I'll make sure we meet in the next life

At Mirage No. 1, aboard a large luxury cruise ship, the captain was leading his crew in taking inventory.

As a tourist vessel, it carried a month's worth of food, so supplies were not yet a problem.

The Superpower who could envelop his entire body in flames was talking to the captain. He looked quite displeased, seemingly demanding to know why they had ended up in this godforsaken place.

How vast was this sea? If they never found a new continent, would they all starve to death?

Would the supplies aboard be distributed equally, or would some people receive a larger share?

I'm a Superpower. Why shouldn't I get more supplies?

Violence was the underlying logic of human society.

Love and tolerance were worth nothing in the face of survival.

The current order had yet to collapse only because of the inertia left over from their old world...

No. 2 was a large freighter. The crew opened its containers one by one, trying to find more food among the cargo.

But a freighter was, naturally, meant to transport goods, mostly industrial products. Most of the food consisted of luxury items such as red wine, champagne, and chocolate.

"Isn't taking without asking called stealing? Even our esteemed foreigners have started stealing now. I'm impressed."

"This is a heroic act of self-preservation."

"What a load of bullshit."

The oil tanker at No. 3 had a more complicated mix of nationalities, and serious internal turmoil had broken out there as well. Crew members condemned the captain for getting the route wrong and leading them into an unknown Mysterious Zone.

The captain had no way to defend himself. He had no idea what had happened either.

And so the crew quickly banded together according to nationality.

Under extreme external pressure, the idea of uniting to overcome hardship could only be called wishful thinking.

Of the sixteen mirages, only two groups seemed to be doing even passably well. One was the lone survivor on the deserted island. With only one person, infighting was impossible even if he wanted it.

The other was the Arctic Ocean research team. They had been heading to the Arctic on an expedition in the first place, so their team was highly capable.

And this was only the second day.

More and more people around the world turned their attention to Mirage No. 7.

Aboard an ocean-going whaling ship, a group of people stood in a circle. One of them viciously slapped another man across the face, cursing at him.

Then the two began grappling with each other.

Japan's ocean-going whaling operations had always been notorious.

Whales, as endangered animals, were protected by most countries. Yet under the pretext of "scientific research," people from Japan sailed deep into the Pacific Ocean and slaughtered the whales other countries had worked so hard to protect.

This time, everyone aboard had been trapped in the Mysterious Zone. Several sailors had awakened superpowers, including a young man who had previously held a lowly position and often been bullied. Accustomed to constant psychological manipulation, he had suddenly become a force to be reckoned with.

Worse still, the whaling ship also carried foreign laborers whose status had always been low, and one of them had developed superpowers too.

The captain was named Omiya Akihiro, and the boatswain was Noda Koji. Neither had superpowers.

And so things grew complicated.

The ocean was a truly lawless place.

Unlike those on land, people accustomed to life at sea kept its unspoken rules to themselves and were more devoted to the underlying logic of violence.

Amid a hopeless predicament and an endless sea, the whaling ship quickly split into three factions. Subtle ambitions stirred among the Superpowers who had once held lowly positions; the captain and several others without powers still wanted to maintain control; and the foreign laborers lived in anxious fear of being thrown into the sea.

The mirages had no sound, like silent films. People online could only guess what was happening in Mirage No. 7 from the images.

"Let me fill in the plot for everyone: they think they've crossed over into another world. Out on an endless sea, no matter what they do, there won't be enough resources."

"They want to throw the people from other countries into the sea."

"Aish, those little flip-flop bastards are finally getting God's punishment for their whaling."

"I hear Japan has had a tradition of underlings overthrowing their superiors since ancient times. Now we finally get to see it."

At the center of the storm, Fusang naturally refused to admit any of this. It stubbornly insisted that its whaling operations were for "scientific research," "controlling whale populations," and "sustainable development," among other excuses.

It even claimed the "mirages" were merely nature's hallucinations, nothing but false images.

But none of those excuses did any good. Countless eyes around the world were watching.

People believed only what they saw for themselves.

If the people from Japan really threw the foreign laborers into the sea, they would utterly disgrace themselves before the entire world while also provoking immense ethnic hatred.

The resulting diplomatic disputes and waves of public outrage would sweep over the country like a tsunami, engulfing it completely.

Zhang Ming naturally knew nothing of what was happening in the outside world. He simply kept his head down and sorted through the supplies he had on hand.

His emotions were on a roller coaster, swinging between shock and delight, tears and laughter.

Every suitcase represented a life that had been lost. Through the belongings, he could vaguely discern something of their owner's personality.

Yet each was also an invaluable gift, adding a small chance of success to the difficult struggle for survival ahead.

"High heels, black stockings, a vibrator, condoms, lubricant..."

Zhang Ming remembered that there had indeed been several stunning beauties among the passengers, with heavy makeup, long legs in black stockings, and sweet-smelling perfume. They had been absolute knockouts, worthy of being models.

When boarding, he had even made a point of stealing a few extra glances.

"I'll make sure we meet in the next life."

"Even if these things aren't much use, I'll take them!"

[Mental Value +1]

The next bag.

Children's clothes and toys, along with plenty of diapers and powdered milk.

He let out a soft sigh.

"I'll take the powdered milk. The diapers... maybe they'll come in handy too. Thank you."

The next bag.

"A tent, a flashlight, rope, a GPS, a radio, a dagger. You must have been an outdoor enthusiast, right?"

"Going hiking in Hawaii really was a good choice. Walking a circuit around an island would've been pretty nice."

"Too bad there's no food..."

"Wait." Zhang Ming froze, his eyes widening as delight spread across his face.

This bag was absolutely an invincible, supreme golden SSR-tier find, even better than the Jinhua Ham!

Because it had a radio inside, and a tent!

Best of all, the radio was actually solar-powered. A little sunlight every day would keep it running indefinitely.

It nearly moved him to tears.

Zhang Ming scratched his neck in delighted surprise, swallowed, and switched on the radio. A crackle of static sounded, indicating that there were no radio signals in the area.

According to the station's instructions, there would be a satellite broadcast around six every afternoon. That would be his only channel of contact with human society.

Maybe one day he would hear news of a rescue team landing on the island!