Chapter 171 Negotiation

Chapter 171 Negotiation

The notice indicated that in a few hours, the shelter raft would arrive at the official docking berth of the huge ships' cabin. The huge ships would set sail back to Fengshang Plateau after nightfall today. Those who wish to disembark onto the huge ships to search for lost family members or team members, or those who want to settle in Xizhou Province, can disembark after the shelter raft docks.

Of course, if anyone wants to stay, they can, but the shelter raft is not official; it is a private, civilian shelter raft that drifts on the waters for a long time without docking. The living space is limited and life is monotonous, so those who wish to stay must consider carefully and make a careful decision.

The notice finally reminded: Personal bedding, change of clothes, and wristbands can be taken as souvenirs when disembarking.

This white wristband is different from the wristbands of the formal residents of the raft, similar to a one-time-use item, which will automatically expire 24 hours after the survivor leaves the shelter. After that, the bed can be reassigned to new survivors. If the same person wants to stay in the shelter again after more than 24 hours, they need to reapply for a wristband.

After the "Disembarkation Notice" was issued, Shu Fu noticed through the monitoring screen that the two teams from Feng Lü's side had entered the same room, apparently planning to hold a meeting.

**

Several hours later, when Shu Fu operated the shelter to back into the familiar cabin of the huge ships for docking, most people in the shelter gathered their personal belongings and shelter souvenirs and disembarked.

Some of them were eager to find their lost family and friends, wanting to quickly know if they were safe.

Others felt that although the shelter provided free food and accommodation, the space was limited, and most importantly, this raft house was too special and too technological, and the raft owner had always remained hidden.

The unknown always makes people somewhat fearful. Compared to that, the official huge ships are definitely more secure. Even if there is an initial period of placement and observation, being among a larger crowd there is far more reassuring than on this strange raft.

After a while, 11 people remained in the shelter. One person each from the Fire Dragon Team and the Ice Dragon Team had disembarked. The two who left were going to report safety to their other team members.

The sliding door and the fence gate of the shelter closed again, and the raft dragged the shelter away from the berth of the huge ships, opening the shelter's protective shield in the open waters outside, making it lose its presence.

In the shelter hall, the 11 people who did not disembark sat around the same dining table, looking uneasy, occasionally glancing at Feng Lü, who remained silent.

He was looking down at a waterproof pouch in his hand, which contained a lollipop. They knew that Feng Lü was also unsure about the next steps after staying.

In the past, the Ice Dragon Team led by Ke Chen would never have stayed and risked it because of someone else's speculation.

What if the owner of this raft has nothing to do with the one that provided free passage in the North Plateau half a year ago?

Or, what if the owner of this raft also has no intention of showing up?

Would they miss their chance to disembark and be trapped on this raft indefinitely?

...

Various thoughts and speculations flashed through their minds, but some still occasionally looked at the electronic screen in the hall, hoping for a new announcement to appear, giving them some hints, such as whether they could be accepted to live in the shelter, and if there were other arrangements and instructions for them living in the shelter.

Or perhaps, the arrangements and instructions would come from the shelter's broadcast system, and the female voice that had been heard on the day of the major earthquake might directly issue a voice notice.

However, after a while, they suddenly heard movement from the sliding door.

Not long ago, the automatically closed sliding door suddenly opened again.

Another survivor coming aboard? But isn't this raft already away from the huge ships and drifting in the outer waters?

Puzzled, everyone turned to look and indeed saw a person standing on the deck outside the sliding door.

**

Liu Shuang originally planned to come herself, as she is a military officer and felt more suited to such occasions.

But Shu Fu told her that it wasn’t necessary to go through all that trouble, as it would be more convenient for her to go, because on this drifting raft island, she is invincible.

Her appearance naturally puts people at ease and lowers their guard. If the other party, upon seeing her, thinks they can take advantage and have some original thoughts and ideas, such as controlling her to take over, wanting to control this shelter raft by controlling her, then it would actually be a good screening opportunity.

The companions on the raft have been too friendly so far, and the "threat clearance" feature hasn’t been activated yet. She is quite curious to see how people who try to act against her on her drifting raft island are ejected from the raft area.

