Chapter 162 The Collar is a Miniature Bomb
The cargo ship sailed through the vast ocean.
The hold was one level below deck, rising and falling with the waves.
Grace was trapped in a cramped cage, unable to lie down properly or sit comfortably, and she was beginning to feel seasick.
Because the hold was completely enclosed, she couldn't distinguish between day and night or tell what time it was outside—she could only roughly estimate how much time had passed.
The people locked in other cages whispered among themselves from time to time.
Grace heard them discussing anxiously: "This thing around our necks..."
"There are numbers on them..."
"It's so uncomfortable to wear..."
"Don't touch it... I heard it's a bomb... it'll explode..."
Grace felt her blood run cold.
She gently touched the collar around her neck and looked at the little girl. "Do you know what this collar is?"
The little girl shook her head with a confused expression.
She was hugging her stomach, curled up in the corner the whole time, looking both frightened and desperate. And she was hungry.
Naturally, she knew nothing about the collar. She only knew that everyone had one around their neck and didn't think much about it.
Grace couldn't help but smile ruefully.
She realized... if even she didn't know about these things, how could such a young child understand?
Grace moved closer to her and held her in her arms. She felt that the little girl's skin was cold. By nightfall, the temperature in the hold had dropped sharply, and the girl's thin clothing clearly wasn't enough to keep her warm.
Holding her close, Grace said, "Shall we try to sleep for a while?"
The little girl replied, "I'm too scared to sleep..."
Perhaps being in such a dangerous environment made her feel very insecure. But somehow, when Grace held her, she could feel a trace of warmth.
Maybe it reminded her of her own mother...
The little girl's nose tingled with tears again.
"Don't cry..." Grace comforted her. "We're going to survive and get out of here. I promise..."
Even though she had no idea what she could promise with, at least if they really faced death, they shouldn't die in despair, even if they couldn't face it calmly.
The little girl asked, "Miss, you said a hero would come to rescue you. Is that really true?"
"Yes."
The little girl asked innocently, "Then... will that hero rescue me too?"
Grace said, "We'll leave this place together..."
The little girl nodded. "Okay..."
She hugged Grace and soon fell asleep peacefully.
The two of them slept together, unaware of how much time had passed.
When they were half-asleep, they heard a loud "clang."
Grace was instantly awakened.
A group of men dragged carts in again, still carrying bread and toast. Grace realized this must be the third day at noon—they were distributing rations again.
Her stomach was also hungry, and it seemed like they'd slept through the entire night.
Soon, bread was distributed around the cages.
As soon as Grace received the bread, she instinctively took a big bite. The little girl beside her also wolfed it down hungrily. Two meals of bread per day were nowhere near enough—she was trembling with hunger.
Grace finally experienced true hunger. Even though the bread in her hand had become somewhat hard, she still tore and chewed it bit by bit. Soon, only a small piece remained, and after hesitating, she gave this piece to the little girl as well.
After drinking some water and watching the men leave, the little girl suddenly said, "My name is Lily."
This was the first time she'd voluntarily told Grace her name.
Initially, the little girl had been wary of Grace, but after Grace had shared her bread twice and held her through the night, the girl developed an inexplicable feeling toward her—gratitude, dependence. Her guard naturally dissolved.
Meanwhile, at the Hayes Manor.
In the study, Max knocked and walked in.
Alexander had rested for a few hours and was barely managing to keep his spirits up.
Unexpectedly, after just a few hours, Max brought good news.
"I've cracked into the dark web!"
He spread his laptop in front of Alexander, showing him the dark web he'd breached.
The dark web was a network marketplace hidden in darkness.
This world was enveloped by a vast internet. On the surface, the network had extremely wide coverage, but in reality, the web pages people browsed daily could at most be called the surface web.
Beneath these surface networks, countless large and small dark webs were hidden.
If the internet world were described as an iceberg, then the web pages people normally accessed were just the tip of the iceberg. The remaining 90% was hidden in the deep sea, and the vast majority of people would never have the chance to encounter it in their lifetime.
Human trafficking, drugs, weapons, contract killings...
These evils could be found everywhere on the dark web.
Max said, "I found Mom's photo on the dark web."
Alexander looked at the webpage.
The page was a black market where various "products" were listed in ways that would make anyone's jaw drop—women, children, all displayed as "merchandise" with clear price tags.
Grace was labeled "19." More than ten hours ago, she'd gone through a second round of bidding, with the price reaching $8 million.
Max explained, "This dark web is very hard to crack. It has three layers, and you need to access it through specific servers—Tor onion servers. No matter what you want, as long as you can afford the price, you can buy anything you want on the dark web."
After a pause, he said, "What do we do? Mom has been kidnapped by the dark web."
Rather than kidnapping, it was more accurate to say she'd been sold as "merchandise" on the dark web.
Alexander asked, "Can you find out who the buyer is?"
Max replied, "I found out, though it was somewhat difficult, but I managed to trace it. It's a buyer from a Southeast Asian country. However, I still don't know what method the Black Mass organization will use to deliver the 'merchandise,' where these 'products' will end up, and I can't determine that either. The buyer network is too large—every account has an encrypted ID, making them very difficult to trace."
Alexander said, "Customs here are very strict. To transport 'merchandise,' there are basically three options: land, sea, or air. Land transport simply won't work—only sea and air routes can reach overseas. Air transport customs inspections are also very stringent. Trying to deliver 'merchandise' to buyers through air transport would be harder than reaching the sky."
Domestic laws and customs were stricter than those abroad.
But shipping...
Max said, "You mean the only way to deliver 'merchandise' to buyers is through shipping?"
Alexander replied, "The largest port closest to our city is Port Elizabeth, which requires a 5-hour drive. If I'm not mistaken..."
Grace had already been transferred to a cargo ship.
Alexander opened his computer and pulled up all shipping routes from Port Elizabeth within the past 24 hours.
Max had already done everything within his power, and now could only worry anxiously: "Mom's life or death is unknown now... I don't know... how she's doing..."