Chapter 88: Seabound Citadel (Part 1)
Moments later, Cui Guohua and Qiao Guorui rushed into the main control room. They stared at the fleeting blip on the radar, exchanging a few words before the rumble of an explosion faintly echoed through the wind and rain. A moment later, their comrade’s voice crackled over the intercom: “Not good, the radio transmitter on the deck was blown up. Boss, Pei Luojia has made his move.”
“Maximum alert! Immediately escort Professor Chen away from the lower-level banquet hall. All guards, arm yourselves. There’s an unidentified vessel approaching us.” Cui Guohua lowered the intercom and barked at the captain: “Turn around and head back, speed up… No, it’s too late. Sound the alarm…”
On the radar, the blip representing the approaching vessel reappeared, now incredibly close. Their anti-radar shielding had failed. At this distance, they would’ve been visible to the naked eye during the day. But now, the sea was a black canvas, lashed by wind and rain.
Cui Guohua took a deep breath: “Captain, is there any nearby island? We need to get there. If their intention is to sink the entire ship, at least we’ll have a chance to land. Also, dispatch someone to use the backup radio to send a distress signal. The navy will arrive within an hour… To invade Chinese waters, this is war…”
As the alarm blared, Ya Han, Ling Jing, and Sha Sha were lounging in their room, watching a recording. They heard the announcement urging passengers to seek shelter in the lower decks. Ya Han jumped off the bed, pushing open the door. The corridor was filled with staff and security personnel rushing about, their faces etched with worry. Then, the ship shuddered slightly. Ya Han grabbed a passing guard, frantically asking for information. The guard, flustered, stammered: “Pirates… Maybe we’ve encountered pirates… The three of you, please go to a crowded area, the higher the better. Stay with everyone else. If they try to charge, they’ll come from below. We’ll hold them off at the lower levels. Please don’t worry.”
He spoke about peace of mind, but his anxious expression held little conviction. In the 21st century, encountering pirates on the high seas seemed unbelievable. The three girls, with no maritime experience, were bewildered. They quickly realized: “Oh no, Jia Ming said he was going to grab some snacks. Where is he now?”
They hastily changed clothes. When they opened the door again, the corridor was packed with people fleeing their rooms. A man and a woman, accompanied by several bodyguards, hurried past from the opposite direction. The woman was familiar to Ling Jing and Sha Sha, Ya Han’s stepmother. The man, however, was a tall, stern-looking middle-aged man. He was Ya Han’s father, Zhang Haoran. He said in a deep voice: “Ya Han, we have to go. Follow everyone inside. We’ve encountered pirates, hurry!”
Ya Han nodded. Sha Sha, looking at the crowd, said: “No, Jia Ming hasn’t come back. I’ll wait for him here. Otherwise, he won’t find us…”
Ling Jing agreed. Ya Han, however, gritted her teeth: “Forget about him. He’s a grown man, he can find us. Don’t worry.” She knew Jia Ming’s capabilities and didn’t want to dwell on it. She grabbed their hands and followed her parents towards the end of the corridor. As they reached the stairwell, they could see the scene below. Five or six small gunboats, about twenty meters long, were charging towards the side of the cruise ship. Compared to the massive vessel, they seemed insignificant. However, the cruise ship lacked offensive weapons like cannons. Against this kind of maritime assault, they were utterly defenseless. Crimson flashes streaked across the sky, striking the side of the cruise ship. Those on the upper decks felt the impact as a slight tremor.
On the ship’s railing, armed guards were firing at the attackers, but without heavy weaponry, their firepower seemed inadequate. For those experiencing real combat for the first time, the scene was incredibly shocking. Amidst the wind and rain, the sound of gunshots and shouts blended together. Ya Han and the others only glanced at the scene before hastily retreating into the ship’s interior.
As Ling Jing and the others rushed to safety, the members of Yanhuang Awakening were escorting Chen Guoxian out of the banquet hall. The guests included many seasoned veterans, but also younger men who were there for frivolous reasons like picking up women. When the alarm sounded and the news of pirates spread, there was initial shock. After all, those living on land found it hard to accept the existence of pirates in the 1990s. The situation quickly devolved into chaos, an ideal environment for an assassination attempt.
