"Donât tell me the referrer hasnât warned you yet that your task is only to be responsible for sending us to the Straits of Malacca?" Zhu Long said coolly with an indifferent expression, "No matter what you see and encounter on the way there, you must not see it, nor hear it, capiche?"
Wang Xiaodong sneered inwardly and even held some disdain. He was not blind, nor deaf. How could he possibly not see nor hear anything? He even cussed inwardly: Playing mysterious, huh? Iâm fucking sure you must be doing some damn dirty shit!
The red-haired youth, Firedevil, with a birdcage in his hand, interjected in a mystifying tone, "Hey buddy, why on Earth did you ask Boss Zhu Long about it? Just obey him! You got the money to get some work done for us, so behave yourself and do what youâve been hired for. Dare to make us upset, and weâll kick you out to feed the sharks in the sea."
Wang Xiaodong quivered and immediately turned wary. He knew that this red-haired youth was telling the truth... that they could really do something to him in the vast sea, and he could be persecuted to death unjustly.
"Donât try to fuck with me. Iâve taken your photos and passed them on to my family. Youâll be the suspects if I run into danger."
Hearing Wang Xiaodongâs words, which were full of fear, Firedevil strangely chuckled twice. He turned to look at Zhu Long and asked, "So, Zhu Long Captain, what about that brat surnamed Tang? Is he still coming or not? We are 20 minutes to the agreed time here, and I donât think we should wait for a damn sissy if he canât arrive on time."
Zhu Long hummed twice and didnât answer his question. He also didnât want to wait for that arrogant prick. But it was, after all, an order from his Chief, Duanmu Lin, and he dared not simply kick out Tang Xiu either.
The alluringly hot and beautiful Electrolady had long, loose, purple hair and sharp nails painted purple; she looked very cool, as though she was the embodiment of purple lightning. A faint smile appeared on her beautiful face as she spoke, "Well, itâs so rare to see someone who can make Boss Zhu Long angry and vexed. But that guy kinda interests me though. Iâll take him into my seraglio if heâs a handsome one."
"You got my spiritual support, Electrolady." Firedevil raised his thumb up. "Well, just hope this kid can be seen by you truly. Heâll be a lucky man who can enjoy all the happiness in the world."
Electrolady giggled and her willow-like, slender waist swayed. She threw a coquettish wink at Firedevil. "Why donât you try to enjoy all the happiness of the world by being a lucky man who was loved by belles then, Firedevil?"
"No no no. I donât have that good of luck." Firedevil was suddenly startled and backtracked agitatedly for half a meter, waving his hand and said, "Please donât. I donât have that good of fortune. I canât bear it!"
"Bah. Coward."
Rolling her eyes, Electrolady snappily cussed. Her expression suddenly moved with a happily surprised look on her beautiful face. He pointed to a man walking in the distance, and chuckled, "You got small balls, Firedevil, so this lady will let you go. My fresh young target is coming, and heâs so handsome it makes me itch. Gimme 20 minutes, Boss Zhu Long. Iâll make sure that handsome fella kowtows under my skirt."
"Overruled." Zhu Long growled in a low voice with a gloomy face.
Electrolady looked dull for a moment before she snorted immediately. She knew perfectly well about Zhu Longâs character when carrying out a mission. Cautious, strict, and fiercely restrictive to his team members.
"Damn, too bad!"
She sighed inside but still spent some effort to memorize that gorgeous face. She hoped to meet him again in the future to then showcase her unique feminine charm and capture his heart.
To her surprise, however, the handsome guy in her line of sight turned to head straight towards their location and even halted his pace on the shore.
Donât tell me...this is the guy who has poked Capt. Zhu Longâs irk. The one he calls "unbridled, arrogant prick"?
Tang Xiu shot a look at Zhu Long and swept over several people on the bow before he immediately said, "Iâm not late, am I, Zhu Long?"
"Hmph!" Zhu Long snorted coldly and threw his head to the side.
Firedevil observed Tang Xiu a few times, and then quickly waved and smiled at him. "Hey, you must be Brother Tang Xiu, right? Welcome to the party on this death voyage. Anyway, Iâm Firedevil, the one with all of the purple decoration is Electrolady, and the one in the blue attire is Aquababe. By the way, I gotta let you know about Electrolady seriously though. Well, sheâs the goddess to all of us men, and she also likes a dashingly handsome guy like you."
"Shut up!"
Electrolady angrily snapped and raised her hand towards Firedevil, who got scared and hastily backtracked. Her expression then changed to that of a bright, smiling face and happily spoke to Tang Xiu, "Tang Xiu, right? Please ignore what Firedevil said; he just throws his rubbish talk as always. Anyway, Iâm glad you can join us, and weâll have to rely on you to protect us, weak women."
"Nice to meet you," replied Tang Xiu calmly and then boarded the fishing boat.
