54. Message
04-14-2024
A/N: ACK, sorry guys! I fell asleep while I was trying to finish this chapter and overslept LMAO. Don't you hate when school gives you so much work (had to do two 20 slide PowerPoint presentations and one 10 page research paper in one week)??? I was tired!!!
I hope you guys don't mind the updated cover. Though, thank you for 3k votes guys! My reads is at 69k (hehehehe).
BUT I am so anxious to get to Treasure Island because I have so much stuff in my WIPs for it, I'm being dead serious. I hope you guys don't mind me skipping a just little bit just to get there quicker!
Q: What's something that creeps you out or scares you?
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After the camera was created, the Kingdom of Science spent weeks taking multiple aerial images from the hot-air balloon. At the same time, the wheat fields were fully grown and delivered to your team for Francois's grand opening of their three-star restaurant.
"So, the food that we're going to make is black truffle pork rillettes. High in protein and easy to preserve," you started as you were with Francois.
They replied as they held up a few of the aerial photos that were taken by the science team, "Yes. I took the liberty of bringing along the foremost expert on the forests and animals surrounding Ishigami Village."
Suddenly, you heard a familiar voice bouncing around. "Hello! It's so nice to see everyone!"
You cried out as you held your arms out, "Suika! It's good to see you again!"
She jumped into your arms and you spun her around, listening to her giggling with joy. Chalk was also with her, barking with happiness.
"Suika-sama, I need you to look through these photos to help us look for some boars. Once you've spotted them, we'll head out and (Y/N)-sama will do the hunting," the butler instructed as they let Suika inspect it.
The young girl took a look and inspected a few of them with a magnifying glass. "It's a little hard to tell because this is so fuzzy...but it looks like something's been rubbing against these branches! Must've been some wild boars!"
"Alright. We'll go look for them and look for the truffles after!" You exclaimed as you started leading them into the forest where the picture was taken.
Your little trio had a little adventure through the forest to find wild boars as the rest of the science team was busy taking more photos and examining them. Gen ended up coming along with you because he had nothing else to do.
"Say, (Y/N)-chan, how come you aren't going up on the balloon with Senku-chan?" The mentalist asked you.
You let out an audible groan, which caused sweat to drip down his temples. "Despite getting work done, all they do is fight over me. Kohaku gladly takes my spot to save me, but Senku told me that she joins in too."
"Must be hard being so popular~" he lightly chuckled. "You're too likeable."
"Suika likes you a lot, (Y/N)!" Suika exclaimed with a wide grin. "The other kids like you too! You actually play with us!"
You smiled in response. "Aw, thank you, Suika. I like you guys too. By the way, Francois, other than getting boar for pork, how will we get the truffles?"
"Yeah...isn't that exceedingly rare that some call it 'black gold?'" Gen wondered.
They explained, "Even in Japan, we ought to find truffles growing in the woods. The scent of our black gold is one that our porcine friends will know well."
"Oh! It's kinda like Stardew Valley then!" You happily realized, then saw the different expressions your friends had when you mentioned it.
"Stardew Valley...?" The young watermelon girl was puzzled.
"That a popular farming game?" Gen asked.
You answered proudly, "Yes! It might not be completely accurate to real life, but at least I know some stuff because of it! Like how you can get truffles from pigs digging it up!"
"Well then, we should have no issues with getting our black gold then," said Francois with a smile.
With that, your group ended up finding a few boars to keep. You would use your strength to knock them out, then bring them back to the village to keep a small pen of them. Then, when it was time, you, Francois, and Suika would use the pigs to find truffles in the ground, successful as you were.
With those truffles, we can finally make the restaurant's first dish!" cried Suika.
"First, the boar. Let us stew its meat to make the rillettes!" Francois instructed.
You then placed a tied up boar on the table that you were going to use to cook. When cleaning your sword to kill it cleanly, the butler then held a tissue up to their nose when they were inspecting it.
"Why does this particular specimen smell of oil?" They questioned in curiosity.
"But if we clean it well enough to cook it, the smell should go away, right?" You then began to hold your weapon up to prepare to cut it. That's when you heard shouting from your boyfriend and the others.
"HANDS OFF THE BOAR!" Senku shouted with a frantic expression.
You dropped your weapon and took your hands off of the animal in bewilderment. "What's wrong?!"
He came up to you as he was out of breath. "That boar...it'll lead us to the oil fields! In 1872...the original Sagara oil fields was found because of boars that stank of oil, and they followed it...meaning that this pig should lead us to it!"
You widened your eyes. Suddenly, you started untying the boar and let it stand on its own. The animal looked at the rest of you with a grateful look in its eye, facing Suika last. With a few snorts, it seemed as though it was trying to communicate with the young girl.
