Just then, a broadcast suddenly began in the corridor—
“Regarding the assassination of Minister Gudeshao, the Tasman guard will question and investigate all tourists who visited the casino. We hope everyone will actively cooperate and wait in their rooms. The investigation will begin with the second-floor tourist interior cabins.”
Tourist interior cabins were the most affordable room type on the cruise ship. They could enjoy most of the services provided by the cruise, except the rooms were smaller and had no windows.
Similarly, when special incidents occurred, they were also the first to be investigated.
Everyone simultaneously looked at the wall clock in the room.
Lance’s thinking was exceptionally clear. It would take some time for the Tasmans to search from the second floor to the fifteenth floor.
They needed to do two things:
First, return the old man and the two spies to their original positions without arousing Selarl’s suspicion.
Second, modify the surveillance footage of the old man and the two spies’ appearances.
Of course, he also needed to explain one more thing—his relationship with Zhan Pingchuan.
Time was pressing and the task arduous. Lance was about to speak when unexpectedly, the old man lying flat on the sofa slowly opened his eyes.
Chen Shun’an looked at the bright lights and white ceiling, momentarily falling into a daze.
He remembered he should have died. Was this the world after death?
The sudden development disrupted Lance’s rhythm, but now wasn’t the time to care for the old man. He knew that after using Chu Fu’s pheromones, the old man’s body should be fine.
“You’re not dead. Both High Tower and Ghost Eye are here. There isn’t much time now—briefly tell us what exactly happened in Tasman.”
Chen Shun’an awakened as if from a dream, immediately sitting up and looking at the crowd in the room.
Indeed, these were the High Tower and Ghost Eye members he had seen in the bidding hall before.
“My name is Chen Shun’an, and I’m the king’s confidant.”
He hunched his back, carefully supporting himself on the sofa with both hands, his gaze falling on Lance.
Although Chen Shun’an didn’t know how he had survived, he was very clear that his rescue and the gathering of Ghost Eye and High Tower people here was entirely due to this young man before him.
This person was not only clear-thinking but also extraordinarily courageous. In an extremely short time, he had made judgments that many older people couldn’t make and shouldered responsibilities that most people wouldn’t want to bear.
He was very fortunate to have encountered this young man before dying.
Actually, Chen Shun’an’s original plan was to directly contact Lan Wendao and Zhan Qinghe.
He carried a message from the king—
【If you still remember Cen and Li’s will, please save Tasman from fire and water.】
Chen Shun’an didn’t know who Cen was or who Li was, but the king’s gaze was distant and his voice very soft as he only said: “If they’ve forgotten, then Tasman’s fate is sealed.”
But Chen Shun’an knew the king trusted these two people, which was why he was willing to place his only hope in them.
After performing a show of monarch and minister growing apart with the king, Chen Shun’an left Tasman.
He had planned to buy a ticket to Harbor Tan City, but soon discovered that his family was under strict surveillance.
Not only that, even their communication devices had been hacked, and their passports had been deleted from the system, making it impossible to board any transportation.
Chen Shun’an understood that once he tried to seek help from the outside world, the king would definitely fall into grave danger.
He had to endure it.
But it was impossible for him to sit and wait for death, so he turned his attention to the bidding squads.
The red parrot crystal ore was a backup plan left by the king. He knew this would definitely attract High Tower and Ghost Eye to bid, and if Chen Shun’an couldn’t get the message out, the king could still find ways to reveal it during meetings with the bidding squads.
So Chen Shun’an chose to work on the Manxing Sea.
Thanks to the king’s policy, any marine life form Awakened one could automatically obtain Tasman citizenship if they wished, so Chen Shun’an’s invalid passport wouldn’t be blocked by the Manxing Sea.
He planned to find ways to contact the bidding squads, even if just to pass along a note.
But sure enough, Selarl’s spies also boarded the ship with him.
Today in the bidding hall, he had wanted to reveal something to Adrian, but unsurprisingly, someone was monitoring him.
So he had to hold back.
Who would have thought that chaos would suddenly break out on the cruise ship at night? Chen Shun’an thought this was an opportunity and decided to take a risk.
He still kept his guard up—instead of knocking on the two guilds’ doors, he used someone else’s phone to call High Tower Guild.
