That dream that hadn't appeared for a while finally trapped Xia Chuan again. Compared to before, the scene this time was more real and detailed. Xia Chuan could even see the faint white mist on the dark water surface. When he bent over to get closer, he could feel an increasingly strong chill assaulting his face, mixed with a faint salty and fishy smell.

This feeling of the smell hitting him from below felt extremely familiar, as if something forgotten was about to emerge.

However, he then came face to face with the pale faces floating up from the water, and everything that was about to emerge retreated in shock.

Although the features of those faces were still a bit blurry, a rough outline could be made out. On one hand, Xia Chuan felt an uncontrollable aversion and unease in this dream. On the other hand, his usual calmness had not completely disappeared because of this.

So while he instinctively wanted to take a deep breath, then raise his head to get away from these faces, not wanting to look at them for a moment longer, he also forcibly suppressed his spine under rational control, maintaining his bent over posture, carefully observing the faces that floated up one after another from the water and then disappeared...

After watching for a while, he discovered that these constantly surfacing faces were actually on a loop, with only three people appearing repeatedly.

Three people, three faces, both male and female, kept repeating this scene of floating up from under the water.

After standing by the water for a while, he felt a bit of dizziness as if his head was heavy and feet light. He couldn't help but support his knees with his hands.

On one hand, he wanted to clearly see the appearance of those three people as soon as possible to rid himself of a mental burden. On the other hand, he clearly sensed that he seemed to have some subconscious rejection of this.

His heart beat faster and faster in the somewhat oppressive environment, so fast that Xia Chuan nearly needed to take deep breaths to relieve that suffocating lack of oxygen.

Shen Lan probably wasn't wrong about him, he likely...really did have some fear of the ocean--

Xia Chuan clearly knew he was still in the dream. Looking at those three blurry faces, he couldn't help but sigh softly.

This thought was like a spell. The moment it emerged in Xia Chuan's mind, that endlessly repeating dream suddenly became chaotic and distant...quickly disappearing without a trace.

As he gradually withdrew from the dream, Xia Chuan's physical senses and consciousness also slowly recovered. He first felt a slight rocking and bumping, but these movements all seemed to be in slow motion, rocking and bumping very gently.

Then, he felt his left hand being tightly bound by something, numb and cold, with little sensation left. He frowned, wanting to break free from what was binding him, but after exerting effort for a while, he found he couldn't even lift a finger.

Xia Chuan's hazy consciousness gradually regained clarity as he struggled with his fingers. He finally tried to open his eyes.

A large expanse of dazzling white cold light seeped in through his squinting eyes, immediately filling them with a layer of physiological tears. Furrowing his brows, he closed his eyes again to avoid that penetrating light. Turning his head to rest for a bit, he was finally able to barely adapt and slowly fully opened his eyes.

Suspended above his head was not the dazzling sunlight shining on the reefs and sea, nor ancient creatures that could be mistaken for seabirds, but a very ordinary lamp, the electric kind. Besides the somewhat ornate shape, there was nothing special about it.

But it was good that it wasn't special!

After experiencing the Jurassic and Stone Age worlds, Xia Chuan felt he didn't want to see any "outrageous" scenes for a while. The more ordinary the better, the more common the better! But he never expected to see the most common and ordinary things of the modern era as soon as he opened his eyes...

The cold white lamplight dazzled his vision into several color blocks, converging into a glaring white spot that eventually filled his entire field of view.

Only when he could see nothing but light did he suddenly react. Then, with a somewhat surprised expression, he turned to glance at his left hand that still had no sensation. As his vision regained clarity, he saw his left wrist being gripped tightly by a hand. That hand was very thin but had a lot of strength. Even bent, one could see the fingers were very long. The joints were somewhat pale from exerting too much force.

If Xia Chuan's left hand had any feeling left, he would probably sense that hand's temperature was slightly lower than his own body temperature, feeling a bit cool to the touch.

His gaze moved from that white-knuckled hand upwards and saw Shen Lan lying beside him, face turned towards him.

Shen Lan's lips were a bit chapped. Together with his tightly closed eyes and furrowed brows, under the cold white lamplight, he looked extremely fatigued.

His breathing was very light at this moment, the rise and fall of his body very even. Xia Chuan watched for a while before feeling relieved. He shifted his gaze elsewhere--

Modern light fixtures, modern cabinets against the wall, a bag of transparent saline solution hanging from a modern IV stand with the thin tube trailing down, the needle tip hidden in the back of his right hand, secured by two strips of white tape. There was also a young woman in a white nurse's uniform sitting in a chair by his bed, arms crossed, head nodding as she dozed off.

The entire setup showed no major differences from the current era, at least completely unrelated to the word "primitive".

To say Xia Chuan could remain calm without any ripples in his heart at a time like this was impossible.

"Finally...back to reality?" He thought this in his mind, somewhat doubting if he had truly woken up from the coma.

His gaze fixed on the square little bag the young nurse held in her hand as he spaced out in a daze: Just like this...he was back?

His right hand fingers twitched slightly as he zoned out, causing the needle in the back of his hand to sway, hitting the metal stand pole with two soft "ding--" sounds.

The young nurse dozing off by the bedside was startled by the sound. She nodded abruptly and sat up straight, opening her eyes. She had light blue eyes and fair skin that looked particularly pale under the light. There were a few tiny freckles scattered around the tip of her nose, which, coupled with her naturally smiling lips, made her very likable.

She was dazed for less than a second before her eyes met Xia Chuan's open ones.

Xia Chuan's eyes were originally brown, but under the cold light, the color faded a lot, looking a bit cool.

The young nurse's face flushed red in an instant. She hurriedly stood up, fidgeting with her fingers, and said, "You, you, you're awake?! Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

Xia Chuan shook his head.

