On the second deck of the fishing boat, Long Shiyu hummed a tune as he flipped the fish on the grill. Concerned that the Zaun flower might catch a chill left outside, he had specially returned to the outpost to bring it close to him.
Now, that flower, with its arrogant expression, swayed joyfully on the railing beside him. The night sea breeze blew briskly, carrying the savory scent that was particularly comforting. The fish was exceptionally plump, its skin slightly curled, revealing an enticing hue as it was grilled to a perfect semi-raw state.
It should be ready to eat soon.
The Nix Islands were not far from the main island, and with the boat’s swift speed, shadows of the islands faintly emerged on the dark sea surface soon.
Behind him, Augusta asked, “Who are you?” His hands were already gripping twin blades, with arcs of electricity flashing across the sharp edges, ready to unleash psychic power at any moment.
Long Shiyu took the grilled fish off the fire and blew on it. “I’m here to eat fish,” he said.
The moment Augusta saw his face, his pupils sharply contracted: “…It’s you.” Then, he revealed a bizarre smile, “I didn’t expect to meet you so soon. The boss has told me a lot about you, and I’ve been looking forward to seeing you.”
“I know,” Long Shiyu said, “I can smell him on you.” He took a bite of the fish. Indeed, it tasted exceptionally good. “But I’m not here to fight with you. I just wanted to say that I don’t like you being here.”
“You don’t want me getting close to Shen Zhaomu, huh?” Augusta licked his lips, “That’s really strange. He doesn’t look like someone who needs protection. And I just don’t understand, why do you like that Shen guy so much?”
“Because I like the princess.”
Augusta: “…?”
His train of thought was interrupted. After a few seconds of confusion, he continued, “Especially when you know about the Tempest Operation, it’s even weirder to be in touch with the Shen family. After all,” he casually pointed to the dragon-hunting family crest on his back, “in a sense, he and I are birds of a feather, neither of us are good news.”
The last time Long Shiyu heard about the “Tempest Operation” was from an incubus at the Star Capital bar.
He thought it over and decided it was too much of a hassle to argue with Augusta, so he continued to eat his fish in silence.
Feeling slighted, Augusta took a deep breath and said, “The boss will also come here soon. He asked me to tell you that after so many years, he misses you.”
The Zaun flower interjected, “Miss your mom, miss your mom.”
Augusta continued, “…So, the boss will definitely come to see you.”
“Oh.” Long Shiyu finished the last piece of flesh from the fish tail. “If Shen Zhai really plans to come, then pass a message for me.” In an instant, a swirl of golden brilliance rolled in his eyes, metallic and cold, “Tell him to get lost.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He tossed the fish bones into the trash can, his previous expression completely vanished: “I should be going back now. Good night.”
“Qjla,” Ceueraj’r fsfr oijrtfv klat ofgnbg, “Jbwf ab atlcx bo la, P’nf cfnfg vefifv klat j vgjubc bo atf olgra ufcfgjalbc bg tlutfg.” Llr aklc yijvfr yegra lcab j afggloslcu iluta, klat atecvfgber qrsmtlm qbkfg jaajmtfv, lcmgfjrlcu atflg tfja, “Efujgvifrr bo fnfgsatlcu, P ralii tjnf vgjubc tecafg yibbv gecclcu atgbeut ws nflcr. P’nf uba ab ulnf la j ags.”
Without waiting for Long Shiyu’s reply, the blades sped towards him.
The strike missed, and sparks flew as the sturdy railing of the ship was easily sliced through, blue arcs of electricity exploding in the air like ferocious snakes.
Long Shiyu’s presence was right behind him. Augusta turned sharply, his robust, dark arms tensing and bulging, currents running around his body, the blade nearly sizzling the air.
Then he saw… a flower?
The Zaun flower was wildly flapping in his face. “Stop with the nonsense, all of you are your mother’s sons, crawl for me.”
Augusta’s mouth twisted in frustration. Anger made his movements break through their limits in speed.
Long Shiyu, delightedly holding his little flower, leaped back to avoid a thrust from the twin blades.
Then, silver wings unfolded behind him, broad and powerful, each side three to four meters long, their tips gleaming under the starlight above.
He flapped his wings—
The tremendous wind pressure made it hard for Augusta to breathe.
His face stung from the fierce wind, and Augusta stepped back half a step to stabilize himself, as if a tremendous force pressed upon him. Waves surged around the sea area, spreading meters away, and the fishing boat sank slightly, the sea level abruptly rising over the waterline.
When he looked up again, Long Shiyu had vanished.
The wind gradually ceased, and Augusta silently cursed, wiping the sea spray off his face.
…
Shen Zhaomu stood amidst the ruins of the Bei’en dynasty’s castle, lighting a cigarette.
What appeared before him and Uther was a scene of devastation.
