Upon hearing Mr. Thompson’s call, Mrs. Thompson quickly filled four glasses of water from the kitchen and set them on the table, before consciously retreating to the bedroom.

Actually, Mrs. Thompson was quite a traditional woman. If the ladies from the Taylor family had come together, Mrs. Thompson would have certainly come out to chat with them.

But now, only the men from the Taylor family had arrived, and it looked like they had important matters to discuss, so Mrs. Thompson didn’t stay, opting to leave instead.

"Zachary, Robinson told me that you’re planning to take your parents with you when you leave this time, right?

He also mentioned your invitation for us to join you in leaving. I have a few questions I’d like to ask you, if that’s convenient, and I’m hoping you can help clarify them for me."

"Uncle Ye, don’t be formal. Just tell me what you want to ask," Zachary said.

"First, I’d like to know about how many people you can take with you this time?"

Zachary didn’t answer immediately, his face betraying a hesitation.

Seeing Zachary’s expression, Master Ye seemed to understand what was on his mind and said directly, "Zachary, speak your mind. Don’t overthink it."

"Since you’ve said so, Uncle Ye, I’ll be honest with you. I initially thought you and my brother were doing okay here, so I only planned to pick up my parents and take Madeline with me.

But after arriving, I heard from my brother that things aren’t going well for you here either, which is why I spontaneously decided to ask if you’d be interested in leaving with us," Zachary explained.

"You don’t need to worry about transport; I came here by ship. Taking a dozen or twenty people isn’t an issue; if we try hard, we could barely squeeze in thirty to fifty in one go.

However, I think we’d better leave quietly. It’d be best not to tell anyone else about our plans to leave."

Hearing Zachary’s words, the Taylor father and son understood his intentions.

Zachary’s meaning was in stark contrast to Robinson’s thoughts. Just as Robinson was about to speak up, Master Ye suddenly held him back, signaling him to stay silent.

Then, in a calm tone, Master Ye asked Zachary, "Can you tell me the specific reasons why?"

"Uncle Ye, let me first tell you that I plan to take you to Magic City’s Platform No. 3. I think you might have heard about the screening criteria for those wanting to get on the platforms before the water disaster occurred.

Though there were some casualties on the platforms during the disaster, leading to a lowering of the criteria for survivors to board, the platforms still don’t accept just anyone.

Truth be told, I’ve already bought property on Magic City’s Platform No. 3; there’s no problem in taking my parents there, and even if I bring Madeline, I can claim he’s my cousin.

The property I purchased can comfortably house the three of them. Even if they don’t get allocated supplies after boarding, I can afford to support them, so there’s no problem in taking them with me.

After hearing from my brother about your circumstances, taking your whole family isn’t really an issue since you don’t have many people, and my brother is capable too. We’ll find a way to settle you there.

It might be blunt, but if there’s nowhere else to accommodate you, you could squeeze into my place.

But if I take thirty to fifty people all at once, let’s not even consider whether all these people meet the criteria for being accepted there.

Even if we’re lucky and everyone meets the requirements, if I bring that many people over, how will others look at me?

To be honest, I can’t possibly spend money and lose face trying to get help for strangers."

But then again, if the Platform only takes in a portion of the people, how do I arrange for the rest? Do I send them back, or let them live on my vehicle?

No matter what I choose, it’s going to be a thankless task.

If you think about it, not to mention the Platforms that have strict screenings for boarders, even this ship we’re on, if it were still under Ye Liuyun’s control, would he be able to settle three or fifty survivors at a time based on my face? Will he still accept them all?

I think that’s highly unlikely. Even if those people are begrudgingly settled on the ship, the treatment they’d get would surely not be satisfactory. By then, they’d probably blame me, accusing me of deceitfully luring them away from a safe and comfortable place, intentionally watching them suffer. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Although Ye Liuyun might not say it outright, reluctantly taking in those people would undoubtedly irk him, which could lead to a rift between us.

Consider this: even with such a good relationship as Ye Liuyun and I have, such an issue is possible; let alone at the other place where I don’t have any connections.

If I really were to take so many people over there, it would inevitably lead to a situation where they can’t be accommodated. Knowing this could happen, why would I go out of my way to make things difficult for myself?"

Upon hearing Zachary’s explanation, Master Ye fell into deep thought while Robinson William by his side thoroughly agreed with Zachary’s logic. After all, having gone through such events, Robinson had truly understood what the warmth and coldness of human relationships were, what it meant to be lauded or stepped on.

When he and Master Ye discussed it at home, he had decided not to tell anyone else, planning to leave with just his own family, preferably slipping away quietly.

However, Master Ye did not agree with him and even used their last escape from Pengcheng as an example, telling Robinson that even if they leave, they shouldn’t do it alone; the more united people are, the safer it is in a strange place.

But what Master Ye failed to grasp was that, last time, they fled to a no man’s land in Saxon County, basically a barren land with a few abandoned factories. So, more people were better then.

But now, the place they’re heading to has already been built, and they will screen people who want to enter. Though the selection criteria have lowered since the beginning, they’re still not low.

If they proceed to go there in a group like before, it’s very likely that the other side will cherry-pick among them or even refuse them altogether.

If Master Ye were younger or given more time to think, he would surely have understood this straight away.

But who has that much time to think things over? If they followed Zachary’s original plan to take only Father Dong, Mother Dong, and Madeline away, leaving earlier or later wouldn’t have posed a problem.

Yet, Zachary’s heart softened upon hearing about the Taylor family’s current plight, and he decided to move the entire Taylor family out—an operation quite different from the initial plan of just two or three people leaving.

According to Zachary’s current thinking, they’d best hurry to pack their belongings, regardless of the attitudes and thoughts of the other families on the ship. They should leave before the others catch on.

Although such an evacuation seems hasty, it would definitely avoid a lot of trouble.

Seeing the hesitation in Master Ye’s eyes, Zachary knew that Master Ye hadn’t made up his mind yet.

But unlike the time in Pengcheng where they relied on others, Zachary had the ultimate say in this evacuation.

If Master Ye insists on his own view, he cannot blame Zachary for being ruthless—taking his parents and leaving straight away—even if that meant abandoning Madeline if her opinion differed from his own.

Although Zachary didn’t say much, calmly waiting for Master Ye’s reply, he had already made up his mind to leave according to the plan, regardless of Master Ye’s final decision.

Moreover, to preempt any last-minute changes, Zachary planned to first send his parents to the Wave Rider after the Taylor family father and son left, and then come back to ask Madeline.

If she’s willing to leave, he’ll take her with them. If she is unwilling or still indecisive, Zachary will turn around and leave immediately, not giving her any time to consider.