Chapter 142: Chapter 142: The Corpse Thief

One of them, when the others weren’t looking, secretly pulled the corpse onto his wooden raft and covered it with something.

After doing this, the man glanced around with his bloodshot eyes. Seeing that no one had noticed him, he let out a sigh of relief.

He didn’t join the others to fight over the bag of snacks. Instead, he moved away from the fray and continued to fish on the water’s surface with his tool.

Stella Sterling had lost count of how many similar scenes she had witnessed on her journey.

But she paid it no mind, simply continuing forward in her speedboat. She knew of a place that would be suitable for her to stop for a while.

However, her gaze fell upon the dilapidated wooden raft. When she saw the corpse’s foot sticking out, her eyes went cold.

’Has it really come to this already?’ 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Just then, the man on the raft happened to turn and look in her direction. When he saw her watching him, a flash of panic crossed his eyes.

His expression then turned fierce. He glared at Stella Sterling before hastily grabbing something to cover the corpse’s foot.

When he finished and looked back at Stella Sterling, he saw she was still watching him.

’She saw. She must have seen it.’

Another flicker of panic crossed his eyes. It was hard to tell what he was thinking as he stared at Stella Sterling.

He began to slowly steer his little broken raft in Stella Sterling’s direction.

Just then, something unexpected happened. Amidst the group ahead fighting over the snacks, someone fumbled and tossed the bag into the air. By a stroke of luck—or misfortune—it landed right on Stella Sterling’s speedboat.

The crowd froze for a second, their eyes fixed on Stella Sterling, and then they began to swarm madly toward her.

"Hand it over!"

"That’s ours!"

Their faces were frantic. Although they could catch fish from the water to get by, the prospect of real food—even if it was moldy—was far more exciting than the contaminated fish.

Rain was pouring down. Though Stella Sterling had an awning over her head to block the downpour, some rain still inevitably blew onto her.

Her hair dripping, she looked down, picked up the bag of snacks, and let out a soft chuckle. Then, she tossed it. Whether by chance or by design, it landed right on the dilapidated wooden raft.

The man on the raft’s expression changed. He shot Stella Sterling a glare. Seeing the others swarming toward him, he glanced at the bag and, surprisingly, didn’t throw it away. Instead, he began paddling desperately, trying to escape the encroaching mob.

But his attempt was clearly a failure. He was quickly surrounded, and the corpse on his raft was revealed to everyone.

"Isn’t that the guy who just died? What’s he doing here?"

"He stole the body! This guy actually steals corpses! What kind of sick hobby is that?"

"He’s not... eating human flesh, is he? Why else would he hide a body?"

The crowd shrieked. Their previous frenzy subsided, and they instantly backed away from the man as if he were a complete psycho.

The man’s face went pale for a second before his expression twisted into a crazed grin. "Get away! Get away, or I’ll kill you all! Hahaha, meat... it’ll all be meat! So delicious... so fragrant..."

He seemed to have gone completely mad, babbling incoherently.

Stella Sterling watched the scene unfold with cold eyes. ’So it’s true, he’s eaten human flesh before. He was stealing the corpse to eat it.’

Things like this no longer surprised her, but she hadn’t expected people to resort to it so soon.

’It’s just as I thought. Without food, when people are pushed to the brink of starvation, they’re capable of anything—even devouring their own kind.’

THWACK!

Behind the crazed man, another man holding a steel pipe brought it down hard on his head. The scar-faced attacker looked ruthless. "Damn you, you’re worse than an animal! You want to eat my flesh? Go tell it to the King of Hell!"

After beating the man to death with the pipe, the scar-faced man jumped onto the raft. He tossed both corpses into the water and then found the small amount of food on board.

He was smart. Instead of trying to hoard everything, he threw a few bags in different directions. While the others scrambled for them, he hurriedly paddled his small boat away.

Having seen the whole show, Stella Sterling didn’t linger either and quickly departed.

However, she didn’t expect to run into the man who had escaped again on her way.

The scar-faced man glanced at her.

Seeing that she was alone on her boat, a flicker of surprise and hesitation crossed his eyes.

In the end, though, he said nothing and steered his small boat away from Stella Sterling.

These days, anyone traveling alone was either an easy target or a stone-cold killer.

A woman, alone, with a speedboat that hadn’t been stolen? Clearly, she was the latter.

’Best not to provoke her. I’ve already made a good haul today. It’s best to quit while I’m ahead.’

The place Stella Sterling was heading to was still far away; she wouldn’t be able to reach it any time soon.

So before nightfall, she found a place to stop for the night. Spotting the top of a building faintly visible in the distance, she steered her speedboat toward it.

She pulled up alongside it. Looking at the small patch of land that wasn’t completely submerged, she got out of her boat and surveyed her surroundings.

This area was almost completely underwater.

But as she disembarked and walked onto the patch of land, she saw an even taller building. She headed toward it, carefully watching her surroundings for any surprises.

She wasn’t the only one here. There were other people who looked like they had just arrived and were in the middle of settling in.

Some were using ropes to tie up their vessels.

Those were their lifelines on the water; they couldn’t afford to lose them.

When they saw Stella Sterling arrive, everyone glanced her way, their eyes filled with both assessment and wariness.

But no one came to cause trouble. They all went about their own business, while cautiously keeping an eye on everyone else.

Stella Sterling glanced at the highest point. It was already occupied.

The area was spacious, but only two people were up there. They were acting very territorial, not allowing anyone else near. When someone got close, they would pull out long knives and shout threats. "Get lost, get lost, get lost! This spot belongs to us brothers now! If you dare try to take our spot, we’ll chop you down!"