This place, always guarded by numerous hunters and star police, though many were dispatched today due to a sailing mission, was known as one of the most fortified areas on the main island.
Now, everyone seemed as if they had lost their souls—some were moaning on the ground, some had passed out entirely, and others stretched their hands forward in a gesture of longing pilgrimage. Just minutes before their arrival, that exotic creature had stolen Bei’en’s sacred artifact: the Red Coral Necklace. The ground bore inscriptions akin to those found in the sea:
In memory of Edgeworth Murphy.
Shen Zhaomu said, “To deal with so many people in such a short time, it must be at least a near-legendary exotic creature.”
“I can’t agree greater,” Uther nodded. He was swinging a crystal ball around, which contained condensed psychic power rolling inside like clouds or fog, faintly illuminating their surroundings.
Minutes later, he looked down, carefully observing something within the crystal ball: “Hmm… Our attacker has beautiful blue-green scales.”
“Can you see anything else?”
Uther shook the crystal ball vigorously and listened closely, “I also heard singing, vague but pleasant. That’s all.”
Shen Zhaomu flicked his cigarette ash: “Let’s head back to the outpost.”
The scene was sealed off by both the association and the star police.
When Shen Zhaomu returned to the outpost, Lu Shanhuai and the others had also disembarked from the ship. Their expressions turned sour upon learning about the situation.
“But,” Lu Shanhuai frowned, “what use is a broken necklace? You said that shattered sea-blue gem could at least maintain some moisture, but this necklace at most could only be used for beauty and skincare.”
“It can’t even be used for beauty and skincare,” Shen Zhaomu said. “Where did you see that?”
Lu Shanhuai showed him his terminal: “I just said it offhand. I think it was mentioned in a novel? Something like ‘President, let the lady tell you the unknown legend of Bei’en.’”
Shen Zhaomu: “…” He had a bad feeling. Unwittingly, he found himself encountering another president-themed novel.
“However,” Lu Shanhuai said, “thanks to the numerous ships here, the outpost personnel and old fishermen went out together this entire afternoon and evening. They’ve located bodies within a 60-kilometer radius of the main island, and they’ll continue to go out to sea tomorrow. So far, the death times of the bodies vary greatly, with the oldest being at least three years ago and the most recent within two days.”
He sent the location map to Shen Zhaomu: “Currently, we can’t discern any pattern in their arrangement, and we haven’t been able to find Edgeworth Murphy either. The name is rare in the Alliance, and over the years, only twenty people who came to Bei’en had it, seventeen of whom were here for honeymoons or wedding photos.”
Shen Zhaomu quickly scanned through the itineraries of those named Edgeworth: “The remaining three also didn’t stay long, and they were all public officials.”
“Yes. We’ll continue to search,” Lu Shanhuai pointed towards the deeper part of the outpost, “I’m going to ask the communications officer something.”
The other hunters were busy with their tasks, and Uther had taken the few submarine core members to find Yang Zhiming.
Now, only Shen Zhaomu and Fang Qing were left at the outpost.
Sitting on the sofa, Shen Zhaomu took another look at the location map. With the main island at the center, there were seventeen bodies to the south, five to the southeast, eleven to the east… He always felt that the placement of these bodies seemed to encircle the main island, intermittently forming lines that faintly shaped into concentric circles of varying sizes.
It seemed familiar, yet he couldn’t quite recall where he had seen it before.
Fang Qing was packing up his poison kit and pistol.
It was quiet around, and suddenly, he said, “Little Shen, there’s no one else here, so I want to ask you something.”
“What?” Shen Zhaomu looked at him, not used to hearing Fang Qing speak so seriously.
“That day in Kassand,” Fang Qing weighed his words carefully, finally asking the question, “Maybe I saw it wrong, but it seemed like your wife’s eye color changed, becoming… unlike that of a human.”
By this point, the implication was clear enough.
There was a silence between them for a few seconds.
It was Fang Qing who broke the silence first: “Ah, I was just saying it casually, don’t take it seriously, don’t take it seriously. I’m getting old, my eyesight is not what it used to be, and I often get lost in thought.” He laughed twice, “Indeed, how could it be possible.”
“…You weren’t mistaken,” Shen Zhaomu said.
Fang Qing’s eyes widened slightly.
“You’re not mistaken. He’s a dragon.”
The author has something to say:
One cutesy sob a day (0/1)
Don’t worry, everyone, the princess won’t make any ridiculous moves
Waaauuuw
I’m excited to hear sz and mq talk about the wifey
Thank you for the chapter! ❤
Ooooooo so our dragon is first generation or higher based his convo with augustus? That’s really interesting then since those first generation dragons have very obvious spiritual powers but our dragon has almost non existent ones.
Thanks for the chapter~~~~