TYMIMA Chapter 92

When the cruise ship passed through the Ubi Trench, it encountered a storm.

 

Huge waves rose on the sea surface, heavily pounding the ship’s hull. Restaurant tables and chairs were overturned, and water from the pools and hot springs was thrown onto shore, flooding back into the stairwells.

 

The ground was in chaos. Tourists fled back to their rooms, enduring nausea while desperately calling the ship’s service desk for solutions.

 

Fortunately, the storm came quickly and left just as fast. After four hours of raging waves, the sea gradually calmed down, and a red sun faintly appeared on the horizon.

 

The newborn sun illuminated the peaceful sea surface. Dawn painted the entire horizon red, the sea sparkled with shimmering light, and unknown fish leaped out, creating splashes of water.

 

When the storm ended, thousands of crew members on the ship began bustling about.

 

Chen Shun’an opened his eyes. His severely injured body had completely recovered and was even more energetic than before.

 

He pushed open the door and habitually went to the work room to get the vacuum cleaner.

 

Just as he dragged out the vacuum cleaner, he heard banging sounds from two nearby interior cabins, and the two chefs squeezed out of their rooms.

 

When they saw Chen Shun’an, they were visibly relieved. The round-faced one greeted Chen Shun’an: “Hey, Old Chen, up so early to work?”

 

Chen Shun’an looked at them intently, gripping the vacuum cleaner tighter and tighter. Just as the round-faced chef’s greeting gesture began to stiffen, Chen Shun’an smiled kindly, picking up the vacuum cleaner while saying: “Not early at all. Clean up early so the tourists can go out early too.”

 

Since being expelled from Tasman territory, Chen Shun’an had lost a lot of weight. He now hunched his back, skin and bones, looking frail and unsteady.

 

The vacuum cleaner was too heavy for him.

 

“Hey, hey, hey, Old Chen, slow down!” The other chef, an honest-looking man with a big beard, quickly came over and took the vacuum cleaner from Chen Shun’an’s hands. “I’ll help you carry it up. With your old arms and legs, you might fall.”

 

He spoke so naturally, his actions flawless, yet Chen Shun’an felt a chill in his heart.

 

When he first boarded the cruise ship, he had been assigned to physical labor that no one wanted to do.

 

After continuously moving twenty boxes of frozen shrimp, he really couldn’t straighten his back anymore. It was these two chefs who kindly helped him complete the remaining work.

 

They were the first people to show kindness to Chen Shun’an. The round-faced chef made particularly delicious pizza, and the bearded one was a bartender. Sometimes, the round-faced one would bring back a few freshly baked tomato meat sauce pizzas from the kitchen, and the bearded one would mix some high-proof cocktails.

 

They would squeeze into the unmonitored safety passage, eating, drinking, and chatting.

 

Chen Shun’an would also help them send dirty clothes to be washed, dried, and folded, letting them sleep two extra hours.

 

He had even shown these two men photos of his little grandson, and the round-faced one had shown him a pocket watch his girlfriend gave him.

 

He had originally been grateful to these two people…

 

However, Chen Shun’an was no longer the boy who would wonder ‘how can humans eat humans.’ He had long recognized the truth of the world.

 

So he smiled and caught up, warmly patting the bearded man’s back as if nothing had happened: “Oh my, troubling you again. Thank you, thank you.”

 

Bearded man: “Hey, what are you thanking us for? We’re all just trying to make a living—we help each other.”

 

“You’re right. After this trip, when I’ve earned some money, I’ll invite you both to eat at my home.” Chen Shun’an walked behind the bearded man with his hands behind his back as they went upstairs.

 

“Hey, Old Chen, at your age, will you continue working on ships or go home to retire?”

 

“What retirement? The king is heartless—I still have to worry about making a living.”

 

“Shh, you dare say such things on a Tasman ship.”

 

“What’s to fear? My son gave everything to Tasman, only to be told he was incompetent. Can’t I complain a bit?”

 

The two chefs secretly exchanged glances and laughed in unison: “Fine, fine, fine. We won’t report you to the king anyway.”

 

“Report? Small fry like us probably can’t even see the king’s face.”

 

The three chatted and laughed as they reached the deck. When parting, Chen Shun’an naturally handed them two cigarettes.

