18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 517

Mark glanced at the soldier standing before him, searching his memory for any recognition. "Do we know each other?"

"I'm from the Porras family," Bran Porras replied, scanning the crowd hurriedly. He found no trace of his relatives, a profound sense of loss washing over him.

Mark's eyes widened slightly as the memory clicked. "Aren't you Hunter, the third son of the Porras family?"

Bran's hopeful expression dimmed, but he couldn't help but ask, "Deputy Mayor, have you seen my family in Goldbridge?"

Mark shook his head. "I haven't, but Goldbridge is a massive base. It housed over 300,000 people before the land sank. It's not unusual that you haven't run into them. We survived the Arctic; I'm sure your family is out there, too. You'll reunite one day."

Life is unpredictable, but hope keeps us going.

When Christian realized who the soldier was, his eyes lit up. He pushed through the crowd urgently. "It's an honor, sir. I'm Samuel's father. He used to work security in the new town's villa district. Have you seen him at Hope Point?"

Bran, somewhat comforted by Mark's words, chose his own carefully. "I haven't seen him, but Hope Point is huge, divided into more than a dozen residential areas. He could be in any one of them."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Bran steadied himself and got to work, verifying identities one by one.

Finding no issues, he directed them to queue for the boats and then transferred them onto the naval ships.

Next up were the 219 survivors on the ship. Despite Arthur's assurances, due process had to be followed.

Those with ID or some proof of identity were asked to present it for quicker processing.

The scene was chaotic. Many survivors were desperate. "The disaster was ten years ago! Who still has their papers? They were lost ages ago."

Arthur tried to calm the crowd. "Everyone, please, no need to panic. Just line up orderly. Even without documents, we can identify our fellow Australians."

Only a few had identification; the rest were grouped ten to a line, back to back. The evacuation routine kicked in-singing the national anthem.

Soldiers watched their lips closely while Deputy Captain Liao had Arthur and the ship's crew keep an eye out for unfamiliar faces.

Indeed, some couldn't finish the song.

They were asked about their nationality and region, and survivors who had already been cleared were called over for a local dialect check.

Most of those from the official Sichuan base were survivors from the same province, and even those from other provinces should have picked up some of the dialect after being confined together for so long.

The survivors on the ship had always moved in groups; it was rare for an imposter to slip in.

The real challenge came next. Deputy Captain Liao had learned from Peter that there were over 300 Australian survivors in the Arctic.

This number, provided by Russia, might not be exact.

The coastline was in turmoil, with daily casualties, and even Arthur couldn't provide an accurate count, estimating no more than 300 at best.

words, among the throng of three to four hundred

were actual

pushed forward, clamoring that they were Australian and demanding to board

their own nationals, but they also had to prevent ill-intentioned individuals from causing trouble amidst the

be exploited

survivors to stay and assist, while the rest were

noisy and frantic, pushing against the human wall formed

the masses to surge forward and clash with the Australian soldiers,

trampled in the

detonator and explosives strapped to his waist. "You really want to crowd yourselves to death? Come on then,

stammered to Deputy Captain Liao, "Captain,

cleared his throat. "Ahem,

several other soldiers

clearly visible on their

tight crowd

who think they're Australian, group up in twenties and come

without hesitation, quickly

them away from the crowd, a good fifty meters apart, still in rows of ten, back

reciting the national anthem in their

them, taking in every expression. "Ready? And

two-thirds sang the wrong

for

twenty opened their mouths, but only seven or eight voices emerged, growing

keen-eyed soldiers accurately picked out those who had sung aloud.

not free from scrutiny; a variety of tests

true Australian would eventually pass one

impostors, initially defiant, soon fell

cold gaze, drawing his pistol. "Everyone,

down, or don't blame my gun for

the crowd complied, squatting with

knowing the anthem would suffice,

and added extra questions

Australians

Gangs of various shades,

$19

stealthily drew a gun, eyeing crouched figures in the distance, their heads buried in their arms, contemplating a deadly strike. Misunderstandings sparked and tensions

matter that a navy ship had arrived? Sure, they had a mere hundred soldiers on board, but the Arctic

all killed, it would surely ignite the fury of every survivor in the Arctic.

as the situation teetered on the brink of eruption, a thunderous "boom"

shock etched on their faces as they witnessed more than twenty cannon