When Legen first boarded the ship, he noticed that everyone who passed by looked at him with a strange emotion. It wasn't dislike, curiosity, or joy—none of the emotions that one might expect. What was even stranger was that almost everyone looked at him with the same expression.
Legen couldn't understand what that emotion was, which made him feel a bit uneasy.
From the moment he boarded the ship, Legen followed the woman who had given him a lot of food. She first took him to a place that looked like a cafeteria and had him sit down to wait. She even brought him a bowl of ice cream before leaving.
Legen enjoyed the ice cream, which he hadn't tasted in a long time. He noticed that many people deliberately passed by the door to look at him, but no one came in to disturb him. After a while, the woman returned and continued to lead Legen around the ship. Since he hadn't finished the ice cream, she handed him the bowl to carry along.
They went below deck, and the woman pointed to a single room that showed no signs of being lived in, indicating for him to enter. Legen noticed that the room even had a private shower, which made him realize that this was not a place for just anyone—he was enjoying a special privilege.
Due to the language barrier, Legen found it difficult to refuse, so he just nodded and smiled foolishly, then walked in and sat on the bare iron bed.
It seemed that arrangements had already been made, as within a minute, two young men in sailor uniforms came in carrying a mattress and bedding. They made the bed for Legen without letting him lift a finger, and then smiled at him before leaving.
This feeling of being taken care of was wonderful! Tears streamed down Legen's face and dripped onto his beard, making him feel a bit embarrassed.
But what touched him even more came later. After some time, two women in white aprons came in, one carrying a flower vase and the other a large bag of red fruits, which they placed on his bedside table. Legen received two more smiles in his surprised gaze.
Now Legen finally understood the emotion in the eyes of those who had been watching him since he boarded the ship—it was a caring concern tinged with a bit of pity.
The woman who had first brought him on board, after settling him in, made several attempts to communicate with him. They finally managed to exchange names. This was Ms. Borda. After conducting a series of examinations that Legen couldn't understand, she left the single room.
It seemed that this place was really for him to stay. God, had he arrived in heaven? How had things suddenly become so good?
After that, no one disturbed him until dinner time, when Borda knocked on his door and led him to the cafeteria, formally teaching him how to use the tray to get food.
Legen was very happy. The cafeteria was crowded and noisy, which moved him to the point of almost crying again. However, he was also a bit embarrassed because the server gave him an extra sausage.
This special treatment made him feel overwhelmed. He even worried that others might resent or get angry with him because of it. But it turned out he was overthinking it. People far away didn't look at him much, and those nearby just waved and said something he couldn't understand, but judging by their smiles, Legen thought they were greeting him.
After dinner, Borda brought him a stack of new clothes, identical to those worn by the sailors on the ship. Legen understood that these were for him to change into, so he took a comfortable bath. To his surprise, Borda took away his patched-up, ragged clothes after he finished bathing.
Legen felt he had received too much kindness and thought he shouldn't trouble others with washing his clothes. He tried to stop Borda to get his dirty clothes back, but he was quickly persuaded—Borda's actions indicated that his clothes were to be thrown away.
Well, these ragged old things did need to be replaced. Legen reluctantly looked at the clothes that had accompanied him for years, then resolutely handed them over to Borda.
That night, Legen had the most peaceful sleep he had had in six years. Despite the ship rocking 15 degrees to the left and right on the sea, Legen slept soundly.
Early the next morning, Dr. Borda, who hadn't slept all night, had already conducted half a day's observation and needed to quickly write a report about the rescued islander to the fleet commander.
Dr. Borda worked quickly. Before the fleet commander got up, her report was already on his desk. After prioritizing the major fleet-related matters, the commander picked up the report written and summarized by Dr. Borda, which also included the observations of other crew members on the Jenny.
"...Language barrier... but limited communication is possible. This indicates rationality."
"...Very intelligent, able to adapt to many things on the ship at first sight... whether it's getting food in the cafeteria or using the shower facilities, he seemed to have seen them before. But how could an islander have seen these things?"
"...Emotionally stable, seemingly without any mental illness. It appears he has overcome the psychological trauma."
"...Very cooperative, no difficult conflicts with anyone, not even minor unpleasantness. He is easy to get along with... He doesn't seem to lack the ability to communicate with others, just limited by the language barrier. This is good news. Maybe we can learn from him what happened on Spice Island, though it will probably be a tragic story, sigh—"
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The fleet commander finished reading the report and slowly put it down, contemplating the next steps.
In fact, he didn't need to think too much, as Dr. Borda had already made her suggestions in the report: try to find a translator who knows the language of the Spice Island islanders to fully communicate with the survivor, helping him integrate into the Federation society as soon as possible. Until a translator is found, let him stay on the Jenny, as he knows everyone there. Sending him ashore immediately after docking might make him feel uncomfortable in a new environment again.
Dr. Borda's suggestions were humane enough, but as the fleet commander, he also had to consider other factors, such as operational risks and the potential intelligence the survivor might hold. Based on these considerations, agreeing to let the survivor stay on the Jenny was not a very prudent suggestion.
However, setting aside the differences, the fleet commander agreed with part of Dr. Borda's suggestion about finding a translator. So, he sent a telegram to the Exwindic Ocean Southern Operations Coordination Headquarters, specifically mentioning this matter.
