Chapter 719.3: Played

At the exact same time the Jungle Corps withdrew from Ring Island, the Federation destroyer, which had already learned part of the situation from the New Alliance aircraft, continued advancing toward the battle zone.

Some things simply could not be explained over radio communications. They had to see them with their own eyes.

Silence filled the bridge.

Whether it was Captain Dongwen or the officers under his command, everyone silently stared at the endless ocean ahead. In truth, both the captain and his subordinates had long heard rumors that their friends in the north had been helping them discreetly resolve certain problems.

The one thing none of them had imagined the ones carrying out the dirty work would actually be Mutant Humans. Even harder to accept was the fact that the incident had occurred less than 100 nautical miles from Ring Island.

“There has to be some kind of misunderstanding...” one of the officers on the bridge said nervously, cold sweat dripping down his face. “No matter what, the higher-ups wouldn’t really use those things.”

Surely there had to be better solutions. If necessary, even having the Federation fleet act directly would have been preferable.

Dongwen said nothing. His eyes remained fixed on the rolling waves in the distance.

At that moment, his pupils suddenly contracted slightly. Amid the surging waves, a mangled arm abruptly floated into view. It didn’t take long for him to realize it wasn’t just one. Mutilated corpses drifted with the tides one after another, their blue scales and skin clearly revealing their identities.

Mutated sea creatures attracted by the smell of blood tore into the corpses, completely ignoring the nearby destroyer.

Standing beside Dongwen, the officer swallowed hard and forced what he wanted to say out of his throat. “Mutant Humans...”

It wasn’t just one or two. With so many corpses, there had to be at least a thousand of them! Realizing that, cold sweat trickled down his chin. If those mutants had traveled another 80 nautical miles southeastward, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Dongwen silently stared at the horrifying scene upon the sea before glancing at the sonar display nearby.

A signal pulsed across the screen. That was a Laken.

Apparently sensing the psychic interference signals emitted by the destroyer, the injured beast was twisting its wounded body while fleeing northward.

Over a dozen bizarre-looking submersibles pursued it from behind and they were likely New Alliance machines. Although those submersibles were visibly damaged from the previous battle, they clearly had no intention of letting prey that had practically reached their mouths escape.

Having already promised the pilot earlier that they would provide assistance, Dongwen turned toward the executive officer and issued an order.

“Launch a torpedo.” After pausing briefly, he added, “And drag a few mutant corpses aboard with the trawling net.”

The executive officer nodded solemnly and saluted. “Yes, sir!”

Following the order, a torpedo launched into the ocean and sped toward the sonar-marked target. There was no suspense whatsoever as the torpedo struck its target cleanly.

The explosion and rising water column instantly tore the enormous creature apart, a single hit enough to finish off the heavily wounded Laken.

The New Alliance submersibles performed strange gestures with their mechanical arms, seemingly expressing gratitude.

After instructing his subordinate to send a signal in reply telling them not to mention it, Dongwen walked alone out of the bridge and onto the destroyer’s deck.

Coincidentally, a speedboat flying the Federation flag was approaching from afar, slowly drawing alongside the destroyer.

Dongwen glanced at the man standing aboard the boat and recognized him. If memory served correctly, the man’s name was Muda, apparently captain of a maritime patrol unit.

While Dongwen observed him, the man observed Dongwen as well before glancing toward the trawling net being cast into the sea.

As if finally making up his mind, Muda guided his speedboat closer to the destroyer, grabbed the side ladder, and climbed aboard.

Dongwen did not stop him. He merely watched silently.

“Quite the harvest. Looks like you people got yourselves plenty of trophies.” Squinting at the blood-red ocean, Muda walked over with faint mockery in his voice. “Thankfully you discovered the problem early enough. Otherwise those excellent swimmers might’ve ended up on our island.”

“Right, the people on Ring Island are waiting for me to tell them what happened here. Mind sparing me one corpse to bring back? That way I won’t have to cast my own net.”

Dongwen did not respond to his sarcasm directly. After a moment of silence, he finally said, “You seem to know something.”

