Madam Qiu continued drinking tea until the moon was high in the sky. The chirping of insects could be heard in the garden. The other guests had already left, and it would be inappropriate for Zhang Fan to stay any longer, so he got up to take his leave.
When we arrived at the dock, the harbor was deserted, and the luxury yacht that had come from there was nowhere to be seen.
Zhang Fan stood on the dock, looking at the black, surging sea below, feeling somewhat bewildered. The surrounding sea was pitch black, and there wasn't a single ship's light, let alone a cruise ship.
A light can be seen on the distant horizon; that is the coastline of Manchester.
Are we supposed to swim back ourselves? It's not impossible, but surely a marquis's mansion wouldn't be so stingy? They can't even arrange a small boat to pick up their guests since they're leaving a little later?
Da da da!
As Zhang Fan hesitated about whether to jump, a series of chaotic footsteps sounded around him.
Zhang Fan turned around and saw a group of men in black suits surrounding the dock.
A white carriage slowly approached, driven by Ralph, the second-class steward of the Marquis's mansion.
"Whoa!"
Ralph pulled on the reins, and the carriage stopped. William, the head guard of Crescent Villa, dressed in black, opened the carriage door. Princess Alice lifted her skirt and stepped off the carriage on tiptoe.
"Look, we meet again." Alice seemed to be in a good mood after getting off the carriage.
"Your Highness is too kind," Zhang Fan said politely, after all, this was their territory. "Even a thousand-mile journey must come to an end, Your Highness should go back and rest early."
Was this something Alice deliberately set up to embarrass herself?
Zhang Fan made up his mind: he'd swim back if he wanted. He'd practiced five-kilometer armed swimming all the time during training, so it was a piece of cake.
"I think you've misunderstood. I didn't come to see you off." Alice, fan in hand, was in an increasingly good mood. "You're not leaving!"
What does that mean?
“Princess, have you forgotten? We had an agreement.” Zhang Fan reminded her, “I believe that with your noble status, you will keep your promise and will not go back on your word.”
“Of course I will keep the agreement and let you off the hook today, but…” Alice was even more pleased and took out a pocket watch and waved it in front of her. “It’s past midnight now, so it’s ‘tomorrow’ now, not ‘today’.”
"The agreement between us expired 'yesterday'."
Zhang Fan was unable to refute it for a moment. If the other party insisted on nitpicking the wording, then logically there was nothing wrong with it.
"What do you want?" Zhang Fan's gaze turned cold. Was it going to be a fight to the death when they met again?
"I haven't decided yet." This was the Marquis's territory, and Alice was confident of victory. Her eyes darted around, and she radiated confidence. "If you surrender, I'll spare you some pain. I can..."
Bang!
Without any warning, before Alice could finish speaking, Zhang Fan suddenly bent down and rushed towards her.
Zhang Fan's strategy was simple: in the current situation, as long as he could kidnap Alice, he would have the means to leave Moonlight Island safely!
Bang! Bang!
After exchanging two blows, Captain Xia Weilian and Zhang Fan were both hit by each other's punches and staggered backward.
William was closest to Alice when she suddenly attacked. Caught off guard, he felt his arm go numb and stumbled back three steps before regaining his footing.
William Xia was shocked. Although it was a hasty response, Zhang Fan was the second person who could knock him back with a single punch, besides the chief bodyguard of the Marquis.
"Protect the princess!"
At Ralph's command, the men in black split into two groups. One group surrounded Alice tightly, while the other group, led by William Xia, rushed towards Zhang Fan.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Alice, anxious to speak, was met with merciless blows; there was no room for her to speak here, and no one listened to her.
It was impossible for Zhang Fan to break through to Alice's side again. The men in black who were attacking him were all quite strong, and their movements were swift and clean.
After a few exchanges, Zhang Fan confirmed that those who attacked him were soldiers, or at least had served in the military.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Zhang Fan knocked the man in black in front of him back with a few heavy punches.
The group of men in black were also somewhat surprised. This was the first time they had encountered such a formidable opponent. Despite being surrounded by them, he was still able to defend and counterattack, and for a time they were helpless against him.
The man in black also abandoned his underestimation of his opponent and began to adjust his tactics, using a series of attacks to wear down his opponent's stamina.
Zhang Fan also felt troubled. This was a dock, and the surroundings were empty. He didn't know where to break through. If this continued, he would definitely lose.
With no hope of breaking through, it seems this time they really have to fight a desperate battle.
Bang!
Zhang Fan fought and retreated, kicking a man in black in the chest. At the same time, he used the recoil to do a backflip, his body tracing a semicircle in the air before leaping into the sea behind him.
Splash—
Water splashed everywhere, and Zhang Fan's figure dove underwater like a fish, disappearing in an instant.
Suddenly, things took an unexpected turn. After a moment of hesitation, the men in black all moved forward to the edge of the dock, shining their powerful flashlights onto the sea.
Beams of intense light swept across the dark seawater, but apart from the white waves churning on the surface, no human figure was found.
"What are you doing!" Alice stamped her foot in frustration. "I told you to scare him, not to throw him into the sea!"
"Princess, the situation has suddenly changed..."
"He started it..."
"We did this to protect the princess..."
"I don't care! You all jump down!" Alice waved her arms angrily. "If you can't find him, none of you come up!"
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Half of the men in black, who were good swimmers, jumped into the sea, while the other half, armed with powerful flashlights, expanded their search along both sides of the pier.
The seawater was quite cold at night. An hour later, many of the men in black were shivering from the cold, but they couldn't find a trace of Zhang Fan, and no one dared to come out of the water.
The butler, Ralph, observed all of this and approached Alice, saying, "Princess, there's no point in continuing the search."
"Shark nets and underwater sonar monitoring systems are installed around the coast of Moonlight Island. If he leaves Moonlight Island, we will definitely be able to detect the signal."
"Why don't we go back first and let the Moonlight Island Coast Guard continue the search? That would be more efficient and make it easier to find any clues he left behind."
Alice craned her neck and peered out to sea from the dock, but she couldn't see anything in the dark water.
“Ralph, he didn’t drown, did he?” Alice’s nose stung, and her voice trembled with tears. “I didn’t mean to kill him, I…”
“I know, since his body wasn’t found, it at least means he’s still alive.” Ralph draped a coat over Alice.
The sea breeze at dawn was cool, blowing Alice's hair around. Alice couldn't help but shiver and pulled the collar of her coat tighter.
“Then let them come up.” Alice turned and went back to the carriage.
“Yes, Princess.” Ralph turned and ordered, “Have the Coast Guard search every inch of Moonlight Island’s coastline.”
"I want to see him alive, or I want to see his body if he is dead."
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