Chapter 816: The Faces of the Port

Under Zhang Yi’s signal, Zhu Yunque hurriedly took the child from his mother’s arms.

A smile appeared on the woman’s face.

She looked at her child with lingering reluctance, one last time, then waved her hand to say goodbye.

They would never meet again in this lifetime.

“My child, you must grow up well and live well!”

She had no other wishes and slowly left this place, like a walking corpse, waiting for her life to end.

Meanwhile, Zhou Andi began to panic as he was being forced off the ship.

“Wait, wait! Hold on, I didn’t mean it like that! I was just saying I could help take care of the child!”

“Mr. Zhang, there’s no need for this! I was joking! I was really just talking!”

Earlier, when the crowd was teasing him, he thought it was no big deal, thinking the law wouldn’t punish the mob, so he shouted loudly.

But when disaster fell on him, he was the fastest to admit his mistake.

Unfortunately, he no longer had a chance.

Zhang Yi didn’t even glance at him and only smiled warmly, saying, “What a kind-hearted good man!”

He looked toward the crowd and spoke so everyone present could hear.

“I know some of you just now thought I was too cruel, showing no mercy at all.”

“Sorry about that. Our ship’s resources are limited, and it takes more than three thousand kilometers from here back to the Huaxu Kingdom. We simply can’t bring too many people.”

He stepped aside and pointed to himself.

“But don’t say I’m inflexible. Now, if there’s anyone with great virtue willing to give up their chance to board the ship for those poor children, I would wholeheartedly support it!”

“Come on, anyone with that intention, come to me now, immediately!”

The Huaxu Kingdom people lined up silently one by one.

Those on the ship had learned from past experience and no longer dared to join in the teasing.

They had just seen Zhou Andi thrown off the ship.

Then, he knelt on the ground, begging Zhang Yi for forgiveness like a dog, admitting he was wrong.

But Zhang Yi didn’t even look at him again.

“Annoying idiot!”

One crew member thought Zhou Andi was too noisy and hit him unconscious with the butt of a gun.

The parents holding children saw this and begged the Huaxu Kingdom people in the line again.

“Li, we’ve been friends for many years. Please help me. Let Selina live!”

“Get lost! If she lives, I’m dead! We just worked together; we’re not friends!”

“Zou, I can give you all my money if you just give me your spot.”

“Go to hell! Hahaha, I hate your arrogant face the most. Seeing you die would please me more than anyone!”

…

The port revealed all kinds of human nature.

In the end, everyone was full of righteous words.

But when it came to paying their own ticket as the price, they were stingier than anyone.

Not to mention these foreign friends, even if their own fathers came, they might not be willing to trade places.

Zhang Yi said to Zhu Yunque, who was taking care of the child beside him, “See, these people are like this. The outside world is no different. You just have to get used to it. There’s really no need to be too kind to them.”

Zhu Yunque was speechless but held the baby tightly, her eyes full of tenderness.

Zhang Yi just shrugged.

Zhu Yunque was too naive, but soon she would pay the price for her youth.

He didn’t want to simply judge her as a good or bad woman.

Maybe because of maternal instinct, she had her kind side.

But such a fine quality was indeed terrible in the apocalypse.

Zhang Yi thought to himself: You should thank you have a good uncle; otherwise, you’d be the first one I threw into the sea to feed the fish.

Although Zhang Yi didn’t like Zhu Yunque’s way of doing things, for Zhu Zheng’s sake, he had to slightly consider Zhu Yunque’s feelings.

As Zhou Ke’er said,

“When hitting a dog, you must look at its master. Even if Zhang Yi doesn’t care about one more friend for Zhu Yunque, at least don’t make her one more enemy.”

“Never provoke a woman, especially one with a background. She holds grudges deeply and can remember to hate you for a lifetime!”

Zhou Ke’er smiled and analyzed this from a woman’s perspective for Zhang Yi.

Zhang Yi thought he should teach Zhu Yunque a lesson to cure her ridiculously naive kindness.

He looked at the child in Zhu Yunque’s arms and slightly curled the corner of his mouth.

He believed it wouldn’t be long before Zhu Yunque suffered because of her actions.

That would definitely be very interesting.

After more than an hour of screening, it was finally discovered that there were more than two hundred Huaxu Kingdom people on Rockflow Island!

Of course, among them were expatriates, but now to Zhang Yi, that made no difference.

What he needed was just a batch of laborers to bring to Tianhai City, a simple screening was enough.

After careful inspection confirmed no one carried weapons or communication devices, they were allowed to board the ship.

More than two hundred wasn’t many, but the living space in the cabin felt crowded.

Zhang Yi didn’t care.

“As long as they have a place to live, that’s enough. I don’t believe they dare to pick and choose.”

Once everyone was on board, Zhang Yi had Old Tian give them a thorough lecture on the ship’s rules.

All the rules could be summarized as one: unconditionally obey Captain Zhang and the crew’s orders!

Anyone who dared to openly oppose would be thrown into the sea to feed the sharks by the crew.

The ship’s living area was divided into three levels, following Western standards.

The top level was the living area for Zhang Yi and the crew.

Zhang Yi and Zhou Ke’er had the best quarters; the captain’s bedroom had ample heating and hot water, an independent room over fifty square meters—very luxurious.

Next was Zhu Yunque and the crew; they lived on the same floor as Zhang Yi.

Zhu Yunque and Old Tian each had single rooms; the crew had standard double rooms.

The rooms weren’t very spacious but were warm and comfortable.

The third level, located in the middle of the cabin, was where the Rockflow Group lived.

The environment here was crowded; seven or eight people squeezed into a narrow room, with no gender separation, so they had to arrange rooms themselves.

If the distribution was uneven, men and women mixed lived together. In such cases, don’t expect much privacy.

The lowest level of the cabin was the fourth level.

This was where the other Huaxu Kingdom citizens and expatriates brought back lived, at the very bottom of the Golden Edge.

Originally a storage room, it was cleared out to temporarily serve as their residence.

It was more spacious; twenty to thirty people could live in one big room, with no gender division, but it provided a simple restroom.

Bathing was basically impossible, but basic heating was guaranteed. It wasn’t very warm but cold enough not to kill anyone.

Thanks to advanced technology, they didn’t need to provide labor for the ship’s navigation.

Therefore, they were required not to leave their designated area to the upper spaces.

People crowded onto the Golden Edge and then went to their respective living quarters.

Once their luggage was put down and they had their own beds, they finally felt the heavy weight on their hearts lift completely.

“Finally leaving this damned hellhole!”

“On the other side of the sea, life must be much better!”

Those naive enough not to know the outside world now held hopeful expectations.

Author's Note