Chapter 102

"And this is..." Zhou De'er asked Lin Tu amiably.

"You haven't forgotten the mother and daughter you almost sent to their deaths, have you!" Mamira stepped forward furiously. Malin En yanked open the fire door, grabbed the fire axe from inside, and advanced on Zhou De'er in a rage.

Zhou De'er instinctively retreated a step. "A misunderstanding—that was just an accident on my part."

"Do you take me for a fool?" Mamira slapped him across the face, a resounding crack echoing through the room.

Just as Zhou De'er was about to lose his temper, Malin En closed in with the axe raised. "I let you in, gave you water, brought you along—and you shoved us out to face the infected time and again. You thought I was joking when I said I'd drag you down with me if I died?"

She swung the axe, hacking straight at him. Zhou De'er stumbled backward, barely dodging the blow. He hadn't actually believed she'd dare to strike, and now terror sent him scrambling away in a panic.

"Miss! Miss, please help me!" He crawled desperately to hide behind Lin Tu. "These two madwomen are slandering me—they're twisting the facts!"

In truth, Zhou De'er didn't give a damn about offending Malin En and her daughter. A cleaner and a cleaner's daughter—poorly dressed, shabby, no connections, no supplies. He'd even figured that letting them cover his rear was doing them a favor.

But Lin Tu was pretty, well-dressed, and kitted out in proper protective gear from head to toe. On top of that, she was freakishly strong. One look told Zhou De'er she was someone of means. He felt a pang of envy, but quickly decided to make her his ticket out.

"You're beautiful and kind-hearted—surely you wouldn't want to see me die at the hands of these two lunatics," Zhou De'er said, putting on a pitiful yet resilient expression. "Rest assured, if you help me, I'll do whatever you say from now on. I'll repay you with everything I have!"

Lin Tu silently took a step back, playing deaf and mute.

Zhou De'er couldn't believe it. He gazed at her with renewed earnestness. "Miss..."

"Thank you!" Malin En cut him off. Axe in hand, she stepped forward, steeling herself to bring it down.

Zhou De'er trembled all over, crawling backward while calling out Lin Tu's name again and again.

"Wait," Lin Tu said.

Zhou De'er's face lit up. He knew it—Lin Tu must look down on that mother-daughter pair just like he did, and would naturally favor him, the better-dressed one. Even if he'd acted against his conscience for a moment, he was still a handsome young man. Girls always softened at a sincere apology and a turn toward the straight and narrow, always gave a second chance.

"Don't kill him here—it'll dirty the place." To his shock, Lin Tu walked to the door and cracked it open a sliver. "Send him out there to die."

Through the gap, the crazed shrieks of the infected grew loud and clear. They slammed against the iron door in a frenzy, making it boom and rattle. But the woman at the entrance merely braced one hand against it, smiling as if she were discussing afternoon tea rather than sentencing a man to death. The casual ease made her seem all the more demonic.

Mamira, who'd been worried a moment before, immediately sprang into action, grabbing Zhou De'er by the collar and dragging him toward the door. Malin En swung her axe at his hands as he tried to cling to tables and cabinets. Screaming, Zhou De'er was hauled to the threshold by the two women.

Lin Tu opened the door a crack, kicked him through it, and handed him over to the infected. After the kick, she wiped the sole of her boot on the doorframe, cleaning her shoe cover.

.

Lin Tu shut the door. When the screaming outside finally died down, Malin En and her daughter snapped back to reality—after decades of being law-abiding citizens, they'd just killed a man. Mamira knew she and her mother couldn't have done this alone, and she looked at Lin Tu with a mix of fear and awe.

"Leaving someone like that alive would only harm more people. Killing him is saving lives," Lin Tu said casually by way of comfort. Seeing their expressions ease, she asked, "Did he come into contact with the infected?"

"Why do you ask?" Malin En was puzzled.

"Because I have some experience, and I can see signs that he was about to turn," Lin Tu said with a smile. In truth, she'd checked her phone and seen that Zhou De'er's infection level had reached 52%—a number that meant he'd been in direct or at least indirect contact with an infected patient.

"That explains it," Malin En said, exchanging a look with her daughter. "Miss Lin, we hardly knew him. We were each keeping to ourselves, minding our own business, when he suddenly came running to us for help. Now that I think about it, he must have panicked after coming into contact with the infected and sought us out. Earlier, we ran into the soldiers, and he didn't dare cross their path either."

Mamira added, "Good thing I kept my guard up around him the whole time, or we'd have been infected too." Just thinking about it sent a chill down her spine.

Lin Tu nodded, believing their account. When they'd been at the door, she'd checked their infection levels through the surveillance feed. She'd originally been reluctant to let Zhou De'er in given how high his level was, but when she saw that the mother and daughter were still clean, she'd decided to help them after all.

—After all, the fact that the infected had gathered here was partly her doing. Lin Tu quietly slipped the chicken blood she'd placed there back into her pack.