Selarl was indeed cunning and changeable, having two obvious spies appear before him daily to interfere with his judgment, while placing two hidden spies beside him to befriend him and lure him into lowering his guard.
Fortunately, because of this young man, everything stayed on track.
“Over a year ago, my son Chen Mingbi was invited by the Federation to attend a business exchange conference in Capital City. At the same time, Phobos Bay planned to hold a modern art exhibition and invited me to be the curator. In short, the king’s confidants were sent away under various legitimate pretexts, leaving only a very small force on the seabed.”
“Tasman had been peaceful for too long—everyone had grown accustomed to it. No one thought anything would happen that day.”
“By the time I rushed back, the king had already disappeared with severe injuries. Selarl was only the guard captain then, and he led people to search for five days and nights, almost turning the seabed upside down, but still couldn’t find any trace of the king.”
Speaking of this, Chen Shun’an sighed, as if finding the past too painful to recall.
“At the time, as people close to the king, none of us suspected him. And although everyone was anxious, we weren’t extremely nervous, because we all knew the king wouldn’t die—he had just entered his juvenile state and lost his memory.”
“This wasn’t the first time. The king had once lost his memory due to accidentally getting injured in an underground city. Everyone waited for him for a year, and he returned. I thought this time would be the same.”
“But Selarl seemed extremely indignant. He not only persistently searched for traces of the king but also frequently accepted interviews, denouncing the attackers’ despicable behavior in front of the media and expressing his longing for the king.”
Dream Witch thought about it—she seemed to have heard about this on the news. During that period, such news was overwhelming; it was hard not to know about it.
Later, Tasman contacted the Federation government, which enthusiastically helped by having all guilds keep an eye out for Sandro’s whereabouts.
Lance thought to himself: What a skillful ambitious schemer.
Public emotions were most easily stirred by intense love and hate. When the group was leaderless, Selarl stepped forward, first setting up an enemy for everyone—the betrayer—making the Tasman people furious to the point of losing reason. Then he continuously expressed his longing for the king, making everyone completely trust him and view him as the king’s only savior.
From then on, anyone who didn’t condemn the attackers with the same intensity would be seen as disloyal to the king, and anyone who didn’t express longing for the king would be condemned by surging public opinion.
Selarl naturally gained control of the country’s discourse and became the spiritual leader of the radicals.
Sure enough, Adrian also said: “He controlled speech by stirring public emotions and uniting hearts. But that wasn’t enough—he still needed an appropriate achievement.”
Zhan Pingchuan raised his eyebrows knowingly: “So he caught the betrayer, avenged the king, and then with popular support, you could never shake him again.”
Chen Shun’an’s expression darkened as he nodded and sighed: “Exactly. The betrayer confessed to his crimes without reservation. Selarl was even injured during the pursuit—many media outlets reported on it, and he became a hero in everyone’s eyes.”
“Even then, I didn’t suspect him. But Mingbi was very observant. He thought that as the strongest person on the seabed leading a large guard force, Selarl shouldn’t have been injured during the pursuit. Even if injured, he shouldn’t have told the media—this approach served no purpose except to evoke public sympathy for himself.”
“Mingbi was stubborn and spoke bluntly. He directly accused Selarl of overstepping boundaries, believing Selarl shouldn’t accept media interviews as Tasman’s spokesperson, and should even be held responsible for the king’s injury.”
Lance tugged at the corner of his mouth.
This finance minister was really quite straightforward.
“As expected, Mingbi received strong criticism from Selarl’s supporters, who thought his calm demeanor after the king’s disappearance was disappointing and his contributions didn’t amount to one ten-thousandth of Selarl’s. Sigh, even I criticized Mingbi for being too harsh at the time.”
Chen Shun’an was obviously heartbroken to the extreme, tears welling up in his aged eyes.
Adrian said flatly: “It shows Selarl had completely mastered public opinion.” Even Chen Shun’an, as a father, couldn’t escape the manipulation of public opinion.
“Mingbi was isolated and weak, but never gave up the struggle. He gathered some of the king’s confidants, wanting to use public opinion to bring down Selarl and cool down the situation. They did well—gradually some people became rational from their frenzy and also thought Selarl’s behavior was somewhat presumptuous.”
“But their statements were always rational and moderate, far less infectious than Selarl’s slogans. Soon, supporters from both sides erupted in conflict, even developing mutual hatred.”
