406: This rescue mission is very strange.
Xiao Niannian looked at the other recovered items: plastic basins, several pieces of clothing, glass bottles, and plastic bottles... These things looked very new, not items that had been around for a long time.
Xiao Niannian then went to examine the wreckage of the boat and found traces of fire on it.
Could it be that this boat was previously destroyed by fire?
Or was it that a boat caught fire at sea and the wreckage drifted onto the beach?
Lu Jing and Instructor Qin also rushed over at this time.
“This wreckage belongs to one of the ten boats. Look here...”
Lu Jing pointed to a spot on the wreckage. They used two different kinds of paint, and this pattern here is commonly used by the fishermen in the village... Xiao Niannian didn't understand this as clearly as Lu Jing did, but she had noticed the suspicious point earlier. Hearing Lu Jing's words, Xiao Niannian agreed with his assessment.
“The nearest other island is ten nautical miles away. Did it drift over from another island? Or was the fishermen's boat burned down, and the wreckage washed over by the waves? Where are the people on the boat? Since these items could wash up, will other items wash up too?”
Shen Yan asked. Although he had been fishing earlier, he had also inquired about the recent situation of the nearby islands.
Since there is boat wreckage, where did the fishermen on the boat go?
Hearing Shen Yan's words, Instructor Qin spoke up.
“Our people are still searching. If we can't find any clues here, we will go search the other islands nearby...”
Hearing Instructor Qin's words, Shen Yan looked around.
Xiao Niannian also looked around. Over a hundred people, ten boats. Now one boat is destroyed, meaning there are still nine boats. With so many people, even if they all encountered a severe storm, it's impossible for everyone to have gone missing.
Xiao Niannian felt that something was seriously wrong with all of this.
If it wasn't the waves, what could be the reason?
Could it be that spies kidnapped the people again?
If spies really did abduct the people on these nine boats, they would definitely find a way to contact Great Xia and negotiate terms.
But they haven't received any notification yet.
If they truly encountered huge waves, searching for people on the vast ocean would not be an easy task. Hopefully, they are all alive.
Xiao Niannian thought of the seagulls, and she ran toward the beach.
Just as Shen Yan was about to follow, Xiao Niannian immediately stopped him.
“Xiao Yan, don't follow me.”
Hearing Sister Xiao's words, Shen Yan stopped.
He looked around, but found no danger nearby.
He saw Sister Xiao running toward a flock of seagulls. Could it be that Sister Xiao intended to feed the seagulls right now?
No, Sister Xiao isn't someone who lacks judgment. There must be a purpose behind her going over now.
Lu Jing saw Niannian running toward the seagulls, and a guess formed in his mind.
He had seen Niannian feeding the seagulls when they were on the boat before.
A few days ago, he also saw Niannian feeding the seagulls by the sea near the training base, even catching small fish to feed them.
Could it be that Niannian wants to ask the seagulls to look for clues?
Lu Jing immediately felt that he was being overly imaginative. Niannian could communicate with The Monkeys and dogs because those animals are very smart and can understand human speech.
Perhaps the veterans in the village taught Niannian some skills, which is why Niannian can command The Monkeys and dogs.
Can Niannian command other animals too?
As Xiao Niannian ran toward the seagulls, the seagulls also ran toward Xiao Niannian.
Xiao Niannian looked at the seagulls and asked.
“We are here to rescue the ten boats and nearly a hundred fishermen from the fishing village... If you know anything, tell us, or lead us to them. We will cover your food from now on...”
Hearing Xiao Niannian's words, the seagulls cried out.
“Ding! Avian Communication Ability +1.”
The System's voice rang out in Xiao Niannian's mind again.
In the ten days since arriving at the training base, the System's voice hadn't appeared in Xiao Niannian's mind; she hadn't expected it to appear now.
Sure enough, the System only appears when the timing is right. It doesn't appear for just anything.
“We saw those ten boats you mentioned when they set off, but we haven't seen them these past few days...”
“We haven't seen them. If we do, we'll certainly tell you...”
“About the people, wait for us to go ask around...”
“We'll go look for you right now...”
After realizing that Xiao Niannian could understand them, these birds immediately submitted. They would occasionally fly over and talk to Xiao Niannian these days.
Xiao Niannian noticed that no matter what kind of bird it was, they all loved gossip.
Could this be the nature of most birds?
“Alright, I'll wait for your good news.”
After Xiao Niannian finished speaking with the seagulls, she searched the surroundings carefully for a while longer, but found no further developments.
When Xiao Niannian returned, she heard that Lu Jing and Instructor Qin had finished discussing.
“We are boarding the boat now to search another island...”
“We just contacted the other two teams; they went to two islands and found nothing either...”
Hearing this, Xiao Niannian nodded.
After another hour on the boat, Xiao Niannian and her teammates arrived at another island, which was surrounded by many smaller islands.
After the boat stopped, Xiao Niannian and her teammates went ashore to reconnoiter the island.
This current island was much larger than the previous one, and the vegetation was denser, making searching a difficult task.
Xiao Niannian looked carefully through the binoculars for a long time but found nothing.
Meanwhile, her teammates had been searching for a while.
She looked up and saw several seagulls flying toward her.
“Master, some birds say they once saw a cave on the mountain in the middle of this island, and boats have been passing by here these last two days...”
The leading seagull was significantly larger than the others, and when it flew over, the other seagulls followed behind it.
Therefore, this seagull was the King of the Seagulls.
Xiao Niannian saw the birds flapping their wings, pointing the way for her.
“Alright, I'll bring people to search. You guys go up and take a look for me first.”
The seagulls flew away.
Xiao Niannian hurried toward her teammates.
“Sister Xiao, did you notice that this island seems a bit strange?”
Hearing Shen Yan's words, Xiao Niannian nodded.
“I noticed it a while ago.”
She felt that this rescue mission was very strange.
There were no specific coordinates, only rumors, and the assigned task was just to start the investigation from the first island. Although the Navy had also dispatched personnel to search, but Xiao Niannian still felt that something was amiss.
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