Chapter 689: I'm Part of the Alliance Now; Try Laying a Finger on Me!

Chapter 689: "I'm a member of the Alliance now, you touch me and see what happens?"

Before stepping onto that pier, Chen Jianhong had never felt so deeply that life was actually so beautiful.

Especially when he had just wolfed down a plate of grilled meat, followed by a large glass of ice-cold beer down his throat, that emotion... or rather, the pain in the back of his head from crying, almost brought tears to his eyes.

Sure enough, this was what it meant to be fucking alive!

Those miserable days were finally over!

And at this moment, Chen Jianhong also finally understood why that fellow Sun Yuechi didn't want to be the administrator anymore.

If he had known that life in the Alliance was so comfortable, he wouldn't have been this captain either!

But understanding was understanding.

When they had a chance to meet again, he would still punch that fellow hard in the face.

To avenge the misery of these past two and a half months!

Although it was morning, for the crew of the Dolphin, whose days and nights were reversed, it was just right to eat it as dinner.

A plate of grilled meat had just been finished when a girl in a waitress uniform brought up another plate.

Looking at the plate of sizzling, oily grilled meat, Chen Jianhong couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Speaking of which, what kind of meat is this?"

A player at the same table grinned and said.

"Trash-kun's tail!"

Chen Jianhong was stunned for a moment.

"? What's that?"

Another player next to him reached out and smacked the back of that talkative guy's head.

"He won't understand if you say that, ahem... this is just normal lizard tail."

"Oh, oh..."

Listening to the explanation from the vault dweller, Chen Jianhong nodded blankly, then reached out to grab a skewer of grilled meat, bringing it to his mouth for a wipe.

Although it sounded a bit strange, compared to their food some time ago, it was considered normal...

The entire beach was filled with the aroma of grilled meat, with all kinds of strange ingredients, as well as mushrooms and berries picked from the rainforest, and some leaves emitting a strange fragrance.

The survivors and crew members who came down from the Dolphin caught the grilled meat and beer and went into a frenzy of eating, swallowing it down like hungry ghosts reincarnated, which made people feel sorry for them just watching.

"Thank you so much!" A haggard middle-aged woman, her eyes welling with tears, held Sisi's hand, her choked voice carrying sincere gratitude, "Until yesterday, we all thought we were dead. If we hadn't met you, I really don't know how much longer I could have held on..."

"It's okay, it's over." Lightly patting the back of her hand, Sisi said softly.

In fact, looking at their threshold for enduring suffering, the survivors of the Southern Archipelago Federation indeed weren't bragging.

Before this war, they had indeed ended the wasteland to a certain extent and lived a wealthy, civilized life in a relatively closed environment.

In contrast, the wastelanders in other parts of the Central Continent were much more miserable.

For example, Qingquan City.

Before the Alliance came, most of the survivors there had never eaten a proper meal in their lives. Nutrient paste and porridge made of green wheat were the daily routine for most people, and only slave owners, profiteers, mercenaries, and villains could live a decent life for a few days.

However, she wouldn't blame them for being pretentious.

No matter what kind of suffering it was, it was real. Perhaps the degree of severity was different, but there was no distinction between which was noble and which was low.

At least it seemed so to her.

Looking at the devouring survivors, Tail raised her right hand to look into the distance, with a satisfied smile on her face.

Watching this mukbang was just too stress-relieving.

"Oh! Everyone, eat more, don't be polite! Anyway, Brother Fangchang is paying!"

Fangchang, who happened to be passing by, glanced at this guy and gave a friendly reminder.

"Indeed, don't be polite. Anyway, it's paid with the money of the Baiyue Strait Development Company."

"Giao?!" Tail looked at him in great surprise. "I thought you were paying!"

Fangchang smiled faintly.

"How is that possible? Am I the kind of person who would use his own money to do good deeds?"

Tail looked in surprise at this guy who said this without blushing at all.

"Yikes! Such a heartless man, how did the lovely Miss Dolly ever take a liking to you!"

Fangchang thought seriously for half a second.

"Maybe... she has better vision?"