“Those who struggled alongside Mingbi were all attacked by the irrational masses—some died, some were injured. Mingbi himself also died suddenly from illness at work. Then Selarl voluntarily stepped forward to reflect on himself, calling for everyone to calm down and unite.”
Lance almost wanted to applaud this brilliant operation.
“So he fully demonstrated his qualities as a leader—forbearance, tolerance, prioritizing the bigger picture.”
Chen Shun’an smiled bitterly: “I couldn’t see Mingbi’s body—they forbade me from seeing my son. By then I had already perceived Selarl’s ambition, but the rational faction no longer had the strength to struggle against him.”
“Perhaps Selarl’s only oversight was the king. He never found the king, so he couldn’t control him. Therefore, a year later, the king recovered his memory and returned.”
“Naturally we had to complain to the king, telling him our suspicions and everything that had happened during that year, including how Selarl had arbitrarily increased tolls to buy people’s hearts, causing complaints from neighboring countries, and how he secretly cultivated his own power while expelling those loyal only to the king from Tasman.”
“The king immediately announced an investigation into Mingbi’s cause of death, but unexpectedly encountered layer upon layer of resistance. He publicly rebuked Selarl for overreaching, but somehow this got out, and voices unfavorable to the king became rampant.”
“They began to complain about the king, thinking Selarl had shouldered responsibilities that should have belonged to the king, only to be rebuked now. Some said the king was blinded by power, some said the king couldn’t distinguish between loyal and treacherous people, some said the king was paranoid, and others said Selarl was more suitable to lead Tasman. They completely forgot that Selarl had originally gained their trust by claiming loyalty to the king.”
Lance wasn’t surprised at all.
People often forget why they started because they’ve traveled too far.
Chen Shun’an continued: “Of course, in the eyes of the older generation, the king was still irreplaceable, while Selarl, who had only joined Tasman at thirty, could only gain the following of young people.”
“Just then, Selarl suddenly proposed to the king. He gave everyone a perfect solution—as long as he and the king became spouses, Tasman wouldn’t need to split, argue, or oppose each other anymore. So the king’s will became unimportant, and everyone needed him to make sacrifices for stability, even though the king had never loved anyone.”
“The king quickly realized the severity of the situation, because this way, Selarl would truly control all of Tasman. So he pretended to be moved by Selarl’s deep affection, agreed to it, then performed a play with me, expelling me from Tasman to find an opportunity to seek your help.”
Chen Shun’an finished speaking, and the broadcast in the corridor sounded again—
“Reminder again: please all tourists stay in your rooms and wait for questioning. Otherwise, you will all be considered to have major criminal suspicion and will be arrested. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Mudeli slipped out the door to observe which floor the guard had reached in their inspection.
Chen Shun’an gripped the sofa hard and stood up. Hunching his back, he shakily bowed: “Thank you for saving me, but I’m still exposed now. Once Selarl loses contact with these two spies, it will definitely be bad for the king. My death doesn’t matter, but the king…”
As soon as he finished speaking, the chef wrapped up like a dumpling by Zhan Pingchuan’s ability groaned, showing signs of waking up.
Only then did Zhan Pingchuan understand why Lance wouldn’t let him kill these two people.
But on Tasman’s cruise ship, hiding two living people, threatening them to work for you, while not letting Selarl notice anything suspicious—wouldn’t that be too difficult?
Zhan Pingchuan looked at Lance: “Ba… *cough*, if we don’t kill them, what do you want to do?”
Lance propped his chin, staring at those two people, frowning in thought: “If only heaven could make these two people lose their memory.”
Dream Witch: “……” No wonder she was specifically called here—it was all calculated from the beginning.
Zhan Pingchuan: “No, ba… *cough*, we can’t rely on making wishes for this kind of thing, right?” Though the little red fox’s naive appearance was quite cute.
At this moment, the dumpling chef finally opened his eyes. He looked around the room, his pupils contracting, and immediately said angrily: “What are you doing? Release me immediately! Ah, I understand now—you’re Sandro’s reinforcements!”
Wu Peng punched his carotid sinus, making him faint again.
Then Wu Peng said urgently: “Memory loss is impossible, so how about I beat them all stupid!”
