Zhurong scavenged all kinds of maps and documents, packed them up, and left the wreck.
As soon as he emerged, Zhurong saw Violet dragging a sailor in an officer's uniform. The fellow was tied up like a dumpling, but still looked quite spirited.
"Damn it! Let me go this instant, you vile woman! How dare you lay hands on a lieutenant commander of the Greater Germanania Empire! Have you grown tired of living?"
"Germanania? Are you an officer on this ship?" Zhurong pointed at the battleship wreck nearby.
"That's right! I am the second officer, Goodman von Leicester! Release me at once!" The man continued to thrash about.
"Have you ever heard of Leidenschaftlich?"
"Leidenschaftlich? Hahaha! That puny little nation is about to be crushed into dust by the armored divisions of the Greater Germanania Empire! Hahahaha!"
"Is your Empire's army that strong?"
Zhurong was somewhat curious. After all, in the original work, the country of Leidenschaftlich was notoriously difficult to crack, boasting formidable naval strength, strong defensive capabilities on land, and fame for its solid multi-layered fortifications.
"Hmph, although we can't gain the upper hand against the maritime empire, our powerful armored divisions paired with the air force can easily shatter any defense line!"
At this point, Zhurong realized things had taken a serious turn.
The place he had landed might not be the world he originally imagined; his familiarity with the plot advantages of *Violet Evergarden* had been completely wiped out.
Just hearing the name Germanania Empire was a dead giveaway—after all, no such country existed in the original world. Moreover, the technological level in the original work resembled the early stages of World War I, mixed with a bit of magical technology.
However, judging simply by that electric-flyswatter-like apparatus atop the battleship's bridge, the technological level here had likely already reached the eve of World War II, or even the World War II era itself. (The electric-flyswatter was an airborne radar from World War II.)
What made things even more troublesome was that the original work featured no decent armored divisions to speak of, let alone an air force. Yet this Germanania Empire had clearly opened a door called blitzkrieg.
On an air-ground integrated battlefield dominated by true iron torrents and air support, even someone as strong as Violet stood almost no chance of survival.
"Violet, how did you catch him?" Zhurong asked in Chinese.
"He was holding a pistol, trying to force his way through the door. I knocked him out from behind." Violet pointed at the officer, then pulled a pistol out from behind her back. "This is his gun."
"Why does this gun look more and more like a P08..."
Zhurong fiddled with it for a moment, then unloaded the cartridges and tucked them into his jacket pocket.
"Keeping this fellow around is trouble. We need to figure out how to deal with him..." He stared at the officer, his gaze making the man's hair stand on end.
"Shall we tie him to a rock and throw him into the sea? That way we can avoid exposing ourselves." Violet asked with an innocent, naive expression, speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Zhurong fell silent...
He genuinely began to wonder if he had somehow raised this child wrong.
What normal teenage girl would casually suggest dumping someone into the ocean, for crying out loud!
While dropping this guy into the drink was indeed a decent idea from a counter-reconnaissance standpoint, it was also a bit too ruthless...
"Damn it! Let me go!" the officer shouted.
Zhurong held a rifle upside down, aiming the butt at the officer.
"Pardon me for making you take a nap."
*Clang!*
Knocked out cold with a rifle butt.
"Let's dump this guy in the bridge, weld the hatch shut, and leave him to fend for himself." Zhurong put away his gun. "I'll go back first to drop off the supplies. You keep an eye on him for a bit, I'll be right back."
With that, he broke into a jog toward their cave dwelling.
...
Ten-odd minutes later, Zhurong returned to the beach.
"Violet, what's wrong?" Zhurong asked, noticing something seemed off about her.
"I have a feeling he was thinking about some very terrible things." Violet glanced at the officer with a hint of disgust in her voice.
"Who cares what he's thinking?"
*Clang!*
With that, Zhurong struck the officer's head with a rifle butt once more.
He hoisted the man over his shoulder and marched back toward the battleship wreck.
