I'm with the Alliance Now—Just Try Laying a Finger on Me!

Before stepping onto that pier, Chen Jianhong had never felt so profoundly that life was so wonderful. Especially after scarfing down a plate of roast meat and chasing it with a giant mug of ice-cold beer, that rush of emotion—or perhaps the brain-freeze tears prickling the back of his skull—nearly spilled from his eyes. Now this was what it meant to be alive! Those miserable days were finally over! At this moment, Chen Jianhong also finally understood why that fellow Sun Yuechi had given up being Administrator. If he had known life in the Alliance was this comfortable, he wouldn't have stayed captain either! Still, understanding was one thing. The next time he got the chance to see that guy, he was still going to plant a solid fist right in his face. To avenge the suffering of the past two and a half months! Although it was morning, for the crew of the *Dolphin*, whose days and nights had been reversed, it was the perfect time for dinner. As soon as one plate of roast meat was cleared away, a girl in a waitress uniform brought out another. Looking at the sizzling, juicy meat on the plate, Chen Jianhong couldn't help asking out of curiosity, "By the way, what kind of meat is this?" A player at the same table chuckled. "Scavenger's tail!" Chen Jianhong was taken aback. "...What's that?" Another player next to him smacked the blabbermouth upside the back of the head. "He won't understand what you're talking about. Cough... It's just an ordinary lizard tail." "Oh, I see..." Hearing the shelter resident's explanation, Chen Jianhong gave a dazed nod, then reached out, picked up another skewer, and wiped his mouth after a bite. Though it sounded a little strange, compared to what they had been eating lately, it was practically normal... The entire beach was suffused with the aroma of roasting meat, featuring all sorts of bizarre ingredients, alongside mushrooms and berries gathered from the rainforest and leaves that gave off exotic fragrances. The survivors and crew who had come off the *Dolphin* tore into the roast meat and beer, devouring it like starving ghosts reborn, a sight that moved anyone watching to pity. "Thank you so much!" A haggard middle-aged woman held Sisi's hand with tear-filled eyes, her voice choked with heartfelt gratitude. "Until yesterday, we all thought we were done for. If we hadn't run into you, I really don't know how much longer I could have held on..." "It's all right now. It's over," Sisi said gently, patting the back of her hand. Judging by their threshold for enduring hardship, the survivors of the Southern Archipelago Federation hadn't been boasting. Before this war, they truly had, to a certain extent, ended the wasteland and lived affluent, civilized lives within a relatively enclosed environment. By contrast, the wastelander folk across other parts of the Mid-Continent had it far worse. Take Qingquan City, for instance. Before the Alliance arrived, most survivors there hadn't eaten a decent meal more than a handful of times in their entire lives. Gruel made of nutrient paste and green wheat was their daily fare, and only slavers, unscrupulous merchants, mercenaries, and scoundrels could live anything resembling a human life for a few days. Even so, she wouldn't fault them for being delicate. Hardship of any kind was real. The degree might differ, but suffering was never noble or base. At least, that was how she saw it. Watching the survivors wolfing down their food, Tail shaded her eyes with her right hand, gazing out with a deeply satisfied smile. Watching this mukbang was just too cathartic. "Whoa! Eat up, everyone, don't be shy! Big Brother Fang Chang's paying anyway!" Fang Chang, who happened to be strolling by, cast a sidelong glance at her and offered a friendly reminder. "You really don't need to be shy. The Baiyue Strait Development Company's footing the bill anyway." "*Giao?!*" Tail turned to look at him in shock. "I thought you were treating!" Fang Chang gave a faint smile. "How could that be? Am I the kind of person who does good deeds with his own money?" Tail stared in disbelief at the man who had uttered those words without blushing in the slightest. "Eep! What a heartless man! How on earth did lovely Miss Dolly fall for you?!" Fang Chang pondered seriously for half a second. "Maybe... she just has good taste?" Tail looked at him in astonished disbelief, her mouth hanging open without a word coming out. Good grief! Was this the power of an expert? How could someone act so natural while being so shamelessly smug? ... In just a dozen minutes or so, more than half of the roast meat piled on the long tables had been devoured. As for the scallops, sea snails, and oysters, they sat piled to the side completely ignored, untouched by anyone. It