The Swarm’s node units, camouflaged in the exteriors of native marine creatures, had little need to remain hidden while aboard the ship. If discovered, they were either casually stepped on or thrown back into the sea, raising no suspicions.
Behind these reconnaissance units, Luo Wen had already assembled a specialized team of intelligent entities. The Swarm was no longer the fledgling force it had been when it first encountered the Rikens. It had now accumulated considerable experience in deciphering the languages and scripts of alien races.
By observing and recording the conversations between the native crew mbers, the Swarm steadily expanded its vocabulary of the natives’ language.
In the crew’s quarters, the Recon Bugs discovered nurous books. Judging from the illustrated covers, these books were unlikely to provide much insight into the native species’ history. However, the Swarm’s primary focus was on decoding their written language. Although progress was slow without a direct point of reference, it was better than making no progress at all.
The ship’s machinery also beca a focal point of the Swarm’s study. From these machines, Luo Wen could not detect any traces of an advanced civilization. The ship relied on primitive fossil fuels for energy, with an antiquated design where a boiler generated steam to drive a main turbine.
Such a rudintary combination was not only far below the level of the Rikens but even inferior to that of the Rat Folk civilization.
Although Luo Wen couldn’t draw broad conclusions based solely on this observation, the accumulating evidence began to shape his thoughts.
The Swarm’s expansion proceeded at an accelerating pace, with several ocean-going vessels being infiltrated each day. With more materials for comparison, progress in decoding the natives’ written and spoken language advanced rapidly. Soon, the Swarm could roughly understand conversations between the natives.
Although the discussions aboard the deep-sea vessels rarely touched on anything of substantial value, the Swarm managed to extract so interesting tidbits from the scattered information.
On one deck, the crew was busily working under considerable tension.
“Stop slacking off! The sooner we finish, the sooner we can rest! We’ve still got to work overti tonight!” barked a native supervisor as he patrolled and directed the crew.
“Boss, the guys have been working seventeen or eighteen hours a day for the past few days. We just can’t hold out anymore,” one crew mber complained.
They were tasked with sorting and storing the seafood caught the previous night into cold storage. So of it even required light steaming before it could be stored, adding to the complexity of the task, often keeping them busy late into the night.
“Yeah, so hurry up now! The faster you finish, the longer you can rest, and the easier tonight will be,” the supervisor snapped.
“Boss, we’ve been doing this for over ten days straight. If this keeps up, sothing bad’s going to happen,” another crew mber added.
“That’s right, boss. You’ve got to talk to the captain. We can’t keep this up. He’s treating us like we’re not even Botian,” soone chid in.
“Exactly! Before we set sail, I thought I’d signed up for a job. Turns out I signed up to risk my life!” The crew voiced their frustrations collectively.
“Shut it! I know what’s going on, but this arrangent is for your own good!” the supervisor yelled in response.
“Boss, you can’t fool us with that! How is this madness for our own good?” The crew mbers were clearly unconvinced by the supervisor’s explanation.
“You lot don’t know anything! Haven’t you noticed how the defense forces at the wormhole base have been acting crazy these past few days, constantly deploying?”
“Now that you ntion it, it has been strange. This is the first ti I’ve seen those cha Warriors up close,” one of the crew remarked.
“Sa here. But what’s that got to do with us working eighteen hours a day?” another crew mber questioned.
“You’ve never had the chance to see those cha Warriors up close before, have you? There’s a big story behind all this,” the supervisor began, his tone mysterious.
“Boss, stop keeping us in suspense and just tell us!” The workers dropped what they were doing and crowded around him, eager to hear more.
Of course, they were more interested in sneaking in a break than in hearing a story. The supervisor knew it well. Even he, whose job was rely to oversee and shout orders, was utterly exhausted in recent days, let alone the crew, who had been working tirelessly.
He understood that if the resentnt kept building, trouble would inevitably follow. Better to be transparent and give them a mont to rest.
“Hmph, you all know that every so often, the wormhole opens and spits out a monster, right?”
“Boss, of course, we know that! Tell us sothing we don’t—” One of the crew began to retort but was quickly silenced by a nearby colleague, who covered his mouth and pulled him back.
Everyone had co here to rest; they’d much rather have the boss start from the origins of their species and drag the story on for days if possible. So workers were already yawning and preparing to sneak in a nap.
The supervisor didn’t pay any attention to their small antics. He continued at his own asured pace. “Every ti the wormhole is about to open, the defense base locks down a vast area of the sea. At that ti, there’s no work for us.”
The crew were paid daily wages—no work ant no pay, and taking a break only ant dipping into their savings.
“We know all this already, boss—” Another worker started, but he too was pulled away. However, this ti, soone dared to ask, “Boss, what’s the point of bringing this up? We just got back from a break.”
This one wasn’t dragged away because, truthfully, everyone was curious about what was coming next.
“You don’t know a thing!” the supervisor retorted. “This ti, after the wormhole opened, the cha Warriors successfully dealt with the monster. But not long after, the wormhole opened again. However, this ti, no monster ca out—or if it did, the defense forces didn’t find it.”
“What? What does that an? Are we in danger?” one of the workers exclaid. Concerned for their safety, even the crew mbers who had been dozing off were suddenly alert.
“Whether you’re in danger or not, I can’t say. But I do know this—if you don’t keep working, your savings will run dry soon. That’s why, at my request, the captain decided to make the most of the defense forces’ current confusion by keeping us out at sea to fish as much as possible. At any mont, we might be ordered to return to port. When that happens, the thickness of your savings will depend entirely on what we’ve managed to catch these past few days.”
“Are you serious? You’re not just making this up, are you?” So of the crew were skeptical.
“Believe it or not, it’s the truth! This ca directly from the captain. And you all know the captain’s connections, don’t you? His sister-in-law’s fiancé’s aunt’s lover’s nephew works at the defense base. That’s firsthand information!”
Though the source of the news was convoluted, the crew chose to believe it. After all, the captain had never pushed them this hard before. With this in mind, they resud work with a bit more effort—not for the captain, but for themselves. The supervisor felt gratified by this change in attitude.
anwhile, Luo Wen, through the Recon Bugs hidden aboard the ship, recorded the entire conversation and gleaned several key pieces of information.
A wormhole that opens periodically? Monsters? And cha Warriors? The general outline of the situation began to take shape in Luo Wen’s mind. Could it be that these natives truly weren’t an advanced civilization? Was it possible that such wormholes existed naturally in the universe?
The idea unsettled Luo Wen. If such wormholes were indeed natural phenona, it challenged much of what he understood about the cosmos.
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