Chapter 294 - 293: I Actually Gained a Mother’s Awareness

Chapter 294: Chapter 293: I Actually Gained a Mother’s Awareness

"Felix!" Lucas Grant shouted in alarm as he climbed the ladder.

Asher shot Lucas and Felix a reluctant glance. "Are you two reenacting a scene from *Titanic*? I’m still here, you know. What’s all the shouting about?"

"..." It was only then that Lucas realized Asher was still down below.

Even a dog would be afraid of that madman.

Sure enough, the ferocious dogs stopped about three meters away from us, baring their teeth and poised to strike.

I was a little surprised myself. ’These attack dogs seem to be afraid of something. Are they really scared of Asher?’

"Hurry, get up here." I lifted the two little ones out, passed Gigi to Mason Carter who was waiting outside, and then tried to climb out myself.

But the hatch above was suddenly kicked shut.

Mason Carter’s expression was grim. ’I should have known from the start... there had to be other people out there.’

’It seems... with The Resistance’s new rule of recognizing keycards, not people, those of us holding cards for the VIP area have been targeted.’

"Open the door!" I pounded on the hatch above me.

"Please, open the door..." Mason Carter pleaded from outside. "We’re all from Meridia! We’ll all have to go ashore eventually. You can’t kill people, it’s against the law..."

Mason Carter was still trying to reason with them.

But they clearly weren’t listening. The leader stepped right onto the hatch and said in a low voice, "Listen up, you down there. If you want these two little ones and that girl to live, hand over your keycards. Otherwise, I’ll throw your kids into the sea first."

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. ’Of course... it’s at times like this that the evil in human nature is truly unleashed.’

I looked back at Asher. He was warily eyeing the dogs.

Something seemed to have agitated them. They were growing frantic, slowly closing in to attack us.

I knew we couldn’t last much longer, so I pounded on the hatch. "There are more of you than us! Let us up first, and we’ll give you the keycards once we’re out!"

The man above snorted. "I don’t trust you. Hand over the keycards, and I’ll let you out."

I took a deep breath. ’These people are completely unreasonable.’

Below the ladder, the attack dogs tentatively edged forward.

They did seem wary of Asher, but it was clear they would still attack given enough time.

Lucas, seeing that the attack dogs were about to charge, tapped my shoulder.

I climbed down to let him take my place. He tried to force the hatch open, but we were below and they were on top of it. With them standing on the hatch, we didn’t have the strength to push it open.

"I’m a police officer! Let us out!" Lucas said angrily.

"A cop? HAHAHA! This ship is in international waters. What good is a cop here?"

The men outside laughed. "A cop? And that’s supposed to impress us?"

Lucas angrily punched the hatch.

’So we have to find a way out.’ "I have two VIP keycards, I’ll give..."

I was just about to test the waters and see if I could get them to let us out when I heard Adrian Lancaster’s childish voice from outside. "Mister, what color card do you want? I have some right here."

The man sneered. "You’re just a little kid. You think your parents would leave the keycards with you?"

"How about this one?"

Through a crack in the hatch, I could see Adrian Lancaster holding up a gold keycard. It was different from the ones we had.

Ours were just plain gold with no design, which granted access to the VIP area and its high-end rooms. But the card in Adrian’s hand had an ornate golden pattern and looked far more exclusive.

"Holy shit..." I heard the leader curse, followed by gasps of surprise.

"Who the hell is this kid? I saw the notice on the bulletin board. This ship has gold cards for VIPs, silver cards for general use below the fourteenth deck, and the most common white cards, which only let you eat and hang out below the sixth deck. This one with the pattern is a diamond card! Only the ship’s shareholders and high-level staff have those. With that card, you can go anywhere on this ship, even into the restricted areas..."

I furrowed my brow. ’How many more surprises did these two kids have in store for me?’

"Mister, my daddy and mommy knew there were cards like this down here, so that’s why we came looking," Adrian piped up again. "All the staff down here are dead, and they all have these cards on them. There are a ton of them."

Coming from a child his age, most people wouldn’t question it.

His words seemed to hold a magical power, fanning the flames of their greed and desire.

"Shit, no wonder they wanted to go down there," the leader cursed, then knocked on the hatch. "Go get the rest of the keycards and bring them over. I’ll let you up, and we’ll split them evenly."

"No deal," I said, playing along with Adrian’s bluff. "These diamond cards are ours. If you want a gold card, I can give you one."

"Fuck that! You’ve got a pile of diamond cards and you’re only offering us a gold one? What are we, beggars? Hand over the diamond cards now!" the man outside said, his voice laced with impatience.

I said nothing more. ’He’s more desperate than I am right now.’

Sure enough, they couldn’t contain their greed any longer. They threw open the hatch, ready to climb down.

"Don’t come down here!" Lucas shouted angrily.

’Are they trying to get themselves killed?’

"Hand over the diamond cards." Several men jumped down, brandishing knives.

I frowned, about to tell them there were no diamond cards, when I saw Adrian squatting to the side. He gave me a sweet, innocent smile. "Mommy, duck."

I froze for a moment, and a chill instinctively ran down my spine.

Then I saw him snap his fingers at the attack dogs, and they lunged in our direction.

The rest of us instinctively dropped to the ground as the dogs leaped over us, pouncing on the knife-wielding men.

Agonized screams echoed through the space.

"Quick, let’s get out of here!"

Once those dogs started tearing into them, they wouldn’t stop.

"Adrian! Those dogs listen to you? Make them stop!" I scrambled up the ladder, scooped up Adrian, and fixed him with a grave look. "Adrian Lancaster, you are not allowed to solve problems with violence!"

Adrian Lancaster stared at me blankly. He didn’t understand what he had done wrong because no one had ever taught him it was wrong. In his world, it was the law of the jungle: the strong prey on the weak, and only the fittest survive.

"Listen to me..." I coaxed in a soft voice.

Thankfully, the little guy was still willing to be coaxed. He blew a sharp whistle toward the scene below.

Though reluctant, the attack dogs bared their teeth and backed away. The entire lower hold was now filled with the metallic tang of blood.

The mauled men were terrified, trembling and covered in blood.

"Let’s get everyone out of there," Lucas said, helping Felix and Asher up first, then hauling the injured men up as well.

We couldn’t just stand by and watch them get torn to pieces.

"Lock this thing. If those dogs get out, we’re all in trouble." I found a piece of wire and twisted it tightly around the hatch’s bolt.

The men were injured and didn’t dare try to take anything from us for the time being. But they knew we had "diamond cards"... ’This is going to attract a lot more trouble,’ I thought.

"Adrian Lancaster, Stella Caldwell, you two need to remember this: under all circumstances, you must have reverence for life." I pulled the two little ones aside, trying to make them understand that life is precious. "You can defend yourselves, but you can’t use excessive force."

After I said that, I paused, surprised at my own words.

’If I were by myself, I probably would have just let those men fend for themselves. But with the two little ones here, I was subconsciously terrified they would follow my example... terrified they would go down the wrong path.’

’They say a parent’s example is a child’s greatest teacher.’

’I was afraid these two children... would end up like me—at odds with society, ostracized, isolated, and treated like freaks.’

’That’s why they have to be more normal than me, better at fitting into society.’

’They have to learn to love and cherish life... ’

’It took me a long, long time to understand how precious life is.’

’I can coldly watch others die, but I can’t bear to watch the people I care about, the people I love, die...’