Chapter 115: The Large Ship

"I want her, I really want her."

The Red Flower youth stretched his body out, lying prone on the spacious desk, a deep longing revealed in his eyes.

At this moment, Liu Mu had already infiltrated the interior of the cruise ship.

In her previous life, during the thirteenth year of the apocalypse, the shelter Base had found a large ship in a certain bay; in order to scavenge for supplies, her squad had been sent in as the advance team.

At the time, that ship had been completely abandoned; rust, rot, and all sorts of unknown organisms had occupied almost everything.

But these things were not the most terrifying danger on the ship; the real danger came from the Zombies that had been trapped in the sealed cabins and had survived for nearly three years by devouring one another.

Before the operation, the higher-ups had not told them that there were such things on the ship; if they could find usable energy and machinery, the team would receive five percent of the final haul as a reward.

An abandoned ship that hadn't been explored by others—that was how much in supplies? Never mind Liu Mu, even the calmest Captain at the time had shown greed; as long as the information was reliable, once they finished that job, they could rest for at least a year without having to go out and risk their lives.

As it turned out, not only were there mutated marine organisms on the ship, but in the lower decks, there were even Zombie Kings that had survived the slaughter, and more than one at that. Out of thirty-five teammates, only three survived to escape.

Liu Mu had not yet awakened her Supernatural Combat Ability at the time, so she was abandoned by her teammates in the face of danger. In the end, it was her rich experience in hiding that saved her life—she smashed open a porthole while hiding, jumped into the sea, and swam for a full four hours, bypassing reefs, before returning to shore.

The operation failed; not only did they not receive a reward, but they were also exiled to the search teams on the outskirts of the Base.

Hiding in the busy kitchen and watching the bustling crowd, Liu Mu felt her scalp tingle; she felt as if she could understand how those Zombie Kings had slaughtered their way to survival back then.

If all these people were to mutate, never mind a Zombie King, even a Zombie Ancestor could be piled up.

She swiped a waiter's uniform to change into, successfully blended into the enemy's ranks, and was assigned a food cart.

"Young man, deliver this to room VIP44. Those are new guests who arrived today, be sure to be careful!"

The head chef gave this instruction; Liu Mu nodded solemnly while cursing in her heart—you're the young man, your whole family is young men!

She calmly left the large kitchen, which was specifically for serving the VIPs, amidst the flow of people coming and going.

Delivering the food was naturally out of the question; she casually found an empty staff dormitory and had a full meal.

It must be said, even in the apocalypse, those who know how to enjoy themselves will still enjoy themselves.

Once full and satisfied, she began to wander like a ghost through the various areas below the deck, returning the explosive items she had scavenged from the Tiankuishe Base last night.

Although there were no timer bombs, once they started to explode, they would always be able to ignite into a magnificent display of fireworks.

It was also thanks to that life-and-death adventure in her previous life that she had enough understanding of the structure of such large ships; she knew exactly where to place the bombs so they would effectively destroy the hull while remaining impossible for people to find with detection equipment—this was the beauty of non-remote-controlled timer bombs.

"As long as the positions are set cleverly enough, I can send you all to the afterlife. Don't you like to blow things up? Blow you bastards to death!"

Liu Mu was the one who felt the explosion last night most clearly; even with her abilities, she had been blown away, so one could imagine the Special Operations Team...

Damn it, she was actually cowardly enough to avoid checking the casualties.

The combat plan was proposed by her, and those people were brought by her... This responsibility was truly heavy as hell!

Having installed the last batch, Liu Mu was already at the bottom of the ship; going up from the metal stairs was the lowest deck. Unlike the luxury of the upper decks, the rooms here were as densely packed as an overcrowded prison.

What made her frown was that there were quite a few people here, too; the people squatting, standing, or walking in the cramped corridor looked over in unison almost the moment she appeared.

The original clamor stopped instantly; amidst eyes filled with unease and hostility, Liu Mu scanned these people once.

