Ruan Chen's implied meaning couldn't be clearer.
She held the gun casually in one hand, a smile on her face, but her other hand gripped the knife tightly in her pocket, adjusting her grip.
If any of these people harbor any ill intentions, she will not hesitate to slit the throat of the first person who attacks her.
Someone below said with a forced smile, "Second Master, you must be joking..."
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Ruan Chen's face turned cold. "I've pointed out two clear paths; choose the one you like."
First, hand over Ruan Chen to secure temporary peace and prepare for Su Ze's wrath.
Second, they hid Ruan Chen, but who knows how many more people would die on the ship afterward? When China investigated all the participants afterward, they would also suffer the same fate.
It seems like I'm doomed no matter what.
I should never have gotten on this pirate ship.
“I’ll give you another choice,” Ruan Chen said, as if he understood their dilemma. “Seize the ship. You should know the way back to Haitang Port. It’s four in the morning now, less than two hours before dawn. Three hours have passed since our ship lost contact. I think China has already taken action. Get the ship to Haitang Port before dawn. I think that’s your only way out.”
The students took the tests one by one on the deck, and in the blink of an eye, only a handful of them remained who hadn't taken the tests.
Ruan Luo and Lin Fengzi ranked fourth and fifth from the bottom, respectively.
Ruan Luo seemed very curious about this machine that tests mental strength. She pulled Lin Fengzi aside and asked her questions for a long time. Finally, she asked the most crucial question: "If it's the person they're looking for, how will this machine react?"
Lin Fengzi had seen her grandfather take tests before, and casually replied, "The machines for testing mental strength also have different levels. The one that this group of people brought can measure up to the top level of level ten. If the person they are looking for is a level ten mental strength expert, ten lights will light up. But if that person's mental strength is higher than level ten, the machine will burn out due to overload."
The old man in their family burned out several machines in his younger days, but in the last two years he has gotten too old, but he can still get ten blue lights to light up every time he does a test.
Ruan Luo seemed to be deep in thought, then suddenly clutched her stomach and said she was in so much pain that she couldn't stand it, and ran away in a flash.
When the men with guns around him saw him about to leave, they tried to stop him, but Ruan Luo, being a graduate of a performing arts program, managed to brush them off with a few words and slipped into the bathroom.
The two men standing next to the machine had grim faces and their eyes were fixed on the few students.
If they're not mistaken, the person they're looking for is probably not among them; they've already hidden themselves away.
The man with the bushy beard was named Anda. He was assigned to be in charge of all matters on the cruise ship. Tonight, he only received one instruction: to bring the student back alive.
He turned to the foreman beside him and said, "Go to the cockpit and get the passenger roster."
Lin Fengzi was only two people away from him at that moment, and her heart skipped a beat when she heard this.
If you check the names one by one, Ruan Chen's presence on this ship is impossible to erase.
He suppressed his slight panic, kept a calm expression, and patiently waited for his turn. He placed his hand in the machine, watched the six lights light up one by one, and then put his hand away and left.
Lin Fengzi walked toward the groups of classmates standing in twos and threes at the back of the deck.
In the blink of an eye, the remaining people had also finished their tests, and indeed, the genius they were looking for who had caused tonight's extraordinary celestial phenomena was not among them.
Anda waved his hand, signaling his men to gather all the students in front of him.
"Don't worry, students, we really don't mean any harm tonight." Anda's cold gaze swept back and forth among the crowd. "It's just a pity that the little mouse we're looking for has disappeared. I think some of you might be able to provide a clue—after all, you are all geniuses from China."
As expected, no one answered, and the previously noisy crowd instantly fell silent.
No one standing here is a fool. They had already guessed that this group of bandits of unknown origin was looking for one of them. No one wanted to betray their classmate, so even if some people had suspicions, they wouldn't say it out loud.
Anda was not surprised by their reaction. These students were all from China and were all the pride of the nation. Regardless of whether their pride would allow them to betray their companions, they would not say anything in public for the sake of their reputation.
Anda sneered and waved his hand.
The pirate guarding him immediately understood his meaning, grabbed one from the group of students, pulled back the bolt with a clatter, and pressed the cold, hard muzzle firmly against the unfortunate boy's forehead.
“I’m sure you don’t want to see your companions beaten to death right in front of you,” Anda said, his eyes filled with murderous intent. “I’ll count to three. If no one comes up with a clue, our classmate will have to die in place of that little mouse.”
He then turned his gaze to the unfortunate fellow who had been dragged out and was trembling with fear, and smiled amusedly, "Or, this student, do you have anything to say?"
The students who were singled out are quite young, only in their final year of high school, and are exceptionally outstanding to have made it here.
He truly had no clues. Even though he was a genius praised by everyone at school, his mind was in a state of panic at this critical moment. His lips moved as if trying to say something to save himself, but his throat felt like it was being choked, and he could only let out a few whimpering moans.
And the countdown has begun.
"three!"
"two!"
Just as the fatal "one" was about to be uttered, the pirate's finger on the trigger tightened slightly, his eyes filled with eager killing intent, when a voice interrupted the countdown.
"I have a lead!"
Lin Fengzi was going all out.
He didn't know the student, but the pride and bloodline he inherited from Marshal Lin wouldn't allow him to watch his countrymen die in a foreign land.
Despite the hundreds of pairs of eyes on the ship—from her classmates as well as from the group of ruthless pirates—Lin Fengzi's voice remained steady, and her steps as she pushed through the crowd were unhurried.
Anda scratched his beard with the barrel of his gun and smiled at Lin Fengzi. "Tell me about it."
“I have a friend who hasn’t taken the test yet,” Lin Fengzi said in her mind, offering a half-hearted apology to Ruan Luo. “He’s busy right now and on his way. Should we wait for him?”
Lin Fengzi was simply stalling for time. This group definitely wanted Ruan Chen. Anyway, given Ruan Luo's intelligence, they probably couldn't figure out anything. Let's get past this hurdle first and deal with it later.
“A kid did say he had an upset stomach just now,” one of the pirates on the periphery came over and explained. “He was in that room over there. The brothers all saw him. He didn’t run away.”
As Ruan Luo shook the water droplets off her hands and walked out, she immediately sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere around her.
Everyone was watching him.
But he wasn't surprised at all. It was clear that he was the only student left who hadn't been tested yet, especially the way the leader was looking at him, as if he were greedily eyeing some rare treasure. He must have mistaken him for the target they were looking for tonight.
Ruan Luo reached out his hand.
The ten blue lights on the instrument lit up almost simultaneously, then went out in unison, and a faint smell of burning emanated from the instrument.
Lin Fengzi's mind went blank.
How could this be? Could it be that Ruan Luo is also an unparalleled genius?
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