Endless Ocean: Escape Starting from a Canoe

Chapter 1 The Drifting Ship

pain!
It hurts so much!
In the midst of a storm, in a dark room at the bottom of a ship.

Shi Ming huddled in a dark corner, the intense pain radiating from his right arm to his brain causing him to tremble uncontrollably. Thick liquid dripped from his arm onto the dirty wooden planks.

Blood……

The surroundings reeked of decay and mold, now tinged with a fresh, bloody stench.

He suddenly woke up!

wrong!

Wasn't I dead? How am I still conscious?

He opened his eyes. He could vaguely see the dim surroundings. His right hand was covered in thick blood, and the body of a middle-aged man lay before him.

???

He killed someone.

Yes, he killed someone.

He recalled that when he was a special agent on a top-secret mission, "Escort: The Eye of God," he killed a mercenary from an opposing faction who was trying to steal the antique he was guarding, a mysterious pendant with blood-stained patterns.

How come the enemy's corpse has now turned into a middle-aged man who looks like he has shrunken muscles and is powerless?

Also, didn't I die in the explosion?
The body should have turned to ashes by now, so how come it's still alive and well?
This place smells of the sea, sounds of waves, and is constantly rocking and swaying.

On the ship?

His head was throbbing with pain.

Memories resurfaced like a tide.

……

Shi Ming stared at the middle-aged man's corpse before him.

He was reborn.

He killed the middle-aged man in front of him.

To be precise, it was the original owner who killed him.

This is a slave quarters on a ship. Because the ship encountered a severe storm at sea, it has been without food for 10 days. The last time food was distributed was five days ago. The captain of the ship gave each slave two dry, hard buns. Since then, each day they have only received a bottle of salty water with a little bit of nutrient solution added to keep them alive.

They hadn't had food for several days, and the twenty-odd slaves were all starving, their eyes bloodshot.

Like livestock on their deathbed.

The original owner inadvertently revealed his stored food to a slave, who then viciously robbed it. After a struggle, both died...

He traveled through time and was reborn.

The bad news is that the original owner committed murder, and he became the scapegoat. However, the ship's ironclad rule is that murderers die!

Especially slaves.

His gaze swept around the room. In the stench-filled, dark chamber, the slaves lay there like lifeless objects. Some groaned incessantly, while others had silently rotted away, their corpses already reeking.

If he hadn't transmigrated and hadn't had his original state reset, he would probably be just like everyone else now.

He felt his pocket; there was still half a steamed bun inside.

This was the half-eaten steamed bun that the original owner would rather die than give up.

The steamed buns had gone moldy in the damp environment, but they were still life-saving. In this dark room, people couldn't endure it every day. This amount of food was small, but it was especially precious.

Shi Ming hid the steamed buns well.

He didn't want to die, especially after having already died once.

Even though he was inexplicably burdened with a murder case right at the beginning of his rebirth.

Moreover, this is a terrible world—

According to the original owner's memories, this world had long since become an ocean world after a massive natural disaster. People relied on "drifting ships" to survive on this world. As order collapsed, the world gradually became a primitive society where the strong preyed on the weak. The powerful controlled various resources and lifelines, while the weak became "talents" worse than slaves.

His adrift ship was now battling a storm at sea, and the crew had gone ten days without any food supplies. Fishing and production were impossible.

The people in the dark room had also been starving for five days and were practically indistinguishable from the walking dead. Under these special circumstances, the food on the ship was dwindling, and these slaves were naturally a last resort.

If it really comes to the final moment, it might even become food.

Never underestimate a creature's will to survive.

Having died once, having left his homeland in his previous life and witnessed countless struggles before death in war and missions, and ultimately dying with resentment, Shi Ming is now reborn, and his desire to survive is beyond compare!

It's impossible for them to die so easily!
Even if you're really going to die, you should struggle with all your might!

He stared at the middle-aged man's corpse, his mind racing.

They will not starve to death for the time being.

But the rule on the ship is that murderers die.

He has to find a way!

Fortunately, his physical strength was reset and he was in peak condition, and he also had half a steamed bun left to him by the original owner.

……

……

……

I don't know how much time has passed.

The only energy-saving light bulb in the dark room lit up, and the clicking and clattering of machinery could be heard from outside, along with the faint sound of human voices.

"That damn storm has finally stopped. Let's go check how many supplies are left, make sure they're all still alive..."

A restless atmosphere began to stir in the dark room.

Those who were alive instinctively raised their heads, staring numbly yet with immense longing at the only door.

"Squeak—" The decaying sound, carrying fresh air, rushed into the dark room that had never seen the light of day.

……

"Captain, in room 403, of the 20 slaves, 11 remain. Six of them likely starved to death, and three died in fights. One of the slaves died about an hour ago; his eyes were gouged out by fingers, and he suffocated."

A man in blood-stained combat gear reported to his superiors.

The captain refers to the exploration team leader. On this post-apocalyptic drifting ship, there are not only regular positions such as captain, first mate, second mate, and chief engineer, but also the most important exploration team.

Its duties are to explore and search for resources for ships, ensure internal security, and defend against external risks.

"Oh? An hour ago? You've been starving for so long, and you still have the energy for a private fight?"

"We endure hunger while battling the storm outside, yet these slaves still have the energy for private fights? The food supply for the slaves on the drifting ship is indeed too much."

Under the yellow light, the exploration team leader looked at Shi Ming, who was closest to the corpse, and a large patch of crimson on his right hand and right arm.

"You killed him?"

The captain's sharp gaze swept over, but the stick in his hand arrived first.

Shi Ming deliberately didn't dodge and took a solid hit from the stick.

"Drinking, you've got quite the energy," the security captain scoffed.

The feedback from hitting a normal person with a stick is completely different from the feedback from hitting someone who is completely unable to resist.

"Killing people indiscriminately, what do you think this place is?"

The blows came like a rain of sticks.

But they didn't aim for a fatal spot.

Even someone like the captain is nothing more than a slave in another form, and has no right to decide the life or death of others.

"This is a drifting ship, a refuge protecting human civilization, not a dog-eat-dog world! Even slaves should not be killed by you."

"Number 3, take him to the captain and let him handle him!"
"Take those corpses with you too! We don't have many fish on the boat right now, and we're short on food, so we need corpses to bait our way in."

"Everyone else will receive a steamed bun and a bottle of water."

(End of this chapter)