Haidu: Top of the Tower

Chapter 3 Fuchsia's Anti-Crystal Drugs
Twenty copper coins an hour is the rental price of the cheapest see-off boat, and it happens to be the price of Itami's cleanup.

When standing on the dark shore, Milady felt as if she was standing in a dream.

Recently, she has always used her mother’s cleaning time to price everything: eight hours of cleaning before she was alive, in exchange for eight hours of sailing rights after her death; 20 days spent in the pollution zone, in exchange for a boat with a bottom Thin wooden coffin with thick iron.

Because she decided to sail in the middle of the night, she had to pay Itami an extra half day to the boatman and coffin carrier.

"Is there no one else coming?" Hai Lan stood beside her, looked around, and asked in a low voice.

After the coffin carrier left, there were only the two of them left on the pier under the darkness of night.Under the cold white and sparse stars, the dark and soft sea wrinkled and stretched out with the waves.

The thin wooden coffin had already been loaded onto the boat, and the boat hadn't been lit yet, so it was wrapped in the darkness; it seemed that Milady would realize that the sending-off boat was just an illusion if she blinked.

"People in the clan don't know that my mother is leaving today." She said calmly, "All those who want to come to express their condolences have already mourned. Why bother to let my mother deal with the empty ceremony in the end. Aunt Hailan, if you can come see me off, I will I am very content. You should go back to rest earlier, I should also set off."

Hailan stretched out her hand, as if she wanted to shake Milady's hand, but seeing the girl's calm and almost numb expression, she withdrew it again.She sighed, "If there's anything I can do to help, just tell me... Itami is my best friend."

"I know," said Milady, looking out to sea.The send-off boat was eliminated from the Haidu route, small and dilapidated, with Itami sleeping in his belly, undulating slightly on the black waves.

Hailan nodded silently, and before leaving, she finally said: "As long as the crystals exist... sickness is inevitable, and no medicine can work [-]% of the time. Maybe this is the fate of us Haidu people."

Is this fate?For the first time in Milady's 17 years of life, she had such a trance-like idea.

In the past few days, she wanted to tear something apart with her teeth and nails, and felt that her internal organs were about to be eaten away by regret... It seemed that there was a storm in her head that would never stop.

Only tonight, the stillness of the storm has become a dead silence.

After sailing offshore at full speed for more than four hours, Milady finally asked the boatman to stop the rumbling old boat and sat down on the deck.

The stars and the moon faded, the sea breeze was cold, and the endless black sea seemed to be a silent universe. After the propulsion engine stopped, the sound of waves and wind gradually penetrated into the ears again from the distant darkness.

"Mom," she said in a low voice, "isn't this place nice? It's called Yiyiwan, and I found it on the nautical chart. The general traffic routes don't go in this direction, there are no boats, it's very clean, and the sea is very close. Rare."

On the deck, the thin wooden coffin answered only in silence.

It is clipped and fixed to a movable plank, which can be raised and tilted outward with just a pull of the handle—then, Itami, like thousands of Haidu people before him, Slip down and sink into the sea.

Milady lay down on the deck leaning on the coffin.The old ship is like a cradle, she and her mother are just two children.It wouldn't be bad if she could sleep in the starlight for a long night, after all, why would she need to go back to Haidu?No one is waiting for her in the sea.

"I didn't bring you the organ you used to clean up the pollution." She whispered, "Although they all said that you should bring the last few things you used before you were alive, so that you can remember the past and the afterlife... But that kind of thing, you may not like it after seeing it. It’s not bad for this one, is it?”

That being said, she still put the mechanism in her bag before she left; if she changed her mind, at least she wouldn't regret it.

The cleaning mechanism is a cheap but ingenious structure: it cannot be automatic, it will only follow the person who manipulates it, and make the same actions as it—as long as the action is simple enough.In this way, bringing the authorities to clean up the pollution is equivalent to having two people clean up the pollution.

The last object Itami used in his lifetime was such a dorky thing.

The boatman delivered the boat all the year round and knew how to avoid it. At this time, it was as if he didn't exist, and he didn't come to remind him.If she falls into the sea with the wooden coffin, maybe they will both become the ama in the nursery rhyme, swimming freely in the current... But she must open the wooden coffin before Itami can come out.