Despite the surrounding tension, Chen Guoxian was a man who had seen his fair share of danger. He had escaped the clutches of the Gods of No Mind, a testament to his strength. He led his bodyguards, all of whom shared a master-disciple relationship, leaping from the balcony onto the deck. They then boarded a staff-only elevator. Seeing their anxiety, he chuckled: “Alright, relax. Guoyi, Guoping, I’ve told you this before, stay calm. Fear can cloud your judgment. Even the greatest assassin is nothing compared to the Gods of No Mind.”
“But, Teacher, you also said we should always give our all, no matter what.”
“Heh, I didn’t teach you that so you could use it against me.”
They stepped out of the elevator onto a fourth-level walkway. From there, they could see the battle below. The small gunboats were wedged against the massive hull of the cruise ship. It seemed the lower-level bulkheads had been breached, and the armed men were already storming the ship from below. A glint of anger flashed in Chen Guoxian’s eyes: “Pei Luojia has gone too far this time… Humph, when I get back, I’ll do everything in my power to persuade the higher-ups to make a decision. We can’t let Yushou Cang’s ambition fester any longer. Do they think allowing Pei Luojia to engage in civil war with the Japanese Takamagahara and other organizations is a good thing? A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Without Japan as a buffer, we’ll be next. Even the Dark Lyra understands the gravity of the situation. I don’t know what those complacent fools are thinking!”
They entered the corridor. Most of the passengers had already left, leaving the passage deserted. They hadn’t gone far when the overhead lights flickered and died, followed by the sudden appearance of a purple mist that seemed to engulf everything.
“Not good, everyone take cover!” Following instinct, they drew their guns, fired, and dived to the side, crashing into a room and slamming the door shut. An explosion erupted from outside.
The blast deformed the walls and doorframe of the room. Chen Guoxian checked on his companions, confirming they were unharmed. He then flung open the door, firing several shots at the end of the corridor. Another door opened on their left, two men providing covering fire while a third charged towards the corner of the corridor, firing his weapon. Return fire echoed from the other side.
Out of the seven, one man suffered a minor abrasion, but the rest were uninjured. Guoyi frowned: “That was an Evolver!” Chen Guoxian nodded: “I know him. He’s one of Pei Luojia’s Japanese Evolver assassins, codenamed Purple River. Be careful, his ability is that mist, it can temporarily blind people.”
Evolutions, unlike those described in supernatural novels, rarely possessed the power to move mountains and fill seas. Qiao Guorui, for example, had a powerful sense of perception, allowing him to deduce the truth from the smallest clues. The purple mist, in a way, was akin to a flashbang, temporarily blinding enemies. Of course, in a life-or-death struggle, even a moment could decide the outcome.
The ship was now a battleground. If they couldn’t handle this, it would only burden those below. Without hesitation, the seven men dispersed, pursuing the Evolver assassin. They turned two corners and emerged onto the outer walkway, where they could see the wind and rain outside. A sudden gunshot rang out, and one of their men was thrown into the air. Chen Guoxian and the other two rushed into the adjacent room for cover. They looked back at their fallen comrade. A bullet had pierced his forehead, killing him instantly. There was nothing left to do.
The other two burst out of the room and fired their weapons while Chen Guoxian pressed the intercom: “Guoming, his position is somewhere within the five rooms at the stern of the fourth deck. You three, flank him from that side.”
A moment later, the intercom crackled with static. A middle-aged man’s voice slowly emerged: “Hello, is that Chen Guoxian?”
The three men’s hearts sank. They then heard him say: “I’ll be there soon.”
At that moment, they all understood. It was Minamoto Yoritomo.
The purple mist descended again!
They flinched back in fear, but nothing happened. When the mist cleared, Cui Guohua emerged from the corner nearby, firing three shots towards the Evolver assassin’s location. Clearly, he had suppressed the attack.
“Teacher, Guoyi, are you alright?”
“We’re fine. But Guobin… and Guoming are probably gone. It’s Minamoto Yoritomo.”