Tail looked at him with surprise, her mouth open but unable to say a word.

Good grief!

Is this what a powerhouse is like?

How on earth did he manage to show off so naturally?

...

In just a dozen minutes, most of the grilled meat piled on the long table was polished off.

As for those scallops, conches, and oysters, they were left untouched on the side, and no one bothered to look at them.

It was no wonder, actually.

Over the past two months, the thing they had eaten the most was these things from the sea. Now, they probably wanted to vomit just looking at seafood.

The crowd, full of food and wine, sat on the beach. Some looked at the sea and sang, some lay down spread-eagled, and some simply took a nap on the beach.

The boss of Yiren, who had been busy for a long time, finally managed to bring out the signature dish of Yiren Tavern—french fries—before the guests fell asleep.

He was seen carrying two baskets woven from vines, running to the beach with a cheerful face, and dumping the fries all at once like feeding pigs onto the long table where a pile of grilled meat had just been cut.

"Fries are here!"

Smelling that alluring aroma of carbohydrates, everyone looked at the golden mound, with a trace of desire in their curious eyes.

It felt like this stuff smelled even better than grilled meat!

But they really couldn't eat any more, and many people sat on the ground, unable to even move their legs.

Chen Jianhong, who was the only one still somewhat reserved, also cast a curious glance at the pile of golden strips of food.

"What is that?"

Fangchang, who walked to his side, said with a smile.

"Fries, a local specialty here, want a taste?"

While listening to him, Chen Jianhong had already reached out, picked up a piece, and stuffed it into his mouth, his eyes lighting up instantly.

After a good while, he wiped his greasy hands on the tablecloth and looked at Fangchang with an emotional face.

"Incredible... how did you guys think of this, to make food with so many variations?"

Fang Chang said with a smile.

“This is nothing. Once you get to Dawn City, I guarantee you won’t have the same meal for breakfast, lunch, or dinner for 365 days straight.”

Chen Jianhong wore an expression of disbelief.

But seeing the unwavering look in the man’s eyes, and thinking of that someone in Dawn City who had forgotten all about home, he couldn’t help but believe it halfway.

Just then, a commotion suddenly arose from the direction of the distant beach, followed by a cry of alarm.

“A boat!”

“Coming from the east!”

“A Federation patrol boat! Damn it!”

At the sound of that cry, the people who had been relaxed just a moment before scrambled up from the beach in panic, not even bothering to pick up their shoes, limping as they ran toward the higher ground.

It was clear that the Southern Archipelago Federation’s navy had tormented them enough during this time, to the point where a single speedboat could scare them into such a state.

Seeing Chen Jianhong instinctively reach for his gun, Fang Chang quickly grabbed his shoulder and patted it.

“Leave it to us.”

With that, he made a gesture to Tail, then turned and walked toward the dock.

…

The speedboat soon pulled up to the dock, looking like a light leaf next to the Dolphin submarine beside it.

And the kind that falls at an elephant’s feet.

Just as Muda stepped onto the dock, he noticed the crowd on the shore rising in panic, fleeing with their backs to him.

Among them were both the drunken rebels of the Dolphin and the Coral City residents taken hostage by the rebels.

Recognizing those people, the sailor behind Muda was startled at first, then shouted toward the shore.

“Get away from the rebels! We’re here to save you—”

If they could rally those survivors, maybe they could subdue the rebel crew!

But before his words faded, a hand landed on his shoulder.

“Enough, it’s useless.”

Facing his comrade’s bewildered gaze, Muda shook his head and withdrew his hand from the shoulder.

“Who do you think they’re running from? Those rebels sitting with them?”

The sailor was momentarily speechless, unable to utter a word.

And just then, a roar from the shore answered his earlier shout.

“Who asked you to save us!”

“Weren’t you the ones who cut off Coral City’s power! Stop pretending to be innocent!”

“You murderers!”

“Get out of the Alliance’s territory!”

Realizing that only three Federation soldiers had come ashore, the crowd that had been fleeing just moments before stopped in their tracks, glaring at them on the dock with hostile eyes.

“Stay calm.”

