Chapter 21 Let's Set Sail, ███! What was that kiss that just now...?
Zhu Wen recognized the trench coat. The uncle who had put the plastic bag over it stared at him several times, seemingly oblivious to his own cleverness. He must have gotten a treasure and lost his bearings, thinking he was someone important. In his experience, he was not far from death. Indeed, all the idiots in the world are mass-produced.
"You want to seek justice for him?" Xue Chao grabbed the boy's coat without ceremony. The boy dodged, but a dirty, bloody finger mark was left behind. The man laughed as if he had successfully pulled off a prank, and pushed himself up. "He left in a pretty romantic way, a direct sea burial. Maybe some kind-hearted school of fish has already scattered his remains. Go to the shore and try to fish them out; you might find some of his 'remains'."
Zhu Wen screamed and hurriedly wiped her clothes: "You bastard, my brand new clothes—why is he wronged? Him? That kind of person deserves to die no matter what!"
Xue Chao glanced at him: "What kind of person?"
The dart subtly severed the trench coat belt, and the boy touched the bloodstain that had appeared out of nowhere on his lower back: "People like us."
"I don't have your self-harming hobby."
Xue Chao rushed upstairs, decisively shaking off the annoying brat. But the brat was a brat precisely because he was persistent. Zhu Wen leisurely followed him: "What a coincidence, I'm going to the second floor too. I heard they have good wine there. Where there are many demons and monsters, there is always good wine... Shouldn't you be lecturing me about 'minors not being allowed to drink' right now?"
"There's no law protecting minors here, and why should I care about you?" The elevator doors opened, letting in a burst of cheerful laughter as champagne was being popped. Xue Chao had anticipated this, so he took out a pure gold lighter from his pocket, waved it in front of the guards blocking his way, and prepared to sneak in as a "private detective searching for missing items for VIPs."
But before the fox could utter the arrogant "Excuse me, please make way," a slender hand suddenly reached out from behind the guard. Wearing long white lace gloves and exuding a fragrant aroma, it flirtatiously hooked the collar of his trench coat and pulled him inside.
A butterfly half-mask was casually placed on his face. An elegant lady in a white dress touched her red lips with her index finger, signaling him to be quiet. A white veil covered her mysterious eyes, but Xue Chao knew that she was watching him intently.
He was cornered by this beauty behind the wine cabinet. Just around the corner, there was a scene of elegant women and clinking glasses outside. He could also hear Zhu Wen angrily questioning the guards after losing track of him. However, all of that was far away. This corner was quiet enough that, against the backdrop of the chaotic outside world, it could only accommodate their ambiguous breaths.
A strange smile played on her lips, a smile that felt familiar to Xue Chao. But before he could recall where he had seen her before, she moved closer, her hand gently stroking the corner of his eye as if examining his blue eyes: "Has anyone ever said your eyes are beautiful? Like the sea, how many people have you drowned with them?"
Her tone was also strange, both feminine and soft, making it difficult to tell if she was male or female.
Xue Chao relaxed his body and joked, "You're making it easy for me to get carried away... um."
His eyes were covered, and an open lace fan obscured the lower half of his face. Cold red lips covered his through the fan, and then the tip of his tongue darted out, ambiguously hooking the lace edge and brushing against his lips. The softness of his tongue and the roughness of the lace rolled together, licking and making him feel numb all over.
The man seemed to be able to read minds. A second before Xue Chao pushed him away, he stepped back a little and whispered in Xue Chao's ear, "Next time you see me, remember to run."
Xue Chao suddenly opened his eyes, but there was no beauty to be seen. Only a white lace fan lying on the ground proved that he hadn't just had a daydream.
What the hell? Where did this pervert come from in broad daylight? He frowned and rubbed his lips as he walked out from behind the wine cabinet. He saw that there was a small commotion at the banquet. The noblewoman who had been harassing him earlier was lying on her back on the ground, surrounded by a small group of people.
Xue Chao squeezed to the front row, where the beautiful woman was holding a dead white cat in her arms. It was the same cat as before, but the cat's unfocused eyes were brown instead of the crimson ones he remembered. Upon seeing the cat, Xue Chao finally remembered that the noblewoman's smile was very similar to that of the white cat.
The beauty was different from before; the veil that should have covered her eyes was now tied around her mouth, obscuring her lips and revealing her unseeing green eyes.
The green color inexplicably made him feel empty inside, as if this color shouldn't be behind the veil.
"How did the witch suddenly die? What did she do?"
"A witch? You're giving her too much credit. She's just a swindler, a mute. I saw her kill a cat, trying to use it as a sacrifice. Did she anger some god or ghost instead?"
Xue Chao had to interrupt their discussion: "A mute?"
"Yes, she was able to make up anything with that mouth. She even managed to deceive a nobleman, but he was poisoned and rendered mute. Her lips rotted and her tongue was cut off. She has been wearing a veil ever since."
The guards, their faces grim and clearly disgusted with the group of VIPs on the second floor, quickly cleaned up the woman's body and left.
The banquet proceeded as planned, unaffected in the slightest, but Xue Chao's furrowed brow remained unresolved—if that woman had no mouth or tongue, then what had kissed him just now?
What kind of thing possessed the witch and the white cat?
And remember to run away next time we meet... You'd be lucky if you didn't stab that bastard next time we meet.
He temporarily suppressed his doubts and slight annoyance at being molested, and remembered his original goal. He walked through the crowds of people gambling, throwing darts, watching human dismemberment magic, and discussing art salons, heading straight for the bar.