was hardly surprising. Over the past two months, seafood was practically all they had eaten. By now, the mere sight of it made them want to retch. Stuffed and thoroughly content, everyone sat on the sand. Some looked out at the ocean and broke into song; others sprawled out like starfish; some simply drifted off to sleep right on the beach. Boss Yiren, having bustled about for quite a while, finally managed to bring out Yiren Tavern's signature dish—French fries—before the guests could all nod off. He came hurrying onto the beach with two woven wicker baskets in hand, grinning merrily, and dumped the fries all over the long table where stacks of roast meat had just been carved, like he was slinging feed to pigs. "Fries are up!" Catching the enticing aroma of carbs, people looked toward the golden mounds, their curious gazes carrying a hint of longing. This stuff smelled even better than the roast meat! Yet they were already bursting at the seams, and many were sitting on the ground unable to even move their legs. Chen Jianhong, the only one still maintaining a shred of reserve, cast a curious look at the golden strips of food. "What are those?" Fang Chang walked up beside him and smiled. "French fries. A local specialty. Care to try one?" Even as he spoke, Chen Jianhong had already reached out, popped a fry into his mouth, and his eyes lit up instantly. After a long pause, he wiped his greasy fingers on a napkin and looked at Fang Chang with deep emotion. "Incredible... How did you people come up with so many ways to prepare food?" Fang Chang smiled. "This is nothing. Once you get to Dawn City, I guarantee you can eat three meals a day for 365 days without repeating a single dish." Chen Jianhong wore a look of disbelief. Yet seeing the certainty in Fang Chang's eyes, and recalling a certain someone who was so comfortable in Dawn City that he had forgotten all about home, he couldn't help believing it a little. Just then, a commotion suddenly erupted along the far end of the beach, followed by an outcry. "A boat!" "Coming from the east!" "It's a Federation patrol boat! Dammit!" At that shout, the people who had been relaxing just a second before scrambled up from the sand in panic. Without even stopping to grab their shoes, they began limping and fleeing up the beach. It was obvious that the Southern Archipelago Federation Navy had terrorized them thoroughly over this period, so much so that a single speedboat could scare them out of their wits. Seeing Chen Jianhong instinctively reach for his sidearm, Fang Chang caught him by the shoulder and gave it a reassuring pat. "Leave it to us." With that, he signaled to Tail, stood up, and walked toward the pier. ... The speedboat soon pulled alongside the dock, looking like a delicate leaf beside the submarine *Dolphin*. A leaf that had landed right by an elephant's foot. As Muda stepped onto the pier, he noticed the crowds on the shore springing to their feet in panic and fleeing with their backs to him. Among them were drunken *Dolphin* mutineers as well as the Coral City residents who had reportedly been taken hostage by them. Recognizing their identities, the sailor behind Muda froze briefly, then hollered toward the shore, "Get away from those rebels! We're here to rescue you—" If they could mobilize those survivors, they might just be able to subdue the mutinous crew! Before he could finish his sentence, however, a hand came down upon his shoulder. "Enough. It's useless." Meeting his comrade's bewildered gaze, Muda shook his head and pulled his hand back. "Who do you think they're running from? The rebels they were just sitting with?" The sailor choked, struck dumb. Right then, shouts roared back from the shore in response to his words. "Who asked you to rescue us?!" "Weren't you the ones who cut the power to Coral City?! Stop pretending to be innocent!" "You bunch of murderers!" "Get the hell off Alliance land!" Seeming to realize that only three Federation soldiers had come ashore, the people who had been fleeing a moment before stopped in their tracks, glaring hostilely at the three men on the dock. "Stay calm." Muda gave his two subordinates a warning look, then turned his gaze toward the group walking up the pier, calling out directly to the point, "Someone asked us to deliver something—" Halfway through his sentence, he broke off abruptly, completely dumbfounded. There on the beach, walking toward them, were the two girls who had gone missing near the wreckage of the ocean-current power station. The short-haired one was even waving her arm to greet them. "Hey! Long time no see!" Not only Muda, but the two sailors behind him looked as if they had seen a ghost. Once the group drew near, Muda stared blankly at the two of them, swallowing hard. "What... happened to you two?" Tail