The corridor echoed with urging voices, "Many students haven't come out yet. Please cooperate. We'll try to finish the test before 4 o'clock so as not to disturb your sleep."
"Don't be too nervous, students. I think you've all taken this test before."
"Seventeen people have been tested so far. Don't force us to knock on each room and drag you out one by one."
Ruan Luo tried to contact her using the walkie-talkie system that Ruan Chen had installed for them, and Ruan Chen answered.
Ruan Luo immediately lost her temper, "Where are you? What are you doing running around?!"
"I'm fine," Ruan Chen replied, seemingly changing the subject. "You and Lin Fengzi should go get tested; you should be fine."
Ruan Luo wanted to ask more questions, but Lin Fengzi took the phone and hung up.
“She’s smarter than us, she must be hiding,” Lin Fengzi patted him. “Let’s go first, they’ve already started searching each room. If we look for Ruan Chen now, we’ll just be making things more difficult for her.”
"I'm afraid she's not hiding!" Ruan Luo was sweating profusely. "You don't know her personality, she's fearless and reckless. I'm just afraid she's brewing some big scheme and ends up walking right into a trap. What if something happens to Ruan Chen..."
At this point, Ruan Luo sighed and said sadly, "I'm afraid the Ye family won't have a place for me then. I might as well end my life in this international waters, so I won't have to go back and be a sinner to my family."
Lin Fengzi nodded with empathy and sorrow, "I don't need to go back to the Lin family anymore. I'll spend the rest of my life begging in the US."
The two walked side by side toward the deck, and in a short while, a line formed on the deck, indicating that almost everyone had come out.
Everyone's smart enough to know that in this critical moment when you're completely helpless, cooperating to save your life is the most important thing.
The group moved quickly, and Ruan Luo kept peeking halfway out from the group to keep an eye on Ruan Yu'er's movements ahead.
He originally wanted to bring Ruan Yu'er with him, but Ruan Chen stopped him, saying that it might be safer for her to be with her classmates.
Ruan Yu'er's mental strength is level five, which is not outstanding, but she is still young.
Ruan Chen is in the storage room at the bottom of the cruise ship.
She sat coldly on a stack of boxes, her moon-white pendant swaying and reflecting a cold light.
A group of people knelt down around him.
"Second Master, you don't need to get involved in this. They just want to find someone; they won't kill anyone."
"Yes, Second Boss, we won't cause any major trouble. Many students here have connections, and we don't want to get ourselves into trouble."
Ruan Chen reached out and took a handgun. While checking the gun's condition, she asked casually, "Does Su Ze know you're taking on side jobs?"
Su Ze definitely didn't know. She had contacted Su Ze yesterday and mentioned that Ye Huanhuan had chartered a yacht to invite all the participating students from China to relax after the competition.
How could Su Ze allow something like this to happen?
As expected, the Blood Skull group stammered and did not answer Ruan Chen's question directly. They only vaguely said, "Second Master, we have cooperated with them more than once or twice. We know each other very well."
"Which side?" Ruan Chen asked with a half-smile, his eyes filled with a hidden killing intent.
Those below exchanged glances discreetly and remained silent.
This second-in-command is too young after all. She doesn't understand the principle of self-preservation, nor does she realize that knowing certain things would make things even more difficult.
Ruan Chen encountered the Blood Skull people on her way to the cockpit. Ruan Luo was right; she wasn't the type to just sit and wait to die. So, as soon as Ruan Luo and Lin Fengzi left, she quietly packed her things and slipped out.
Given the current situation, going to the deck would be like walking into a trap; she has to find a way to break this deadlock.
She didn't believe that China hadn't received a single word. She wanted to find a way to buy time until dawn, hoping for possible reinforcements or some other turning point.
In the dead silence, the storage room door was pounded on loudly, and the others outside urged impatiently, "We agreed to come together to do this, so why are you Blood Skull people hiding? If you're scared, you shouldn't have come in the first place! You're all a bunch of students, what are you chickening out for?"
Ruan Chen raised his chin.
Only after receiving her permission did the subordinates dare to speak up, muttering a few vulgar curses under their breath: "We have our own business to attend to. We're only here to give them face. Who do you think you are? You have the nerve to come here and boss us around."
The people outside weren't buying it. "We've almost finished searching the students on the ship, but we still haven't found the person they're looking for. I guess that person heard the news and went into hiding. They just gave the order that even if they have to dismantle the ship, they have to find that student."
The Blood Skull member replied irritably, "What if we still can't find it?"
There was a moment of silence outside. "I'll listen to orders. If we can't find the people the higher-ups want... then we shouldn't keep any of them. They said they're a menace."
The Blood Skull members were completely enraged. Two of them shielded Ruan Chen behind them, while the rest stepped forward, opened the storage room door, and started arguing. "Don't you know what kind of background and origins these students have? If we keep making a scene like this, none of us will survive in the end!"
“We know perfectly well,” the group of men who arrived said without flinching. “The higher-ups said that those with military backgrounds can leave, but the rest can’t. If you don’t want to get into trouble, you’d better put in the effort to thoroughly search this ship, leaving no stone unturned.”
"Okay, I got it."
After sending those people away, the one who seemed to be the leader of Blood Skull's group looked at Ruan Chen with a worried expression. "Second Master, you heard it too. If we can't find that student, we brothers will be really in trouble. Do you have any ideas? Give me some pointers."
“Taking on private jobs is already breaking the rules, and now you dare to ask me for a legitimate way?” Ruan Chen’s hands were in his hoodie pockets, toying with a switchblade in his palm.
Her tone seemed casual and nonchalant, as she casually remarked, "Want a clear path? Why don't you try handing me over? There aren't many places on this ship where you can hide a person, besides the storage rooms."
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