Chapter 154 - 146: Third Mate in Danger

Chapter 154: Chapter 146: Third Mate in Danger

Yu Dong learned that the female attendant leading the way was named Qi Wenwen. She was a cabin attendant on the ship, twenty-eight years old, single, and enthusiastic. She told them a lot about the cruise ship on the way.

"This cruise ship has sixteen decks in total. Decks 1 and 2 are for the oil tanks, boilers, generators, engines... all the heavy machinery. Usually, only people from the deck and engine departments go there. The rest of us rarely do."

"Decks 3 through 5 are the core entertainment and dining areas. They have restaurants, a theater, a gym and spa, a pool, a cinema, a casino, and other facilities. This is the main recreational area for the guests."

"Decks 6 through 13 are all guest cabins. They can accommodate over 5,000 tourists and more than 1,000 of us staff members."

"Decks 14 through 16 have various luxury suites, fine-dining restaurants, and some high-end recreational facilities. At the very top is the captain’s bridge and his quarters."

"So that’s the basic layout of the cruise ship. You can ask me if there’s anything else you want to know."

Yu Dong already knew all of this.

But for Wang Dingbei, this was all new information. He took note of everything and said:

"This information is very important... Qi Wenwen, if you’re not busy, stay by my side for the next few days. I have many more things I need to ask you."

"Okay. I’ll feel safer staying near you guys anyway."

Qi Wenwen thought it was a pretty good arrangement.

Yu Dong glanced at Wang Dingbei, sensing a faint threat.

’Officer Wang wants to gradually take control of the situation.’

And in that, Yu Dong was no different.

By now, Yu Dong’s and Officer Wang’s people had rescued everyone on Deck 13 who had obediently stayed in their rooms and hadn’t turned into zombies.

Huang Zhiqiang and Zhao Youcai got the news and rushed over to check things out.

"Dongzi! How’s it going? How many survived?"

Zhao Youcai and Huang, who were in charge of this side of things, were more concerned with the results. After all, this was something they had been planning since before the apocalypse.

The entire process, from planning to execution, was basically handled by Huang Zhiqiang and Zhao Youcai. Yu Dong and Xufeng had only offered a few suggestions.

Now, it was time to see the fruits of their labor.

"Come on, everyone, stand over here. Let’s get a headcount and find out what your situation is..."

Zhao Youcai directly herded the newly rescued people together.

Seeing Zhao Youcai acting like a manager made some of the people uncomfortable. But after everything they had just been through, and seeing that the other side had crossbows, knives, and guns, no one dared to cause trouble at a time like this.

Wang Dingbei signaled to his subordinate, Jing Yanwei.

"Alright, let’s take a count together."

Jing Yanwei gave Zhao Youcai a friendly smile and joined in on the work.

From among the survivors, a middle-aged man stepped forward and extended a hand to Jing Yanwei.

"Hello, Officer. I’m the ship’s Third Officer, Cai Hong. I can help introduce our people..."

Jing Yanwei smiled and shook his hand. "That would be wonderful. Please, go ahead, Mr. Cai."

Zhao Youcai raised an eyebrow.

"Cai Hong, is it? What’s the deal, not shaking my hand?"

"And you are?"

Cai Hong looked at Zhao Youcai in confusion, the meaning on his face all too clear: ’You’re not a police officer, so why would I shake your hand?’

Seeing this, Zhao Youcai sneered. "Interesting... Even your captain wouldn’t dare speak to me like that. Who do you think told you to hide and saved your lives?"

Cai Hong recalled the captain’s strange words right before the zombie virus outbreak and more or less understood.

"It’s not really about who saved whom. The key is that we were lucky enough not to turn into zombies. Otherwise, it would’ve all been for nothing, wouldn’t you agree? By the way, where is our captain?"

Zhao Youcai shouted, "Huang, go ’invite’ the captain down. The way this guy talks is rubbing me the wrong way. At least the captain knows his place."

Yu Dong, meanwhile, watched Cai Hong’s reaction and made a mental note of him.

Huang took the elevator up to the captain’s office on Deck 16 to untie Chen Guangzong.

"Captain Chen, we’ve cleared out the zombies downstairs. Come with me. It’s a good time to introduce the surviving crew members. Your Vice Captain, Cai Hong... doesn’t seem to be cooperating with us."

Chen Guangzong looked on in pleasant surprise as Huang Zhiqiang actually untied his ropes without harming him.

"Cai, you said? It’s fine, he’s just like that. He even butts heads with me, but you can count on him to get things done. I’ll go down. I guarantee I’ll cooperate!"

After standing up, he glanced outside hesitantly. "Um... what about Brother Zhao? Why didn’t he come?"

