CH 4

The sunlight didn’t reach the passageway, but the lights illuminated the way.

Fu Anan opened the door of the room in front of her. The interior of the room was dimly lit. The bedsheet shook slightly as if there was something lurking underneath it. It was fine yesterday, but the situation today made her inexplicably nervous.

“Brother Li, I’ve brought you some food.”

She said as she reached out to turn on the lights in the room.

Instantly, there was a startled cry from inside the room, “Turn it off!”

Fu Anan trembled, startled by the person’s reaction inside the room. She quickly turned off the light and took a step back. She stood outside his room.

“Are you alright?” She asked.

“I’m sorry for scaring you. I’ve been having trouble with my eyes lately. My eyes has become particularly sensitive to bright light,” replied Li Ge. His voice sounded strange. It was rough and hoarse, as if he was struggling to speak.

“Can you do me a favor… Please bring the food inside for me.” 

Fu Anan looked at the food on the cart, hesitating for a moment. For some reason, she always felt that it would be better not to enter the room.

Throughout her life, Fu Anan’s intuition had always been spot on. Therefore, she picked up his food and placed it outside the door.

“Brother Li, I still need to deliver the meals to other crew members. I’ve left your food at your doorstep. If you need anything else, just let me know. I’ll bring it directly to your door.”

After Fu Anan spoke, she didn’t wait for any further response and pushed the food cart away. She boarded the elevator to the deck, ignoring whatever was being said behind her.

##

On the top deck.

“Does anyone know what that pile of cargo in Zone A3 is? When I passed by there today, a disgusting smell assailed my nose. It almost made me vomit.”

As Fu Anan went up, she happened to overhear some crew members discussing their work for the day.

“I heard that it’s some kind of dried goods. They’re probably rotting,” Another person nodded and continued, “I smelled that stench in Zone B1, too. It nearly drove me away. I heard that the other zones also have the same foul odor. Are we shipping poop or something?”

“Poop doesn’t smell like that.” The person next to them nudged the previous person, “Don’t say that. It’s going to ruin my appetite.”

Fu Anan took out the food from the cart and glanced at the sky.

The temperature remained scorching hot, but there was no trace of the sun anymore. The sky was becoming more clouded, and the waves on the sea were getting more turbulent.

“Big Brother, when is the storm coming ah?” 

“Probably…… it may be tonight.” The sailor glanced at her, “First time at sea, huh? Relax, it’ll just be a bit shaky when you sleep at night.”

Nighttime.

After Fu Anan finished delivering the meals, she returned to her own room.

Because she was worried about the upcoming storm, she had been keeping a close eye on the conditions outside.

Fortunately, she had purchased an inflatable boat. If the ship were to sink, she could rely on this inflatable boat to survive for thirty days at sea.

Fu Anan lay on her bed, thinking. She glanced at the clock on the wall; it was now 6:13 pm.

Before long, just as they had warned, lightning illuminated the sky. A fierce storm started raging outside.

Fu Anan anxiously waited. However, it seemed that this storm lacked some of its anticipated power when confronting the massive cargo ship. Fu Anan leaned against the wall. She could only faintly hear the sound of thunder.

Compared to this, the other sounds on the ship were more worthy of attention.

“Xiao Li, Xiao Li, what’s wrong with you?”

“F*ck! Don’t bite me!”

The voice of Master Zhu came from the passageway near the kitchen.

Fu Anan opened her door and looked out, only to see a lot of people coming out of their rooms.

At the far end on the right side of her room, Master Zhu rushed out from Xiao Li’s room, clutching his injured arm with a panicked look on his face.