Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Arctic puffin was a greedy bird. Capitalizing on the fact that they had a big beak, they were unwilling to leave with just one fish. Instead, they tried their best to grab two or three.
It would not be a problem if those were small sardines. However, it was a pretty big herring that was not much smaller compared to the birds’ size.
Hence, the puffins dropped one fish while they tried to pick up another. In the end, they busied themselves to no end and yet still only had one fish in their beaks.
Ah Meow was watching those birds from the other side of the glass window. He was more interested in the birds than the fish.
Ah Ow, too, was locked in the cabin. She scratched the round glass window with her claws and whined in protest.
Seeing that scene, Ah Bai jumped onto her back. Ah Ow tried to shake Ah Bai off, but when she looked up, she saw that Ah Bai was trying to reach the handle of the door.
Seeing that, Ah Meow rushed over and scratched Ah Ow. Don’t try anything funny!
Ah Bai stood on Ah Ow’s back and slowly pressed the handle. The door was opened and Ah Meow and Ah Ow rushed out as though they were electrocuted. The Arctic puffins were shocked. They did not care about the fish anymore and hurried to escape.
Li Du laughed. When he saw that Ah Ow and Ah Meow were just about to catch the birds, he went over to interfere and stopped them. The puffins took the opportunity to flee.
That was a short respite from his boring days on the ship. Just like the polar bear, it added some variety to their otherwise uneventful routine.
It was truly dull to sail on the Arctic sea. Even someone who was strong mentally, like Brother Wolf, eventually lost his ability to focus. In any case, the front of the ship was strong. As long as it did not hit any glaciers, they should not be in any danger. Hence, Brother Wolf just steered the ship in the clear water-paths.
Li Du was busy scratching the backs of Ah Bai and the rest when the ship swung lightly.
They were already familiar with such a feeling. Sometimes, when the ship knocked into some icebergs that were bigger than usual, it would swing a little.
However, it was different this time around. There was a howling sound below the ship.
Those who had been playing cards by the window stretched their heads out for a look. Then, they turned around and said, “We’ve hit someone.”
Li Du did not react in time. He said, “Did someone bump into us? We are moving so carefully, and this is the Arctic Ocean!”
He rushed over for a look. The Hammerhead Shark was more than three meters high. He looked at the side of the ship and saw a broken boat floating in the water. There were two people in the water, and one of them was screaming.
“Hurry up and save this man!” Li Du yelled.
Godzilla quickly let down a rope ladder and gestured to the two people to climb up.
One of them grabbed the ladder, face full of fury. The other looked distressed, staring at the wooden boat that was half-submerged in the water.
Li Du shouted, “Guys, hurry up and get on the ship before you freeze!”
The two of them looked up at him and then lowered their heads again in distress.
The man who had climbed up was wearing coats of rugged leather. Li Du could not make out what kind of animal it was made from. The patches of leather were crudely sewn together, obviously with more thought to functionality than aesthetics.
After he climbed up, he widened his eyes in terror as he noticed Godzilla, Big Quinn and a bunch of tall and big-sized bodyguards in full battle gear.
Hence, he swallowed what he had wanted to say, apparently too scared to speak.
Li Du said, “I’m so sorry, friend. How did our ship collide with yours? Oh right, first let us get your friend on the ship. Hurry up and get on board.”
The man looked at him blankly, his face full of confusion.
Li Du said impatiently, “Can you speak English? Understand English?”
The person in front of him must have understood and said, shaking his head, “No, no English.”
Big Ivan went forth and started to converse with him in Russian. The man tried his best to answer Big Ivan, but his words came out halting.
“Oh no, boss, these are probably indigenous people. If these two do not understand English or Russian, they must be Eskimos,” Madman spoke up.
Big Ivan said, “Don’t spout nonsense. He can speak Russian, but he’s got a stutter.”
Sophie served freshly brewed coffee to the frightened man. He removed his coat and hat and after taking a sip, he started to laugh and turned around to shout at his companion.
That person was no longer in a daze. He swam to the side of the small boat, hoping to drag up something. He was wearing a thick leather diving suit. Li Du felt that his intelligence must not be very high either.
Li Du asked, “Who are these people, and where are they from?”
Big Ivan said, “We are in luck. We’ve bumped into these people of a rarely-seen tribe. They are the Nganasan.”
“I’ve never heard of that tribe,” Li Du said after some thinking.
Big Ivan said, “They are the indigenous people of the Taymyr Peninsula and the northernmost part of the Arctic. They have been living in the area since around 500 BC.”
“Like the Nenets, traditionally they were also nomads. Their paths followed the migration of the reindeer migrated around the Taymyr Peninsula.”
“However, today there are only five or six hundred of them left. They have even been erased from the register of the Siberian indigenous people.”
Li Du laughed bitterly. “And because of us, they nearly lost more people today.”
The other person had climbed up and they saw it was a woman. After removing her leather hat, they could see that her features resembled Li Du’s to some degree. They were both yellow-skinned people with black hair and eyes.
As a fellow woman, Sophie immediately took the newcomer aside for a change of clothes.
The man stopped them and passed the coffee to the woman and seemed to say something in their language.
The woman kept her head down and after sipping the coffee, she smiled and then started to take big mouthfuls.
Big Quinn said in pity, “Oh, these poor people. They’ve never tasted coffee.”
Li Du went to get the man another big cup of coffee. Holding the cup with both hands, the man gulped and finished the drink. Then he passed the empty cup back with a wide smile.
The man’s smile was infectious. When Li Du saw it, he could feel that it was a very pure smile expressing the happiness from the depths of his heart.
This time, in addition to the coffee, Li Du passed him some red velvet cake.
After taking a bite, that man stopped eating. When the woman returned, he passed the remaining cake to her and stuttered something they could not make out.
The man and woman continued to share the coffee and cake. They took one bite after another, eating happily.
“They look so sweet,” Sophie grinned. “I daresay, this is a couple with an especially good relationship.”
After having hot coffee and a change of clothes, the two of them were in a much better state.
Big Ivan started to chat with them. Li Du got him to apologize first. After apologizing, Big Ivan translated the people’s words. “They are not complaining about us. They say that they had fallen asleep on their small boat and didn’t notice our ship. The responsibility is not ours.”
Li Du smiled and said, “Ask them how much they’ve lost. Let’s offer them compensation. These two are the friendliest Russians I’ve met.”
