Chapter 1209: Space Cube
Daimon nodded: "That news is indeed true. Quite a few underground forces in Fish Country have gotten wind of it and are on the move!"
"The price Haitang has offered is tempting. If you find her and hand her over to Haitang, money is the least of your worries!"
"You also get the qualification to join the Haitang Hundred Flowers Trade Alliance. For some secondary forces, that's like latching onto a big leg — chickens and dogs ascend to heaven together!"
"After all, Haitang, as a world-class chamber of commerce organization, is wealthy enough to rival a nation! Its foundation and scale are no small matter!"
The reason Daimon knew so clearly was because Haitang had contacted him too.
As the boss of the Black Magic Group and the local big shot in the Imperial Capital, Haitang naturally wouldn't miss the chance to use the Black Magic Group's influence.
Jiangnan gripped the photo, his eyes sharp and fierce.
(๑‾᷄～‾᷅) "Haitang had better not be asking for death. If something happens to Lan, I'll tear their place down!"
Yao Hong looked disgusted: (✡～✡∗) "If Haitang has its eyes on her, this matter is going to be tough to handle. But judging by the fact they're still searching, they probably haven't found her yet."
"Boss! We have to find Little Lan before she falls into Haitang's hands! Once she does, snatching her back won't be easy!"
"Pang Badi has run Haitang for years. His influence is no less than the Light Society's. He has deep cooperation with many top international forces and a vast network of connections!"
"During the development of the Dandelion, we've had quite a few frictions with Haitang, and we can't even make a dent in them! They lack nothing — funds, foundation, manpower, resources, or experts."
Jiangnan nodded. With a Dao Heaven-ranked expert guarding it, and having built their chamber of commerce to earn a seat in the International Spirit Martial Alliance, they were definitely no pushovers.
Jiangnan understood that in his heart. But when it came to Lan's matter, Jiangnan had no intention of backing down.
"Yao Hong! Have the Dandelion people continue searching along the sea routes. Lan's situation is special, so don't make a big fuss about it."
"Daimon, the Imperial Capital side is in your hands. You can cooperate with Haitang. If any news about Lan comes through trade, notify me immediately."
"Plenty of Beauty Pills for you!"
Daimon puffed out his chest, brimming with excitement.
(꜀꜄͡°͜ʖ͡°꜀꜄)ᕤ "Brother Nan! Leave it to me! Even if you didn't give me Beauty Pills, just for the sake of letting me sit in that classroom and listen, I'd be bound to help!"
Jiangnan's expression turned serious.
(･᷅ὢ･᷄) "Fine then, I won't give them to you."
Daimon: (꜀꜄•̌口•̑꜀꜄)???
"W-Wait! You'd better give them! I was just saying... I..."
Jiangnan grinned, patted Daimon on the shoulder, and stood up straight.
Yao Hong asked doubtfully, "Where are you going?"
Jiangnan's expression was firm: "To find a needle in a haystack by sea! I have to find her! Otherwise, I can't calm down."
With that, he teleported and vanished from the room.
Yuna and Emma's scalps went numb. No way? He's actually going to search the sea? Looking for one person on the vast ocean?
Even a space-type user would be exhausted to death doing that!
Mila was a bit worried.
(ʃƪᵒ̴̶̷̥́~ᵒ̴̶̷̣̥̀)
She hoped Brother Jiangnan would find Little Lan quickly, but she was also afraid that once he did, he might like her a little more and not like Mila as much anymore...
Little Mila began to fret.
Meanwhile, Jiangnan really did teleport all the way to the coastline and plunged straight into the boundless sea!
He kept teleporting, carefully sensing any space-type fluctuations, trying to pinpoint Lan's location.
When his spiritual energy ran out, he ate durian pulp and kept searching.
Little Cherry, he absolutely dared not eat. Once he did, who knows what bad luck might strike? It might even affect Lan.
At a time like this, Jiangnan dared not take any risks.
...
On a deep-sea smuggling cargo ship!
The cargo hold was loaded with tens of thousands of tons of coal, and the ship was also carrying quite a few illegal passengers.
At that moment, spirit martial artists belonging to the Seagull Organization were conducting a thorough inspection of the entire ship.
Some were searching the cabins, while others were pulling out the illegal passengers one by one for body searches, meticulous to a frightening degree.
In the coal pile of the cargo hold, a pair of big eyes nervously peeked at the inspectors.
(⸝⸝⁰̷̴꒫⁰̷̴) mmm~
It was Little Lan, covered in coal dust and filth.
Buying a ticket? No way. Besides, they were shipping coal anyway.
They wouldn't mind an extra few dozen pounds.
Yeah, that's right.
At that moment, a Diamond-ranked spirit martial artist with a horse-like face and earrings swaggered over, holding a sketch of Little Lan.
(ꐦ°᷄д°᷅)つ[⁽*˙▿˙⁾]
"You all haven't seen this kid, have you? Open the cargo hold! Now!"
The shipowner gave an obsequious smile: (٥･᷄ㅂ･᷅) "The cargo hold's been searched by quite a few people already, could we..."
The horse-faced man pulled out a machete and pressed it against the shipowner's neck, killing intent thick in the air: "Do as I say! Open it!"
The shipowner shuddered, not daring to delay, and quickly opened the cargo hold.
As the cover slowly lifted, Lan frantically dug into the coal pile, burying herself perfectly.
▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
▇Coal(⸝⸝◔‸◔ิ⸝⸝)Coal▇
The horse-faced man craned his neck, peering in: "Shift Rock, Move Mountain!"
