Chapter 864: the conspiracies and schemes of powerful figures, and the suffering of ordinary people.
Meanwhile, Xiang Sheng Hao.
"how's it going?"
Liu Rulan anxiously questioned Tong Junhui.
“They’re on their way at lightning speed. Enforcement on the high seas requires procedures and time,” Tong Junhui explained, looking at the latest update on his phone, but his expression was grim. “I just don’t know if they can make it in time...”
In fact, this operation had already been reported, and the police had prepared a plan in advance. So when they realized something was wrong and immediately reported back, the police sent people to chase after them.
However, they have now left the high seas and have been sailing for some time.
Even if the coast guard rushes over at full speed, it will still take more than an hour to get there.
But despite what has happened to them and how long every second of waiting feels, only about forty minutes have actually passed.
It may take the police twenty minutes, ten minutes, or even three minutes to arrive at the scene.
However, the cargo ship had completely disappeared into the vast darkness of the night, and those who were also adrift at sea not only lost all news of the cargo ship, but were also unable to make an accurate assessment of the subsequent rescue.
This is utterly disheartening news.
The intense gunfire from the ship still echoed in Liu Rulan's ears.
The terrifying realization behind this made her hands tremble uncontrollably.
There was regret, worry, sadness, and anger.
It's them—
"Some people want to expose this news, while others want to suppress it."
Liu Rulan turned around. Her naturally intelligent mind allowed her to vaguely discern the schemes and thoughts of those important figures even amidst the vast fog.
This also brought her anger to its peak.
"They were so close, so close to the last step, and Xiao He could have quietly rescued everyone from those people!"
"But they prioritize maximizing their own profits, disregarding the lives of others—"
The woman stood on the deck, facing the increasingly turbulent sea wind of the late night, her sharp, cold eyes fixed on the people on the other side.
The large number of containers on the deck and the people rescued from them had already caused a huge uproar at the scene.
The leaders who had previously claimed they were going to rest early had now regrouped on the deck.
They were still wearing the same clothes they wore to the banquet, each one adorned with jewels, dressed in suits and ties, looking glamorous and respectable—the dignity and image that a large family needs to maintain.
But the girls huddled together in fear before them were ragged and, even now that they had been rescued, still carried a sense of bewilderment about their future. And after being gathered together, they were still being looked at like merchandise.
At this moment, the ordinary guests around had already been cleared out and were not allowed to get any closer. As for the important figures who were really in charge, few of them cared about their lives or deaths; they were only thinking about how much benefit the events of the night could bring them.
So even though they have finally escaped from the shadows and are now under the bright lights on the deck, the darkness of night still surrounds and gathers them around them.
Light is just light, after all.
It has the function of illuminating, but it is just a tool in people's hands. It can shine a beam of light in the dark, but because it is controlled by people, it can only hang silently above people's heads, pretending that the light exists, but it can't bring any warmth or give anyone a sense of security.
It remained silent.
Like others who guessed the truth but simply stood at a distance, turning a deaf ear to everything that happened today.
That's precisely why Liu Rulan, who had already seen through everything, was so angry.
When other victims at the bottom of the hierarchy inexplicably escaped, she realized that someone had other plans for all of this.
Because Zhang Ning had escaped first, the area below had already raised its guard, and there was almost no chance for anyone else to escape. So even if Bao Wenyin's men were truly blind and deaf, they would not let anyone else out, let alone allow them to run up here and be seen by so many people.
Unless someone orchestrated this and released those girls directly.
This would inevitably alert the enemy, and might even prevent the rescue of the remaining victims on board, but they didn't care at all, nor did they care about the safety of the others on the Xiang Sheng.
They only wanted to attack the Bao family.
So Xiao He and his team's relatively low-key rescue and suppression efforts were all in vain.
Even more pitiful are those girls who, after escaping, did not gain true freedom. They only achieved a brief success before falling into new despair once again.
