nyslfriends #312 - Chapter 311 Causes and consequences
#312 - Chapter 311 Causes and consequences
“I haven't told anyone besides you.”
Hearing this, Li Chenqiu smiled, and the big stone in his heart finally fell.
He stepped to the railing, leaned against it with his back to the sea, and said softly, “Nineteen, tell me what you've all been doing, and what's the purpose of doing so?”
Nineteen respectfully said, “Two months ago, at an underground auction in City 165 of the Northern Federation, a blank sheet of paper appeared among the auction items. Because its purpose was unknown, the paper failed to sell.”
“Blank paper?” Li Chenqiu raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to continue.
Nineteen continued, “After the Gaoqiao Consortium's second branch received this news, they ordered us to set off immediately for the Northern Federation, no matter what, to bring back this blank sheet of paper.
But when we arrived in City 165 and tried to obtain the paper through bidding, we were unexpectedly intercepted by a group of people who bid a higher price.
Because it was an underground auction, we didn't know who they were, but based on the clues they left behind, we deduced that they would take this cruise ship to the Southern Federation.
In order to snatch that blank sheet of paper, we partnered with a group of pirates whose strength was decent. We helped them kill the captain, and they helped us gather all the passengers together to help us find the people.”
Li Chenqiu nodded, thinking of the three people from before.
“You should know what happened after that, Master.”
Li Chenqiu摸了摸下巴摸了摸下巴摸了摸下巴摸了摸下巴摸了摸下巴摸了摸下巴：“I'm a little curious, why did you cooperate with these pirates? With your strength, you could have easily done these things without their help, right?”
“This cruise ship belongs to the Ying Consortium, which we can't afford to offend. The pirates were a shield we pulled out to vent the Ying Consortium's anger and establish their authority.”
“That's quite insidious.” Li Chenqiu smiled and shifted the topic to the blank paper, “What is that blank paper used for?”
Nineteen shook his head: “I don't know.”
“Is there anything special about it?”
“It's very sturdy. The auctioneer at the auction said that even a Fifth Forbidden Celestial Destiny cultivator couldn't tear this paper apart.”
“What about above the Fifth Forbidden?”
“No one has tried it, and I don't know.”
Li Chenqiu waved his hand, and the soul soldiers in front of him instantly turned into black mist, returning to the Ember, as did the soul soldiers all over the cruise ship.
On the third-floor plaza, everyone looked up in shock, cautiously looking around.
“Huff~ Huff~, why is it so quiet?”
“Those people seem to be dead…”
“I remember seeing a masked person stand up just now, wave his hand, and a lot of black smoke came out of him, then there were gunshots and screams.”
“So… were we saved by him?!”
After a few dozen seconds, everyone gradually realized that they had been saved, and in an instant, all kinds of sounds poured out in all directions like a mountain torrent.
Some people wept with joy, some hugged each other, some looked dazed, and some were frightened.
In the corner of the plaza, Iwata Ken and the other two stood together. Compared with the people around them, the expressions on their faces were too calm, and even in this strange calm, one could see a trace of unease.
Previously, Iwata Ken and the others were about to be taken to see Nineteen by the pirate, but Li Chenqiu made his move just as they reached the stairwell.
After that, the three took advantage of the extremely chaotic scene and ran back to the third-floor plaza, luckily escaping the soul soldiers and saving their lives.
Takagi Aya asked uneasily, “Iwata-san, what should we do now? There seems to be another group of people on the cruise ship.”
Matsumoto Jun added, “Not only that, this group of people is stronger and more hidden.”
Iwata Ken instructed, “Don't panic yet. Before we determine their purpose, what we need to do is wait and see and not startle the snake. Maybe they're not here for us.”
The two nodded upon hearing this.
Just then, Li Chenqiu, wearing a mask, stepped into the third-floor plaza, and the passengers standing on the periphery quieted down and turned to look at Li Chenqiu.
Under the influence of the passengers on the periphery, the plaza quieted down in less than a moment, and everyone's eyes focused on Li Chenqiu.
There was gratitude in their eyes, but more of it was fear, a fear of the strong.
Li Chenqiu didn't pay attention to these gazes, moved his gaze, and finally fixed it on the surviving crew members: “Those people have been killed by me. Can the cruise ship continue to sail forward?”
There was silence for a few seconds.
“Uh… yes.” A slightly older man nodded belatedly.
He was the ship's first mate.
Li Chenqiu nodded with satisfaction and was about to leave when a stern shout rang out behind him.
“Stop!”
Li Chenqiu stopped and turned to look behind him, only to see a boy of about fifteen years old, pushing away the little girl in front of him, squeezed out of the crowd aggressively, and ran to him.
“Why!”
The boy grabbed Li Chenqiu's collar with red eyes and shouted angrily.
Li Chenqiu lowered his head: “What's wrong?”
“You bastard, you clearly have such great strength, why didn't you save my dad? Why did you just watch him get shot to death? Tell me!”
After being reminded by the boy, Li Chenqiu remembered who he was.
Earlier, when the pirate leader was speaking, a man was shot to death for interrupting, and the man seemed to have a son.
In the crowd, someone said softly, “He should have his own reasons and difficulties…”
“He's so strong, what difficulties could he have!” The boy's neck veins bulged as he stared at Li Chenqiu: “Tell me, what difficulties do you have?”
As he spoke, the boy opened his palm and grabbed at Li Chenqiu's eyes.
Li Chenqiu reached out and grabbed the boy's wrist: “I'm sorry, but I can't take the risk before I figure out the other party's details.”
“They're all excuses!”
The boy shouted and kneed Li Chenqiu in the crotch.
Li Chenqiu retreated to dodge the attack. At the same time, a gunshot suddenly rang out.
Bang!
Before the boy could react, a bullet directly pierced his heart.
“Ahhh!”
A sharp scream rang out, and everyone retreated, looking in the direction of the gunshot.
What came into view was a young man lying in a pool of blood, holding a pistol in his hand. A deep unwillingness was revealed in his dim eyes.
The source of this emotion seemed to be that he had failed to hit Li Chenqiu.
Li Chenqiu's sharp gaze locked onto the young man.
Whoosh—
The next second, a small flame shot out from in front of him. Before everyone could react, the flame quickly expanded, engulfing the young man in an instant.
After doing all this, Li Chenqiu lowered his head, glanced faintly at the dying boy, and then, in the boy's horrified gaze, turned and left the plaza.
No one on the field noticed that a wisp of black smoke floated out of the raging flames.