Lin Fengzi entered the room and looked around.
The computer was on, pajamas were tossed on the bed, slippers were scattered about, a kettle was bubbling away on the table, and the empty soda bottle lay in the trash can.
Ruan Chen must have gone out on her own.
Before leaving, I even boiled a kettle of water. I estimate I'll be back in a few minutes, so there's no need to worry too much for now.
Lin Fengzi glanced at the screen; the speedboats lay quietly, as if waiting.
Lin's father had just called him using satellite signal, so Lin Fengzi couldn't call back. He thought for a moment and started looking for something handy to put in his pocket.
He needs to be prepared to act at any time.
As expected, Ruan Chen returned within minutes, followed by Ruan Luo.
Ruan Chen explained, "Those speedboats just moved to different positions. It looks like they're preparing to welcome someone. I reckon the main event is about to start, so I helped my brother wake up the other students."
Lin Fengzi didn't mention what his father had told him earlier; he simply said that the cockpit door was locked and he had to go back the way he came.
"How are they?" Lin Fengzi glanced at the corridor outside and could faintly hear some commotion outside. The whole ship had awakened from its silence.
Ruan Luo was both amused and exasperated. "They're all getting more and more excited, talking about a real-life battle royale. It's utter nonsense. They don't know their own limitations."
"Fortunately, they all obeyed," Ruan Chen added. "Actually, it was mostly just talk. Didn't you see a lot of people packing up their valuables, ready to obediently hand them over?"
“Good things come to those who wait,” Ruan Luo shrugged. “As long as we can get back safely, there will be plenty of opportunities to settle scores. Three-quarters of our nine groups on the ship are geniuses from the four major academies. The resources that their mentors, professors, and research leaders can leverage are enough to wipe out these pirate groups three times over, especially since many of the students have military backgrounds.”
Lin Fengzi listened absentmindedly. She was probably aware of the backgrounds of these students and the masterminds behind them. The instructor of the competition team from Jinghua University of Technology was even the director of the Martial Arts Research Institute, who held the rank of general in China. Yet, this group of people still came.
He instinctively reached out to put his arm around Ruan Chen's shoulder—she was the most valuable person on this ship.
He feared that Ruan Chen was their target.
Although he didn't know the situation of Ruan Chen and Chi Xiao, he could roughly guess that Ruan Chen caught the eye of those big shots because of the ranking of the Prism Club—in fact, the Prism Club was one of the channels for China to select talents, which was also the reason why he invited "R" at that time.
But how did these people come to target Ruan Chen?
Lin Fengzi could only pray that she was overthinking things.
"Oh, right, give me your phones." Ruan Chen plugged in the data cable and connected the laptop to the phone. "I have a walkie-talkie app. There's no signal right now, so it'll be convenient for us to keep in touch."
It was 3:30 a.m.
Ruan Chen leaned against Ruan Luo and dozed off—she was unusually sleepy at the moment, while Ruan Luo and Lin Fengzi kept an eye on the monitor.
There must be quite a few students watching the surveillance cameras on the ship right now. After all, they are students from the four major colleges, so hacking into a cruise ship's system wouldn't be difficult.
"It moved! It moved!" Ruan Luo suddenly became excited, poking Ruan Chen, "Wait, what is this thing?"
Speedboats neatly parted to create a path, and a hydrofoil stopped right next to the cruise ship. Two people carried a piece of equipment and boarded the ship under the protection of a group of people.
With the arrival of this equipment, people on the speedboat gradually boarded the deck.
Lin Fengzi gripped the thing in his pocket tightly, gently testing the sharp point with his fingertips, and began to recall the moves his grandfather had taught him when he was a child.
Ruan Chen was still fast asleep, his eyes were not even open, but he whimpered twice when Ruan Luo poked him.
Two soft coughs came from the hallway speakers. "Now, please come to the deck and cooperate with us for a small test. We have no intention of hurting anyone, nor do we need any of your belongings. There is a box on the deck. Please put your electronic devices in it when you come up to the deck. We will keep them for safekeeping."
Ruan Chen was finally woken up by this series of notifications at maximum volume.
She swore a few times, then listlessly got up from Ruan Luo's lap, rubbed her eyes, and started encrypting the computer. Her temples began to throb again.
Then she saw the equipment that had been installed properly on the monitor screen.
It looks familiar.
While Ruan Luo and Lin Fengzi were still discussing what it was, Ruan Chen said quietly from the side, "That's an instrument for testing mental strength."
Lin Fengzi slapped her forehead, "I remember now, it was measured several years ago."
Ruan Luo: What the heck? I've never tested this before?
Lin Fengzi looked at Ruan Luo's bewildered expression and asked sympathetically, "Your grades in high school must have been pretty bad, right? At the bottom of the class?"
"I didn't study hard enough. I'm an art student, as long as my academic grades are good enough, that's fine, isn't it?"
Lin Fengzi scoffed, her face showing disdain for associating with academic underachievers. "It's alright, you'll have a chance to take the test later, then we'll know whether you can't learn it or you just don't want to."
Ruan Chen didn't get involved in their bickering. She lowered her eyes in thought, rubbing her temples with her knuckles.
She now suspects that this group of people are after her.
She nearly lost control on the deck that night. To outsiders, it was just a storm that hadn't even formed yet, but Ruan Chen knew that the strange phenomenon at that time was caused by her.
"Ruan Chen, didn't you participate in the early assessment? What level were you?" Lin Fengzi casually asked the question he was most concerned about.
He was really curious about what level of mental power was needed to be able to sense the Ten Famous Swords; his grandfather was at level ten.
But Ruan Chen's answer disappointed him.
"I forgot." Ruan Chen unconsciously pulled out the pendant and played with it, her mind elsewhere, as she watched the monitor.
Several people had already gone up to the deck one after another. Their mental strength was tested, but it was all just average. They were then assigned to stand on the other side of the deck.
Lin Fengzi was basically certain that this group of people were after Ruan Chen. Judging from Ruan Chen's distracted state, she probably knew it herself.
"Ruan Chen, what do you think will happen if we don't go?"
"Fengzi, maybe we shouldn't cause trouble," Ruan Luo quickly stopped her. "We'll just cooperate, nothing should happen."
Lin Fengzi sighed silently and casually pointed outside the door. "Let's go out and ask what the neighbors next door think. I remember they're classmates from the same college."
Just as Ruan Luo was about to say he wouldn't go, Lin Fengzi kicked him from below and winked at him.
In the corridor, Lin Fengzi lowered her voice, "What if they're looking for your sister?"
"Are you sure?" Ruan Luo's expression suddenly changed. "What did Ruan Chen do to them? Our family has plenty of money..."
Lin Fengzi reached out and covered his mouth, staring into his eyes. "Stop yelling and listen to me. You should know better than me that Ruan Chen is a genius. Her mental strength is probably the highest on the cruise ship. There are some things that only someone like her can control. Do you understand?"
He didn't elaborate, but Ruan Luo was clever enough.
His face turned deathly pale instantly, and he muttered under his breath, "That's why they brought that machine up here; all they want is Ruan Chen!"
“She is teachable, so Ruan Chen cannot go. We must find a way to hide her.”
"You know how resourceful my sister is. If you can guess, she can too. She's not the type to run away from trouble!"
Lin Fengzi was exasperated. "Then just knock her out! This cruise ship is so big, why can't we just stuff her anywhere? Let's go back now, you control her, and I'll do it. We can just lock her in any locker, won't that solve the problem?"
The two high-fived and went back inside.
This time, both of them were dumbfounded.
Ruan Chen has disappeared again.
Her computer and cell phone also disappeared.
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