“You’re talking rubbish!” As Zhen Jin stared blankly, the boat craftsman’s voice suddenly berated him from behind.
The young knight and the giant turned around and saw the boat craftsman with a bucket of wine in one hand and a lump of roasted meat in the other.
It was clear the boat craftsman remembered the giant; he had escaped from the banquet and had heard what the giant just said.
“Lord Zhen Jin, please forgive me. This idiot absolute did not intend to offend you! The boat craftsman knelt to the ground with a worried expression.
The giant looked puzzled.
Zhen Jin laughed and smiled: “Stand up, how can I not know your son? I indeed knocked him out many times. From some sense, his words are not wrong. We are all stranded here, all of us are on the same boat.”
The boat craftsman replied with incomparable appreciation: “My Lord, you are noble, not only in your status and bloodline, but also in your spirit and character. You saved us, and our interactions with you during this time will certainly be engraved in our memories all through our lives. Your heroism, tolerance, wisdom, vision, and other virtues will inevitably be praised in the future.”
Zhen Jin nodded; those words felt different
He said to the boat craftsman: “Don’t overestimate me, boat craftsman. Don’t underestimate yourself either, in fact, you were very crucial. Without you, how could we make a new boat? Your son also contributed greatly, without his great efforts, our completion time would have been a long way off.”
Hearing this, the giant suddenly laughed happily.
His great efforts were recognized.
The boat craftsman’s arrival made Zhen Jin want to leave.
The youngster jumped off the boulder.
“My Lord, please allow me to send you off.” The boat craftsman put the things he was holding in the grass shack.
Zhen Jin saw the boat craftsman was still worried: “Be at ease, I will not bother the giant.”
After Zhen Jin guaranteed him three times, the boat craftsman felt relieved.
Nobles and knights took care of their reputation seriously. If most nobles and knights heard what the giant said, they would have considered it a personal insult.
“My Lord, you truly are different from other big characters!” The boat craftsman sighed and spoke truthfully, “Please forgive my presumptuousness, no one beside me has ever gotten close to the giant.”
“You might not understand completely, as I watched you and the giant sit side by side, my heart was astonished greatly.:
“Before meeting you, no one regarded him as an equal, never have we encountered such a person.”
Zhen Jin bitterly laughed: “Indeed, I’m not too different.”
He patted the boat craftsman’s shoulder: “Although you never stated it, I can imagine the things the giant has experienced in his life.”
“He was an abandoned infant that you took in. His giant bloodline appeared from birth, thus he suffered peculiar gazes.”
“He got stronger and bigger, all while suffering from his madness. Because of this, almost everyone discriminated against him, hated him, reviled him, and cursed him.”
“He has been hearing, and heard everything being whispered behind him, he has heard everyone around him curse him, sneer at him, and detest him.
“He only has you to provide him fatherly love.”
“Therefore, he is always intimate with you. I saw it with my own eyes, during a fight, even if he doesn’t have a bit of martial skill, he is willing to pay with his life to protect you.”
“You must have also invested a lot into him.”
“Seeing his curled up appearance in that grass shack, it seems he is avoiding others actively. I know you must have taught him to do that so he can survive as a monster in a world of humans.”
“You must be worried, worried that one day, many people will use the slogan of justice to execute him. You must also be very grieved seeing others bullying and humiliating him, while he is unable to retaliate. Because your teachings say, he cannot retaliate, otherwise the consequences will be worse!”
“As a result, he has no martial skill and is used to restraining himself.”
“Is he ugly? No, he is merely different. Compared to others, his heart is more kindhearted.”
“Is he powerful? No, who says having great strength and a strong physique means one is powerful? Which powerful person’s only weapon of self-defense is to call out for his father when he feels pain? He is actually very small and weak.
“A kindhearted and weak person……is this not someone a knight should defend?”
“My, My Lord……” The boat craftsman’s eyes became red as he choked up on emotion and surging tears. The praise, affirmations, and so on that he heard in the banquet, even if it happened again a hundred-fold, they still could not compare to Zhen Jin’s speech.
Because Zhen Jin truly understood him!
Understanding those words seemed simple, when in fact, they were difficult to comprehend.
“You are a good father.” After leaving these words, Zhen Jin left.
The boat craftsman left behind stood in place and gazed at Zhen Jin’s back.
The setting sun submerged under the sea, and the afterglow disappeared.
Because of the boat craftsman’s tears, Zhen Jin’s silhouette appeared somewhat monstrous in his fuzzy field of view, however it seemed to emit……light.
The new ship was successfully built, it now had the ability to sail. This matter made the survivors’ morale soar.
For the next several days, Zhen Jin and the others began to prepare for the ship’s oceanic entry.
