SES Chapter 58 Part 2

And replacement only happened in one scenario:
Death.

Ro Ren stood at the door, looking at everyone inside.

They hadn’t known each other long. Aside from Mu Dai, who was his girlfriend, the rest weren’t people he shared any deep bond or admiration with.

But still, he didn’t want anything bad to happen to any of them.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he heard footsteps behind him. He knew immediately who it was.

Ro Ren smiled without turning around, just reached out a hand behind him.

Sure enough, someone took his hand.

Warm, delicate, soft. He squeezed back gently and pulled her down to sit beside him.

He asked, “Finished eating?”

She pulled out some food from her pocket for him—flattened bread and some broken crackers.

She said, “Cao Chubster and the others are total savages when it comes to food. If you don’t throw some elbows, you’ll end up with nothing.”

Then she sighed. “Having a boyfriend means more pressure now. Gotta fight for double portions.”

Ro Ren burst out laughing. He opened the package and took a bite of the squished bread. “But having a girlfriend means food tastes better than ever.”

Mu Dai blushed a little, but looked thrilled. Her eyes sparkled like scattered starlight. She hugged his knee, rested her chin on it, and watched him eat. “Go on. Eat.”

He did like her. He couldn’t think of a single reason not to.

After a moment, Ro Ren asked, “Did you seriously take Cao Yanhua as your apprentice?”

Mu Dai nodded. “I think he’s not a bad guy. He probably won’t master anything advanced, but hey, even if it’s just for health and fitness, it’s still good.”

Ro Ren nodded. “Teach him when you get a chance. In the future…”

Thinking about what might happen in the future weighed heavily on him, so he changed it to something lighter: “In the future, if we end up in a group fight, that’s one more guy on our side.”

The next morning, the two boats set out again.

The group split in two: Ro Ren, Mu Dai, and Yan Hongsand on one boat; Yiwansan and Cao Yanhua on the other.

Yan Hongsand could walk now and was on the deck stretching and doing kicks. On the other boat, Cao Yanhua watched with envy—he’d learned that Yan Hongsand also practiced martial arts and had no problem sparring with others.

It felt so unfair. Mu Dai and Yan Hongsand both knew martial arts. He and Brother San were the weaklings—bookish types who couldn’t lift a thing.

With everything going on lately, there’d been no time to train. Cao Yanhua panicked and dropped down to do two push-ups.

Yan Hongsand saw this and asked Mu Dai, “What’s Chubster doing?”

Mu Dai glanced over lazily and said, “Probably tired. Taking a nap.”

The boats stopped. Engines off. Ropes thrown. A rope line was stretched overhead between them.

Ro Ren helped Mu Dai push a small wooden boat into the water and said quietly, “Be careful.”

Mu Dai replied, “Relax, I’m not falling in.”

She paddled slowly toward the middle of the water.

Splash, splash. The oars stirred ripples on the surface. The sun was out, but there were lots of clouds. When the sun disappeared, the sea turned dim and chilly.

Ro Ren and Yiwansan were already in diving suits with small oxygen tanks strapped on. Cao Yanhua was checking the chain winch, Yan Hongsand inspecting the sea-eye. After a bit, she waved to Mu Dai. “Nothing yet. Relax.”

But it was hard to relax. She couldn’t swim, and the world beneath her feet wasn’t solid—it swayed.

Splash, splash.

Mu Dai didn’t know how many laps she’d rowed. Everyone was leaning on the rails, watching her like she was a rowing monkey in a zoo.

Yan Hongsand glanced at the monitor and yawned. “Still nothing.”

Maybe the old clam had gotten smarter—it wouldn’t be lured out so easily this time.

Tired, Mu Dai laid her oars across the boat, hugged her knees, and rested her chin on them. Maybe she didn’t sleep well last night, because sleepiness was creeping in. She stifled a yawn.

Just as she was about to yawn, something caught her eye.

Far off on the surface, a thin, straight white line cut across the water—fast, very fast—heading straight toward her. It had started far away, but in just a blink, it was much closer.

She stood up and grabbed her mini telescope.

Foam churned. Beneath it, she glimpsed a blue-gray shell.

The old clam!

It hadn’t surfaced directly under this patch of ocean. It had looped around from far off, so the sea-eye hanging below the boats didn’t detect it.

It had even broken from its usual pattern. It was standing upright, spinning vertically through the water like a razor-sharp gear, forming that narrow, cutting line.

And the direction that line was headed…

Mu Dai’s heart dropped—it was coming exactly down the middle of her little boat.

The water line was suddenly right there, the splashes reflecting in her eyes.

Ro Ren shouted, “Mu Dai! Abandon the boat!”

A jolt of icy fear shot through her. Her hands trembled, but she reacted just as she’d practiced a hundred times. She leapt upward, grabbed the rope, and swung her body up and onto it.

And then, something no one expected happened.

With a massive splash, the spinning clam launched itself from the water, spiraling through the air, straight toward Mu Dai, who was still hanging on the rope.

She heard Cao Yanhua’s voice crack into a high-pitched shriek of pure terror:

“It’s flying! It can fly!!”