Chapter 40: Fairness, Welcome, Playing Hard to Get—Where's one of them? ...
"Without a doubt, you have already unilaterally assumed that I was carrying something that 'disturbed' you, and you have escalated the matter into... a bet."
Fu Ze first focused his gaze on Badger Tooth to the side, then slowly turned his eyes to sweep over Alexei and his group in front of him.
"Since it's a bet, it has to be fair."
As he spoke, the insignia on his collar swayed slightly, gleaming in the sunlight streaming through the porthole.
"The most basic fairness at the gambling table is that both sides place bets."
Alexei scoffed: "Are you trying to negotiate with me? Are you trying to negotiate with 'me'?"
Ignoring Alexei's sarcasm, Fu Ze continued, "If you can't find anything 'uncomfortable' on me, then I'll require you to sign a document in your own name authorizing the executive officer to conduct body searches on you and your friends anytime, anywhere, without any additional application."
As soon as he finished speaking, the guys who had been standing behind Alexei, waiting to see what would happen, instantly erupted in chaos!
Their main purpose in coming here was to curry favor with Alexei, this influential young master, so that their company could have a better chance of getting a share of the profits in related businesses in the future.
However, the demands made by Fu Zefang directly and substantially harmed their personal interests.
No one can say for sure that these sudden body searches, regardless of location or time, won't actually uncover something and lead to some immeasurable consequences.
In short, this kind of thing is absolutely unacceptable!
Alexei was well aware of the treacherous nature of Fu Ze's request, and his voice trembled with fear and rage: "Are you insane?"
"Scared?" Fu Ze's tone remained calm as he retorted, but every word was like a precise slap across Alexei's face. "That's right. After all, from the very beginning, when you proposed the body search, it wasn't to verify the so-called 'truth,' but rather because you were certain that I would be hesitant to resist due to everyone's status, and thus you forcibly achieved your goal."
The reason why unspoken rules are unspoken rules is because they cannot be exposed to the light of day.
When Fu Ze brought out certain words and laid them bare before everyone, their filth and depravity were laid bare.
Seeing that Alexei was about to explode, Fu Ze added another layer of leverage: "You just said you wanted to make it impossible for us to get off the ship, but if you switch places, aren't you also unable to get off the ship?"
"By the way, everyone's cars should be parked in the parking lot outside by now." He casually flicked his badge with his finger, a knowing smile on his face. "Are you really that confident you won't repeat your friend's experience? Are you overconfident, or do you look down on executives?"
At this point, the scales of victory had completely tipped in Fu Ze's favor, leaving no room for retreat.
Although Alexei was a notorious playboy, he still had some brains.
He knew perfectly well why these guys were fawning over him, and what he had to give up to maintain that position.
As for face... as long as he remains at the core of this circle, no one will dare to mention his defeat.
Finally, under the silent pressure from those around him, Alexei abruptly turned his face away, squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth, his voice dry and rough: "Consider yourself lucky!"
He admitted defeat!
This creature with those pearl-like eyes in front of me is surprisingly troublesome, even more so than Old Huang's cactus.
Watching Alexei and the others leave in a sorry state, Fu Ze, basking in the approving gazes of the executives, proudly turned to Badger Tooth and said, "By the way, Mr. Manager."
Badger Tooth seemed completely absorbed in Fu Ze's brilliant performance of "retreating to advance and turning the tide," until Fu Ze walked right up to him and he finally snapped out of his daze.
Fu Ze seems to have actually done what he just said—
"Besides, as a dignified executive officer, why should I wag my tail and beg for an opportunity like a dog?"
This person could have easily achieved his goal by simply lowering his head and showing some humility, yet he actually went to such lengths for the so-called "executive" status.
That's interesting.
Reverting to his usual shrewd demeanor and donning his signature service smile, Badger Tooth replied, "Is there anything else you need, Mr. Executive?"
“Given the strong hostility and inappropriate behavior that Mr. Alexei just displayed towards me and other executives, I believe this constitutes a potential security risk.” Fu Ze crossed his arms, his expression serious yet tinged with mockery.
"Furthermore, his unstable emotions could easily escalate into aggressive behavior towards other crew members. To ensure this maritime operation proceeds safely and compliantly, and to prevent the situation from escalating..."
With one hand on his chest, Fu Ze declared definitively, "As the direct party involved in this conflict and the representative of the executive officer, I believe it is necessary for me to stay behind for temporary security supervision and observation."
Even though Badger Tooth had extensive experience dealing with public officials, the other party's increasingly bureaucratic speech gave him a headache.
But the necessary procedures still need to be followed.
“Our club staff are all very professional, and the situation you described will absolutely not happen.” Feeling the complex gaze from Alexei behind him, Badger Tooth rejected Fu Ze’s suggestion.
“But judging from what just happened, your club’s emergency response capabilities are worrying.” Fu Ze seemed to have suddenly realized something. “Could it be that the club has some kind of ‘special arrangement’ that an executive officer ‘observed’ on the spot?”
After Fu Ze's guess, the executive officer who had originally wanted to persuade him to stop getting entangled with Alexei and his group stopped.
It does seem a bit suspicious.
“Of course not.” Badger Tooth felt his smile stiffen slightly. “Since you are willing to stay, we would be very happy to welcome you.”
Having found a legitimate excuse to stay and successfully boosted his own morale, Fu Ze nodded with satisfaction, then stood on the deck and waved goodbye to his executive colleagues.
One, two, five...
Why is one missing? Did they leave early?
-
"Those executives are finally gone." Inside the cabin, a burly crewman inspected the equipment that had been ransacked, muttering incoherently, "Did Boss Badger just let them rummage through everything like this?"
