The weather this night seemed rather unpleasant, with not a single star visible as several dark clouds slowly drifted in.
This made the brilliantly lit “Stellar” appear exceptionally dazzling.
“Sir, please present your ticket.” Unexpectedly, more people were boarding the “Stellar” than usual, forcing the staff to speed up their ticket checks at the head of the long, snaking queue.
Two tall men finally reached the front. One of them, a black-haired man with sharp features, handed over two tickets with a faint smile. Though his eyes and brows were strikingly intense, the smile softened the aggression in his appearance, making him look both handsome and approachable.
No sooner had the tickets been checked than the other man, a handsome guy with white-dyed streaks in his hair, pulled the black-haired man aside.
“Rare indeed, boss! You actually spent money to bring me on a cruise,” Jiang Zhuo said, glancing around excitedly.
“As if I’ve ever mistreated you,” Qin Gou retorted, pulling Jiang Zhuo closer. “Don’t forget you’re here on a mission. Keep a low profile for now.”
“Of course, I haven’t forgotten,” Jiang Zhuo replied, immediately grabbing a piece of cake upon boarding. “Don’t you think acting like a country bumpkin makes people let their guard down more?”
Qin Gou rested his chin on his hand. “Doesn’t seem like an act.”
“Boss, you!”
“Stay here,” Qin Gou said, unusually serious. “This operation has nothing to do with Weeds. It’s my personal decision. I won’t, and can’t, drag you all into danger.”
“Boss, why so formal with me? Besides, isn’t obtaining this Red Potion about cracking down on illegal experiments? That’s Weeds’ job! How can you call it a personal decision?”
Qin Gou shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. This mission is far more dangerous than you think. Just stay here as backup that’ll be help enough.”
“Tch, fine. But boss, you’ve been acting strange lately,” Jiang Zhuo rubbed the back of his head. “Probably ever since you brought back that gray-haired guy.”
Qin Gou smacked him lightly on the back of the head. “You find everything strange.”
“Alright, boss, I’ll stop. Let’s have a drink.” Jiang Zhuo reached for a bottle of alcohol, ready to open it.
“For this type of liquor, it’s better to shake it before opening,” a gentle voice suggested from behind.
Qin Gou looked up. A man in a Western-style vest stood there, his chestnut-brown hair slightly long, brushing past the nape of his neck, lending him an air of elegance.
“Just drink it as is. Overthinking ruins the flavor,” Jiang Zhuo bluntly disagreed.
It was rather impolite, but the man didn’t seem to mind and instead turned his gaze to Qin Gou. “Young Master Qin, it’s quite a surprise to run into you here.”
“Lu Qingsheng,” Qin Gou slowly uttered the name.
“Never thought you’d get involved in these matters,” Lu Qingsheng continued with a faint smile. “But you should be careful. After all, you don’t have a Core Inhibitor.”
“No need for your concern,” Qin Gou interrupted. “But I’m certainly not like you, climbing your way up by flattery. I wonder how far you’ve gotten have you managed to crawl over Lu Lian’s head yet?”
Lu Qingsheng wasn’t angered by the remark. “I think rather than wasting time on empty talk here, we should focus on how to leave this godforsaken place and return to the Main City.”
Then his tone shifted. “As for me, who knows how high I might climb someday?”
The two clearly couldn’t stand each other and soon went their separate ways. Watching Lu Qingsheng’s retreating figure, Jiang Zhuo took a sip of wine and said, “He looks so refined, so why is his mouth so damn punchable? Boss, do you have some history with him?”
“Someone not worth paying much attention to,” Qin Gou shook his head. “But I think I understand his purpose for coming here this time. Good. Let’s see who will emerge victorious.”
The sky grew completely overcast. Most passengers on the cruise ship had settled in for the night.
But a handful of individuals lurked in the darkness. They all shared a single goal to seize the “Forbidden Fruit.”
The “Forbidden Fruit” brought temptation, but also sin and death.
Qin Gou was one of those moving through the night.
This operation was highly dangerous, but bringing too many new equipment aboard the ship would be too conspicuous. So Qin Gou only carried a Helium Energy Gun and a simple Tool gun.
For others, they didn’t need to carry anything, able to fight using their Mental Sea, which was far more convenient.
The interior of the Freight Container was vast. But everyone knew the illegal drug preparations would be hidden in the refrigeration chamber deep inside. Reaching it required traversing a long and perilous distance.
Fortunately, there weren’t many patrols in the Freight Container, only about ten, leaving some room to maneuver.
But clearly, Qin Gou’s real opponents weren’t these patrols; the other contenders hiding in the shadows were the ones to be most wary of.
Seizing the moment when the patrol’s gaze wasn’t fixed in his direction, Qin Gou swiftly slipped past. Speed, strength, luck he couldn’t afford to lack any of them. He couldn’t let anyone else get there first.