Milady knocked and broke the wooden coffin with trembling hands, faintly realizing that she might be a little out of order.But she still wanted to see her mother one more time, at least before parting-

The more difficult the moment, the less you can lose control.

Milady, who heard Itami's voice again, withdrew her hand abruptly and closed her eyes.

With trembling breaths, she found the handle and quickly pulled it up.The sound of machinery as the ship's plank was raised suddenly creaked and echoed in the night; when she opened her eyes, she just saw the coffin slipping down from the ship's plank without a sound.

After the waves calmed down, Milady stared at the surface of the sea where Itami disappeared in the night that was calm again.

Naturally, it is impossible for mother to become a sea woman.She was dead, her once warm flesh and blood, only to rot and melt, become fish food, and eventually part of the ocean—except for those crystalline lungs.

The world is so incomplete and empty, hasn't anyone else noticed it?
She stared blankly at the sea, her vision was blurred and clear for a while; it was not until after some time that she realized that she was staring at the shadow of a ship with all the lights on the sea in the distance.

It is far away from the see-off boat, and it looks only the size of a fingernail. If it is not for a long time of staring, I am afraid that anyone will ignore it.

Is it a ship in trouble waiting for rescue?Why are you here?She thought she had found a clean place for her mother.

Milady was exhausted physically and mentally, and the question flashed through her mind, and she was too lazy to think about it, so she turned to look for the boatman.

At the stern, the boatman was watching the same boat.

"Did something happen? It's dark and there's no movement." The little thin boatman also thought of the same place, "Girl, if you don't mind, let's go over and have a look..."

Human beings, who compete endlessly on the land, will cherish the occasional ship when they are on the endless ocean.Even the enemy, when they see the small sampan of the survivors in distress, will put down the ladder to rescue them-this is not only a matter of course in the eyes of Haidu people, but also a convention between countries.

"Go and see," Milady heard herself say.Although she doesn't care about others tonight.

When the old-fashioned see-off boat rumbled and sailed towards that ship, Milady sat numbly on the deck, watching the dark shadow in the distance getting closer and closer to her; after more than half of the distance, there was A white light suddenly pierced through the night, and someone in the distance shouted: "Who is it?"

Although the voice was vague, but with such a thick voice, it was definitely not someone who needed rescue.

"I, we are the see-off boat..." The boatman replied, "Come and have a look."

"Hurry up," that voice shouted from afar, "Don't be so unlucky!"

The boatman was used to being yelled at and pointed at, so he turned the rudder, but Milady grabbed his shoulder.

"Say a few more words with him," she said in a low voice, "I will add twenty copper coins to lead him back to you."

The boatman was taken aback, thought for a while, and then shouted: "You, is your boat okay?"

"Stop talking nonsense, your boat is in trouble. Go!"

"Then why are you turning off the lights..."

"Who gave you the guts to meddle in your own business? If you don't leave, don't say I didn't warn you." This time, the threat was already very serious, and the boatman immediately didn't dare to say any more.

Hearing this, Milady was also sure.

She recalled the day when she won the shadow show mechanism, and after being stopped by several cousins, one of them said to her, "Do you think girls won't be punished for talking casually?"——At that time, his tone was exactly the same as now, full of emotion threatening.

Everyone knows that those cousins ​​are cronies who work for the patriarch... In other words, this ship probably belongs to the patriarch's family.

In the remote sea in the early hours of the morning, why is there a boat of the patriarch's family parked, motionless, with all the lights off, and no one is allowed to approach?
Milady naturally knows in which direction the tower's route is.The routes and industries allocated by the trial family to the new family of "Sea Waves Concerto" are fixed, without permission, no new sea routes can be opened; similarly, no new industries can be operated.

Milady thought for a while without moving.

"Girl," the boatman hesitated, "shall we go?"

"Wait a moment," asked Milady, "you have oars in your boat?"

Generally, even if there is a propulsion engine on an old ship, oars will be prepared in case of emergency.

"Yes, yes..."