Some people, like Zhang Ning, were very lucky to find Liu Rulan and the others and managed to hide. They mingled in the gatherings hosted by the Bao family, with Bao Wenyu stepping in to stop the search. However, others were unlucky and were forcibly taken away on the spot by the men in black who came up to them.
Even worse, some women suffered miscarriages on the spot due to excessive emotional distress, resulting in continuous bleeding.
They clearly had gentler and safer ways to save these people, and the police were already on their way, but in order to expose this scandal and to strike at their rivals, to catch them red-handed, that guy didn't consider the feelings of the victims at all, and completely disregarded the wishes of others, and just blatantly brought this up.
— Doing this is not for the sake of justice at all.
Instead, it causes secondary harm to the victims.
How ridiculous, how ironic.
Liu Rulan forced a smile, feeling the sea breeze was unusually cold tonight.
She was so cold that her teeth were chattering.
Thinking of Xiao He, Shu Han, and Officer Cheng Bei, who had disappeared at sea and whose fate was unknown, she couldn't help but want to rush over, stand in front of them, loudly question them, and tear off their hypocritical masks so that everyone could see what kind of schemes these three families had in their hearts and what kind of people they were.
Liu Rulan gave a self-deprecating laugh.
But what is she compared to these people?
Seemingly noticing Liu Rulan's gaze, the head of the He family, who was standing on the deck, turned his head and glanced at her indifferently before quickly looking away again.
"The police are on their way, and the topic is already circulating online. It seems this matter can't be contained anymore..."
He glanced at Bao Xingsheng, whose face was ashen, and casually hinted, "Patriarch Bao, when it's time to make a choice, you have to make a choice. This incident has made things ugly for everyone. What will we do when we get back?"
Bao Xingsheng gritted his teeth: "I will naturally handle it properly."
But then he looked around at the people in front of him and said in a cold tone, "However, if things get out of hand, it won't just be a matter for us alone. We'll have to rely on the other two families for help."
"Ha, no problem, no problem."
He Luojie nodded with a smile, deciding to stop while he was ahead.
Dong Zhizhuo pursed his lips and said, "This matter seems to have nothing to do with our Dong family."
Clearly, the Dong family did not want to help.
However, Bao Xingsheng did not pay attention to Dong Zhizhuo's words. He just looked at Chen Yuehui, the real head of the Dong family, with a half-smile and said, "Oh? But I don't think Madam Dong thinks that way. After all, once things get out of hand, we can no longer hide many things. The police will definitely investigate thoroughly."
His words were loaded with meaning, and not only did Chen Yuehui's expression change slightly, but Dong Zhizhuo also seemed to remember something, and his expression suddenly turned ugly.
-
"Sister Liu—"
Tong Junhui took off his coat and draped it over Liu Rulan's shoulder. As if sensing her turbulent emotions and crumbling rationality, he could only raise his hand and press down on her shoulder, as if suppressing the anger that was about to ignite everything.
"Don't worry, Xiao He told us before he boarded the ship not to rush, they will come back safely."
Actually, Tong Junhui wasn't sure when he said those words, but he had experienced a lot and witnessed many people's life and death, so he was able to remain much calmer now.
He had originally wanted to board that cargo ship.
Unfortunately, Xiao He said that he had the closest contact with the police and had also collected a lot of evidence, so it was best for him to stay on the Xiang Sheng and continue to maintain contact with the police.
But--
Tong Junhui stared silently at the vast sea, his heart filled with the same bewilderment.
Xiao He...
You'll come back safely, right?
...
At this moment, Xiao He, who is on the minds of many, is not in a bad state.
But it's not much better.
Tonight, for some reason, the sea, which should have been calm, began to churn. Even the waves carried a considerable force, causing the boat to roll on the surface, accompanied by a heavy, damp sea breeze.
Xiao He, who had just taken over the command of the cargo ship, was faced with such a mess.
Looking at the heavy, dark clouds looming in from afar, Xiao He took a deep breath.
"Depend on!"