Chapter 162 - 154: The System Takes Shape, Fighting Zombies Together

Chapter 162: Chapter 154: The System Takes Shape, Fighting Zombies Together

When it came to dealing with the crew, Yu Dong and Wang Dingbei were of one mind.

There were simply too many of them!

During the rescue mission at the start of the apocalypse, Yu Dong had focused on saving crew members with technical skills—those who knew how to operate and maintain the ship.

That was why he had set fire to two unimportant luxury recreational facilities on the top deck.

The fire forced the tourists off the ship, making room to bring the technicians aboard.

This freed up most of the cruise ship, allowing him to coerce the captain. He then did his best to save these sailors and engineers, ensuring they could keep the vessel operational in the post-apocalyptic world.

Outside A Port, the largest groups were stranded tourists and crew members, all of whom lived nearby.

After this maneuver, the number of surviving crew members reached thirty-three, making them a sizable group. It was only natural for them to stick together.

Add to that the third mate, Cai Hong, who had "I’m a big problem" written all over his face, and it would have been a miracle if this group had behaved obediently.

So yesterday, after letting the people from the port onto the ship and seeing Cai Hong’s proactive troublemaking, Yu Dong and Wang Dingbei had exchanged a look. They knew they were thinking the same thing.

The two met on the top deck that night. Officer Wang reported that Cai Hong was making the rounds, and they knew he was definitely rallying people to his side.

From there, they immediately agreed to play along with his scheme, using it as an opportunity to eliminate the unstable element: Cai Hong.

At the same time, they would deal with those who jumped in with him.

Furthermore, it was a chance to knock the crew down a peg, make them recognize their place, and get rid of any unrealistic ideas.

"Alright, we don’t have much time. Next, someone has a few words for everyone. Ye Ye, is the screen projection ready?"

"Ready!"

A WeChat video call appeared on the screen in the main conference room.

On the other end was Qiao Yunliang, dressed in a military uniform. Behind him was a house from which fully-armed soldiers were rescuing people.

"Hello, everyone. I am Qiao Yunliang of the Yanhai City military. I’m very glad to see you’ve survived the disaster. Comrade Yu Dong has done an excellent job."

The crowd erupted in an uproar.

"Isn’t that the head of the Yanhai City military? I’ve seen him on TV once."

"Damn, they can contact the military? Does that mean we’re safe now? Let’s hurry up and kill the zombies. I want to go home."

"Commander Qiao, if you’re hungry, you can come to us! We have plenty of food to support our soldiers! I’m a cook, I’ll make meals for you!"

"Let’s hear what Commander Qiao has to say first. The buildings behind him... they look like they’re in the Zongshan area. That’s pretty far from us."

Seeing a commander from the local military on the morning of the second day of the apocalypse was incredibly uplifting for everyone present.

With leadership and an army, there was hope!

The people of Dragon Country have an innate trust in their nation’s military.

Qiao Yunliang nodded slightly. "Thank you all for the kind sentiment. We are not lacking supplies at the moment. Our priority is to consolidate our forces and clear out the zombies. I contacted Yu Dong this time mainly to relay a few key messages to you."

"First, Comrade Yu Dong is a consultant for our unit. His understanding of the cause of the apocalypse and the S-Virus is deeper than ours. In terms of foresight, I trust Comrade Yu Dong’s judgment, and I ask that you trust him as well."

"Second, Comrade Lin Mo is a second lieutenant in our army and a psychologist. She will be assisting Comrade Yu Dong in his work. Officer Wang Dingbei is also an outstanding comrade from the Yanhai City police force who has solved many major cases. He and the other officers and firefighters are all excellent fighters who can protect you."

"Finally, with the authority of the Yanhai City military, I hereby authorize the establishment of a cruise ship settlement with a leadership structure composed of Comrades Yu Dong, Wang Dingbei, and Lin Mo. The three of them will be responsible for the cruise ship. I believe they will be excellent leaders and protectors."

"From now on, I will be in daily satellite communication with these three comrades. If you have anything you need to relay to me, please tell them."

"I wish you all the best. Our army will also do its utmost to restore peace to Yanhai City as soon as possible!"

Qiao Yunliang had just finished speaking when the connection cut out, before Yu Dong and the others could say a word.

’The internet in Yanhai City always goes out on the second day of the apocalypse...’

The water and power, however, were still on.

But fortunately, Qiao Yunliang had used the military’s authority to endorse them. In the early days of a chaotic disaster like this, the military’s credibility was still extremely effective.

’If you don’t listen to the military, you have to worry about being called to account when they eventually retake the area...’

That was a very important point.

The only thing that Yu Dong found slightly regrettable was that Wang Dingbei had also managed to contact Qiao Yunliang yesterday, so they had to share the leadership position, preventing him from establishing himself as the sole supreme leader.

’Fortunately, Qiao Yunliang also did me a favor by adding Lin Mo to the leadership team. That makes three people total, with two on my side. We have the majority.’

’We can basically form a voting majority against Officer Wang.’

This outcome had actually already been decided last night.

It was just a matter of waiting for Cai Hong to have a fit, then using that as an opportunity to settle everything.

