6: Kneel down, or get off the ship!

On the deck, Zhou Qian was speaking with great enthusiasm.

She felt as if she were the Goddess of Justice herself, about to lead her sisters to overthrow tyranny and march toward a republic.

Suddenly—

A harsh sound of electrical static exploded.

Immediately after.

Chen Du's cold, metallic voice came through the broadcast system.

"My ship, my rules."

"Since you don't want to follow them, then get out and practice your democracy elsewhere."

Before his voice even faded, a blood-red holographic countdown was projected out of thin air above the heads of Zhou Qian, Zhao Mengmeng, and the others.

【10:00】

"What... what does this mean?" Zhao Mengmeng was dazed.

The next second, the sensation beneath their feet changed.

The area they were standing on suddenly became as transparent as water!

"Ahhh—!!"

Heart-wrenching screams pierced the night sky.

It became transparent!

Completely transparent!

Zhou Qian, Zhao Mengmeng, and the others looked down, staring directly at the churning black sea below!

In the black waves, countless distorted, pale faces were looking up at them, revealing greedy, sinister grins.

Withered, rotting ghost hands were desperately clawing upward.

Fingernails scraped against the bottom of the deck, making a screeching friction sound.

【09:43】

The blood-colored countdown above their heads ticked away.

The transparent deck beneath their feet grew visibly thinner!

"No... please don't!"

Zhao Mengmeng's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground.

As she fell, her face was pressed almost directly against the transparent deck.

A bloated ghost face with only half a head suddenly slammed against the surface!

Dead, fish-like eyes locked into an intense gaze with Zhao Mengmeng!

"Aaaaaah! Ghost! Mommy, save me!"

A foul stench filled the air.

She peed her pants on the spot, the yellow liquid spreading across the transparent board.

The scene was extremely awkward for a moment.

"Chen Du! Are you crazy! We're classmates!"

Zhou Qian was still trying to hold her ground.

She gripped a nearby metal pillar, her body shaking as if she had Parkinson's.

"Murder is illegal! You... you can't do this!"

Over the broadcast, Chen Du's voice remained completely indifferent.

"Law? On this ship, I am the law."

"Seven minutes left."

【07:00】

The transparent deck thinned again!

The sound of ghost hands slapping became clearer, as if they were scratching glass right next to her ear!

"No... I'm out! I don't want to die!"

The girls who had just been siding with Zhou Qian about voting were now scrambling to escape the area.

But under Chen Du's permission lock, Air Walls had risen around the perimeter of the area.

【03:00】

"I was wrong! Chen Du... no, Captain! Daddy! I was wrong!"

Zhou Qian broke down.

The fear of facing the abyss shattered all her vanity and arrogance.

She fell to her knees with a thud.

Her knees slammed heavily onto the transparent board, and she didn't even care that she was exposing herself.

She faced the camera and kowtowed frantically!

"I shouldn't have asked for supplies! I shouldn't have talked back to you! Please, don't throw me down!"

"I'll listen to whatever you say! I'll do anything you want! I'm the class monitor, I'm good at management, I'm useful, I'm useful!"

Even as her forehead began to bleed from the kowtowing, Zhou Qian didn't dare stop.

She was truly terrified.

The man sitting above was truly capable of killing her!

【00:01】

The countdown froze at the final second.

The transparent deck stopped thinning.

The entire deck was deathly silent.

There was only the sound of Zhao Mengmeng's sobbing and Zhou Qian's heavy, ragged breathing.

Click.

The loudspeaker turned off.

The metal door slid open slowly.

Chen Du walked out leisurely, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a biscuit.

He looked down condescendingly at the group of trembling girls.

"Remember."

"This is the first and last time."

"This ship does not support idlers, and it certainly doesn't support useless people who try to negotiate terms with me."

With a flick of his finger.

The transparency of the deck deactivated, returning to its alloy color.

Zhou Qian collapsed as if her spine had been removed.

Looking into Chen Du's cold eyes, she could no longer muster a single thought of resistance.

Chen Du didn't spare her another glance.

Wherever his gaze fell, all the girls instinctively lowered their heads.

Except for two people.

Ye Qiu pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose and took a step forward.

"Everyone, even an idiot should be able to see the situation clearly by now."

"On this sea, there is no democracy. Only the strong can set the rules, and only absolute centralization can keep us alive."

Ye Qiu looked at Chen Du, positioning herself perfectly as a subordinate:

"From now on, the Captain's orders are the highest command. Anyone who dares to pull little tricks behind his back or attempts to incite emotions..."

At this point, Ye Qiu paused.

The silent Xia Mo beside her cooperated by drawing a dagger.

The killing intent brought by her S-grade talent [Shadow Assassin] caused the surrounding temperature to drop several degrees.

Xia Mo didn't speak; she just stared coldly at Zhou Qian.

"...then there will be no need for the Captain to act; we will clean house ourselves," Ye Qiu finished the sentence.

One civil, one martial.

One strategist, one enforcer.

In an instant, they solidified Chen Du's absolute rule.

Chen Du looked at Ye Qiu with satisfaction.

This woman was smart enough to save him a lot of trouble.

"Dismissed. Except for Ye Qiu, Li Yaozhi, and The three Xia sisters, no one else is allowed near the captain's quarters."

Chen Du waved his hand and turned to return to his room.

Leaving such trivial management work to Ye Qiu was just right.

As the crowd dispersed in fear.

Chen Du caught a glimpse of An Nuonuo in the corner.

The little loli was facing away from everyone, crouching behind a bollard used for securing cables.

She looked around sneakily, and after confirming no one was watching, she stuffed a small piece of compressed biscuit under her puff skirt.

Was she... hiding food in her thigh strap?

Chen Du raised an eyebrow.

This timid girl actually had a hamster-like personality?

Interesting.

However, he didn't expose her; having a bit of a survival instinct was better than being a naive fool.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Just as Chen Du stepped one foot into the captain's quarters.

A series of urgent, piercing alarms suddenly exploded on the control console!

Chen Du's expression changed, and he rushed over in two steps.

An exclamation mark was flashing at the location of the Lowest Cargo Hold!

【Warning! Warning!】

【Detected unauthorized High-energy Lifeform signal! Approaching the bottom of the cargo hold!】