The circular deck outside the shelter was still a bit damp, having been wet before the protective shield was opened.

It seemed they had just survived a major disaster. Although it was still raining these days, it was only a continuous drizzle without strong winds or thunderstorms. The protective shield also ensured that both the inside and outside of the shelter remained very quiet.

In the hall, eleven people, twenty-two eyes, all fell on her.

Shu Fu was dressed in loose, long-sleeved loungewear and open-toed slippers, looking clean and fresh, unlike the other recent arrivals at the shelter, who were wet, disheveled, and dirty.

They were all stunned, not just by her neat and clean appearance, but also because even in peaceful times, the girl's looks would turn heads on the street, let alone now.

Only when she slowly walked into the hall and stood before them did someone realize she wasn't a survivor at all!

She must be—the owner of this raft!

"You, you are..." Ke Chen was the first to speak, but nerves got the better of him, causing him to stutter.

"What?" Shu Fu looked at him.

"Are, are you, you..." Ke Chen's face turned red, and the more he wanted to ask properly, the more he stumbled, stuttering for a long time without completing his sentence.

Shu Fu: ...

What, am I scary?

She remembered that this person seemed to be the leader of the Ice Dragon Team. From the surveillance footage, she had seen him speak to his teammates in a rough, direct manner, never stuttering.

"I'm not going to eat you, so why are you so scared?" Shu Fu glanced over the group. Their expressions showed surprise, curiosity, and joy... but, thankfully, she sensed no malice.

"Our leader wants to know if you're the owner of this raft?" A female team member in her thirties from the Ice Dragon Team spoke on his behalf.

"Sort of," Shu Fu replied, cutting to the chase, "Why didn't you head to the official huge ships earlier?"

"Didn't you say we could stay if we wanted? We all want to stay!" The female team member, seeing that she was willing to answer, continued, "Our two teams have other members, but they evacuated to the huge ships earlier. The two who just left went to let them know we're safe. If our other teammates want to come and stay here too, is that okay?"

She was direct and laid it all out in one go.

"Yes."

Everyone who had come armed with arguments and ready to persuade her in every way possible: ...

Did she just say yes?

How could it be that easy!

"But our two teams together have sixty to seventy people!" Ke Chen finally managed to speak smoothly.

Shu Fu nodded and added, "The shelter can accommodate up to 128 people. As long as we don't go over that number, it's fine. Of course, we'll need to screen potential residents first, like checking for terminal or serious illnesses. Once they move in, they'll need to follow the shelter rules, live orderly, and avoid causing trouble or private fights. But if your other teammates evacuated to the huge ships days ago, can you decide for them?"

"Our two teams have each sent someone to the ships. They should find our teammates soon and inform them about this. Don't worry, our teams have been through so many changes, and the people who remain in the team today are very united. Everyone's thoughts are basically the same... Moreover, no one would be foolish enough to refuse a living environment like this shelter..." When the other evacuees who arrived later left for the huge ships, although they understood, they subconsciously felt sorry for them.

The later arrivals only knew that the raft was searching for survivors in the waters after the disaster. They had not seen it confront the tsunamis and thought it was just a slightly special raft for people with special abilities. They didn't know how sturdy and safe this shelter was, remaining intact in such ground fissures and tsunamis. Just this point alone made it surpass ninety percent of the living spaces on land.

As for the concerns of others about the owner behind the raft, the fear of the unknown, and the overly technological aspects, these were nothing to them. Because the later survivors did not connect this shelter raft with the small raft that had appeared in the northern plateau before.

After all, back then, that small raft had stayed the longest around Zhangcheng and had the most dealings with the Fire Dragon Team.

At that time, the Ice Dragon Team had a raft with people with special abilities that could ferry itself. Although occasionally, one or two individuals had ridden that small raft, like others, they did not connect this shelter with the previous small raft through the notes pasted on the window glass.

Only Feng Lü not only connected them but was also quite certain.

So what truly convinced them was not the shelter raft that had saved their lives now, but the "Sacred Mini Raft" that had left a bit of warmth and hope in the hearts of the survivors of the entire northern plateau.

