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.

other words, among the throng of three to

actual

pushed forward, clamoring that they were Australian

own nationals, but they also

could be exploited by those with

of survivors to stay and assist, while the rest were

against the human wall formed by the soldiers, trying to

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

trampled in the commotion, let his temper

and explosives strapped to his waist. "You really want to crowd yourselves to death? Come on then, today we'll all

out, stammered to Deputy

Liao cleared his throat. "Ahem, you'll get used to

just Bran; several other

clearly visible on

tight crowd was

they're Australian, group

without hesitation, quickly forming

them away from the crowd, a good fifty meters apart, still in

reciting the national

every expression. "Ready? And a broad river's

sang

for

mouths, but only seven or eight voices emerged,

out those who had sung aloud. "You lot, stand

couldn't sing were not free from scrutiny; a variety of tests awaited

eventually pass

defiant, soon fell

approached them with a cold gaze,

down, or don't

complied, squatting with hands over their

it, they thought knowing the anthem

and added extra

Australians

Gangs of various shades,

$19

wastes, eyed each other with mutual disdain. In the shadows, a figure stealthily drew a gun, eyeing crouched figures in the distance, their heads buried in their arms, contemplating a deadly strike. Misunderstandings sparked and

a mere hundred soldiers on board, but the

ignite the fury of every survivor in

the situation teetered on the brink of eruption, a

shock etched on their faces as they