Zhang Haiyan’s questions were soon answered. The ship had over 800 people on board, and if there were an average of four people per room, there would be more than 200 rooms. In the event of an emergency, the captain had the authority to impose a shipwide lockdown, requiring all passengers to stay in their cabins to control the situation.

Announcements began to blare throughout the ship. Zhang Haiyan vaguely sensed that this situation was very troublesome. Everyone hurried to their rooms, and as Zhang Haiyan moved with the crowd, he saw Warner directing Hudson towards the first-class cabin on the fourth floor.

They were going to check on Steven’s room, where He Jianxi and Steven were inside. During the lockdown, anyone not in their room, regardless of whether they were suspected of anything, would be apprehended, and could even be executed on the spot (in wartime). Everyone had to have a legitimate room to stay in, and even if he immediately brought He Jianxi and Steven back to his own room, Warner would certainly come to inspect it.

The only thing he could do now was to directly snap Steven’s neck and throw him into the sea. He Jianxi had to return to the third-class cabin immediately; otherwise, they would all be in trouble. But Warner and his team were quick in their actions, and he didn’t dare to run and raise suspicion. It was likely impossible to make everything seamless.

He Jianxi, oh He Jianxi, if it were Zhang Haixia, he would have reacted immediately, but He Jianxi couldn’t be relied upon. As he moved with the crowd, Zhang Haiyan brushed past a killer, and the waiter looked at him, and he looked back at the waiter; neither made a move. Once in the corridor, Zhang Haiyan suddenly realized something.

Turning around, he saw Miss Dong personally leading a firing squad out of the ballroom, holding a submachine gun and pulling back the bolt. Warner followed behind her, saying, “If Miss Dong doesn’t retrieve my belongings, we might not go to Xiamen. Miss Dong, your father will have to pay a higher price to get the ship to dock.”

“You’re using the treasures of the Egyptian Museum to make a deal with me? That’s a classic case of ’empty-handedly catching a white wolf.’ Does the Egyptian Museum know your tricks?”

“Exchanging one national treasure from Central Asia for the smuggling rights of ten national treasures from China is, of course, a fair deal, but if it’s lost, then it’s not worth it.”

“You won’t be able to go to Central Asia again. You will be wanted in the United States, and your academic status will be destroyed.” Miss Dong continued, “So, if you don’t have this jade, you’re finished.”

“We’re finished, Miss Dong.”

Miss Dong took out a note from her clothing, the very note Zhang Haiyan had given her. She glanced at it and said, “That’s good. Our fates are aligned. Mr. Warner, please hand over command of your firing squad to me. Tonight, I will help you retrieve the jade, and then we will discuss our transaction.”

Warner looked at the people behind him and nodded. Miss Dong then addressed the firing squad behind Warner, “Gentlemen, there are no rules. I will kill whoever I want—children, adults, the elderly, women. If I say ‘shoot,’ you must fire immediately, or I cannot guarantee your safety.”

Everyone exchanged glances, and Miss Dong began to move forward quickly. Zhang Haiyan steadied himself and lit a cigarette, noticing that all the killers in the crowd were watching him but dared not make a move.

This is indeed an interesting situation. Zhang Haiyan was certain that, before tonight, Miss Dong was actually in a state of house arrest. However, due to her own actions, she had gained control over this group of gunmen. Secondly, Miss Dong was aware of many things happening on the ship. Most importantly, regardless of whether he wanted to cooperate with Miss Dong or intended to kidnap her to take control of the ship, he had good intentions and did not wish to harm her, but Miss Dong did not share the same sentiment. For Miss Dong, she believed that anyone on the ship who might want to kill her, including Zhang Haiyan, needed to be eliminated tonight.

There’s nothing wrong with this logic; if he were in her position, he would likely think the same way. Although he did not understand why Miss Dong felt that someone on the ship wanted to kill her, she had made a very risky and clever move by leveraging the strong firepower of the gunmen against the weaknesses of the assassins.

If the assassins gathered and confronted the gunmen on the deck, they would be wiped out without exception. Therefore, after the gunmen boarded the ship, they had not separated and maintained a consolidated firepower advantage, with all their weapons still grouped together. This made it impossible to slowly wear down the gunmen.

Since a direct confrontation was not feasible, the assassins had two choices: one was to stay outside and risk being caught by the ship’s security; if they resisted, they would be shot on the spot. The other option was to return to their rooms, which were divided into areas for two or three people by the numerous rooms on the ship. For dozens of submachine guns, this basically meant waiting for Miss Dong to take them out room by room, as long as she knew who the assassins were.

She did know, as she had been informed. Zhang Haiyan felt very conflicted. On one hand, he wanted to kidnap Miss Dong and use her abilities to deal with the assassins, but she had already executed her plan, which was more thorough than his own. Moreover, given Miss Dong’s combat capabilities, it would be quite difficult for the assassins to counterattack. This time, the assassins would certainly be eliminated. On the other hand, he was also considered one of the assassins. Based on the direction they had taken, he might be the first one to be taken out.

Zhang Haiyan rushed back to his room, already thinking of a rough plan. Steven needed to be dealt with first. He didn’t want to kill him, but the three of them would have to endure a few hours hanging under the ship. “Cousin, pack up, we have to jump into the sea,” Zhang Haiyan said as he entered the room, only to find that Steven and He Jianxi were both missing.

He was taken aback and noticed that the wires binding Steven had been cut with a knife. Recalling how things were when he left, He Jianxi hadn’t said much, while Steven had been chatting non-stop. At the time, he hadn’t thought it was a problem, but now that he thought about it carefully, He Jianxi, that fool, couldn’t have been fooled by Steven into letting him go.

Zhang Haiyan suddenly felt like Wu Dalang, realizing that these two were a pair of adulterers. Just as he was thinking this, he heard He Jianxi’s cries of injustice coming from the balcony. He rushed to the window and leaned out to see Steven and He Jianxi both knocked to the ground, while Huarna was tearing at Steven’s face. Meanwhile, Hudson had pulled out his gun and was approaching He Jianxi from behind.