Sea otter Fugui, held by the scruff of his neck, was feeling utterly wretched.
He used almost all his strength trying to break free from Xie Tianlang's big hand gripping him, but it was clearly useless. Not only had his entire body shrunk by more than half after turning into a sea otter, but sea otters themselves aren't beasts of great strength—they're just cute little creatures that rub their faces and sunbathe, okay?!
So, the struggling sea otter Fugui, having had enough, roared at Xie Tianlang. Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to speak human words directly and expose his shape-shifting golden finger. In fact, Gou Fugui had decided that as long as he was in sea otter form and still with these people, he would absolutely not turn human and reveal his true identity.
Therefore, the furious roar that erupted from Gou Fugui's chest and mouth wasn't a stream of ancestral curses like "Screw you!" or "I'm your daddy!", but a series of indescribable sea otter cries—
"Ah-ya-ya—ah-ah-ao!!"
Even with all his might, it was a completely futile roar, lacking any intimidating force whatsoever.
Xie Tianlang looked at the sea otter struggling desperately in his hand, crying "ah-ah," and even trying to scratch him with its ridiculously short little paws, and raised an eyebrow. This little thing wasn't big, but its temper certainly was. It felt sleek and glossy to the touch and was quite feisty.
It just seemed a bit dim-witted.
"So energetic, definitely not sick. If we can't braise or boil it, eating the raw meat should be fine too."
"The pelt is nice. Skinning it directly to make a waterproof bag should last a long time."
Sea otter Fugui was utterly shocked by the werewolf's words.
Listen to yourself! Is that human speech?! Faced with such an adorable sea otter like me, Fugui, you actually want to eat me raw and skin me to make a waterproof bag?!
I might not be human anymore, but you are truly a dog!
"Zhi-ah-ah-ah! Ah-ao ah-ao ying!"
By now, the other three members of Squad Two who had fallen from the sky with Xie Tianlang had gathered around. They all looked rather disheveled. But Gou Fugui, still being held, noticed that when these three people approached Xie Tianlang, they all seemed to relax, as if they trusted him immensely.
And the Xie Tianlang they trusted did seem somewhat different. Despite being in the turbulent sea with waves crashing one after another, while the other three were using all their strength to maintain balance in the waves, Xie Tianlang appeared completely unbothered by the sea's turmoil.
His body's muscles seemed able to self-adjust with the rolling and pounding of the waves, as if using the most effortless method to "go with the flow."
Gou Fugui stared at his body and the surrounding waves and suddenly felt that his way of floating on the surface was as relaxed as... a sea otter's.
At that moment, Xie Tianlang also spoke to the three team members who had reached him:
"Haven't you learned the muscle training methods for water and the optimal floating posture? If you don't use them now, when are you planning to? When you're dying?"
Even though Xie Tianlang ended with a standard closed-lip smile, Gou Fugui keenly noticed the other three shivering in unison. However, soon their thrashing movements in the sea became much more relaxed, at least conserving the most energy possible amidst these violent winds and giant waves.
Tch, it's obvious at a glance who's the boss.
Sea otter Fugui struggled once more, found he still couldn't escape, rolled his eyes, and started using his two little paws to rub his face and groom his fur.
As a genuine sea otter, he must never forget to groom his fur.
Just then, Squad Two's captain, Qin Feng, swam over with some effort. When he saw that Xie Tianlang was indeed holding a sea otter that was rubbing its face and grooming its fur, his expression went blank for a moment.
But he quickly said, "There's an ocean and sea otters in this world. Does that mean this world's ecological environment is similar to ours?"
Gou Fugui, rubbing his own face, secretly shook his head. It's true there's a sea here, but the sea otter in front of you isn't native to this world. Like you, he's here to save the world.
Xie Tianlang glanced at the sea otter in his hand, comfortably rubbing its face, grooming, and shaking its head, and suddenly felt speechless. Had this little creature decided to stop struggling since it couldn't break free? It was all claws and teeth a moment ago, and now it's grooming.
