Qin Yu stood at the ship's bow, one hand resting on the railing while the other toyed with the high-powered loudspeaker he had just dismantled from the sunken ship's cockpit.
His gaze was colder than the frigid seawater.
At the edge of his vision, the "small sailboat" pressed on against the wind and waves, like a foolhardy ant stubbornly crawling toward them.
"Truly fearless of death."
A cold smirk curled at the corner of Qin Yu's lips.
He patted the steel railing beside him.
"Yao Xue."
"Here."
On the platform behind him, Yao Xue had already regained control of the Deep-sea Guardian's operating lever. The dark muzzle adjusted slightly, firmly locked onto the sailboat.
With just one command from Qin Yu.
That ridiculous wooden boat would instantly become a pile of toothpicks scattered across the sea.
Qin Yu raised the loudspeaker and pressed the switch.
A piercing electric buzz instantly drowned out the roar of the waves.
"Bzz—"
"Raft ahead, stop immediately!"
The amplified voice thundered across the sea like a sudden clap of thunder.
Carrying an undeniable pressure.
"Approach another hundred meters, and you'll be sunk directly!"
"Get lost!"
The final word was practically roared out by Qin Yu.
The sound waves rolled outward.
...
Five nautical miles away.
On the raft.
The Tattooed Arm Man, who had been preparing to hoist the sail for acceleration, was startled by the sudden roar, causing him to drop the rope.
"The sail fell!"
The Glasses Man crouched on the deck, hugging his head, his face pale.
"I told you! They have radar! They've seen us all along!"
"This is a warning! This is an ultimatum!"
"Sister Bing! Retreat! Their cannons are aimed at us!"
The Tattooed Arm Man stared at the two glowing blue muzzles in the distance, a chill running down his spine.
He was a street tough, unafraid of knives.
But he feared cannons!
One shot from those, and there wouldn't even be a whole body left.
Li Ruobing stood at the very front of the raft.
The sea wind whipped her burgundy hair into a wild frenzy.
Her hands gripped the railing tightly, her nails digging into the wood.
That voice.
Overbearing, cold, filled with killing intent.
Even from this distance, she could sense the other party's attitude of treating human life as worthless.
He wasn't joking.
He would truly open fire.
"Stop the boat!"
Li Ruobing gritted her teeth, forcing out two words through clenched teeth.
"Quick! Lower the sail!"
The Tattooed Arm Man and Glasses Man, as if granted a pardon, frantically pulled down the tattered canvas sail.
The raft lost its momentum, bobbing on the waves, no longer advancing.
"What now, Sister Bing?"
The Tattooed Arm Man wiped the cold sweat from his face.
"Do we just wait here?"
"He told us to get lost."
Li Ruobing ignored him.
She took a deep breath, bent down, and rummaged through her backpack for a white shirt.
It was originally meant for changing, but now it had become her only lifeline.
She tied the shirt to a wooden stick.
Raised it high.
And waved it vigorously.
A white flag stood out starkly against the gloomy sea.
"I'm Li Ruobing! A survivor from District 9527!"
Li Ruobing cupped her hands around her mouth, shouting with all her might toward the distant ship.
"I mean no harm!"
"I'm here to make a trade!"
"Don't fire! I have important information!"
The sea wind was fierce.
Her voice was torn to shreds by the gale.
But she didn't dare stop.
She knew this was her only chance.
...
Aboard the President.
Qin Yu lowered the megaphone.
Watching the distant white flag being waved desperately.
"A trade?"
He chuckled lightly.
"This woman is somewhat interesting."
Yao Qian moved closer, leaning over the railing to look down.
"Brother Qin Yu, is that the number two ranked expert? Looks rather pathetic."
"Her legs are quite long though," Yao Xue added coldly from behind.
Qin Yu didn't respond.
He picked up the megaphone and called out again.
"Want to talk?"
"Fine."
"Swim here yourself."
The words reached Li Ruobing.
She froze.
Swim over?
There were at least four to five hundred meters to that steel behemoth.
The seawater was piercingly cold.
And there might still be survivors from the earlier explosion lurking below.
More importantly.
Swimming over meant having no cover, no weapons.
It meant completely surrendering herself to the other party.
"Sister Bing! Don't go!"
Tattooed Arm Man grabbed Li Ruobing's arm.
"This isn't a business negotiation! This is asking for your life!"
"And... and he wants you to go alone."
"That guy definitely has ill intentions!"
"Look, he has two women on his ship - he must be a lecher!"
"If you go, it's like throwing meat to a dog!"
Li Ruobing shook off Tattooed Arm Man's hand.
She looked at the man standing at the bow like a king gazing down at her.
"Do I have any other choice?"
She countered.
Tattooed Arm Man fell silent.
Going back meant death.
Going forward meant almost certain death.
But at least there was a slim chance of survival ahead.
