When Yue Hengyi noticed that over a dozen sea beasts were diving towards the seabed, he panicked. His beloved was still down there. He had finally gained Qin Ke Wei's acceptance, and all his anxieties had been resolved. But now, Qin Ke Wei was in the sea, facing over a dozen giant sea beasts. Who knew what dangers she might encounter?
Thus, Yue Hengyi immediately called for help, urging everyone to pull on the copper chain. He hoped this action would signal to Qin Ke Wei that it was dangerous below.
The others did not refuse to help. They came over in small groups, and even many of the ability users from the Celestial Bureau lent a hand. Although they were originally on separate sides, the situation had made them effectively a single unit. By working together now, their chances of survival would be much greater.
Chang Haojie, seeing that the massive dark shadows on the sea surface had disappeared, descended from the sky with Guo Pinming and Qi Ling Shan. He then asked Shen Feng, "What should we do?"
Shen Feng thought carefully and said, "Old Guo, quickly forge iron from the warship into masts and plant them on the ferry. All the people from the Celestial Bureau should come aboard my ship. Once the ferry is converted into a sailboat, and I unleash my abilities, we can quickly leave this sea area!"
The people from the Celestial Bureau did not object. Indeed, rowing would be too slow. This was not like rowing dragon boats on the water. Trying to escape the sea beast attack by rowing was simply wishful thinking. The most important thing to do now was to follow Shen Feng's instructions, build a large sailboat, and then use abilities to propel the boat forward!
Zhu Kai found a large piece of canvas in the warship's warehouse. It was originally meant to cover the deck, but it seemed its true purpose was to be used as a sail.
While pulling hard on the copper chain, Yue Hengyi shouted, "Please wait! Fang Qinghao and Sister Qin are still underwater. We can't abandon them! Moreover, only Sister Qin and Fang Qinghao know the location of the meteorite underwater. If they die, we'll never find the meteorite!"
Shen Feng also felt that the situation had become tricky. The meteorite, the sea beasts, and the fleet outside the divine realm's perimeter – all these factors had to be considered. Otherwise, even if they escaped successfully, the mission would still be considered a failure.
As Yue Hengyi pulled hard on the copper chain, thousands of meters of the chain were quickly pulled up, almost effortlessly.
However, as soon as the copper chain emerged from the water, everyone discovered that it had been severed at some point. At the end of the copper chain was a clear cross-section, indicating that it had been cut.
"It's over, the chain is broken! Sister Qin can't come up!" Yue Hengyi collapsed onto the deck, completely dejected. His current worry was that he would never see Qin Ke Wei again.
At this moment, Guo Pinming had already separated the iron from the warship and constructed a long mast. Everyone worked together to plant the mast on the ferry. After securing it, they attached the sail, using the canvas to make a triangular sail that looked quite crude. However, with a sail, it meant they could move forward.
The warship was no longer usable. To create the mast, Guo Pinming had removed a significant portion of the warship's steel. Without the protection of the steel, the warship's hull had developed large holes, and seawater was continuously flooding the compartments. The warship began to slowly sink.
Gong Changfa stood on the ferry, watching the slowly sinking warship, and sighed helplessly. "I originally intended to bring you back to your homeland, but it seems there's no opportunity for that now. Rest assured, I will not forget you. When peace returns to the world, I will personally lead people to salvage you!"
Gong Changfa was speaking to the soldiers who had been on the warship. Previously, they had set sail without hesitation for the mission to salvage the meteorite. They were attacked by sea beasts at sea, and it was under the cover of their comrades that they entered the divine realm. However, upon entering the divine realm, everyone lost consciousness and ultimately died here.
Gong Changfa greatly admired such individuals. When he found the warship earlier, he had also instructed people to collect all the bodies from the warship and store them in the warehouse, intending to bring them back. But now, it seemed impossible. He was struggling to survive himself and could only consider his own escape. As for the future, if there was an opportunity to salvage the bodies, he would come to take the fallen warriors away.
Gong Changfa took one last look at the dozens of people on the ferry, then at Shen Feng beside him, and said, "Let's go. The mission... has failed!"
At this point, Gong Changfa did not care about Fang Qinghao and Qin Ke Wei underwater and hoped Shen Feng would sail away. As long as Shen Feng used his abilities, he could blow the ferry forward.
Gong Changfa also felt a deep sense of loss. The mission was only one step away from success. Honor was within his grasp. He was about to become a hero admired by all. But who could have predicted such a turn of events? Now, he could only focus on finding a way to escape.
Yue Hengyi quickly found Shen Feng and said earnestly, "Don't sail away, Shen Feng. You've fought alongside us, and you should know their personalities. They are both upright and kind people. If we leave now, how will they face the sea beasts and dangers in the vast ocean? I beg you, wait for them!"
Shen Feng hesitated. He couldn't completely dismiss Yue Hengyi's hope. Then, he came up with a good idea and said, "How about this? Let's have a democratic vote. We'll raise our hands to vote on whether to leave or to wait!"
Shen Feng actually didn't want to waste any more time at sea. Escaping was the most important thing right now. If they were attacked by sea beasts at sea, a mere ferry would sink immediately. But since Yue Hengyi had spoken, refusing him would create animosity.
Therefore, Shen Feng devised a plan: raise hands to vote. It seemed fair, but the outcome was already decided before the vote. Fang Qinghao and Qin Ke Wei were both from the Ability Administration. Their identities were clear. The people from the Celestial Bureau were willing to help pull the copper chain, but that didn't mean they wanted to die. They would definitely not support waiting. The people from Yuzhou would also not express their opinions easily. At most, only a few people on Yue Hengyi's side would raise their hands. By the time the voting ended, the majority would still vote to leave immediately.
