Chapter 1295
Chapter 1295 - 1281 Brewing
1,653 words
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9 min read
The giant ship, scarred all over, sailed slowly across the sea, yet at its core, some pondered matters unrelated to themselves.
"He should have come back by now, I wonder if seeing our current condition, he would feel proud and elated, or dissatisfied and complaining, or simply ignore it...."
Catherine T. Dora stood on the bridge, looking down at the busy workers and merchants, and at the fear-stricken faces of the ordinary people, feeling quite a bit of remorse and helplessness.
"I think, if it were him, he would calmly accept the current situation, then find a professional to do an inventory and assessment, after which he’d hand out bonuses where due, promote those who merit it, and dismiss those who need to be let go."
"Pfft, that really is his style.... How are things down there, still stable?"
Catherine, the temporary commander and a female Knight who had recently returned from her mercenary duties in the war, turned and looked towards her Deputy Commander, who had just come back from the deck.
"Not too good, restlessness is part of it, but the lack of hope is the bigger issue. Tch, these mad dogs....."
Not long ago, the Redemption was again attacked by "pirates." Although they managed to repel the attack as before, considering it was the seventeenth time in the past half a month, the eighteenth probably wasn’t far off.
The big Panda-man plopped down, munching on mangosteens while observing the ostensibly busy crowd below through panda eyes.
"What about Old Guan?"
"Still unconscious, but the doctor says he’s recovering."
"That’s good, who would have thought in this day and age someone could really get knocked out by a meteorite from the sky.... In line with the plot, when he wakes up, he won’t have amnesia, will he?" It seems that these days, Catherine has also indulged in some of the popular local romance novels.
Catherine had timed her return to headquarters, only to find, to her surprise, that she had been on board for only a few days when the original helmsman, Guan Xinxian, had been knocked unconscious by a meteor, unexpectedly thrusting her into the role of Captain.
Panda-man Xue En had just finished a round on the deck, checking on the condition of the cargo and the staff, which he found to be precarious.
The same ship, under another person’s command years ago, faced entirely different pressures and risks inherent in long voyages.
The long and tedious journey, the confined space, and the perilous seas not only put pressure on the crew but also spawned seeds of discontent and even mutiny.
"If Old Guan doesn’t get up soon, a mutiny among the crew is just a matter of time....."
"Ridiculous, where is that Liu Yiqi? Isn’t he the Sailor Captain you all trust?"
"If I’m not mistaken, he’s the one leading the rebellion. Hmph, he’s had designs on this ship for more than a day or two."
Continuing to nibble on mangosteens, the Panda-man seemed in no rush at all.
Ten years is enough time for kingdoms to change, let alone a half-commercial, half-charitable business group.
That Liu is a new generation who grew up locally, also one of the closest newcomers to the leadership within the entire ship, even the entire business group.
But it seems he wants to be more than just high level, he also wants to be the Captain directly.
"How do you know that?"
Catherine was a bit surprised; this Panda in front of her was typically unmotivated, and had it not been for her repeated insistence, he wouldn’t have stepped forward this time to stabilize the situation. She didn’t expect he would have already uncovered the mastermind behind the scenes.
In fact, Catherine had a rather good impression of that Liu Yiqi, who seemed like a very honest Long-Handed fighter. Young as he was, he had already reached Decree-level, a genius leader among the new generation.
"He tried to recruit me, with pretty good terms offered: the position of Captain, wealth, women, and the power that some cities can offer.... It looks like he’s already made contact with those guys outside."
"Pfft, he really is... He doesn’t understand us at all."
Catherine sighed. The passage of ten years was too long, and without the "convenience" brought by a core individual, the Rebirth Commerce had become increasingly localized.
Betrayal? Quite normal, when you can’t see hope and you’re not satisfied with your own gains, merely "ideals" are insufficient to fill their ever-growing desires.
"What about them?"
"Them? Playing dumb."
Both knew full well who they were referring to: the true core combat power of Rebirth Commerce, those "Elders" who maintained a peculiar silence amidst the current storm.
