Chapter 246 - 230: The Person Who Must Not Be Released

Chapter 246: Chapter 230: The Person Who Must Not Be Released

Yu Dong immediately realized what Jiang Zhuoyu was talking about.

"You’re talking about the people in the brig, aren’t you."

The place on the cruise ship specifically for holding criminals...

He was referring to people like Cai Hong, the third mate who led the rebellion; Jiang Xupeng and the other two bastards who raped Yang Yi; Zhao Yun; the troublemakers who were arrested early on, released, and then immediately caused more problems; and the many other criminals Officer Wang and his team had apprehended since.

Their crimes weren’t punishable by death, but releasing them would cause huge trouble for the cruise ship.

They were currently being held on the ninth deck under the lowest living standards, guarded by members of the Security Group.

Jiang Zhuoyu nodded slightly. "That’s right, Brother Dong. These people have been locked up for a long time... Some of the earliest ones were in the brig even before we arrived. The plan was to hand them over to the military, but the military isn’t taking them. In the end, we’re stuck feeding them, which is a waste of not only supplies but also manpower, and it takes up the ship’s public resources."

"But... their crimes don’t warrant death. It wouldn’t be right for us to kill them. This was just a last resort."

Yu Dong hadn’t killed them.

Even when Zhao Youcai had suggested they privately get rid of scum like Cai Hong to prevent future trouble, Yu Dong had never agreed. Wang Dingbei, being in the Security Group, wouldn’t allow it either.

"I understand, Brother Dong. You’re a merciful man. You won’t kill even your enemies unless they cross a line... But times have changed. Before, we had abundant supplies and didn’t need to conserve this resource. We could afford to keep them locked up and hand them over to the military for trial once peace was restored. But things are different now."

"Our resources are tight, the military won’t take them, and we can’t release them because they can’t be trusted. They’ll just cause trouble for the ship. Take Wang Xinxin, for example, from the ship’s original security department. I’ve looked into his case."

"From the beginning, he wasn’t thinking straight and tried to make a move on you all. He was arrested and ’educated,’ then released after being locked up for a while... Then he started stirring up trouble on the ship again, going around every day saying this was their ship and that we had seized it through trickery and force. He tried to incite the original crew against us and got arrested by Lin Mo. He was released again, but then he did nothing all day, didn’t earn any points, and still demanded to eat. He even got into a fight with a cook in the cafeteria... and was arrested yet again."

"A guy like that, who challenges the ship’s system again and again, is a menace. The moment someone starts trouble, he’ll be the first to join in! Why should we keep someone like that around to disgust us, all while feeding him with everyone else’s points?"

"And then there’s Zhao Yun, who you mentioned, Brother Dong... I heard that Lin Xiaojun was protecting her even before he died. He must have developed feelings for her. You’ve told me what she’s done in the past. If she got out, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she added Zombie Blood to our ship’s water purifiers... You know as well as I do that we can never let her out. So why are we still keeping her?"

"Finally, there’s Cai Hong. He failed his power grab and has been locked up for so long... I bet he’s completely consumed by hatred by now. If he ever got out, it’s not impossible he’d try to take you down with him in a suicide attack."

Listening to Jiang Zhuoyu recount the crimes of the ship’s prisoners in such detail, Yu Dong felt a sense of gratification.

Jiang Zhuoyu was skilled at learning and listening. He proactively gathered all sorts of information, ready for Yu Dong to access at any time... He was a very qualified aide.

"So, what you’re saying is... you want me to send these people to Professor Meng?"

"Why not? We have no use for them, and we can’t reform them. Keeping them locked up is a waste of food, but we’re afraid of their revenge if we let them go. The military won’t take them, so this is the only path left for them."

Jiang Zhuoyu had opened up a new path for Yu Dong.

The path of using the prisoners he would never release.

Jiang Zhuoyu was right. Yu Dong could never let them out.

Especially Zhao Yun. ’She’s terrifying!’

Before he died, Lin Xiaojun had been trying to absolve her of her crimes, protecting her!

The Zombie Blood syringe in his first life had already cost Yu Dong dearly. In this life, as long as he wasn’t an idiot, he would never give someone like Zhao Yun another chance to get out.

