"Feign death?" Lan Xue exclaid, soon grasping the logic and her expression chilled as she continued, "Interesting, so that's how it is. I wonder who cut off the power just now—probably soone from the Reincarnation Killer Organization. They caught off guard, and I only managed to take out a few bodyguards before Song Yan took the chaos to escape. Here we are, surrounded by hijackers. Dividing our forces, eh?"
"I don't think splitting up is necessarily a good thing. Being together, we can watch each other's backs. As long as we make a move here, a feint there, they won't be able to grasp our numbers. Plus, there are skilled assassins from the Reincarnation Killer Organization on board. Even if we play it cautiously, the hijackers may not co out on top," Luo Zheng opposed Lan Xue's suggestion, listening alertly to the many footsteps approaching.
"Fine, I'll listen to you," Lan Xue considered it sensible; although dividing their forces could scatter the hijackers' attention, the cruise ship was only so big—unfavorable for maneuvering and hiding, dangerous indeed. It was better to stick together for coordination and support, so she decisively agreed.
"Head to the cockpit first?" Luo Zheng proposed.
"The cockpit must be monitored by the hijackers too. Are you thinking of sailing the cruise ship back to our country?" Lan Xue countered.
"Yes, these hijackers might be from Japan, and they're well-trained. I'm worried they're disguised Japanese troops; I heard them talking, pure Japanese, no mistake," Luo Zheng said.
"The Song family, those bastards," Lan Xue cursed, punching the door fra angrily, "We definitely need a foolproof plan. Two things are crucial: first, the signal jamming problem; second, the navigation issue. If we solve these two problems, we'll have the upper hand."
"It's going to be tough. This cruise ship belongs to Song Yan, and he wouldn't set such a big trap without thorough planning. In my opinion, the only way is to take down all the hijackers here and blow this wide open. Once it's confird that these are Japanese troops in disguise, the matter becos grave," Luo Zheng said.
"The bridge is at the stern, and we can't get there from here. Every floor is guarded, it's not going to be easy. We'll have to get to the top deck first, gain the high ground, get a clear view of the enemy, and then see if we can infiltrate the bridge from the fifth deck at the rear," Lan Xue gritted her teeth, her eyes blazing with a fighting spirit.
"Okay, be careful," Luo Zheng's fighting spirit surged as well.
The two of them imdiately changed their route, kicked open a room door, and peered out the window to make sure it was safe outside before Luo Zheng helped boost Lan Xue up to the second floor. Lan Xue climbed onto the second-floor window, saw no one inside, shattered the glass with her gun, and climbed through. She grabbed a bedsheet and threw it down, holding tight to the other end with one foot braced on the window sill to steady herself.
Luo Zheng tested the hanging bedsheet, finding Lan Xue's grip solid, and quickly climbed up. Using the sa thod, they reached the third floor, which was quiet and deserted. The duo then moved up to the fourth floor, also finding no one—apparently, the hijackers had herded everyone onto the deck. Finally reaching the fifth floor, they discovered it was empty too, with no hostages or hijackers. This ant all passengers had been taken as hostages and gathered on the deck.
Under cover of darkness, the two made their way to the stern of the fifth deck. Looking down from there, they saw the decks staggered below; by flipping over the railing on the fifth floor, they could jump straight down to the fourth, cascading down to the first deck. There were many hostages on the deck, with a dozen or so hijackers lined up, backs to the ship, guns trained on the hostages, and more hijackers hidden sowhere out of sight.
Luo Zheng thought for a mont and still didn't dare to go down from here. Once a hostage noticed him and let out a scream, it would attract the attention of the hijackers, compromising the elent of surprise. That would be very troubleso.
Lan Xue saw a banner next to them that went straight down to the first floor. She imdiately grabbed the banner and said, "We scouted out the place during the day. The first floor below is a workshop, and outside is a corridor. Beyond that, there's a stairwell which leads directly to the cockpit. The stairwell entrance is a critical passage, so there should be a large number of hijackers guarding it. How does that sound?"
"No question, we fight." Luo Zheng said coldly. Seeing Lan Xue grab the banner and slide straight down, she landed steadily on the edge of the first-floor railing, signaling that it was safe. Her movents were exceptionally nimble. Following suit, Luo Zheng also descended, and the two pushed open a window to enter a storeroom filled with various supplies, neatly stacked and unoccupied. They approached the door, listened for a while, and hearing no one outside, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ready?" Luo Zheng looked at Lan Xue and asked. Lan Xue checked her weapons and nodded at Luo Zheng. Luo Zheng also checked his weapons, quickly opened the door, and peeked out. Seeing no one in the passageway, they quickly moved to the outside corridor, running towards the bow of the ship. They soon noticed hijackers patrolling the hallway up ahead.
Suddenly, the corridor lights blazed on, startling them. They quickly dodged into a nearby guest room. The door was unlocked, making it easy to enter, and it was also unoccupied.
After waiting for a while and detecting no activity in the passage, Luo Zheng signaled to Lan Xue that there were people outside, and not just a few. There was only this one route to the cockpit, and if they wanted to take control of the ship, they would have to brace themselves for an assault.
Luo Zheng made several hand gestures to indicate that Lan Xue should cover the rear while he would lead the charge. Lan Xue understood, gripping two guns, the hijackers' confiscated AK47 rifles. These guns had fierce firepower and a fast rate of fire, suitable for a narrow space battle. After preparing to shoot, Lan Xue nodded to Luo Zheng.
Luo Zheng saw a fruit knife in the room, quickly went over, picked it up, and held it in a reverse grip, knowing the corridor was narrow and Lan Xue's two guns would suffice. He swiftly opened the door and they both charged out. The sound of their running attracted the attention of the hallway hijackers. Soone ca over, and they only saw a dark figure shadow engulfing them before they could react. They felt a pain in the neck, their vision began to darken, and their consciousness dissipated rapidly, soon losing all sensation.
"Da-da-da!" Soone had fired a gun.
Right before the gunfire rang out, Luo Zheng used the hijacker's body as a shield to block all the bullets. The reason he chose to use a knife instead of a gun was precisely because of this. The passage was too tight, and they were not far from each other; using a gun could easily injure a teammate, and the power of the gun would not be fully realized. Close combat was more convenient. Almost simultaneously, Lan Xue fired two shots from behind, killing the shooting hijackers.
Luo Zheng took the opportunity to quickly survey the surroundings. The corridor was not very wide, so it couldn't accommodate many people—about a dozen at most, with one guard standing to the east and another to the west. When the gunshots sounded, they were all sowhat stunned, and they only reacted after the first hijackers were killed. Surprised, they all opened fire, though their responses were not slow.
"Da-da-da!" A barrage of bullets ca their way. Luo Zheng quickly pushed the body towards one person and then darted at the nearest other hijacker. He struck with a lethal move; the fruit knife traced a cold gleam as he swiped at the other's neck, as fast as lightning.
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