Were they planning to seize this opportunity to rise to power? Neither of them was that naïve...
"They, they want to use us to carry out a major cleanse."
"Yes, that person has returned, and the Time Lock has been unlocked. The days to come are definitely not going to be peaceful... thus, purging some unstable elements is indeed a good choice."
"Heh, they’ve probably been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. There might even be their instigation and promises at Liu’s end. After all, as long as Old Guan, this Good Person, remains, the traitors can’t get enough chips. Those among us who crave a cleanse also wouldn’t have a chance to raise the slaughter knife. Catherine, what do you think?"
"Me? If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll return to my position from ten years ago..."
A position from ten years ago? Someone’s highly confidential secretary, the shadow manager of the team.
As the representative of the helmsman’s will, one naturally hopes that their team is cleaner and more efficient.
"Alright, I got it. I’ll pretend I don’t see anything, and for those logistics and all, I’ll keep them safe..."
Xue En nodded. He also preferred a cleanse, then handing the team and the ship over to the real helmsman.
Betrayal might be understandable, but it could never be accepted, let alone forgiven.
The team’s situation was not good. Every other day, new "pirates" would come looking for trouble, and the intensity of various invaders was also clearly abnormal.
The reason? Xue En instinctively looked up at the deck above.
In the center of the deck lay a black and red meteorite.
It was roughly the size of a rockery and, although clearly a rock, had already fused with the wooden ship.
This was not the only fallen object from that night of the Meteor Shower; in fact, there were two meteorites that fell at the same time. One of them crashed into Old Guan’s body and then just disappeared... Of course, not many Informed-persons knew about this. They only knew about the meteorite still embedded in the deck.
𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
Ever since the day of the meteor... no, ever since the news of a meteorite on the deck spread from the next port, inexplicably, there had been far too many pirates.
He vaguely sensed that something was off, but in these days of ’cut off communications’, even if they occasionally exchanged information with other ships or cities, they could not find the specific reasons.
"Pirates? Whose pirates have Rule-level, and in the plural no less..."
Looking at his own bear paw, burnt black on one side and tingling with electricity on the other, the team’s combat power pillar, "Killer Bear," "Black and White Evil," was also somewhat helpless.
He vaguely guessed who was behind these pirates; after all, at this point in time, it was quite clear who could bring out multiple "Rule-Level Human Warriors."
"Heh, maybe it’s a good thing. If Old Guan was still awake, cleaning up the trash would have been difficult. No matter their reasons for choosing to betray, now is a good time to ’clean up trash."
Actually, there were some things Xue En hadn’t made clear to Catherine.
The reason why the "combat group" was calm, even subtly fanning the flames, and why those "traitors" had all become active, was also due to Xue En’s inaction and acquiescence.
He had wanted to cleanse for a while now, especially since some people were long-term spies for certain forces, and Old Guan’s overly idealistic nature, without Lu Ping’an to keep him in check, was becoming too rampant...
"Being too kind and good may not be a good thing, especially as the helmsman..."
Chewing on a mangosteen, Xue En was pensive. He watched the sailors still plotting on the deck, contemplative.
Compared to the present-day Rebirth Commerce Guild, the "Churches" with cities and forces behind them might be better employers, but no matter how justified the betrayal, once that step is taken, there is no way out.
"Old Guan being asleep, it really is a good thing..."
The Panda-man who looked so naive and friendly when he smiled was probably the one with the heaviest killing intent in the team.
He had been looking forward to this day for a long time and even had plans. Not having to engineer an accident to send Old Guan away on a sudden trip was a stroke of luck for him.
What he was curious about, though, was what exactly those meteorites were, to make the Rule-level Big Shots "wear masks and take action."
"This world is truly a bit evil, even good people can get hit by meteorites. If I didn’t see wrongly, the meteorite that hit Old Guan that day... was bending crooked, heading straight for him, and when he collapsed on the ground unconscious, what he was shouting was..."
Recalling that moment, Xue En remembered the unsettling murmurs, the divine sound echoing across the ship.
"...Redemption?"
— End of Chapter 1295 —