Dream Witch pulled her lips into a smile, adjusted the straps hanging on her shoulders, and walked out with long strides: “Who says it’s impossible.”
Wu Peng: “?”
His eyes had just turned over, but were forced to turn back by Lan Qi’s impressive figure.
Dream Witch put away her smile, squinted her eyes, spread her five fingers, and suspended them above one of the chefs’ heads.
A ball of lustrous white light appeared in her palm, then the light pierced into the chef’s brain like needles.
Dream Witch raised her hand and extracted a bloody mist from the chef’s brain—this was the materialization of the Spirit Realm system.
Then her eyes turned fierce, and she directly crushed the forearm-length mist in mid-air. The mist suddenly dispersed and disappeared into the air.
She repeated the process, erasing the other chef’s memory.
Animal-type civet cat form S-level Awakened one’s second-tier ability 【Memory Invasion】.
The ability holder can invade others’ Spirit Realm systems and cut others’ memories.
The Ghost Eye Guild members were shocked—they didn’t expect such an ability really existed!
Lance suddenly widened his eyes, full of surprise: “This big sister is so amazing!”
Dream Witch looked at Lance and smiled: “Indeed.” My only little brother.
“……*Cough*.” Zhan Pingchuan watched the two making eye contact, feeling sour inside.
Mudeli returned from reconnaissance and told everyone: “They’ve already searched to the seventh floor. There’s enough time, but we need to hurry.”
Adrian nodded: “Mm, find someone to send them back, then continue the act.”
Zhan Pingchuan reminded: “Don’t forget the surveillance. Although the network is down now and the surveillance recordings are all on storage cards—normally no one would check them—but just in case, we should still modify them.”
Lance frowned: “Indeed, this needs careful planning, but sneaking into the control room without anyone knowing is also very troublesome.”
High Tower was used to having Duma’s ability and didn’t need to worry about surveillance at all, but now with the network interrupted and unable to contact Duma, they could only use traditional methods.
But the purpose of modifying recordings was to avoid alerting anyone, so how could they avoid surveillance while sneaking into the control room without alerting anyone?
Zhan Pingchuan stole a glance at Adrian.
Adrian spoke: “Don’t worry. My ability 【Soul Exchange】 can possess cruise staff members and openly modify surveillance.”
Dream Witch raised an eyebrow: “Oh, Director, what a special ability—truly a good helper for framing others. I wonder what the range limitations of this ability are?”
Adrian certainly wouldn’t tell her.
Mudeli: “Then shall we split up? High Tower Guild handles sending the chefs and Mr. Chen back, and we wait for you to get in position to handle surveillance?”
Abaddon said in a muffled voice: “Oh, I’m strong, I’ll carry them.”
After easily and happily discussing business, the air suddenly fell into brief silence.
They all knew there was still one very crucial matter concerning both guilds that hadn’t been resolved.
Lance’s “husband”—not only had Adrian heard it, but Abaddon, who stayed in the room, had also heard it.
Abaddon lifted his eyelids, then lowered them, then lifted them again, then lowered them again.
He thought to himself: The young master and young master-in-law’s relationship has been discovered by the opposing family. After they leave, will the opposing family be unfavorable to the young master?
Dream Witch lived on the other side of the ship and didn’t know about this yet. She was about to turn and leave when she saw several people hadn’t moved.
She looked puzzled: “Why aren’t you leaving?”
Lance suddenly spoke to Adrian: “Director, I have something to confess.”
Rather than being exposed by others, it was better to voluntarily confess and win the initiative for himself.
Adrian paused slightly. He actually wasn’t waiting for a confession but recalling Chen Shun’an’s words. Only when Lance mentioned it did he remember that Lance and Zhan Pingchuan’s relationship had just been exposed.
But due to habit, Adrian had already forgotten about this matter. Only now did he realize his reaction had been too calm.
Fortunately, Adrian always maintained an image of composure externally. He said in a deep voice: “I thought you wouldn’t explain.”
Lance lowered his head with a bitter smile, his expression dim: “High Tower Guild’s intern Zhan Pingchuan is my boyfriend. We each applied for winter break internships but didn’t expect to be assigned to the same project. We never confessed because I was afraid of being fired, but please rest assured—I haven’t revealed any secrets to High Tower Guild.” As if.
