The entire day passed uneventfully. Jiang Ye was confined to the base vehicle, sifting through applications and finalizing the list of new town residents.
By eight o'clock in the evening, the night outside was deep. Three hundred names had been selected, filling eight sheets of paper with densely packed small print, with two hundred more needed.
Jiang Ye stood up, his joints cracking loudly, and wearily headed to the express center for his customary free meal.
As he climbed the stairs, he caught a whiff of cooking. Upon reaching the second-floor dining room, he found a veritable feast laid out.
Oysters, celery and olive soup, sole, fruit salad, chocolate cupcakes, cucumber with braised chicken breast, fried potato balls, and pickles.
Isabelle, as usual, was dressed scantily, in a three-piece black bikini. She sat by the table, tossing salad. The pale skin of her arms and chest jiggled rhythmically, full of life.
Jiang Ye quickly sat down and handed her a small notebook from his pocket.
"New list?" Isabelle casually flipped it open. The notebook was filled with names and coordinates.
"Yes. Tomorrow, you'll have the hard work of picking them up. I'll transfer the money later; my account is completely empty." Jiang Ye grabbed his chopsticks and began to eat ravenously.
"Oh? You've become a pauper?" Isabelle said with schadenfreude. "If I don't give you food, will you starve?"
"Yes, without your food, I'll definitely starve." Jiang Ye ate with his cheeks puffed out, having worked all day and finally getting a proper meal.
"Stop eating, just starve!" Isabelle exclaimed loudly. "Eating without paying, are you trying to dine and dash?"
"Don't be like that, sis." Jiang Ye chuckled, eating even faster.
Isabelle put down the salad bowl, propped her chin on one hand, and stared at him intently without blinking for a long time. Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes and smiled, "You little scamp."
"Huh?" Jiang Ye turned to her in surprise. This was the first time she had ever called him that.
Isabelle suddenly moved her chair closer to Jiang Ye and hugged him from the side.
Jiang Ye's face turned red. His elbow clearly brushed against a very elastic part of her. "Eat, eat, it'll get cold."
"Nothing on the table tastes good," Isabelle whispered in his ear. "I want to eat what's by the table."
"No, no, no!" Jiang Ye's face flushed so much he felt dizzy, almost dropping his chopsticks. "Sis, what's gotten into you today? Don't scare me."
"I'm just very hungry today." Isabelle reached out and gently touched his face, like caressing an expensive piece of porcelain.
"Oh dear!" Jiang Ye became anxious. "It's getting cold! It's really getting cold! This whole table of food, if it gets cold and we don't eat it, what a waste!"
The smile on Isabelle's face vanished instantly. She stood up with a click, her hand still behind Jiang Ye, and dragged him forcefully towards the bedroom.
"You little scamp, stop eating! I'm claiming you today!" Isabelle shouted.
Before she finished speaking, a bewildered Jiang Ye was dragged ten meters across the smooth floor, like a seal being pulled ashore by a fisherman.
Jiang Ye was terrified. He finally realized Isabelle was serious today. He had no idea what had suddenly possessed her, but he had to save himself now!
He struggled with all his might, but the situation evolved completely beyond his expectations. Isabelle grabbed one of his arms and yanked hard. Jiang Ye felt the world spin, and then with a crash, he landed on the floor – he had been thrown over her shoulder!
Isabelle was ex-military!
Jiang Ye was utterly terrified. He hadn't expected Isabelle to resort to physical force against him. He let out a pig-like scream:
"No, no, no! Sis, you can't do this! A forced melon isn't sweet! Don't let our friendship turn sour! Let me go!"
Before he could finish his wail, he was thrown over her shoulder again. This time, he landed on something soft. He turned his head and saw white blankets and white pillows.
Isabelle jumped onto the bed and knelt on his stomach with one knee. "You come here and eat for free every day, but you don't give anything in return. Do you think that's fair?"
"I'll pay! I'll get you a meal card!" Jiang Ye was beside himself, curled up like a frightened little rabbit, trembling. He looked up at Isabelle in terror, not understanding how the gentle beauty had suddenly turned into a bandit. Their relationship had been normal recently; what stimulus had caused her to suddenly act out?
"Forget about money. Labor is glorious. Let's get to work." Isabelle leaned down, her red lips approaching his face.
Before she could touch him, an explosion, like thunder, vibrated the windowpanes.
Isabelle was startled and fell directly onto him.
Jiang Ye reacted instantly. The sea mines planted by the shore had exploded!
Then came another loud bang, and a clear flash of fire illuminated the room, swift as lightning.
Isabelle froze. Jiang Ye sprang up like a carp, broke free, and bolted out the door.
As he desperately ran towards the coast, many soldiers carrying assault rifles poured out of the town, rushing towards the sea together.
The explosions sounded three more times, visible even from a distance. Lights flickered on the dark sea surface.
Soldiers jumped into fortifications and then climbed into firing positions. Jiang Ye ran fast, reaching the end of the defense line. He found an idle six-barreled Gatling gun and looked out at the dark sea.
In the ink-black waves, blue lights, like lamps, appeared from afar. Not one or two, but countless clusters. A large school of bioluminescent whales was approaching the shore!
On the whales' backs, dark purplish figures could vaguely be seen, standing erect like cannons on warships. They were the water ghosts!
Thousands of water ghosts. Just as he feared.
"Fire the rocket launchers!" Jiang Ye shouted at the soldiers. "Don't spare the ammunition!"
The demolition experts immediately pried open the ammunition boxes next to the firing positions, hoisted the rocket launchers, loaded the rockets, and pulled the triggers!
With a whistling sound, over a dozen rocket launchers spewed streams of fire, instantly hitting the whales on the sea surface, erupting in blinding flashes. Water and blood mist sprayed out. The water ghosts on the whales' backs fell one after another, like dominoes.
The whistling sound continued, and rockets flew towards the sea as if they were free. Explosions followed one after another, more spectacular than a fireworks display. The firelight illuminated the entire beach, reflecting on everyone's faces.
The blue lights converged, and the whale pods drew closer, charging forward in a wedge formation. Their tactic was simple: the outer whales would block the bombs for the inner ones, ensuring the last whales would definitely reach the shore!
But they didn't notice the sea mine ahead.
One sea mine was detonated, its power terrifying. The towering water and flames, even from a distance, made one's ears ache. Four whales were instantly sent airborne, their bellies ripped open, spilling bloody innards like a scattered flower show in the air. The water ghosts on the whales' backs were flung out, crashing into the sea with a clatter.
A few rockets accurately struck the whale pod, causing another blinding inferno.
Jiang Ye pulled the trigger. The muzzle flash illuminated the entire firing position. Orange bullets poured out like a cascade, hitting the remaining four or five whales.
Ten six-barreled Gatling guns opened fire in succession, interspersed with the sweeping fire of assault rifles. The sky above the entire beach was filled with missiles like a locust swarm. At least a thousand bullets simultaneously traversed the night sky.
The whale pods thrashed in the waves, struggling, and finally, with spurts of blood, stiffened.
The gunfire stopped.
The gun barrels emitted hot steam.
Jiang Ye stared at the sea surface. With the ebb and flow of the tide, whale carcasses and water ghost corpses, as numerous as people, were washed ashore, like driftwood and garbage, accumulating more and more.