Chapter 288: Surprise!
The trip to Panem and back took the captain close to five days.
But their journey this time is smoother than before. With the support of Marianna's security force from behind the scene, they can openly sail into Marianna's water without worrying about getting caught.
Up to his credibility, a destroyer from the Marianna's Naval force was waiting here, expecting the captain's arrival. They maintained the anonymity between two ships to prevent any electronics from registering any exchange of signals.
When the two ships came side by side, they immediately dropped the anchor to stabilized the vessel before a temporary bridge was deployed to connect the two ships together.
The refugees crossing the bridge will be heading straight to the room prepared for them. Meanwhile, some cadets were assigned to move the goods to pretend they were restocked using the lower deck.
An hour later, the two ships disengaged and continued with their own things.
This time, the destroyer returned with close to 160 people. Adding up with the 110 refugees situated in the City of Anna, they reach 270 people. After getting back and docked by the port, the refugees were immediately transported to their temporary accommodation to be vaccinated, documented, etc.
Those that had a family member from the first batch managed to get back together. There was plenty of people who also originated from Panem but left the country earlier, came to communicate, to see if there's anything they could do to help.
Zhang Qin Feng wanted them to immediately start working once they settled down. Still, worrying that the rush would start something else he might have to worry about, he decided to let the time naturally take its course.
Over the next five days again, the destroyer returned with only 130 people this time.
When asked, the captain from the destroyer conveyed a piece of worrying news to Zhang Qin Feng.
It seems that the power struggle in Panem is heating up. With neither side from the big four willing to take responsibility for how the tanks managed to make their way into the country, the battle slowly favors the rebel's side.
This means the people going to leave at first started to hesitate because one side was winning. They don't have to be supportive on the winning side to stay in Panem, but it was not too late to join and share the benefits like a fisherman between the battle of a lobster and an eel.
"Does that means… The refugees that were leaving right now might be the last batch?" Zhang Qin Feng asked. Since the outcome from the power struggle will close their curtain soon, people will start to think twice before leaving their motherland.
"Most likely." the captain of the destroyer answered.
"Then… If the Panem captain said there are no more people, we'll stop taking in the refugees and goes with what we have. Please escort the ship back and treat them respectfully if I'm not around." said Zhang Qin Feng.
"Yes, Sir!" the captain gives Zhang Qin Feng a salute before returning to his ship.
The piece of news brought by the captain is indeed something worth worrying about. While he knew that the two superpowers were greatly interested in that island, he had no idea they would go to such an extent to secure their victory.
'Either the tank comes through the sea route or the air route. I'm sure neither side would openly admit where the tank came from. If I think from the public's position, I would assume that the tank came from the Continent of Southern States.'
'Unfortunately, a scheme in the war was nothing new. The Oceana Alliance can easily purchase or smuggle the tank made from any of the countries from the Southern States and put the blame on them.' Zhang Qin Feng speculates.
In fact, his guesses weren't too far from the truth. That was part of the fact, but one of the reasons was that the states were going to arm the only airport on the island to bring in more sophisticated weaponry.
Unwilling to lose the momentum out of a sudden, the Oceana Alliance could only resort to this dirty trick to force the government to yield. But they had no idea that this was part of the Southern States' tactic.
It seems that the Southern States had lost hope in the current Panem government.
Instead of trying to resurrect it, they would rather try to damage the available facilities before leaving. The decision would somewhat cripple the rebel army after they took over the island and have a slumped development because of the destroyed facility.
There was nothing much better than leaving a wrecked fortress and torched island to the rebels. This would leave a sour aftertaste for the winner and demotivates them from going further than this.
The ship from Panem eventually returned with 100 more refugees. Since the humanitarian mission no longer held any meaning, the two boats openly returned to the port located around the City of Anna.
At the end of the month, the result of the power struggle finally ended with the rebel force's victory. The country was renamed New Panem, with an entirely new government policy.
On the following day, the delegates from the Oceana Alliance announced their arrival to the island with plenty of humanitarian support. The two immediately signed a treaty that the New Panem would be a member of the alliance.
And in exchange for the treaty, the Oceana Alliance openly obtained the license to operate around the New Panem's sea.
"What do you think about this, boss?" Jason Deng asked as they shared a table of dinner together. The outcome was something they expected.
"What do you want me to think? Perhaps, you want us to join the Oceana Alliance since the oceans between us were about four to five days away?" Zhang Qin Feng chuckled while teasing him.
"That's not my intention. But I'm worried that the alliance will start to have an idea about us," said Jason. While the two were in a discussion, the door into the president's room was opened.
Two females dressed in maid uniforms were seen coming into the room with a tray of steak accompanied with potatoes and asparagus. They quietly served the food on the table while Zhang Qin Feng was still discussing with Jason Deng.
"By the way… When did you hire female servants, Jason?" Zhang Qin Feng asked. His question puzzled the president as he thought the maids were Zhang Qin Feng's new fetishes.
"They're not your people, boss?" Jason Deng quickly grabbed the dining knife in his hand.
"We're his people, but more than just maid." the two maids took away the disguise and revealed their identity. They turned out to be Wang Yufei and Jun Minji.
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