Muda gave a look to his two subordinates, then turned to the group approaching the dock and called out bluntly.

“Someone asked us to deliver something—”

He was only halfway through his sentence when he suddenly stopped, frozen in place.

There, on the beach not far away, were the two girls who had gone missing near the wreckage of the ocean current power station. One of them, the one with short hair, was even waving at them.

“Oh! Long time no see!”

Not just Muda, but the two sailors behind him also looked as if they’d seen a ghost.

As the group drew near, Muda stared blankly at the two, swallowed, and said,

“You… what happened?”

Tail grinned.

“We almost didn’t make it, but luckily we hitched a ride… Oh, right, where’s the thing?”

Staring at her for a long moment, he finally looked toward the speedboat behind him.

“…Under the speedboat, we hung it with a fishing net.”

“Oh! Thanks a lot!”

Mission accomplished!

Tail ran excitedly toward the speedboat, already eager to turn in the task.

Without stopping her, Muda turned to face Fang Chang, Captain Chen Jianhong, and the other players like Si Si who had gathered to watch, paused for a moment, and said,

“We had an agreement: vessels from Vault 70 are not to get supplies from you… I need an explanation. What’s with this submarine and these people?”

“We haven’t broken the agreement,” Fang Chang continued with a smile. “Mr. Chen here, and those people on the beach, are now citizens of the Alliance.”

Muda was stunned.

“What?”

Before Fang Chang could speak, Chen Jianhong, standing beside him, looked at the man defiantly and said smugly,

“That’s right. I’m a citizen of the Alliance now. Try touching me, go ahead?”

Muda didn’t look at him; instead, he stared hard at Fang Chang and said, word by word,

“They are criminals. Your so-called ‘survivors in suffering unite’—is that just shielding these criminals so they can escape judgment?”

Fang Chang looked at him and asked,

“Then what crime have they committed?”

Muda fixed his eyes on him.

“War crimes. They must pay for the twelve cargo ships they sank and plundered, and for the crew who died at sea—”

“Stop spouting nonsense!”

An angry roar cut him off. Chen Jianhong stepped forward, glaring into his eyes, and continued through gritted teeth,

“Sank twelve cargo ships? With this submarine? Tell me, how could we sink twelve cargo ships? Ram them with the bow?”

Before Muda could speak, a sailor beside him pulled a wanted poster from his pocket.

“This is the evidence—”

“This isn’t evidence. It’s just a piece of scrap paper with some nonsense and a steel stamp.”

Fang Chang glanced at the paper, then looked at the sailor holding the wanted poster and continued,

“Occasionally, wastelanders flee to our territory and go into hiding, and then their enemies come seeking revenge. For fairness, we allow both sides to face each other in court. That’s better than them shooting it out in the streets.”

“If the plaintiff’s evidence can indeed prove that a citizen of the Alliance, before obtaining citizenship, committed serious crimes against humanity in a distant land, we give them two choices: serve their sentence as an Alliance citizen to atone, or be stripped of citizenship and leave within a set time… But all of this depends on one thing: we need evidence.”

"What weapon sank those twelve cargo ships? What were the coordinates of the attacks, and at what time on which day did each occur... You need to at least submit this evidence to us, and ensure it is genuine and valid, not just a few aggressive, empty words."

The sailor wanted to say more, but Muda beside him reached out and pulled him back.

"He's right. We do need these things."

At first, he hadn't thought it was anything important, but now he had changed his mind.

Not just the sea monster beneath the ocean current power station and the signal from the mental interference device, but also the unusual reaction of the officer who had interrogated him...

All of this made it hard not to suspect whether there was some conspiracy behind it.

The sailor stared blankly at his superior, then glanced at the people before him, and could only grudgingly stuff the wanted notice back into his chest.

Fang Chang looked at the NPC named Muda with surprise.

It seemed there were reasonable people here too, not all of them stubborn. So he turned his gaze back to Captain Chen Jianhong.

"To convince our neighbors thoroughly, could you take them on a tour of the submarine? We'll act as third-party witnesses, photographing and documenting the 'weapons' they point out. Of course, you can refuse—you have no obligation to prove your innocence."

