After boarding the ship, Lin Huang soon found his assigned cabin that was printed on his ticket, Room 308. There was nobody in the room. The speed of the Emperor's Ship was not considered fast whereby its normal flying speed was only 2,000 kilometers per hour. The distance between the Victoria Harbor to the Far East Island was 15,000 kilometers with two stops in between. It would take almost eight hours to get there. If Lin Huang were to summon Thunder at full speed, he would take half the time the ship needed.
However, many people did not choose to ride on their flying mounts as it was safer on the Emperor's Ship as long as they did not encounter any demigod-level monsters. Even if they encountered imperial-level monsters, the tens of God Crashers would destroy the monsters. They were hardly any demigod-level monsters 10,000 nautical miles along the east coast. It would be unfortunate if they did encounter one.
Lin Huang looked out of the window as he sat on his bed. Many people were admiring the blue and calm Peaceful Ocean on the deck. It did not look like an ocean, but more like a massive lake. However, Lin Huang, who had stayed more than a month on the Peaceful Ocean, knew that everything was not as tranquil as it seemed.
"308… 308…" While Lin Huang was spacing out as he looked out of the window, he heard someone mumbling at the door. He turned around and looked expectantly at the door as he heard his room number. A man in beach shorts stood at the door and glanced at the room number before walking in.
"It's you!" The man saw Lin Huang as soon as he entered. Lin Huang did not expect the weird man in sunglasses whom he met at the cafe to be his roommate.
The man took off his sunglasses and walked to Lin Huang.
"I know that you meant me well when you urged me to get on the ship earlier. I'd like to thank you for that, but you made me forget to save my draft! My four hours of work was washed down the drain. Do you know the pain of losing four hours of work as a lousy writer who managed to squeeze out 2,000 words?"
"Erm…" Lin Huang looked awkward as he genuinely could not understand the pain. However, seeing that the man was so mad that he was going to cry, he decided to apologize.
"I'm sorry, it's my fault."
Since Lin Huang apologized, the man was slightly placated. He then put his sunglasses on again.
"Forget about it. Just be careful the next time and not be so hurried for a small matter like that. A man should be calm."
"Who was the one who forgot to save his own draft? It's you who isn't calm…" Lin Huang thought to himself.
"Brother, are you an author?" Lin Huang could not help but ask as he watched the man typing on his virtual keyboard again. He was not really that interested in his occupation, but since they would be in the same room for eight hours, it would be boring not to speak to each other. He was shy to practice his sword skills when there was a stranger in the room anyway.
"Just a small one. I'm just trying to make a living." The man smiled.
"Are you looking for inspiration on the Far East Island?" Lin Huang asked again.
"Yeah, I've been stuck recently probably due to staying home for too long, so I guess it's good to get some fresh air. It's summer now, so it's the perfect time to spend some time on an island." The man was much friendlier when he talked about his job.
"What kind of book do you write, brother?"
"I've been writing a story about this world recently. The main character is an Imperial Censor with many triple mutated summoning monsters…"
Lin Huang's interest was sparked when he heard that the man was writing a story about an Imperial Censor, so he asked further, "What's the name of the book? I shall read it whenever I have the time."
"It's called 'Monster Paradise'. My pen name is Nuclear Warhead. You can look for my book or pen name on the Heart Network, and you'll find me. Oh yeah, please support the original only, alright?" The man recommended his own book when he realized he had a potential reader in the room.
"Sure, I'll take a look when I've got the time, and I'll definitely support the original."
"My name is Zhu Jiu, but you can call me Bro Jiu. What do I call you, little brother?" The man asked.
"My name's Lin Xie." Lin Huang smiled.
"What a coincidence! The main character of my book is also Lin." Zhu Jiu laughed when he heard Lin Huang's name.
"I'll definitely read your book when I'm done with my stuff." Lin Huang thought that the coincidence was interesting.
"Bro Lin, didn't you bring your girlfriend to the Far East Island with you?" Zhu Jiu asked.
"I'm still single." Lin Huang let out an awkward laugh. "Didn't you bring your wife, Bro Jiu?"
"I'm already so old. No woman wants me anymore," Zhu Jiu sighed.
"Since you're still young, you should really appreciate the people around you. Don't be like me. I can't return to the people that got away. You're young. Go after whoever you like. Don't be shy. Let go of your ego, or you'll regret letting some people go for the rest of your life…"
Lin Huang became silent when he heard the advice. He had been in a relationship before when he was on Earth. In fact, he had more than one relationship. There was once when he almost tied the knot with the love of his life, but the girl could not take the fact that he was always out with his clients and away from home for work. They had broken up in the end.
He still remembered the first movie he had ever watched with her. It was 'Big Hero 6' and it was his first time holding the girl's hand. He remembered which bench there sat on by the lake on their second date as well as the noodle store that they went to for lunch. He recalled his first time kissing the girl while peeping at the side of her startled face carefully.
"I'd like to kiss you…"
"Kiss me then," the girl had replied with a smile.
He remembered the girl leaving the next day, and he had taken a plane to the city the girl was in before calling her at the airport so that they could meet. He had cried at the airport when the girl rejected him. He did not even leave the airport that day as he had immediately bought a plane ticket to go back to where he was…
"The past is in the past. Appreciate what we have now." Lin Huang shook his head and snapped out of his thoughts.
A lady's voice was then heard.
"The ship is departing soon. Passengers who are on the deck, please get back to your rooms as soon as possible…"