"Let's go! There's plenty of stuff inside we need to haul out!"
......
When they emerged again, Zhurong was carrying three burlap sacks stuffed with a welding torch, saws, wrenches, pliers, various tools, and even two small generators.
The load on Violet was absurdly heavy: she was clutching several boxes of ammunition, carrying multiple rifles slung across her body, and had two water-cooled heavy machine guns strapped to her back.
Despite shouldering nearly a ton of weight, she moved as though she were completely unburdened, following Zhurong with effortless ease.
Along the way, she even skipped a little every now and then.
Even knowing that Violet was a Demigod by design, Zhurong was once again utterly astonished.
"Remember those stories I told you before?" Zhurong asked suddenly.
"Of course I remember." Violet poked her head out from the side of an ammunition crate.
"Do you remember the story about a monkey that popped out of a stone, named Sun Wukong?" Zhurong asked as they walked.
"I remember. Am I also someone who popped out of a stone?" Violet asked curiously.
"I don't know, but I feel like the two of you share a lot in common." Zhurong turned his head and smiled.
"In common?" Violet didn't quite understand.
"You'll understand when you grow up." Zhurong said as he opened the door.
"Oh..."
The common ground Zhurong referred to was primarily that both possessed formidable strength from birth, yet lacked various emotional responses.
Emotions were something gradually experienced and acquired through the process of growing up. Although some individuals experienced accelerated or stalled development due to childhood circumstances, most people required roughly six to eight years to cultivate a relatively well-rounded emotional system.
There was nothing inherently wrong with Violet; she simply lacked communication and was frequently detached from human society, leaving her unaware of emotions.
Sun Wukong of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit steadily enriched himself through repeated stumbles and partings. Although his path was meticulously arranged for him, it ultimately led to a decent ending.
Violet was already starting to awaken, but not fully.
Even with Zhurong constantly guiding her, she still lacked certain lived experiences.
Perhaps after raising a pet, finding a companion, and having a child, she would finally be able to complete the human emotions belonging to her.
"All right! Let's make a few more trips and try to clear out everything useful from the ship!"
"Okay!"
......
107th day stranded on the desolate island, 34th day after the battleship ran aground.
Over the past thirty-odd days, Zhurong used his limited electrical knowledge to install a lighting system at home and set up two paddle-wheel generator units by the volcanic spring.
During this period, a submarine had surfaced near the island, looked around for a bit, and then departed. Zhurong deduced that the submarine must have been the U-22 responding to the distress signal.
Life gradually returned to peace.
There were still plenty of clothes left untouched by the fire in the ship's warehouse; since they were all brand new, he took them all.
In his spare time, he practiced shooting with Violet, teaching her how to use the firearms salvaged from the ship.
How to dismantle them, maintain them, and calculate ballistic trajectories.
Unsurprisingly, Violet was a genius.
Within just a few days, her proficiency already surpassed Zhurong's, who had been handling guns for years.
On this day, Zhurong picked up a bandolier of bullets, wanting to see what it felt like to fire a heavy machine gun in full auto.
And then...
"You have completed the beginner quest, unlocking the store for you."
"Beginner quest reward issued..."
"Why did it cut out halfway again?"
"System?"
Suddenly, a blue translucent projection panel appeared before Zhurong.
It only had two functions: Buy and Sell.
Buy was literal—he could purchase items. The inventory was currently empty, with nothing inside.
Sell also had nothing listed, but it featured a scan option.
The currency was system points, currently at zero.
"Hmm... Let's try scanning this machine gun?"
With a mental command, he clicked scan and selected the target in front of him.
"MG-15 water-cooled heavy machine gun (89% condition): Recycle price 445 points." (Resembling the World War I MG-08/15 portable water-cooled machine gun with the stock removed.)
"Confirm recycle."
"Yes."
The heavy machine gun on the ground suddenly vanished into thin air.
"Interesting..."
When Zhurong reopened the buy interface, he discovered that an item had appeared inside.
