FGCT CH20

Even the most composed and dignified person can hardly remain calm when facing life and death. The urgency of time felt like a massive mountain pressing down on everyone’s head. If anyone was too slow, they would be crushed to pieces when it inevitably collapsed.

No one wanted to be the sacrifice.

So every single person scrambled to make every second count—some even resorted to taking advantage of the chaos, looting while others were distracted.

“Hey! How can you steal food from a child?!”

“Damn! Who bumped into me?!”

“What’s going on? My backpack’s gone! Who took my backpack?!”

In a matter of moments, the gymnasium descended into complete chaos. Even though the authorities were trying to calm the crowd through loudspeakers, reassuring them that there was plenty of time left and that the Nanhai North Port was only a 30-minute walk away, they couldn’t quell the rising panic.

Amidst the mayhem, Gou Fugui stood out as someone who seemed to handle the situation a little better. From the beginning, he had never believed that this place would be a long-term solution, so he had made early preparations.

When the announcement rang out, he swiftly grabbed his newly acquired large waterproof backpack, and dragged along his high-end suitcase. He quickly walked out of his tent.

There were still some food supplies and miscellaneous items left inside his tent, but there was no space left to carry more. He didn’t force anything into the bag—food could be found again, and even the large suitcase he was dragging could easily be abandoned if necessary.

Nothing was more important than staying alive.^[1]

As Gou Fugui quickly made his way out of the gym, he wasn’t alone. Jin Mantang, who was in the first row, 122 tent area, was right behind him. His gear was nearly identical to Gou Fugui’s—a backpack and a suitcase, though Jin Mantang’s suitcase was considerably smaller than Gou’s.

When Jin Mantang emerged from the chaos, his first instinct wasn’t to rush toward the exit. Instead, he turned to look at Gou Fugui’s tent. As soon as their eyes met, Jin flashed a friendly smile:

“Fugui, brother, the more, the merrier. How about we head out together?”

Gou Fugui wasn’t particularly particular about whether he survived alone or with someone else. After all, the worst hadn’t yet happened, and he didn’t have to face drifting alone across the sea just yet. He also had a feeling that the “world core” wasn’t in the ocean, and being with people might make it easier to discover that core.

So he smiled back, “Sure, brother Mantang.”

And just like that, Fugui and Mantang joined forces.

They both packed their things swiftly, but there were still four people who moved faster than them. Just as they squeezed out of the gym’s main doors, a long, powerful arm reached from the left side of the entrance and grabbed Gou Fugui’s backpack.

In a flash, Gou Fugui instinctively touched his waist and turned to the left, only to meet a sharply defined, almost wild handsome face.

“What do you think you’re doing? Let go.”

Fugui wasn’t pleased with the sudden grab, and in his mind, he thought to himself, Luckily I’m in my sea otter form now. If I were in my honey badger form, we’d be fighting right now.

But before he could react further, Xie Tianlang spoke up without hesitation, his tone matter-of-fact:

“We’ve got an electric speedboat. Want a ride?”

The electric speedboat had been a seven-day effort by Song Sanchuan, Qin Feng, and Lu Hu. Though the process had been tough and the motor was broken when they found it, with Song Sanchuan’s skills as a repairman, they managed to get it working just in time, avoiding the wrath of the werewolf captain.

When Gou Fugui heard Xie Tianlang’s offer, there was no hesitation at all:
“I’m in! I’ll throw in four boxes of chocolates for you.”

Although he was carrying a inflatable kayak, time was tight. With an electric boat at hand, why do the work himself?

He also pulled Jin Mantang along, who didn’t hesitate either:
“I’ll pay for four bags of powdered milk! The ring on my hand, you guys can pick from it!”

Not wanting to sound insufficient, he added:
“My family has land everywhere. We have a planting base in the Qingchuan Plateau!”

Xie Tianlang’s expression flickered at the mention of land. His voice was cool, “Follow us. Your land saved you.”^[2]

Jin Mantang sighed in relief. He couldn’t help but be thankful for his ancestors’ persistence in farming.

Their conversation at the door was short. After finishing, they immediately swam towards the back of the gym.

At this point, almost everyone was rushing to the North Port, carrying their belongings in a frantic hurry. No one really paid attention to their different direction.

However, a family of four did spot them and, noticing they were heading in a different direction, decided to sneakily follow them, trying to blend in.

At first, Gou Fugui didn’t notice them. But Xie Tianlang and his team were much quicker to react. Song Sanchuan shot his captain a puzzled glance, silently asking whether they should deal with the family, who seemed to be taking advantage of the situation.

Xie Tianlang, with a glance filled with icy mockery, gave no indication of care.

Song Sanchuan sighed internally, thinking to himself, This family better not do anything stupid. Our werewolf team is not the type to show mercy.

Soon, they found the speedboat that had been tied up at the right corner of the gymnasium. The boat wasn’t very large, but it had seven seats, enough for the six of them. The remaining seat could hold some extra luggage, making it a pretty good choice.

