Chapter 1076

Reuben wiped his eyes. “While working on the ship with Uncle Casey, I’ve missed my mother terribly. But I thought about it and figured that my father would scold and beat her every day if she were still alive. It’s my fault for being so useless. If only I had been capable of leaving home with my mother then, maybe she wouldn’t have died.” Gloria was unsure how to respond to Reuben’s remark. Life was filled with discontentment and too many helpless situations. She stretched out her hand to pat him on the shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself. Many your age still depend on their mothers while you're out here making a living on your own. You can go home and get yourself a wife when you have enough money. Your life will surely get better then.” Reuben chuckled. “You’re right. I’ll keep it up. But you have to stay strong too, Ms. Gloria. You will get better.” Gloria pumped her fist in the air. “We shall keep it up together. I’ll put all my efforts into holding on to life.” “Also, I can see that Mr. Theo treats you very well. He’s even willing to take you abroad for treatment. When my mother was sick, not only did my father refuse to have her treated, he spent the money that was meant for her surgery. “I feel that it’s very important we choose the right life partner. If you’re with someone who doesn’t treat you well, you’d be wasting your life.” Gloria was rather surprised Reuben would say something like this considering his young age. The saying about poor children growing up quickly proved to be true. The rich kids of his age in Navia lived carefree lives and spent their days partying and spending money lavishly, while people like Reuben had dreams since they were young and had experienced the many facades of life. *** As Gloria and Reuben chatted on the deck, Adrian arrived at the bridge and found Casey and his men standing around anxiously. Some ship technicians were there too, looking rather worried. Adrian walked into the room and asked, “Mr. Casey, you asked for me?” Casey hastily said upon seeing Adrian enter, “You’re here, Theo. We’ve got a big problem. I’m afraid it’ll get really bad.” “What’s going on?” asked Adrian. Sormus reported, “Our radars detected a hijacker ship heading straight for us. These people are pirates, and I’m afraid none of us will survive if we are to cross swords with them.” “Pirates?” Adrian was surprised. Goch said in a broken Navillian, “Yes. We’ve taken this route many times and have barely encountered any pirates, and this route isn’t easily discovered either. I never expected to encounter them today.” Pirate encounters were fatal to seafarers. It was no wonder Casey and the others were so anxious. Adrian asked, “Do you know who they are? How long before they arrive? We still have time to prepare.” “Prepare? There’s no way to prepare for pirates. They have weapons, so how do you propose we prepare for them with our pitiable numbers? I think we can only sit and wait for our doom. “We’re so f*cking unlucky. You must’ve brought your bad luck with you onto this ship, Theo. Why would we encounter pirates otherwise?” said a Shanglander with a huge beard as he pointed at Adrian.