Shen Feng was very familiar with raising hands to vote. When he became the president of the Self-Help Association, he had achieved it through underhanded tactics and gained majority support.
Yue Hengyi was not foolish and immediately understood the current situation. If he truly agreed to vote by raising hands, everyone would immediately decide to leave. Thus, Yue Hengyi had a sudden inspiration and said, "Voting by raising hands is too arbitrary. Let's flip a coin instead!"
When the others heard this suggestion, they immediately objected: "Isn't flipping a coin even more arbitrary? Let's vote. Everyone can participate!"
Yue Hengyi continued to argue stubbornly. His only goal now was to delay time. As long as time was delayed, it would be beneficial for waiting for Sister Qin to come up.
"Flipping a coin isn't arbitrary. Think about it, the coin is given to you to flip, not me. The angle and force of the flip are in your hands. Isn't that fair? As for heads or tails, you choose. Whatever the outcome after flipping the coin, I won't have any objections!" Yue Hengyi quickly said.
Gong Changfa couldn't wait any longer. What was the point of talking so much now? Let's leave quickly!
So, Gong Changfa asked, "Does anyone have a coin? Hand it over, and I'll flip it!"
The crowd searched their pockets, but no one had a coin. Ke Yiming couldn't help but say, "Even paper money is useless now, who still carries coins? Let's forget about flipping a coin."
Gong Changfa thought for a moment and then said to Yun Laizhe, "A Zhe, get me a copper coin. Just write characters on both sides. Since there are no coins, I'll make one on the spot!"
Yun Laizhe was not hesitant. He immediately used his abilities to create a copper coin. This coin was round, like an ancient "Kong Fang brother," but without a hole in the middle. It only had two characters.
Gong Changfa said to Yue Hengyi, "Don't say I'm heartless. You choose heads or tails. Decide whether we leave on heads or tails!"
At this moment, Gong Changfa was pretending to be generous, because he knew that no matter which side was chosen, the outcome was predetermined. As long as he was the one flipping the coin, he could control whether it landed on heads or tails.
Yue Hengyi gritted his teeth and said, "Heads. If it's heads, we'll stay and wait for Sister Qin and Fang Qinghao. If it's tails, we'll leave!"
Gong Changfa nodded, placed the coin on his thumb, and flicked it lightly. The copper coin tumbled into the air. Everyone's gaze was drawn to the coin. Their subsequent actions depended on it. They desperately hoped for tails. If it was tails, they would have a clear conscience to leave, not because they abandoned their companions, but because it was fate's will for them to leave.
"Clink," Gong Changfa caught the falling coin and then extended his hand to Yue Hengyi, saying, "Now, let me show you the cruel truth."
With that, Gong Changfa slowly opened his palm. A coin with the character "反" (tails) appeared in his hand. Clearly, it was tails, which meant they had a reason to leave the divine realm.
Yue Hengyi still wanted to delay, so he continued, "I think flipping a coin is too random. I've changed my mind. Let's vote by raising hands."
When Gong Changfa heard this, he immediately laughed and said, "You're just stalling, kid. Unfortunately, I don't want to play anymore. Let me tell you, besides Shen Feng who can control the airflow, we in the Celestial Bureau also have people who can do it!"
With that, Gong Changfa winked at the ability users of the Celestial Bureau, and a handsome and dashing young man stepped forward. It was the ability user who had propelled the warship earlier. Perhaps his speed and combat power were not comparable to Shen Feng's, but undoubtedly, he could also control the airflow.
Gong Changfa demonstrated with facts that if his side wanted to leave, Yue Hengyi could not stop them.
Yue Hengyi gritted his teeth, unsure what to say. He really wanted to take action now, but upon careful consideration, taking action wouldn't solve the problem. Not many people present could go into the water to rescue them.
"Gulp..." At this moment, bubbles suddenly appeared on the water surface not far away. No one paid much attention to this, except for Li Keyi, who was observing carefully.
"Look over here, it seems something is about to come up!" Li Keyi noticed the numerous bubbles appearing on the water surface and immediately realized that something was about to surface from underwater. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many bubbles.
Everyone quickly looked towards where the bubbles were appearing. After a while, two dark figures emerged from the water. They were Fang Qinghao and Qin Ke Wei. As soon as they surfaced, Yue Hengyi was overjoyed and immediately went into the sea to pull them out of the water.
Fang Qinghao was limp all over. After removing his mask, Fang Qinghao quickly said, "Quickly get me onto the deck. All my bones are basically shattered. I was hit by a tuna, and my oxygen tank is broken. I almost couldn't make it to the surface."
Then, Qin Ke Wei also emerged from her diving suit. She didn't have any major problems, just a few bruises on her body. Other than that, she was unharmed.
"What's the situation at the bottom of the sea? How did you escape from the sea beasts?" Gong Changfa was also very surprised and quickly began to inquire.
Shen Feng ignored all this and directly unleashed "Vast East Wind." The sail instantly billowed, like a steamed bun, and began to move rapidly towards the distance.
Qin Ke Wei quickly said, "Those sea beasts went to fight over the meteorite. We were able to escape during their struggle. The injuries we sustained were all caused by a tuna. It heavily injured us even before it unleashed its abilities."
"It seems the intelligence of the sea beasts has also become very high. Not only do we know the importance of the meteorite, but the sea beasts also know its importance!" Li Keyi exclaimed.
"There's even worse news! That is, we can no longer bring the meteorite back. It has fallen into the hands of the sea beasts. Who knows where they will take it, or if they will eat it. In any case, this mission has failed!" Gong Changfa said calmly.