After covering a considerable distance, Qin Gou had perfectly timed every line of sight, moving quickly yet unobtrusively.
Just as he was about to dash to the cover of a larger container ahead during another blind spot, a small stone was suddenly tossed his way.
It landed right in front of Qin Gou with a “clink,” making his eyes widen.
The patrol heard the sound and turned his head.
Nothing there.
He scratched his head and continued looking the other way.
Qin Gou hid behind a large container next to the patrol, a drop of sweat tracing the sharp line of his jaw.
Someone had deliberately tried to expose him. But he had no time to dwell on it, pressing forward rapidly.
Securing the “Forbidden Fruit” was what mattered most.
Along the way, Qin Gou’s luck was abysmal; he encountered opponents several times, engaging in brief skirmishes that slowed his progress. Just as he was about to reach the refrigeration chamber, a fully armed patrol suddenly appeared around the corner.
Qin Gou quickly sidestepped to avoid him. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn’t want to confront these patrols.
He waited until the patrol had turned another corner and disappeared from view before emerging. Arriving at the refrigeration chamber’s door, it was heavy and massive, clearly not something that could be forced open.
On the left side of the door was a recess. Qin Gou hurried over, raised the Tool gun, and scanned the recess. Sure enough, a biometric keypad soon appeared.
Qin Gou directly took out his communication device and connected it to the tool gun, aiming it at the password panel. The panel began flashing with error-frequency colored lights, which completely subsided after a few seconds, replaced by a green glow.
This indicated that the device in Qin Gou’s hand had successfully cracked the panel.
The words “Verification Passed” appeared on the password panel.
The next moment, the massive refrigeration chamber slowly opened.
Qin Gou swiftly peered inside, and at the same time, someone inside cast a sinister glance back at him it was Lu Qingsheng! In his hand was an opaque box containing the reagent!
“Sorry, you’re too late.” Lu Qingsheng smiled strangely, bearing no trace of his usual gentleness. “That stone earlier must have been a nice gift.”
Qin Gou frowned sharply and fired without hesitation.
“Bang!”
Lu Qingsheng showed no fear, unfolding his Mental Sea as if looking at an ant.
He had used this method countless times on Qin Gou, who had lost his Core Inhibitor, back in their youth. He loved watching Qin Gou’s crimson eyes when he was forced to his knees under the pressure, how thrilling it was to trample the once-favored son of heaven underfoot.
Similarly, over the years, he had climbed step by step from an outsider to securing a place in the Lu family, with everyone showing him utmost respect. Only one person those gray eyes looked at him as if he were air.
How he longed to crush this person under his heel and make him beg for mercy.
This “Forbidden Fruit” was his to claim! With that thought, he fully unleashed his Mental Sea.
Yet, the bullet pierced straight through the Mental Sea, heading directly for his forehead!
Lu Qingsheng’s eyes widened in shock, and he reacted in a panic, dodging sideways.
At that distance, evading the bullet wouldn’t have been difficult for most professionally trained individuals, but his arrogance made him too slow. The bullet grazed his ear, instantly reducing it to a bloody mess.
“Ah!” Lu Qingsheng couldn’t hold back a cry of pain. The next moment, he hurled his intense Mental Sea forward.
There was indeed some sense of oppression, but it was merely a B-grade Mental Sea.
Years of training had already given Qin Gou a certain level of resistance, and recent episodes of Lu Lian’s loss of control seemed to have raised his threshold for enduring Mental Sea pressure.
Thinking of this, Qin Gou let out a bitter laugh. The next instant, he fired at Lu Qingsheng again. Injured, with blood from his ear blurring his vision, Lu Qingsheng’s reactions stalled for a moment. Just as he was about to be hit, he actually raised the reagent box in an attempt to block it!
Qin Gou’s eyes widened in an instant! The entire reagent box shattered, revealing nothing inside!
What was going on? No! Qin Gou suddenly remembered the patrol officer who had nearly brushed past him earlier!
That person had taken the “Forbidden Fruit”!
Ignoring Lu Qingsheng, who was struggling on the ground behind him, Qin Gou immediately turned back.
He had to obtain the “Forbidden Fruit”!
Qin Gou had only run a few steps when he heard the whistle of a bullet cutting through the air. He swiftly rolled aside, dodging the shot.
“Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!” Three gunshots came from different directions. Without even time to steady himself, Qin Gou quickly used his hands to pivot and take cover behind a container.
All the patrol officers began firing wildly at the container.
Qin Gou quickly realized that these so-called patrol officers had all been replaced by assassins at some point!
Several bodies already lay on the ground all of them competitors.
Outnumbered, he had to rely on cunning. Qin Gou hid behind a freight container, swiftly drew his tool gun, and prepared to use it to hurl the container toward them.