If there were no blue dog fox wolves, putting the ship in the ocean was an easy affair. But nowadays, the magic beast corps had a heavy perimeter around them, making implementing this affair a hundred times more troublesome.
Everyone rejoiced that at the time, Zong Ge had proposed they build a reserve track.
But the usability of this track was still an issue.
After all, the island had countless earthquakes, and in order to prevent damage, the track was buried in a shallow layer of earth.
Even if the track was not damaged, to use it, they still needed to clear the things covering it.
According to Mu Ban’s assessment, it was extremely possible small portions of the track had been disconnected and damaged. This means the track needed to be rebuilt in advance before it could be used.
The blue dog fox wolves’ intelligence also complicated the maintenance of the track
If the blue dog fox wolves sensed everyone’s intent, the plan to put the new ship into the ocean would face stronger obstacles and even fail.
After Zhen Jin and the others discussed, it was decided that they would attract the blue dog fox wolves’ attention, while that was happening, they would covertly dispatch a small team to inspect the sliding track and rush to repair everything needed.
In order to raise the possibility of escape, Zhen Jin no longer trained at night, instead he continued to harass the magic beast corps and did his best to impair their military strength, besides this, he also personally surveyed the sliding track’s situation.
The survey was not optimistic, the sliding track was damaged in many places, with many places being broken into pieces.
There was a lot to repair, but it was not too troublesome——the sliding track had a simple structure.
During Zhen Jin’s busy time, he received good news.
He came to the sick area and saw Bai Ya.
Bai Ya had been unconscious for many days, but now he was awake.
“Lord Zhen Jin……” He still had a weak breath, a deathly pale complexion, and protruding cheekbones, he had lost weight over the past few days.
“You survived again. Recuperate carefully. Also let me tell you some good news, the new boat is finished, and is ready to enter the ocean.” Zhen Jin smiled.
He had lost all his memories, and Bai Ya had left a good and deep impression on him. When he left the volcanic cave, he only had Cang Xu, Zi Di, and Bai Ya at his side.
Bai Ya nodded, shame appeared on his face: “I was unconscious for so many days, I was a burden to everyone.”
Zhen Jin shook his head: “You are not a burden, we are all in the same boat, we will help each other in our common goal of leaving this place.”
“These are your letters.” To the side was Zi Di, she had just returned the letters to Bai Ya, “It seems we don’t need to deliver them.”
“Ah, that’s right. Have some new ink, the ink you were using before already went bad, I made this bottle myself, it will not fade.”
Zi Di also gave Bai Ya a small gift.
Bai Ya was overwhelmed with favor; his voice was choked with sobs: “Meeting you both was a truly good thing. When I was in a coma, I was like a lonely soul drifting in a boundless darkness. I did not know where I should go or where I came from. In my daze, I heard Miss Xi Qiu calling my name, it must be love, it must be love guiding me……”
Bai Ya began to talk about what he experienced in his coma.
Since the oasis, he had become a talkative person. This life and death experience seemed to aggravate his talkativeness.
Zhen Jin smiled.
He knew how Bai Ya felt, and even understood his feelings. Because he had also been on the edge of death many times.
It really was a great thing to say so much! It was the feeling of life!
Bai Ya’s reawakening seemed to bathe Zhen Jin’s heart in sunlight.
For the next several days, Zhen Jin’s heart was bright.
Every night Zhen Jin prayed to Emperor Sheng Ming, Zhen Jin told himself: “It will get better, everything will get better. I can lead Bai Ya, Zi Di, Cang Xu, and the others from this island alive.”
“By the time I arrive at White Sands City, I will forget the core and my transformations. Perhaps I will ask a chaplain or a doctor to expel the hidden dangers in my body.”
The sliding track maintenance was finally finished.
The higher ups were in a cheerful mood, they were all glad the maintenance was less troublesome than predicted.
They don’t know that whenever the small maintenance group moved about, Zhen Jin personally left by himself to disturb the magic beast corps. In order to do his best in attracting the blue dog fox wolves’ attention, Zhen Jin frequently put himself in danger as he rushed into the enemy, causing him to retreat with heavy injuries.
These days, the boat craftsman, Mu Ban, and the others were not idle.
Previously, the new ship was only the foundation of a finished work, there were still many things to follow up and work on.
Currently on the new ship’s hull had long wooden planks reinforcing it. The boat planks and decks were padded with shredded hemp rope, afterwards they were glued together with Zi Di’s potions.
The boat craftsman also taught some people how to process wood into standard quality pulleys
Sail ropes needed many pulleys.
High-level pulleys were made from metal and were genuine wheels.
But the new ship only used wooden parts, wood was cut into the shape of a wheel, and smeared with grease to lubricate the surface.
The most glamorous ship section was the bow.
Mounted on the bow, was a ramming horn. It was formed from a tree trunk and resembled a knight’s spear.
