Chapter 21: Please Don’t Court Death in Style
After the protagonist team set sail, the port of York City gradually quieted down. The workers, vendors, and even the couples sneaking off to the seaside beach were all field operatives of the Mechanisms. Now that these people had withdrawn, the port became exceptionally still.
A steel warship lay anchored in the nearby waters. On the dock, soldiers in Alliance uniforms had the entire port under lockdown. At the forefront, Major Gewei stood ramrod straight, opening his pocket watch every few minutes to check the time.
Major Gewei’s fingers, clad in leather gloves, rubbed against the watch’s lid. He was known for his iron will, but in this setting, claiming he felt no tension at all would be a lie.
A car drove up, brushing past Major Gewei, the wind pressure lifting the hem of his coat.
With a screech, the car braked sharply and drifted, nearly plunging into the sea.
Seeing this, Major Gewei thought to himself, *The Mechanisms’ Legion Commander sure has a unique way of showing up.*
Under Major Gewei’s watchful gaze, the driver’s door opened, and a large dog with black-and-white fur jumped out. The rear door swung open, and a woman with a distinctive aura that drew attention stepped out as well, her expression less than pleased.
“Amu, lift your butt a bit—you’re sitting on my head.”
Baha squeezed out from the back seat, taking deep breaths of fresh air. Amid the groaning of metal, Amu also got out.
Major Gewei straightened his collar and strode over.
“Gewei, is everything ready?”
Su Xiao got out from the passenger seat. He had just taken a nap. Though there had been no fighting in the past two days, the covert struggle with Kingsley had drained a fair amount of his mental energy.
“All set, Mr. White Night. We can set sail anytime.”
The corner of Major Gewei’s mouth lifted involuntarily. Su Xiao hadn’t addressed him as “Major Gewei” but simply as “Gewei”—a form of address usually reserved for trusted allies. This connection with the Mechanisms was now established, exactly what he wanted.
“Coming back overnight from the Miss Sea region—you’ve worked hard.”
As Su Xiao walked toward the ferry at the dock, figures in black emerged from various spots around the port. These were all members of the Mechanisms, including Su Xiao’s newly appointed vice officer, Belok.
For this voyage, Su Xiao had brought every available force he could muster. If he were delayed by unforeseen circumstances, Baha would take command of these Mechanism members. If Baha were also held up, Vice Officer Belok would steady the situation.
Half an hour later, the steel warship set sail, the rear propeller churning up large splashes of water across the sea’s surface.
Inside the top cabin of the steel warship, Su Xiao placed a projection device on the table and activated it. An image flickered onto the wall—Bubu Wang had planted a miniature listening device on the protagonist team member, Nainini.
Though Nainini’s perception was excellent, this listening device was bought with Bubu Wang’s entire allowance. Don’t underestimate Bubu Wang’s allowance—it was calculated in Soul Coins.
The image on the wall gradually sharpened. Su Xiao didn’t bother watching the visuals; he was enjoying his late-night meal—a cut of superhuman sea beast meat, the sauce quite good.
Sitting beside Su Xiao on the sofa, Bubu held popcorn, soda, and various snacks. Baha occasionally snatched a bag. Liechao seemed tempted too, but to maintain her aloof elegance, she sat with her legs crossed, unmoving.
Su Xiao chewed on the tender meat, then glanced at the wall. The image showed the cabin of a fishing boat. The white-haired youth, Aiqí, and the other five sat in various postures, swaying slightly with the boat’s motion.
Inside the fishing boat’s cabin, the five were planning how to capture a mermaid. Aiqí held a tube of blood. According to their investigation, this unknown blood was obtained by the “Mechanisms” in a small town and was linked to the dangerous object—the mermaid.
That evening, the protagonist team had learned of this intelligence. They rushed from Garman City to York City, and after “enduring great hardships,” they stole the blood sample from an office. Aiqí and Nainini took the lead credit.
That’s right—these two had stolen the tube of blood from the office where Su Xiao was staying.
At the time, Su Xiao was on the second floor, resting in a chair. Amu and Liechao were on the third floor—one snoring away, the other maintaining her source bow.
The ones responsible for the infiltration were Aiqí and Nainini. The process was quite tense—after all, it was a branch of the Mechanisms.