Fulunla held her breath, slowly turned her head to glance at Adrian, then began an exaggerated performance: “What! You’re actually with an opposing intern—what an enviable, perfectly matched pair!”
Lance: “……Sorry.”
But please don’t show off idioms at a time like this.
Fulunla was actually cringing at her own acting, directly scratching her thighs, while Wu Peng anxiously paced in place.
What to do, what to do—the young master-in-law feels guilty, anxious, and sad.
How should I comfort him? Why do I have to share a room with the young master-in-law!
Dream Witch was stunned by Lance’s sudden confession. After a long while, she came to her senses and turned to Zhan Pingchuan somewhat stiffly, cooperating with the performance: “So you and Ghost Eye Guild’s person……”
Since his wife had already admitted it, Zhan Pingchuan had no choice but to confess too.
Unfortunately, the investigation into the Black Lantern Society would have to be interrupted because of this.
He rubbed his nose, actively went over to put his arm around Lance’s shoulder, and said shamefully: “Sorry, Sister Qi. We really are a heaven-made, soul-connected pair.”
Dream Witch: “……” Normal people generally don’t praise themselves when apologizing.
Mudeli pushed his glasses and slipped between everyone like a loach to mediate: “Sigh, this situation is indeed tricky, but we all know Lance works seriously, studies hard, is well-behaved and sensible, doesn’t fight or compete. We can’t negate his excellence just because he’s dating someone.”
Abaddon unconsciously nodded along.
Right, our young master is indeed excellent.
Wu Peng said dizzily: “Right, right, right! We omegas represent ourselves. Two-legged alphas are everywhere on the street—Lance will definitely prioritize his career.”
Zhan Pingchuan: “?”
Fulunla slapped Wu Peng on the back of his head, gritting her teeth: “What nonsense? This love is also very important!”
Lily tugged at Dream Witch’s sleeve: “Young… Mr. Zhan Pingchuan saved Old Bang’s squad. I think he won’t harm us.”
Zhan Pingchuan: “.” Looks like children are still easy to fool!
Mudeli breathed a sigh of relief—the other side apparently had no intention of making things difficult for the eldest young master either.
Adrian thought for a moment, then said to Lance in a deep voice: “Since the purpose of this bidding has changed, there’s no point in us competing with High Tower. You can continue to stay.”
Lance: “Hm?”
That’s it?
Don’t you remember the grudge of enduring hardships for revenge?
Adrian worried he was letting him off too easily and added: “However, your identity is indeed sensitive, so I’ll be observing your performance until the internship ends.”
Fulunla scratched her thighs while keeping a straight face: “Watching you!”
Wu Peng frantically waved his hands behind her.
Stop scaring the young master-in-law! What if he cries—how will I comfort him tonight!
Fulunla coughed, her voice much softer: “Just… occasional watching.”
Mudeli pushed his glasses, timely smoothing things over: “Matters have priorities. We and High Tower are not only not opponents now, we might even cooperate. So Director, Lance’s relationship with… that boy might even be a good thing.”
Abaddon was tongue-tied and nodded along with the opposing family again.
Right, right—our young master and young master-in-law being together is definitely a good thing.
Adrian frowned, deeply agreeing: “Mm, otherwise neither Lan Qi nor I could completely trust each other.”
Dream Witch saw the opening, lifted her skirt and ran down.
She pretended to sneer: “Since Ghost Eye Guild is being so generous, we can’t let people look down on us either. Zhan Pingchuan can stay for now—we’ll also continue observing. Don’t think Ghost Eye can take advantage of this.”
Adrian: “We won’t.”
Dream Witch: “Better not.”
Lance’s gaze wandered between several people, feeling something was strange, but Mudeli’s logic left him unable to find fault.
Now that both families had the same goal, his relationship with Zhan Pingchuan could indeed resolve conflicts and promote communication.
In the end, he could only think that Ghost Eye Guild’s moral standards were too high—no wonder they were always tricked by his dad.
Zhan Pingchuan breathed a sigh of relief. He kissed Lance’s red hair and subtly promoted his own guild: “Baby, turns out Ghost Eye Guild is so understanding.”
Lance’s eyes contained a smile as he replied: “Husband, I didn’t expect High Tower Guild to treat you so well.”
##
T/N: Merry Christmas Eve ✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ )و✧*｡
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
