Chapter 99 Shock and Anger

Chapter 99: Chapter 98: Shock and Anger

At this moment, the temporary mooring area was already brightly lit. Chairman Wu, Lin Qianqian, Vice President Zhao, and numerous Awakened, along with Xu Ming, Professor Ye, Yu Na, and others who had hurried over upon hearing the news, were all Gathered at the bow of a large catamaran. Over a dozen emergency lights and flashlights illuminated the forward deck, making it as bright as day.

Snow Cake breached the water’s surface, tossing a man covered in mud onto the deck. The Awakened on duty nearby dragged another body—its chest pierced entirely by vines—over to the bow.

"Mr. Han!"

"Boss!"

The crowd called out one after another when they saw Han Ning and the captive dangling from his grip.

Han Ning tossed his captive onto the deck like a sack of potatoes, his gaze immediately falling upon Snow Cake. Snow Cake curled his tongue and spat out a small glass bottle. Inside the bottle, a few drops of dark red, almost black, viscous liquid sloshed gently under the lights, exuding an eerie aura.

Seeing this bottle of blood, and recalling the sneaky actions of those men, a sense of foreboding welled up in Han Ning’s heart. He shot Chairman Wu a look. "Interrogate them."

Without a word, Chairman Wu stepped forward. SLAP! SLAP! He delivered two vicious backhands, striking the faces of the two captives who had just been dragged up.

"Speak! What were you doing? What is this blood?!" When dealing with enemies, Chairman Wu became exceptionally ruthless.

The two guys—one caked in mud, the other bound by vines—had already been terrified out of their wits by Han Ning’s Thunderbolt methods and Snow Cake’s ferocity. Struck by Chairman Wu, their souls practically fled their bodies. Almost the instant Chairman Wu’s voice faded, the two scrambled to scream out:

"I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Please don’t kill me!

"It was Boss Sun—no, wait, Sun Wuyan made us do it!

"He told us to smear this ’Black Snake King’s Blood’ on your ships and throughout the Gathering area.

"As long as we smear it in the designated spots, every Black Snake Monster within a ten-kilometer radius will go mad and swarm wherever the scent of blood originates."

The two of them talked over each other. Without Chairman Wu or the others needing to resort to torture, they had already spilled every piece of information like a waterfall. For most people in this apocalyptic environment, there was no point in acting tough.

"What?!" Their words hit everyone like a thunderbolt. Every single face present turned exceptionally grim.

"Attract a Black Snake Monster Swarm?!" Vice President Zhao cried out in disbelief, his voice pitching high.

"Where is the rest of the King’s Blood?" Chairman Wu demanded furiously, grabbing one of them by the throat.

"It’s too late. Some blood has already spilled into the water. The Black Snake Swarm might already be on its way," the man stammered.

"Motherfucker!" In a fit of rage, Chairman Wu punched the man squarely in the face.

"This place is no longer safe. The time it takes for the snake swarm to notice, Gather, and pursue us might only be a few minutes, if not less." Han Ning’s expression was equally ugly. He had witnessed the density of the Black Snake Monsters firsthand; their strength lay not in individual power, but in their terrifying numbers. Let alone this place, even Biyun Resort, which was very close to the mooring area, would likely be incredibly dangerous. This entire area would probably turn into a nest for the Black Snake Monsters very soon.

He looked at Xu Ming. "Old Xu, hurry and bring Yinyin out! The rest of you, all of you get on our sailing ship. Snow Cake, you go protect them."

He remembered clearly that the guy near the Wind Chaser Sailing Ship had been taken out by Snow Cake before he could smear anything. The Wind Chaser was clean; it hadn’t been tainted by the blood.

"Yes, Boss!" Xu Ming immediately broke through the crowd, swimming toward the resort’s main building like a madman.

"The crops! Our crops and the seeds! Boss, I’ll go back with Xu!" Professor Ye said, his expression frantic.

"Go. Just bring out the important experimental crops and seeds. Leave the ordinary crops for now," Han Ning said, nodding.

As a leader, Chairman Wu reacted swiftly:

"Old Zhao, take some men and interrogate them immediately. Find out exactly which boats have been smeared with blood and which haven’t. Mark them!

"All brothers who know how to steer a boat, go start the untainted ones! Take as many as you can and retreat to the east. Find a safe mooring area far from here to park them!

"Everyone else, grab whatever supplies you can carry and abandon all dead weight! Retreat north immediately, head toward higher ground in the city! Hurry!

"We will Gather at the Yun Valley Business District near the city center."

Chairman Wu understood very well that you couldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. His roars echoed through the rainy night, filled with an extreme sense of urgency.

The entire mooring area exploded into chaos. Panic spread like a plague. Some of the slightly weaker Awakened turned pale; some sprinted toward the boats, while others rushed into the resort to notify their families and move supplies.

"Mr. Han, what do you plan to do next?" Having finished doling out his orders, Chairman Wu looked at Han Ning.

"I’ll go with you," Han Ning said, his face dark. "Don’t you want to completely finish off those scumbags?"

If he hadn’t kept his guard up by having Snow Cake watch over the Wind Chaser every night, that son of a bitch Sun Wuyan really would have succeeded. Thinking about how the ship and various supplies he had worked so hard to acquire could have easily been destroyed by those bastards, Han Ning’s gaze grew increasingly glacial.

Chairman Wu caught on quickly. "I understand!" he replied in a deep voice.

Faced with a life-or-death threat, everyone’s efficiency reached an astonishing level.

In less than two minutes, Xu Ming appeared on the Wind Chaser Sailing Ship, holding Xu Yinyin in his arms.

Professor Ye carried a large sack on each shoulder, containing over a dozen experimental squirting cucumbers, Venus Flytraps, and Vajra Vines. He also brought the seeds from the seed bank.

To Han Ning’s mild surprise, Yu Na had actually followed them over. Wasn’t she Lin Qianqian’s loyal sidekick? However, he didn’t have time to ask about it now. He simply helped Professor Ye and the others load the supplies onto the ship.

"Snow Cake!" Han Ning barked softly.

"AWOOO!" Snow Cake twisted his body nimbly in the water, swimming under the stern of the Wind Chaser. Pressing his hard head and broad back against the hull, he thrashed his tail vigorously in the water.

RUMBLE—

The Support diesel engine started synchronously.

The hull shuddered. Propelled by Snow Cake’s immense strength, the Wind Chaser Sailing Ship shot forward like an arrow released from a bow string. Tearing through the water’s surface, it was the first to break away from the mooring area, sailing northeast—away from the resort and closer toward the city center.

"Old Xu, try to avoid this area! Head straight for the Yun Valley Business District and stay alert. If anything happens, contact me immediately through Snow Cake!" Han Ning’s voice pierced through the curtain of rain, ringing clearly in Xu Ming’s ears.

"Copy that!" Xu Ming signaled back with a hand gesture.

"Mr. Han, we should get going too!" Chairman Wu hadn’t brought a single thing with him, having spent all his time directing the crowd. Over twenty Awakened had Gathered around him, flanked by nearly forty ordinary people on the perimeter. Everyone wore a solemn expression, weapons firmly in hand.

"Let’s go!" Han Ning withdrew his gaze, hesitating no longer. His scalp had already started to prickle. He could vaguely hear the faint sound of a snake swarm slithering around his ears—though he couldn’t tell if it was real or just a hallucination.