Book One Chapter One The Crossing (Section 1)

  The best end for a soldier is to be killed in the last battle, and see the flag of victory rising before he takes his last breath! —— George S. Patton

  The filthy container was filled with a foul odor, three people had already died, slowly rotting in the sweltering heat, maggots crawling in and out of their eye sockets and mouth corners, reveling in a sumptuous feast. Two women were crying weakly, while more people remained motionless, like breathing corpses in the darkness, silent as ever.

  The battery had long since lost any function, and even the small light bulbs could only emit a dim red glow. The large plastic bucket that held drinking water had been emitting a foul odor for some time, and people who drank from it would inevitably suffer from vomiting and diarrhea. Yet, with no other options available, people still treated the remaining half-bucket of water as if it were precious treasure.

  A few days ago, a crew member of the ship who was notorious for being cruel and ruthless threw two dying stowaways into the sea. Watching them being dragged underwater by unknown creatures without even struggling, their families didn't even have the courage to cry! Who knows if the next one will be oneself?

  Almost no one in the entire container of forty people dared to hope that they could survive to reach their dream paradise - France. As long as they could leave this container and end this journey accompanied by death, no matter what the cost!

  The ship's hull shook slightly, and urgent footsteps came from outside the container, accompanied by the screeching sound of iron door hinges turning. Several crew members holding stun guns opened the large door of the container, and a bald-headed crew member shouted in poor English: "Hand over your money and jewelry immediately! Hurry up!"

  A visibly confused stowaway stumbled to his feet: "Didn't I already give you money? I paid $30,000! Why do you want more money? Are we in France yet?"

  Several crew members holding shotguns burst out laughing: "Arrived? Of course, you've arrived! But you should pay a certain amount of cash and jewelry to set foot on the most beautiful coast of France. Otherwise, you might have to swim ashore! The water isn't very cold in this weather, it's even quite comfortable, but the sharks underwater seem to also enjoy bringing their lovers out for a romantic dinner at midnight!"

  The bald-headed sailor looked a bit impatient: "What's all the fuss about? Hurry up and get it out! Or we'll have to take matters into our own hands!"

  After the most meaningless scramble, the stowaways completely lost their ability to resist. Several stowaways who were beaten with rifle butts and had their heads cracked open were curled up on the dirty container floor vomiting, not even sparing the last bit of US dollars, jewelry, or coins they had brought with them; even two women who had hastily stuffed their money into their underwear were searched thoroughly. Looking at the meager amount of cash and jewelry in his hand, the bald crew member's face was filled with regret: "FUCK! These yellow pigs! Poor devils! Trash!!!"

  A blinding light suddenly lit up on the surface of the sea, and a shrill voice from a loudspeaker pierced through the dark night sky: "We are French immigration inspection officers! The boat ahead, stop immediately for inspection!"

  The disheveled stowaways and sailors were running around like headless flies, a bald sailor yelling loudly: "Throw them into the sea! Throw them down now! Or we're done for, I don't want to go to jail for these damned snakes, that's too terrifying!"

  The tall and powerful sailors began to grab the fleeing stowaways one by one, throwing them into the sea without hesitation from the stern of the inspection boat. Several stowaways who were running wildly on the deck and gangway were shot up into the air by shotgun blasts, falling heavily into the dark sea, splashing a bloody wave.

  The bald crew member, panting, pulled out the fourth corpse from the container and loudly cursed the damned immigration bureau, even more cursing these dead people-smugglers. As he pulled this body, he suddenly felt a jolt - this seemingly robust guy was much lighter than the previous corpses? The bald man muttered to himself as he struggled to pull the body to the side of the ship, panting, planning to kick it into the sea with one foot, but the kicking foot unexpectedly fell empty. The corpse sat up, staring at the bald man with blood-red eyes!

  The bald man was so frightened that he knelt down, frantically clutching the cross hanging from his neck and trembling with fear as he prayed to the merciful Heavenly Father not to abandon his soul, not to let the devil devour his heart. Until this corpse got up, stretched its limbs, and jumped into the sea with a splash, the bald man collapsed on the deck, vowing never to engage in human trafficking again. The ancient country of the East was indeed too terrifying, as even corpses could do pre-swimming warm-up exercises!

  Even in the sweltering summer, the midnight sea water is still bone-chilling. The stowaways who fell into the sea hadn't even had time to gaze at the dazzling lights of the French coast when a succession of huge waves with a fishy smell surged over them, and someone screamed in terror: "Sharks! It's sharks!!!"

  In the howling, many people never surfaced again. More and more knife-like dorsal fins circled and chased where the stowaways fell into the water. The survivors desperately swam towards the shore, but their numbers kept decreasing. Finally, the sea surface returned to calm!

  Dunkirk Port Maritime Records: On September 11, 2XXX, a large container cargo ship registered in Spain carrying forty stowaways was found to have forcibly thrown the stowaways into the sea off the coast of Dunkirk to avoid inspection, resulting in the death of all stowaways!