Chapter 181: Among the Crowd

To the south of the port in Kagoshima City stands a towering five-story building with a total floor area of approximately 500 tsubo (approximately 1653 square meters). This building serves as the Kagoshima branch office of the Japan Maritime Bureau.

At this moment, in an office on the third floor, several men were gathered around a detailed map of Kagoshima City and the surrounding sea areas, engaged in discussion.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Without waiting for a response, the door opened, revealing a man in his thirties. Behind him stood a middle-aged man in a gray suit.

“Good day, Director Shiyama,” one of the men recognized the visitor as Shiyama Meijiro, the Deputy Director of the Tokyo Maritime Bureau, and immediately bowed to him. The other two men followed suit.

“I rushed here as soon as I got the news. What’s the current situation, Director Eguchi?” After the young secretary behind him closed the door, the Deputy Director of the Maritime Bureau wasted no time and asked.

The man addressed as Director Eguchi promptly replied, “Three ferries have gone missing due to the seasonal storm, carrying a total of 124 tourists. Of these, 98 are students from Teikyo University, and the rest are general tourists. After days of continuous search and rescue efforts, we’ve found two ferries, rescuing a total of 83 people. Except for about a dozen individuals who developed complications due to a lack of food, the rest are not in life-threatening conditions. All of them are currently under observation and treatment at the hospital. As for the last ferry, we’re stepping up search efforts and expect to locate it soon.”

Hearing the report, the Deputy Director frowned deeply. “How could the situation become so severe that over a dozen people developed complications from lack of food?”

“It’s like this: among the three missing ferries, one was heading to Yakushima, and the other two were en route to the Amami Islands. The students who developed complications were on the ferry bound for Amami. The reason for this is that the trip to Amami is more than twice as far as that to Yakushima. Because of the greater distance and the vast search area, it took nearly three days for us to locate the missing ferry. Strictly speaking, we found it near the high seas.”

“What? The storm pushed it all the way to the high seas?”

“Yes, the intensity and duration of this storm are exceptionally rare, second only to the one ten years ago. With such a large search area, it’s been a major headache for us.”

“No matter what, we must find that last ferry as quickly as possible. Not a single tourist can be harmed. The higher-ups are paying close attention to this matter, which is why they sent me here to assess the situation. I’ll immediately notify the main bureau to dispatch more search and rescue helicopters. Additionally, until we locate the last ferry, try to keep this information from the press.”

“Understood.”

Realizing the severity of the situation, the Deputy Director’s eyelid twitched involuntarily.

Like Okinawa, Kagoshima is a famous coastal tourist destination in Japan. Although maritime incidents occur every year, they’re usually not too serious. However, this time, so many students have gone missing at once, and some remain unaccounted for. If any students were to lose their lives in this incident, the repercussions would be significant. He could already picture reporters, known for twisting the truth, crowding the doors of the Maritime Bureau, questioning why no warnings were issued to ship operators before the storm.

When Takeshima Shinobu returned to her hotel room, she didn’t see Kazumi.

Where could she have gone? Takeshima called her friend’s phone, only to find it lying on the bedside table.

Could she have gone there again? With this thought, Takeshima immediately left the room.

Heading to the eastern beach in front of the hotel, she indeed spotted her friend’s familiar figure sitting quietly on the sand.

Whether it was her imagination or not, she felt a sense of sorrow emanating from Kazumi’s silhouette.

Silently, she walked up behind her. Suddenly, Takeshima covered her friend’s eyes with both hands.

“Guess who?”

Takeshima Shinobu had expected Kazumi to scold her for such a childish prank. But to her surprise, the girl whose eyes she had covered remained still.

Before she could react further, Shinobu felt something wet and warm against her palms. Staring at the moisture on her hands in disbelief, she immediately moved in front of Kazumi and blurted out, “You’re crying?”

“No, it’s just some sand blown into my eyes,” Kazumi replied softly, lowering her head.

Hearing her unusually subdued tone, Takeshima Shinobu didn’t dare press further. It was the first time she’d seen her calm and composed friend in such a fragile state.

Sitting quietly beside her, Shinobu found herself at a loss for words. After a long silence, she finally managed to say, “Kazumi, don’t worry. Your brother will come back safe.”

Kazumi said nothing, resting her face against her knees. The atmosphere felt heavy, and Shinobu struggled to find the right words to comfort her. She sat there silently, unsure of what to do.

After what seemed like an eternity, Kazumi murmured, almost to herself, “I really regret it now.”

Her voice was so soft that Shinobu wasn’t even sure the words were meant for her. Nonetheless, she asked, “What do you regret?”

Kazumi slowly lifted her head. “If I had been more insistent back then, I could have been by my brother’s side now, facing everything with him. Instead, I’m stuck here, waiting for news.”

“Kazumi, don’t overthink it. Your brother will be fine,” Shinobu said, noticing the dried tear streaks on Kazumi’s face.

“I thought the same thing two days ago,” Kazumi replied, her voice trembling. “But now it’s the fifth day. I keep telling myself he’ll come back, but the more time passes, the harder it is to stop my mind from spiraling.”