The bow had been reinforced by many planks, giving the appearance of a shield.
The spear mixed with shield, and combined with ramming speed, provided charge strength that even a crocodile head hammer tail boa could not resist.
The day when the new ship entered the sea was imminent.
However, that night.
Bang rumble……
The sound of a volcanic eruption seemed to pass over them.
The people were woken up with a start, from the hillside, the volcanic eruption formed an unprecedented lava column that soared to the sky!
Soon after, the earth violently shook and rocks tumbled down, smashed onto the planks covering the new ship.
This was an unprecedented earthquake!
With unmatched horror, the people watched as immense cracks appeared in the ravine they treated as a home.
The cracks traversed the ravine, soon after, the ravine collapsed!
“Quickly, run for it!”
The crowd frantically began to flee ignominiously. Zong Ge wanted to stabilize the situation but failed.
“Protect the ship!” The boat craftsman seemed to shout, but no one listened to him.
When the earthquake occurred, Zhen Jin was the magic beast corps.
When he returned to camp, the small ravine no longer looked like what he remembered, there were crushed rocks, broken wood, and dead humans everywhere.
“No!” Zhen Jin turned deathly pale, he immediately rushed deeper into the ruins.
There might be aftershocks or an even bigger earthquake, however the people in the ruins began to save themselves.
“The ship! We must dig the ship out!”
“Help me move these stones quickly.”
“Oh no, we are finished, the ship was definitely destroyed, our hope is gone.”
The people were noisy, some had ashen looks as they did their best to excavate the stones, while others wailed, their state of mind had collapsed.
It was only a small possibility, the ship that sustained their hopes survived.
“I said earlier, the small ravine was dangerous, it would be terrible if a landslide occurred. You didn’t listen to me!” Someone shouted, constantly grumbling and blaming others.
Even more people were silent.
Another person verbally abused with an agitated mood: “Utter rubbish! Without the ravine, could you obstruct the magic beast corps?!”
Zhen Jin did not stop anyone from venting their feelings, they needed to vent, and after doing so, they calmed down.
In fact, Zhen Jin also wanted to vent his feelings.
Gazing at the ruins, he felt anger, shock, and panic, but as a leader, he could only push down these negative emotions to the bottom of his heart.
Just as he was about to give orders, a rock suddenly shook, exposing a large hand.
“Help, help me……” Soon after, the giant’s voice came from below.
“So, son!” After he couldn’t find the giant, the boat craftsman had been running around in circles. After hearing the voice, he immediately sprinted over and frantically lifted the rocks. “Persevere, persevere!”
The old boat craftsman constantly shouted.
Zhen Jin, Zong Ge, and the others also lent a hand, and with everyone’s strength, the rocks were quickly moved.
The giant appeared; his legs were being pinned by a boulder. He was heavily injured and definitely had fractures.
But the giant still used both hands to hold back the boulder.
Seeing the boat craftsman again, the giant happily took credit: “Father look. I protected the ship!”
With red eyes and in a daze, the boat craftsman looked at the giant.
Seeing the giant still alive, his heart was naturally ecstatic.
But when he saw the giant’s injuries, he sank into regret and blamed himself.
“Bad father, bad father!” The boat craftsman wept.
During the landslide, he yelled to protect the ship in a moment of desperation. Besides the giant, no one could hear even, not even himself.
“Father don’t cry, the ship’s here, the ship is still here.” The giant promptly consoled the boat craftsman, he knew the significance of the ship to the boat craftsman.
“Inconceivable, the hull is only slightly damaged, that’s it!” Mu Ban loudly reported after his inspection.
“Thanks to the giant, in the event the boulder actually smashed into the ship, the ship definitely would have been destroyed!”
“The giant is a good person.”
“It was all thanks to you……”
After understanding the situation, the people expressed their gratitude.
The giant looked somewhat stupefied; this was the first time he faced such a spectacle.
Only the boat craftsman hurried to the giant’s side, he looked at the boulder and the giant’s severely deformed legs: “Are you in pain?”
The giant nodded, then shook his head: “Don’t cry father, this giant’ isn’t in pain.”
“Quickly, let me move the boulder!” Zong Ge roared.
“We cannot move it; it will injure the giant’s legs a second time. We need to smash this boulder to pieces or corrode it first.” Zhen Jin shook his head.
Just as he was about to give the order, he suddenly heard a wolf howl.
Awoo——!
The wolf howls repeated continuously.
Everyone heard it clearly, causing their complexions to change dramatically.
The magic beast corps were attacking!
Notes
Considering the hierarchy of this world, it is a rare sight to see a noble take the cliche line “we’re not so different, you and I” in stride. Of course, this chapter, like so many others, highlights the stark difference of how the MC views himself and how others view him. At least throughout his self-deprecation, he still holds onto hope that things will get better.