"Okay," Milady raised her chin, beckoning him to get it. "You go out in a circle first, then turn off the propeller and the boat lights, and we will row the boat back in the dark."

"what?"

She had already foreseen that the boatman would not be willing, but she knew what the boatman was worried about, and she also knew what it was difficult for him to refuse. "I promise you won't be in trouble. This boat will be mine for the next three hours, and you will get rewards if you do so. Go quickly."

Ordinary people always seem to be subconsciously waiting to be led and instructed; sometimes a decisive order is far more effective than persuasion-sure enough, the boatman hesitated and went anyway.

After the people on board thought they were gone, the white light from the big ship also disappeared from the sea.The send-off boat quickly turned off its lights and stopped its propulsion engine, turned half a circle under the cover of darkness, and slowly approached the big ship again.

"I, I don't want to cause trouble," said the boatman, panting and frightened, rowing the oars.

"I said, you won't get into trouble." Milady said in a steady tone while watching the ship, "You stop here, there is still a distance, as long as you stay quiet, you won't be caught by them." Find."

To say it is a big ship is only compared with the see-off boat.

She had never seen such a ship in the family port, and it wasn't even a sea ship.On both sides of its hull, there is a huge white round wheel, with a circle of flat paddles attached to the round wheel; the small half-circle wheel is immersed in sea water, and the topmost oars protrude from the hull railing come out.

When the propulsion engine is started, the two propeller wheels will rotate accordingly, pushing the river water away and making the boat move forward—but in the sea with great water power, it is not enough, even if it can enter the sea, it is still Reluctantly, why not use the patriarch's sea boat?

Through the dim starlight, she could vaguely see that there were no marks on its sails, and there was no small metal tower erected on the bow—no one could have seen it unless they heard a familiar voice. Recognized that it was a Hightower ship.

Perhaps the river boat was used precisely because it would not be recognized.

In the dark night, besides the sound of the waves beating slightly, Milady gradually recognized another sound.

She couldn't tell what it was coming from, but she could only vaguely judge that it came from the other side of the ship.It was like the sound of a rope slowly rubbing against the ground... Milady frowned slightly, and rubbed her temples a few times, feeling that her mind was still a little foggy after crying, unable to think of an answer.

Speaking of which, she didn't even know why she decided to follow.After all, what the patriarch does doesn't seem to have much to do with her.

It's just that her mother stayed in this sea, and her center of gravity in this world, her only home, seemed to have also moved to this sea.Milady seemed to be able to hear Itan's voice, as if he casually asked "Where did I put the engine oil" at home, and whispered in her ear: "What is the patriarch hiding from us?"

She wanted to give her mother an answer.

"Strange," said the boatman in a low voice, "isn't this a boat for hauling sand from the river? Why did it come here?"

"You know it?" asked Milady, turning her head.

"I used to work on a sand dredging boat... usually in the river, there is no need to go to the sea to dig sand." The boatman was also aroused in doubt, and stretched his neck and said.He watched Milady together for a while, and finally asked: "Madam, can we go?"

Milady took a handful of coins from her pocket and put them in his hand. "You go, I won't go with you."

The boatman froze for a moment and looked around at the sea.

"I'm going to have a look on that ship." Milady said as she took off her boots and put them in her backpack.

When the boatman looked at her, it was as if he were looking at a sea monster that had grown into a spirit. "Go, go to that boat? How to get there... Are you going to swim over? But the bow of the boat is so high above the sea, how do you climb up? What if you are discovered? Girl, don't be impulsive... Let's go quickly. "

"I won't tell them you drove me here," said Milady, looking at him, "and I don't know you, do I?"

"That's not what I meant...how did you go back to Haidu..."

Since it is the patriarch's ship, it will definitely return to Haidu; even if it does not return, Milady feels that it makes no difference to her.She made up her mind that it would be a waste of time to say another word.

"You can leave in 10 minutes. Don't turn on the propulsion machine when you leave," she cut off the boatman's words, "otherwise you will be exposed."

Without giving the other party a chance to open his mouth again, as soon as he finished speaking, Milady flipped over neatly and jumped out of the sideboard. With the sound of water in his ears, his vision was immediately swallowed up by the black sea.The sea caught her and supported her; the icy cold waves pushed and patted her, she broke through the water, took a deep breath, and swam towards the big ship in the distance.