 

“Smoke these when you have time to relax. I’ll go work now.”

 

Chen Shun’an slowly walked away with the vacuum cleaner.

 

The two chefs tacitly tucked the cigarettes behind their ears, then immediately sent secret messages to Selarl.

 

【Please forgive us. Yesterday Minister Gudeshao suddenly passed away, and the cruise ship cut all communications, so we couldn’t report to you in time. Everything is normal with Chen Shun’an—no unusual movements.】

 

After reporting, the round-faced one touched his neck and frowned: “How long were communications down? I feel like I slept in a daze, and my neck hurts.”

 

Bearded man: “Did you sleep wrong? My neck hurts a bit too, and I don’t remember anything from yesterday—completely knocked out.”

 

Round-faced: “We should be more alert next time. Fortunately, this old guy is still well-behaved, or we’d both be in trouble.”

 

Bearded man: “Actually, I don’t think he’s pretending. Yesterday when Gudeshao died—such a big incident with the cruise ship in chaos—both obvious spies were reassigned, but he didn’t make any moves.”

 

Round-faced: “Heh, he’s quite pitiful. Just because he once accompanied the king, he’s destined never to gain the prince’s trust.”

 

Having deceived the two hidden spies, Chen Shun’an went up to the deck. While using the vacuum cleaner to clean up trash, he looked toward the sea and whistled softly.

 

In the deep water, the outline of a turtle shell faintly appeared, then with a splash, the sea turtle disappeared.

 

After giving instructions to the sea turtle, Chen Shun’an lowered his eyes and continued cleaning trash on the deck.

 

At noon, the cruise ship was cleaned up again, and tourists gradually came out to spend and enjoy themselves.

 

All guilds participating in the bidding received new information—the Tasman Pirate Nation would send a second envoy, Li Bang, to host the bidding.

 

Learning that Selarl had arranged a new envoy, Adrian used his 【Soul Exchange】 ability to possess someone in the guard and openly went to see Chen Shun’an.

 

“Who is Li Bang?” he asked.

 

Know yourself and your enemy to achieve twice the result with half the effort. Currently, no one understood the Tasmans better than Chen Shun’an.

 

As Adrian spoke, he glanced around and noticed Selarl’s obvious spies passing nearby without coming to disturb them.

 

It seemed the people in the guard were also Selarl’s confidants.

 

Chen Shun’an also confidently set aside the vacuum cleaner and began introducing—

 

“Li Bang is twenty-five years old, an S-level glass squid form Awakened one. He’s a member of the most radical faction and a loyal follower of Selarl. His most impressive ability is 【Invisibility】. Please don’t doubt it—even very strong S-levels cannot see through his ability, because this is his most important attribute, with an absolute anti-detection buff.”

 

Adrian frowned.

 

If what Chen Shun’an said was true and they couldn’t see Li Bang’s presence, things would become very troublesome. Li Bang could silently follow beside them and eavesdrop on their conversations.

 

Sure enough, Chen Shun’an reminded: “The reason the rational faction led by Mingbi repeatedly failed and was outmaneuvered by Selarl was because of Li Bang’s existence. He’s definitely not a useless waste like Gudeshao who causes more harm than good. When he arrives, you must be extremely careful when discussing any plans.”

 

Adrian was very rigorous: “Will he board the ship silently?”

 

Chen Shun’an smiled: “No need to worry. Squid are food for sea turtles, so my ability 【Magnetic Field Sensing】 will sense his arrival. Once he boards the ship, I’ll change my shirt to black for you to see.”

 

Adrian: “So you can see through his invisibility?”

 

Chen Shun’an shook his head: “Sorry, I can only sense when he appears nearby. As a C-level Awakened one, there’s still an insurmountable gap between me and S-level.”

 

Adrian: “Good, I understand.”

 

Chen Shun’an lowered his voice and said humbly: “The king will do everything to ensure the successful bidding squad goes to the seabed to attend the engagement banquet. Please be sure to win this bid.”

 

Adrian returned to his own body and informed High Tower Guild of the information Chen Shun’an had revealed.

 

The two guilds rarely gathered together to calmly discuss countermeasures.

 

Dream Witch had changed into a fitted leather outfit today. The lustrous black leather wrapped around her impressive figure, making her appear even more sexy, hot, and unattainable.

