"I’ve already told you we can’t carry so many people," Matthew shouted.

"Then you can’t pass," a man sneered.

Stepping out from the corner, Kain saw the people from the building. They glanced at him before turning back to Matthew.

"If you can’t take us, then take the children," a woman shouted.

Others grumbled, hearing the woman say this. Everyone wanted to leave the godforsaken building. The water had already taken most of the apartments. There wasn’t much living space left.

Why should they give up their only way of rescuing children? Who knows how long they will last?

Some shifty-eyed people, however, agreed with the woman, but their condition was that they needed to go with their children to take care of them.

"Boss," Matthew called out, seeing Kain.

Raising an eyebrow, his gaze narrowed.

Matthew looked away sheepishly. He knew Kain understood. He had never called him boss before, but in front of these people, he was willing to use the title.

"You’re their boss," a burly man asked, his eyes filled with menace.

Kain crossed his arms, impatience clearly in his eyes. "I am, what’s it to you?"

The man, clearly not expecting Kain’s irritable response, was mildly taken aback. After coming to his senses, he spoke in a gruff voice.

"We want to get on your boat. Either that or you can’t leave."

"We can always turn it around and find another way," Kain replied.

"Heh," the man grinned. "Go ahead. Do you think you’re the first to try it? If you go left, there are Marlin big enough to swallow you whole. If you go right, a kraken’s waiting for your boat. We’re your only shot, pretty boy."

His index finger tapped his arm. Marlin and a Kraken. Neither sounds like it would make things easy for him. But he did pat himself on the back for being able to choose the safest route so far.

He hoped his luck would continue.

"Then..." Kain paused as if considering, "...are you in charge here? Does everyone listen to you?"

"Never steered them wrong so far," the man laughed.

Kain nodded, rubbing his hand along his stubble. "In that case, I’m willing to take three people. You’ve seen the size of the yacht; it can’t carry everyone. Not to mention it took on water. If we tried to take everyone, it might sink.

That’s the only compromise I can give. If you want everyone to get on, then I’ll take my chances with the Marlin. Hopefully, we’ll move fast enough. It’s better than slowly sinking.

You have five minutes, then I’ll take my chances with the marlin."

Kain had them reverse the yacht a safe distance. He wasn’t interested in having anyone jump aboard.

At some distance, the group talked among themselves.

"Are you really letting those people get on?" Matthew asked.

"What, no ’Boss’ this time?" Kain replied.

Matthew laughed awkwardly. "You are the boss. I should have called you boss a long time ago. So, boss, are we really taking them on?"

"Of course we are. I’m the kind of person who abides by my word." He spoke righteously, patting his chest. "But I never said they would get off alive."

Matthew opened his mouth, unsure of what to say. Jake clapped him on the shoulder, chortling.

"Told you, Boss is ruthless."

Earlier, Jake had been regaling them with tales of Kain in the business world. They couldn’t believe that the easy-going, unserious man they had seen would be so cold.

They admitted that there were things he said in the moment that made him appear harsh, but those moments of apprehension disappeared when they saw his usually relaxed demeanor.

Amelia smiled when she heard it. Kain had been unfamiliar to her in many ways recently. She couldn’t understand his sudden change or his knowledge of the future.

She could see he refused to talk about it. Sometimes, the despair in his eyes made her heart clench. She wanted to pry his skull open and see what he was thinking.

But she also knew he was a stubborn man. The more she pushed, the more he would close up.

Verdana cleared her throat, "Quick question. If they send someone good-looking, do you mind keeping him for me?"

They turned to her, questioningly.

"What? A girl has needs. All the men here are taken."

"You can take him," Veronica gestured to Jake.

"Isn’t he your boyfriend?" Verdana asked.

"Not exclusive. He can fuck whoever he wants." She pushed Jake towards Verdana. "Plus, he’s been eyeing you. I don’t mind."

Jaylin coughed, turning her eyes upwards like she didn’t notice anything. Verdana pursed her lips, not sure what to say. The others were in varied states of confusion.

Only Kain grinned at the news. Tilting his head towards Jake’s, encouraging him.

"Dad, can I have a good-looking one too?" Avery’s baby voice cut through the awkwardness.

Kain coughed, almost choking himself to death. He and the others looked down. While they were talking, the three children found their way into the circle and started listening.

When Kain heard what Avery said, he ground his teeth.

’You’re five, what good-looking one are you looking for? Over my dead body.’

Through gritted teeth, Kain replied, "You’re not old enough for a good-looking anything. When I get the rabbit dried, then you can play with that instead."

"Then what about us? I’m older than my sister."

’Older by what? A few minutes?’

"We’ll see," he said.

He didn’t think much about his response to Ashton. As a boy, it’s different. Avery is his daughter. If he could, he would lock her up. The only men she would see are her brothers and himself.

"Hey, hey. We’re ready," the burly man said.

Kain gestured for one of them to move the yacht forward.

He wasn’t foolish enough to believe they would choose three people and leave everyone else. Though not all of them might be able to hold, it didn’t mean that a portion of them couldn’t.

The first to jump down was the burly man. He rocked the yacht as he did, almost falling off in the process.

The next two were a man and an older woman. By their appearance, there was nothing special about them. The older woman looked honest. The man looked like he was just glad to be there.

"Now, tell them to move the partition," Kain said.

The burly man made a gesture, and the partition separated.

The yacht lurched forward, taking the three extra people with it.