Apocalypse Mode: My Cheat Code Virtual Boyfriend - Chapter 21

There were two diving suits, just enough for Bai Xun and Cheng Wei to each have one.

The workstation had enough materials to make two more diving suits, but for now, there was no need for more people to go underwater to collect trash. They could make them when needed.

Bai Xun put on the diving suit and strapped on the oxygen tank. He didn’t have a deep-sea diving certification or any related training, but as soon as he put on the suit, he instinctively mastered the diving skills.

He had to give the Star Game System a five-star review!

Cheng Wei had a diving certificate and almost every license for extreme sports imaginable. The intuitive mastery effect of the diving suit was unnecessary for him, but the speed boost and pressure reduction made him even more adept.

At the bow railing, there was a diving platform, another newly synthesized item. By opening the small gate in the railing, they could jump straight into the water.

To get back on board, they would rely on the safety rope ladder lowered from the ship. Bai Xun instructed Bai Yu to wait for them on the deck.

The experimental vegetable seeds planted in the glass greenhouse three days ago had sprouted green shoots about five centimeters tall, growing quite vigorously.

Grandma Bai examined each of the new sprouts and estimated they would be ready to eat in about fifteen days.

Standing on the diving platform, Bai Xun felt a bit nervous. The platform was at least three meters above the sea surface. Even with the diving suit’s enhancements, the fear of the unknown was hard to shake off in such a short time.

He looked down at the deep, ink-blue sea, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and prepared to plunge headfirst into the water.

“Are you nervous?” Cheng Wei stood behind him, waiting for him to jump first.

“A little. It’s my first time. I’ve never jumped from such a height before,” Bai Xun replied with an awkward smile, inwardly scolding himself for hesitating at a critical moment.

“How about I hold you and jump together? Just close your eyes,” Cheng Wei suggested, gently patting Bai Xun’s back and motioning for him to turn around.

“Is that okay?” Bai Xun hesitated verbally but was practical in action, wrapping his arms around Cheng Wei’s neck like a monkey clinging to a tree.

With the oxygen tanks on their backs, the two of them resembled two black seals, belly to belly, clinging tightly together. Bai Xun closed his eyes, waiting for Cheng Wei to take him into the water.

Cheng Wei wrapped his arms around Bai Xun’s waist, stood at the edge of the platform, and leaned backward.

With a splash, the cold seawater engulfed them. The moment they hit the water, the hand around Bai Xun’s waist released, and Cheng Wei let go.

Thanks to the diving suit’s additional functions, Bai Xun automatically adjusted his swimming posture upon entering the water, maintaining an upright and balanced position underwater.

Water pressure squeezed his internal organs, creating a sense of compression, but the 50% reduction in underwater pressure alleviated much of the discomfort. Aside from the coldness of the water, the sensation was closer to soaking in a bathtub.

The diving helmet was equipped with a communication device, allowing them to talk directly underwater without resorting to clumsy hand signals.

Moreover, after unlocking three consecutive games, Bai Xun had begun to discern a pattern in the Star Game System: the items unlocked for use weren’t necessarily the only usable items available.

It was like a hidden setting in a game. You could use the workstation to carve a wooden statue, but the game would never tell you that placing it on a table would cause it to transform into a garden gnome every night, watering the flowers in the garden.

The game interface for Sea Ark only indicated that the diving suit provided speed boosts and pressure reduction, but in actual use, it also offered communication functions and even automatic navigation. By following the directional guidance, they could successfully collect trash.

It was surprisingly convenient.

“Let’s head over there first.” The automatic navigation projection was directly cast into the seawater, and Bai Xun casually chose a direction.

“Alright.” Cheng Wei followed the cursor, swimming alongside Bai Xun toward the guided location.

Bai Xun had only ever dipped his feet in the sea, and the deepest he had ever swum was in a 1.7-meter-deep swimming pool. This was his first time diving deep into the ocean. After the initial panic subsided, he was left with a sense of novelty toward this new experience.

Descending further, they reached a coral reef cluster on the seabed. The surrounding water was a deep blue, and schools of fish with scales shimmering like ribbons swam around them. Looking upward, they could see a circle of white light beams forming a sun-like halo. At a depth not too far from the surface, they could still admire the sunlight filtering through the water.

In the silence, the only sounds were the swishing of water as they swam and the hissing of their respirators. The underwater world was incredibly quiet, so quiet that it felt almost lonely.

“It’s really quiet here,” Bai Xun couldn’t help but speak up, breaking the silence. The constant sound of water and respirators made him feel profoundly isolated.

“That’s just how the deep sea is. When diving, having a companion isn’t just for mutual rescue in emergencies, it also helps reduce psychological fear.” Cheng Wei descended further, effortlessly gliding through a school of fish.

“Is that why people have thalassophobia?” Bai Xun asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

“Maybe. The ocean is like an enclosed space. The deeper you go, the darker it gets, and the water pressure squeezes your body, as if a little more weight could crush you.” Cheng Wei shared his thoughts seriously.

“People with claustrophobia probably don’t like the ocean either. The feeling of having nowhere to escape is suffocating.” Bai Xun couldn’t help but sigh.

They swam together for nearly an hour. Thanks to following the ocean currents, it wasn’t particularly strenuous, though it might also have been the game’s assistance.

The navigation led them to a sunken cruise ship.