 

Wu Peng wished he could bury his eyes in the ground. Fulunla stole glances and showed envious expressions.

 

No wonder she was surrounded by beauties and sweet little omegas—her figure was truly amazing.

 

Fulunla glanced at the young master-in-law again, only to discover he was propping his chin, frowning in thought, his amber eyes focused intently on the teapot on the table, completely unaffected by Lan Qi’s magnetic field.

 

Fulunla thought to herself: The young master-in-law is truly devoted to the eldest young master, their love stronger than gold.

 

Lance wasn’t worried about Li Bang’s invisibility ability, because no matter how powerful an S-level ability was, it couldn’t hide from the eyes of an outer god.

 

But the outer god wouldn’t be at his disposal at all times. If he angered that vain bastard, he might suffer backlash instead.

 

So he could only strike a killing blow at the crucial moment.

 

Dream Witch tapped the table intermittently with her slender fingers: “Selarl will never submit to top guilds. With Gudeshao dead, Li Bang will definitely be on guard. It won’t be easy for us to kill an S-level with invisibility abilities.” Even though there were already three S-levels present.

 

Adrian: “We can’t just kill whoever comes—that would be declaring war on Tasman. If we provoke the Tasmans’ rebellious psychology, we’d become an obstacle to the king instead.”

 

Mudeli adjusted his glasses and twitched his mustache: “Anyway, this bidding isn’t real. As long as our price is right and we can deliver the goods, the Tasman Pirate Nation has no reason not to choose us.”

 

Zhan Pingchuan smiled lazily, casually pouring a cup of tea and placing it between Lance’s arms: “Too deliberate. Wouldn’t that clearly tell the other party we have ulterior motives?”

 

Lance looked down at the teacup and picked it up for a sip.

 

“Is it hot?” Zhan Pingchuan asked.

 

“A little,” Lance answered honestly.

 

It was so hot his lips turned red.

 

“Really?” Zhan Pingchuan was slightly surprised and quickly leaned his head over. Ignoring the hot tea in the cup, he held Lance’s chin and blew on his red, moist lips. “Is it still hot now?”

 

Lance: “.”

 

The little fool’s thought process was truly unique.

 

But very endearing.

 

“Blow some more.”

 

“Huff—huff—”

 

Dream Witch and Adrian tacitly looked away, selectively ignoring the two people gazing lovingly at each other.

 

Fulunla awkwardly scratched her thigh while sighing: “Can’t kill him but have to win the bid—it’s too difficult. We can’t exactly turn this Li Bang to our side, can we?”

 

Adrian shook his head: “Absolutely impossible. He’s a fanatical follower of Selarl. If we rashly try to turn him, we might alert the enemy.”

 

“The director is right—the king’s safety is most important.” Mudeli agreed, but he was also at a loss.

 

Wu Peng wasn’t the brains of the operation anyway. Seeing everyone hanging their heads in silence, he had even fewer ideas and could only look left and right, hoping others would offer brilliant insights.

 

At this moment, Lance’s lips had returned to their original temperature. He suddenly squinted slightly and said unhurriedly: “Since we have no way to influence Li Bang’s choice, we can only make the other twenty-six guilds voluntarily give up the competition.”

 

He deliberately emphasized the word “voluntarily.”

 

Without choices, no matter how much Selarl didn’t want to cooperate with top guilds, he would be helpless.

 

As soon as he finished speaking, eight pairs of eyes looked at him in unison.

 

Dream Witch smiled knowingly, thinking: Worthy of being my cunning and ruthless little brother!

 

Abaddon sniffed and felt much more at ease—this was indeed the familiar scent of White Pharaoh.

 

Lily trembled with excitement, wishing she could grab a knife right now and charge toward the bedrooms of various guilds.

 

Ah, was it time to threaten and intimidate uncooperative adults?

 

On the opposite side of the round table—

 

Fulunla couldn’t help but be shocked.

 

This kind of problem-solving approach, this ability to draw inferences… the young master-in-law was truly a top student!

 

Mudeli clicked his tongue in admiration.

 

Right! If they couldn’t turn Li Bang, they could turn the other guilds! He believed that with reason and emotion, those small guilds would give Ghost Eye some face.