Also different from the people on the upper decks, although these people were not exactly gaunt, they all exhibited a weak, pale look from malnutrition and long periods without seeing sunlight, which reminded her of a magazine she had once scavenged when collecting scrap—it contained an exclusive interview about a movie on the slave trade.

The state of those black people being trafficked across the ocean was very similar to these people.

"Is she from the upper decks?"

"Looks like a waiter?"

"Does she have food?"

The murmurs began to sprout; Liu Mu did not want to be distracted from her determination to seek revenge by these people. Just as she turned to leave, her hand was grabbed.

She did not shake it off, because it was a very small hand—cold, thin, and carrying a distinct tremor.

"Big sister, big sister, can you give me some food? My little sister hasn't eaten for a day, I beg you."

Liu Mu turned her head and met a pair of large eyes like black grapes; it was a boy, looking about twelve or thirteen, his upward gaze filled with cautious pleading.

The fragmented murmurs continued; looking at those eyes, Liu Mu suddenly thought of her younger brother back home. Zhang Xiaoyong would also grab her like this, though not for food, but to have her teach him ways to become stronger.

"I don't have any." Liu Mu's lips moved slightly; she used two parts of force to shake off the boy's hand more easily than expected. "The voyage will be over soon."

Because the clothes she wore were too clean—even if they were just uniforms for serving the VIP area, they were still finely crafted, which was already very rare after the disaster.

Her sudden appearance caused more people to gather in the corridor; they dared not step forward, yet they blocked Liu Mu's path. The silent craving condensed the air; at this moment, it even gave Liu Mu the illusion that she was their only salvation.

She could easily guess the origins of these people, but she could not save so many; no, she couldn't save a single one.

"Excuse me!" Liu Mu said coldly and firmly, wanting to leave, when a barely audible apology came from behind: "I'm sorry."

Sorry? Liu Mu gritted her teeth; amidst the battle between hatred and kindness in her mind, she stopped in her tracks.

This ship... has no lifeboats!

Either blow it all up, or subdue those people above and hijack the ship...

This corridor was only a few dozen meters long and was overcrowded. In the areas she hadn't been to, how many more innocent people were there?

Liu Mu was never a person who would waste time on hesitation, but at this moment, she had to turn back again to look at these people who didn't even dare to trouble her, a lone person.

She asked the only question she cared about: "Where are you all from?"

"... Hainan."

"My parents and I are from Yunnan."

"Tainan, and Lugang, quite a few places."

"We are ethnic Chinese from Thailand; everyone on our street is on this ship."

"Guangxi..."

"And the Philippines. The three of us in this room are fishermen."

"Malaysia, everyone from our village is here too..."

The answers came one after another; there were even places Liu Mu had never heard of.

Her gaze shifted downward, and in the gradual silence, she looked at the boy nearest to her: "And you?"

"Phongsaly, that's the Golden Triangle area you mentioned. I'm also Chinese; my parents are gone, and now there's only my grandmother, my little sister, and me."

The boy's dark eyes seemed to see hope, and he nervously blurted out all his information.

"Are you going to make us do labor? I can work, really, as long as you give me something to eat, I'm willing to do anything. Big sister, can you take me up there?"

Liu Mu frowned slightly and, without warning, turned her head to ask another woman holding a child, "Do you know who we are?"

The woman was stunned for a moment, shook her head blankly, then nodded fearfully, "Are, are you the General's army? The disaster burned the water village, and the people with guns just... took us away..."

Her Mandarin was very strained, but she explained it basically clearly.

What exactly does the Sky Viper Snake want to do by capturing these people?

If they only wanted to build a Barrier, there would be no need to scour for Survivors everywhere; geographically speaking, this voyage is not short.

"You come with me, as for the rest... if there is suitable work, I will come back down to find you."

Liu Mu chose the boy who looked harmless, thought for a moment, and added, "I will have him send food down, you all stay quiet. If I am discovered, I will be thrown into the sea."

Hearing that there might be food, the crowd cheered in low voices and finally cleared a path.

Liu Mu left, not seeing the meaningful look the boy cast at her back.