Add some practice: start with a lucid dream

If the reward for this trip to sea was not generous enough, Ishiguro would never take this job.

Therefore, he also made up his mind that when he returns to his hometown, he must soak in hot springs for a few days to detoxify his body.

"Okay." The captain's vicissitudes of voice pulled the first mate back from his thoughts.

"I understand, please go back."

"Then I'll take my leave, Mr. Nojima." First Officer Ishiguro bowed one last time and left the captain's cabin.

The night is dark.

The vast sea was pitch black, except for the bright lights around the squid fishing boat.

"Idiots and idiots!" First Officer Ishiguro continued to give orders in his ugly voice that sounded like thick phlegm.
"Okay, everyone go back to sleep!"

"Starting tomorrow, we will start work one hour early!"

The workers who were so tired that they couldn't stand up collapsed on the deck like mud, which made Chief Ishiguro displeased and picked up a scattered squid and threw it at it.

Snapped.

Right in the bull's eye.

Not knowing what was going on, the squid followed its instinct and twisted its tentacles desperately, tightly wrapping around Paul's turban-covered forehead.

"Hmph, lazy boy." Ishiguro cursed and left the deck.

As soon as he left, the oppressive atmosphere on the deck relaxed. The workers looked at each other until Paul sat up suddenly.

"Call the technician over here."

He tore the squid off his head and threw it away.

"Tell him to come over to our dormitory."

"What if he doesn't come?" A timid worker asked subconsciously.

"He will come." Paul looked toward the depths of the deck with determination.

Labor quarters.

This place is located at the lowest level of the cabin. Although it is less bumpy than the upper level, the smell that comes from time to time because it is connected to the warehouse and bathroom is not something that ordinary people can bear.

In order to save money, it is naturally impossible to make any partitions here. After all, no one cares about whether their foreign workers sleep peacefully.

But technicians who are regular employees of the company have never experienced this kind of hardship.

Therefore, he never let go of his hand covering his mouth and nose along the way.

Until the door of the dormitory.

The narrow dormitory was crowded with people, and as soon as the technician approached, he was hit by the sour smell of sweat fermented and mixed with fishy smell that hit his soul.

"Ugh!" The technician tried hard to cover up his embarrassing movements, but the workers who were used to being beaten and scolded didn't care about this rudeness at all.

"What happened during the day!" Paul jumped up from the bed excitedly,

"Didn't you promise to help us?"

"Didn't we write a letter for you to deliver to the captain?"

"Did you give it?"

"Why is the first mate still beating us!"

Paul pressed forward step by step, and every question he asked was like an invisible heavy hammer, hitting the technician so hard that he couldn't lift his head.

"I, I, I'm not." The technician explained stumblingly in Japanese English,

"Have I not found the opportunity yet? You, as you know, Captain, Captain, he is usually very busy."

"It's been half a month!" John beside him couldn't bear it and expressed his feelings for his compatriots.
"You promised us half a month ago that you would plead with the captain to let us disembark and go home!"

As soon as this statement came out, other workers also started shouting angrily.

"Yes, yes, at worst we don't need our salary, and we don't need our security deposit either!"

"We wake up earlier than chickens every day and eat less than dogs. If we continue like this, we will really die here!"

"We will really be beaten to death by the first mate!"

"Go home! We want to go back to the Philippines!"

"We don't want to do this anymore!"

“We want to go back to the Philippines!”

"We want to go back to the Philippines!".
The workers surrounded the technician, making him feel terrified and ashamed.

He is also aware of the situation of these foreign workers.

In the past two years, the Philippines has been hit by natural and man-made disasters, including bombings and typhoons and tsunamis, which displaced a large number of refugees.

The Japanese offshore fishing company that the technicians worked for took this opportunity to recruit cheap crew members locally. They first lured these workers onto the ship with generous verbal promises, and then took advantage of their low level of education to tamper with their contracts, deducted their deposits, and then verbally threatened them or even beat them. Then, they were ordered around like pigs, doing the most tiring work and living in the worst places, with no choice at all.

They didn't even know that almost the entire route was in heavily polluted waters, and they didn't even prepare protective measures.

