After Yan Bai controlled Mo Lin, everything was settled.
In the lobby on the first floor, more than a hundred mermaids who had just been rescued huddled together. They were clearly divided into two groups: one group was the homeless mermaids who were rescued from the sixth floor, and the other group was the mermaids who were forced to be sent to the training center by their husbands.
After being rescued, the former were both happy and terrified, not understanding what had happened, but they felt that it was a good thing to be able to leave that hell. Most of them were silent and curled up. The violence they had endured for a long time was enough to make them cautious in the face of any variables, even if the one who rescued them was a fellow mermaid.
But the situation in the latter wave was much more complicated. Some of the mermaids, like Yi Lan, were excited when they were rescued, happy that they could finally get rid of that place.
But there are also some mermaids who, although they hate their husbands for sending them here, still have feelings for their husbands that they cannot let go. Especially some mermaids who have already given birth, they still want to return to that family to take care of their children.
What's worse, some mermaids, because of long-term brainwashing, actually believed what the training center said, thinking that they had been corrected and redeemed in this place, and that these people who rescued them were meddling in other people's business. The way they clamored to stay was both infuriating and pathetic.
"My fellow mermaids, I'm sorry that I don't intend to give you a choice." Yan Bai interrupted the quarrel of these mermaids.
"You must leave with me and go to Liberty Island, even if you are unwilling or even resent me. I don't want to explain to you what you will have to face if you stay, and I don't have time to persuade you slowly. I can only inform you that you must get in the car and leave now."
After saying this, Yan Bai frowned and scanned the crowd one by one. Seeing that some people seemed to want to argue, he added lightly, "If you really want to stay, you can. This building will be blown up in an hour. If you want to stay, you can be buried here."
Now no mermaid had any objections. They had seen how ruthless these desperate criminals were when dealing with their enemies, and they didn't expect them to have much mercy on them, so they all agreed to leave.
Before leaving, Yan Bai gave the right of disposal to the persecuted mermaids, allowing them to judge every human manager here and decide whether they can survive or be buried with this sinful building.
In the end, the mermaids voted to pardon 27 of the managers, believing that they were kind to them and had secretly provided help at work. As for the other humans, they had been completely deceived by the interests and became accomplices of the evil.
Yan Bai asked 06 to inject everyone with a sleeping drug, sent the pardoned ones to the locker room, and left the others in the circular building. Finally, he ordered Lin Dian to give the robots a delayed self-destruction order. One hour after they left, the place would be blown into ruins because of the collective self-destruction of the robots, and all the sins would be buried together.
As for Mo Lin, Yan Bai planned to take him back to Yan's Shipping to report. Since he had already offended the Mo family completely, he had to keep a trump card as a bargaining chip.
In the meantime, taking advantage of the time when no one was around, Su Su quietly activated his terminal to send a message to Qi Hanyi. Fearing that there was not enough time, he could only send the most important things: I was rescued by the undercurrent and will go to Freedom Island from Haichuan Port. The training center is about to be demolished, and Mo Lin falls into Yan Bai's hands.
After the message was sent, Su Su quickly received a reply from Qi Hanyi: Do you want help?
Su Su: Not for now.
Qi Hanyi: Okay.
Su Su stroked the ring, and seeing that no one came, he couldn't help but say a few more words: How are the conditions over there?
Qi Hanyi: The master of the family heard about your identity and is looking for me to talk.
Although they had anticipated this when they made the plan, and Qi Hanyi had also thought of a response, Su Su still couldn't help but worry. After all, they were the few remaining family members of Qi Hanyi. Qi Hanyi couldn't completely ignore the other party's views and attitudes.
Su Su himself has never experienced the feeling of having a family, but now he can gradually understand Qi Hanyi a little.
Just as Su Su was deleting and writing a sentence, rewriting and deleting it, and repeatedly struggling with the wording, he received another message from Qi Hanyi: Don't worry, everything is going well.
"Huh..." Su Su breathed a sigh of relief, hid the ring, leaned back on the wheelchair, closed his eyes and rested.
An hour later, at the ferry, a cargo ship marked with the Yan Shipping logo was loaded and waiting to depart.
At the boarding point, Yan Bai sent everyone away and stopped Su Su, who was sitting in a wheelchair, and said, "Su Su, I have something to say to you alone."
"Yeah." Su Su stopped the wheelchair, raised his head, and waited for Yan Bai to speak.
This relaxed attitude made Yan Bai suddenly at a loss for words. After a long silence, he found the most rigid opening line: "My people have been paying attention to your actions and saw you take back your end in the locker room."
"Oh, you're talking about this. It seems that it is still not hidden." Su Su helplessly spread out his palm and held it forward: "So, do you want to confiscate it?"
