Chapter 23: Voyage at Sea Nine
At 2:45 a.m., outside Queen’s City.
Light rain fell lightly, and a thin mist rose over the secluded private port, where a few distant streetlights struggled to illuminate the surroundings. However, the light only extended a few meters before being completely swallowed by the pitch-black sea.
“Woo—!”
Accompanied by a long, mournful foghorn, a dark-colored ferry with white streamlined stripes burst through the thick fog, leaping out of the sea like a playful killer whale, entering the illuminated area.
A red-haired woman dressed in a black dress stood on the deck at the bow of the ferry, gazing toward the port.
As the ship slowly approached the dock, footsteps sounded behind her, followed by a towering black woman, larger than most men, who came alongside her, holding two glasses.
“I remember the boss told me your name is… Jessie Woolley, right? Want a drink?”
The red-haired woman glanced at the wine offered by the black woman but neither took it nor responded.
Stupid humans… Shouldn’t a bodyguard stay alert at all times?
Why drink?
“I know what you’re thinking, sweetheart, but can you lighten up a bit?” The black woman smiled awkwardly. “I don’t know how long our guest will take before seeing the boss. We might have to work together for quite a while! The atmosphere is always so cold; don’t you feel uncomfortable?”
Seeing the red-haired woman still silent, she added, “By the way, do you really like rabbits?”
This time, the red-haired woman finally reacted, but it seemed overly intense.
“What do you want to say?”
As she spoke, her expression darkened, and a rusty fire axe quietly appeared in her hand, with almost invisible azure flames flickering along the blade.
“Whoa!” The black woman took two steps back, raising her hands. “Don’t get excited, I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that my neighbor had a rabbit when I was a kid, and it was called Jessie Woolley.”
“I thought you might really like that kind of rabbit to name yourself after it.”
She knew this wasn’t the red-haired woman’s true name but a temporary one.
Before they set off, Constantin’s right-hand man—who, along with the black woman, was dressed in the garb of mafia members—had informed them that the red-haired woman accompanying them tonight was a paranormal entity with unknown powers.
And they, who often dealt with paranormal entities, knew that these entities typically didn’t use their real names when interacting with gangs.
This was probably due to the rampant demonic entities within M Country.
Revealing one’s true name meant exposing a fatal weakness to others.
“…”
The red-haired woman silently scrutinized the black woman for a few seconds, quietly sheathed her fire axe, took the glass from her hand, and symbolically sipped a little.
“Hey, good evening, everyone! Are you the ones sent by the boss to pick me up?”
Just as she set down the glass, a light gasp came from afar.
Following the sound, she saw a man dressed in a deer skin coat, adorned with a large gold chain, and wearing sunglasses at this late hour, having mysteriously appeared at the port. From his attire and mannerisms, there was an air of flamboyance about him.
In the next moment, with a swift gust of wind, the man jumped from the port and lightly landed on the deck, glancing around before quickly locking his gaze on the stunning red-haired woman, then striding over, pulling her slender waist and snatching the glass from her hand, shaking it a couple of times before bringing it to his lips and downing the remaining wine, where her lipstick had marked it.
Setting the glass down under the red-haired woman’s disgusted gaze, he pulled out a pair of small, exquisite gold earrings from the lining of his coat and stuffed them into her hand. “Thanks for the hospitality, this is a gift for our meeting.”
With that, he swaggered towards the cabin.
“Come on, everyone, let’s set sail! Everyone join me in the cabin later; everyone has a small gift!” The man’s light call echoed from a distance.
“Oh right, where’s the cockpit? I heard this is a ship with a paranormal legend, modified by alchemy? I’ve never seen something like that before! I want to broaden my horizons.”
Miss Rabbit, “…”
She couldn’t shake the feeling that this guy had a familiar but annoying vibe to him.
Nanling Yaohua, “…”
Though they had agreed to act more flamboyantly, wasn’t this a bit over the top?
That was an indirect kiss!
Watching Luxianbei’s actions toward the red-haired woman, she felt a bit unhappy.
Even though she had done similar indirect kissing a few times on the plane while Luxianbei was sleeping…
Although she couldn’t really touch Luxianbei’s lips…
But seeing Luxianbei being so “generous” to a woman he had just met made her hardly happy.
