Chapter 235 - 220: Barrier
The root cause of everything was that she had absorbed an excessive amount from the Superpower Stone.
Jiang Si was lost in thought. Hearing the noisy commotion on the ship, she asked, "Why is Zhang Aihua on our ship?"
Shen Baoying wiped away her tears and said with a sob, "Your father felt sorry for them. He hoped that if you were ever in danger, some kind soul would take you in, so he offered them temporary shelter."
Jiang Si understood. She couldn’t afford to grieve right now.
The magma would soon reach them. The ship had to change course immediately and get clear of the danger zone.
Jiang Si said calmly, "First, let’s get the ship moving—fast. Everyone, follow me to the control room."
With Jiang Si back, it was as if everyone had found their backbone.
Bo Xi and Lu Zhifeng also let out a deep sigh of relief.
At last, at long last, Jiang Si was back safely.
’Hopefully, Jiao Chunzi can find Jiang Linhai and they can both return safely, too.’
As everyone filed into the control room and quickly began turning the Icebreaker around, Zhang Aihua, who had spent the better part of the day trying to convince Shen Baoying and the others to change course, was puzzled.
’Why did they suddenly decide to listen?’
A sea snake slammed against the window in front of them with a THUD.
Zhang Aihua quickly manipulated his vines to fling the sea snake away.
Zhang Aihua’s superpower had indeed been a great help to everyone.
As the ship changed direction, many of the sea snakes that had just climbed aboard were flung back into the sea with loud THUDS.
Jiang Si then found Dai Mao, which was dozing off after having eaten and drunk its fill.
She said to Dai Mao, "Summon some Vultures to clear out the snakes that are jumping on board."
Dai Mao shot to its feet, spread its wings, and soared into the sky.
Like a sovereign surveying the heavens, it let out a single cry, summoning countless infected zombies.
They were like a dark cloud blotting out the sky.
Terrified, Song Yufang hugged Zhang Yiwen and said worriedly, "Honey, there are so many Vultures! What are we going to do?"
The others, who were unaware of the situation, were instantly overcome with despair.
The sea was swarming with venomous snakes and sharks, and now the sky was filled with so many mutated Vultures.
It really seemed like there was no way out.
Zhang Aihua hugged his wife and child, comforting them. "Just when you think it’s the end of the road, a new path appears! There has to be a way!"
’Besides, Jiang Si and Qin Shen’s group haven’t even acted yet.’
The Vultures suddenly swooped down. Everyone braced for an attack.
But the zombie Vultures seemed to be under someone’s control, as they single-mindedly began clearing the venomous snakes from the ship.
They even threw themselves at the leaping sharks without hesitation.
Song Yufang’s eyes widened in astonishment. "Are these Vultures helping us?" she said in disbelief.
Zhang Yiwen snapped out of his daze and laughed. "Yes! Yes, they are! The Vultures are really helping us!"
Zhang Aihua looked toward the restricted area of the ship. "Someone on this ship must be controlling them," he said. "We’re safe, for now."
Song Yufang, however, was puzzled. "Why didn’t they control them sooner?"
Zhang Aihua didn’t understand either. "Maybe they were testing us?" he guessed.
It suddenly dawned on Song Yufang. "It’s a good thing we weren’t thinking of causing trouble."
’If we had, they probably would have thrown us overboard long ago.’
The immediate danger to the ship was resolved, at least for the moment.
Inside the ship, everyone could clearly feel the outside temperature rising.
The Icebreaker was now speeding across the open sea, no longer needing to break any ice.
Still, the strange behavior of the marine life, along with the seabirds fleeing across the sky, was deeply unsettling.
Jiang Si wished she could turn the Icebreaker into a bolt of lightning.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have that kind of power.
’If there’s really no way to get the Icebreaker out of this, the only choice left is to have the Vultures evacuate everyone.’
’But evacuating that way means they’d have to leave even more supplies behind.’
’That would make their future struggles even harder to overcome.’
Having prepared for the worst-case scenario, Jiang Si finally composed herself and went to see Qin Shen.
Qin Shen was curled up in his room. He showed no reaction at all when Jiang Si entered.
A dull ache spread through Jiang Si’s chest as she looked at his scabbed-over wounds.
’This was all her fault.’
Jiang Si felt her eyes well up. She wiped them away and gently pushed Qin Shen’s arm. "Wake up. You need to wake up. I’m back. Don’t sleep anymore."
Qin Shen remained unresponsive. Jiang Si wanted to use her superpower to heal him, but she couldn’t sense the energy stone at all.
All she could do was hug Qin Shen tightly, hoping for some kind of miraculous effect.
"Don’t you want to marry me? We’ll get married. Just wake up!"
Qin Shen was like a living statue. No matter what she said or how she held him, the only response was the faint, weak sound of his breathing.