Cui Guohua’s eyes narrowed. They were outmatched, and relying on a human wave was futile. Unfortunately, most of their forces were tied up in the battle on the lower levels. They were seven men against an Evolver assassin and a killer of Minamoto Yoritomo’s caliber, an impossible task. But… they had no choice but to fight.
This wasn’t the first time they faced such odds…
Gripping his gun tightly, he charged towards the enemy.
The lower decks and the deck above were embroiled in fierce combat. On the outer walkway, another battle raged. In the ship’s second control room, Fang Guolin, the youngest participant in the operation for Yanhuang Awakening, was also engaged in a fight of her own. Since the beginning, the ship’s control computer had been under constant attack. As the data swirled around her, beads of sweat trickled down her forehead.
“No… The first layer of defense is breached, the second is almost gone… But why does it feel… wrong?”
There were things that went beyond willpower. No matter how hard she worked, technology was technology. If you fell behind, you fell behind. As the computer defense network crumbled layer by layer, Guolin felt a growing sense of unease. The intensity of the attacks… seemed to be waning.
Had the Tulip intervened? No, it didn’t seem like it. No one could intervene so silently. She would’ve been able to detect such intense data fluctuations. No, he’s lulling me into a false sense of security!
The thought struck her like a bolt of lightning. Guolin yelled: “No, Captain, immediately lock down the computer navigation system and switch to manual operation!”
“But…” The captain hesitated. This luxury cruise ship was equipped with the most advanced computer systems, managing many functions. Switching to manual control would require a significant increase in manpower, especially since the engine room, steam room, and other areas below were now battlegrounds. Where would they find the sailors to operate the ship? As he hesitated, a line of English letters flashed across the control screen. Manual operation was now disabled by the computer. The defense system continued to collapse.
If they couldn’t hold on, it was over… Guolin’s fingers flew across the keyboard, her brow furrowed in concentration. She made a valiant, but futile effort.
The other data stream, representing the Tulip, never appeared.
“Then… why hasn’t he shown up?”
The question echoed in the dimly lit room. A man with a cold expression sat at a laptop. If the data flow were visible, one might have noticed that the stream attacking the ship’s main control computer originated from here.
He had taken control of the ship’s main computer and disabled manual operation, effectively placing the entire vessel in his hands. He could steer it into a reef or send it to Antarctica if he wished. However, the mysterious figure who had thwarted his previous attempts to outsmart him had yet to appear, leaving him slightly disappointed.
Minamoto Yoritomo’s goal was to control Chen Guoxian’s fate. He, on the other hand, held the ship, which meant he held the fate of everyone aboard. The original plan was to use his power to restrain the mysterious figure of unknown strength. But the other party never showed up, leaving Minamoto Yoritomo to fend for himself.
“Alright, this ship is mine now.”
With the hack complete, he felt a sense of satisfaction. He raised two fingers, ready to type, when a wave of icy dread washed over him. He felt the cold touch of a gun barrel against his temple.
“Oh? Really? Your ship is quite beautiful.”
A playful voice echoed from behind, sounding… almost childish. He stiffened and asked in a deep voice: “Tulip?”
“Heh, I won’t tell you, so you’ll never find me to avenge yourself.”
A flash of steel, and his throat was slit. The laptop screen glowed in the darkness. The boy, clad in a black cloak, wiped the dagger, like a ghost flitting through the night.
Chapter 89: Sea City in Peril (Part Two)
The night was as black as ink, the raging sea whipped by furious winds. Atop the Star Dream, a gigantic luxury liner stretching over two hundred meters, lights blazed brightly. From afar, it looked like a resplendent palace afloat. But as the camera zoomed in, one could see several gaping holes ripped into the ship’s hull. More than ten heavily armed gunboats surrounded the floating city, their mercenaries and desperadoes, armed with various weapons, pouring into the lower decks through the breached hull, attempting to break through the resistance with their superior firepower.
In terms of sheer firepower, the ship was at a significant disadvantage. The guards were only equipped with pistols, and though they had received some training, few had truly faced the crucible of life and death. Even the twenty-plus members of the Yanhuang Awakening, the ship’s main fighting force, were stronger than typical mercenaries, but they were simply outnumbered. Fortunately, the wealthy passengers had brought along their own bodyguards, and about half of them had been deployed to the lower decks. Most were retired special forces operatives or mercenaries, and while only a few carried concealed firearms, their presence was a considerable asset, allowing them to hold back the enemy’s advance with their relatively weaker firepower.
In contrast to the stalemate below, the battle on the upper decks was shrouded in a haze of uncertainty. It seemed that either side could emerge victorious, or both could be wiped out. On one side were Minamoto Yoritomo, the supernatural assassin, and another A-rank assassin who had infiltrated the ship beforehand. On the other were Cui Guohua, Lu Guoyi, Chen Guoxia, the shadowy Qiao Guorui, and a woman who had just made her move, daring to face Minamoto Yoritomo head-on: Natalie Annis.
Besides her own bodyguards, Gu Jiaming was perhaps the only one on the ship who knew her true identity. To Cui Guohua and the others, she was simply a messenger from the Dark Lyra, conveying a message of alliance. However, her combat prowess was undeniably extraordinary.
When Minamoto Yoritomo and the pre-deployed assassin suddenly burst forth, the supernatural assassin unleashed a wave of purple mist. Another of Cui Guohua’s allies was struck, and Chen Guoxia appeared to be on the verge of death. But then, the woman shattered the steel wall, launching a surprise attack on Minamoto Yoritomo at point-blank range. Had Yoritomo not reacted swiftly, his head would have been severed.
Clad in black leather, her body sculpted like a devil’s, she had shattered steel with her own strength. It was almost a true manifestation of supernatural power. Then, armed only with a dagger, she danced around Minamoto Yoritomo’s gunfire, delivering a series of deadly blows. The elegance of her movements, teetering on the edge of life and death, was a testament to the power of the Dark Lyra, a display and a boast.
Minamoto Yoritomo retreated and vanished, and the woman seemed to disappear into the ship’s interior as well. Yet, both sides knew they were waiting for the other to make their move. For the next ten minutes, the battle shifted from fierce to bizarre, a game of cat and mouse, one side pursuing the other, then the roles reversing. They chased and fled, moving from the fourth deck to the sixth, and finally onto the deck exposed to the wind and rain.
The lights on the top deck were dim, offering ample hiding spots. Amidst the storm, the roar of gunfire intensified, sparks flying in the darkness, dazzling and alarming. The six combatants fired and scurried for cover, taking advantage of the canvas-covered tables, chairs, and umbrellas stacked by the pool, which were shattered by stray bullets. After sprinting past a two-story building in the middle of the deck, Cui Guohua took cover behind a wall, tearing off a piece of fabric to bind his right arm, which had been pierced by a bullet. Then, another figure approached him, almost silently, and sat down.
“I lost…”
Natalie, her black leather suit hugging her devilishly alluring figure, pressed down on a gunshot wound on her thigh, water cascading down her face. She looked a little disheveled in the storm.
Cui Guohua was unsure when they had engaged in combat, but the outcome was clear. He glanced at her wound and nodded. “Understood. We’ll handle it from here.”
He was about to stand up, but Natalie grabbed his arm. “Don’t make me laugh. Listen, I’m injured, so I can’t do much to deter Minamoto Yoritomo. But I can suppress their supernatural abilities. You know what to do, right?”
“I’ll create opportunities for them to use their abilities. I’ll leave that to you.” He nodded again, ready to charge into battle, but a blinding light suddenly flashed in front of them. It was the high-wattage floodlights used for raising the flag, forming a circle on the top deck, illuminating the three flagpoles in the center, then shooting up into the sky. In the desolate wind and rain of the sea, the sudden illumination seemed oddly out of place and lonely.
Both sides were startled by the unexpected development. Everyone wondered if it was an enemy reinforcement or a trap. After a volley of gunfire, everyone ducked into nearby cover, waiting to see what would happen.
Then, music began to play.
