Ethan Yin's words left Captain Hans momentarily stunned.
Then, Hans chuckled, "Unfortunately, I've never had that kind of experience. My family can't wait for me to die."
Ethan Yin looked up at Hans and said earnestly, "How can someone who doesn't love you be considered family? Your crew respects and admires you—they're your real family!"
Hans was shaken to his core.
He had never considered that before.
He never expected that after all these years, he would be outdone by a child’s insight!
Maybe it's the innocence of a child, or maybe their world is just too pure and honest—they see the truth more clearly than adults.
That's right—how could someone who harms you be called family?
Hans suddenly smiled silently. As he smiled, tears fell from his eyes.
He abruptly turned away from Ethan Yin and said softly, "You're right. So your mother and the others—they're not going to die."
With those words, Hans turned and walked away.
Ethan Yin stayed where he was, staring blankly at the spot where Cecilia Gu had gotten into trouble.
He thought, for the rest of his life, he never wanted to set foot on this island again—whether it was Silverwave or the infamous Fiji Archipelago.
Cecilia Gu kept changing the compress on Earl Field’s forehead.
Three hours had passed, and Earl Field still showed no signs of waking up.
Cecilia Gu was starting to get anxious.
Night was about to fall.
Once it gets dark, all sorts of dangers will come out.
Cecilia Gu really wasn’t sure how much fight she had left if things got dangerous.
Although the food situation was temporarily solved, how could she fight with a sick patient in tow?
To keep the campfire burning, Cecilia braced herself and went out to gather more rain-soaked branches. When she tossed them onto the firewood pile, thick black smoke billowed up.
Luckily, the cavern was well-ventilated, so there was no risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Still, Cecilia ended up with tears streaming down her face from the smoke.
Without a thermometer, she could only use the back of her hand to estimate Earl Field’s temperature.
Cecilia glanced at her wristwatch—thank goodness it was a waterproof, pressure-resistant diver’s watch. At least she had a sense of time.
It was already evening, and night was about to fall.
And this storm wouldn’t stop for another two days.
So for the next two days, was she really just supposed to wait here for the rescue team?
The sky grew darker and darker. Nervous, Cecilia huddled close to Earl Field, not daring to leave his side.
The exhaustion from the day’s work made Cecilia feel drowsy.
She was supposed to stay up and keep watch, but still curled up beside Earl Field and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Even though Earl Field was burning with fever, his body radiated heat—an unexpected comfort in the chilling darkness.
Cecilia dozed off in a daze, just like that.
She had no idea how long she’d slept when suddenly, an odd rustling noise woke her up.
Startled, Cecilia snapped her eyes open.
The moment she opened her eyes, her heart nearly stopped—she was scared out of her wits.
Above her, the cavern wall was crawling with bats, their green eyes glowing as they stared at her and Earl Field—like they were two delicious midnight snacks.
Cecilia felt her hands and feet trembling uncontrollably.
Oh my god, she’d never seen so many bats in her life!
So...so scary...
Do they bite?
Cecilia knew some bats were actually bloodsuckers!
She used to think Earl Field was so beautiful he hardly seemed human—almost like one of those vampire counts on TV.
But now, Earl Field was just as normal as anyone could be. The real vampires were all hanging above her!
Shivering, Cecilia tried to remember what bats were afraid of. Fire and light, right? Hands trembling, she flicked on her flashlight and poked at the dying campfire to make it blaze again.
Sure enough, as soon as the light appeared, the bats circling overhead backed away a few steps.
Seeing the bats retreat, Cecilia finally let out a shaky breath.
But then, worry crept in again.
She was almost out of branches!
Checking the time—it was only about one in the morning. Even if she rationed the wood, it would only last two or three more hours!
It was already dim in here, and with rain pouring outside, it probably wouldn’t get much brighter even at dawn.
What should she do? Once the campfire burned out, what if all those bats attacked at once?
Cecilia was completely at a loss, silently chanting Charles Yin’s name in her heart.
It hit her now—Charles Yin was her anchor.
Without him by her side, she felt so helpless.
Cecilia sat on the ground, clutching her flashlight, trying to hypnotize herself not to look at the bats overhead. Think about your kid, she told herself. Think about the sweet times with Charles Yin.
But people are just weird like that.
The more you tell yourself not to think about something, the more you can’t help it.