"No problem," Chen Jianhong said, a hint of mockery in his eyes as he looked at the three men. "Feel free to look around. I'm also curious—did our toilet plungers capsize your cargo ships, or are your eyes stuck on your backsides?"

The two sailors glared at him.

Ignoring the provocation, Muda looked at Fang Chang and nodded seriously.

"Thank you."

Sisi, standing nearby, lowered her folded arms and raised her right hand.

"I'll be a witness."

Besides her, several other players who had been watching with interest also raised their hands.

"Count me in!"

"Me too, me too!"

"Brothers, let's go together!"

In an instant, over sixty witnesses had gathered on the scene—more than the crew of the Dolphin submarine.

Though they had no interest in the dispute between the Federation and Vault 70, they were very interested in touring this freebie nuclear submarine.

Among them were some half-baked professionals, eager to observe and learn.

Fang Chang wasn't stingy; he waved his hand decisively.

"They're yours."

And so, the Federation patrol captain and the captain of the Dolphin submarine, surrounded by a crowd of players, returned to the submarine.

The task didn't take long.

After all, as Captain Chen Jianhong had shown, this was just a cargo submarine, with perhaps an advanced propulsion system, but no offensive weapons installed.

Following behind Chen Jianhong, Muda's mood grew heavier the deeper he went, until he fell completely silent.

He wasn't the only one.

The two subordinates trailing him felt the same.

Especially the sailor who had been carrying the wanted notice—after seeing where the survivors cultivated seaweed and synthesized nutrient paste, his face twisted in shock.

Was this the so-called "ghost of the deep" the Federation Navy had claimed?

They found no weapons in its belly, no stolen loot—only a group of Coral City residents and traces of their struggle to survive in harsh conditions...

Who had made these poor souls suffer so miserably...

Muda clenched his fists involuntarily, his wavering gaze hardening into barely restrained anger.

Anyone with even a shred of conscience could see that there was no evidence of the crimes the Federation Navy had accused them of—only proof of another group's wrongdoing.

He took photos of everything, then took a deep breath and looked at Captain Chen Jianhong beside him, speaking solemnly.

"I apologize for what my men and I said earlier. You are victims of this war, not war criminals—at least, I see no evidence here to support the so-called crimes on that wanted notice."

"I can apologize for myself; you don't need to speak for me, sir..." the sailor beside him muttered, stepping forward and looking at Captain Chen with reluctant but sincere eyes. "I'm sorry. But I had no choice—I was just following orders... Damn those bastards. I really don't understand what they were thinking."

"Let bygones be bygones. I'm a citizen of the Alliance now." Chen Jianhong shrugged, no longer condescendingly mocking them.

He could understand that these men were not the instigators of the war, but ordinary people like himself, innocently dragged into this conflict.

Watching Muda lost in thought and the sailor staring down in confusion, Sisi lowered her folded arms and spoke slowly.

"It's not hard to understand. Some people want this war to continue, and they need a reason for it to go on. Like an escaped attack submarine, a death ghost lurking on the seabed... Its existence is enough to throw the uninformed majority into panic, and under that panic, they become silent accomplices to the war. At the same time, it helps cover up things they'd rather not have known."

She paused, then added in a half-joking tone.

"Actually, before you came, I kept wondering if you would hand that detector over to the Federation Navy... I bet if you had, we'd never see you again, and you'd never have had the chance to see all this."

Muda was silent for a moment, then spoke with a complicated expression.

"If it were yesterday, I might have argued with you. But now, I really don't have the confidence... Maybe you're right. There are indeed some problems within our ranks."

To be honest, he had felt something similar before.

Especially when he realized there might be a mole in the Navy—he had vaguely sensed that he and his two subordinates might be silenced for knowing too much.

That was why he had conspired with the two behind him to fabricate a story, conceal some clues, and deliver the detector here as soon as possible.

Watching Muda's troubled expression, Sisi continued.

"How about a deal?"

Muda looked at her.

"What deal?"

Sisi went on.

"This area is your patrol zone. The sailors on duty here are your men. They listen to you more than to the Federation Navy command, right?"

