It was a provocation. Plain, blatant provocation. The worst part was they had no idea who did it.
Captain Zhang said, "This has to be man-made."
Lao Gao said as if it were obvious, "Of course it is. We chopped off all those arms. Even if the fish weren't dead, without arms they couldn't move on their own. And if they could move, they'd go back to the water, not appear on our deck."
Off to the side, Zhou Zhiye said, "No. Those fish are huge. Ordinary people, no, even one or two people couldn't move them from there onto the deck. We can't ignore their size and weight."
Thinking about it like that, it made sense.
"Then who did it? There's no camera on deck, and nobody stayed on board."
Captain Zhang rubbed his temples. "Get the fish onto the shore. Don't throw them in the water. Then we leave."
Another unsolved riddle added to the list.
They cleared the fish off the deck, reorganized the boats, and the three vessels left at top speed. Reorganizing meant squeezing the remaining fifty or so people onto two boats. The dented boat was set to autopilot and tailed the other two.
Letting it just trail behind felt wasteful. Since they were not keeping it long term, Captain Zhang mounted the loudspeaker on that boat.
Three boats moved while searching for survivors.
They did not find a single survivor, but they completed every task they could.
Except for one thing.
Before the loudspeaker boat even reached H City, it came under repeated attacks and sank beneath the water for good.
Captain Zhang watched the spot where the boat vanished. "Don't be too upset. We don't even know if we can keep the boats we still have."
It was only one boat, no need to grieve.
Truthfully, aside from Captain Zhang, nobody was grieving. They were just glad to be alive. They had not even reached their destination. Best to keep their heads down and move. Who had the energy to mourn a boat?
Captain Zhang realized he was the only one sulking and dropped the subject.
They sailed on for several more days and finally entered the outskirts of J City.
Seeing the familiar skyline, Lan Jin spoke up. "Captain Zhang, a suggestion. The ship should detour. The four of us came here before to scavenge. With the water level dropping, that area should be dry now. A ship this size will get stuck if we try to pass."
Lan Jin meant the suburban business park. Back then she had taken a car out of her space and the four of them scavenged there for days. Even then, only a few floors were flooded. Now, even if it was not completely dry, there would not be enough depth for a big ship.
Captain Zhang did not rely on one report. He launched the visual drone to scout ahead.
A glance was enough. The ground ahead was bone-dry.
Lan Jin said, "I thought there'd be a little water left. Didn't think it would recede this much. Looks like the water could be gone soon."
Shen Zhiyan said, "J City is a lake city. Heavy rain always floods it. Of the surrounding cities, J City flooded the worst. If J City's already showing ground, H City's water might be close to bottoming out too."
Shen Zhiyu asked, "With the water this low, will anyone try clearing the channels? That would drop the level even faster."
Captain Zhang said, "Normally, once the ice melts, people would go clear it. It's not like J City, where it was impossible. Put on diving suits and go. But now, there's something in the water. Who dares go down?"
Even he would not allow base members to dive. Going down would not be work. It would be suicide. After the mutant attack, they had been evacuating non-stop. There was no time to do anything else.
Shen Zhiyu said, "Let's check H City first. If the water is already shallow there, R City might be almost fully above water."
And once H City's level dropped, this large ship could not continue anyway. That was fine. They had prepared for anything before leaving. When that time came, they would abandon the big ship and switch to small boats.
However.
Small boats were not as safe. Shallow or not, water was still water. Things hid in it. You could not see them. Once something wrapped around a hull, you were in for a fight. Since this route was blocked, Captain Zhang plotted a new one. They looped around. The most sentimental among them were still Lan Jin and her three companions.
Lan Jin pointed at a residential compound ahead. "There. That's the place we lived at when the apocalypse began. Back then the flood climbed so high. Now it's just a few floors, ten at most."
The drop in water level was shocking.
Still, the Extreme Heat had lasted only a few months. Could it really fall this much so fast?
Captain Zhang explained, "It's not all evaporation. We're using a lot of it. Free resource. Use it while we can."
You could not drink this water, but after cycling and purification it worked for toilets and showers. Many systems needed water, like power generation, which consumed a lot. Add other uses, months of high heat, no rain. Of course the water dropped fast.
Huang Jinghe suddenly asked, "If we keep using it like this, will we run out one day?"
Captain Zhang choked on the answer. "That's the point. We need the Extreme Heat to end as soon as possible."
But the Extreme Heat had only just started. It would not end quickly.
Still, Captain Zhang was an insider. Maybe he knew something.
Lan Jin looked at him and asked, slow and meaningful, "Captain Zhang, how long until the Extreme Heat ends? If the higher-ups could predict the earlier weather, they should be able to predict what comes next."
Captain Zhang gave a bitter smile. "I really don't know. We're all on the inside here. If I knew, I'd tell you."
Lan Jin did not believe it. "Captain Zhang, when have you ever told the truth when it matters?"
So she was not buying it.