The cruise ship looked relatively new, likely having sunk some time after the apocalypse began. The hull was fractured in several places, and before their arrival, schools of fish had already been swimming in and out of the cracks.

Bai Xun touched the alloy plate of the ship’s body, but there was no reaction. It seemed that such a large cruise ship frame couldn’t be identified as underwater trash for recycling.

Through a massive crack, he and Cheng Wei swam into the interior of the cruise ship. Turning on their searchlights, they could clearly illuminate the underwater path.

The inside of the cruise ship was pitch black. Bai Xun felt like an archaeologist from an old educational TV channel, exploring a sunken ship in the deep sea, peering into every nook and cranny.

Collecting underwater trash was simple, once a recyclable item was detected, they just had to touch it lightly, and it would be stored in a temporary storage space. They could then retrieve and compress it at the trash compactor.

However, this temporary storage space only accepted underwater trash, and the criteria were extremely strict. Otherwise, Bai Xun would have tried to pull off tricks like storing a chainsaw in a kitchen simulator.

Along the way, they collected plenty of broken tables, chairs, and shattered plates, not even sparing the sheets and tablecloths floating in the water.

They ventured deeper into the cruise ship, arriving at what appeared to be the ship’s dining area. For some reason, there were an unusually large number of fish here, swimming in and out in continuous schools alongside them.

Before sinking, this cruise ship’s dining hall must have been a grand, opulent banquet venue capable of hosting dances. As soon as they entered through the main door, Bai Xun picked up a luxurious crystal chandelier.

While he continued deeper to collect other debris, Cheng Wei’s voice suddenly sounded in his ear: “Don’t look up.”

But human instinct often leads one to do the opposite of what they’re told. Bai Xun looked up.

The light from his diving helmet illuminated the ceiling of the dining hall. Schools of fish swarmed around the ceiling, tearing at the food they had claimed. The scraps they tore off were then devoured by smaller fish.

The food floated silently against the ceiling, bloated and swollen from the water into a grotesque, giant-like appearance. A significant portion had already been gnawed away by the fish, revealing stark white bones.

The open eyes of these unfortunate victims on the cruise ship stared silently through their swollen faces.

A wave of nausea hit Bai Xun, nearly making him vomit inside his diving helmet. Stomach acid surged up his throat, burning his vocal cords. Swallowing it back only intensified the urge to retch.

Cheng Wei wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him away from the dining hall, swimming toward the exit of the cruise ship.

“I’m fine. We don’t need to leave. I just need a moment to recover,” Bai Xun gasped, pressing Cheng Wei’s hand to signal him to stop swimming outward.

Of course, saying he was fine was a lie. Human corpses had a far greater visual impact than animal remains. The fear of one’s own kind’s bodies was a uniquely human emotional and psychological burden.

His mental resilience was still within the range of an ordinary person’s, and his brain instinctively reacted with disgust and fear toward these floating corpses in the water.

“Your trembling body tells me you’re not fine,” Cheng Wei hesitated but didn’t let go of his waist.

Bai Xun leaned against Cheng Wei for a while, regaining some strength. He patted Cheng Wei’s hand lightly. “I’m really fine now. Let’s continue.”

Cheng Wei released his grip but kept his body close to Bai Xun’s. “Alright.”

For the rest of the debris collection, Cheng Wei intentionally or unintentionally stayed half a body length ahead. If there were corpses ahead, he would stop and prevent Bai Xun from going further.

Blocked by Cheng Wei once again, Bai Xun poked his back. “It’s fine. They’re just motionless corpses. I’ve recovered.”

Cheng Wei hesitated. “Really?”

“Really.”

Meanwhile, several kilometers away on the Ark, Bai Yu was diligently digging soil with a small shovel in front of the planting boxes.

Her older brother and sister-in-law had gone diving to collect debris, instructing her to stay on the deck to assist and also plant the vegetables. Since she had to stay on the deck anyway, she might as well keep herself busy.

She had brought down ten pots of tender seedlings from upstairs and was now separating and planting them into the planting boxes.

By gently pushing the ventilation and drainage holes at the bottom of the flowerpots, she could remove the entire clump of soil. As she separated the seedlings, she refilled the soil, transferring the excavated soil from the planting boxes back into the pots, a perfect example of energy conservation.

She carefully separated the soil clumps containing the roots of the tender seedlings and placed them into pre-dug holes spaced appropriately apart. Then, using the small shovel, she gently pushed soil over them and patted it down. After repeating this process several times, she had successfully planted all the tender seedlings.

It wasn’t raining today, and after transplanting, these tender seedlings still needed a bit of water. Bai Yu casually placed the small shovel on the edge of the planting box and went to the tool room on the lower level to fetch a watering can.

With just a few dozen plants, there was no need for too much water. She carried the watering can to the water storage tank, filled it only halfway, and then brought it to the planting box to water the seedlings.

As Bai Yu struggled to lift her arm high enough to water the tender seedlings, she faintly heard the sound of nails scraping against the floor.

She stopped watering, pricked up her ears, and carefully tried to pinpoint the direction of the sound.

It seemed… right behind her?

Bai Yu spun around abruptly, her gaze immediately meeting an unidentified creature that had half-crawled into the fence!

“Ahhh! Help! There’s a water ghost!”

“Damn it, sis, I’m human! Stop hitting me! Stop! I’m human!”