Definitely not very bright, but this attitude of accepting fate is quite commendable.
"One sea otter alone isn't enough to draw conclusions. Qin Feng, Lu Hu, assemble the life rafts together. Sanchuan, determine our direction. Don't waste time here."
The wind and waves here were too strong. If they couldn't find a boat or reach shore quickly, even well-trained national elites couldn't hold out for long.
Qin Feng and the other two nodded. Then Qin Feng and Lu Hu began connecting the life rafts. During this, Qin Feng looked around worriedly a few times, but the sky was gray, rain poured down in sheets, and besides the curtain of rain between heaven and earth, he could hardly see anything. Naturally, he couldn't see if there were any other teammates who had fallen from the sky on the sea besides the four of them.
He just hoped the other six teammates' landing points weren't on this vast ocean. Clearly, all nine members of Squad Two had jumped into the vortex gate arm in arm, but only three arrived together in the end.
As for Squad Leader Xie, who formed his own one-man team and disliked their awkward posture, refusing to jump arm in arm with them, had still ended up falling into this sea with them. The rules for entering the apocalypse gate were truly unfathomable.
At that moment, the round-faced team member Song Sanchuan opened a small bag he carried with him and pulled out a compact metal detector. The detector wobbled unsteadily into the air under his control, but before it could emit any common communication waves or take some high-definition photos, it was struck down hard by a massive wave.
Song Sanchuan cried out in distress, quickly paddled over, and retrieved his metal detector. Then, rather dejectedly, he reported to Xie Tianlang, "Boss, the detector's useless here—cough—the weather is just too extreme!"
If this world was all vast ocean, violent winds, and torrential rain like this, he really didn't know what the method to save the world could be.
Just as Song Sanchuan had this thought, he suddenly froze.
Sea otter Fugui, who had already groomed down to his belly, saw the four people in front of him all freeze with blank expressions. He paused, then understood.
They must be getting the lowdown on how to save the world from the Earth's consciousness right now. He just wondered if these four would also get some favor from World Dad? Maybe a golden finger or something.
Gou Fugui continued grooming as he waited. A dozen seconds later, the four of them collectively snapped back to attention. But judging by their expressions, it seemed none of them had received any special favor from World Dad.
"Ah-ha-ha."
Sea otter Fugui let out three triumphant and joyful sea otter cries. When it came to character, his Fugui was indeed both handsome and virtuous.
"Captain Xie, Captain Qin! Did you all hear that just now?" Lu Hu from Team Two asked in a muffled voice.
Qin Feng nodded, but the expression on his face grew even more serious.
"To save this apocalypse, we need to find the World Core and repair it. The methods of repair are to resolve the root cause of the apocalypse, or preserve the minimum number of lives."
"But right now, we can't do either. The top priority is to get off this ocean and reach land. Only after landing can we quickly understand this world's situation, determine the source of the apocalypse, and then go find the World Core or do what we can."
"But the storm here is too severe. It's hard enough just keeping ourselves afloat. Sanchuan's mechanical detectors are unusable too. How can we find the direction to the nearest land, or find a ship?"
Song Sanchuan wiped the water droplets from his face: "We don't need a ship. With a sea storm of this magnitude, even a standard aircraft carrier might not hold up! Cough... As long as we can find a mechanical propulsion device! I can modify it to tow us away quickly!"
"If we just rely on ourselves in this ocean, not even Captain Xie... cough, I mean, not even Captain Xie could swim out on his own."
As Song Sanchuan spoke, he suddenly shot an envious look at the sea otter Fugui, who had started rubbing his feet: "If only we were all sea otters! Sea otters are animals born to live on the sea!"
Upon hearing this, Gou Fugui nodded in agreement, then lifted his head to give the baby-faced young man a little look that said 'your judgment is excellent'. It seems you share the same dream as me, a pity you'll never realize it in this lifetime, while I can.
