Chapter 852: The Drunken Woman
Meanwhile, other parts of the cruise ship remained a scene of harmonious revelry.
The patrolling security staff were also dutifully making their rounds.
Several bodyguards who had just finished smoking were also walking back from the deck.
Just at that moment, a drunken woman accidentally tumbled down the stairs and fell right in front of the group returning.
"Ah—"
For some reason, the woman's fall was surprisingly agile and quick, so much so that even the lead bodyguard captain didn't react in time, and could only stare blankly as she fell right before them.
But the very next second, he knew something was wrong.
Sure enough, the next moment, the woman lay on the ground and began to wail: "What is wrong with you people? You saw me fall and didn't even try to catch me? Did you do that on purpose?"
The bodyguards were stunned. They never expected that after falling on her own, she would suddenly turn on them. They rushed forward to help her up and apologize.
However, this action only angered her further. Once helped up, she shook off their hands, placed her hands on her hips, and said viciously: "What's the use of apologizing now? Why didn't you know to catch me while I was in mid-air just now? Hiss! My foot hurts so much! It must be sprained. Tell me, what are you going to do about this!"
This was completely unreasonable, right?
The bodyguards looked at each other, not expecting such a situation and feeling like they had gotten into big trouble.
Only one of them walked over, quickly supporting the woman, and said tactfully: "Madam, your foot injury is more important. Let's go check if your foot is alright first. As for what just happened, please don't hold it against us. Once we've confirmed the extent of your injury, we will apologize to you properly."
At the same time, he kept signaling to the others with his eyes.
Everyone knew that once a drunken guest like this found an opportunity to make things difficult, they were extremely troublesome. Even if they were in the right, they would be at a disadvantage when dealing with such guests.
If the matter escalated, they might be the ones in bad luck.
Fortunately, A-Nan, who was always a good-natured person, stepped forward and was willing to take the heat.
The others immediately breathed a sigh of relief, especially the captain standing at the front. He was the one the woman had originally targeted for the scam. If it really came down to it, he had indeed failed to catch her when she fell, so the look he gave A-Nan now held a hint of gratitude.
"Right, A-Nan, you did well. How about this—you go find a waiter nearby and have them take this lady to see a doctor for a check-up..."
As soon as the captain finished speaking, the drunken woman immediately became unhappy again. She gripped A-Nan's arm tightly and insisted relentlessly: "What do you mean by that? Are you afraid I'm running a scam? You're actually thinking of just finding someone to dump me off with? Are you planning on disappearing the moment I turn my head? Hehe, you guys—"
The woman began to make a scene again, her voice even louder than before, immediately attracting the attention of those around them.
"Ah, this—" A-Nan looked at the captain with a troubled expression, "Then how about I escort this lady myself?"
"Sigh, go ahead, go ahead!"
Fearing that the woman would continue to pester them, the captain immediately waved his hand at A-Nan, who had proposed the solution.
After their smoking break and chat on the ship earlier, the captain was quite fond of A-Nan. He signaled directly that he didn't need to worry about his work here, as he would rearrange the shifts.
As long as this troublesome drunken guest could be taken care of, that was all that mattered.
A-Nan nodded quickly and immediately began half-dragging, half-supporting the drunken, troublesome woman in another direction. Even after they had walked quite a distance, their conversation could still be heard.
"Madam, please, this way."
"Hiss, you're hurting me!"
"Apologies, Madam, this way, watch your step..."
The two soon disappeared from everyone's sight.
Once they were far away, the bodyguard captain finally relaxed.
A bodyguard on the side muttered under his breath: "How is this our fault? That woman was clearly just being unreasonable."
"Sigh, there's nothing we can do. We can't afford to offend a single person on this ship."
The bodyguard captain shook his head, feeling very helpless.
"It's just fortunate that we have A-Nan. If he hadn't reacted quickly, I'm afraid we would have been stuck with that difficult guest again."
—
Meanwhile, on this side, Police Officer Cheng Bei lowered his arm and politely thanked Liu Rulan: "Thank you, I've really troubled you both this time."
He truly hadn't expected that Manager Liu possessed such acting skills, actually pretending to be drunk to lead him away.
Liu Rulan nodded very calmly, showing no embarrassment for the act she had just put on, and said: "It's fine. Xiao He has already infiltrated the auction site on the lower deck. Are you going to find him now? He has already scouted out several other passages leading below. They are all locked doors that nobody usually walks through, making them exceptionally hidden. We brought a master key and can open those doors."
"No need. I've roughly figured out where they are unloading the cargo. I need to go and confirm whether there are still people in the remaining containers."
Police Officer Cheng Bei neither disclosed how much he had investigated nor asked how much Liu Rulan and the others had found out. He seamlessly continued the conversation, refusing to follow their route to the lower decks, and instead continued with his own investigation.
Hearing Police Officer Cheng Bei's words, Liu Rulan was somewhat surprised, but not entirely. She remained silent for a long moment before asking: "Actually, he has been in private contact with you all along, right?"
Otherwise, Police Officer Cheng Bei wouldn't have been able to understand their situation so quickly and make other choices.
Police Officer Cheng Bei did not answer the question. He simply gazed at the person in front of him with a complex expression and said: "The situation on the ship has actually exceeded my expectations, but I absolutely cannot leave it unchecked. The contents of that box are even more important. If... anything happens, please, I entrust you to safely hand the items over to the Police."
The large group of victims on the ship was not the purpose for which he had boarded the ship to investigate; they were a sudden, uncontrollable variable. Otherwise, the Police would definitely not have sent only Police Officer Cheng Bei alone.
But this did not mean that, as a Police officer, he could just stand by and watch when encountering such an emergency.
It was just that one person's ability was ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) too limited. He could only entrust the protection of the important items in the box to these people.
—It was truly strange. Even though they were not from the same circles, and the other party were merely ordinary citizens with no professional self-defense capabilities and no obligation to risk their lives to protect others, perhaps it was that shared experience of suffering in the fire that gave Police Officer Cheng Bei an extra layer of special trust in them.
Liu Rulan also sensed the scent of danger in Police Officer Cheng Bei's words. She wanted to say something but hesitated. However, feeling helpless in the current situation, she could only nod: "Stay safe."
—
After seeing Police Officer Cheng Bei off, Liu Rulan took out her phone to check the urgent message Xiao He had sent her, her expression exceptionally grave.
Following the map Xiao He had provided, she navigated the twists and turns deeper into the ship's cabin.
This cabin passage was considered an auxiliary emergency exit within the ship's interior. Originally, for the sake of management, it had been specially sealed off so that the lower level would only have one entrance and exit. This prevented people from the lower level from sneaking out elsewhere and also kept others from accidentally intruding into the lower level.
Not only was it narrow, but usually, there would be no one else here.
—It should have been that way.
However, she hadn't walked more than a few steps when she heard rustling sounds, as well as footsteps coming from the other side of the corridor wall.
Liu Rulan took a deep breath, gripped the key in her hand tightly, and gently turned it to open the cabin door—