To be honest, he was truly intimidated by Zhao Youcai.

Killing someone right in front of him, and ready to kill him too at the slightest disagreement... a true desperado.

Even though Chen Guangzong was older, he didn’t dare pull rank in front of someone like that.

"Oh, he’s busy listening to that Cai of yours being sarcastic to his face."

Chen Guangzong: "???"

’Not good!’

’The Third Officer... is in danger!’

"Let’s go, quickly!"

Chen Guangzong followed Huang Zhiqiang and quickly took the elevator down to Deck 13.

Over here, Jing Yanwei and Cai Hong had already finished counting the survivors.

There had been nearly 200 crew members on the ship, most of them in the deck and engine departments. In total, 16 had survived.

Six of them were from the deck department, and ten were from the engine department.

The engine department had been particularly unlucky. The first, second, and third engineers had all turned into zombies, and the chief electrical engineer was gone too. The ten survivors were all just ordinary motormen.

From the deck department, Third Officer Cai Hong and five able seamen had survived.

"Officer Jing, these are all the crew we have on the ship now."

"Mm, alright. Thank you for your cooperation, Vice Captain Cai. I’ve recorded it all." Jing Yanwei gave a small, approachable smile.

As expected of an officer who could remain composed while dealing with endless trivialities at the precinct every day, she was certainly a cut above the rest.

Zhao Youcai asked, "Just these few seamen... can they pilot this cruise ship? Who knows how?"

Cai Hong frowned at Zhao Youcai. "That’s our business. There’s no need to report to you."

"There is a need! A great need! Brother Zhao, I’m here!" Chen Guangzong came jogging over.

He had just gotten out of the elevator, and Cai Hong’s words almost gave him a heart attack!

’Have you ever killed anyone? And you’re provoking him?’

’Besides, this Zhao Youcai isn’t alone. From the sound of it, he’s part of a huge group!’

’A huge group that’s capable of setting a port on fire, hijacking a cruise ship, and confronting the police... You really don’t get it, do you, Cai!’

"Captain? You’re still alive?"

"You, shut your mouth! From now on, be more polite when you speak to Brother Zhao! Answer whatever he asks you, and cut the nonsense!"

"Huh?"

Cai Hong’s eyes widened. He never expected the captain to speak to him like this in front of outsiders... ’I’m the third-in-command, for crying out loud. And some nobody who looks like a college student wants to order me around?’

’What does the captain mean by this?’

Chen Guangzong didn’t give Cai Hong a chance to speak. He glanced at the five remaining able seamen and the ten motormen from the engine department and pretty much understood the situation.

"Hmm... with all three senior engineers gone, it’ll be a bit tricky. They were the core team that assisted me in piloting the ship. With just me and Cai, we can use the ship’s automated systems for simple navigation, but we can’t handle complex situations. We wouldn’t be able to coordinate."

"What about the ship’s power and energy? Can it support a hundred or so people living normally?"

"That’s definitely not a problem. They can handle it."

After all, the cruise ship had just been overhauled after docking, so it wasn’t likely to have any major problems in the short term. And just supporting 100 people... for a captain used to carrying over 5,000 tourists around, it was truly a small affair.

The ten motormen were more than enough to manage.

Zhao Youcai was satisfied seeing Chen Guangzong being so cooperative.

"Captain Chen really knows his place. Worthy of being a captain, you can see the situation clearly... Come, let me introduce you. This is my big brother, Yu Dong. From now on, on this ship, he calls the shots."

Zhao Youcai pulled Chen Guangzong in front of Yu Dong, expecting him to pay his respects.

Hearing this, the color drained from Cai Hong’s face!

The other able seamen and motormen all looked at Yu Dong and his group with expressions of disbelief. ’This is our ship.’

Wang Dingbei looked at Zhao Youcai, not expecting him to be so aggressive.

’To say something like that right in front of the police... And now I’m also very curious about the ultimate goal of Yu Dong’s group. Do they want to crown themselves kings in these chaotic times?’

’If that’s the case... I think I’ll have to teach these fanciful young men a lesson.’

The martial arts teacher, Yu Chengfei, watched Yu Dong with great interest. His instincts told him this young man was no ordinary person, but a force to be reckoned with.

Sun Shan’s eyes darted around before finally settling on the crew’s faction. ’They still have more people, and the ship is their home turf...’

Things had been fine when everyone was cooperating to fight the zombies, helping each other and fighting together.

But the moment Zhao Youcai appeared, he immediately tried to push Yu Dong to the highest position, forcing everyone to start weighing their options.

At this moment, all eyes fell on Chen Guangzong, waiting to see what kind of attitude the captain would show.