 

Adrian pondered deeply.

 

This was indeed a good solution. Compared to Lance, their thinking patterns were too rigid.

 

Ghost Eye Guild really needed fresh blood.

 

Wu Peng couldn’t wrap his head around it.

 

Huh? Why did everyone suddenly have starry eyes?

 

Zhan Pingchuan’s eyes contained undisguised adoration as he smiled: “Finding an alternative path—how is my baby so smart?”

 

Lance smiled with lowered eyes under everyone’s bright, flickering gazes.

 

Dream Witch was impatient. Having gotten a feasible plan, she stood up directly and tossed her long hair: “OK, from everyone’s expressions, you all seem to agree. So let’s assign tasks.”

 

Adrian: “We have more people, so we can handle sixteen guilds. High Tower can handle the other ten.”

 

He didn’t count Lily as available labor—after all, she was just a lively, mischievous little girl. Having her persuade other guilds would be too demanding.

 

Dream Witch raised her eyebrows in surprise: “How rare.”

 

Adrian was puzzled: “What?”

 

“Nothing.” Dream Witch shook her head.

 

She was just very surprised that Adrian was willing to set aside morality and threaten so many guilds at once.

 

Adrian thought she was surprised that Ghost Eye Guild was voluntarily taking on more work, so he made polite conversation seriously: “You’re not having it easy either.”

 

After all, she had to set aside her young miss dignity to persuade those small guilds she’d never met.

 

Dream Witch smiled: “You’re welcome.” Just moving some fists around.

 

Both sides quickly divided the twenty-six guilds into groups. Time was pressing—they had to coordinate with all guilds before Li Bang arrived.

 

Dream Witch took the list and left with her people. Ghost Eye stayed behind to continue subdividing tasks.

 

Adrian pointed to Night Walker Guild, Seven Star Lotus Guild, and Caesar Guild: “I’ll handle these three guilds. As top guilds that are also being targeted, we should understand each other. I’m also familiar with their presidents.”

 

Actually, it was because besides Adrian, the others weren’t qualified to negotiate with top guilds.

 

“Galaxy Guild is also mine. The rest of you handle three each. Remember to exercise restraint—achieving the goal is key. As compensation, we can promise them a cooperation opportunity.” Adrian said.

 

Fulunla, Wu Peng, and Mudeli nodded in unison: “Don’t worry, Director. We’ll definitely complete the mission.”

 

Lance: “……”

 

Restraint, persuasion, compensation, promises—each word felt foreign and out of place to him.

 

Adrian noticed Lance’s confusion and asked with concern: “Did I miss anything in what I said?”

 

Lance paused for a moment before forcing a smile: “No, it’s quite good.”

 

Continue then. If we’re not going to steal your toilet paper, whose will we steal? If we’re not going to slash your tires, whose will we slash?

 

Dream Witch led her people out of Ghost Eye Guild’s room and walked straight to the safety passage before stopping.

 

She crossed her arms and tilted her chin slightly up, instructing: “Ten guilds divided among four of us—more than enough. I have only one requirement: don’t kill anyone. Other than that, use whatever threatening and intimidating methods you want. Remember to move fast and strike hard.”

 

Zhan Pingchuan: “?”

 

Threatening and intimidating?

 

Abaddon rubbed his thick palms together and said in a muffled voice: “Got it. I’ll handle four—it’s pretty easy.”

 

Lily excitedly licked the corner of her lips, her fingers twirling her blue braids: “I want three! I want three! I can’t wait anymore!”

 

Dream Witch chuckled: “I don’t know what Ghost Eye is trying to prove. Just because they have one more person, they insist on taking sixteen guilds, leaving us without enough to divide.”

 

Lily suggested: “Then let Mr… Mr. Zhan Pingchuan go help them.”

 

Dream Witch reluctantly agreed: “Fine. After all, this is Ghost Eye’s first time threatening people—their technique won’t be very skilled. Zhan Pingchuan can act as mobile support to assist them a bit.”

 

Zhan Pingchuan: “………………………”

 

Not to be rude, but your High Tower really does have some connection to the Black Lantern Society, doesn’t it?! How did you interpret my baby’s such considerate suggestion this way?

 

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 (advanced chapters available on kofi)