Chapter 220 - 204: Wang Dingbei Steps Down

Chapter 220: Chapter 204: Wang Dingbei Steps Down

Hearing Yu Dong’s words, the eyes of the two who’d attended high school lit up.

Yan Yikai: "I’ll go get you some clothes, Brother Dong."

Zhao Youcai: "Hurry up! Pick a yellow one."

Yu Dong looked at their enthusiastic expressions and was left speechless.

"Seriously? You’re actually going to get it?"

"So you really want to make me emperor in the apocalypse, huh?"

"Stop messing around. Wang has done so much for the base and shouldered such immense responsibility. Trying to use this opportunity to strip him of his power... That’s just inhuman."

"Right now, the most important thing for the combat team is to back Wang up. We need to show everyone on the ship that we’re united and put this incident behind us for good."

Zhao Youcai said, unwilling to let it go, "Dongzi, but Wang Dingbei made a mistake. Is he just going to get away with it?"

"We’ll just have him drink three penalty shots tonight."

Yu Dong slung his arms around their shoulders and walked out.

"Youcai, I know what you’re getting at, but let’s drop it. Let’s pretend this conversation never happened. Don’t bring it up again."

"Kai, you have the simplest mind of all. For your punishment, go watch *Ming Dynasty in 1566*."

Zhao Youcai was about to say more, but a look from Yu Dong stopped him.

’This wasn’t something he, Yu Dong, could bring himself to do.’

’Even if he wanted to compete with Wang Dingbei for authority, now was not the time.’

’And more importantly... if anyone else had been in this situation, it’s almost impossible they could have handled it better than Wang Dingbei.’

’If Yu Dong had to go out and kill zombies, he would feel completely safe leaving his back to Wang Dingbei.’

To put it bluntly, Yan Yikai and Zhao Youcai just weren’t cut out for security work. Forget comparing them to Wang Dingbei; even Xiao Dabe could run circles around them.

You couldn’t erase someone’s long track record of maintaining the base’s stability just because of one accident.

In Yu Dong’s world, he had two kinds of friends.

The first were his iron-clad supporters who trusted him completely. The second were capable and principled comrades-in-arms on the same front.

Zhao Youcai and Yan Yikai belonged to the first group. Wang Dingbei and Xiao Dabe belonged to the second.

’With the first group, you could hijack a cruise ship. With the second, you could govern it.’

Emotionally, he would definitely lean toward his die-hard supporters. But rationally, the latter group was the cornerstone of a stable order.

’He needed both.’

After sending the two off, Yu Dong called Jiang Zhuoyu in.

"Jiang, proceed with your plan. Shift everyone’s focus to the ’threat of zombies at sea’."

"I’ll get right on it!"

Just then, Zhao Youcai opened the door again. With an indignant look, he said to those inside:

"When they screw you over later, don’t say I didn’t try to help you, Dongzi!"

Then he stormed off.

Yan Yikai scratched his head. "Brother Dong... if there’s nothing else... I’ll get going, then?"

"Remember to watch the TV show."

"Oh!"

Yu Dong pursed his lips. ’Zhao Youcai was just taking advantage of Yan Yikai’s honesty, obedience, and loyalty.’

’After all, Yan Yikai was a seventeen-year-old high school student. Whatever Zhao Youcai said, he’d get fired up and come along... thinking it was for his own good.’

’Zhao Youcai would never be able to incite Zhou like that.’

Yu Dong didn’t really approve of Zhao Youcai’s recent suggestion. While some of his points might have had some merit, the overall direction... was a bit dangerous.

He especially disagreed on the issue of the military.

Obstructing the army to seize the armory themselves was far slower than welcoming the army and taking the armory together. What they lacked right now was time!

If they could secure the armory even one day sooner, they could rapidly upgrade their firepower and begin clearing out large swathes of zombies in Yanhai City.

Then they could complete their "Silent Quarantine Zone," establish a foundation on Binhai Avenue, resume production, develop together, counter-attack the entirety of Yanhai City, and achieve final victory.

...

Wang Dingbei wanted to hold a general assembly, but both Yu Dong and Lin Mo refused.

No one gave him the public trial he wanted.

Jiang Zhuoyu and his students worked behind the scenes to shift public opinion on the cruise ship, redirecting blame for the tragedy toward the danger of "zombie hordes at sea."

He then led a team to erect high wire-mesh fences along A Port and reinforce the internal defensive lines. They also upgraded the ship’s defenses, added a dedicated observation team to monitor the sea, and organized a mass training session for everyone to learn more about zombie characteristics.

They also started emergency response courses, teaching everyone how to properly evade and deal with zombies.

This series of measures shifted everyone’s focus from the tragedy of the deaths to how to prevent future danger.

