If Hans had simply proposed a partnership, even the cockroaches on the ground wouldn’t believe him.
If you say he has no agenda, even the shrimp on the shore would protest.
But Hans just laid out the feud between the two families so bluntly, and even said that the grudge would be settled after the storm passed.
This kind of honesty, this kind of straightforwardness, actually caught the other side off guard.
Charles Yin stared at Ian for a long time, so long that Ian felt chills down his spine and almost wanted to run away. Finally, Charles spoke.
“Since the captain is so sincere, how could I refuse so easily?” Charles replied with a smile. “But as for the specifics of the transfer, I’d prefer Captain Hans to come and discuss it himself.”
Ian understood what Charles meant and immediately got up to take his leave.
Captain Hans arrived quickly, obviously anxious about the situation.
The water level kept rising, making everyone uneasy.
The rain wouldn’t stop, and the water level was climbing fast. In just a few hours, the island could be completely submerged.
So it’s understandable that Captain Hans was anxious.
This time, Hans didn’t waste any words. He got straight to the point with Charles Yin: “I have twenty speedboats at my disposal, but half are needed for supplies, so only ten can carry people. Now, everyone from the low-lying islands nearby needs to move to the largest island. Luckily, the eye of the storm has already passed. If we hurry and work through the night, we might just make it.”
Charles understood what Hans meant.
With so many people moving to the big island, there probably wouldn’t be enough room.
So, before sunrise, a group of people needed to go ahead and get things ready.
But how many people would go to that island, and how many from each side—that all had to be divided up.
This kind of thing really needed both leaders to meet and make the decision together.
Everyone moved quickly this time. In less than half an hour, they came up with a workable plan.
All the key people would concentrate on the largest island. The rest, anyone with survival skills, would transfer to a more remote, higher-altitude island with harsher conditions.
This island had mountains and trees, but boats couldn’t get close, so anyone going there would have to swim.
So they couldn’t bring any advanced equipment—only people like mercenaries could survive out there.
Once the transfer was decided, both sides got ready quickly.
Since both groups were moving together this time, Cecilia Gu finally had a chance to get close to Grandpa Mo!
That’s also why Charles Yin was so quick to agree to Captain Hans’s proposal.
The deadlock that had lasted so long might finally be broken.
Cecilia Gu, Ethan Yin, Miles Gu, Rona Muir, and Jiro Hirayama—five non-combatants—plus five experts from Captain Hans’s side posing as consultants, would be escorted to the largest island by twenty bodyguards from each side.
Charles Yin, Earl Field, Captain Hans, and Ian—the most important members from both sides—would ride together on one boat, along with the remaining experts posing as consultants, mixed in with a batch of precision instruments for transfer.
Everyone else would be transferred in a 50-50 split between both sides.
This way, no one could cause trouble on board or sink the boat halfway.
Even though they were on guard against each other, it was still the most effective solution for now.
Cecilia Gu stood at the shore in her raincoat, anxiously watching Hans’s people approach.
She finally saw the five hostages arrive, but Grandpa Mo wasn’t among them. Cecilia felt so disappointed!
But then she realized, if Grandpa Mo wasn’t on this boat, he must be on Charles Yin’s boat.
Hopefully, Charles will succeed this time!
Rona Muir saw the disappointment in Cecilia’s eyes and patted her on the shoulder, offering some comfort.
Cecilia shook her head at Rona, letting her know she was fine.
“Is everything packed? We’re boarding now!” someone shouted up front. “For safety, everyone put on your life jackets and secure your backpacks. Each backpack has food, water, salt, and a first aid kit. If anything happens on the speedboat, you’ll be able to respond. Got it? If you understand, get on board!”
Everyone replied in unison, “Got it!”
Cecilia took Ethan’s hand, while Rona took Miles’s hand.
The two women and two children boarded first.
After they boarded, a few elderly people slowly followed and got on the boat too.
Even this little bit of activity nearly made the experts’ legs give out.
Hans officially claimed these old folks were pirate consultants. Everyone knew it was just a cover, but nobody bothered to expose it.
Now wasn’t the time for that.
But right now, Hans couldn’t care less.