giggled. "We almost bit the dust, but luckily we caught a ride... By the way, where's the stuff?" Staring at her in a daze for a good while, he finally looked back at the speedboat. "...Under the boat. We slung it in a fishing net." "Ooh! Thanks a bunch!" Quest complete! Tail dashed excitedly toward the speedboat, eager to turn in her quest. Without stopping her, Muda looked at Fang Chang and Captain Chen Jianhong, as well as Sisi and the other players who had gathered around to watch the show. After a pause, he said, "We agreed before that Shelter 70 vessels were not permitted to resupply from you... I need an explanation. What is this submarine, and what is the deal with these people?" "We haven't broken the agreement," Fang Chang replied with a smile. "Mr. Chen here, along with the people on that beach, are now citizens of the Alliance." Muda was stunned. "What?" Before Fang Chang could say another word, Chen Jianhong stepped forward, looking at the man with open provocation, radiating arrogance. "That's right. I'm an Alliance citizen now—just try laying a finger on me!" Muda didn't look at him. His eyes remained locked on Fang Chang, and he spoke word by word, "They are criminals. When you talk about 'uniting suffering survivors,' does that mean harboring criminals so they can escape trial?" Fang Chang looked back at him. "And what crimes did they commit?" Muda fixed him with an unwavering gaze. "War crimes. They must answer for the twelve cargo ships they sank and plundered, and for the sailors who lost their lives in the sea—" "Stop spewing your slanderous bullshit!" A furious roar cut him off. Chen Jianhong took a step forward, glaring into his eyes, his teeth clenched as he continued, "Sank twelve cargo ships? With this submarine? Why don't you tell me how we could have sunk twelve cargo ships? By ramming them with our bow?" Before Muda could speak, the sailor beside him drew a wanted poster from his coat. "Here's the proof—" "That isn't proof. That's just a scrap of paper stamped with a seal and filled with nonsense." Fang Chang glanced at the paper, then addressed the sailor holding the wanted poster. "From time to time, wastelanders flee to our territory to live under assumed names, and then their enemies come knocking seeking revenge. In the interest of fairness, we allow both sides to confront each other in court, which is far better than having them shoot it out in the streets. "If the plaintiff's evidence genuinely proves that an Alliance citizen committed serious crimes against humanity in a distant land before acquiring citizenship, we offer them two choices: serve their sentence and atone as an Alliance citizen, or have their citizenship stripped and be expelled within a set time limit... However, the prerequisite for all of this is that we require evidence. "What weapons were used to sink those twelve freighters? What were the coordinates of the attacks, and on what dates and at what exact hours did they take place?... You need to submit that evidence to us at the very least, and ensure it is authentic and valid, rather than coming here with aggressive nonsense." The sailor started to argue back, but Muda reached out and stopped him. "He's right. We do need those things." At first, he hadn't considered it important, but now he had changed his mind. It wasn't just the sea monster that had appeared below the ocean-current power station and the signal from the psychic interference device; it was also the unusual reaction of the officer who had interrogated him... All of it made it impossible for him not to suspect that some conspiracy was at play behind the scenes. The sailor looked at his superior in bewilderment, then glanced at the people before them, and could only shove the wanted poster back into his coat in frustration. Fang Chang looked at the NPC named Muda with a touch of surprise. It seemed there were reasonable people here after all, not just stubborn hotheads. He then turned to Captain Chen Jianhong. "To convince our neighbors beyond any doubt, would you mind giving them a tour of the submarine? We can serve as a third-party witness to photograph and document whatever 'weapons' they point out. Of course, you're free to refuse—after all, you have no obligation to prove your innocence." "No problem," Chen Jianhong said, looking at the three men with a sneer. "Feel free to inspect whatever you like. I'm curious too—did our toilet plunger punch a hole in your freighters, or are your eyes planted firmly in your asses?" The two sailors glared at him with furious eyes. Ignoring the man's taunt, Muda looked at Fang Chang and nodded earnestly. "Thank you." Standing to the side, Sisi lowered her crossed arms and raised her right hand. "I'll serve as a witness." Beside her, several other players watching the excitement