Bramble Bird ship, [The Empress].
Gu Qing Shan was having a conversation with Laura again.
The little girl was still paranoid about Gu Qing Shan sending her back.
So they were still talking through a thick door that contained over a million seals.
âYou sent out every royal fleet you have, would that really be enough to stop the Soul Shrieker for a while?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
âIt should be. There are enough offensive treasures to continuously throw away for about half a day, in that time, it shouldnât be able to catch up with usâ Laura told him.
âHave the fleets been arranged properly?â Gu Qing Shan asked out of concern.
âThey have. The final wave of attacks will consist of automatic trigger landmine-type treasures and allow the fleets to easily retreatâ
Laura boasted without fear: âNow that the Soul Shrieker lost its steed and is continuously attacked for half a day, it would definitely not be able to catch upâ
Gu Qing Shan told her: âThis method can only be used onceâââ and the Soul Shrieker seems to be able to sense where the [Order] is, so it will eventually come after us againâ
âWeâll cross that bridge when we get thereâ Laura scoffed with displeasure.
âStill, we canât let our guards down. Letâs hurry and move, we should get to Riddle world as soon as we canâ Gu Qing Shan insisted.
âThis Empress is personally controlling this ship today; donât you worry about itâ Laura told him in reply.
Gu Qing Shan nodded and went back on the deck of the ship.
Not too long after that.
Boss opened his eyes and sat up on the floor.
âHow long did I sleep for?â he asked.
Ye Fei Li gave him a can of Soul Points drink and answered: âThree hoursâ
Boss received the drink, opened it, then drank it all at once.
He looked around.
Gu Qing Shan, Zhang Ying Hao, and Ye Fei Li were all sitting around him.
The ship was stably moving along the space vortex.
âIt seems the Soul Shrieker hasnât caught up to us yetââ- this is good news, please give me another canâ
âHereâ
Boss popped it open and chugged the drink one mouthful at a time.
Gu Qing Shan asked: âHowâs your current state?â
Boss held the second can in his hand and wiped his mouth: âIt was a good sleep. I probably wonât fall into slumber again too soon, if I have more of this drink, Iâll be able to regain a bit more strengthâ
Regain strength...
This person appears to be very wise and knowledgeable, so whatâs the extent of his strength?
Thinking that, Gu Qing Shan asked Ye Fei Li: âDo you have enough Soul Points stored?â
Ye Fei Li replied: âDonât worry, I already made enough preparations before we leftâ
He used his ability again and created another can of drink for Boss.
Boss didnât say a single word, received the can and drank it all at once.
Ye Fei Li immediately gave him another.
Boss swiftly finished the drink again
...
After the 25th can.
Ye Fei Li was breathing heavily: âI canât anymore, I need to rest up a bitâ
Boss sighed but said with satisfaction: âThank you, thank you very much, this should be enough for today, any more would only be a wasteââ I wouldnât be able to fully recover all at once anywaysâ
âAfter I get well-rested, you can tell me whenever you need moreâ Ye Fei Li told him.
Boss glanced at him and nodded in satisfaction.
He stood up, walked to the railing of the ship, and stared at the void outside.
[The Empress] was moving along a wide arc while constantly adjusting its route.
There were no entrances to the strange and bizarre worlds to be seen.
The void itself was a greyish dark color, with a bit of knowledge, one would be able to tell that this was a ring-shaped windless passage that allowed the ship to move forward easily without interference.
But there was no way to infer where it was headed towards.
âWe seem to be traveling in a hidden space current?â Boss asked.
âYes, this is a hidden space current thatâs used for smugglingâ Zhang Ying Hao replied.
âWhatâs our destination?â Boss asked again.
Gu Qing Shan explained: âRiddle world, I have something crucial that I need to search for in that placeâ
To this end, Laura provided the ship, while Zhang Ying Hao provided a secret passage.
ââas a hitman, the fact that Zhang Ying Hao managed to survive all this time within the 900 million World Layers was because he had his means.
Not to mention how famous Riddle world was among the forces and organizations that dealt with underground dealings.
Boss had a contemplating look on his face: âThat world... I seem to recall that it was a world specifically used by many to dispose of evidence. Itâs a really hard location to reach, are you sure it would aid our upcoming battle?â
âIâm sureâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
The Earth Creator was able to foresee the future.
It had made a lot of preparations.
ââand itâs surely trying to tell me something.
Boss then asked: âAlright, ah, howâs the [Order]?â
âThe [Demon King Order] has been constantly telling me to run awayâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
Hearing that, Boss laid down on top of the deck again and lazily declared: âIf everything is going well, Iâll rest up a bit more, call me if thereâs anythingâ
Zhang Ying Hao took out a map and looked through it, then said: âThereâs a supply station up ahead. After passing through that, weâd reach Riddle world in about half a dayâ
The group went back to rest.