Through experimentation, Lin Tu had found that the infected reacted most strongly to uncontaminated blood. It was probably some primal craving for flesh and blood. When faced with both her and a pool of chicken blood, they were easy to deceive—they'd surge toward the stronger scent, even if the blood itself was barely worth licking. Of course, if Lin Tu herself were bleeding, that was another matter. Fresh human blood took top priority for them.

Perfume caused them some interference, but not much—only useful as a secondary measure.

"What do you two plan to do next?" Lin Tu asked.

The infected hadn't yet run rampant, but it was only a matter of time. The electrical room was sturdy, but there was no food, not even water—it wasn't a good place to hole up long-term.

"We've still got two bottles of water and an emergency compressed biscuit," Malin En said, pulling out everything they had on them.

Zhou De'er's betrayal had taught her not to trust just anyone. But Lin Tu had saved her three times now. She'd learned her lesson about being wary of others—yet Lin Tu wasn't included in that.

"Ma! We have a biscuit?" Mamira was stunned. How come she didn't know?

Malin En patted her to signal that she'd explain later, then continued, "We were planning to stay in this electrical room for two days. On the third day, when the official notice comes, we'll head up to the open deck."

Lin Tu blinked. "?" What third day? What open deck? She had no idea what they were talking about.

After asking, she learned the official plan. For some reason, the news hadn't been broadcast widely. It was only told to those who went to collect relief rations: after registering, self-isolate for two days; if their temperature was still normal on the third day, the soldiers would escort them to the open deck level, where ample supplies were available.

Someone like Lin Tu, who'd never collected relief rations, naturally wouldn't know about it.

"That sounds decent," Lin Tu remarked, recalling the people living in shipping containers on the deck from her dream. For some reason, that image had felt off to her. But the feeling slipped away before she could grasp it. She had to turn her attention to her own situation instead.

Staying on the fourth level clearly wasn't a good idea. She had the lowest infection level on the ship—she'd be the only fresh meat around, and the horde of infected would swarm her in an instant.

Lin Tu figured that following everyone up to the open deck might actually work in her favor.

Lost in the crowd, she wouldn't be singled out. And her cabin could be carried with her, placed inside any enclosed space that was "theoretically habitable"—a tent, say, or a shipping container.

Once she got to the open deck, she'd find a container, set up her cabin inside, and hole up for three months. Wasn't that perfect?

The only real concern was getting infected during the move.

But Lin Tu was fully equipped. Today, for instance, she was wearing the full-face transparent nuclear/biological/chemical radiation mask she'd scavenged from the last disaster, along with a translucent pale-blue plastic protective suit, gloves, boot covers, and rubber bands wrapped around the seals. It wasn't professional-grade, but as long as she stayed careful, she probably wouldn't get infected.

"I'm planning to head to the open deck too," Lin Tu said gratefully. "Thank you for telling me this."

"Not at all!" Malin En waved her hands quickly. "I'm just glad I could help."

"Can I ask you a couple more questions?" After receiving their assent, Lin Tu continued, "Have you ever seen anyone who was completely infected—worse than the ones outside that door?"

Mamira looked at her mother. Malin En, who had lived through the Great Plague era, hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. "I've only heard about them. They say they're like a swamp."

Like a swamp? What kind of description was that? Lin Tu mulled it over, then asked, "Do you know where the ship's fuel storage is?"

"I know that!" Malin En said quickly. "It's below deck six."

.

Lin Tu left some food and medicine for the mother and daughter as thanks for answering her questions, then used the chicken blood as a diversion to slip away from the electrical room.

Back in her cabin, she spent over half an hour thoroughly disinfecting herself. After washing up clean and sitting back on the bed, her infection level read 0%. Still, to be safe, she swallowed two vitamin tablets to ward off any possible infection under 0.01%.

Lin Tu closed her eyes, deciding to rest well tonight and head to the fuel storage tomorrow.

Once she went up to the open deck, it would be hard to come back down here, so stockpiling fuel needed to be put on the agenda. She still had an S-grade box of eighty packets of super survival rations, which could be used to fuel her boat-house after it changed form, but that was her trump card—she wouldn't touch it unless absolutely necessary.

Siphoning a bit of the ship's fuel shouldn't be a problem, Lin Tu thought as she drifted into a deep sleep.

What she didn't know was that, at this very moment, the captain was reporting to a high-ranking official, with special emphasis on the fuel. "Our current fuel supply is just enough to get us to the Watchman. Barely enough, in fact. If anyone takes extra..."

"We can still make it to the next water refueling station," the official said with a smile. "Isn't that your specialty, old friend? We're counting on you to see us safely through the remainder of our voyage."

Hearing this, the captain relaxed. "I'll arrange the crew first thing tomorrow! Though it's best to wait until night. If we're spotted during the day, it might raise suspicion."

"I'll leave it to you," the official said, standing and offering a cigarette. "Here's to smooth sailing ahead."

"Rest assured. With me at the helm, we'll have calm seas and fair winds all the way!"