——
After finishing his role as Golden Toad Boy in front of the bewildered reception staff and distributing the small gifts he had prepared in advance, Luxianbei sat alone in the cabin, replying to a message from Miaomiao Sauce and wiping away sweat.
For an introverted guy like him, acting like the flamboyant Golden Toad Boy was indeed a bit tough.
However… after the gift-giving, the feeling of being adored was actually quite nice.
Perhaps this was why some wealthy people were willing to splurge while watching girl streamers?
Adding to that the condition of “spending money that isn’t your own” would make it even more enjoyable!
Buying small gifts for the reception staff was a trivial expense that the guardian wouldn’t mind, right?
Billing at three times the purchase price shouldn’t be a big deal, right? Compared to some unmentionable department’s procurement staff, three times was already quite restrained.
Moreover, starting with small favors and slowly encroaching upon one’s mind to achieve the goal of “keeping someone in your debt” was one of the tricks that guy and his direct subordinates often used.
Now that this little matter was settled, the next step was to try to enter the cockpit and explore this alchemically modified ship!
As Luxianbei thought expressionlessly, he stood up, put on his coat, and was just about to leave the cabin when he noticed the red-haired woman had appeared at the cabin entrance.
He instinctively waved to her. “Hey! Hello…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the woman flashed in front of him, shoved him back, and pinned him to the sofa, her nose pressing against his forehead as she took a deep sniff.
After a brief moment of recollection, the image of the guest overlapped with the presence of calamity in Miss Rabbit’s mind. She believed it was necessary to confirm the “scent” of this guest before their departure to Free City, or else she wouldn’t be able to relax.
Luxianbei, “???”
No way? Just by flirting a little and giving small gifts, she came straight to him? Is this the custom of M Country?
Seeing the red-haired woman shamelessly throw herself at him, Nanling Yaohua felt anxious, swiftly floating behind her and using all her strength to grab a corner of her dress, her body bending like a bow as she pulled with all her might.
“Bang!” A muffled collision sound echoed.
In the next second, the red-haired woman’s body was thrown back, crashing violently against the wall of the cabin, and a metallic arm followed suit, gripping her throat and pinning her against the wall.
A feeling of suffocation suddenly took over, and Miss Rabbit’s face turned pale, her crimson eyes glaring furiously at the man not far away, fists clenched.
She was holding back.
Holding back the impulse to cleave this guy in two with her axe.
Rising from the sofa, Luxianbei swiftly retracted the hook of his alchemical prosthetic, adjusted his somewhat disheveled clothes, and while moving his recently reset alchemical limb, he glanced at the woman glaring at him, curling his lip.
“Madam, please conduct yourself accordingly. I gave you a gift not with the intention of having that kind of relationship. I merely appreciate your beauty, and personally, I cannot accept a physical relationship without an emotional foundation. Please go back!”
Who the hell wants to have a physical relationship with you? Don’t get carried away, you j*rk! Miss Rabbit thought furiously, leaning against the wall to stand up, rubbing her slightly aching neck, adjusting her dress, and gave a slight bow before hurriedly leaving the cabin.
There was no point in continuing to conflict with this dear guest; she had already identified carefully that there was no presence of calamity on this guest.
After watching the red-haired woman leave, disappearing within the cabin, Luxianbei let out a quiet sigh of relief. Just then, a notebook with handwriting was quietly handed to him.
【You shouldn’t have given her a gift from the start!】
“I had no idea the older sister from M Country would be so forward!” Luxianbei shrugged, expressionless.
“Sasa, Sasa!” Nanling Yaohua hastily scribbled again.
【You also shouldn’t have drunk from the glass with her lipstick!】
“Uh…” Luxianbei’s eye twitched, lowering his voice to explain, “Wasn’t that to make me play Yu Yinchuan better? It’s not like you didn’t see, the predecessor gave me, that guy spends a third of his monthly expenses at the Angel Rose strip club…”
“People with such tastes certainly have to be a bit reckless!”
“Besides, I learned this from Water Brother, and it’s just a little bit; you haven’t seen how terrifying he acts in the underground clubs.”
How terrifying could it be? Nanling Yaohua tilted her head, picking up a pencil.
Just as she was about to write something, the foghorn, which had fallen silent for a moment, blared again.
“Woo—!”
Thus, the Killer Whale departed from the port and once again headed out to sea…
The voyage from Queen’s City to Free City had begun.
(It’s done, I took a nap and accidentally overslept, sob sob sob.)
