Chapter 35: Outbreak

Li Yexing felt that something was off about the atmosphere of the banquet. Since the beginning, the nobles at the banquet had been somewhat impatient, occasionally glancing up at the podium on the second floor.

Li Yexing furrowed his brow, picked up his knife and fork, and cut the chicken wings off the turkey onto his plate, but then he froze. How was he going to eat the chicken wings with a knife and fork?

Lilith understood what he needed and reached into her bag, pulling out a small stack of napkins to give to Li Yexing.

"Thank you." Li Yexing smiled, took the napkins, and laid them on his hand.

He grabbed the chicken wing from his plate and took a big bite of the meat. The meat was okay, but the flavor was too bland. It would have been much better with some barbecue sauce and cumin, and they didn't even provide plastic gloves or anything, making it inconvenient to eat. The chef on this ship was really unprofessional.

After eating the chicken wings, Li Yexing put the chicken bones back on the plate and picked up a glass of what he thought was not-so-good-tasting wine. He drank it all in one gulp, watching as the nobles around him became increasingly agitated. He couldn't help but feel a little worried.

'Was something happening on Ada's side?'

It seemed like there were dense footsteps coming from outside the large door next to Li Yexing. He pushed the door open a crack and looked outside through the crack. He saw a group of security guards running past the hallway in front of the banquet hall with guns in hand.

Li Yexing pushed the door open and grabbed the guard who was running at the back, asking, "What's going on?"

"It's alright, sir..." the security guard said, though his expression appeared somewhat anxious. "It's just a minor security issue, and we'll be able to resolve it quickly."

"Okay, you go ahead then."

After releasing the security guard, Li Yexing found a secluded corner and lightly pressed his finger to his ear, activating the communicator.

"Ada, how's the situation over there?"

For a while, there was no response.

Just as Li Yexing was beginning to think that something was wrong, Ada's reproachful voice came through the communicator. "I'm working on technical matters over here. Is there something you need?"

"Just now, a pair of security guards rushed by from the side of the hall. Judging by their direction, they seemed to be heading toward the control room. Is everything going smoothly on your end?"

"I'm in the lower cargo hold, and they weren't coming for me," Ada said. "There's nothing strange about it. With so many high-class people on board, it wouldn't be unusual for someone to cause trouble after drinking too much."

"How much longer do you need? I don't think things seem quite right. These nobles seem a bit impatient."

"I'm afraid I'll need a little more time," Ada said. "The defenses in the lower cargo hold are even more rigorous than I imagined. There are many more people in black clothing, so I may have to change my route."

"Alright. Good luck."

After ending the communication with Ada, Li Yexing returned to the hall. The people in the hall seemed even more restless, and their agitation and anxiety were written all over their faces. Even the waiters walking around the hall seemed a bit strange.

According to their conversations, it seemed that no food had been served from the kitchen in a long time. They had just sent someone to inquire about it, but that person hadn't returned yet.

"Dammit, where did Parker go? Why hasn't the trade started yet? Is he just leaving us hanging like this?" A chubby man in a suit next to Li Yexing couldn't help but complain. He looked at his watch, and impatience was written all over his face.

"How can a butler, who simply receives money from his master, believe that he has elevated to an upper-class status?" The skinny man next to him echoed, "I knew he would mess it all up."

The nobles in the hall were discussing the trade. Li Yexing had seen in his research that the Orianna sails at this time every year to complete the transaction within the upper-class society. Elite people from all over the world gathered here. Besides establishing connections and discussing interests, the most important thing was the transaction that could not be done openly. However, the trade had not yet begun, and these upper-class people were getting impatient.

Li Yexing was thinking about what went wrong when suddenly Lilith lifted her head and exclaimed, "There's a smell of blood." Hearing Lilith's words, Li Yexing instinctively reached for his gun.

But just then, the door leading from the kitchen to the hall was kicked open with a bang. Li Yexing turned his head and saw a waiter gasping for breath in the doorway. The people in the hall stopped talking and looked at the waiter in shock. He was dressed in tattered clothes with bloodstains on them. He held a meat cleaver in his hand, which was shaking uncontrollably.

The waiter trembled and shouted at the upper-class people in the hall, "Run! There are monsters! Run!"

As soon as he finished speaking, two bloody arms grabbed him from behind. He screamed and swung his cleaver, but the arms held him firmly. Behind him was another "person" wearing a waiter's uniform. If it could still be called a person. The "person" in the waiter's uniform looked as if it had just been pulled out of the water, with white fluid mixed with blood constantly flowing down its body.

It ignored the waiter's screams and its mouth gradually widened. Its jaw snapped open, and a worm-like creature as thick as an arm emerged from its throat. It fiercely bit the waiter's neck, and the waiter stopped struggling instantly, collapsed, and knelt on the ground with his eyes rolled back. The monster behind him held his body firmly, and the meat sausage it spat out was still biting and sucking on the waiter's neck.

The entire hall fell silent in an instant. After some time, accompanied by a woman's scream, the entire hall was thrown into chaos.

"Someone's been killed! Someone's been killed!"

"What was that thing?!"

"Run!"

"Why hasn't anyone called security? What about the security on the ship?!"

The shouts echoed in Li Yexing's ears. Taking advantage of the chaos, he quickly grabbed Lilith's hand and said, "Let's go back and get our equipment."

As they left the hall, Li Yexing pressed his communicator and said, "Ada, there's a problem upstairs."

"What is it? Have you been discovered?" Ada asked on the other end.

"It's a biohazard outbreak" Li Yexing dodged a blood-covered security guard who ran toward him and spoke to the communicator.

Suddenly, the guard turned around and grabbed Li Yexing's hand. Li Yexing tried to shake him off, but he realized that this guard was the same one he had questioned earlier.

"Sir! Please return to your room and take shelter! There are some...rioters on board but don't worry, we'll handle it soon. I'm going to notify the people in the hall to take shelter!"

With that, the guard ran towards the banquet hall without looking back.

Poor guy.

Li Yexing shook his head and continued talking to Ada. "Should we consider evacuation?"

"Protect yourselves first. I'll join you as soon as I get what I need," Ada replied.

"Alright. Good luck."

Li Yexing ended the call and brought Lilith back to their bedroom. As he reached for his key card to open the door, there was a muffled sound, and the entire hallway's lights went out.

The power had gone out!

The same had happened to Li Yexing and Lilith's bedroom door.

"Dammit!"