Under his control, the entire cargo hold's coal blocks slowly floated into the air.
Lan: !!!
Teleport!
With a single teleport, she disappeared from the cargo hold. The horse-faced man searched everywhere but found not a trace.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
(ꐦ°᷄皿°᷅) "Tch! With so many ships, where the hell could that little brat have run off to? Strange!"
Cursing, he led his men away.
In the ventilation duct of the engine room, Lan let out a sigh. They had searched here already, so it should be safe.
Ever since she was discovered last time and teleported away, people had been chasing her nonstop.
Even after switching ships, she still couldn't shake them off.
As soon as she lay down, a sharp pain shot through her. Lan turned her head, pulled back her clothes, and looked at her back.
There was a palm-sized burn on her back, from a fireball that had grazed her during the last encounter.
Soaked in seawater and constantly hiding, it hadn't healed and had even become inflamed.
She wrapped some more bandages around it, tears streaming down her face from the pain.
(☍~⁰⸝⸝)
But remembering that in a few more days she'd reach Fish Country and see her big brother, Lan's little face was filled with determination.
(๑•̀◠•́)و✧
Rubbing her growling stomach, she opened her alternate dimension and pulled out half a eaten flatbread, nibbling on it...
Meanwhile, on the ship, another group had just left.
A luxury speedboat pulled up alongside, flying a flag with a reef painted on it.
On it stood quite a few spirit martial artists carrying real weapons.
The shipowner's face was darker than the coal pile.
(̿▀̿益▀̿̿)̄ Tch.
Again?
Invisible air currents swirled, lifting the group onto the cargo ship.
The leader was a man with a blond buzz cut, wearing white dress pants and a palm-tree-patterned Hawaiian shirt, sporting tea-colored sunglasses.
At his waist hung two Desert Eagles, giving him an extremely wild and unrestrained air.
His level was a full Starlight Four.
He was Stephen, the boss of the Reef Organization.
In his arms was a Diamond Peak-ranked purple-haired girl with an explosive figure, extremely seductive, and a pair of pearl earrings that shone dazzlingly.
Behind him, a pockmarked-faced man with shifty eyes shouted out, "Reef Organization on business! We're looking for someone on your ship. No objections, I hope?"
His level was also Diamond Nine.
Hundreds of underlings came aboard with him.
The shipowner walked up with a flattering smile and handed Stephen a small bag of spirit pearls.
"Hehe, please accept this, boss. The Seagull guys already searched the ship. They didn't find who you're looking for. Maybe we could..."
Stephen casually tossed the spirit pearl bag to the purple-haired girl: "Oh? What do you mean? The Seagull people can search, but my Reef people can't?"
"You don't want this cargo anymore, do you?"
The shipowner shuddered: "No, no, no! That's not what I meant! Search all you like!"
"But who exactly is that kid? To have all these big shots making such a fuss?"
Stephen laughed: "The Haitang Chamber of Commerce wants her. If we find her, that's a quick rise to the top — chickens and dogs ascend to heaven together!"
"Amanda? Make your move!"
With that, the Reef's hundreds of men began another round of searching.
The purple-haired girl, Amanda, let the air around her surge and spread outward, probing every corner of the ship.
She licked her lips excitedly.
(๑❛ัڡ❛ั) "Hehehe~ Little treasure, let big sister see where you're hiding."
Stephen wasn't too hopeful.
After all, along the way, he'd led his men to search who knows how many ferries heading to Fish Country.
No luck at all — he'd just collected a good amount of "favor fees."
This was like hitting the jackpot. Who knew where that little brat had run off to?
But at that moment, a flush of excitement spread across Amanda's face.
"Bingo! Engine room ventilation duct! Don't let her escape!"
Stephen was startled. They actually found her?
At that moment, Lan was nestled in the ventilation duct, chewing on her flatbread.
Suddenly, she felt the air flow in the duct speed up.
She realized something was wrong.
In an instant, all the air around her tightened, firmly binding her body.
A condensed air cannonball struck her head.
"Boom!"
Her little head slammed into the steel plate. The immense pressure forced out a mouthful of blood. Her big eyes were filled with pain.
(°˃᷄ཀ˂᷅°)
Her body was being pulled out by the air current.
Lan knew she'd been found. Her little face was full of panic.
She teleported to a spot outside the cabin and tried to run toward the sea.
But Amanda was quick. She instantly locked onto that tiny figure.
Raising her hand, she flung an air blade, the sound of it cutting through the air like a scream.
(∗❛ั益❛ั)☛━=͟͟͞))
Stephen shouted urgently, "Go easy! Don't kill her! Dead, she's not worth anything!"
"Everyone! Don't you dare let her escape! This is our ticket to latching onto Haitang's leg!"
Hundreds of spirit martial artists all saw Lan jump out.
Lan's little face was pale. She saw the air blade slicing toward her.
She bit her lower lip tightly and stretched her small hand toward the direction of the air blade.
"Space Cube!"
In an instant, the surrounding space was divided into twenty-seven cubes.
It formed a third-order Rubik's cube made entirely of space.
The air blade was caught inside one of those cubes.
The moment it was enveloped, the space cube spun and twisted rapidly, swapping positions.
The direction and angle of the air blade trapped in the cube were completely altered.
It slashed back, straight toward the pockmarked man in the crowd!
"Shiiing!" The air blade flashed past.
One of Beta's ears was sliced off, and blood spurted from his shoulder.
"Tch! This little brat is asking for death!"