When Gou Fugui regained consciousness, even before opening his eyes, he felt a continuous, dull ache throughout his body and an uncontrollable dizziness.
It was as if he had been tumbled violently in a washing machine for a long time, leaving his whole body utterly drained.
Oh, it was the whole otter that was drained.
But when Gou Fugui opened his eyes, what he saw was not the imagined turbulent sea, but a broad, bare, and powerful chest.
Even though the owner of this chest was currently unconscious, even though Gou Fugui could clearly see the blue and purple bruises from bumps and collisions on his chest and shoulders, he found himself still tightly trapped in this man's embrace.
This discovery made Gou Fugui's feelings rather complicated—
In the face of an immeasurable, almost life-threatening disaster, let alone an animal he'd just met, some people might not even do their utmost to protect their closest loved ones.
Yet right before him was this fool, who had allowed himself to be battered and bruised by the colossal tsunami, yet protected a sea otter without a scratch.
Gou Fugui looked up carefully at the man whose face, even in unconsciousness, was tightly furrowed, making him appear fierce. Was this a clever wolf-man or just a bizarre idiot?
Forget it, never mind. He's just some wild man I just met. Why care so much? The most important thing now is to observe the surroundings and see where we've ended up.
So, Gou Fugui struggled to turn his round little body within Xie Tianlang's arms, simultaneously craning his neck to look outside.
They were still floating on the sea because everything below his neck was in water. But when he looked towards the ten o'clock position diagonally ahead, Gou Fugui was stunned—
Wasn't that large expanse of yellowish-white ahead a sandy beach and land?!
Behind the beach was a row of coconut trees that should have been neat but were now leaning haphazardly.
"...Holy crap."
So, had that mountain-like towering wave slammed them right onto the shore?!
Gou Fugui quickly turned his head to look at the surrounding sea surface and indeed saw people scattered here and there floating on the water, along with shattered lifeboats and rafts.
Of course, basically all the luggage bags everyone had managed to retrieve had also mostly not survived, turned into tattered cloth or plastic scraps.
The heavy rain was still falling.
The sky remained gloomy, making it impossible for Gou Fugui to determine the time.
But no matter what time it was, they couldn't afford to delay. Gou Fugui began gritting his teeth and wriggling back and forth, back and forth within Xie Tianlang's arms—
Even someone as unnaturally tough as Xie Tianlang was knocked out cold, so the condition of these people floating on the sea now was definitely worse than that of the wolf-man holding him. Plus, many of the floating people were face-down. If they waited any longer, they'd likely suffocate.
So, they needed to rescue people, and fast.
But he alone couldn't save so many.
He had to find help as quickly as possible—professional rescue and medical teams—to save these people's lives.
But damn it, why were this bastard's arms so strong?! Was he afraid he couldn't keep him encircled?!
Otter Fugui used every ounce of his strength, practically twisting himself into a sea snake before finally breaking free from the confinement and slipping out.
Once free from Xie Tianlang's arm, Otter Fugui grimaced and pressed his non-existent otter waist with his little paw, feeling like his waist must have been squeezed swollen by this guy.
"You freak of nature."
Otter Fugui spoke human words, his face full of disdain.
After saying that, he even gave Xie Tianlang's nose a hard slap with his little paw, pushing his face above the water's surface.
Then, Otter Fugui quickly scanned his surroundings through the curtain of rain, confirming that no one was on the shore and no one was awake. He let out a breath and swiftly dove beneath the sea surface.
As the little black-and-white sea otter agilely and gracefully submerged completely into the sea, a faint golden light suddenly glowed on his left paw. The little sea otter quickly tapped the glowing spot with his right paw, and then—
In the azure seawater, the round, chubby little black creature's form suddenly elongated. In the blink of an eye, the previously round little sea otter was gone, replaced by a slender human figure.
This person had hair as black as seaweed, and his bare skin was like fine white jade. He had a pair of extremely beautiful, upward-slanting phoenix eyes that sparkled with life when he opened them.
The young man stretched his arms, kicked his legs, and headed straight for the surface. With a splash, amidst the wind and rain, he revealed his true appearance.
"Tsk, finally changed back."
The great beauty Gou shook his hair, wiped the water from his face, and the first thing that met his eyes was Xie Tianlang's enlarged, handsome yet fierce face.
"Shit!"
Gou Fugui swam backward hard, nearly choking on water.
"You idiot, you're really like a lingering ghost."
Fortunately, Xie Tianlang was still unconscious. If he woke up, there'd be big trouble.
But even though the great beauty Gou was cursing under his breath, he still reached out and dragged the man towards the beach. After all, this person had used his own body to protect him in the end. Perhaps Otter Fugui wouldn't have died without his protection, but he certainly wouldn't be as unscathed as he was now.
While dragging Xie Tianlang towards the beach, Gou Fugui casually scooped up a couple of tops and pants he could wear. To his even greater delight, near the beach, he actually spotted the small black leather backpack that Otter Fugui had been wearing earlier!
