She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 299

Below her was a cabin slightly larger than her own, but what she saw was a scene from hell. There were no beds. On the cold, filthy floor, more than a dozen small figures were huddled together. They were children, ranging from just a few years old to their early teens, all of them dressed in rags, emaciated, and covered in bruises and sores. Heavy, rusted chains were locked around each child's ankle, the other end secured to iron rings bolted into the bulkhead. They were lambs, chained and waiting for slaughter.

The dim light illuminated their numb, lifeless eyes. Some huddled together, trembling and sobbing quietly. Others stared blankly at the ceiling, their spirits seemingly ripped from their bodies.

In a corner, a little girl who looked to be only five or six was cradling an even smaller boy, who seemed to be unconscious, and humming a tuneless, barely audible lullaby.

The air was thick with the foul stench of excrement, blood, and despair. Dirty whips hung on the walls, and moldy bread crumbs and an overturned, filthy water bucket littered the floor.

Then Loyce saw something that made her pupils contract. On the exposed belly of a slightly older boy, there was a fresh, poorly stitched surgical wound. Its location was unmistakable: the kidney.

These inhuman bastards! They weren't just kidnapping children; they were already carving them up.

Loyce's nails dug so deeply into her palms they nearly broke the skin. A cold, palpable killing intent radiated from her, seeming to freeze the very air in the ventilation duct.

Just then, the cabin door was thrown open with a crash. A brawny, cigarette-chewing crewman stomped in.

"What's all the crying about?" he snarled. "Keep it up, and I'll cut your tongues out and feed you to the fish!"

He brandished a short club, and the children instantly fell silent, shrinking into themselves, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

The crewman strode over to the little girl humming in the corner and kicked her roughly. "Shut your trap, little mute! You're making a racket!"

The girl let out a muffled grunt but held her brother tighter, staring at the man in terror, not daring to make another sound.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify