Could you please provide the text you would like translated?

The sisters sat enthusiastically on the carpeted floor, playing airplane chess, with candies and pastries scattered nearby, while the deep sound of water echoed outside the window. The warmth and happiness of the moment were reminiscent of Christmas Eve long ago, only now absent were the gentle eyes of their parents.

“One, two, three, four!” Ye Hua cheered, “I win!”

Her plane landed precisely four steps from the finish, not one step more or less.

“You’re so good at rolling dice,” Ye Yin complained.

Ye Hua burst out laughing. “Not as good as you at controlling the dice, sister.”

“Uh, when did you notice?”

“The first time you used your ability,” Ye Hua replied, curiosity shining in her eyes. “Can fire powers do something like that?”

“It’s not fire energy,” said Ye Yin. “But now that you mention it, you’re unusually sensitive to even the slightest anomaly. Your perception seems much stronger than usual.”

“Ever since I stepped onto the boat, I’ve felt a gentle, incredible flow of water coursing through me—fresh and soft, almost as if someone’s cleansing my soul,” Ye Hua said joyfully. “Do you think it’s because of the Azure River?”

Ye Yin pondered seriously. “It’s very likely. Everything possesses spiritual energy, and rivers and mountains have existed far longer than people, often forming spiritual sites or magnetic fields. The teachers at the association once said that elemental ability users, when they reach the source of their element, feel as if they’ve entered their home turf, which benefits both combat and work. The so-called ‘right time, right place, right people’—this must be the ‘right place’...”

Ye Hua leaned at the window, gazing at the Azure River, and suddenly had an idea. “Sister, after the zombies are dealt with, let’s go to Savi Island, okay?”

“Why?”

“I heard there are many volcanoes there, and the island is surrounded by seawater. It feels like it’s custom-made for us!”

No... The relationship between volcanoes and fire ability users isn’t quite what you think...

Ye Yin wanted to retort, but couldn’t bear to dampen Ye Hua’s sparkling eyes, so she simply nodded in agreement.

Because they slept early, the sisters woke up early the next morning. When they arrived at the dining hall, only the chef was present.

Besides the mercenaries, some of the original crew accompanied the group, handling the ship’s navigation and passengers’ daily needs. The chef's name was Guo Si. He had been with the ship for years and, after the apocalypse began, thought he’d never set foot aboard again—yet fate had brought him back.

Last night’s banquet lasted until dawn, so few were expected for breakfast, but Guo Si still prepared delicious food and carefully arranged it in the self-service area, awaiting the mercenaries.

“Good morning, uncle,” Ye Hua said, carrying her plate to Guo Si. “Two fried eggs, both done medium, please.”

Guo Si was momentarily stunned, then quickly placed eggs in the pan. “Morning, good morning.”

Ye Yin sipped her coffee while studying the map of the Seventh Base. Ye Hua ran back and forth, gathering their favorite foods and placing them on the table. “Sister, eat first, or it’ll get cold.”

Ye Yin put away the map and picked up her fork. Suddenly, the dining hall door behind them was kicked open so violently the glass shattered, its clatter sharp and jarring.

Ye Hua jumped in fright; Ye Yin paused but calmly continued eating her noodles without turning around.

“Is this food for humans? Stop trying to fool us,” the leader’s companion—a girl around sixteen or seventeen—complained. Her punk makeup exaggerated her youthful features, and she wore a leopard-print jacket with camouflage pants and studded boots, her hands adorned with shining steel spikes, resembling a rebellious troop leader.

Guo Si recognized their identity from the tattoos on their hands, dared not reply, and stood trembling.

Mercenaries were notorious for lawlessness, and these dozen were infamous even among their own. Despite their youth, they were depraved—murder, arson, all manner of atrocities—and so, despite their talents, neither the association nor the army would accept them.

After the mercenary system was established, they quickly found their kind, forming the Yaksha Squad, ranked seventh on the leaderboard. Powerful and ruthless, they thrived on missions, growing more arrogant and vicious; many had fallen victim to them, and even Commander Song regarded them warily.

“It’s basically dog food!” a blond crew-cut boy laughed. “Only dogs could stomach it!”

The others roared with laughter, their malicious gazes drifting towards the Ye sisters.

The army and mercenaries had separate channels and systems, rarely interfering. Most mercenaries knew little about the army or its leaders; Ye Yin was famous but kept a low profile, known mostly within her own circle, with no sensational scandals to spread to the CD or outer districts. In this age of no computers or phones, she was merely a flat symbol to the public.