Electrolady came to Tang Xiuâs side. Although every twinkle and smile she had was showing her feminine charm, Tang Xiu didnât even spare her a glance. Of course, it was a different story had it been another man, as they would have already have been mesmerized by her. But who was Tang Xiu? He was once powerful supremacy, the Supreme who stood at the summit in the Immortal World. Let alone Electrolady, even the alluring Enchantress of the Ninth Heavenâs Nymph race could never captivate him.
"Alright. Set sail!"
Zhu Long stiffly ordered and turned into the cabin. The fishing boat was not big, just a common vessel for offshore operation. It usually had a dozen-plus people whenever it sailed to the sea for fishing, and it returned with a full load nearly every time. Today, however, it only had a few crew members, only four people including the owner, Wang Xiaodong.
The sail was hoisted and ready to set sail.
The fishing boat was not very fast and gradually vanished from the port amid the rippling waves of the ocean. After a full day of sailing, they would sail into the Straits of Malacca area the next day. Although the entire strait was only 1080 km long, the southeastern part was connecting the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, while the three-star vestige was located at the junction. The coordinate location was very distinct, so it didnât take long before the fishing boat approached a small island.
"Hmm? Somethingâs strange. I used to come here in my elderâs fishing boat several times and landed on this small island. Rarely has this island had peopleâs footprints. How come today... it has so many boats stopped here?" Wang Xiaodong stood on the bow deck sweeping over the tens of ships of various types in front of him with surprise all over his face. Some of these boats were yachts, some were liners, cargo ships, but none of them was a fishing boat.
Zhu Long took his military backpack and came to Wang Xiaodongâs side. "Wait for us here. If we havenât come back from the island in 5 days, donât wait for us any longer and immediately set sail back! Do remember not to have any conflict whatsoever with those people on the other ships, nor easily have any contact with them.
"But why?" asked Wang Xiaodong, confused.
"These people will likely have ill thoughts about you if we canât come back alive," sneered Zhu Long.
Wang Xiaodong shuddered. He could keenly see two stocky black men with guns on the nearby liner who coldly glared in their direction.
Those were guns!
Who are these people? How dare they bring a gun openly? Is this a major gathering of some underground organizations?
He secretly made up his mind after mulling over for a while. He would not take the money he hadnât yet received and would sail back right after Zhu Long left them. Money was important but it was nothing compared to his life.
Tang Xiu was last to disembark. He could see Wang Xiaodongâs faintly paled face and his attempts to secretly glance at the stocky armed black man over there. He then cooly spoke to him, "Youâll probably be in for even bigger trouble if you sneak away after we leave. If we were to die here then youâll be fine. But if weâre able to get back, we can find you even if you run away to the ends of the Earth."
Wang Xiaodongâs heart instantly plunged deep into an ice hole. He looked at Tang Xiuâs cold face, forcing out a smile and said, "I know what I must do, Mr. Tang."
Tang Xiu patted his shoulder and suddenly whispered right into his ear, "That Zhu Long fella is too arrogant, isnât he? He doesnât want to say anything to you, but I can tell you something, though. We are actually members of the special entity of our country and are ordered on a mission here. Once weâve accomplished our mission well, our country will be enormously benefitted. So, even if itâs not for you, please do it for our country."
They are from the government?
Staring at Tang Xiu with a shocked face, Wang Xiaodongâs heart was struck with tempestuous waves. He instantly realized the identity of Tang Xiu, Zhu Long, and the others. Even if they were not from special forces, they should be agents!
âI... Iâm working for such people?â
Some pride suddenly filled Wang Xiaodongâs heart. The excited emotion surged up inside him as he watched Tang Xiu who jumped to the shore and said loudly, "Iâll be waiting for you, Mr. Tang! I also wonât receive the rest of the money. Count it as my contribution to the country."
"Great, youâre a true man!"
Tang Xiu turned around raised his thumb up to Wang Xiaodong before he ran to catch up with Zhu Long and the others.
As a matter of fact, Zhu Longâs group could hear Tang Xiuâs dialog with Wang Xiaodong perfectly. They were all Elementalists, ability users whose hearing was 10 times better than that of normal people. Even though they were somewhat annoyed that Tang Xiu leaked their identity as the stateâs people, they also realized that Tang Xiu spoke to Wang Xiaodong to prevent the latter from leaving and casting them off here.
This guy is quite meticulous.
Zhu Long might not like Tang Xiu, but he had to admit that he inwardly admired what Tang Xiu did.
The group of five carried their simple backpacks and walked along a bare track towards the island. The island only had scarce vegetations, and there were nearly no big trees, even if one were to take a broad view. There was only a layer of green vegetation, and that was the type that grew in rocky crevices and damp places.
At a few kilometers ahead, Tang Xiu could see a tent in the distance. There were clothes with different colors, various designs, as well as soldiers in military uniforms of different ranks who sealed off the surroundings. He saw that those military uniforms were ones worn by Chinese soldiers.