Cave Refuge

Zachary's words immediately drew the attention of everyone on deck. As Zachary stood alongside Madeline, others understood their relationship, so no one spoke up, instead waiting for Zachary to voluntarily explain the reason for his interruption.

The situation was urgent, and it was not the time for mysteries, so Zachary did not hesitate and directly stated the reason for his interruption, "I came here to warn you about some small black water snakes that have entered the camp.

Those snakes are hidden underwater, and if you water-wade across, you are likely to be stealthily attacked by these little black snakes. I have captured one for testing; not to mention that these small black snakes are difficult to hit with bullets in the water, even if a bullet hits them accurately, ordinary firearms can hardly cause any damage.

Most importantly, these snakes have the characteristics of their species; even if chopped into several pieces, as long as the snake's head remains intact, it will not die immediately and still possesses a strong life vitality. To thoroughly kill the snake, you must shatter its head."

Hearing Zachary's brief words on the intelligence he knew, the members of the Guard Squad standing at the edge of the deck suddenly didn't know whether to continue wading into the water.

After all, if what Zachary said was true, their ordinary clothing would definitely not withstand the bites of those water snakes. At the moment, the water accumulated in the camp was very muddy. If they really prepared to wade across to inspect the situation, no one knew when they might encounter a stealth attack from the water snakes.

Thinking about entering the water, where their lower bodies would be within the attack range of those water snakes, everyone involuntarily shivered.

Just as the members of the Guard Squad standing at the edge of the deck felt indecisive and at a loss, Madeline's phone suddenly rang. Seeing the caller information, Madeline immediately answered the call.

In China, casual conversations tend to long-windedly meander, whereas urgent matters are discussed in a concise tone, sometimes concluding in just a few words.

Watching Madeline hang up the phone in less than thirty seconds, the other people on the deck instantly understood the urgency of the situation.

"The observer by the wall has confirmed it; some monsters took advantage of the camp's watery conditions and entered through the gaps under the camp gate due to their small size.

The observer sent two pieces of news, one good and one bad. The bad news is that those monsters took advantage of the murky accumulated water and stealthily attacked the survivors in the water, causing quite a few casualties.

The good news is, since those monsters that infiltrated into the camp are aquatic creatures, although the initial stealth attack did cause some casualties among the survivors living in the camp,

because the camp was still submerged, most groups playing in the water had Companion Spiritual Treasures stationed nearby. Although the stealth attack initially caused some panic, they quickly calmed down from the chaos of the attack.

They then helped each other pull most people onto the deck of the Companion Spiritual Treasures, so except for those initially injured in the stealth attack, the number of casualties did not further increase once everyone took refuge on the decks of the Companion Spiritual Treasures.

Since everyone is now in a safe area, there's no immediate need to go over and provide support."

If Madeline were an Official of the Imperial Court, saying such things would definitely earn the contempt of others, but Madeline was not an Official of the court. Although she was the de facto controller of the camp, strictly speaking, the camp was still her private property.

Now, all the survivors living in the camp were merely in a landlord-tenant relationship with her. In these chaotic times, she needed to recruit a Guard Squad to ensure the safety of the camp, but the primary purpose of these guards was to protect her safety, not necessarily the safety of all the survivors dwelling in the camp.

After hesitating for a while, Ye Liuyun finally arranged for a few people to control their Companion Spiritual Treasures and explore the camp to investigate the situation in actuality.

The people who left were really just to check the situation in the camp, and although Ye Liuyun knew there were many injured, he didn't have many medicines at hand. Even if he had enough medicines, he wouldn't easily give them to those injured in the camp.

After all, he understood the saying "kindness can breed resentment"; the danger had arisen because those people had played with water, and while Ye Liuyun was the landlord, he was not a nanny. Although they worked in the camp, Ye Liuyun had also provided corresponding food and shelter.

Ye Liuyun could provide protection during a large-scale frontal attack, but he would not offer any compensation for survivors who had already been attacked and were injured.

The reason for sending people out was not to appease those in the camp who had not been attacked but to investigate whether the creatures that had sneaked into the camp from underwater were indeed the small black snakes Dong Tianyu had mentioned.

Although everyone present felt that Dong Tianyu would not lie, taking his word without proof wasn't enough—they still needed to verify it personally to be at ease.

And even though they all knew the best way to verify was for Dong Tianyu, who had the ability to fly, to take some people and scout the situation in the camp from the air, Dong Tianyu, after all, had a good relationship with Ye Liuyun but was not his subordinate.

If they delegated simple tasks to Dong Tianyu for convenience, setting aside whether Dong Tianyu would agree to take on the task, even if he was willing, as Ye Liuyun's subordinates, they would be useless to him if they could not complete such simple tasks themselves.

After those responsible for gathering intelligence in the camp had left rapidly, controlling their Companion Spiritual Treasures under the watchful eyes of everyone on the deck, Ye Liuyun pulled out a box of cigarettes from his pocket.

He first offered one to Dong Tianyu, then lit one for himself and threw the rest of the cigarettes to the others who were eagerly watching the cigarette box.

Everyone present was a smoker, and perhaps only Dong Tianyu and a few others did not have a smoking addiction. However, even if the others had severe addictions, during this period, it could gradually help them quit.

The current period was not without cigarettes, but due to the constant onslaught of natural disasters, the price of cigarettes continued to soar. Compared to gold and silver, which were inedible and only used as materials, cigarettes, consumable items usable by anyone, became a firm commodity in price.

It is worth noting that even though Dong Tianyu had prepared early and plundered many places, the stock of tobacco in his space was now nearly depleted, with only about ten cartons of each type of cigarette left— one could imagine how much stock was left on the market now.

When Ye Liuyun took out the cigarettes, he didn't really want to smoke; instead, he was pacifying his subordinates on the deck. Compared to the survivors who had encountered stealth attacks in the camp, those standing on the deck, aside from Dong Tianyu, were truly trusted followers remaining after a long process of elimination.

Otherwise, Ye Liuyun wouldn't have selectively handed out some good items to them immediately after getting them from Dong Tianyu.

After all, a true leader clearly distinguishes their subordinates; the ones painted illusions are those who do the hard labor carrying burdens, while the true confidants are always given real gold and real opportunities.

Otherwise, constantly painting illusions, unless they were simpletons, there would always be a possibility of betrayal.