Chapter 54: Back to Sea, a “Bai” Character on the Flag

There were no cows in the Forest Plane.

Or rather, within the range they had explored, there were no traces of cows. This included the Magic Plane and the White Mist Plane. As for the New Plane, while cows certainly existed there, it was virtually impossible to trade for one under the current circumstances.

Naturally, they could not find any milk.

However, this was not a major issue for them. They discovered that even without milk, sugar-water ice frozen in the refrigerator tasted excellent. Especially during the sweltering heat of midday, drinking a cup of icy-cold sugar water was the ultimate comfort.

But that was not the most pleasant surprise. With this latest boat upgrade, the biggest change was not the expansion from two floors to three, but the real-time map that appeared in the control cabin.

The reason they knew it was a real-time map was that after discovering its appearance, they untied the ropes from the Small Pier and steered the boat further away.

As the boat’s position changed, its location on the map updated in real time.

This meant that no matter where they went, even if they did nothing at night and let the boat drift with the current, they could still determine their exact location upon waking up the next morning and find their way back to their home island.

Before this, the main reason they had stayed on the island without venturing far was that they couldn’t bear to lose the island home they had worked so hard to build.

More importantly, the map that appeared on the boat after the upgrade was not the extremely crude version the manager had held. Instead, it was a map Bai Miao had synthesized, using the manager’s map and the map from the New Plane as references, with their island as the center.

Thus, the map before them not only showed the location of their island but also marked all the surrounding islands, large and small.

In the New Plane, most of these islands had been inhabited or served as tourist destinations, but now, most were deserted.

There was little point in visiting uninhabited islands, but some larger ones were still home to many people. If they could reach those places, they might find traces of their family.

“Eldest Sister, does this mean we can travel around when the weather is good and still come back whenever we want?” Bai Xi asked, her voice filled with excitement and agitation.

“Not only can we come back whenever we want, but as long as the sea is calm, we can stay out at sea even longer than other ships,” Bai Yu said, raising her hand to point at the map beside the control area. “We are currently at this position. You can see it changes as the boat moves. Our island is in this most prominent spot. There are very few small islands around it, so unless something unexpected happens, very few ships will ever pass by.”

Even on the map, the area surrounding their island looked very empty.

“No wonder a whole year passed before a boat stumbled upon us by mistake,” Bai Xi realized. “But if that’s the case, does it also mean that even if we go far away, no one will come to our island and take over our house?”

“Yes, no one came all of last year, and it’s unlikely anyone will come in the near future,” Bai Yu said. Thinking of the situation on the island, she added, “However, we need to move the beds and cabinets from the house.”

“That’s easy, just put them in the New Plane. There’s such a large house over there.”

The beds and cabinets in their rooms had originally been brought over from the New Plane anyway; moving them back was simply returning them to their original place.

Once they confirmed they could return after leaving, they were all eager to set out to sea to search for people. Even if they couldn’t find anyone for six months or a year, at least they would leave some traces behind by traveling around.

However, the island bore heavy traces of their daily lives, and they had set up many things. Besides the furniture, they needed to deal with the wild boars, chickens, and rabbits they had been raising.

Fortunately, they had the Shells. Even if they lived on the boat at sea, they weren’t strictly confined to the water.

Accessing those planes through the Shells could be done from anywhere. Even while on the boat, they could enter the planes at any time.

Therefore, they simply moved all the animals they were raising back to the Forest Plane.

To accomplish this, they stayed on the island for several more days to process everything. They also used several Upgrade Cards to build a house and corresponding defensive measures in the Forest Plane.

The trees in the Forest Plane were lush and abundant. There was more than enough wood to build the house, with plenty left over for firewood and a large planting area.

To prevent attacks from wild beasts, they specifically built a tall perimeter wall further out.

The wall was not even purely made of wood. For the final upgrade that gave it sufficient height, the materials on the Upgrade Card included a powder made from Magic Beast shells they had obtained in the Magic Plane.

Once dissolved, applied, and dried, this material became extremely sturdy, making it perfect for defensive walls.

Using this powder for the upgrade was a deliberate choice.

Unlike their initial complete ignorance of the Magic Plane, they now understood about seventy to eighty percent of it. They had a general idea of the uses for the items they exchanged with Nancy. When they decided to build the wall, they specifically mentioned it to Nancy, who then led people to the market to collect the powder.

The perimeter was large, requiring a vast amount of powder. Only after they had collected enough did the material appear on the wall’s Upgrade Card.

As it turned out, they had made the right choice.

