Chapter 289 - 288: People Began to Slaughter Each Other

Chapter 289: Chapter 288: People Began to Slaughter Each Other

"Let me see!" I said through gritted teeth.

’But I was helpless against him.’

Just as I was checking the wound, he lifted me with one arm and carried me to the bed.

’The VIP rooms really are nice. A suite, very spacious, with a direct view of the sea...’

’This setting, this scenery... If it weren’t for The Resistance hijacking the ship outside, I would’ve actually thought I was on vacation.’

"Where are they trying to take the ship?" I asked, a little curious.

"They’ll probably head for a warzone. Air travel is restricted there, and maritime rescue is difficult," Asher whispered, holding me in his arms. "Cece... their food supplies are limited. With so many people... I’m afraid they won’t last long."

"Don’t worry, the food and drinks we hid beforehand will be enough for us," I whispered back.

"Cece... you have to understand the horror of human nature. This is like the apocalypse... This cruise ship is a simulated countdown to the end of the world. When the apocalypse comes, the evil in humanity will be on full display. The strong will prey on the weak... they might even resort to cannibalism."

I had heard many stories like this. We were on the ocean, the deep sea, with no fresh water and no rescue. The evil in human nature was bound to be revealed in its most extreme form in the end.

Everyone was still calm for now because there was still food.

It was rationed, but at least it existed.

But slowly... that might not be the case for long.

"We hoard food, so others will hoard weapons. Those who only have food but no ability to fight back will eventually become the larders and the meals for the strong." It was a grim reality.

Asher held me and whispered, "Cece, you have to stick close to me, okay? Like how Erin Whittaker clings to Julian Fletcher."

I rolled my eyes and glared at him. "If you don’t know how to make a comparison, don’t even try. Way to ruin the mood. Why bring them up?"

Asher chuckled, pulling me into his embrace. "My bad, Cece, my bad..."

"What did you do wrong?"

Asher shook his head. "I don’t know what I did wrong... but I know I was wrong."

"Sebastian Lancaster..." I sighed, feeling overwhelmingly sleepy. "Hold me tight... I want to sleep for a while."

"Okay."

...

I drifted off into a heavy sleep.

In Asher’s arms, I slept soundly for once.

But in the dead of night, the darkness became absolute, and the deep sea felt like a terrifying beast.

A boundless darkness that seemed capable of devouring everything.

"AHHH!" Screams and cries echoed from the hallway outside.

My sleep hadn’t been deep. When I woke up, Asher was gone from the room.

I got up in a panic, wiping the sweat from my forehead. "Asher..."

I got out of bed and cautiously checked the bathroom. He wasn’t there...

I opened the door and looked outside.

Suddenly, someone covered in blood ran past in a panic.

"Help! Murder... They’re murdering people!"

I watched the man. He fell to the ground, his hand wrapped in a bandage.

"What’s happening?" I asked.

The man scrambled to his feet and tried to hide in my room, but I frowned and blocked him.

’It wasn’t that I was heartless, but in a situation like this, you couldn’t trust anyone.’

The man looked fearfully down the end of the hall, crying and banging on my door. I had the chain lock on, so he couldn’t get in. "Please, I’m begging you, let me in! They’re killing people! There’s a group of them... they’re specifically killing us, killing those of us with injured hands."

My heart skipped a beat. The Resistance had narrowed down the possible identities of the Astraeus Group’s president to just over three hundred people—those with hand injuries who couldn’t perform the iris scan.

"Shouldn’t they be trying to keep them alive?" I frowned, confused.

"These people, in exchange for the right to leave this ship, are hunting down every single one of us with hand injuries. They’re brutally torturing and killing us, trying to force us to admit we’re the president of the Astraeus Group."

The man outside cried and pounded on the door. TAP... TAP... TAP... I heard footsteps outside.

Someone was walking this way, laughing. "Found one... Here’s a fish that slipped through the net."

The group moved together. They looked like a gang of thugs, carrying golf clubs and iron bars, approaching step by step.

The man outside cried out in terror and fell to his knees before my door.

He begged me to let him in.

My heart tightened. I was worried something had happened to Asher out there.

I opened the door and yanked the man inside just before the others could grab him.

I hurriedly locked the door, and a club immediately slammed against it from the outside.

They pounded on the door like they were infected, completely frenzied.

’This... was the so-called evil of human nature.’

"AHHH!" Suddenly, a scream came from outside the window.

Someone was thrown from the deck. With a SPLASH, they sank into the sea.

I rushed over and looked out. On the deck, another group of lunatics was throwing people overboard...

"Those ones don’t have injured hands," I noted with a frown.

The man I’d saved was huddled in a corner, trembling. "They said... it’s called the ’Thinning Plan.’ Because food and water are limited, too many living people... is a waste of resources... If they control the population, they can buy more time..."

A chill went down my spine.

’This is horrifying...’

’No wonder Asher said this cruise ship was a simulated countdown to the apocalypse... ’

Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the knife I kept by the bed and held it tight. "I have to go out. You need to protect yourself."

The man shook his head in panic. "Don’t go out, don’t go out... They’ve gone on a killing spree. They have a leader who made a rule: the killing starts at nightfall and everything is cleaned up by dawn. Don’t go out before sunrise."

"My husband is out there," I said in a low voice.

The man cried and shook his head. "Don’t go. They’re all dead. Everyone outside is dead."

SPLASH. The sound of another body being thrown from the deck, followed by a shower of bloody water.

I stood on the balcony, and splatters of blood landed on my face.

’Asher wouldn’t die...’

I turned and walked resolutely toward the door.

"You can’t!" But I had underestimated the man’s will to survive. He grabbed a vase and looked at me menacingly. "You can’t open the door. They’re waiting right outside. The moment you open it, they’ll rush in. I can’t let you take that risk."

Then, right in front of me, the man bolted the door.

BEEP... The sound of a keycard came from outside, but the door wouldn’t open.

I held my breath, tense.

"Cece?" Outside, it was Asher’s voice.

I breathed a sigh of relief and moved to open the door.

"Don’t open it!" But the man I’d saved refused to let me.

"Cece! Who’s in there?" Asher asked warily.

A clamor arose from outside. "There’s another one over there!"

I heard a lot of people rushing toward Asher, but the man beside me still wouldn’t let me open the door.

My eyes narrowed. I grabbed the man’s head and slammed it directly into the door, knocking him unconscious.

I opened the door and pulled Asher inside just as the others were closing in on him.

Asher had bloodstains on him. He also pulled in a teenage girl.

"We kind of forgot about her..." Asher said with an air of innocence. "When we left, we entrusted her to Killian Lancaster. An hour ago, when the killing started, Killian came looking for me and said she’d run off."

The young girl had blood on her face. She crouched on the floor in fear, trembling uncontrollably. "Dead... so many people are dead."