The three of them were in the center of the conference hall. Wang Dingbei casually sat in the very middle, Yu Dong sat to Wang Dingbei’s right, and finally, Lin Mo took a look... and silently sat to Yu Dong’s right.

Suddenly, Yu Dong was no longer at Wang Dingbei’s side but at the very center of the group.

Wang Dingbei: "?"

’Alright then. A power play this blatant, huh?’

But it wasn’t that important right now. From their interactions before and after the apocalypse, Wang Dingbei felt that he and Yu Dong got along quite well. Besides, Yu Dong didn’t seem like the type to make rash, ill-advised decisions on a whim.

There was no need to get petty with them.

Down below, among the tied-up crew members, Cai Hong’s mouth had been sealed with duct tape because he was too foul-mouthed. The others, though bound, weren’t removed and were left standing to the side to listen.

Cai Hong was kicking himself after hearing all that!

’This Yu Dong actually has military ties? No wonder he could get his hands on so many crossbows!’

’And it’s obvious Yu Dong and Wang Dingbei have teamed up. Their little group formed a while ago, and I somehow didn’t even notice...’

The other five sailors who had taken up arms with him now wanted to kill Cai Hong.

’Damn it! He led us straight to our deaths!’

’He really deserves to die!’

The other crew members were glad they had hesitated and not jumped out to fight. However, they were all very apprehensive now, afraid that at a time like this, they would be given some extremely harsh punishment.

Never mind anything else, just being thrown out... that was a death sentence.

Some of them had escaped from hordes of zombies; they had personally experienced that sheer terror. It was horrifying!

The remaining forty-nine ordinary people felt much better now.

Cai Hong’s ugly power grab had been truly disgusting, showing the mentality of a bandit king. In comparison, Yu Dong who had saved them, Lin Mo from the military, and Officer Wang Dingbei... these three were clearly more suitable leaders.

Although some among them harbored their own little ideas, with the military’s endorsement, the successful alliance of the three most powerful individuals, and the instant suppression of the thirty-two crew members, no one dared to act out of line.

This move, while seemingly aimed at the crew, had actually served as a lesson for everyone else as well.

This wasn’t killing a chicken to scare the monkeys; it was fulfilling a proper management responsibility.

"Hello everyone, my name is Yu Dong. I’d like to say a few brief words."

Yu Dong picked up the microphone and was the first to speak.

"You all just saw and heard Commander Qiao from the military. Although the signal is gone now, we have a satellite phone and a radio, so we can contact the military at any time. There’s no need to be afraid. The military remembers us and will gradually liberate Yanhai City, eventually reaching us here."

"Those previous rules were ridiculous. We will draft a new, simpler set of rules as soon as possible, do our best to provide everyone with better supplies, and work together to build our settlement."

"Based on our research on the zombies, this virus is very unusual and will continue to mutate. We must eliminate the infected as quickly as possible to prevent the zombies from becoming harder to deal with after the virus mutates. Therefore, I will be recruiting a combat team to go out and deal with the zombies. Anyone interested can volunteer."

"Finally, regarding Cai Hong’s deliberate attempt to frame our team and his incitement of the crew to act aggressively toward us... I’ll let Officer Wang speak on that."

Wang Dingbei looked at Yu Dong and casually took the microphone.

"You could have just finished it yourself, but you had to leave the last bit for me... Cai Hong will be placed in long-term detention and transferred to a military prison when the opportunity arises."

"The five sailors, you’re tough guys, right? You’re all joining the combat team. We’ll be watching your performance. If you don’t pull your weight... you’ll end up just like Cai Hong."

"Finally, the rest of the crew... considering you didn’t take up arms and were incited, we’ll give you a chance to reform. Your punishment is to provide ship services for everyone for three months. Only after three months will you be put into a work rotation with others."

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Cai Hong also relaxed. ’At least I wasn’t killed. That means I still have a chance...’

Captain Chen Guangzong couldn’t help but ask, "And... what about me?"

Yu Dong said with a chuckle, "Captain Chen was threatened by Cai Hong, making him a victim, too. He was very brave to ultimately expose Cai Hong’s true colors and tell the truth. From now on, we just need Captain Chen to cooperate fully with our work."

"Yes! I’ll definitely cooperate! I guarantee it! Thank you, Comrade Yu Dong! Thank you, Officer Wang! Thank you, Comrade Lin Mo!"

Chen Guangzong, who had been threatened severely only to be let down gently, felt like he had just experienced both ice and fire.

But then he saw Zhao Youcai’s wicked smile and knew it was a warning meant for him.

This time, he truly submitted.

’I’ll never mess around like that again...’

Afterward, the trio chatted a bit more with everyone. The people were quite satisfied with the current triumvirate.

Lin Mo’s ascent to a leadership position, in particular, along with her kindness and intelligence, gave many of the female survivors a unique sense of security.

With that, the meeting ended.

The cruise ship’s system of governance was preliminarily established on the morning of the second day of the apocalypse.

Yu Dong and Wang Dingbei also formally began their long-awaited cooperation, starting to organize a combat team to prepare for the zombies.

As they were walking out of the conference hall, Yu Dong sidled up to Wang Dingbei and said:

"Officer Wang, that pistol of yours... do you really have a spare magazine for it?"

Wang Dingbei laughed heartily. "Of course not. I was just bluffing."