This had Baha anxious. He was waiting for dinner, but those two were dawdling, insisting on scouting the situation before sneaking in. Baha wanted to tell them both to relax—no one would ever notice them.
The funniest moment came after Aiqí and Nainini successfully infiltrated. They had just gotten their hands on the blood when, because tomorrow was Midsummer Festival, someone set off fireworks that night. One firework shell shattered the third-floor window.
Forced into a corner, Aiqí and Nainini hid under the bed, worried that someone downstairs might come to check, or that Amu in the room might wake up.
And so, the two huddled under Amu’s bed for over an hour, growing more anxious by the minute—not just nervous, but desperate.
In truth, Amu hadn’t been asleep at all. He was starving. As a temporary actor, he hadn’t eaten dinner yet.
And not just Amu—Baha downstairs was also hungry. He nearly cursed aloud: *Just steal it and get the hell out—you’re delaying our dinner.*
After more than an hour of hiding, Aiqí and Nainini finally slipped away. Thus, they successfully obtained the blood of the little boy from Dongquan Town.
Interestingly, Kingsley knew how to use the little boy’s blood. Su Xiao’s side had the blood, but the two parties could no longer trade. The protagonist team’s appearance, however, solved this problem neatly.
On the fishing boat, Aiqí held the test tube up to the light, watching the blood inside, where tiny bubbles seemed to rise.
“According to the intel I have, this is Descendant Blood. If we draw the Water-Spreading Seal on our foreheads with this blood, we can avoid waking the mermaid—or rather, even if we do wake her, she won’t see us as enemies.”
The white-haired youth took the [Descendant Blood] from Aiqí, double-checked it, then nodded.
“So that means, as long as we find the mermaid and deal with the dangerous objects around her, we can capture her? Surprisingly simple.”
Nainini’s words jolted the mature woman, Manli, beside her. Manli said:
“Don’t you all feel like everything we’ve been through is way too smooth? As if… someone is orchestrating it all from behind the scenes.”
Mature woman Manli’s eyes grew thoughtful. Hearing this, the other four turned serious and began to ponder.
Little did Mature woman Manli know that two parties were now secretly monitoring her. Her current actions were dancing on the edge of life and death—it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it courting death in style.
“No way someone’s setting this all up behind the scenes. I think the Mechanisms and the Alliance are secretly planning to catch the mermaid at sea. They’re fighting too fiercely, and we slipped through the cracks. Look—the Jihua Newspaper office was bombed. We’ve confirmed that was the Alliance Parliament’s retaliation against Jihua Newspaper…”
After Nainini’s analysis, the other four nodded in agreement. On second thought, it made sense. The major powers were locked in a brutal struggle, and the Eclipse Organization, as a third party, had joined in to seize the Descendant Blood.
When Aiqí and Nainini stole the Descendant Blood, they both sensed an extremely terrifying aura from the second floor of the office. Earlier, when they viewed the office from a distance, it was as if they saw invisible blood mist drifting from within, a Blood Beast grinning at them. It was only thanks to Nainini’s heirloom that they could infiltrate a place guarded by such a fearsome sentinel.
“Once we finish this, we head straight to the Eastern Alliance. The Southern Alliance’s major powers have had their achievements stolen by us—there’ll be a brutal pursuit afterward.”
Hearing Nainini’s words, the other four felt a chill and agreed with her proposal: capture the mermaid, then run like hell.
“The Alliance Parliament, the Mechanisms, the Eclipse Organization—I used to be terrified just hearing their names. But after actually dealing with them, they’re just… that, nothing special.”
Mature woman Manli shook her head with a smile, beginning to doubt the legendary might of these great forces.
“I once thought about joining the Eclipse Organization. Now? Hah, too disappointing.”
“The Mechanisms aren’t that great either.”
The five chatted and laughed, never dreaming that their conversation was being heard by both the Mechanisms’ Legion Commander and the Eclipse Organization’s leader.
When the protagonist team successfully captured the mermaid, they would then learn just how terrifying the Mechanisms and the Eclipse Organization truly were. If the situation escalated far enough, they might even witness Su Xiao and Kingsley facing off against each other. At that moment, one could only wonder what expressions the protagonist team’s five members would wear.