The nine-year-old girl’s face held a maturity and calm that belied her age.

Evelyn Ford patted Wendy’s shoulder. "I have some regular scar ointment here. Put this on first. And you must put cream on the frostbite on your hands and feet. You might not care, but your dad and the rest of us will be heartbroken to see it."

Wendy hugged Evelyn Ford. "Miss Ford, I thought I’d never see you again. I was so scared."

"You’re very impressive, Wendy. You’re more impressive than any of us."

She eventually cried herself to sleep. Evelyn Ford applied the ointment for her before leaving the room.

Ronan Kendrick was brewing some medicinal herbs in the kitchen. Evelyn Ford went over and leaned against the doorframe, watching him.

"What is it?"

"I’m just emotional. Wendy’s fingers and toes are all ruined by frostbite, and the soles of her feet are cracked. I just don’t know how she got through it."

Ronan Kendrick smiled. "Wendy is very resilient. She’s impressive."

Once the medicine was ready, Ronan Kendrick brought it to Officer Graham, who had just woken from his coma. Though his body ached terribly, he endured the pain without making a sound.

"Ronan Kendrick, thank you. Both of you. From now on, I owe my life to you and Evelyn Ford."

Ronan Kendrick shook his head. "Your life is your own. You should live it to take care of your daughter. We’re acquaintances; it was only right to save you."

Officer Graham drank the thick, dark medicinal brew. "Saying ’thank you’ feels too trivial. It’s not enough to express what I’m feeling. Besides, there’s no such thing as ’should’ or ’shouldn’t’ in this world."

"So, which way are you heading?"

"North. First, we’ll look for the others. Evelyn Ford wants to go somewhere more remote to gather some supplies."

Officer Graham understood at once. "Right. I’ll recover as fast as I can so I don’t hold you back."

With Officer Graham conscious, Ronan Kendrick went to the wheelhouse. The fishing boat started up and continued on its way. Evelyn Ford was examining the two thorny trees they had uprooted from the islet. Officer Graham’s injuries were actually severe. If they had arrived a few days later, he likely wouldn’t have made it. The bone in his leg had become necrotic, and he would walk with a limp from now on.

Wendy was in better physical condition, which Evelyn Ford suspected was due to drinking her blood. But if Officer Graham had died, Wendy wouldn’t have lasted long alone on that islet.

Wendy said that at first, she had fed Officer Graham the red fruits from the thorny trees, which was how he had woken up after being in a coma for months.

Unfortunately, there were no more red fruits on the thorny trees. Evelyn Ford stored them in her space, planning to study them later once they were settled somewhere.

"Miss Ford, is there anything I can do to help?"

After waking up, Wendy found Evelyn Ford, eager to help.

"Not right now. Once your frostbite has healed, you can help me process the fish we catch. How does that sound?"

"Okay, but I can clean. From now on, leave the cleaning on the boat to me. And the laundry."

Evelyn Ford smiled. "You don’t need to worry about laundry. In this weather, clothes won’t dry even if we wash them. How about this: for now, you focus on taking care of your dad. Once both of you are better, we’ll find some tasks for you."

Wendy immediately stood at attention. "Okay."

Officer Graham’s dressings had to be changed twice a day. A week later, his wounds began to scab over. Thanks to his strong constitution, he was recovering quickly. Throughout that week, the fishing boat remained in the same area of the sea.

Whenever the sea was calm, Evelyn Ford would cast her nets. Every little bit helped. The last few days’ haul had been good; she even brought in a net full of abalone.

With better nutrition, the father and daughter recovered even faster. Officer Graham was able to get out of bed and move around, sitting on the deck to help Evelyn Ford clean fish and shrimp.

Cleaning the boat was left to Wendy. Having been given a task, she was full of energy every day. She also went to the wheelhouse to learn how to pilot the boat and learned from Evelyn Ford how to fish and clean the catch.

But even after so many days, they still hadn’t found any other islands. In truth, Evelyn Ford was starting to lose hope.

The fishing boat continued its journey north. Officer Graham was very supportive of Evelyn Ford’s plan to go to Rovan and other countries to gather supplies. If there were still people in Xylos, then other countries must have cities that hadn’t been submerged by the rising seas.

「Two days later.」

The fishing boat entered a new stretch of sea. This area was shallower, dotted with reefs and shoals. As the boat neared one of the shoals, Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick went down to investigate.

There were many shoals, but each was only about ten square meters. They were littered with the remains of various creatures and the skeletons of large animals left behind by the tide.

Evelyn Ford gathered a handful of especially beautiful shells to give to Wendy. Wendy’s frostbite had completely healed by now. She slid down a rope, bucket in hand, and went onto the shoal to gather fish and shrimp.

"There are so many crabs!"

"Wendy, don’t collect the red ones. They’re poisonous."

The moment Wendy heard they were poisonous, she kicked all the red crabs near her feet back into the water.

"I did a quick count. There must be fifty or sixty shoals within a one-kilometer radius."

Officer Graham stood on deck with a pair of binoculars. When Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick passed up the bucket filled with fish and shrimp, he quickly took it from them.

"Wendy, time to come up!"

Wendy didn’t want to leave. "But there are still so many fish!"

"These are too small. We’ll leave them."

Wendy came skipping over with her bucket. "Okay. Miss Ford, this one’s the biggest. It’s for you."

Evelyn Ford smiled. "Alright. I’ll stew this one today."

For the past two days, Officer Graham had also been learning how to pilot the boat from Ronan Kendrick. He could now handle it on his own. While he was at the helm, Ronan Kendrick would join Evelyn Ford on deck to fish.

As they left the area of shoals, a light rain began to fall. Wendy was in the galley, watching the fish Evelyn Ford had just put on to steam, while Evelyn Ford hurried to drag everything on deck back into the cabin.

Thankfully, the light rain showed no signs of getting heavier, and the waves in the shallow sea weren’t too rough.

"Ronan Kendrick, what’s that dark patch over there?"

"Looks like a forest."

Evelyn Ford was incredulous. "A forest? I’m getting the binoculars."

The binoculars were in the cabin. Evelyn Ford ran back inside, and after finding them, she eagerly scanned the horizon.

"It really is a forest. The land over there seems a bit high. Should we go take a look?"

Ronan Kendrick looked at her. "It’s your call."

"I want to go over and chop down some trees. We can add more firewood to the space."

"Alright. I’ll go tell Mr. Graham to head in that direction."

The small forest was probably more than twenty kilometers away; even through the binoculars, it wasn’t very clear.

After several hours, the fishing boat slowly approached the forest. Evelyn Ford tilted her head back to look up at the massive trees, marveling at the wonders of nature.

"The trees are so tall! Dad, do you think they can touch the sky?"

Officer Graham made a rough estimate. "These trees must be seventy or eighty meters tall. They’re perfectly straight, not a single curve in them. They don’t look like birches... they look more like ginkgo trees."

Just as Evelyn Ford and Wendy were about to disembark, Ronan Kendrick pulled them back.

"There’s a noise inside."

Evelyn Ford looked through the binoculars, but she couldn’t see anything in the dense forest.

"Could it be crocodiles?"

"Doesn’t sound like it. It’s a commotion. There must be people in there."