Gou Fugui dumped Xie Tianlang on the beach, quickly put on the clothes and pants, and slung the small black leather backpack over his shoulder, finally looking somewhat human again.
Now he should leave, but as he was about to go, he couldn't help glancing once more at Xie Tianlang lying on the sand.
Cold raindrops kept falling from the sky onto his face, his bare chest, and his back, all bruised blue and purple.
"Tsk."
The great beauty Gou made an unhappy clicking sound, looked around, and finally found a large, broken but not torn sun umbrella. He picked up the large umbrella with distaste, walked back to Xie Tianlang's side, opened it, and shielded him from most of the falling rain. Then, he looked down at him for a moment before turning and walking away.
Just a passerby, no need to dwell on it.
And as he left, Xie Tianlang, his brow furrowed, hazily opened his eyes and caught a glimpse of a fleeting profile and waist-length black hair.
"......"
Gou Fugui ran to the roadside as fast as he could.
The place where the wave had thrown them seemed to be a seaside bathing area. Gou Fugui had hoped to find a manager, security guard, or lifeguard here, but probably because of the giant wave warning that had been issued, he couldn't find anyone after searching around.
The force of the colossal waves crashing ashore was evidently terrifying. The seaside bathing area was already unrecognizable; even many shops and residences along the streets close to the beachfront had been destroyed.
The wind and rain were fierce, and the streets were in chaos.
Yet, compared to the boundless, uninhabited ocean, there were people here guarding this land and its living beings.
"Hey, miss!! Why are you still here?! Didn't you hear the tsunami warning? Get away from here and go home! If your home is in the tsunami zone, then go to the safe zone first. They've prepared basic supplies there!"
As soon as Gou Fugui ran onto the road, he was stopped by a firefighter assisting with disaster relief. He was a young man with an upright face, speaking with a somewhat stern tone.
Hearing him call her 'miss,' Gou Fugui couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. Alright, it was raining, and his hair was loose, so being mistaken wasn't surprising. But the moment he spoke, the firefighter realized his error.
"Quickly notify the people above. I'm a survivor from the Brilliant Crystal cruise ship. The Brilliant Crystal encountered a major storm at sea and sank, but about fifteen hundred people managed to escape. We were supposed to return on lifeboats and rafts, but then we ran into the massive tsunami. The tsunami swept us right here. I was lucky, woke up without any injuries, but right now there are still many people drifting near the beach of the bathing area over there!"
"We need to send people to rescue them immediately. Many are probably still alive but unconscious. Some people's life jackets have been torn off or ripped by the waves. If we're any later, they might die."
"Everything I'm saying is true. You can check with your superiors if there's a record of the Brilliant Crystal's voyage. You can ask the others any other questions after you rescue them, but right now, hurry over there and save people."
Qi Zheng listened to the young man's slightly hoarse and urgent voice. After locking eyes with him for a moment, he immediately pressed his walkie-talkie and reported the situation to his superiors.
Soon, a reply came through his walkie-talkie. They confirmed they were aware of the incident and ordered his squad to dispatch their two best swimmers to the bathing area for rescue. A maritime rescue team would also be sent urgently to the seaside bathing area.
Hearing the response from the walkie-talkie, Gou Fugui felt the knot in his chest loosen a little.
He had done what he could. The rest depended on whether those victims' luck was strong enough.
That werewolf's luck was definitely strong enough, anyway.
Thinking this, Gou Fugui curled his lip and turned to leave without hesitation. Transforming back from Sea Otter Fugui to human had consumed most of his energy. He was now exhausted, starving, and needed to find a place to rest and recover quickly.
Firefighter Qi Zheng watched Gou Fugui's decisive departure, feeling something was a bit off, but he still rushed to the bathing area with his teammates as fast as possible. There, they saw the people floating on the water.
However, apart from those who were unconscious, there was also a bare-chested man with a tall, perfectly built physique who had already awakened. As they arrived, this man was dragging four people ashore with his hands, clutching two victims in each.
"Damn, that strength, that build! What a tough guy!"
Qi Zheng heard his teammate's involuntary exclamation and shot him a glare. "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and rescue people!"
Xie Tianlang dragged Qin Feng, Lu Hu, Song Sanchuan, and a child onto the shore. He looked up and saw the rescuers approaching.
He kicked Qin Feng and the other two awake, then reached out to stop Qi Zheng as he walked by.
"How did you know to come here? Who notified you?"
Qi Zheng was taken aback for a moment before answering, "A fellow passenger from your ship, another victim. But the situation was urgent, I didn't ask for his name."
Qi Zheng then saw the handsome man click his tongue in annoyance. Finally, the man actually asked,
"Male or female?"
Qi Zheng thought of the young man's long black hair and rubbed his nose. "Male."
"Although he had long hair, he was quite good-looking."
Then, Qi Zheng saw the man opposite him give him a distinctly unfriendly look.
"Hmph."