After using the powder, the wall was so solid that even with their current strength, pushing with all their might couldn’t move it an inch. Thus, even if wild beasts charged at it, the wall would remain unaffected.

Once the wall was finished, they spent some time clearing trees from both sides of it to prevent tree-climbing beasts from jumping over.

After the trees were cleared and the kitchen in the Forest Plane was completed, a new maritime journey began.

The three sisters stood at the bow and unfurled the flag they had prepared long ago.

It was a large flag with a light blue background, featuring a “Bai” character sewn from orange-red cloth. it signified that this flag belonged to the Bai Family.

When the accident at sea happened previously, they had stayed inside the cabin the entire time. No one knew where they had eventually landed. For the Bai Family, who had grown up on the water, everyone was familiar with the waves, but they were not familiar with the open ocean or the specific location of the Feng Kingdom. Being cast adrift on the sea, others would likely pick a random direction to travel, just as they had.

That direction might lead back to their home country, or like them, to a random island for temporary residence, or perhaps they had drifted to another country.

Different countries had different languages, but a “Bai” character on the flag would ensure that any member of the Bai Family would take notice.

Bai Yu and Bai Xi tied the ropes to the flag and hoisted it together until it fluttered gently in the sea breeze. Even from a distance, the “Bai” character was clear and striking.

“Let’s go.”

“Set sail!”

Bai Yu turned the control wheel, and the oars on the boat moved accordingly. Without the need for manual labor, the three-story ship moved quickly toward its intended destination.

This was also her first time using this specific function since the boat’s upgrade.

However, she was no longer completely ignorant. She knew clearly that while it looked automatic and required no physical labor, the boat’s movement was primarily powered by the Spiritual Power stored in the Energy Storage Device.

Just like the refrigerator, washing machine, and electric lights that appeared after this upgrade, the ship required energy to move.

Fortunately, the White Mist Inn deposited a sum of Spiritual Power into the Energy Storage Device every day. Based on her estimates, each time they swapped out an Energy Storage Device, it would allow the ship to travel automatically for ten to fifteen days.

However, exactly how long it could last would depend on the conditions of this specific trip.

Bai Xi watched with Bai Yu for a while, and after confirming that Bai Yu could easily operate it alone, she left the control room and headed up the stairs to the second floor.

The sea was calm and tranquil at the moment. The windows of the second-floor cabin were open, and looking out from inside, there was only a vast expanse of azure ocean. Because their ship had just passed through, ripples now disturbed the surface of that peaceful sea.

Even though Bai Xi had looked at the ocean for a very long time over the past year, watching the ripples rise now, she couldn’t help but stand still and stare for a long while. She felt that today, this stretch of ocean looked particularly different.

After an unknown amount of time, she withdrew her immersed gaze and saw Bai Miao sitting obediently by the table. She walked over to see what the girl was writing.

No, it wasn’t writing; it was all drawings.

Bai Xi couldn’t help but pick up a completed drawing from the side. “Miao Miao, this is Sister He, right?”

“Is it okay?” Bai Miao looked up, holding her brush. “It feels like I didn’t draw it well enough.”

“How could it not be good enough? You drew it perfectly,” Bai Xi said with emotion. “I recognized your drawing instantly. This is Sister He. Even if someone else saw it, they would know it’s her!”

Bai Miao smiled happily and pointed to another drawing. “This is Third Brother.”

“Third Brother looks like himself too,” Bai Xi said, looking seriously at the portrait of Bai Wei before moving on to the others. “This is Second Aunt, and this is Eldest Aunt, right? I recognized them all. Miao Miao, your drawings are so lifelike!”

Bai Miao giggled, but soon her face fell as she looked at the portraits in front of her. “But Second Sister, I don’t really remember what the other people look like.”

When she was separated from her family, Bai Miao was only three and a half years old. No matter how good her memory was, she didn’t have many memories of people she rarely met.

She could draw Bai He and Bai Wei because when everyone was together, the two of them were very happy to take Bai Miao out to play. But for those she didn’t see often, she truly couldn’t remember them clearly.

Bai Xi opened her mouth to say something, only to realize that she also couldn’t remember those people’s appearances very clearly.

She had seen them more often, but her memory wasn’t as good as Bai Miao’s.

“It’s okay. Miao Miao, keep drawing for now, and later we’ll have Eldest Sister come up and look,” Bai Xi said, helping her flatten the paper. “If all else fails, we’ll just go and ask for names. If they’ve been to the places we visit, they’ll have left some traces behind.”

Bai Miao looked up at her, tapping her head with the brush. “Miao Miao will think hard.”