Ye Yu’s other mercenary squads couldn’t join this mission for various reasons, so Commander Song’s people took charge of overall command, treating the Anli Squad somewhat coldly and making their position awkward. Before departure, Ye Yu sent word that a minor incident had arisen, but not to worry—Li Lei and the others would catch up and rendezvous with her.

Ye Yin couldn’t tell if these people were provoking as usual or acting under orders, so she quietly kept eating. Ye Hua, nervous at first, saw her sister so unaffected that she forced herself to tear at her bread and feigned deafness.

The Yaksha Squad continued provoking and humiliating the sisters, but lost interest when they got no reaction and turned their attention to Guo Si.

“I want steak, and you have one hundred seconds to make it, or I’ll cripple your hand,” Yaksha's vice-captain Yan Yaorou said, lazily counting, “One, two, one hundred.” Before she finished, she kicked the table and Guo Si away.

The grill and condiments crashed to the floor. Guo Si’s face was scalded by splattering oil, but he clutched it silently, curling up in pain.

“Haha! He’s so stupid—doesn’t he know our boss can’t count?”

“This is too easy on him, weren’t we supposed to cripple his hand? Do it!”

“Zun Dali, your turn,” the leader commanded. “Break his hand first, then his leg.”

Just as the blond crew-cut boy eagerly moved to break Guo Si’s hand, a trembling voice sounded behind them: “Stop…”

Everyone turned to see the younger of the sisters, the little girl, standing up, shivering as she faced them.

“You’re going too far—uncle chef didn’t do anything wrong…”

For a few seconds, the dining hall went quiet, then erupted in thunderous laughter.

“Thought they were boring, but the real show’s here!”

“Wow, we’re so scared! Are you going to uphold justice?”

“Little sister, you’re so kind,” Zun Dali said, grinning lasciviously as he walked toward Ye Hua. “Thought you and your sister were mute, but you sound lovely. Come, let’s hear it again…”

But before he could take a few steps, a powerful jet of water slammed him into the ceiling, then dropped him heavily to the floor. He seemed to have broken several bones, screaming like a slaughtered pig.

Ye Hua was startled too—this was her first time attacking someone with her ability, unsure of her own strength, but now there was no turning back. She nearly cried as she shouted, “No, you’re not allowed to bully anyone!”

“You little wretch!” Yan Yaorou raged, flinging hundreds of steel needles at her. Infused with metallic power, these needles could pierce steel plates and were her proud trump card, never used so hastily before.

As everyone smugly anticipated Ye Hua’s defeat, her ice wall rose, blocking all the needles—some embedded in the ice, others fell limply to the floor.

“Water-ice transformation! Unbelievable—someone can actually do it!” Yan Yaorou was both shocked and furious, her face flushed and pale.

Ye Yin calmly observed Ye Hua’s actions, her left hand secretly forming a spell.

The Yaksha Squad leader signaled, and instantly their members attacked Ye Hua from all sides. Ye Hua was so startled her mouth hung open and her legs wouldn’t move. Just as she feared she was about to die, the scene changed—she was suddenly at the dining hall entrance, while her attackers were engulfed in flames, the spectacle as dramatic as a mass cremation.

The Yaksha leader reacted fast, rolling away from the fireballs, his face dark and grim as he gasped in the corner. As Ye Yin walked toward Ye Hua, he stealthily pulled out something to attack her, but a flying fire blade scorched his hand, and the custom gold pistol fell with a clatter, instantly reduced to ashes.

“Help! Help!”

“Please, have mercy! We were wrong!”

Lying on the ground, spared from the flames, Zun Dali stared blankly, thinking only: This is Yaksha… the true Yaksha!

“Have you had enough?!” A commanding voice came from the dining hall entrance. Ye Yin turned to see Commander Ruan Hao, who stood proudly with three or four dozen equally haughty people behind him—a grand procession indeed.

Behind Ruan Hao, a long-haired woman with glasses reached out to extinguish the flames on the group, then took out a notebook and recorded, “Anli Squad instigated conflict; task points deducted by twenty.”

“I don’t care what your background is, or who supports you,” Ruan Hao said coldly. “Here, you follow our alliance’s rules. If this happens again, you’ll be sent back to base—don’t hinder everyone else.”

Ye Yin smiled faintly.