Ye Fei Li was immersed in his games.
Boss felt a bit interested so he watched on the side.
Gu Qing Shan and Zhang Ying Hao were enjoying a drink while exchanging stories of their experience during this past year.
âIs [Chaos] really as you said it is? A highly personalized supportive power?â Zhang Ying Hao was intrigued.
âAh, yes. Itâs quite interesting, but there is still a lot I donât know about it since I havenât gotten to study it completelyâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
âIf thatâs the case, I might actually try it out if I have the chance. After all, my strength is an issue that needs to be resolved one way or anotherâ Zhang Ying Hao considered.
Gu Qing Shan reminded him: âMake sure to watch out for the Soul Shrieker. Itâs the Envoy that spreads [Chaos], so it might have countermeasures against normal [Chaos]â
Zhang Ying Hao lowered his voice: âRight, why are you looking to get to Riddle world?â
âI once obtained a chance to enter Riddle world from a senior who might have left something there for me, but since I got stalled, I couldnât make it in timeâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
Zhang Ying Hao chuckled: âLeft you something? There are all sorts of things in that world, itâs a place that sells everythingâ
âIâm not too familiar with that worldâ
âIt isnât anything too complicated. Everyone in the underworld is wary of being backstabbed and betrayed, so Riddle world became a trading world under various tacit agreements and eventually grew to become prosperousâ
âA trading world? Iâve been through a black-market world called the Drifting Sand worldâ Gu Qing Shan said.
âRiddle world is known as the most advanced black market in the 900 million World Layersâ Zhang Ying Hao told him.
âWhatâs so advanced about it? Does it have some sort of rule that protects its integrity?â
âIt actually does, the entirety of Riddle world is under a severely strict Law: While in that world, as long as a person hold their mouth shut and does not say anything, no one would be able to hurt themâ
âWhat if someone insisted on trying?â
âThe Law of the world would kick him out and randomly teleport him into an extremely faraway worldâ
Gu Qing Shan nodded in understanding: âSo the name âRiddleâ actually meant âhidden wordsâ[1], if thatâs the case, it would certainly guarantee safe transactionsâ
Zhang Ying Hao continued: âThatâs why the true danger lies in the area around Riddle worldâ
âWhat do you mean?â
âOrganizations that had been conducting business in Riddle world for a long time are always keeping an eye out in the surrounding space vortex, preparing to plunder from any weak and foreign passengers that comes byâ
âThatâs a bit troublesome, but since weâre riding the Bramble Bird Empressâ ship, there shouldnât be any issuesâ Gu Qing Shan concluded.
As soon as he said so.
Bam!
A dull sound of impact.
The ship swayed a bit.
Lauraâs voice came from below: âGu Qing Shan, thereâs a small group of ships blocking the space vortex in front of us, preventing us from moving forwardâ
âDid they open fire?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
âThey did, the ship is fine, they wouldnât have been able to punch through the hull anyways but I wanted to ask you what we should do nowâ Laura replied.
Gu Qing Shan was surprised: âWeâre currently riding [The Empress] but they still couldnât recognize us?â
Laura told him: âIâm currently using a new type of camouflage, from the outside, this airship seems like a perfectly normal shipâ
âYou were afraid that this ship would be discovered by subordinates of the Envoy of [Chaos]?â
âYeahâ
âThat was smartâ Gu Qing Shan praised her, âCompared to being discovered by the Envoys of [Chaos], Iâd rather encounter a few banditsâ
âThen, what do we do now?â Laura asked.
âNo hurry, theyâre coming to usâ Gu Qing Shan told her.
Several hundred people arrived flying from the void outside the ship.
They quickly surrounded the ship.
The leader of the bandits looked down on the four people on the deck of the ship and scowled.
He then turned to someone next to him and grabbed him by the collar: âThis ship is clearly a pathetic wreck thatâs falling apart with nothing but four pieces of garbage on it, and you said this is worth us moving out?â
The man who was grabbed seemed to be the scout, who nervously asked: âA lot of ships had been using this kind of camouflage lately, so I just thought they might be as wellâ
Hearing that, the leader was a bit less displeased.
He flew above [The Empress], looked down on the four people, cleared his throat, and asked:
âWhich one of you is the Boss?â
Everyone was surprised.
Gu Qing Shan, Zhang Ying Hao, and Ye Fei Li stepped aside to reveal Boss who was lying on the deck.
âBoss, heâs looking for youâ Zhang Ying Hao said.
[1] the word for âriddleâ in Chinese also means âhidden wordsâ.