Originally, finding a survivor was not a big deal, not enough to warrant a special telegram from a fleet commander to the operations coordination headquarters. In the early stages of the six-year-long war against the demons, many survivors were found and rescued every day.
But as the war dragged on, and with the efforts of many, including the rescue teams, most survivors were quickly found. So, as time went on, the frequency of finding survivors decreased. Before Legen was found, there had been no new survivors discovered for a whole year and four months, leading many to believe that all survivors had already been found.
What made this situation even more special was that Legen, the survivor, was found on an island. In the early stages of the war, isolated islands were the priority for rescue teams. Five years ago, the rescue team had already searched Spice Island and found that the residents had been massacred by underground demons, leaving with heavy hearts.
So now, finding someone who spoke the islanders' language was not an easy task.
Two hours before the fleet was due to dock, the Exwindic Ocean Southern Operations Coordination Headquarters received a telegram from the fleet commander. The previous day's telegram about the skirmish with enemy reconnaissance boats had already been sent, so the staff were curious about the sudden new telegram early in the morning.
"A report of a non-urgent matter. Another survivor has been found, but only one person. The 3rd Coastal Combat Boat Squadron discovered a young male on Spice Island."
The first staff member to read the message summarized it for the others gathered around the command platform.
Hearing this, Admiral Salomon, who was in charge of operations in the southern Exwindic Ocean region, looked away from the command platform and glanced at the staff member, his eyes questioning: Finding a survivor, is it necessary to send a special telegram to headquarters? Is there more to the message?
As Admiral Salomon expected, the staff member continued reading the telegram and summarized the rest: It was an islander survivor who spoke a different language. Lieutenant General Lyon, who led the team, believed that a translator was urgently needed to communicate with him and confirm if there were other survivors on Spice Island needing rescue.
Admiral Salomon then realized: An islander survivor had been found, which likely meant the previous rescue work was not thorough. Lieutenant General Lyon was right; it was crucial to confirm if there were other survivors on the island. If there were, the rescue team needed to be notified immediately to correct their previous oversight.
Not rescuing all the people was a matter of varying significance. Especially in the early stages of the war, it was common for rescue teams to leave some survivors behind due to various constraints. No one, including superiors, would blame them for inadequate rescue efforts.
But if a survivor was found in an area previously declared devoid of life by the rescue team, especially after such a long time, the leadership might hold them accountable.
Admiral Salomon began to pray silently, hoping the rescue team had only missed a few individuals. As long as the number didn't reach 50 or 100, the leadership might not be too harsh.
Incidentally, Admiral Salomon's wife was one of the leaders of the rescue team. He had been leading a regiment of missing troops when her rescue team found them, bringing them back into the operational system for command and supply. This was how they met and eventually became a couple.
Naturally, Admiral Salomon didn't want his wife to be blamed for such an incident, even if the chances were slim.
Thus, Lieutenant General Lyon's proposal, the commander of the 3rd Coastal Combat Boat Squadron who found Legen, was quickly accepted and implemented.
At 8 a.m., after a 16-hour voyage, the 3rd Coastal Combat Boat Squadron returned to port. On the Jenny, Dr. Borda woke the still-sleeping Legen, motioning with her hands for him to follow her off the ship. Although this was beyond her duties, Dr. Borda responsibly took on the task.
Legen tried to freshen up, at least to brush his teeth, but Dr. Borda didn't give him the time, hurriedly pulling him up the gangway.
As soon as Legen stepped onto the deck, he noticed they were in a massive harbor with dozens of concrete docks and ships, most of which were clearly warships, with only a few lacking mounted cannons.
Hmm... no, considering the previous combat methods of these vessels, the so-called cannons should be called ice water cannons.
Legen didn't have time to observe the harbor in detail as Dr. Borda kept pulling him forward, walking faster and faster until they were almost running.
They jogged from the dock, passed a checkpoint manned by a single guard, and arrived at a row of identical bicycles. Dr. Borda pulled out one, sat Legen on the back seat, and pedaled away.
This made Legen even more curious about where she was taking him in such a hurry. Along the way, many people, clearly military personnel by their attire, gave them strange looks.
Legen could tell that some were snickering, probably at the sight of a grown man sitting on the back of a woman's bicycle.
But trusting Dr. Borda, Legen decided to keep quiet and see what would happen.
His eyes began to wander, looking for interesting sights. Soon, he saw a volcano standing not far from the harbor.
Legen was sure it was a volcano because it had a very distinct, irregularly shaped flat top and a nearly perfect conical shape. The summit wasn't smoking, so it was likely a dormant or inactive volcano.
Legen estimated it to be 500 to 1000 meters high and about 10 kilometers from the harbor, as he could see the clear outline of its base when Dr. Borda cycled past a street with a view of the volcano.
It was strange to see a port built around a volcano.
As he pondered this, Dr. Borda suddenly stopped the bicycle, causing Legen's head to bump into her back.
Legen was about to apologize, but he saw Dr. Borda jump off the bike without a care and quickly run to the back of a long queue in front of a shop, waving at him.
Legen noticed that everyone leaving the queue was holding steaming paper bags. Now he understood why Dr. Borda had brought him here in such a hurry—it was to buy food from the street.