Even among Haidu people, Milady's water quality is first-class.

As if she knew how to command the waves by nature, she could always push herself the farthest with the lightest and most deft effort; Lived in a flat paddle that is as long as one person.

This was how she got into the boat: the oars were taller than the boat, and she had only to climb onto the oars on top of the round wheel and she could jump into the boat.

The method is very simple, but there are not many people who can make up their minds to climb up from the cold sea to implement it.

When she first returned to the sea, Milady shuddered several times, as if her brain was buzzing and shivering.She didn't know where the strength came from, she grabbed the edge of the round wheel, stepped on the oar, and with all her strength, she turned her heavy and soaked body onto the round wheel—because her body was full of water, she Her feet slipped, and she almost fell from between the oars. When she hurriedly regained her body, she almost suspected that she had slipped her heart out.

Stepping on the poles in the round wheel, Milady gritted her teeth, barely maintained her balance, and slowly climbed up little by little.Fortunately, it was big enough and heavy enough not to be turned by her weight.

Even though it was early summer, the cold wind in the middle of the night quickly made her fingers numb; she was trembling so badly that she was able to successfully emerge from the edge of the cabin in the end, even Milady herself couldn't believe it—she poked her head into the boat. Seeing that there was no one nearby, he climbed onto the oar from the round wheel and climbed into the boat as silently as possible.

Her cold and wet feet landed on the wooden board with a "click", as if she could still feel the faint temperature in the wood after being exposed to the sun.

When she looked out to sea, she could no longer see the see-off boat.In the night, the sound of friction became clearer, mixed with the humming sound of the mechanism turning; Milady quietly stood up straight from the side of the cabin, hiding in its shadow, followed the sound, and suddenly approached the deck. Stopped.

On the deck, the backs of five or six men were sparsely standing around a few medium-sized organs, and the smell of tobacco wafted into the night.Under their control, each mechanism stretched out its long metal arms towards the sea outside the deck, and the metal arms rose and fell slowly; Milady couldn't see what they were doing.

Next to the organ, there is a row of iron barrels.Except for the occasional person who turned his head and showed a little red from the cigarette butt in his mouth, there was no light at all.

"There's so much, isn't it enough?" After working in silence for a long while, someone said suddenly.

"How many barrels are there?" the cousin named Huai Tuo asked.

"I counted... twelve barrels."

"I'll go back after filling another five or six barrels," Huaituo said. "This time, not only our family, but Changge also want some."

Chang Ge Tong is one of the "Sea Wave Concerto" family.

"It's a good thing it doesn't happen very often," complained the first man. "It's like a bat working in the dark."

Although Milady wanted to know immediately what was in their barrels, the men fell silent again.

She waited for a few minutes, and finally a metal arm rose completely from the sea, and she also understood where the friction sound she heard came from: a large net was installed at the end of the metal arm, which looked like a net under the sea. Like fishing for fish, sweep back and forth, and wait until it is full before rising.The friction sound was caused by the friction between the net rope and the hull.Unlike fishing for fish, there is no movement of struggle in the big net.

With a "boom", a net full of things slammed heavily on the deck, splashing a splash of wet water.

The mesh of the net was also much finer than ordinary mesh, almost like cloth, and Milady squinted her eyes to look carefully, but she couldn't see what they got on the net.

"If you want me to say, this is not something we have to do. Isn't it over after finding a few small workers?" Someone grabbed the corner of the big net, tried hard, but didn't pull it up, and said cursingly: "After moving these broken Stuff, every time I go back, my back hurts. With this time...do you know how much water I can pump in a night when I am in the field?"

What is the place?Milady vaguely guessed the meaning of pumping water.

"Stop complaining," Huaituo said, "I trust you to let you come. Don't you know why you can't find a small worker? Otherwise, why only transfer people from your own place? This matter is off the boat, Just forget about it, and don’t reveal a single word. Oh, you wait until all these nets are up, and then they can be barreled together.”