"But..."
"No buts."
Li Ruobing took off her boots.
Pulled out the dagger she always kept hidden on her person and threw it onto the raft.
Then removed the tool belt from her waist.
Now.
She wore only a tight tank top and extremely short hot pants.
Large areas of her wheat-colored skin were exposed to the cold wind, covered in goosebumps.
"If I don't come back."
Li Ruobing looked at her two subordinates.
"The raft is yours."
After speaking.
She didn't hesitate for a moment.
"SPLASH!"
She leaped into the piercingly cold sea.
The water felt like ten thousand needles instantly piercing her pores.
Li Ruobing shivered violently.
But she gritted her teeth and swam fiercely.
Toward the steel behemoth.
Stroke after stroke.
Her movements were precise, her speed fast.
But in the turbulent sea, she appeared so small, so helpless.
"She actually dared to swim."
Qin Yu watched the small dark dot rising and falling in the water.
The coldness in his eyes receded slightly.
But only slightly.
These days.
There were plenty of courageous people.
They died quickly too.
Several minutes later.
Li Ruobing finally reached the hull of the President.
She gasped for breath.
Her limbs nearly numb from the cold.
She looked up.
At the towering steel wall and the rope ladder hanging down.
The ladder to survival.
She grabbed the rope ladder, using her last bit of strength to climb up.
Splash.
A drenched figure clambered over the railing and collapsed heavily onto the deck.
Li Ruobing felt as if her lungs were about to burst.
Her entire body trembled.
Not just from the cold.
But from fear.
Because a pair of black combat boots now stood directly before her eyes.
Her gaze traveled upwards from the boots.
To a gleaming long blade.
Its tip pointed downward.
Aimed directly at her neck.
"You're a bit slow."
Qin Yu looked down at her from his superior position.
His voice was terrifyingly calm.
"If you were one of my soldiers, moving at that speed, you'd have been fish food long ago."
Li Ruobing struggled to lift her head.
Seawater dripped from her hair onto the deck.
She finally got a clear look at the man's face.
Young.
Handsome.
But his eyes held no warmth whatsoever.
Not even the instinctual desire men typically show when looking at a woman.
Only appraisal.
As if he were evaluating a piece of goods.
"Cough... cough..."
Li Ruobing coughed twice, spitting out a mouthful of briny seawater.
She pushed against the deck, trying to stand.
"Don't move."
The blade tip pressed down another inch.
A chilling aura radiated from it.
Li Ruobing froze mid-motion.
She could feel the sharp edge already touching her skin.
If she dared make one wrong move.
This man would undoubtedly slit her throat without hesitation.
"Speak from there."
Qin Yu maintained his position.
Behind him.
Yao Xue and Yao Qian approached from either side.
Yao Xue held a scalpel, her gaze alert.
Yao Qian looked on with curiosity.
Three women.
One man.
The atmosphere grew intensely strange.
"I... I am Li Ruobing."
Li Ruobing fought against the cold, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
"I'm ranked second."
"I know."
Qin Yu cut her off.
"No need for that nonsense."
"Your raft is within my range. Your life is under my blade."
"Give me one reason not to kill you."
"You have ten seconds."
"Ten."
"Nine."
Qin Yu began the countdown.
With each number, the pressure of impending death intensified.
Li Ruobing's heart felt like it might stop.
All the prepared speeches she had rehearsed—about cooperation, alliances, resource exchanges—became utterly ridiculous in the face of this man's absolute dominance.
He didn't need cooperation.
He was the king.
And she was merely a refugee begging for mercy.
"The cold wave!"
Li Ruobing blurted out.
"I know what the cold wave in three days will bring!"
"Not just the temperature drop!"
"There's also a Beast Tide!"
Qin Yu's countdown halted at "Three."
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Beast Tide?"
"Yes!"
Seeing a possible opening, Li Ruobing hurriedly continued.
"I learned it from an underwater ruin."
"And I obtained a Frost Treasure."
"It can sense changes deep in the ocean currents."
"Those monsters... those things from the deep sea, they're being driven to the surface by the cold wave."
"Although this sunken ship is large, it can't withstand the impact of tens of thousands of sea beasts."
"You need manpower!"
"You need early warning!"
Li Ruobing finished in one breath, her chest heaving violently.
Her tight tank top barely contained her pale curves.
But Qin Yu didn't even glance at them.
He just stared into Li Ruobing's eyes.
As if judging the truth in her words.
Silence.
Suffocating silence.
Several seconds passed.
Finally, Qin Yu's blade shifted away slightly.
"Frost Treasure?"
Qin Yu let out a light laugh.
"Interesting."
"However..."
He suddenly crouched down.
His face moved close to Li Ruobing's.
The distance between them was mere centimeters.
Li Ruobing could even smell the faint scent of gunpowder and blood on him.