"Of course. They're all boys from Ring Island, from the same settlement as me." Muda answered without hesitation, then looked at her with confusion. "What's the problem?"

Sisi curved her lips and continued.

"Since the existing evidence is enough to prove these crew members innocent, why don't you just turn a blind eye to the existence of this submarine and the crew who've come ashore? Pretend you didn't see anything."

Muda was stunned for two seconds, then looked at her with a wry smile.

"A submarine this big, nearly six hundred people—how do you expect us to turn a blind eye?"

"Simple," Sisi said with a smile. "Normally, we'll keep the Dolphin submerged at the bottom of the sea, only surfacing when necessary. Oh, and if the Federation Navy comes, let us know in advance. We'll move it farther away and tell the people on shore to be careful."

Based on current intelligence, the South Islands Federation, though lacking a proper army, had at least a dozen warships patrolling the southern waters.

The Alliance's foothold in the Baiyue Strait was still unstable. Despite having a strong army, they lacked reliable anti-ship weapons. If a real fight broke out, even if they won, it would likely be a pyrrhic victory, pushing the survivors in these waters straight into the arms of the Torch Church.

Compared to that, they had a better option—redirecting the gun barrels aimed at Vault 70 toward the Torch followers in Haiya Province.

Judging by how those zealots treated the local survivors, it was clear the South Islands Federation was not weak—strong enough, in fact, to threaten the Torch.

Otherwise, they would have already moved in openly, like they did with the survivors around Jinhe City, instead of resorting to infiltration.

Muda stared intently at Sisi, frowning slightly.

"I don't understand... Why won't you let me use this chance to clear their names?"

In his view, this was a good opportunity.

If more people could learn of the plight of the over five hundred survivors aboard the Dolphin, at least they might win the support of the thirty thousand Coral City survivors scattered across the islands.

Then even the President would have no choice but to respond.

Yet upon hearing his words, Sisi merely smiled faintly.

“So, how do you plan to clear their names? Paste these photos in the newspapers, or slam them onto the desk of the Federal Navy Command? That would be utterly useless. Even if you could prove the Dolphin incident was a mistake, you couldn't prove the ocean current power station had nothing to do with Shelter 70, let alone make those who intend to side with the Torch Church stand with us.”

The latter was the key.

Among the South Archipelago Federation, there were certainly those who could see the truth, but that did not mean they would necessarily stand on the side of facts.

Haiya Province possessed all the technology, resources, land, and everything else the southern seas needed.

To win over the survivors of the southern seas required more than just evidence; it required making the Baiyue Strait an acceptable alternative.

Whether on economic issues or the “slime mold” control problem, if the Alliance could do better than the Torch Church, most people would realign themselves, even if only out of self-interest.

That was the entirety of the plan.

Muda stared at her blankly, took a deep breath, and said.

“Then what do you plan to do?”

Sisi said.

“Step by step. Before we reveal the evidence, we must first bring as many people as possible onto our chariot.”

Muda asked seriously.

“For example?”

Sisi: “For example, the place closest to us, like your hometown... Ring Island, plagued by freshwater shortages. We promised the governor there before to help solve their freshwater supply problem. Now it's time to give him an answer.”

Muda looked at her with a strange expression.

“You've solved it? That's a settlement of a hundred thousand people... Do you know how much freshwater they need?”

Sisi said with a smile.

“I know, but so what? We are now standing on a piece of land, a land you once abandoned and thought impossible to conquer. Not to mention a hundred thousand, even ten million, a hundred million... we have ways to supply them.”

Muda swallowed.

“Then how do you plan to send the freshwater? By ship?”

Sisi shook her head and said slowly.

“That's too troublesome. We prefer to build a two-hundred-nautical-mile-long pipeline... We really didn't have a good solution before, but now the situation is different. We have the Dolphin, and over five hundred experts skilled in underwater construction, with rich experience in construction.”

Reaching out to pat the hard cabin beside her, she continued with a bright smile.

“All you need to do is turn a blind eye to them, and help us keep an eye on the Federation's fleet!”