"Do you know what I used to do?"
Little Ibia.
In the core area of the forr alliance, inside a building that seed to be completely transford from a ship.
Amid the flickering candlelight.
Old Xi Wen sat high in his navigator’s chair wrapped in sharkskin, casually exposing his muscular chest, holding a knife and fork, nonchalantly cutting into a fresh sea fish on the plate before him.
Just a minute ago, this sea fish was still lively and jumping.
This was also one of Old Xi Wen’s few hobbies.
Eating a lively enough sea fish every day, personally cutting and sharing it.
Because...
"That’s right, I used to kill fish on a boat."
He cut off a piece of raw fish at that was still slightly twitching, stuffed it into his mouth, and started chewing vigorously.
In front of him stood the core mbers of the forr alliance, all of whom were his adopted sons.
Among them was the one he cherished the most, Hard-headed Mo Lun.
"Hard-headed" is an old continent slang, referring to soone charging ahead like a hard-headed bug, caring about nothing and fearing nothing, generally used to describe a tough guy.
Mo Lun was indeed a tough guy, daring and fierce over the years, standing out under Old Xi Wen’s command, making many achievents and thus earning his favor.
Usually, he appeared fearless, but now, he was like a limp shrimp, collapsed in front of Old Xi Wen, unable even to stand, trembling slightly.
Because he knew very well what a big trouble he had caused.
Now, Sea King Lockeby’s people had surrounded the entire Little Ibia.
A great battle was about to erupt.
Perhaps the entire Little Ibia would be destroyed because of his rashness.
"Back then, I was very frail, far from being as strong as I am now. Anyone could bully . Not only did I have to kill fish every day, but I also had to do all kinds of dirty and hard work. Especially the navigator on the ship, since he was the captain’s brother, didn’t treat as a human. Once he even threw into the sea, forcing to fight a shark, saying if I couldn’t kill that shark, I wouldn’t need to co back to the ship. And guess what?"
The room, like a ship’s cabin, was silent. No one dared to speak, resulting in Mo Lun trembling even more.
In fact, everyone had heard this story nurous tis before.
Whenever Old Xi Wen was unhappy, he would tell this story.
"I was lucky not to die. I killed that shark, and half a month later, a group of pirates hijacked the ship at midnight, killing everyone on board except . Yes, I was the one who contacted those pirates."
He narrated the story at a leisurely pace, continuing to carve the fish at, the sharkskin behind him flickering in the firelight.
"Mo Lun, do you know what this story tells us?"
"Papa... I... I was wrong."
"No no no, Mo Lun, you weren’t wrong. You understood very well what my story was about, which is when you’re too weak, you need to find help."
"I..."
"But you only understood the first layer of aning."
Old Xi Wen was shaking his head a mont ago, as if praising Mo Lun. But the next mont, his expression had turned extrely indifferent, coldly staring at Mo Lun as he set down the knife and fork and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.
"What is the second layer of aning of my story?"
He looked around at everyone in the cabin.
Then, without waiting for anyone to speak, he said directly.
"All of you only understand what the story says, not what the story doesn’t say. What didn’t my story say? That’s right, it didn’t say how I contacted the pirates. Did I negotiate with the pirates in front of those people?"
No.
"I..."
Mo Lun swallowed hard, realizing he had been foolish enough to talk to the pirates openly in front of those people.
"Originally, I had almost reached an agreent with the underground emperor of the Central District. He agreed to send people to help us. And what happened then?"
Old Xi Wen slowly stood up and walked toward Mo Lun.
"Didn’t I tell you not to act rashly without my orders?"
He squatted down, staring at Mo Lun’s lowered head.
"I’m sorry, papa, I just wanted to..."
Mo Lun’s words were left unfinished.
Because Old Xi Wen directly grabbed his head and cut off his ear with the fish knife, making him writhe and tremble in pain.
"Cutting off your ear is because you didn’t listen to . Keeping your head is because you still have so use."
With that, Old Xi Wen stood up, casually threw the ear away, and stretched lazily.
"Now, I’m going out to talk to the Sea King, giving him whatever he wants. Anyone who wants to leave should leave imdiately, and anyone who wants my life, co and take it."
He slowly walked towards the door. No one made a move; everyone stood in place, not daring to move.
Old Xi Wen hadn’t left Little Ibia for many years. People outside thought he was an old coward, timid, and only muddling through.
Only those in this room knew how terrifying this old man was.
"Pick up the ear and follow ."
He paused at the door.
Mo Lun found a piece of cloth from sowhere, wrapped his ear, and then braced himself to stand up, following step by step.
That evening, dark clouds gathered as if a heavy rain were about to pour down at any mont, extinguishing the heat hanging over the Royal Capital.
But until dark, the rain never fell.
People only complained about the unbearable heat, wishing for more typhoons to make everyone feel comfortable.
anwhile, beneath the water’s surface, those living in the black mud focused on a rain shower beneath the surface.
This rain ultimately failed to fall.
The Sea King’s people surrounding Little Ibia eventually dispersed quietly.
A great battle dissolved into nothingness.
No one knew what truly happened beneath the water’s surface.
But so things did change.
For instance, the passage toward the Port District from Little Ibia, which had been almost sealed for decades, quietly opened.
Also, the people from the Bureau of Public Safety, originally supposed to station themselves in Little Ibia, disappeared.
On this hot afternoon, it seed as if nothing had happened, yet it seed a lot did.
Ethan naturally knew what had happened, but since he was now soone on the water’s surface, he pretended nothing had happened.
He still had a date to attend tonight, with Finch from the Electromagnetic General Center, and of course, behind him was his boss, the renowned electricity aficionado, Azertu.
It was a long overdue eting, scheduled since the typhoon night. Ethan was curious to hear what Azertu wanted to discuss with him.
Also, on this night, a certain count who had been missing for a long ti finally ca ho.
The Royal Capital’s nightlife was dull without him, yet for so reason, the count, who used to love nightlife the most, locked himself up after returning ho.
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