He whispered something to the bartender, handed him something, and then sat down next to a woman in a purple dress, ordering two drinks casually.
The woman was idly playing with her nails, a lone pink gemstone earring in her left ear. Hearing the sound, she turned her head to look, but before she could see him completely, Zhu Wen finally found her and plopped down between them, angrily saying, "How did you disappear in the blink of an eye? What's with the tantrum? Bartender, give me the same drink as him!"
Xue Chao, who had been ignoring him, suddenly frowned, put on an unjustified "adult" air, and said lazily, "You can't drink."
"You're crazy! You were just saying 'I don't care about you'..." Zhu Wen blinked, suddenly connecting with the brainwaves, and said even more "arrogantly," "You don't care about me! You're ignoring me, aren't you? I'll drink ten bottles and you won't have to say a word!"
The woman couldn't help but laugh, drawing their attention: "Whose young master is this, sneaking out for a drink while the adults are away? Little brother, wine isn't some sweet water you've tasted before. Listen to your bodyguard."
“Sister, you are beautiful and kind-hearted, why are you speaking up for this tall but brainless guy? I heard that this place is full of fine wines hoarded by knowledgeable ‘drunkards’. I haven’t tasted any of them. Anyway, every child has secretly taken a sip of wine before adulthood, so of course I have to drink the best of it.”
The fireplace burned warmly and comfortably, and the gin was brought out through the half-door of the storage room, resembling two pools of amber under the classic yet somewhat ambiguous light.
Ignoring the little devil's pleading gaze, Xue Chao snatched the wine glass from Zhu Wen's hand with a cold smile, nimbly dodging the opening cannon salute of the magic show, downed his own glass in one gulp, and pushed the other glass in front of the woman: "Please excuse my poor performance."
The woman glanced at the ice ball floating in the wine, inside which was frozen her other lost pink gemstone earring. She smiled, as if amused: "Little brother, you can wait a little longer. The wine here isn't the best. The wine on the ship is the real fine wine, some of which are a hundred years old."
On the ship. But the one that actually set sail was indeed "another ship."
“You’ve been bought off by his alcohol, you’re not convincing at all.” Zhu Wen lay on the bar, rolling her face in a tantrum. “I can’t wait, can’t you open it faster, honestly.”
Xue Chao poured cold water on the idea, saying, "With rain and fog, it's normally difficult to go out to sea."
"The rain probably won't be heavy anymore. Once it stops and everything is ready, we can set sail."
"Set sail?" Zhu Wen asked innocently at the opportune moment.
They waited for the rain to stop, but not for the fog to dissipate, because the fog had lingered for a year and was impossible to dispel. A year ago, Right Harbor had just closed, and Xue Chao guessed what was going on: "We are going to get through that fog."
“That’s right.” The woman’s doubts, hidden behind her smile, dissipated somewhat. “The fog is by no means an obstacle. What has happened if we have believed those cowards in uniform? The ‘opposition’ says the fog is dangerous, a monster that devours people. They’ve closed the right port and blocked shipping routes. We’ve been stuck here for a year, losing so much money and wasting so much energy, and we’ve still gained nothing. Hiding in the old iron cage will never let us see the new sun. We need to set sail.”
The situation in Right Harbor is now completely clear: the VIPs on the second floor are the "Sailing Team," who support setting sail and want to enter the fog, while the guards are the "Opposition Team," who oppose setting sail and believe the fog is dangerous.
"What lies beyond the mist?" No child dislikes adventure stories, Zhu Wen asked excitedly. "Lost ruins? A vampire's castle? A land of little people and a land of giants?"
"It's possible, and it's not. Everything that entered the fog disappeared, whether it was people or detection equipment, which terrified the guards. If you ask me, would someone who has entered heaven or paradise send a message to mortals?"
The woman's eyes suddenly flashed with fanatical light, like a zealous missionary: "What lies beyond the fog? It is the prophecy brought back by Orlaug, a new world that only myth can reach. The people who disappeared are not dead, but have already arrived there before us."
Orlaug. In publicly available information from the copy files, the copy was previously known as "The Lost Orlaug".
Xue Chao had already checked the left port system and found no such ship. Sure enough, the Orlaug was a ship that left the right port, probably a year ago.
A year ago, a fog suddenly appeared on the distant sea. Its origin was unknown, and it would not dissipate. No method could break through it, and all attempts to probe it failed. Anyone who entered the fog ended up with no news.
Giant Port was built at the confluence of two seas, so the Right Port shipping route, which was responsible for the sea area behind the fog, was completely blocked and forced to close.
But these VIPs, who are so eager to devour gold and people in search of immortality and extend their lives by thousands of people, are not afraid of unknown dangers. On the contrary, they are in high spirits and secretly draw a circle around the right port to conserve their energy. They are willing to jump into the boiling oil in order to sail thousands of miles. Are they crazy?
The Orlaug... What prophecy did this ship bring back, and how did it convince these people who valued their lives to engage in such a dangerous business?
And if the mist swallowed all outsiders, where did the Orlaug get its prophecy from?
Wait a minute, the fog has blocked all shipping routes in the right port, but the left port doesn't go through that area, so it keeps operating. However, the Destiny's route is very strange. It first passes through the area facing the right port, then turns around in the middle and returns to the area facing the left port, making a half-circle turn several times.
Because of its unusual route and being the last ship, the Destiny was considered by many players to be the "next level".
For no apparent reason, since it wasn't on the flight path, why did it head towards the fog first?
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