raised their hands with keen interest. "Count me in!" "Me, me, me!" "Let's go together, bros!" In the blink of an eye, over sixty witnesses had assembled, outnumbering the entire crew of the *Dolphin*. While they had little interest in the dispute between the Federation and Shelter 70, they were intensely curious about touring a nuclear submarine they had acquired for free. Among them were more than a few self-styled experts looking to study it. Fang Chang wasn't stingy either, waving a hand briskly. "I leave it to you." And so, flanked by a large crowd of players, the Federation patrol captain and the captain of the *Dolphin* headed back aboard the submarine. The task didn't take long. After all, just as Captain Chen Jianhong had demonstrated, this was merely a cargo submarine. At most, its propulsion system was relatively advanced; it had no offensive weaponry installed whatsoever. Following Chen Jianhong, the more Muda saw, the heavier his heart grew, until he went completely silent. He wasn't the only one. The two subordinates trailing him were the same. Especially the sailor carrying the wanted poster; after seeing the areas where the survivors cultivated seaweed and synthesized nutrient paste, his face was filled with utter disbelief. *Was this the ghost of the deep sea that the Federation Navy claimed?* They found no weapons in its belly, nor any stolen loot. All they found was a group of Coral City residents and the grim evidence of their desperate struggle to survive in harsh conditions... Just who had driven these poor people into such misery?... Muda involuntarily clenched his fists, the wavering in his eyes turning into uncontrollable rage. Anyone with a shred of conscience could see that none of the crimes alleged by the Federation Navy existed here; instead, it was filled with evidence of crimes committed by an entirely different group of people. He took photos of it all, then took a deep breath, looked at Captain Chen Jianhong beside him, and spoke in a solemn tone. "I apologize for what my men and I said earlier. You are victims of this war, not war criminals. At least for now, I see nothing... that could prove the alleged crimes listed on that wanted poster." "I can apologize for myself, you don't need to speak for me, sir..." the sailor beside him mumbled. Stepping forward, he looked at Captain Chen with reluctant yet genuine sincerity. "I'm sorry. But I didn't have a choice—I was just following orders from above... Those bastards, I really don't know what they were thinking." "Let bygones be bygones. I'm an Alliance citizen now," Chen Jianhong said with a shrug, no longer mocking them from a high horse. He understood that these men weren't the instigators of the war; like him, they were just ordinary people innocently swept up in the conflict. Watching the contemplative Muda and the bewildered sailor who stood with his head down, Sisi lowered her arms and spoke in a measured tone. "It isn't that hard to understand. Someone wants this war to continue, so they need a reason to keep it going. For example, an escaped attack submarine, a ghost of death lurking beneath the waves... Its existence is enough to throw the clueless majority into panic, driving them to become silent accomplices to the war, while conveniently helping cover up things they'd rather not let anyone know." Pausing there, she continued in a half-joking tone, "To be honest, before you arrived, I was wondering whether you'd turn that probe over to the Federation Navy... I'd bet that if you had, we'd probably never see you again, and you'd never have had the chance to see any of this." Muda remained silent for a moment, his expression complicated. "If it were yesterday, I probably would have argued with you, but right now I have no confidence... Perhaps you're right. Something really has gone wrong among our higher-ups." To tell the truth, he had felt something similar before. Especially when he realized there might be a mole in the navy, a faint premonition had told him that he and his two subordinates might be silenced for knowing too much. It was precisely because of this that he had coordinated their stories with the two behind him, concealed certain clues, and brought the probe here at the first opportunity. Looking at the conflicted Muda, Sisi said, "How about we make a deal?" Muda looked at her. "What kind of deal?" Sisi continued, "This sea area is under your patrol jurisdiction, and the sailors carrying out missions locally are your men. They listen to you more than they do to the Federation Naval Command, don't they?" "Of course. They're all boys from Ring Island; we're from the same settlement," Muda replied without hesitation, then looked at her with puzzlement. "Is there a problem with that?" The corners of Sisi's mouth curved upward. "Since