Just as Xie Tianlang and the others boarded the boat, the family that had been secretly following them finally stopped hiding. The matriarch of the family immediately started shouting:

“Hey, hey! Young men up ahead! Wait a minute, wait a minute! Squeeze over and let our whole family get on too!”

“Yes, yes, we’re all in this together, right? In times of need, we should help each other. You guys are strong young men, while my wife and I are both over sixty. You should have some respect for the elderly and care for the young, right?”

“Exactly! Our grandson is only fifteen years old, still a kid! Why don’t you have someone get off and swap with us?”

This family consisted of five people: an elderly couple, a middle-aged couple, and a sturdy fifteen-year-old boy.

As they spoke, they quickly swam toward the boat. The old man, who looked quite robust, even took out his fishing rod and extended it horizontally over the water beside him, intending to block the boat from leaving.

Gou Fugui, hearing the old man and woman’s voices, found them annoyingly familiar. As he grabbed Xie Tianlang’s hand and got into the passenger seat, he turned around and saw that the old man and woman were indeed the same two who had previously tried to mooch off him for fish.

Now, they were trying to mooch a seat. They were truly relentless in their quest to take advantage.

Unfortunately, at this moment, no one paid them any attention.

Not to mention that the distance from here to the northern port wasn’t far, and this family, each of them wearing a life jacket, had found floating bath tubs that could easily get them across the water. They could definitely make it on their own.

With their entitled shouting and their parasitic attitude, even if Gou Fugui considered himself a morally upright young man, he really couldn’t be bothered to deal with them.

The six big men on the submarine all looked stern-faced, which deeply hurt the elderly couple’s feelings. The old man’s face immediately turned red, and he angrily started slapping the water:

“What’s wrong with you guys? Didn’t you hear us talking?! Is your hearing bad at such a young age? Didn’t your parents teach you to respect the elderly, love the young, and listen to your elders?!”

“Quickly give up three seats! We didn’t ask you to give up all of them, right? But you should at least take care of the elderly and the kids, right?!”^[3]

Gou Fugui rolled his eyes.

Jin Mantang seriously wondered how there could be someone so clueless about their current situation. The most baffling part was that the guy had lived so long.

But the other four men were much calmer about this pointless rambling. Xie Tianlang spoke up with a simple, “Sit tight.” Then, he slammed the gas, turned the wheel sharply, and the speedboat shot forward, kicking up a massive spray of water.

By sheer coincidence, that spray of water hit the family of five right in the face, causing them to scream and curse uselessly.

This was just one side of human nature, after all.

On their way to the northern port, Gou Fugui and his companions saw even more examples of “human nature”—

There was a family of five. Grandparents, parent were in a bathtub, letting their young child and luggage float along in the water as they swam forward. Then, there were two elderly people dragging a wooden barrel, while their tall, muscular grandson sat comfortably in the barrel.

There were some who noticed others’ luggage falling and kindly reminded them or even helped retrieve it, but there were also those who saw someone else’s belongings drop and immediately rushed forward to snatch it for themselves.

Fortunately, perhaps because there was still hope, although there were some disgraceful moments of theft, nothing escalated into violence.

Some people tried to climb onto the speedboat, but the boat was too fast, and they couldn’t catch up.

However, the last seat on the boat was eventually taken. It was occupied by a pale woman holding a young child.

As Gou Fugui and the others’ boat passed by, the woman was already in a semi-unconscious state, leaning against the child’s bath tub, while the child sitting in it was crying inconsolably.

Those passing by assumed the woman was already dead, and that the child, too, would surely not survive. Anyone who got involved would just be asking for trouble.

But Gou Fugui glanced back as they passed them. His enhanced senses—thanks to his otter-like bloodline—allowed him to hear the woman’s soft sobs and words.

“Baby, don’t cry… Mommy will rest for a moment… I will get you to the boat once I rest…”

“Mommy will get you onto the boat even if I were to die along the way.”

Gou Fugui suddenly reached out and grabbed Xie Tianlang’s arm. He was thinking that perhaps he could convince this person to save the others, but if not, he would go into the water himself to rescue the mother.

Before he could speak, he simply locked eyes with Xie Tianlang’s sharp gaze. The man smiled at him, then turned away and walked over to the young mother who was motionless and faint.

“Lu Hu, bring her up. A mother is strong for her child, she’s still alive.”

Lu Hu loudly responded and immediately jumped into the water, pulling the unconscious mother onto the speedboat. Even in her semi-conscious state, the young mother still clutched tightly to the washbasin, forcing Lu Hu to exert great effort.

It wasn’t until Lu Hu placed the crying child from the washbasin and the few belongings into her arms that the mother, still struggling in a state of unease, slowly began to calm down.

As the child with large eyes fell into her mother’s embrace, her cries gradually subsided.

The speedboat then turned once more, heading toward the northern harbor.

Only then did Beauty Fugui withdraw his hand from Xie Tianlang’s right arm.

He looked again into those wild, untamed eyes, and suddenly, a beautiful smile curved his eyes into crescent-shaped slits, shining brightly.

And thus, the star Sirius also lit up.