Chapter 37 Part 5

As expected, the informant had said Sheng Chu ordered it, but in the end, the kidnappers had done nothing to him.

“It’ll be fine now. They won’t have another chance to bully you,” Zong Xing Yi said.

Zhong Nian said nothing, turned away without acknowledging them, and headed outside.

The crewman at the door tried to stop him. He pointed outward: “I just need to talk to them for a bit.”

“Little Nian!” Someone called his name from behind, but he did not look back. He stepped out of the lifeboat.

On the deck, the four kidnappers’ gazes followed him.

“What are you doing up here?” Zhan Lu pushed his shoulder. “Go back, quick.”

“I…” Zhong Nian could not explain why, but he simply could not feel at ease. He wanted to stay with them.

Charles said warmly: “It’ll be fine. Go sit inside first. Once we bring the rest over, we’ll come right away.”

The Kidnapper Boss said nothing but glanced at Ke Zhengchu.

Ke Zhengchu immediately picked Zhong Nian up, carried him back to the lifeboat, and set him in his original seat.

Before he could say another word, Ke Zhengchu smiled at him and decisively turned to leave.

Zhong Nian could not help standing up and peering out the window.

Zhan Lu and Charles had left, probably to find more people. After anxiously waiting a while, their figures reappeared, escorting found passengers onto the lifeboat before turning away again.

As the cruise ship tilted to nearly forty-five degrees, Zhong Nian could not sit still. He stood and looked around.

“What’s wrong?” Jie Wen jumped, startled, and stood too.

Zhong Nian bit his lip, pushed past Zong Xing Yi and the other two blocking the aisle out of concern for him, and paced a few steps to the back. After looking around several times, his lips trembled: “Something’s wrong.”

Jie Wen, following close: “What’s wrong?”

“They haven’t come down at all!” Zhong Nian’s eyes reddened as he said.

Jie Wen, puzzled: “Who? Them?”

Sheng Chu on the side understood, his gaze turning outward: “He means those people.”

With the few just boarded, the lifeboat still had over thirty seats left. Zhong Nian had checked front and back—there was not a single kidnapper member here.

The last remaining seats—

Zhong Nian rushed to the exit, but the crewman guarding it blocked him: “The lifeboat is about to launch. Please return to your seat.”

“What about them?!” Zhong Nian pointed upward.

The crewman did not answer: “Please return to your seat. Sir, give him a hand.”

Before Zhong Nian could struggle, the lifeboat began lowering.

In the weightless drop, he could not stand steady and was forcibly pressed back into his seat by several people.

Someone tried to console him, but Zhong Nian could not hear clearly.

They had not even said goodbye.

“Why?” Jie Wen seemed to understand Zhong Nian’s meaning now, staring at the increasingly distant figures above and muttering to himself.

Unexpectedly, Sheng Chu answered: “If they escaped with us, no one would survive.”

Zong Xing Yi and Guan Shan Yue fell silent together.

They knew their families’ nature all too well—the ruthlessness, the decisiveness in killing.

No police on the pursuing giant ship meant their main goal was not rescue, but silencing.

To bury their secrets, they were fully capable of engineering an “accident” to sink everyone with the ship.

Unless the ones who deserved to die sank with the cruise ship to the seabed—dead men tell no tales, eliminating any future threats.

It was only now that Zhong Nian understood the true malice of this game dungeon.

The lifeboat hit the sea and sped away from the cruise ship at full speed.

“Little Nian, don’t cry.”

Jie Wen took the handkerchief Guan Shan Yue handed him and wiped the wetness from Zhong Nian’s cheeks, but he showed no reaction.

He kept his face turned, staring out the window at the cruise ship growing more distant, gradually sinking.

Under the moonlight, the pitch-black sea was like a massive maw ready to swallow everything.

The ship that had been luxurious and opulent like a floating palace at sea was now about to sink into the depths, carrying over thirty lives and hatred heavier than the vessel itself.

Was a victory won at such a cost still a victory?

Zhong Nian did not know the answer.

He thought of the Hope Island they mentioned, and their hopes for the future after speaking of revenge. Dozens of resolute faces burdened by heavy pasts…

Everything would perish with this cruise ship tonight, buried in the sea.

For a long time, the lifeboat was deathly silent.

They all watched through the windows as the massive thing vanished bit by bit from sight, their expressions numb yet shocked.

“Woo—woo—”

A ship horn blared, like anguished weeping from somewhere.

“The police are here!!” Someone spotted the emblem on the new arriving vessel and shouted in surprise.

“We’re saved! Thank God!”

“Finally going home.”

“This damn nightmare is over…”

The survivors in the lifeboat wept with joy, hugging one another—except for Zhong Nian’s corner, where time seemed frozen.

“Little Nian…”

Zong Xing Yi moved to touch him but was held back by Guan Shan Yue, while Sheng Chu shook his head at him.

A strong beam of light swept over, illuminating Zhong Nian’s tear-streaked face, his expression fragile enough to break hearts.

He did not move, like a statue, gazing for a long, long time.

…

【Congratulations, Player. You cleared the Newbie Dungeon “Fatal Cruise” and advanced to formal Player status.】

【Plot Exploration: 100%】

【Rating Obtained: SSS】

【Exiting Dungeon. Transferring to Rest Area—】