No one will remind them.

Therefore, the technician actually has a considerable degree of compassion for these poor people.

It's just that he has never been a brave man. He just said unfavorable things to the bear-like first mate, let alone go to the captain to intercede for these workers?

"You will hand the joint letter to the captain tomorrow morning!" John excitedly grabbed the technician's collar and said,

"Just tomorrow! We won't work tomorrow morning!"

"Yes!" Others also agreed,

"Even if you beat us to death, you won't work anymore!"

"No" the technician made a grimace, and couldn't even free his hands to hold up the thick glasses that had slipped to the bridge of his nose.

"No, I still owe the company money. Captain, captain, if he fires me, I will go to jail!"

In fact, the technician would not have taken on the job if he had not been desperate.

"No!" Paul slammed his fist on the door.

"You have to tell the captain tomorrow!"

"If you don't say it, you won't say it. If you still dare not say it."

"I'll give 'that thing' to the captain!"

The technician's eyes suddenly widened.

The workers couldn't help but fell silent, and for a while there was only the sound of gasping.

"Don't forget it." Paul's bloodshot eyes revealed a hint of ferocity.
"'That thing' was killed by you! It was you who caused the trouble!"

"I didn't mean it!" The technician shouted that he was wronged.

"Who knew you didn't separate it separately? How do I know it will die as soon as the device presses it!"

"You...you are also responsible! You can't run away either!"

"Then let's go to jail together!" Paul yelled viciously.

"."

The technician and Paul looked at each other for a long time, and finally gave in.
"Okay. I understand."

"I'll go find the captain tomorrow."

Hearing this, the workers gradually let go of the technician's clothes.

"remember."

Before leaving, Paul finally told the technician,
"You must make it clear to the captain."

The technician nodded in despair.

Five o'clock in the morning.

Inside the labor dormitory.

Everyone stayed up all night.

As the time approached, the sound of heavy breathing gradually began to come one after another.

It's time.

Their rest period is only four hours.

Paul opened his eyes and stared at the wooden planks on the upper bunk without focus, and then suddenly sat upright from the bed.

Gazes from everywhere surrounded him.

"Paul." John, who had a good relationship with him, asked softly.

"Are you going to start work today?" "." Paul hesitated a little and then said hesitantly,

"Go ahead."

"The captain may not be up yet and has not received our letter yet."

So everyone who found an excuse breathed a sigh of relief and dragged their heavy bodies out of bed to wash up and prepare to start work.

Although the harsh words last night were let out, the workers' old wounds that had not yet healed ached with pain whenever they thought of Chief Officer Ishiguro's fierce appearance.

Come on deck.

There is no one here.

It was still dark all around and it was still dark.

Of course the first mate is not here, he is sleeping soundly in the comfortable single bedroom.

But no worker dares to be lazy.

So just like every morning in the past few months, they welcomed the sunrise amid heavy work and the belated arrival of the grumpy first mate.

There are endless squids to catch, and there are endless beatings and scoldings.

Everything is business as usual.

It was a tough morning.

Lunch break.

The workers gathered on the deck, turning the squid on the grill while quietly looking at the first mate who was enjoying the meal in the kitchen in the distance.

"Hasn't he given the letter to the captain yet?" Someone asked.

Everyone looked at the first mate subconsciously. It was not until they confirmed that the latter was not paying attention that they started talking,
"Maybe the captain hasn't gotten up yet?"

"Nonsense! I saw the captain patrolling around this morning!"

"Me too! I don't think he went to the captain at all!"

"How to do?"

"By the way, isn't he on duty today? Why haven't I seen him all morning?"

"Where is he? He won't get off the boat and run away!"

"What nonsense are you talking about! The lifeboat is being watched by the first mate. Where is he going? To the sea?"

After a discussion, the workers decided to make a sneak peek during the afternoon operation and inquire about the technician's whereabouts.

After hard work, the workers finally learned that the technician had taken sick leave and was staying in his room.

The first mate became more severe because of his talk, and almost everyone had several new scars on their bodies.

"Maybe it's just a coincidence?" Some people remained optimistic, thinking that the technician might just be unwell and he would be fine in two days.