He didn't really care. The message had already been delivered, so he might as well take it away.
"That's not what I meant." Yan Bai pursed his lips in annoyance. "I didn't give those mermaids a choice because I felt they didn't understand their situation clearly and couldn't make the right judgment."
"Now, I'm giving you a choice. Because I think you know what you want to do better than I do."
"I should have taken you back to Liberty Island, but if you want to leave now, I won't stop you. But if we become enemies in the future, you must remember that I will not show mercy to you, and you don't have to care about any friendship."
The wind from the port brought a familiar salty smell, which was not unpleasant at all. Instead, it seemed somewhat friendly, as if it was a call from home.
"Who said I'm leaving?" Su Su shook the money hidden in his clothes and said, "I might as well go to Liberty Island as a guest. I don't have any money to buy a boat ticket, so I can only trouble the young master to give me a ride."
Su Su didn't plan to go back to the Qi family right now. Qi Hanyi and his grandfather might be arguing about him right now. When the matter about the training center comes up, his relationship with Anliu will become complicated. It is estimated that many people will use his identity to attack Qi Hanyi. He is already busy enough. If he goes back, he will have to take the trouble to protect himself.
It would be better to follow Yan Bai on board and go to Liberty Island to find out what's going on. Moreover, Su Su could already see the change in Yan Bai's attitude. He thought that if he continued to fight for it during this period of time, he would have a good chance of pulling Yan Bai to his side. On the contrary, if he just left now, Yan Bai might be persuaded to go back to his original path after he returned.
Yan Bai was delighted by Su Su's answer, which was an unexpected answer for him. After all, Su Su should know that he would take a big risk if he went to Freedom Island, but he was still willing to go with him, which showed that he trusted him.
Yan Bai then made a solemn promise to Su Su: "If you come with me to Freedom Island, I will definitely protect your life."
When the Yan family cargo ship that Su Su was on set sail, Qi Hanyi was in Qi Xingli's tea room, sitting opposite him across a square low table.
By this time, the sun was setting in the west. The setting sun shone through the bare branches, casting a layer of warm golden light on the snow, adding a bit of warmth to the cold and lonely winter day.
Qi Hanyi waited for Qi Xingli's question in silence. In fact, he was not as relaxed as when he talked to Su Su. He expected that today's conversation might not be pleasant. Qi Xingli might even have a violent outburst because of being deceived.
Qi Hanyi didn't mind punishment or family rules. He just hoped that after this conversation, he could get a promise from Qi Xingli for Su Su, a promise that even if he died, the Qi family would definitely protect Su Su and ensure that he could board the starship and become a pilot. The biggest bargaining chip in his hand was the talent and strength shown by Su Su. He knew that Qi Xingli valued the interests of the family, but above that, he would first protect the survival of this planet.
"Looking at the snow, I keep thinking of your childhood. I remember that you liked playing in the snow when you were very young." Qi Xingli's tone was not as harsh as Qi Hanyi had imagined, and the content of the conversation was also very different from what he had expected.
He stretched out his old and skinny finger and pointed to the attic in the distance: "You had just learned to walk at that time. It was snowing heavily in winter. You climbed out of the window from the second floor when no one was paying attention and fell into the thick snow. Later, when it was time for lunch, I couldn't find you at all and realized that you were gone."
"Your father was so brave that his eyes turned red with fear. He was looking for you in the yard like crazy."
"We looked for you from lunch until the sun was about to set. We searched the whole yard but couldn't find you. When we returned to the house, we saw that you had sneaked back in. You were sitting in the kitchen, covered in snow. When the heater heated you, it all turned into water, soaking your clothes. You didn't even know it was cold, your hands were red from the cold, and you were holding snow you dug from somewhere, rolling snowballs and putting them in the refrigerator one by one."
When Qi Xingli talked about this, there was a smile in his eyes, like an old man reminiscing about the past with his younger generation.
But Qi Hanyi felt that this was not unusual. He picked up the teapot, poured more tea for Qi Xingli, and asked calmly, "Why did the master suddenly bring up this?"
Qi Xingli picked up the teacup and suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with loneliness: "It seems like I haven't heard you call me Grandpa for a long time."
"...Grandpa." Qi Hanyi felt even more strange. He remembered that from the day he was chosen as the heir, Qi Xingli had strictly asked him to call him the head of the family. He told Qi Hanyi to always remember that even though they were related by blood, he would not relax his requirements on him.
But now, he took the initiative to ask me to call him Grandpa.
Qi Xingli picked up the teacup and took a sip: "Sometimes I wonder if I am too strict with you. If Wuer knew, she would definitely blame me."