While Yu Dong was trying to let the matter quietly fade away...

「Three days after the incident.」

Wang Dingbei took matters into his own hands. He made a ship-wide announcement over the cruise ship’s broadcast system, patching his voice through to the loudspeakers at A Port as well.

"Testing, testing... This is Wang Dingbei."

"Lately, Yu Dong and Lin Mo have been preventing me from holding a general assembly. They’ve been trying to cover for me even after such a major incident... I’ve really put them in a tough spot."

"Regarding the infection incident on the cruise ship three days ago, my mistake led to 71 people turning into zombies and dying. I shot and killed nine people, and three were severely injured. One of those three suffered a leg injury that will leave them permanently disabled. These numbers are horrifying."

"On the day of the incident, Xiao Dabe and Yang Ze were acting on my orders to handle a criminal case inside the ship. That’s why they failed to discover the outbreak outside right away. There were extenuating circumstances, and they took timely action to remedy the situation. The two of them are not primarily at fault, and they do their jobs well. Docking their pay for one month should suffice."

"The primary cause was my failure in managing security, which gave the zombies an opening and led to this tragedy. The security team is responsible for more than just the people on the ship; it must also manage the risk of internal outbreaks. Therefore, the security team will be expanded. We will close this vulnerability by increasing patrols at the port."

"The situation that day... I’ve thought about it for a long time. Perhaps if it happened again, I would still make the same choice. I wasn’t wrong in taking that step. My mistake was letting things get to that point in the first place..."

"I don’t think I’m fit to be a leader on this cruise ship anymore. Effective immediately, I will be stepping down from the leadership committee. I will transfer to a position as a regular staff member in the security team, patrolling the port every day for everyone to prevent such an incident from ever happening again."

"The above is my self-judgment. If anyone has a different opinion, we can hold a general assembly to discuss it further. I accept any and all punishments from the organization."

Wang Dingbei’s voice faded. In the office, Yu Dong and Lin Mo stared at each other in stunned silence.

"Wang... How can he be so stubborn? I already laid the groundwork and prepared a way out for him, and he... Ugh!"

Yu Dong let out a deep sigh. He never expected that after all their efforts to mitigate the fallout for Wang and buy him time, Wang would just expose himself in the end.

He hadn’t consulted with either of them at all.

Lin Mo sighed softly. "If Officer Wang could cover for himself, he wouldn’t be Officer Wang... But it’s for the best. At least he didn’t back himself into a dead end. I was most afraid that he wouldn’t be able to handle the psychological and moral pressure and do something irrational to harm himself."

Lin Mo had known all along she couldn’t stop Wang Dingbei from judging himself. The fact that he could handle it this rationally was already impressive.

’At least Wang would still be alive and with them.’

Things had reached this point; the situation was beyond saving. Yu Dong could only accept the outcome of Wang being out of the picture.

"Dr. Lin, it’s just the two of us now... Voting is going to be awkward."

"Yu Dong, I will do my best to support your work. Don’t worry."

Lin Mo gave a faint smile.

...

The news of Wang Dingbei stepping down from the leadership made Zhao Youcai quite happy.

’Wang fell on his own sword... It’s not like we forced him. If I can just find a way to take down Lin Mo too, then Dongzi... will have no choice but to rule by himself.’

’Since a direct approach won’t work, and Yu Dong doesn’t have the mindset of a ruthless tyrant, Zhao Youcai didn’t mind giving Yu Dong a little push, helping his brother ascend to the position that should have been his all along.’

’Zhao Youcai knew very well that Yu Dong was a sentimental person. As long as he himself never betrayed him, Yu Dong would never move against him. That’s why he didn’t want to be the top dog; he wanted Yu Dong to be the leader, while being his second-in-command was enough.’

’It was just that... Lin Mo seemed a bit too perfect. Her conduct and her daily work were both flawless.’

’For the moment, Zhao Youcai couldn’t think of a good way to take her down...’

Although Wang had left his leadership post, he was now focusing all his energy on security, which wasn’t a bad thing for Yu Dong. Lin Mo was also very safe within the group.

So, he resumed his previous cleanup work.

「Five days later.」

Yu Dong and his team lured the last two zombie hordes near Binhai Avenue into the incinerators, successfully clearing the eastern route of the avenue!

Qiao Yunliang, leading a neat formation of soldiers, met up with Yu Dong’s two squads on Binhai Avenue.

On one side were soldiers in orderly military uniforms, each armed with a gun. On the other were fighters in black, form-fitting combat suits, each armed with a repeating crossbow.

The regular army and the unorthodox faction had finally met.

Qiao Yunliang, dressed in full military attire, stepped out from his ranks. He extended his right hand and shook Yu Dong’s.

"Comrade Yu Dong, we finally meet."