This wait is three days.

The workers finally figured out the technician's intentions.

As long as he can't shrink out, the workers can't do anything to him.

Yes, what can these humble and humble laborers do? They were worse than dogs on board.

That night.

The labor dormitory was gloomy and gloomy, and everyone's face was covered with deep gloom.

"I'm going to get some ice packs to put on my head." Paul left the dormitory and walked to the cold storage while covering the swelling on his head.

The cold storage is naturally very cold, but the company does not have the extra kindness to prepare warm clothes for the workers.

So Paul could only hold his arms, tighten his tight singlet and quickly walked into the cold storage, found a shelf and started shoveling ice into plastic bags.

Click! Click, click, click.
But somehow, his eyes always drifted involuntarily to the depths of the cold storage, where the catch was stored.

Click, click, click.
The sound of shoveling ice gradually became sparse until it stopped completely.

"Ah sneeze!"

Paul, who was so cold that his nose was runny, came to his senses and realized that he had unknowingly walked to the chest freezer in the corner.

This is the coldest storage area in the icehouse.

It was a very ordinary old-fashioned freezer, but the dead fish scattered around seemed to have a strange color.

But what Paul cares about is not this, but the secrets hidden in the freezer.

A secret that no one dares to mention.

Paul opened the freezer door a little like a maniac, and the inside was occupied by the sinking white mist, so he couldn't see clearly.

Paul gripped the handle tightly, with veins showing on the back of his hand, and used force to open the cabinet door wider.

He narrowed his eyes in advance.

But the next moment.

A purple face covered with suction cup tentacles suddenly appeared from the white mist, occupying his entire field of vision.

Paul escaped from the cold storage without looking back.

Another difficult three days.

The technician made up his mind not to show up in front of the workers, and the beatings from the first mate became more intense.

night.

Labor quarters.

The workers huddled numbly on the bed boards, like meat dogs waiting to be slaughtered.

Until the alluring fragrance that seemed to come from heaven attracted them one by one.

Following the intoxicating aroma, the workers turned their attention to the door and unexpectedly caught Paul's figure.

"Oh, my God!" John immediately got up from the bed,

"What have you done! Paul!"

"You haven't eaten yet, have you?" Paul put the large and small baskets in his hands on the adjacent bed with his backhand.

Baskets were filled with cooked food, beer, and even not-so-fresh fruit.

"Oh! God!" This group of believers who had been ignored by God rushed forward, but they all stopped in front of the bed. No one dared to reach out first.

"Paul." John asked worriedly.

"Where did all this come from?"

"Get it from the kitchen." Paul shrugged nonchalantly.

"Where else could it be?"

"Did the captain ask you to take it?" someone asked hopefully.

Smiles bloomed like flowers on the workers’ faces,

"Has the captain seen the letter?!"

"No." Paul replied in a normal tone.

"I just found the technician in the toilet. He said let's give up. He will never give the letter to the captain."

"He also said that if we continued to threaten him, we would tell the first mate about this and he would throw us all into the sea to feed the sharks."

"." All the flowers withered, and everyone was silent.

"I stole this," Paul added,
"If we're found out, we're screwed."

Everyone retreated in a wide circle facing the food as if avoiding snakes and scorpions.

But then, John was the first to pounce on him, grabbing a piece of roast chicken wrapped in tin foil and stuffing it into his mouth.

After a while.

Everyone rushed forward.

Frankly speaking, even if placed in the poor hometowns of the workers, these foods would not be considered delicacies.

Although they live in slums, the locals use their unique wisdom and extraordinary courage (this is the key point) to fry and cook the kitchen waste from the rich, and the famous "pagpag" was born.

Miatai is a bit of a loser, at least he's just a mouthful.

But no matter who it is, if they have been eating squid for several months, they can probably chew it with gusto while holding a handful of grass.

So these cool roast chickens, leftover rice, moldy fruits and vegetables, and even slightly sour soups all made the workers eat with relish.

"Hiccup~".
It wasn't until their dry bellies began to plump up that they had the heart to open cans of beer and taste it slowly. (End of chapter)