Another person said sarcastically, "Anyway, it's not their leader who's in charge of cleaning up, so naturally they don't care about these things."
Suddenly, an offbeat voice rang out behind them: "There's nothing I can do, so you'll just have to make do with it."
Upon hearing the voice, the two immediately stood up, straightened their clothes, and said in unison, "First Mate."
"Okay, okay, I don't like this face-changing act." Taking the half apple out of his mouth, the man exaggeratedly sniffed twice in mid-air. "What delicious food is being made in the kitchen over there? It smells so good. It can't be our staff meal, can it?"
The burly man immediately replied, "Judging from their conversation, it seems to be a special guest who requested this meal. The kitchen dared not neglect it, so they postponed the preparation of the staff meal."
The first mate had his hand on the door, but when he heard what this person said, he reluctantly withdrew it.
He quickly devoured the apple, then forcefully threw the apple core into the sea, angrily saying, "Big fish eat little fish with gusto, little fish silently eat shrimp, and shrimp suffer by eating fruit cores. Is this what you call a food chain?"
Although they were somewhat puzzled by the first mate's sudden reflections, the other two still praised him enthusiastically for his unexpected reflections on life.
After his frustrated vanity was fully satisfied, the first mate gave the two a few more instructions and then turned and walked toward the bridge.
However, just as he passed by a room, the door, which had been locked, suddenly opened. From the shadows, a pair of arms as strong as iron pincers emerged from a tall, dark figure and gripped his throat tightly.
Although the first mate retaliated immediately after being attacked, he stubbornly held his breath and punched the back of his head in an attempt to hit the attacker.
But even masters can fall behind in every move if they are slow in one step, let alone the first mate, who is at best a novice.
Easily dodging the first mate's counterattack, the attacker increased the strength of his arm and kicked the first mate in the left and right knees respectively.
The first mate, who lost his balance, fell to the ground and watched helplessly as he was dragged into the dark room. He didn't even get a clear look at the attacker's face until he lost consciousness.
-
After laying the unconscious first mate flat, Yuan Jianxing took out a syringe from the lining of his clothes, removed the plastic protective cover, and injected it into the back of the first mate's neck.
According to the instructions, this injection is enough to keep a male human of this size from waking up until tomorrow.
After waiting a few minutes to confirm that the injection had taken full effect, Yuan Jianxing swiftly stripped off the first mate's clothes and put them on himself.
Brushing off the dust that had stuck to his face from the fight, Yuan Jianxing touched a clip-like device tucked behind his ear, then took out his phone and circled it around the captain's face twice.
He pressed send, and within seconds, two ripples spread out from the clips on either side, covering his entire face.
When Yuan Jianxing looked up again, his appearance had changed from being exactly like one of the officers who had participated in the search mission to being exactly the same as the vice-captain on the ground.
After adjusting various details of his appearance, Yuan Jianxing pushed open the door and walked out, casually throwing the empty syringe into the sea to destroy the evidence.
Before taking action, he already knew that since Badger Tooth could get the executives to investigate, they would definitely not be allowed to find any results.
The license, which could be obtained at great expense and through many favors, could not possibly be for the purpose of simply running such a simple high-end cruise business.
It seems they were playing a diversionary tactic right under the noses of the executives.
Okay, then I'll play along with the "feigned indifference" tactic.
As long as it goes undetected, this would be an incredible miracle that could uncover the whereabouts of both teleportation and contraband.
With that thought in mind, Yuan Jianxing walked towards the cockpit.
Along the way, using his CEO privileges, which were already in effect but were only hidden, he quickly reviewed the first mate's biography.
Just to be on the safe side, he even pulled up the video recordings of the first mate's previous offenses and trials at the adjudication bureau, and watched them at three times the speed to make sure he had a full understanding of the man's speaking habits, accent, and speech patterns.
After making all the necessary preparations, Hara Kensei pushed open the door and went inside.
As soon as he entered, the captain immediately called out, "It's almost time to set sail. As usual, start with the auxiliary rudder manually, and switch to automatic once we've left port."
Following the first mate's habit, Yuan Jianxing casually nodded, then shuffled to the helmsman's position, reached out and touched the control panel, and started each mechanism one by one according to the standard driving procedure.
Seeing his actions, the captain suddenly laughed loudly and slapped Yuan Jianxing on the shoulder, "After criticizing you so many times, you've finally gotten rid of your bad habit of turning on the power source before pushing the joystick. Good thing, good thing."
These words made Yuan Jianxing tense up.
No matter how well you prepare, impersonating someone else is like walking a tightrope; a slight misstep can lead to a fall and complete defeat.
Seemingly immersed in the joy of "the child finally becoming sensible," the captain did not notice that his first mate had been switched, and even began to talk incessantly: "I didn't want to take on this troublesome job, but they offered too much."
With a sudden thought, Yuan Jianxing immediately retorted in the irreverent tone of the first mate, "How troublesome could it be?"
"Hey, you're getting all high and mighty just from a compliment!" The captain's hands were busy, and his mouth was also busy. "This time we're going to make three round trips to that run-down dock in the Dala Port entertainment area to pick up cargo twice."
"The first time at sea was relatively easy, but the second time we have to do it simultaneously at sea and underwater. If we lose control of the ship and the cargo underwater isn't secured, we'll all be going down there to our deaths." Thinking about the difficulty of the second mission, the captain couldn't help but shudder. "Then we'll all be going down there to our deaths."
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Author's note: Our Xingxing is a man with an A8 driver's license [shy], driving cars, boats, and planes are all a piece of cake for him.
In real life, the crew's ranks are generally: Captain - Chief Mate - Second Mate. They wouldn't call someone the First Mate. But this is a novel, and the title "First Mate" is easier for everyone to understand. [Shrug]
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