! Hurry up captaaain! If we don't leave now, we're going to die!!"
Shouts from the ship and roars from the wind intermingled.
As they shouted, the helmsman turned the wheel completely. The mended sails instantly filled with wind.
The moment those pale faces reached the shore, the merchant ship had just barely left.
A trace of disappointment was evident on those stiff faces.
This is great. Although they still felt a little uneasy...but it's finally over.
The captain thought this.
He held a rusted pocket watch in his hand. He repeatedly opened and closed the lid. Accompanied with his actions were small clicking sounds.
You Huo glanced at the small portrait on the pocket watch through the corner of his eyes.
Perhaps it was due to his instincts, but his eyelid suddenly started to twitch.
At the same time, Qin Jiu next to him murmured: "Not good."
As soon as he finished saying that, the three ships which had just left the shore suddenly turned around. After a complete 180 turn, it returned back to its original place.
Soon afterwards, a music box like object on the ship suddenly spoke:
[Detected that return conditions were not completely met.]
Examinees: "?"
[The merchant ships have all returned to shore. This melting period will end in five seconds.]
Examinees: "???"
[Counting down: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.]
[Following the end of this melting period, there will not be one in the near future.]
[We hope the examinees can send the merchants home soon and achieve good results.]
The situation had suddenly changed.
Before the examinees were able to register this announcement, the sea was once again frozen.
It didn't even give them time to digest what was happening!
And it asked them to achieve good results...….
Bastard.
KK has something to say:
Oh no, what could they have overlooked?!
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