Chapter 444: Shallow Waters, Many Turtles

As the saying goes, "Small temple, big demon wind! Shallow water, many turtles!"

The smaller the place, the more surprises you get!

Xiao Jiu wore a proud look, spouting weird phrases she'd learned from novels, making Zhang Jie frown.

Where did you learn all that weird talk from?

From now on, read fewer novels.

Hmph! Idiot human! The point is this!

The point is! I found a Ship Life!!!

Yes yes yes, good good good, right right right....

Perfunctory!

Xiao Jiu could only sense the perfunctoriness in Zhang Jie's words, and instantly puffed out her cheeks in anger.

Let me take a look....

How do you open this thing again?

Zhang Jie scratched his head, wondering how he had opened it back then.

Forgot!

Doesn't matter, forgot is forgot—Zhang Jie pulled out his laser welder right there....

Wait, human!

Xiao Jiu grabbed him and pointed to a symbol on the large hatch holding the Ship Life.

This symbol.

?

What's wrong with this symbol?

This symbol represents the burial of a Ship Life.

Human, this is actually a coffin!

Zhang Jie:?

So he was just about to pry open someone's coffin lid?

No, then why did you pick it up?

Also, what's going on here?

Xiao Jiu pondered for a moment, then began explaining to Zhang Jie.

Under normal circumstances, the Iron Law Star Alliance has a custom: if a Ship Life has earned sufficient battle merit and suffered irreparable damage, or has a tendency toward self-destruction, it will be buried.

This burial method usually involves launching it into a star, black hole, neutron star, or gas giant.

But this huge coffin before us clearly suffered some mishap, preventing her from being properly buried, and instead she ended up stranded on this Garbage Star.

But no matter what, this poor kid was still picked up by Xiao Jiu's little gadget.

So?

Shall we pry open this coffin lid?

Of course!

Xiao Jiu gave a look as if looking at an idiot.

I'm just reminding you, human, that the guy inside is either an ultimate cripple or a short-tempered bastard.

We need to prepare in advance!

What are we waiting for? Pry it open!

This time Xiao Jiu didn't stop him, and joined Zhang Jie in prying open the coffin lid.

Zhang Jie had a laser welder, but Xiao Jiu had nothing, relying only on her tiny claws to pry open along the spot Zhang Jie had welded.

Creak....

With a screech of metal being torn apart, the coffin's heavy iron plate was ripped off by Xiao Jiu, revealing the semi-transparent gelatinous fluid inside.

The same scene, but this time what lay inside was not a complete Ship Life.

Ugh....

The gruesome sight inside the coffin made Xiao Jiu, a Ship Life herself, feel nauseous; she let out two 'ughs' and turned away, unwilling to look.

Zhang Jie also frowned, but his mental fortitude far surpassed Xiao Jiu's; he felt no disgust, plunged his hands into the semi-transparent gelatinous fluid, and pulled out what was inside.

It was a terribly mutilated Ship Life, missing both legs, lacking one eye, with a large hole torn in its chest.

The Space Component inside was likely damaged; Zhang Jie didn't even know if this Ship Life could still be activated.

Xiao Jiu.

Bring your Charging Pile.

Oh....

Xiao Jiu obeyed, and Zhang Jie fumbled with the Ship Life before him, searching for a charging port for a while, finally finding the insertion point at her tailbone.

Different from Xiao Jiu's?

Xiao Jiu's charging port is at the back of her neck, quite obvious; these two are different models.

Tsk, we still need to make a charging port for her.

Under Xiao Jiu's curious gaze, Zhang Jie unleashed the junkyard tinkerer's godlike skill!

Soon, a crude charging connector appeared under Zhang Jie's deft hands, and was successfully plugged into her waist.

Hum....

With a buzzing electric current, the poor Ship Life slowly opened her eyes.

Hey! She's awake, she's awake!

Xiao Jiu excitedly tugged at Zhang Jie's clothes, looking somewhat excited; now she finally gets another working Ship Girl like herself!

When the time comes! Not only can she pull her along to pick up trash, but they can also go eat cake together!

Feeling awesome!

But reality wasn't as beautiful as she imagined; this Ship Life has already run dry.

"......."

She opened her dazed eyes, looked at Zhang Jie, then at Xiao Jiu who opened her mouth, but she didn't make a sound.

"Human, human, she seems to have gone mute!"

"I'm not blind...."

Zhang Jie stepped forward and began to check the other's condition, while Xiao Jiu, with a curious face, poked the opposite with her little hand.

This is a weary-looking Ship Girl, now fixed onto a sturdy iron frame, her body reduced to remnants everywhere.

As for the face... Ship Lives are never ugly.

As for the figure, she's thin and petite, about the same size as Xiao Jiu, but lacking Xiao Jiu's huge headlights; she should be a small warship.

"Heehee, can you hear my words?"

The Ship Life looked at Xiao Jiu, weakly nodding.

"Hey! Human, she can understand human speech!"

Zhang Jie:......

This Ship Girl is stupid, can't keep her....

"Is there a possibility that she's not as stupid as you?"

"?"

Next, Xiao Jiu curiously asked the other some random questions, while the Ship Life occasionally nodded in response.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jie was making a small device to let this Ship Girl speak; just after finishing making it work, he turned around and saw Xiao Jiu, that stupid Ship Girl, holding a spoon and feeding the other cake.

The key is, this poor thing... has a huge hole in its belly! It doesn't even have a stomach!

Most importantly! This weak Ship Girl actually wants to open her mouth to eat??

Oh no, picked up another idiot....

Smack!

"Ouch!"

"What are you doing, human!"

"You slapped the spoon out of your hand, you were really afraid Xiao Jiu would feed the opposite to death, but after your repairs, the other's condition finally stabilized a bit, and can now speak through your device."

"And through talking with her, you learned that this is already a Ship Girl from over six hundred years ago; she was once a vanguard of the Iron Law Star Alliance that opened the borders, a military warship, with official standing, a normally born normal Ship Life."

""Don't try to fix me, it's impossible." Her body is already riddled with holes; in her memory, just a second ago she was blasted apart by a laser, and the next second she appeared here."

"Such a huge change left her unable to accept it; without hesitation she chose to let Zhang Jie end her life."

""Don't even think about it, I still need to use you." That's what you said."

""I will fix you, right, Xiao Jiu?""

""Yes yes! Please believe me! Humans are awesome!"