Life at the base grew more stable, and prioritizing mental health has become essential.  

Also, people are divided into groups, and those who get along well tend to get closer to each other. 

Jiang Ning was slightly surprised, “We’re not soldiers, so why go to a party?”  

“You can bring your family or friends to a party. Just the other day, I attended one at the Central Military Base. The more friends, the more opportunities.” 

Jiang Ning refused to join in the fun, “Not interested. Have fun.” 

Rong Sanshao didn’t pushed. He planned to invite others. He leaned against the door and asked with a smile, “Doudou, how did you make the dipping sauce last time?” 

Doudou was not stingy and told him the truth, “Ginger, onion, garlic, chili, oil…” 

The first few ingredients were easy to handle, but the oil was very troublesome. 

Forget it. He’d rather play dead and just go along with the crowd to eat.  

After sending him off, Jiang Ning went back inside to lie down and read.  

On the night of the party, Rong Sanshao deliberately wet his hair on his forehead, combed a cool hairstyle, and put on his cleanest clothes.  

He had shamelessly asked his brother-in-law for the clothes. 

His brother-in-law was quite generous and even gave him several pieces.  

One of them was a brand-new floral shirt, which fit him very well. He’d show it off in the summer. 

Additionally, his sister gave him a pair of slippers.  

The style was very old-fashioned, the kind you wear in the shower. Before the disaster, they would probably cost 9.9 yuan per pair, or they would be a buy-one-get-one-free promotional gift.  

Back then, he wouldn’t have worn them even if they added four more zeros to the price.  

But now… well, the quality looks really good, and it looks like he can wear them for several years. 

In short, calling her “sister” hadn’t been in vain!  

Rong Sanshao wondered if she would give him sunglasses or hair oil or something when he hugged his sister’s thigh and cried next time.  

That reminds him, his underwear had two holes—maybe his brother-in-law could spare him a couple of new pairs? 

It would be best if they were bullet- patterned underwear, which would look very stylish. 

Anyway, most of the people at this gathering were from the Southern Military Base, but many had brought family, old friends, and companions along.  

There were more than 50 people in total, and they had a long-awaited celebration—making dumplings. 

The flour was sourced through middlemen. There were no meat fillings, but the vegetarian options were still tasty.  

Chive stuffing, Chinese cabbage stuffing, three fresh vegetables. 

There was no soy sauce or vinegar, but there was ginger, onion, garlic, and a dipping sauce mixed with fragrant herbs. 

Even if it is so simple, many people have not eaten it for several years. 

At the party, people ate and talked about new things, but when it came to telling exaggerated stories, men were unmatched. 

They talked about the disaster, food from different places, and local supernatural stories.  

One of them had just finished talking about the red high heels by the lake at his campus, and others laughed at him. “That’s nothing; those are just internet legends. I’ve experienced true supernatural events in the Demon Sea.” 

Everyone immediately became interested, “Demon Sea?” 

“The real Bermuda Triangle.” Thinking of the experience at the time, he still had lingering fears, “Our transport ship drifted on the sea for a long time, and we didn’t expect to encounter a Japanese ghost ship…” 

“Ghost ships?” Everyone was stunned, “Weren’t they sunk long ago?” 

“Yes, it sank, but not all of them died. Many of them went into the sea as pirates.” 

“We were completely surprised when several ghost ships unexpectedly surrounded us…” 

The man fell into terrible memories and recounted his experience slowly. “Just when we thought we were done for, the ghost ships suddenly vanished, and the pirates fell into the sea, getting eaten by sharks.” 

We took the opportunity to fight the pirates on our transport ship and threw them all into the sea. 

In fact, we were actually out of ammunition by then, and even if we defeated them, we didn’t think we’d survive the Demon Sea. But no one expected the two ghost ships to reappear.” 

“On the boat, there’s food and herbs, as well as fresh vegetables with dew, the five-star red flag, and the coordinates of the new homeland.” 

“Tsk, I’ve heard this story before, and I almost listened to your nonsense.” 

“Yes, you almost had us believing it too.” 

Many people have heard about the supernatural incident on the transport ship in Shandong Province. In fact, many people on the ship have mental problems and think it is real. 

How to say it, it’s like a mirage in the desert. 

Seeing that everyone didn’t believe it, the man couldn’t help getting excited, “It’s true, I swear.” 

He was a crew member, and he was afraid that others wouldn’t believe it, so he even reported the longitude and latitude and the specific time. 

“That area of the sea is seriously cursed. The weather changes unpredictably, and the storms are so fierce that we almost overturned several times.” 

Hearing the coordinates, Liu Cheng frowned, “We have also passed this sea area, but we stayed over 200 nautical miles away from you, and the time interval is relatively long. 

“That sea area is indeed quite strange. It’s probably due to the complex ocean currents. We also encountered multiple disasters but luckily made it through.” 

They hadn’t encountered ghost ships but were attacked by diamond-shaped underwater craft on the seabed though they managed to fend them off thanks to their sturdy submarine. 

“See? We weren’t lying, and we weren’t hallucinating… ah—”  

In excitement, he accidentally bit his tongue. 

What to do? Should they send him to the hospital? The ferry was still a while away.  

Liu Cheng stood up, “I have some medicine here, which should be able to stop the bleeding.” 

He returned to his room and brought a bag. 

There was no Yunnan Baiyao, no hemostatic powder, only some dried herbs. 

Liu Cheng found one in particular, “Luckily, I still have some; it should stop the bleeding.”  

He tore a few dried leaves, ground them into powder with his hands, and instructed the man to open his mouth as he applied the powder to the wound. “Press down for a few minutes.” 

The man pressed his face with his hand and did not speak. 

The eerie atmosphere broke as someone shifted the topic to the herbs, “Can these herbs really stop bleeding?” 

“It should be fine. The bleeding stopped last time I was injured.” 

Everyone was jealous. “Liu Cheng, I didn’t expect you to be so rich. In times like these, herbs are valuable; they could fetch a lot of supplies if traded.” 

“Who said they weren’t? Last time I exchanged some medicine from a middleman for two kilograms of potatoes.” 

“This was given to me by a friend.” Liu Cheng is an honest man. He smiled innocently and said, “It’s fate that we met in the Demon Sea. If it weren’t for the food and herbs they gave us, we might not have been able to survive…”  

The injured man’s eyes fell on the herbs, and he picked them up to look at them curiously. “This herb… why is it so similar to the one given to us by the ghost ship?” He picked it up and put it to his nose to smell it. 

Yes, it was this smell! 

At that time, he helped to move things from the ghost ship and accidentally broke the mouth of the bag and scattered it all over the floor. 

He’d spent ages picking them up, so the scent was unforgettable. 

And the cut of the herb was strikingly similar.  

Liu Cheng was about to say that it was given by 2688, and they were also from the southern military base. 

But when he heard the man’s words, he was stunned for a moment, and he suddenly thought of something. 

The same Demon Sea area, the same supplies and medicines, both have the coordinates of the new home, is it really such a coincidence? 

2688 was known for being cold on the outside but warm on the inside—but wait, they operated a submarine. There’s no way they’d have room to carry enough supplies for two fishing boats, let alone fresh, dewy vegetables…