He couldn’t even hand someone like her over to the military, lest she manage to get her case overturned!

At the start of his second life, he had planned to kill her directly.

The reason he hadn’t executed her yet wasn’t because he didn’t want to, but because... Wang Dingbei wouldn’t allow it.

Yu Dong had actually spoken to Wang Dingbei about it, but Wang Dingbei argued that they couldn’t execute her for a crime from a past life. ’He used that damned paradox of his again!’

Zhao Yun’s crimes in this life were not punishable by death.

Their final compromise was... not to release her, but to keep her locked up.

And it had dragged on until now.

Seeing Yu Dong thinking, Jiang Zhuoyu added more fuel to the fire.

"Didn’t Professor Meng ask for two people to start with? We can’t... so let’s just send Cai Hong and Zhao Yun, the two who will never be released. Maybe this one chance is all it will take for the vaccine to succeed."

A zombie virus vaccine... enhanced lab mice... criminals who would never be released...

Yu Dong’s gaze flickered. On one side was the vaccine, on the other, the criminals.

He recalled Professor Meng Dongqing saying this was a responsibility given to them by heaven.

Perhaps finding a vaccine that could save the entire world was the meaning of his rebirth.

This was the best way for him to save the world.

"The Security Group is guarding them right now. Taking people from right under their noses... Wang Dingbei would never stand by and watch me do that."

Don’t be fooled by the fact that Wang Dingbei has stepped down and is nominally just an ordinary member of the Security Group. Xiao Dabe and Yang Ze from the group used to be his men. How could they not listen to him?

He was still the de facto leader of the Security Group; everyone in the group respected him.

"Brother Dong, I heard... some people in the Combat and Logistics Groups haven’t been very motivated lately, even after receiving the ’low-temperature subsidy’?"

"That’s right. Some even asked me for leave, saying they’re southerners who were just here for a trip and can’t handle the cold... Their feet are cracked from the frost. What can I do? I can’t force them to fight zombies in the ice and snow with injured feet, can I?"

Some of the leave requests were genuinely unavoidable and not something a subsidy could solve. Yu Dong understood that.

"I think we should properly punish these people for ’shirking combat duty.’ Aren’t we cracking down on discipline lately?"

"How would we punish them?"

"For example... punish them with prison guard duty. Let them learn some patience. I think the Security Group would be thrilled. After all, guarding criminals is a boring and tedious job. No one likes sitting in a hallway all day..."

Yu Dong looked at Jiang Zhuoyu’s eager expression. He really had the air of a cunning rogue strategist.

"Alright... you arrange it."

"Brother Dong, find a couple of trustworthy brothers to put on a show with you..."

「Day 120 of the Apocalypse, Morning.」

At A Port, Yu Dong was leading the Combat Group out when Sun Yu and two other blond-haired guys tried to ask for leave. After Yu Dong refused, they took off their combat uniforms and quit on the spot.

"It’s so cold! We’ll freeze to death out there!"

"What’s the big rush? Maybe the zombies will all freeze to death over the winter. Can’t we just wait until it’s warmer to go out?"

Yu Dong publicly reprimanded the two insubordinate men!

"You’re getting the best compensation, yet you’re full of excuses every day!"

"If you don’t want to go out, don’t think you can just be idle on the ship. Go work for me! You don’t like moving? Fine, then sit! Sit all day! Jiang, assign them to the brig. Have them stand guard 24 hours a day!"

"I’ll let you sit until you’re sick of it!"

When Xiao Dabe from the Security Group heard this, he was overjoyed.

"This is great! If a few more undisciplined people show up, our brothers won’t have to take turns on prison duty anymore!"

That shift was a 24-hour post that could never be left unmanned.

It was a form of torture.

At first, it was just Sun Yu and his group sent to rotate with the Security Group members. Later, Yu Dong punished a few more ’slackers’ and ended up handing the entire job over to his own people.

Watching Yu Dong’s maneuvers, Wang Dingbei said to Yang Ze:

"You know, Yu Dong’s recent crackdown on discipline has been quite impressive... He’s really making it look convincing."

...

Two days later, Cai Hong and Zhao Yun were sent to the research institute.

Meng Dongqing injected the two of them with the two vaccine candidates she had the highest hopes for...