"He wants to take us somewhere! The mudhole where he likes to play has the black gold! That's where our oil is!" Suika translated for you. "Lead the way!"
The animal started running as fast as it could. A few of you started chasing it down through the green mountains, hoping that it would be true. After a long while of running, as well as carrying Senku, the boar suddenly jumped into a pile of dark liquid that lay on the forest floor.
"This has to be it!" You said with a grin, letting Senku walk on his own as you stopped.
The scientist pulled out a match after taking a sample from the ground. He lit it, and it burned with great power. "Kukuku...in this world, we finally acquired the king of resources! Fuel to burn! Let's hurry and head back so we could set up the oil pumps!"
Multiple pumps were built to help gather the resources needed for fuel. It took a good while, but with just enough man power, you filled at least a few barrels worth of oil.
"Good job, Sagara!" Suika jumped up in the air with the pig in celebration.
"Sagara? Is that it's new name?" You lightly laughed.
"Yeah! Making friends starts with learning each other's names!" But a frown suddenly formed on her face when she remembered, "But...Francois is gonna cook you up. Suika doesn't wanna say goodbye..."
You and Senku noticed how upset she looked when she spoke. The green-haired boy went to Francois to consult with them. "Francois, I need your opinion as a professional chef. Is the boar worth eating?"
They gave it a bit of thought as they looked at the pig. With a smile, they walked off and replied, "The stink of oil makes it ill-suited to my cuisine."
You beamed as you looked back "Hear that, Suika? You can let it loose or bring it home. It's up to you now."
"TH-THANK GOODNESS! Now we can really be friends!" The watermelon cried with tears of joy, hugging the pig as her life depended on it. She then ran off with Sagara and Chalk, while you and Senku headed off back to the village.
"It's bad for morale if we don't acknowledge our troops' accomplishments," Senku blurted out.
You snickered, "I didn't even say anything, and here you are, trying to justify your actions."
"Do I need another reason?" He added as he looked at you with those crimson-colored eyes of his.
"I guess not. But after months of working, I finally get some time with you, all to myself," you happily mentioned as your eyes creased. "I miss being with you."
"I know. I've missed spending time with you too," he said as he took your hand in his.
You intertwined your fingers with his as you walked back. "Well, I'll cherish as much time with you as I possibly can. If we ever spend time like this again, it better be a holiday~"
"I'll put you up to that then."
~~~
You and Senku flew back to the Kingdom of Science to test the oil in the new speedboat he created. Chrome, Gen, Ukyo, Ryusui, and Taiju were also there to watch you work with him, making sure that the oil was usable. They had also brought a bunch of supplies that Senku instructed them to get before heading out to open sea.
"Do I smell a love potion?" You heard Taiju ask. He then looked at you and Senku. "Wait, don't tell me you used it on (Y/N)! That's cheap, Senku!"
"What...?" You and the others were so confused about what he was saying. "Taiju, you need to elaborate, because Senku didn't need a love potion for me."
"Oh, so you admit you've always been in love with Senku-chan~" Gen slyly commented.
"Well, duh. If anyone needs the love potion, it's Ryusui-san," you scoffed as you looked at the sailor, intrigued by what Taiju was saying. You couldn't imagine what he was thinking when he mentioned a "love potion."
"But don't you guys remember the stuff you whipped up in the science lab? It was to give me the courage to confess to Yuzuriha! The day we all got petrified," the brute explained with a serious look on his face.
You and Senku both remembered so very clearly when he explained it to you.
"Thanks, but no thanks, Senku! I can't go cheat my way into her heart!" Taiju proclaimed, then quickly barged out of the classroom to meet with his love and your friend, Ogawa Yuzuriha.
"Was it really a love potion, Senku?" A curious student asked, his face blushing a little.
You walked towards the sink and grabbed the empty glassware. You looked inside it, then slightly wafted the smell up to your nose using your hand.
"This is gasoline," you shared with the students.
"BWAHAHA! The love potion! I totally did say that, huh?! You never stopped believing that lie, you big oaf?!" Senku cackled, holding his stomach from laughing too much.
Sweat started dancing around your head. You told the brunette, "Sorry, Taiju. But that was gasoline."
"WHAT?! You mean it?!" He was in disbelief.
"Yep. Sorry buddy. But since you were smelling it without any preconceived notions, then that means our Sagara oil is the same stuff I made outta plastic bottle caps! Grade-A gasoline!" The scientist stared fueling up the boat as you began to tie a long rope behind the boat.
"And the long rope is for...?" Gen asked as he watched you sit in the water with attachments to your feet.