Muda stared at him in exaggerated surprise and laughed. “Did I hear that right? You’re asking me? So the one sitting nearby watching the whole show was actually me, huh? How about we swap ships instead? You can captain my speedboat, and I’ll command your destroyer.”

Though clearly intended as an exaggerated joke, Dongwen seemed to consider it seriously. “...That’s not impossible.”

“Oh, give me a break.” Muda chuckled and looked out toward the vast sea. “Over 1,000 Mutant Humans marched straight through our territorial waters while our fleet sat nearby cheering them on. You people knew everything, and now you still want answers from me?”

“Actually, I figured it out two months ago already.We can’t count on you people at all.”

Dongwen remained silent for a long time before finally sighing softly. “... I’m sorry, brother.”

“I’m not your brother.” Muda glanced sideways at him. “And you don’t owe me an apology. You owe one to the survivors living on Ring Island, and to the millions across the Federation. They’re the ones paying to feed you people. ... Actually, there’s me too.”

Perhaps out of shame, the captain slowly closed his eyes.

Seeing him remain silent, Muda continued speaking. “Hey.”

“... What?”

Looking directly into the captain’s eyes, Muda asked seriously, “Tell me the truth. The ones who destroyed the ocean current power station... were they really residents of Shelter 70?”

Dongwen remained silent for a while before answering slowly. “Probably not.”

Muda stared at him. “Then was it your people?”

“No.” Dongwen shook his head. Yet after a pause, he sighed quietly. “Well, there’s not much difference.”

Muda frowned. “What does that mean?”

Rather than answering directly, Dongwen sighed and rambled on. “We were supposed to extinguish the fire, but instead we tolerated the flames, hoping they would solve problems we ourselves found inconvenient to handle.”

“At that time, I should’ve realized... sooner or later, indecisive people like us would themselves become the problem.”

Muda couldn’t help asking, “So why did you people do it?”

Dongwen replied calmly, “Because there was only one opportunity. If we weren’t decisive enough, the Federation survivors would never unite and drag those pretentious frauds down from their pedestal. And once their administrator returned and retrieved the weapons stored inside the shelter, that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity would disappear forever.”

“And now?” Muda stared into his eyes without blinking. “Are we more united now?”

When Dongwen could not answer for a long time, disappointment gradually filled Muda’s gaze. “We’re people with functioning hands and feet, yet we needed someone else to take a shit for us, then another person to wipe our asses afterward, all because you hid things from me while I hid things from you.”

His lips twitched for a long time before he finally forced out the last sentence in disappointment. “... How am I supposed to keep believing in you people after this?”

Dongwen looked away toward the horizon, unwilling to face those disappointed eyes. He gently adjusted the officer’s cap on his head. “The reason I’m telling you all this is because I know what we did was wrong. I don’t expect you to continue trusting me.”

“But please, give me one more chance.”

Muda could tell those words were not truly directed at him. They were meant for the survivors standing behind him. He was asking Ring Island itself.

The disappointment and ridicule in his eyes gradually faded. In a serious tone, he asked, “What are you planning to do?”

“To correct the mistakes we made before.” At that point, Dongwen paused briefly, pulled a thumb-sized card from his pocket, and handed it over.

It was a storage card containing recordings of his conversation with Chalas, along with an additional recording Dongwen himself had made afterward.

Inside were truths that everyone within the Federation fleet knew at least partially, but none dared openly discuss. He knew t he evidence alone would not convince everyone, but he believed it would convince at least some people like himself.

Muda looked at him in confusion. “What is this?”

Staring into his eyes, Dongwen answered solemnly,

“Take it to Peace Island. Give it to the people waiting there for me.”

Looking down at the storage card in his hand, Muda remained silent for a moment before asking, “Why not go yourself?”

“I’m heading to North Island.” Looking toward the north, Dongwen’s gaze gradually became firm. For the first time, his voice no longer carried hesitation or uncertainty.

At that moment, the man who managed to climb his way to his position as the captain of a Federation’s destroyer finally returned. He even seemed to stand a little taller as he spoke. “Our hull already has cracks forming within it. Before those cracks widen beyond repair, someone must stand up and correct the mistakes we’ve made!”

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