Chapter 105: The First Meeting Was Surprisingly Friendly

Twenty kilometers is a painfully awkward distance—if you call it close, even a modern destroyer would take over ten minutes to cover it.

But if you call it far, you can spot it with the naked eye from the mast.

And with the speed of this fishing boat that Liu Yunxi had transformed into, even if the opposite vessel were a medieval-style pirate ship, Feng Xue had no confidence he could escape—

After all, Liu Yunxi's meager demonic energy probably wouldn't last long enough to push the little boat very far before it ran out of "fuel."

After a moment's hesitation, Feng Xue abandoned the idea of fleeing, pulled out the three jade tablets—【Thunder Transformation】, 【Water Treading】, 【Divine Speed】—and shoved them into his belt, waiting for the approaching vessel—friend or foe—as SARA spewed a string of errors: "No special-structure mineral crystals detected, presumed to be primitive ritual artifacts."

Finally, a mast slowly emerged at the horizon's edge, followed by its massive sail—and Feng Xue frowned.

Unlike the high-tech warship he'd imagined, this vessel looked like even a WWI-era ship would be an overstatement; if anything, it resembled a wooden sailing ship from around the sixteenth century… yeah, just like those Caribbean pirate ships.

"Do people in this era go for retro style? Is this thing just a high-tech vessel disguised as a wooden sailboat?"

Feng Xue's brow twitched slightly, but SARA's reply took him by surprise—

"Due to the impact of the Sea God's Apocalypse, global technology has regressed to varying degrees. Although the Seven Archipelagoes have never ceased salvaging pre-civilization technology, their low population base, difficulty in deep-sea mineral extraction, and scarcity of basic industrial equipment mean what you see is their true technological level. In fact, many islands still lack the capacity to build ships; civilizational decline is widespread."

"Oh, right… I forgot…" Feng Xue's mouth twitched—probably because SARA's naked-eye 3D projection had subtly convinced him this world was highly advanced, making him nearly forget this was a post-apocalyptic setting.

While the human and AI conversed, the sail in view rose higher. Feng Xue raised his telescope and, through Shoutian Shou's vision, immediately saw a string of numbers fluttering at the mast's peak—

79412.

"Damn, over two hundred years! Looks like longevity isn't rare in this world!"

With this thought, Feng Xue frowned and asked:

"Do you know what this ship is? Or scan the enemy strength aboard?"

"Target vessel: small two-masted sailboat, length approximately 21 meters, estimated speed 28 km/h, estimated crew of 20. Flag not registered, black background, no skull emblem, no rock emblem, no figurehead installed. Judging… likely Pirate / Landseeker faction. Due to provisions of the Human Rights Protection Act, deep scanning is prohibited until the target exhibits clear hostile behavior…"

SARA's reply was robotic. Feng Xue's face darkened—

"You didn't care about human rights when you scanned me!"

"You are not human." SARA's four words sank all of Feng Xue's retort. He gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and began steering.

Not to flee—but toward the sailboat.

…

"Captain, that small boat's coming this way!"

The lookout on the mast shouted into a wooden barrel tied with a thin rope; the crew below, hearing the sound from the barrel, immediately repeated the words.

Standing on deck, the man holding the telescope pressed his silver-gray left arm and said:

"Any markings detected?"

"None! Only one man, one woman, and a white dog on board!"

The lookout's voice echoed back. The captain frowned, looked at his eager crew, and ordered:

"Stay sharp. Hundreds of kilometers around, there's not a single island for resupply. A tiny boat drifting here isn't luck—it's suspicious. And there's a dog on board. They're likely Beast Tamers. Arm yourselves. Don't attack until they show hostility. Go wake up Mei Ka—get him out of bed. We need his translation skills!"

"Yes!"

The crew, moments ago lounging like spectators, immediately moved with disciplined efficiency. Soon, a sleepy young man emerged from below deck, wearing dirty clothes, a multicolored parrot perched on his shoulder.

Seeing his captain's grim expression, he forced himself awake, gave a half-hearted wave, then turned his gaze toward the approaching boat.

"Their clothing doesn't look ordinary."

"Exactly why I called you. The moment Silver Arm detected them, that dog noticed my probe—I couldn't even tell if it had spotted us before we saw them. A creature of this caliber has locked permissions; capturing it would be hard, and even harder to sell without drawing trouble."

"Sigh, I should've never boarded your ship!" The young man, his partner for years, instantly understood. He sighed theatrically, plucked a feather from the parrot's shoulder, and handed it to the captain before turning toward the dangling small boat:

"Lower me down. Getting too close to that kind of thing isn't safe!"

…

As Feng Xue steered, pondering whether to leap aboard or communicate across the water, the other ship lowered a three-meter wooden boat.

Only two people were aboard: one rowing hard, the other young man waving two small flags, seemingly trying to convey a message.

"They're using flag signals. Message: 'Request you not to approach further; I will come to speak with you.'" Before Feng Xue could ask, SARA translated. Feng Xue couldn't help but gain a little more respect for the dog—

Though he understood SARA and the dog weren't one and the same, that didn't stop him from calling SARA "the dog."

Mei Ka's small boat drew nearer. When they were about five meters apart, the rower slowed to maintain a stable distance between the two vessels.

Feng Xue silently instructed Liu Yunxi to hold position. Seeing Feng Xue willing to talk, Mei Ka repeated the same phrase in six or seven languages, thickly accented in Mandarin:

"I am Mei Ka, liaison of the Silver Arm. What is your purpose?"

"No record of 'Silver Arm' exists in the registry." SARA whispered her report. Feng Xue didn't respond, only answered in Mandarin:

"We're heading toward the Cradle Archipelago. Are there any nearby islands for resupply? If possible, could you carry us?"

At Feng Xue's words, Mei Ka's face twitched. Such flawless pre-civilization lingua franca could only come from a major power. He took a deep breath and said:

"We're on an expedition requiring long-range sailing—we won't be landing for a long time. If you need supplies, head southeast about two hundred kilometers. There's an inhabited island there. You can rest there. Here's the chart."

As he spoke, Mei Ka rubbed the parrot on his shoulder. With a soft beep, SARA nodded:

"Legitimate navigation log. Journal entries deleted, but no signs of tampering. Clean."

Feng Xue was surprised by how smoothly the first exchange went—but recalling Ping'an County from his last world, he forced himself to stay alert, and only said to SARA:

"Send them the data on the ring-shaped ocean current. Not the full chart—just the ring-current section."

(End of Chapter)