"Eek! Captain Xie! This sea otter just looked up at me... but why do I feel its gaze is a bit strange? It seems to carry three parts pity, three parts appreciation, and four parts smugness?"
Xie Tianlang glanced at Song Sanchuan and gave a fake smile: "Oh. Probably because it finds you adorably stupid."
"Just like itself."
Song Sanchuan and Sea Otter Fugui both froze in their actions simultaneously.
Sea Otter Fugui roared at Xie Tianlang again.
"Aaahhh aoo! Aooo aooo!" You're the one who's adorably stupid! Your whole family is adorably stupid!
However, Sea Otter Fugui's roar was mercilessly interrupted midway by the heartless, foolish human. Xie Tianlang once again pinched the scruff of Sea Otter Fugui's neck (he had let go earlier after seeing it rubbing its feet contentedly and not trying to escape): "Alright, stop yelling at me. You could yell your throat hoarse and no other otter would come save you."
Sea Otter Fugui: "..." My god, you can still use such an old cliché on a sea otter!
Xie Tianlang gave the sea otter's soft, chubby body a little shake. Under the otter's accusatory stare, he spoke coldly: "Put your little nose to work. Sniff around, see if you can catch the scent of people or land nearby."
"Otherwise, I'll eat you."
Sea Otter Fugui: "..."
Qin Feng, Lu Hu: "..."
Is that how you threaten a sea otter? Captain Xie, that's going too far! Way too far!
But at that moment, Song Sanchuan suddenly clapped his hands: "How could I forget that! A sea otter's sense of smell is incredibly sharp. Every sea otter can detect all sorts of scents from over eight kilometers away!"
"Captain Xie, you're so brilliant! How did you manage to catch a sea otter just at the right time! But... will this sea otter understand?"
Xie Tianlang looked at the little sea otter in front of him, which was already rolling its eyes at him. Suddenly, he revealed a smile completely different from his previous fake one, filled with genuine pleasure: "It must be fate from the heavens. And, it will understand."
Sea Otter Fugui: "Ah." Hmph.
Fate your ass, it's more like a calamity fallen from the sky, right?!
But in the end, the poor Sea Otter Fugui was forced to "understand" Xie Tianlang's words and became a guide otter.
Apart from his own desire to quickly leave the stormy sea and find signs of human habitation, that wolf-man was just too ruthless, truly threatening his otter life and limb in every possible way!
Constantly pulling his tail, pinching his cheeks, and patting his butt was bad enough, but in the end, the guy actually took out a small knife and started gesturing with it around his body, as if he'd really skin and eat him alive if he didn't cooperate!
Sea Otter Fugui swam ahead furiously, using the water splashed by his tail to spray that wolf-man's face. Consider it making the guy drink his bathwater. Once they were out of the ocean, he'd better not run into this jerk again, or he'd definitely give him the middle finger right to his face.
After swimming in one direction for about ten minutes, Sea Otter Fugui's little nose finally caught a familiar scent.
It was the scent belonging to "living people," and besides that, there were also scents of blood and death.
Sea Otter Fugui abruptly straightened his body, his little head and small eyes staring intently in that direction.
The four people closely following him noticed his unusual behavior. Xie Tianlang reached out and once again pinched the scruff of the sea otter's neck—the neck that held its fate: "Yuan Yuan, did you catch the scent of humans?"
Gou Fugui struggled angrily: "Aoo." You're Yuan Yuan, your whole family is round.
Xie Tianlang chuckled softly, let go of its neck, and instead patted the little sea otter's head: "Well done. I'll feed you an extra little fish later."
Sea Otter Fugui drifted back, grooming his fur with disdain: "Ah ah!"
Don't touch dad's head! Did dad beg you for food? 'Feed me a little fish,' he says. Let me tell you, in this ocean, even if you all starved to death, dad could eat his fill!
And what I eat are sea urchins, crabs, and big clams, valuable stuff!