Shinobu had never seen Kazumi look so vulnerable. With tears welling up in her own eyes, she hugged Kazumi tightly and declared, “Nothing will happen! Your brother will come back safe. He’s so capable—he’ll be okay.”

Kazumi sobbed silently in her arms.

It has been observed that, apart from muscular differences, women often surpass men in internal organ function and autonomic nervous system resilience.

This isn’t mere speculation. The Titanic disaster of 1893, one of the greatest maritime tragedies in history, provides evidence. Among the women who couldn’t secure a spot on the lifeboats due to limited capacity and were left to drift in the icy waters alongside men, a significant number survived against the odds. Remarkably, women’s survival rates far exceeded men’s under these same dire conditions.

Moreover, while women may scream hysterically or faint during extreme duress, cases of women descending into immediate madness in such situations are exceedingly rare.

On the stranded ferry, the frenzied fight for food continued. Only the male students with remaining strength could participate in the chaos; the female students couldn’t even approach the melee. Their bodies, weakened by the ordeal, left them no choice but to observe helplessly.

While some girls were acutely aware of the futility and madness of the boys’ actions, their physical exhaustion and depleted energy prevented them from intervening.

At that moment, many girls noticed a small child and an elderly foreign couple trapped in the middle of the violent crowd. The couple had been knocked to the ground and were struggling to get up, while the little girl was on the brink of being trampled.

Several girls desperately wanted to rescue the child, but the aggressive actions of the boys left them too terrified to take a step forward. They could already picture the horrifying scene of the small girl being crushed underfoot. Unable to stop the impending tragedy, many of them shut their eyes, unwilling to witness the inevitable.

Suddenly, a figure dashed into the chaotic crowd at an astonishing speed.

Then, the newly arrived figure vanished into the chaotic crowd.  

But a second later, a startling change occurred within the group.  

No one could understand what was happening. From the outside, the female students only saw one of the male students being flung out of the crowd.  

He didn’t jump out but was thrown, the difference being in the height. When a person is lifted nearly three meters off the ground and then falls, describing it as a “jump” is inappropriate.  

Before that student hit the ground, another followed suit, then a third, and a fourth.  

Some were hurled horizontally out of the crowd, while others collapsed like dominoes, falling in groups.  

As the crowd gradually thinned, the female students on the outside could finally see the cause of the commotion. Any doubts they had about the school publication’s claim of a “human weapon” quickly dissipated.  

Standing amidst the chaos was Lei Yin, moving as if the crowd posed no challenge. Anyone who blocked his path was either hurled away or knocked unconscious.  

For the first time since his reincarnation, Lei Yin employed his internal energy on ordinary humans. If not for his restraint and the calm in his heart, anyone he touched would have faced certain death.  

Though avoiding serious injuries, every place he passed was filled with wails and collapsed bodies.  

After throwing the last male student aside, Lei Yin reached the crying little girl and scooped her up into his arms.  

Rushing out of the crowd, he immediately began inspecting the girl for any signs of injury.  

“Are you hurt anywhere?” Lei Yin asked nervously after a quick check.  

“Lei!” The little girl buried her face in his chest and started sobbing loudly.  

Hearing that her voice was steady and without signs of abnormality, he felt slightly relieved. He immediately infused her with a stream of internal energy, carefully examining her meridians. Finding no signs of blockage, he finally relaxed.  

Turning his gaze toward the students struggling to get up from the ground, and those staring at him in terror, a surge of killing intent rose in Lei Yin’s heart. He couldn’t imagine what would have happened to Amy’s small body if it had been trampled by this mob. If anything had happened to her, not a single person here would have walked away unscathed.  

As he approached the students while holding the girl, they instinctively took a step back.  

Lei Yin looked at them with a chilling gaze and sneered. “What a touching scene.”  

“Why are you doing this?” one student stammered timidly.  

“That’s an excellent question.” Lei Yin replied as he stepped toward the speaker.  

“W-what are you doing?” The student instinctively retreated but quickly regretted not running. As Lei Yin reached him, he delivered a sharp kick to the boy’s groin.  

The boy let out a scream, clutching his lower body, and collapsed to the ground, looking as though he was confessing his sins—albeit with his hands in the wrong place.  

“What do you think you’re doing?” the leader of the group shouted angrily.  

“I deeply regret saving trash like you,” Lei Yin said coldly.  

“You—” The leader was furious but hesitated to approach, recalling Lei Yin’s terrifying capabilities.  

At that moment, Mitsuaki, whose face bore a noticeable punch mark, stepped forward to mediate. “Gennai, please stop. They only acted this way because they were starving. Please let it go, okay?”  

Lei Yin glanced coldly at the students before turning and walking toward the elderly couple while holding the little girl.  

If Amy hadn’t been clinging tightly to him, Lei Yin would have been tempted to render every one of those students incapable of standing.  

As Lei Yin walked away, the others began to relax but dared not touch the scattered oysters and clams on the ground.