"Water skiing!" You cheerfully told him as you bobbed up and down in the water. "Since we got this boat now, we could introduce the villagers to some water sports! Also, since we all can't fit on the boat, I'm doing this as a way to go with you guys."
The mentalist gave you a close-eyed smile. "Aww, everything is more fun with you, (Y/N)-chan~ but do you even know how to water ski?"
"Nope."
Ryusui spoke up with a hearty laugh "HAHAH, then do you want me to teach you, my dear (Y/N)?!"
"Nope. She's a hands-on learner. If you don't explain it to her right, like I do, she won't get it," Senku blurted out. "But let's get this show on the road!"
All of the boys, minus Taiju, got in while you were sitting in the water. Senku looked back at you to make sure you were okay, and all you did was give him a thumbs-up. He started the boat, and it immediately started running. The rope you held tightly pulled you forward, and you made sure to keep your body in a crouched position before you were ready to start standing up straight.
"HAHAH! This gasoline is our ticket outta Japan and into the uncharted new world!" You heard Ryusui scream from the front.
"YEAHHHHHH!" Chrome shouted at the top of his lungs. He looked back at you as the boat sped up and cried, "WHOAAA, LOOK AT (Y/N)!"
"Doing okay there, slowpoke?!" You heard Senku ask as he took a glance back at you.
"YEAH, I AM!" You gleefully bubbled.
You looked up at the sky as you sped across the water. The big blue ocean was just as beautiful as you remembered it to be. The ocean scent filled your nose with salt and seaweed, and the water sprayed across your face, keeping it clean and moist. As you looked around, you saw the land getting farther and farther away, fading from sight.
"Hey, how are we gonna get back?!" You asked with a yell. "We don't have anything to keep track of our direction!"
Ryusui held up a small device that you recognized. "We have the sextant!"
"But didn't Senku-chan claim it as garbage?!" Gen wondered.
"If we're going to voyage out into the sea while risking our lives, we need a ten billion percent accurate way of tracking our coordinates! So we're gonna make a GPS!" The scientist told all of you.
"WHAT?! But we don't have satellites!" Ukyo told him.
With a smirk, he then explained, "Damn right! So instead of using satellites up in space, we're gonna shoot out crazy strong radio waves from a tower back on the mainland!"
You then felt Senku slowing the boat down to stop it. Allowing yourself to stop, you just floated yourself around the boat. Everyone got ready by having Ukyo hold an antenna, while Chrome got the phone ready.
"We're counting on you, Ukyo!" You cheered him on.
With a nervous look on his face, he replied, "This part is so analog. It almost feels a little slapdash..."
"Well, we're going to count your ears for this, Sonar-man," Senku told him. "Just keep spinning that thing around. It'll help us calculate distance."
Suddenly, through the phone, you heard Ruri's voice, "Have you found your bearings, sailors?"
With a confident tone, Chrome spoke up, "Yup! We're in business!"
With a few seconds to spare, the village priestess spoke in a soft, but endearing tone, "Chrome?"
"Yeah, Ruri?" The young sciencer let her continue in a voice similar to hers.
You internally squealed as you watched a confession scene unfolding before you. Even Gen looked as though he was anticipating it to happen.
Suddenly, the girl was interrupted by the sound of static.
"NO!" You screeched from the water.
"Ah...what a cliché. A burst of static at a crucial moment," the mentalist sighed with a small snicker.
"That's not static." You all looked at Ukyo when he started talking. "But how...? We just got a strong signal from somewhere, but it's too saturated to tell the direction..."
The series of static beeps and dashes filled the quiet air, making an eerie sound amongst your quiet friends. You couldn't let go of your uncomfortable feeling, like it was a cold chill clinging onto your skin and bones. The fear of the unknown has always been present in humanity, and this proved that it will never go away.
You quickly climbed into the boat with the help of your friends. You couldn't stand being in the water with that feeling pooling within you. As you wrapped yourself in a towel, you listened to the sounds and realized that it wasn't a random set of noises.
"Isn't that Morse code...? Someone is sending a message..." you muttered with a fearful look in your eyes.
Senku realized you were right and looked straight at the phone. "It's a message for us! They deliberately intercepted our signal!"
"They're repeating the same string over and over... W...H...Y...?" Gen translated out loud.
WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY.
There is someone out there.
-To be Continued-
A/N: Okay hope you guys like this chapter, despite it just being manga content (sorry)! I had planned some original stuff but I had no place to put it tbh ( ；∀；)
As I explained earlier in the chapter, I will be skipping some stuff or skimming through it so we can get to Treasure Island!