Raising the flag naturally called for the national anthem, but the next song that played was not the “March of the Volunteers” but the Japanese national anthem, “Kimigayo.” Then, a corpse was slowly raised on the smaller flagpole beside it.
The body was hoisted by the flag rope, its neck twisted, slowly rising in the wind and rain. A gaping wound had been carved into the corpse’s neck, and the blood had been washed away by the rain, leaving a gaping maw illuminated by the lights. It was both terrifying and disgusting. Of course, for those accustomed to death, the impact was not so great. Cui Guohua tried to recognize the face but failed. Natalie, however, chuckled after a moment. “It’s Pei Luojia’s A-rank assassin, specializes in computers. The large-scale power outage on the previous ship was probably his doing… Who’s the genius behind this? I have to give him credit.”
As she spoke, a low cry of “ah” came from the storm, followed by gunfire from Pei Luojia’s side. Cui Guohua leaped out, and Natalie rose abruptly, raising her gun and firing towards the back. The flashes of fire, bullets, and blood soon ceased. A figure fell to the ground not far away, and everyone fell silent in the storm. The thud seemed particularly loud.
The man was… Pei Luojia’s assassin.
Cui Guohua took a deep breath, hiding behind another barrier. This assassin of Pei Luojia had been lurking in the shadows, only emerging when Minamoto Yoritomo appeared. Natalie had rushed out then, saving Chen Guoxia but ultimately unable to save Yu Guojūn, who stood in front of her. Now, the assassin had been killed out of the blue. It was hard to describe the feeling.
Just how powerful was the mysterious Tulip lurking in the darkness?
Then, the walkie-talkie on his waist crackled faintly, the same voice that Minamoto Yoritomo had used to announce to Chen Guoxia, “I’ll come find you soon.” This time, the unfamiliar voice was cold and indifferent. “Miscalculation will cost you dearly, Minamoto Yoritomo. I’ve won this round. Are you ready to face the consequences?”
There was no response in the wind and rain. It was only then that Cui Guohua and the others felt the immense sense of oppressive discomfort they had felt since boarding the ship, a feeling of an unseen, untouchable presence, finally dissipate. The person who had declared war on Minamoto Yoritomo… was too strong.
Time ticked by, and the first to emerge from their hiding place was Natalie Annis, the most perceptive of the group. She could sense the ghost-like shadow flitting through the darkness. Minamoto Yoritomo and the supernatural assassin had also left. With no information available and the mysterious Mr. Tulip arriving with such overwhelming confidence, even the King of Assassins had been forced to retreat. Standing in the rain, she clenched her fists tightly.
She had lost this time, defeated by two people in a row. Damn it… If her abilities could be fully unsealed, things wouldn’t be like this. Minamoto Yoritomo, Tulip, in two years, we’ll defeat you completely, utterly!
Regardless of Natalie Annis’s silent vow in the rain, this outcome was undoubtedly the best possible solution for Jiaming. He had done things that seemed incredibly impressive, but in reality, he had done very little. If he had been unable to take out an A-rank assassin of Pei Luojia while already in a pre-deployed state, it would have been truly embarrassing.
He knew Minamoto Yoritomo’s personality. His biggest advantage at the moment was his mystery. As long as Yoritomo didn’t have a complete grasp of his background, and he had demonstrated sufficient strength, Yoritomo would choose to avoid a confrontation. That was to be expected. As for a true, life-or-death confrontation, Jiaming wasn’t tired of living yet, and he wasn’t going to fight to the death every time.
He found a room at random, changed out of his black raincoat, and then opened the cover of his wristwatch, revealing a grid-like radar interface. He had given Lingjing and Sha Sha a small pendant each a while back, and now he could easily find them using this device. He glanced at it once, then again, and he had pretty much pinpointed their location. He smiled a moment later and ran towards a library on the fourth floor.
The Star Dream had many medium-sized activity rooms like this: bars, lounges, casinos, libraries, dance halls, basketball courts, shops, even exhibition halls. Most people were gathered in these inner cabins, waiting for the battle to end. Under the guidance of the guards, Jiaming entered the library on the fourth floor, pretending to be anxious, but his anxiety soon became real.