"Thirsty? Do you want some water?" The nurse said as she picked up a cup of water that had been left on his bedside table and handed it to Xia Chuan. There was even a straw thoughtfully inserted in the cup. The water had been left to cool to just the right temperature, not too hot or cold. It immediately made Xia Chuan's throat feel much more comfortable.

He took a couple of sips of water, then spoke, "I have a companion, about the same height as me, with blond hair—"

"Oh oh! He's here! Don't worry, he's not injured either, he just hasn't woken up from the coma yet." The young nurse reacted as soon as she heard it. She raised her hand and pointed to the wall, "He's lying next door right now. The medical rooms on the ship are all small and single. Lisa is watching over him next door, nothing will happen."

Xia Chuan subconsciously glanced at the still unconscious Shen Lan behind him, "All...single rooms?"

"Uh..." The little nurse, who had been talking with a flushed face, only now remembered that there was still someone lying on the bed. She hurriedly lowered her voice and said, "That gentleman is also your companion, right? Drowning people always subconsciously grab things with great strength. After we rescued you, we tried to get him to let go, but we never succeeded. And that gentleman has been unconscious, so we had to make do and have you put up with it for now."

"He's been unconscious the whole time?" Xia Chuan frowned, a little worried. After all, Shen Lan's physique had always been much better than his. It was rare for there to be a situation where he had recovered but Shen Lan had not.

But he looked cold and not very approachable, so much so that as soon as the little nurse saw him frown, she misunderstood, thinking he was unhappy. She hurriedly said, "Or, or should I call someone to help move you now?"

Xia Chuan: "It's okay, that's not what I meant. You go ahead with your work. I didn't sleep very well just now and want to sleep a little longer. If there's anything uncomfortable, I'll find you."

"Okay, okay." The little nurse nodded repeatedly, then looked up at the hanging saline and said, "Just in time, the fluid is finished too." She lowered her head to remove the needle for Xia Chuan, pressed the needle hole with cotton, and casually sealed it with a piece of tape.

"By the way—" Xia Chuan licked his lips and said, "I was so busy talking about other things just now that I forgot to ask. You said earlier that we are on a ship? You rescued us from the sea?"

"Yes." The little nurse nodded, then smiled at him and said, "No matter what you experienced before, you are safe now. Welcome to the Dominic cruise ship. Don't think about those bad things before going to sleep. Sweet dreams."

After saying that, she turned off the cold white main light, leaving two warm yellow wall lamps with the brightness turned low. Then she picked up the empty saline bag and walked towards the door with light footsteps. When she grabbed the door handle, she seemed to remember something and turned her head to add, "Just call me Bonnie."

"Okay, thank you." Xia Chuan watched her walk out and gently close the door. The faint voices outside were instantly blocked outside the door, not even a bit could be heard.

Xia Chuan raised his eyebrows, feeling that the environment of the medical room on the ship was not bad. At least the sound insulation was very good, so he would not be disturbed when resting.

He turned over with one hand, facing Shen Lan, and couldn't help but raise his right hand with the cotton ball and tape to touch Shen Lan's forehead. After all, Shen Lan's body temperature was lower than normal people. If he had a fever, his temperature would be about the same as normal people. The little nurse didn't know the specifics, so it was difficult for her to notice.

He had just been given a bag of saline, so his right hand was very cold, not at a normal temperature. He left it on Shen Lan's forehead for a long time but couldn't feel anything definite.

Just as he was about to withdraw his hand helplessly, Shen Lan's left hand, which was originally resting by his side, suddenly lifted up, pressed on his forehead, and grabbed Xia Chuan's right hand, pulling it to his chest. It is said that the heart area can warm hands more easily than other places. Who knows where Shen Lan learned this from, or if it was an animal instinct.

Xia Chuan stared at his face in a daze for a long time, until he saw Shen Lan close his eyes and raise the corners of his mouth. Only then did he say in a low voice, "Weren't you unconscious the whole time?"

Hearing this, Shen Lan opened his tightly closed eyes, his beautiful eyes brimming with a hint of laughter, shamelessly explaining, "If I woke up, they would have made me let go. I won't do that!"

"..." Xia Chuan twitched the corner of his mouth, "When did you wake up?"

Shen Lan blinked, "When we were fished onto the ship, a day ago."

Xia Chuan: "Pretending to be unconscious until now?!"

Shen Lan answered righteously, "Yeah!"

Xia Chuan: "..."

He simply didn't know what to say. After a long time, he finally managed to say, "If you pretended to be unconscious for a day, didn't you eat anything? Aren't you hungry?"

Shen Lan's eyelids drooped instantly, and he drawled half-dead, "Hungry—I feel like I could swallow this whole ship now."

Xia Chuan: "..."

"But more than hungry, I'm thirsty..." Shen Lan continued.

"There's water and a straw here, I'll hold it for you." Xia Chuan said, about to turn over to reach for the cup, but was pressed down by Shen Lan. He held down Xia Chuan's hand and reached for the cup of water himself, gulping down half a cup.

His originally chapped lips were moistened by the warm water and instantly felt much better. He licked them, then pressed against Xia Chuan's nose tip and kissed him, murmuring against Xia Chuan's lip as he kissed, "When I heard you drinking water just now, I wanted to do this..."

Xia Chuan was pinned down by him, unable to move, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly. Just half a minute ago, he was still wondering: could Shen Lan be running a fever? The name "Dominic" sounded vaguely familiar for some reason. When would they be able to reach the shore?

Yet, half a minute later, he threw caution to the wind and let go, tilting his head back and responding to Shen Lan's advances in detail, their bodies intertwined.