Shao Qingge's idea was that with so many people eating at a free restaurant, if there were any food problems, everyone would suffer from vomiting and diarrhea. He specifically chose an expensive, elegant Chinese restaurant for breakfast—who would have thought that... Guardian doesn't play by the rules; even if you pay them, they'll still give you diarrhea!
This was the first time Shao Qingge had ever "paid money to suffer," and he had already cursed the sunglasses-wearing Ace of Spades a hundred times in his mind.
With long lines at the public restrooms, everyone had no choice but to return to their cabins to deal with their stomach problems.
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou went to the clinic together and asked the doctor for some medicine to treat acute diarrhea. Lao Mo went back to the shopping center on the 7th floor to buy some common medicines for fever and headache, as well as gauze for bandaging wounds, iodine for disinfection, and so on.
When everyone reunited at 311, all the supplies had been prepared.
Xiao Lou asked Mo Xuemin, "Mo, you've participated in spade -type weekly routines before, right? Did you encounter any food problems?"
Mo Xuemin said, "During a weekly routine last month, Ace of Spades took everyone to a deserted island. We found a lot of wild vegetables and fruits, and as a result, quite a few people died from poisoning after eating the wild fruits… Anyway, the probability of food problems in the Spade Secret Room is very high. But I didn't expect that this time, even though CEO Shao avoided the free restaurants and specially took us to eat very expensive steamed buns, we would still get poisoned!"
Shao Qingge said with a headache, "Don't even mention it. This is a case of being too clever for my own good."
Xiao Lou smiled and looked at Shao Qingge: "It's okay, CEO Shao knows how to spend money and how to make money, and he makes far more than he spends."
Shao Qingge felt a little better after Professor Xiao comforted him.
Ye Qi suddenly said, "By the way, I wonder how the people who made reservations to dine at the Captain's Restaurant yesterday are doing? They say it's exquisite cuisine personally prepared by the Captain, costing hundreds of thousands per meal. If they also get diarrhea, that would be a real injustice!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Lou suddenly realized something was wrong and said, "No matter which restaurant we eat at, we all get diarrhea. This is obviously not a problem with the food, but rather a problem with the fresh water stored on the ship. I suspect that the water source on the ship has been contaminated. Judging from everyone's symptoms, it seems to be an acute gastrointestinal bacterial infection caused by excessive levels of bacteria such as Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus."
With a doctor on the team, everyone naturally trusted Xiao Lou's judgment.
Xiao Lou's analysis is also reasonable. Everyone ate steamed buns and rice porridge for breakfast, and drank complimentary water afterwards. At the free restaurant, some people ate cake and milk, while others only ate noodles and rice vermicelli. The cruise ship must have checked the food before setting sail; it's impossible that all the vegetables, meat, rice, noodles, and eggs were spoiled and rotten—there's only one possibility for everyone having diarrhea: the water was contaminated.
If the drinking water is contaminated, all the passengers on the ship will be affected. What's even more frightening is that most people are used to drinking hot water to warm their stomachs and relieve gastrointestinal discomfort when they have diarrhea, unaware that the water is the real culprit!
If a Challenger with diarrhea can't understand this and keeps drinking hot water or taking medication with the ship's drinking water, the symptoms will not only lessen but will actually get worse!
Yu Hanjiang frowned and said, "The ship provides free hot water, and there are water tanks at the corners of the corridors on each floor. I saw many people filling cups with hot water just now. If people with acute diarrhea keep drinking water containing bacteria, and their symptoms worsen... Professor Xiao, could it be fatal?"
Xiao Lou nodded seriously: "Persistent diarrhea can cause electrolyte imbalance, disrupting the ratio of sodium and potassium ions in the blood, damaging heart muscle cells, and ultimately leading to shock or even death."
Ye Qi stared at the cup of hot water he had just poured, as if he were looking at a cup of poison. He immediately poured the water into the bathroom, patted his chest in lingering fear, and said, "I almost drank it! From childhood, my parents instilled in us the idea that when you have a cold or diarrhea, you should drink hot water..."
At this point, this subconscious belief could very well cost everyone their lives.
Old Mo quickly took out a sealed bottle of Mineral Water from his backpack and said, " Mineral Water should be fine, right?"
Xiao Lou took the bottle and examined it carefully, saying, "The seal is normal. The Mineral Water brand is the same as the one we bought in the Financial Crisis secret room before, and it's the same as the one given in the [supply pack]. There shouldn't be any problem."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Yu Hanjiang unscrewed a bottle of Mineral Water and said, "Use Mineral Water to take your medicine and control the condition as soon as possible."
Everyone took the disposable cups they bought from the supermarket, poured in Mineral Water, and took their medicine one by one.
Because everyone had gone to the toilet several times in the morning, they had no appetite. Xiao Lou suggested that everyone refrain from eating for the time being, as eating would only worsen diarrhea before their gastrointestinal function had recovered.
After an hour's rest, everyone's symptoms were relieved a lot.