It was the MG-15 water-cooled heavy machine gun.
Price: 500 points, 100% durability.
"Oh ho? Now this is wonderful."
Without further ado, Zhurong immediately ran back into the battleship wreck and recycled everything he could get his hands on.
This included, but was not limited to, the No. 3 turret, a dozen secondary and anti-aircraft guns, several boilers that weren't completely ruined, a relatively intact radar set, various shells, and a large quantity of small arms.
The seaplane, which had suffered heavy damage and seemed to have little hope left, was also successfully recycled.
However, because the battleship itself was too heavily damaged, the system did not support recycling it whole.
Recycling it as scrap metal was an option, but it would require dismantling the entire battleship wreck into pieces first. He decided to let it go.
"Now we have a way to leave the island!"
With the seaplane in hand, Zhurong wanted to master its operation as quickly as possible and take Violet away from this island.
However, things did not go smoothly...
The next day, a violent storm suddenly broke out over the sea.
The two of them had no choice but to huddle at home playing cards all day long.
This kept Zhurong bouncing wildly between narrow defeats and miserable losses.
On the third day, the storm grew even fiercer.
Zhurong had to continue telling stories to Violet.
He told her everything from Pangu splitting the heavens and earth, to the First Emperor sweeping away the six states, and onward to the Western Industrial Revolution.
On the fourth day, the torrential rain continued.
Their stored food supplies had hit rock bottom.
Fortunately, with the system, the two of them wouldn't starve.
With nothing better to do, he had no choice but to keep telling stories.
From modern history all the way up to the era right before his transmigration.
Violet showed immense interest in the world Zhurong described. Zhurong also resolved that if the opportunity ever arose, he would take her to see it.
Considering their ages and the current era, traveling the world together for a few decades would still allow them to witness it all.
On the fifth day, the storm finally stopped.
But trouble followed right behind...
......
"Two warships, can't tell if they're cruisers or destroyers." Zhurong raised his binoculars. "Whatever kind of ships they are, we need to slip away. If we don't leave now, we might not get the chance."
"Are we leaving this island?" Violet tugged at Zhurong's clothes.
"It's time to go."
Zhurong recycled everything in their home into the system, then took Violet and recycled the water turbine generator units as well.
Making sure no traces were left behind, the two of them headed to the beach on the opposite side of the island.
This area faced away from where the battleship had docked and was currently the safest spot.
"I've never tried flying a seaplane before, hope it's not too difficult."
Zhurong was just about to purchase the seaplane from the system.
Suddenly! Violet raised the rifle in her hand.
She aimed the muzzle toward the forest, her gaze sharpening.
"Bang!"
"Thwip!"
A flash of fire erupted from the woods, and a bullet whizzed right between the two of them.
"Bang!"
Violet quickly returned fire toward the position where the shot had originated.
"Argh!"
Judging by the sound, she hit someone.
"Watch out!" Zhurong grabbed Violet and threw them both into a sideways roll.
"Bang! Bang, bang!"
Three more shots rang out from the forest.
"Fight back! We can't just wait to die on the beach!"
Zhurong switched out a heavy machine gun, set it up right on the beach, and pulled the trigger.
"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!"
After a few seconds of sweeping fire, the people in the forest appeared to have been wiped out.
"Are there any survivors left in the woods?"
"They all seem to be dead," Violet said, holding her rifle steady.
"Let's move!"
Zhurong put away the machine gun, pulled out an FMG-9, and charged into the woods.
Violet charged even faster than Zhurong.
"Bang!"
Violet fired as she ran, seemingly hitting a few more targets.
The two of them quickly rushed into the forest and dropped prone into the exact spot where the enemy had been.
These uniforms... are they Leidenschaftlich military uniforms?
Could it be that we were mistaken for Germanania sailors and attacked because of that?
Zhurong looked at the Germanania naval uniform he was wearing, then glanced at Violet's uniform...
That actually seemed quite likely...