"What makes you think I need you?"
Qin Yu pointed to the double-barreled turret behind him.
"Tens of thousands?"
"Even if a hundred thousand come."
"Under my firepower coverage, they're just here to deliver experience points."
Li Ruobing's pupils contracted sharply.
Right.
She had forgotten.
This man possessed firepower that surpassed this era.
Her intelligence seemed to have become worthless.
Despair.
Washed over her heart once again.
"But I need a dog."
Qin Yu suddenly changed the subject.
He reached out his hand.
Not to help Li Ruobing up.
But to pinch her chin.
The grip was strong, hurting Li Ruobing.
"An obedient dog that knows how to guard the door."
"My ship is big."
"It really needs a few more hands for odd jobs."
Qin Yu's eyes were full of mockery.
"But I don't like bargaining."
"And I especially dislike so-called 'deals'."
"On my ship, there's only obedience."
"You want to live?"
"Fine."
Qin Yu released her chin and stood up.
He took out a piece of compressed biscuit from his pocket.
And threw it in front of Li Ruobing on the wet deck, like throwing a bone.
"Dismantle that raft."
"Bring your people over."
"All supplies must be surrendered."
"From today onward."
"You'll be the President's external laborers."
"Responsible for carrying, cleaning, and being bait."
Qin Yu's voice was icy and merciless.
"If you feel wronged."
"You can jump back right now."
"I promise not to fire."
"At most... let the sharks have an extra meal."
Li Ruobing looked at the compressed biscuit in front of her.
The packaging still had the words "beef flavor" printed on it.
For someone who had been eating charred fish for half a month.
This was simply a delicacy.
But it was also humiliation.
Bare-faced humiliation.
She was ranked second.
She was once the big sister who could command wind and rain.
Now she had to be someone else's dog?
Li Ruobing raised her head, looking at Qin Yu's cold face.
Then at the Black Silk Stockings mature beauty with playful eyes beside him.
And the innocent White Silk Stockings loli.
If she didn't agree.
Going back meant certain death.
If she didn't agree.
The cold wave three days later would be her grave.
Dignity?
In the apocalypse, could dignity be eaten as food?
Li Ruobing's trembling hand grabbed the compressed biscuit.
Tore open the packaging.
And took a fierce bite.
The dry biscuit dissolved in her mouth, carrying a long-lost meaty fragrance.
Tears mixed with seawater flowed into her mouth.
Salty.
Bitter.
"I... agree."
Li Ruobing swallowed the food in her mouth.
Lowered her once proud head.
"That's more like it."
Qin Yu nodded with satisfaction.
He turned around, no longer looking at this wretched woman.
"Yao Xue, take her to clean up."
"Don't dirty my deck."
"And."
Qin Yu stopped walking, speaking with his back to Li Ruobing.
"Don't think about any tricks."
"My eyes are much more useful than your 'perception'."
"If you have even a trace of disloyalty."
"I'll make you regret ever coming into this world."
After speaking.
Qin Yu strode toward the cockpit.
There was more data waiting for him to process.
As for Li Ruobing?
In his eyes, it was just another free laborer.
And one who brought their own provisions at that.
Yao Xue walked over to Li Ruobing.
Looking down at her from above.
Those long legs clad in Black Silk Stockings gleamed coldly under the sunlight.
"Get up."
Yao Xue's voice was chilly.
"If you don't want to die, move quickly."
"The captain doesn't like waiting."
Li Ruobing struggled to her feet.
Water droplets pattered down from her body.
Her fiery figure now appeared particularly pitiful.
She glanced at the still-drifting Raft in the distance.
A bitter smile formed in her heart.
Second place?
From today onward.
There is only one top ranker in this world.
That is Qin Yu.
All others.
Are merely ants.
...
Half an hour later.
Li Ruobing changed into dry work clothes - old garments Yao Xue had thrown to her from the Automatic fishing net treasure chest.
Though loose, they couldn't conceal her striking curves.
She held an iron shovel in her hand.
Pointing at the pile of monster corpse remnants not yet cleaned up.
"Get to work."
"If you don't want to be thrown overboard as fish bait, work like your life depends on it."
She had quickly adapted to her new role.
Even if she was a dog.
She would be the most useful dog.
As long as she lived.
There was hope.
As long as she followed this man.
Perhaps...
She might truly see the end of this apocalypse.
Qin Yu stood at a high point, taking in the entire scene.
The system panel unfolded before his eyes.
[New member detected (non-registered).]
[Special intelligence obtained: Frost Tide Sea Beast tide.]
[Recalculating defense deployment...]
A slight smile touched Qin Yu's lips.
This round.
Not only did he gain free labor.
But also obtained crucial information.
A Sea Beast tide?
He glanced at the half-emptied sunken cargo ship.
Then at the mountain of supplies in his backpack.