Yu Hanjiang wanted to go to the seventh floor to check on the situation, and the others followed him to the shopping mall.
Sure enough, many Challengers realized there was a problem with the water supply and started buying Mineral Water from the supermarket, by the case. The supermarket shelves were already mostly empty of Mineral Water, and many Challengers nervously entered the supermarket to stock up on other supplies.
This reminded Xiao Lou of the time in the world of Financial Crisis when everyone emptied the supermarket together.
Just then, a scream suddenly came from the crowd: "Ahhh! Someone's dead!"
Xiao Lou immediately strode forward, squeezing through the crowd. He saw a young girl lying on the ground, her face ashen, her lips bluish-purple, and she was no longer breathing. Another girl was frantically holding her, repeatedly calling out...
Her name: "Xiao You, wake up!"
Yu Hanjiang also came over to check on the situation.
The girl, tears streaming down her face, said, "Xiaoyou has had diarrhea and her stomach is upset. She hasn't eaten anything today, only drunk a few cups of hot water..." Seemingly sensing something was wrong, the girl paused slightly, "Could the water be poisoned?!"
Many people around looked extremely grim upon hearing this.
A hot-tempered woman screamed, "There must be poison in the water! No wonder my husband's diarrhea won't stop, even though he's been drinking hot water!" "Where's the captain? Haven't they found anything after all this time?!" "We want a refund! Get the cruise ship back!"
A group of people, cursing and swearing, rushed to the top deck, demanding to see the captain.
Several more people suddenly collapsed on the road, their deaths mirroring those of the girl from before.
In the blink of an eye, several passengers died, and the passengers on the entire cruise ship were plunged into extreme panic.
Those who remained calm rushed to the supermarket to grab Mineral Water, while those who had no idea what to do leaned against the fence, staring blankly at the corpses. Some radicals continued to surge toward the captain's cabin, furiously denouncing the ocean shipping company and demanding an explanation from the captain.
The old captain, sweating profusely, ran onto the deck, grabbed a megaphone, and shouted, "Please, everyone, don't panic! We are investigating..."
The tourists wouldn't listen to his explanation, roaring, "Investigate my ass! You've been investigating for so long and still haven't found the cause?" "It must be the water! I only drank one cup of water this morning, and I've had diarrhea several times!" "Everyone on the ship has food poisoning, and some people have died!" "Don't you have any responsibility for so many deaths?!"
A man suddenly rushed over, grabbed the old captain by the collar, and roared, his eyes blazing with fury, "Give me back my wife! My wife is dead, she's dead! Just now, she died of food poisoning in her cabin because she boarded this wretched cruise ship!"
Upon hearing this, those around rushed forward and surrounded the captain. Some suggested, "We should call the police immediately!" "The cruise ship has already set sail; there's no signal, and we can't contact anyone on shore!"
Some of the girls' voices were already trembling with tears: "What do we do? Are we all going to die on this ship?"
The situation grew increasingly chaotic. The old captain was being pushed and shoved, his face deathly pale. In all his years as captain, he had never encountered anything like this before. All the passengers on board were suffering from food poisoning… He remembered that before the cruise ship left the dock, the ship's freshwater and food reserves had been inspected by the ship's logistics director and confirmed to be fine. How could this have happened?
The old captain suddenly snapped to attention: "Go and fetch Director Qi over here!"
One of the subordinates immediately went to the cabin on the lower level to look for Director Qi, but after searching the entire ship, he could not find him. The subordinate ran back dejectedly and said, "Director Qi... Director Qi is missing!"
The old captain had a bad feeling and clenched his fists tightly: "Announce to the whole ship, find them!"
Just then, a deep voice rang out: "No need to look anymore, he just left in a lifeboat."
—It was Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou's group.
Just now, they were standing at the stern of the ship when they saw a man inspecting the escape pods. They assumed he was a crew member in charge of safety. But then the man suddenly untied the rope of an escape raft, launched it, and ran away!
The electric escape boat was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, the man disappeared into the vast sea.
Yu Hanjiang quickly determined that this person was the culprit behind the food poisoning of all the tourists on the ship!
Shao Qingge asked curiously, "Could he be the Hunter? Trying to kill all the passengers on the cruise ship on the vast ocean by polluting the water?"
Old Mo shook his head: "No, Hunters are paid based on the number of Challengers they kill. It's one million per kill, and if you kill a powerful Challenger, like some guild leaders, you can get a hundred million. He just ran away. Who knows how many people will die on the ship? That's not like Hunters."
Xiao Lou agreed: "If he wanted to kill someone directly, he wouldn't put bacteria in the water, but would put in poison that would kill them instantly after drinking it, which would be much faster."
Ye Qi's eyes suddenly lit up: "I know! He's the logistics director I was eavesdropping on last night, the one who kept complaining about his low salary and not being able to support his family. He also mentioned that he didn't want to continue working on the cruise ship... Perhaps he had a long-standing grudge against the ocean shipping company and the captain, and he's using this method to retaliate?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded, agreeing that Ye Qi's statement was reasonable.