Only Ya Han and Sha Sha were there to greet him.
“Jiaming, did Lingjing find you?”
“Jiaming, have you seen Lingjing?”
“Lingjing… She’s not with you?”
“Lingjing… We haven’t heard from you. We only know you went out to eat, but we don’t know which restaurant. We couldn’t find you in any of the restaurants or shops on the upper floors. She ran out to find you. Things were a bit chaotic, and we couldn’t stop her. She said she’d be fine…” Sha Sha said, her eyes welling up. “We asked the guards to keep an eye out, but a guard just said he saw a girl who looked like Lingjing running towards the second floor…”
Jiaming took a deep breath, glanced at the crowd around him, and said, “I’ll go find her.” Sha Sha cried out, “No!” and grabbed his hand. Jiaming turned back and hugged her. “Sha Sha, I’ll find her. Don’t worry.”
He smiled reassuringly and asked, “By the way, where’s the pendant I gave you? You weren’t wearing it today?”
“Oh, here.” Sha Sha said, pulling two heart-shaped pendants tied with red string out of her pocket. “Lingjing’s is here too. Since we didn’t go out today, and we were wearing evening gowns yesterday, we took them off and haven’t worn them since. We put them in our pockets before we left.”
“Oh, I see…” He sighed, put one pendant on Sha Sha, held Lingjing’s in his hand, and then pushed Sha Sha towards Ya Han. “Ya Han, I’ll leave Sha Sha with you. I’ll go get Lingjing back.”
“Be careful.” Knowing she couldn’t stop him, Ya Han whispered a word of caution. Sha Sha tried to pull him back, but Jiaming was already running far ahead, looking back and saying, “Don’t worry. Everyone will be fine.”
Except for those who had boarded the ship…
A flash of ferocity crossed his eyes. When two guards at the door tried to stop him, he swayed his body and charged forward. His thoughts were complex.
As a killer, he was used to living a solitary life, not caring for anyone else, focusing only on his target. His life now was different. He had Sha Sha, he had Lingjing. During this confrontation with Minamoto Yoritomo, he had looked at the radar on his wrist every two minutes, making sure the two girls were safe. This mindset had prevented him from truly killing Yoritomo, so he could only make a big scene and scare him away. But even then, there had been unexpected developments…
If anything wasn’t perfect, it was because he had made a mistake. He was bound by his old habits, and perhaps… it was time to make a decision. If he couldn’t find a balance between his two identities, then he should simply abandon his killer identity. When he felt the fear that Lingjing might be in danger, he suddenly realized that his idea of challenging Minamoto Yoritomo was perhaps a little naive…
Of course, regret was useless. The important thing was to ensure Lingjing’s safety, even if it meant… sacrificing everything!
In the wind and rain, the black illusion leaped off the ship’s railing, a rope in his hand. His raincoat billowed in the air, like a blossoming flower of death. At that moment, the truly ruthless killer’s heart, a heart that had not even been present when he faced Minamoto Yoritomo, emerged within him.
Not long after, a neutral voice echoed from the first deck, which had been overrun, and the second deck, which had been breached: “Hey, are there any survivors who need rescuing? Please press the nearest dining service button. The prompt is August 7th and the password for Little Husband’s Roasted Chestnuts. Beep… I’m a little kitty cat, oh little kitty cat, oh little kitty cat…”
The words coming from the loudspeaker, shifting from strange pronouncements to nonsensical songs, were truly baffling. In a messy room on the first deck, a bald-headed man wielding two machine guns was slightly taken aback. He asked the man beside him, “What’s going on with the computer on this ship? Did we break it?”
“Sea Shark Boss, maybe it was disabled by Pei Luojia’s people. Didn’t they say they would sabotage the ship’s control computer?”
“Oh, what a shame. Such a good ship. The computer is broken…” He smiled and walked towards a button by the door. “Dining service, is this the button? What happens when you press it? Come on, come on, even though we don’t know the password or anything, let’s each try one and see if anyone comes to rescue us ‘survivors’, hahahaha…”
He then pressed the button with a rhythmic beat…