Cecilia had read a lot, and with all the knowledge she and Yunna had shared, her mind wandered even more.
Like all those vampire movies she’d seen before.
Just imagining getting bitten by a vampire made Cecilia shiver.
And to make things worse, she started thinking about bat species.
Basically, bats are divided into two kinds: big bats and small bats. Big bats live in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Eastern Hemisphere—they’re bigger and more primitive, including the flying fox family. Small bats are found in tropical and temperate regions of both hemispheres—they’re smaller and more specialized, with families like horseshoe bats, leaf-nosed bats, and even vampire bats.
Seriously, this is so unfair!
Turns out, vampire bats really do live in the tropical and temperate zones of the Western Hemisphere.
Unbelievable!
And this place is exactly a tropical-temperate zone!
Why do those bats look more and more like vampire bats the longer I stare at them?
Oh god, am I going to get drained by a swarm of bats and end up just a skeleton?
Cecilia clapped her hands over her ears and kept shaking her head.
Why did I watch so many horror movies?
Why did I have to have such a wild imagination?
It’s not like I’m a writer!
I don’t need to write novels, so why am I imagining everything in such detail?
If I make it out of here alive, I swear I’ll only watch comedies from now on—no more horror movies!
That way, if I’m ever in danger again, all I’ll picture are funny scenes!
Okay, maybe I’m overthinking things.
Those bats overhead were both wary and curious, making Cecilia’s scalp tingle.
Shivering, Cecilia gave Earl Field a few more fever pills, muttering, "Wake up! Come on, wake up! How am I supposed to deal with all these vampire bats alone? You’re tall and strong—probably have way more blood than me. At least you could help split their attention!"
Just as Cecilia kept rambling, Earl Field finally, to her relief, opened his eyes.
"Huh? Am I running a fever?" Earl Field asked softly.
Cecilia almost burst into tears of joy!
He’d passed out twice in one day—was that supposed to be fun?
She was honestly scared out of her mind!
Cecilia didn’t have time to share her feelings. She quickly pointed up and said, "Look, all those bats are staring at us! According to my memory and research, they might actually be vampire bats."
Earl Field glanced up at the bats and couldn’t help but shiver too.
Anyone with a fear of crowds would probably faint at the sight of so many bats.
There were so many bats, it was impossible to count them—a solid black mass covering almost the entire cavern ceiling.
If they all swooped down at once, you’d get crushed even if you didn’t get bitten!
Earl Field quickly rummaged through his bag—there wasn’t much solid alcohol left, so he’d have to use it sparingly.
But how were they supposed to get through the night?
"What are bats’ natural enemies?" Earl Field suddenly turned to ask.
"Uh?" Cecilia was stunned, staring blankly at Earl Field.
She quickly snapped back, racking her brains for any knowledge she had, and answered nervously, "Cave-dwelling bats’ main enemies are snakes and lizards; tree-dwelling ones, like fruit bats, have to watch out for birds of prey and cats. But with so many bats here, how many snakes and lizards can we really expect? Even if there are some, we’d be terrified! That’s not reliable at all!"
Cecilia was almost in tears.
If a bunch of snakes did wipe out all the bats, they’d probably go after us next!
Birds of prey and cats are even less likely, right?
"Oh, right, spiders. Spiders can also take out bats, but I really don’t think there are enough spiders here to handle this many bats. If there were, we’d be wrapped up in webs by now!" Cecilia continued.
Earl Field saw the tears in Cecilia’s eyes and, strangely, started laughing.
Seeing Earl Field laugh like that made Cecilia even more nervous.
Wait, what if Earl Field got bitten by a bat while I was out gathering branches—what if he’s been turned and is now a vampire?
Aah, what am I even thinking?
How could my mind wander so much at a time like this?
This is ridiculous!
He’s still burning up—how could he be a vampire?
Wait, do people get fevers after being bitten by vampires? Should I try to remember the steps from those vampire horror movies I watched?
Oh my god, why am I thinking about this again?
Stop it, stop it!
Earl Field just watched as Cecilia’s expression kept changing—panic, relief, fear, confusion, and then regret.
This woman’s mind was all over the place, even now!
Earl Field coughed lightly and said, "You were probably right earlier. These bats really are vampire bats."
Cecilia’s mind went completely blank.