Hearing the commotion on deck, Yu Hanjiang immediately made a decision: "We have to stop the passengers from causing trouble. If this continues, and the captain gets pushed to the limit, he might abandon ship and run away. The entire cruise ship will be isolated and helpless at sea, making it even more difficult for us to clear customs!"
Everyone agreed to Captain Yu's suggestion and immediately headed to the top deck.
On deck, upon hearing Yu Hanjiang's voice, the old captain was startled: "What did you say? Director Qi ran away?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "That's right, we just saw him escape in the lifeboat."
When those around realized the culprit had escaped, they became enraged and wanted to vent their anger on the remaining crew members. Some even shouted that they would gang up on the captain...
Yu Hanjiang's sharp gaze swept across the room as he shouted sternly, "Quiet! Do you think causing trouble will solve anything?!"
His voice seemed to have a kind of magic that could penetrate people's hearts. The surroundings suddenly fell silent. Yu Hanjiang said coldly, "You beat up the captain and crippled him. Who will be responsible for steering the ship?"
Upon hearing this, everyone awkwardly took a step back.
The captain, as if grasping at a straw, immediately chimed in, "That's right! Everyone, don't attack!"
"Don't panic, we'll get you all safely to Sun City! If the freshwater stored on board is contaminated, there's another solution—we have a very advanced seawater desalination system. The ship's onboard equipment can process several tons of seawater a day, so you don't need to worry about running out of water!"
The passengers looked on with skepticism, and one man asked, "Is this device you're talking about reliable?"
The captain nodded: "Don't worry! Many residents in coastal cities also have their drinking water supplied through seawater desalination systems. This equipment uses reverse osmosis technology. The pores of the reverse osmosis membrane are very small, so it can effectively remove dissolved salts, colloids, microorganisms, organic matter, etc. from the water. The water produced after filtration is about the same quality as mineral water!"
Xiao Lou had heard of this reverse osmosis technology, so it wasn't surprising that long-haul cruise ships were equipped with seawater desalination systems. After all, in case of an accident at sea, seawater cannot be drunk directly, and using reverse osmosis technology to desalinate seawater into drinking water is the most convenient and quickest way.
Yu Hanjiang said, "Everyone, drink Mineral Water for now, and we'll talk again once the captain has dealt with the water source."
The expressions on everyone's faces softened considerably.
Some of the relatives and friends who had just died still looked grim: "Did my wife die in vain?" "Yes, my brother just collapsed from food poisoning too, boohoo... Captain, you have to give us an explanation!"
The old captain, his face etched with grief, said in a loud voice, "I'm so sorry everyone, I never expected this to happen! Our ship's logistics director failed in his duty; there was a problem with the drinking water. Please rest assured, we will provide appropriate compensation for the deceased relatives! I have already contacted the dock, and the police will send a rescue boat to pick up their remains and take everyone back to Moon City …"
The crowd's emotions were temporarily calmed, and they returned to their cabins to rest.
This was just a minor incident during the cruise. Soon, the police rescue boat called by the captain arrived and took away the bodies and their relatives. A Challenger team also boarded the ship, bringing the total number of people to 10.
Xiao Lou made this judgment because the team included middle-aged people and students, six men and four women, and they didn't seem to be relatives. The deceased was the girl initially named "Xiao You." The nine people carried her body to the rescue ship. Except for the girl who was close to her and kept crying, the expressions on the faces of the others were very sad—but no one shed a tear.
They wouldn't be so indifferent if they were family.
As Ye Qi watched the rescue ship sail away, he couldn't help but ask curiously, " The Challenger on that ship was taken directly to Moon City by the police. The rescue ship was traveling very fast; they should have arrived in Moon City before dark, right? Does that mean they cleared the gates directly?"
Xiao Lou shook his head: "No, they've already been eliminated."
Ye Qi paused, then asked, "What do you mean?"
Xiao Lou sighed and said, "We already warned them when they entered the Weekly Secret Chamber that the survival objective this time was to survive at sea for seven days. They left early, so they simply couldn't complete the seven-day sea survival mission. The moment they left the cruise ship with the rescue ship, they essentially gave up on this Weekly Routine mission."
Old Mo sighed, "How could they make such a basic mistake... They must have understood the mission objective before entering the secret room. They've already passed the previous four levels, and they still haven't learned their lesson. It's such a pity for this team."
Xiao Lou said, "It's probably because a teammate died suddenly, and everyone was in a panic."
A team must have someone who can keep morale high under any circumstances. If it were Xiao Lou's team, even if someone suddenly died, Yu Hanjiang would not be foolish enough to make the decision to "leave with the Police Station ".
That 10-person team has been eliminated.
But what will happen to the Challengers who remain on the ship remains to be seen.
When will the thunderstorm finally arrive? Looking at the endless clear sky, Xiao Lou had no idea.