Sorry for the Aroma

Alice thought using the air fryer wouldn't produce too strong of a smell, but Finnegan had detected it all the same.She smiled, "Sorry for the aroma."

Finnegan sighed, "The fishermen outside think it's pirates lurking around, waiting in ambush."

"Just this once." Alice turned back and wrapped a chicken wing in oil paper for Finnegan. "There isn't much, but please have a taste."

Finnegan, who hadn't had meat in a while, glanced around. Since Alice's boat was at the back, out of sight of others, he took it with a smile. "Thank you, but it's better not to cook anything with strong smells. It might attract unwanted attention."Not all fishermen had brought meat; some only had dry rations, and only one or two had rice, salted fish, and pickled vegetables. Openly consuming meat might stir up resentment among others.

Alice was well aware of this, and she assured Finnegan that she understood it was an exception this time.

After Finnegan left, Alice abandoned the idea of baking sweet potatoes.

"We can't bake sweet potatoes now. Let's do something else," Alice said, putting away the air fryer, planning to make some sweet soup instead.

"After they finish pulling the nets, we'll go help, and then we can catch a fish to grill," Hurley suggested, knowing that Alice wasn't really craving those snacks; she was just killing time.

Alice nodded with a smile, "Sure."

After waiting for a full hour with no activity outside, Hurley stepped out, holding binoculars, and scanned the surroundings.

At that moment, he noticed something floating on the sea.As the objects drifted closer, Hurley's expression changed abruptly, and he loudly alerted the others, "Quick, look! Are those dead fish floating?"

Everyone followed Hurley's gaze, but without binoculars, they couldn't see clearly, only vaguely making out a white mass.

"It does seem like dead fish."

Finnegan ordered the boats to approach Hurley's fishing vessel, his expression grave as he asked, "Can I borrow the binoculars to take a look?"

Hurley handed over the binoculars, and Finnegan's expression grew even darker after a moment. He returned the binoculars to Hurley. "Thanks. I'll take some men to investigate."

Hurley thought for a moment and then went back into the cabin to pilot the boat and follow.

Other fishermen also wanted to know what was happening and followed suit, sailing their boats closer.

When they arrived at the spot where the dead fish were concentrated, they realized the water was foul-smelling, filled with bloated, white-bellied dead fish piled densely together, almost obscuring the water below.

"It stinks! How did all these fish die?"

"No wonder there were no fish coming to our nets for so long. They're all dead."

"How did they die? We've never seen anything like this before.""It definitely isn't a natural disaster; we've had tsunamis and earthquakes before, but never seen dead fish like this."

"Does that mean the fish in the sea are inedible now?"

This realization sent everyone into a panic. Base Y relied on the sea for all its supplies. If they couldn't eat the fish from the sea, what would they eat in the future?

This news weighed heavily on everyone's hearts. Hurley scooped up a cup of water, intending to go back and analyze it.

Several boats returned along the same route, and other fishermen who were waiting there asked eagerly, "What's the situation? Are they dead fish?"

"Yes, a large number of them. It seems like most of the fish in the sea have died. We need to investigate the specific cause, but for now, refrain from fishing," Finnegan advised sternly.

This news silenced all the fishermen, who sat solemnly at the bow of their boats.

"Could it be that the R country poisoned the water?" murmured one fisherman.

"I doubt it. To poison such a large area of the sea, they would need a massive amount of poison."

"Perhaps it's due to environmental reasons, not something so terrifying."

"Right, let's not scare ourselves. The water over there is clean; we can just go fish there."

While they discussed, Hurley turned back to the cabin and promptly retrieved equipment from the space to test the composition of the water.

Alice watched him silently, then after a while, she softly asked, "Is it because of radioactive elements exceeding the limit?"

"Exactly," Hurley said, removing his gloves, his eyebrows furrowing. "I suspect the previous earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters caused the R country's nuclear waste to be dumped into the sea."

"The fish in this entire area are now inedible," Hurley said gravely.

"Go and tell them, stop holding onto false hopes," Alice whispered.

It seemed that before long, Base Y would also fall into turmoil. Not just the fishermen, almost half of the base's supplies came from the sea.If the supplies from the sea were gone, and they couldn't grow food, perhaps in another year or two, they wouldn't be able to sustain themselves.

"Maybe that's why the R country is so desperate to take over the base. The waters around them have already been contaminated, and the living conditions are not optimistic. They can only resort to seizing other people's territories," Hurley said coldly.

Alice pressed her lips together.

Hurley found Finnegan and informed him of the results of his tests, concluding, "Notify the fishermen to return. If you don't believe it, you can take some water samples back with you."

Finnegan stood in the wind, looking disheveled.

In the end, they could only return the way they came, empty-handed.

Ignatius received the news and hurried to the dock.

"We'll talk about it later," Hurley glanced at the onlookers around him.They couldn't afford to cause panic.

Seeing his expression, Ignatius knew something serious had happened and invited them to leave with him.

They all gathered in Ignatius's office.

"What happened?" Ignatius took a deep breath, preparing himself for bad news.

"The seawater has been contaminated with radioactive elements," Finnegan added, "Not only that, but there are also many dead fish in the sea."

"How could this happen?" Ignatius's hands trembled.

As a leader, he could already imagine the impact of losing the aquatic resources supply.

If this news got out, and everyone left the base, it would cease to exist.

"You've heard about the nuclear waste from the R country. I suspect it's their doing," Hurley rubbed his temples, "Let's keep this information under wraps for now. There might be a solution."

The fishermen exchanged glances. They didn't believe the small base could do much about it. Nevertheless, they had never considered leaving the base. They could only follow instructions and promised not to spread the news outside.