Suddenly, a deafening roar erupted, followed by a screeching sound like a chainsaw growing closer. Everyone spun around abruptly!
A massive chainsaw mecha charged straight at them!
Any patrol officers who failed to dodge in time were instantly swept into the whirling blades.
Without even a glance at the gruesome scene, Qin Gou immediately redirected his tool gun, firing a long rope into the air that anchored firmly into the wall.
Qin Gou leaped violently, the muscles in his arms tensing with the strain. At the exact moment he sprang upward, the mecha’s chainsaw swept beneath his feet!
He barely evaded the attack, but before he could catch his breath, he saw the enormous mecha abruptly pivot and, in the next instant, swing an arm that had been resting on the ground, slashing directly toward him!
Qin Gou kicked off the wall, using the momentum to swing away!
The mecha turned stiffly for a moment, then attacked with the chainsaw on its other arm.
Qin Gou could only rely on his arm strength again to swing and attempt to dodge, but the rope’s tension weakened under gravity, reducing his swing’s range. The chainsaw grazed his back, instantly drawing blood that spread crimson across his entire back.
Excruciating pain surged, but Qin Gou had no time to even register it. Seizing the mecha’s brief reaction gap, he quickly assessed the situation.
This was a premeditated trap. The mecha was overly large and cumbersome, requiring extensive preparation.
But its absolute advantage was that, once implanted with a sufficiently high-level Mental Sea, it could completely ignore all lower-level Mental Seas!
This was precisely why a high-level Mental Sea enabled a single mecha to hold off thousands.
So, a Nuclear Inhibitor Possessor with an extremely high Mental Sea Level had implanted the mecha with a Mental Sea and hidden it here, all to wipe them out in one fell swoop!
Extremely high Mental Sea Level. For a moment, Lu Lian’s name flashed through Qin Gou’s mind. He quickly shook his head Lu Lian’s Mental Sea was already so unstable, how could he possibly infuse a mecha with one?
Qin Gou refocused on the mecha, which was now swinging its other arm. The mecha’s only weakness lay in its core power supply, protected by the Mental Sea.
But the Helium Energy Gun could bypass the Mental Sea; if Qin Gou could hit the critical spot to cut off the power.
The sky was unusually gloomy that day, with massive dark clouds looming over the dock, foretelling a torrential downpour.
In the distance, a blood-soaked figure stumbled out from the innermost freight container. Lu Qingsheng’s eyes were bloodshot, his right ear still oozing blood, but even more horrifying was his arm hanging by shreds of skin and flesh after being severed by the mecha. He had long lost his initial composure, now appearing frantic and terrifying.
At this moment, he had no mind to dwell on the so-called “Forbidden Fruit”; survival had become his sole instinct. Staggering and glancing back repeatedly, he fled the freight container.
Only after he had run a considerable distance from the container, with no pursuers in sight, did he finally exhale deeply and collapse to the ground. His back was stained deep red, soaked through whether with blood or sweat, he couldn’t tell.
After surviving the disaster, he had almost completely relaxed, even entering a blank state. So much so that he didn’t immediately notice someone approaching him from ahead.
The footsteps in the distance grew closer until they stopped right in front of him.
Lu Qingsheng’s breathing gradually steadied as he looked up with a vague sense of awareness. Before him was a very familiar face handsome yet cold the very person he both envied and feared. Lu Lian lifted his eyelids to glance at him, a gaze that looked upon him as if he were already dead.
The air around them stirred.
His hairs stood on end.
With a thud, the person whose neck had been locked in a black-gloved grip went limp as if boneless, directly discarded on the ground.
The assistant, who had avoided the bloody conflict, silently stepped forward to handle the corpse. It was a familiar face one he had seen many times at the Lu family’s banquets yet the master showed no mercy when taking action. He swallowed hard; perhaps the wisest decision he had ever made in his life was never considering betraying Lu Lian, or his fate might not have been much different. As he took out the disposal tools, he asked, “This should be the last one, sir. Should we still wait…”
Lu Lian lowered his gaze without responding.
The assistant didn’t press further. “Sir, I’ll go handle this now.”
“You go back first,” Lu Lian suddenly said.
“Understood.”
Qin Gou had already discarded his tool gun. As the mech’s arm swung once more, his gun strap was completely severed, and Qin Gou crashed heavily to the ground.
Ignoring the searing pain throughout his body, he immediately rolled behind the nearest freight container.
Faced with this situation, the mech reverted to its initial tactic: both chainsaw arms returned to the ground, beginning an indiscriminate sweeping motion.
Just as the arms were about to reach the container where Qin Gou was hiding, he furrowed his brow tightly, staring fixedly at the massive mech ahead. Now was the moment!
During the earlier aerial confrontation, Qin Gou had noticed that the chainsaw mech would only swing one arm at a time while the other arm would assume a somewhat peculiar posture, shielding its chest.