Qi Hanyi didn't know how to respond for a moment. After thinking for a long time, he just said, "I know, my family... my grandfather is strict with me because he hopes that I can become a capable person and shoulder the responsibility of the Qi family."
"Not entirely." Qi Xingli closed his eyes: "You are a smart child. You know what to do and when. You can do it. Even if I am gentler to you, you can still do well."
Qi Hanyi rarely looked bewildered; he couldn't understand what Qi Xingli meant.
"Han Yi, you look too much like your parents. Every time I see you, I think of your mother killing your father, and I feel pain and hatred in my heart. I know it's not your fault, you are obviously the biggest victim."
"But I can't let go of the resentment in my heart. Although I nurtured you, I was unwilling to care about you and even deliberately alienated you. I knew that you were bullied by your father's brothers and sisters, but I deliberately left it alone."
Qi Hanyi opened his mouth, but was speechless for a moment because of surprise. He had always thought that his grandfather's indifference was due to his indifferent personality, but he never realized that he also had such an emotional side.
He never thought that Qi Xingli was resentful of him. He didn't feel angry or wronged, but just felt a little empty in his heart.
What made Qi Hanyi even more confused was that even if Qi Xingli really thought so, he had kept it a secret from her for more than ten years, and she already believed it, so why did he suddenly say it out loud?
"You must be wondering why I suddenly said this. Actually, there is nothing strange about it. When people get old, they just like to nag. Usually I have to act like an elder, so I don't say much." Qi Xingli put down the teacup and sighed: "But I'm scared now. If I don't say it, some things will be kept in my heart for a lifetime."
Qi Hanyi closed his eyes and continued to pour tea to Qi Xingli: "What are you talking about? If you want to say something, your children and grandchildren are always ready to listen to you."
Qi Xingli raised his head and said, "Really? But I heard that you only have one month left to live. You hid his affairs from me and even refused to treat your illness. Is it because you like that mermaid? You are just like your father, a lovelorn child."
Hearing about Su Su, Qi Hanyi put down the teapot and said seriously, "Su Su is different from mother. I didn't refuse to use mermaids to treat diseases just for him. I rejected this method from the beginning."
Qi Xingli waved his hands downwards: "Alright, I'm not blaming you. Yes, you refused at the beginning, and even this mermaid was only accepted by you because I threatened you. Now, it's my fault."
"Tell me about that mermaid. What's his name... Su Su? Is that his name? I've watched all his combat videos. He's a great candidate for a starship. I used to not believe it. A mermaid without any formal training could actually fly a starship so well."
"Su Su is indeed very talented." Qi Hanyi said approvingly, "His true form is a shark. Perhaps the living environment he grew up in has given him an almost intuitive sensitivity to fighting. He is different from his mother. Undercurrent has been trying to contact him since a long time ago, but he has always stood firmly on the side of humans. Now he is willing to take the initiative to get involved for me and explore the bottom of Undercurrent."
Qi Hanyi simply explained his and Su Su's plan to Qi Xingli, and then said: "I dare not forget the hatred of my parents. I will get rid of the Dark Current Organization sooner or later. But what really led to the tragedy was the oppression of mermaids by humans, the unreasonable marriage system, and the inequality and distrust between humans and mermaids. If I marry another mermaid, it will be the greatest blasphemy to my father's death."
"If you die, will you be worthy of your father?" Qi Xingli couldn't help but slam the table and shouted. Realizing that he had lost his composure, he took a deep breath and said, "How about a trade? If you promise me to find a mermaid to treat you, I will agree to do my best to ensure that Su Su becomes the pilot of the starship, including the mermaid policies you want to promote. Don't be stubborn, kid, you must first live, so that you can insist on what you think is right and protect the people you love."
"What about the mermaid who cured me? Did she deserve to have her life ruined?" Qi Hanyi did not hesitate for even a second because of Qi Xingli's suggestion: "Grandpa, I know that even if I die, you will protect Su Su. Because he will be the best starship pilot, and only he can take over the Bai Ze. For the future of the planet, you will protect him."
Seeing that Qi Xingli was about to get angry again, Qi Hanyi took out a medical test report: "If I was really cured by the mermaid's singing, it must be Su Su's singing. Xiang Chen said the hope was slim, so I didn't tell him. Maybe when I really fall into a deep sleep one day, you can let him try it."
Qi Xingli's breath got stuck in his throat, and he threw the cup in anger, yelling out of control: "Do you think I don't know what you mean? Are you showing me the test results? Are you showing me the golden ticket to immortality? Because he is the only hope to save you and wake you up, I have to serve him if I want you to live? You bastard, you're even plotting against your grandfather, right?"