the available evidence is already enough to prove these crewmen innocent, why don't you simply turn a blind eye to the submarine's existence and the crew coming ashore? Just pretend you never saw them." Muda froze for a couple of seconds, looking at her with a wry, helpless expression. "Such a massive submarine, nearly six hundred people—how are we supposed to turn a blind eye to that?" "It's simple," Sisi said with a slight smile. "Normally, we'll keep the *Dolphin* submerged on the seabed and won't let it surface unless necessary. Oh, right—if the Federation Navy comes this way, remember to give us advance notice. We'll steer it further away and have the residents on the beach stay alert." According to current intel, though the Southern Archipelago Federation lacked a respectable army, they had at least a dozen warships roaming the Southern Sea. At present, the Alliance's foothold in the Baiyue Strait was not yet firm. Although they possessed a formidable land army, they lacked any reliable anti-ship weapons. If a real fight broke out, even if they won, it would likely end in mutual devastation, driving the survivors in these waters straight into the arms of the Church of the Torch. By contrast, they had a better alternative: turn the cannons originally aimed at Shelter 70 toward the Torch cultists in Haiya Province. In fact, one could tell from the cultists' attitude toward the local survivors that the Southern Archipelago Federation was by no means weak—strong enough, in fact, to pose a threat to Torch. Otherwise, those fanatics would have moved openly and aggressively, just as they had done with the survivors around Jinhe City, rather than resorting to insidious infiltration. Muda stared intently at Sisi, his brow furrowing slightly. "I don't understand... Why don't you take this opportunity to let me clear their names?" In his view, this was a prime opportunity. If more people learned about what the five hundred-plus survivors aboard the *Dolphin* had gone through, they could at least secure the backing of the thirty thousand Coral City survivors scattered across the islands. By that point, even the President would be forced to respond. Yet hearing his words, Sisi merely smiled faintly. "And just how do you plan to clear their names? By splashing these photos in the newspapers, or slamming them onto the desks of the Federation Naval Command? That won't do a bit of good. Even if you prove the *Dolphin* was a misunderstanding, it won't prove that the ocean-current power station incident had nothing to do with Shelter 70, nor will it convince those leaning toward the Church of the Torch to take our side." The latter was the key. There were certainly people in the Southern Archipelago Federation who saw the truth, but that didn't mean they would stand on the side of facts. Haiya Province had the technology, resources, land, and everything else the Southern Sea needed. To win over the survivors of the Southern Sea, they needed more than mere evidence; they needed to make the Baiyue Strait an acceptable alternative. Whether in economic matters or in controlling the slime mold, if the Alliance could do a better job than the Church of the Torch, the majority would switch sides, if only out of self-interest. That was the full scope of the plan. Muda looked at her in a daze, took a deep breath, and asked, "Then what do you intend to do?" Sisi replied, "Step by step. Before laying out our evidence, we need to bring as many people onto our chariot as possible." Muda asked seriously, "For instance?" Sisi: "For instance, the place closest to us—your hometown, Ring Island, which is plagued by freshwater shortages. We promised the governor there that we would help resolve their freshwater supply issues. Now it's time to give him an answer." Muda looked at her with a bizarre expression. "You've solved it? That's a settlement of a hundred thousand people... Do you have any idea how much freshwater they need?" Sisi smiled. "I do. But what of it? We are standing on a continent, a land you once abandoned and believed impossible to conquer. Forget a hundred thousand people—even if it were ten million, or a hundred million... we would find a way to supply it." Muda swallowed hard. "Then how do you plan to deliver the freshwater? By ship?" Sisi shook her head and said leisurely, "That's too troublesome. We prefer to build a two-hundred-nautical-mile pipeline... Previously, we didn't have a good method, but the situation is different now. We have the *Dolphin*, and we have over five hundred specialists skilled in underwater construction, with rich engineering experience." Reaching out to pat the solid hull beside her, she smiled brightly and continued, "All you need to do is turn a blind eye to them, and help us keep an eye on the Federation fleet!"