If they didn’t move soon, they really wouldn’t make it out.
The sea was swallowing the island way too fast!
If they didn’t leave now, the boat wouldn’t be able to go at all.
After the experts boarded, Jiro Hirayama slung his bag over his shoulder and got on the boat with the other bodyguards.
Not far away, another group was lining up to board as well.
It took nearly fifteen minutes by boat to get from this island to the largest one.
It didn’t look far from here, but it was actually quite a distance.
But that island was huge—about the size of ten soccer fields. Even if most of it was mountainous, it was big enough for everyone.
They hadn’t put everyone on the island at first because it was so big—it was easy to hide and too easy for assassins to strike.
Now, there was no time to worry about that. Survival came first!
Nearby islands started evacuating too, everyone heading for the largest island.
As Cecilia Gu boarded the boat, she suddenly had a bad feeling—something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
(Irrelevant system message skipped.)
But now everyone was already on board, and the supplies were transferred. Staying behind would mean certain death.
The speedboat quickly headed toward the largest island.
The uneasy feeling in Cecilia Gu’s heart kept growing stronger.
Just as Cecilia’s boat was about to dock, someone suddenly screamed, “Turn around, turn around! There’s a school of sharks!”
A school of sharks?!
Cecilia whipped her head around and rushed to the side. She looked down and gasped!
A group of sharks Cecilia couldn’t even name was aggressively swimming alongside the boat.
Everyone’s hearts were in their throats!
When the speedboat reached the shore, everyone would have to wade through the water to land!
If those sharks kept following, they’d be lunch before they even made it to land!
Cecilia quickly turned to look at Jiro Hirayama.
She finally understood why Charles Yin had Jiro Hirayama accompany her and the children!
In this situation, the only one with real self-defense skills was Jiro Hirayama!
Even if someone was fierce, a single bullet could only kill one shark.
And killing a shark would only enrage the rest—no one on the boat would survive!
Seeing their cold, sharp teeth, Cecilia felt her boat was as fragile as a cardboard box.
Jiro Hirayama nodded and said, “I can make them all sink to the bottom.”
As soon as Jiro finished, a few experts couldn’t help themselves and asked, “What weapon can you use to kill them all? That’s impossible! Unless it’s a massive explosion, there’s no way to kill so many at once. And if there’s a big explosion, we’ll all get blown to bits!”
These experts really couldn’t stop talking shop.
Jiro Hirayama glanced sideways at the experts, frowning slightly. “Why do you think it has to be explosives? It’s actually very easy to wipe them out.”
The experts weren’t convinced!
“Go ahead and try! I’d like to see what amazing weapon you have that can kill so many sharks! Don’t forget, even the best gun can only shoot one shark at a time. This is a whole school, not just one.” The experts started to jeer, “If you can kill them all and keep us safe, I’ll admit you’re the greatest weapons expert in the world.”
Cecilia couldn’t help but cover her face.
Why bother hiding anything, Captain Hans? The experts revealed their specialties in just three sentences.
But Jiro Hirayama didn’t disappoint them.
When boarding, Jiro had already asked Charles Yin what his limits were.
Charles Yin’s answer: No limits.
No limits? Then let’s do this!
Jiro Hirayama was never one for restraint! He was a scientist—a biochemical scientist!
He’d use his own body for experiments, so why not a bunch of sharks?
Ha! Don’t be ridiculous!
Jiro immediately opened his case, picked out a small vial, drew the liquid into a syringe, and loaded it up.
“What... what are you doing?” The experts stared at Jiro Hirayama in horror.
“Just showing you,” Jiro replied calmly.
After saying that, Jiro grabbed a small harpoon gun, attached the syringe, and fired it straight into the school of sharks without even aiming.
Thud—a muffled sound.
The syringe, propelled by the harpoon gun, quickly embedded itself in a shark’s body.
A second later, the shark started thrashing in pain, then suddenly began attacking its companions.
Its movements were wild and bloody. Soon, several nearby sharks were wounded by its attacks.
The clear seawater was quickly stained with bright red.
Wherever the blood spread, all the fish seemed to go mad, attacking their own kind.
Not just sharks—even the pretty little fish started turning vicious.