The man immediately let go of the net, stood up straight, and lit another cigarette for Huaituo.

Like a deflated hill, that heavy, full net lay crouched motionless on the deck, occupying a large area.

It can slide and collapse into a flat mound, which means that it is not a large solid inside, but something very loose... Milady looked at it and found that everyone turned to look at the other organs, and no one was there for a while. Take a look at what they have worked so hard to salvage.

She visually measured the distance between the big net and herself.It wasn't far, but she couldn't sneak past them when they turned around - she was a head taller than the average boys of her age, and she was conspicuous even at night.

Perhaps we should hide and wait for them to fill the barrels before opening them?
Milady looked at the cabin beside her and rejected this idea.It was only four hours from the sea here, and the drums were so heavy; they would probably have left the drums on deck instead of moving them into the lower cabins.

When they finished their work and were in the cabin, the deck would be under their eyes all the time, and it would be even more difficult for her.

Wait, she has a solution—Milady suddenly got excited, and immediately untied the wet backpack, and took out the cleaning mechanism that was still not put in the coffin.

It is a standard cylinder. In the past, the height of the bottom column can be increased as needed. At this time, it has been removed, and it is only as long as the forearm.

Milady untied all the laces from the boots, and connected them into a rope, which seemed to be of sufficient length, and tied it to the organ.She waited for a few minutes and saw the right timing. When those people untied several large nets one after another, she pushed lightly with her hand, and the cylindrical mechanism rolled over, making a faint clattering sound, just caught by the net. Submerged in the muffled sound of heavy objects landing one after another.

Eventually, it stopped next to the big net.

Since it was lying on its side, Milady had to look for an angle for a while before the mechanism responded to her.

She pressed the operating panel in her hand, and a "scythe" popped up from the distant cylinder, which was also used to chop crystals.She slowly raised her right hand, and the "sickle" of the mechanism was also raised into the air - the same action, I think my mother has done it countless times.

Milady pressed her arm down hard.

The "chi la" sound when the net bag burst was like a drum in her ears, and she was so startled that a layer of sweat broke out on her back.However, her cousin was the only one who looked around, and didn't even ask "what's the sound", just said: "Okay, this online, you can fill the bucket."

Milady inserted the "sickle" deeply into the net bag, moved it left and right, and stopped the operation panel.She picked up the end of the shoelace she was stepping on, fixed her eyes on the backs of several people, and pulled the mechanism back little by little as quietly as possible.

As soon as the mechanism was taken back, she also knew that she should not continue to stay where she was, and immediately retreated quietly to the stern and hid under a ladder in the hull. During the whole process, she carefully held the cylindrical mechanism, for fear of putting the "scythe" on it. The sticky things were swept away.

It's just that she looked at it through the hazy night, but she was a little dazed.

There was a fine and dense layer of wet sand on the metal sheet, but there was nothing else.She touched it with her fingertips, and it was indeed just ordinary gravel.Although it was a sand dredger, they sneaked into the sea, so they couldn't really be digging sand, could they?What's more, Gaota's family doesn't do construction projects, and they don't need sand.

It seems that they didn't bring out the key things?
But she has no chance to try again...

Milady cursed secretly in her heart, swept the sand carelessly, and was about to restore the mechanism to its original state; unexpectedly, when she pressed the operation panel, she felt that the joint of the metal piece seemed to be stuck by something.

She reopened the mechanism, carefully stretched her hand in, and slowly pulled out a few long, slightly crushed seaweeds, in a color form she had never seen before.

... Milady thought afterwards that at that moment she hadn't trembled, shed tears, or made a sound, which surprised even herself.

She brought the seaweed to her nose and took a breath.

In the wet, salty smell of the sea, the crushed seaweed exudes another special smell, like wine mixed with the soil, and a bit like the sour smell of food that has been left for a long time.

She was all too familiar with the smell.

Every morning, before going out, Itami dug out two spoonfuls of purple-red anti-crystallization medicine from the iron box.After she raised her head and sent it down with water, she would sometimes wrinkle her face and say, "I don't know what is used in the medicine. It smells really bad... When you swallow it, it's like a ball of wet sand slipping down your throat."

(End of this chapter)