Shu Fu could sense the longing and nostalgia in their eyes. After a moment of thought, she asked, "Those who boarded the ships earlier should have already been registered and settled by now. Even if they wanted to come to the shelter, they probably couldn’t, right?"

They had initially thought it would be extremely difficult to get the person behind this shelter raft to agree to this matter, so they had prepared a lot of arguments centered around this point. As for how to notify their team members once they agreed, and how to get their team members to leave the official ships and come to this shelter... they hadn’t thought about these follow-up steps yet.

Where they were stuck, Shu Fu was not.

She and Liu Shuang had already mapped out a detailed plan, accounting for various scenarios based on different options and outcomes.

Seeing them stuck, she promptly pulled out a stack of papers and a few pens from her space and handed them over: "Record the details of all team members from both teams, including their family members—anyone who wants to live in the shelter later. Separate the details of the eleven of you from those not currently in the shelter. There are forms provided; just fill them out as instructed, and don’t leave any blanks. This is crucial for your teammates to smoothly join the shelter. Once you’re done, hand them to me."

Although Lan Lan could also retrieve the information of everyone from both teams from the massive data on the ships, she would still need to get everyone's names first. Since that’s the case, it’s better to let them register their own information.

The forms required even more detailed information than the official ones. And after they filled them out, she could still have Lan Lan retrieve the official data for comparison, ensuring that the information provided by the team members was truthful.

Questions about whether they had killed anyone and their reasons were mandatory, as this would affect the duration of their observation period. Additionally, everyone's health condition needed to be recorded. If someone had a medical condition requiring hospitalization, the current conditions on the raft couldn’t meet those needs, so such individuals and their families were advised against entering the shelter.

Additionally, everyone’s skills and pre-apocalypse jobs needed to be recorded, as this would relate to future work assignments on the raft.

Only after gathering all the information could she and Liu Shuang finalize the list of people who would enter the shelter and then contact Cheng Yu or Han Lan.

Currently, arranging for a group to stay in Xizhou Province’s official facilities might be tough, but arranging for a group to leave would be much simpler.

Although everyone had guessed she was a person with special abilities, seeing her conjure items out of thin air was still impressive, making them take things even more seriously.

Ke Chen and the others grabbed the stack of papers and pens and sat back down at the dining table, starting to carefully fill out the forms.

Meanwhile, Shu Fu turned her head and looked at Feng Lü, who had remained silent since she entered. He was watching her—or rather, his eyes hadn’t left her since she appeared.

As a person with special abilities and a bond value over 80, she guessed that Feng Lü might also have some memory fragments from the original world. Over the past few days, those memories might have sharpened. Perhaps they had known each other in the original world, which was why he was now standing silently, watching her.

Shu Fu raised an eyebrow and bluntly said to him, "Come, let’s talk." As she spoke, she walked to the side and opened the door to an unoccupied room.

Feng Lü didn’t say a word and simply turned to follow her.

In the hall, someone noticed and nudged a nearby teammate, who looked up and was also startled, then pulled another person.

In this way, all the team members who had been diligently filling out the forms stopped and quietly watched as Feng Lü followed the girl into the room.

Soon, Feng Lü, prompted by her, reached out and closed the door.

Once the door was closed, those outside could no longer see anything.

The group exchanged glances, their expressions a mix of confusion and curiosity.

After a moment, someone whispered, "A private chat?"

"Hey, could it be that she’s interested in our boss…"

"Oh no, our boss may look decent, but his temper is really not great…"

Someone sighed heavily, "If I had known earlier… I should have reminded him to cooperate more!"

"Right, this concerns the living arrangements for both teams. You should have reminded your boss to tone down his temper. The girl is so pretty, this is a good thing…"

"Sigh, why didn’t she talk to me? I’m so well-behaved, I’d kneel if told to, roll if told to…"

The two female team members of the Ice Dragon Team were speechless: "Keep dreaming, stop rambling. Hurry up and fill out the forms, make your handwriting neat, what kind of scribbles are these!"

"Oh…"