In the early hours of July 22nd, the Human Serpent Ship had already docked.
Xia Pingzhou kept his eyes shut. For so unknown reason, his face felt slightly itchy. Only when he opened his eyes did he realize that Ayase Origami had been tickling his cheek with the edge of a piece of paper.
He woke from his groggy slumber to see Ayase Origami tilting her head slightly, her gaze fixed outside the Cargo Hold.
Following the kimono girl's gaze, he turned his head to look out the window. The first rays of morning light illuminated the hazy sea, bringing a glimr of vitality to the small country's port, where a few fishing boats were moored along the shore.
"Are we here?" he asked, looking at Ayase Origami.
"We have arrived," Ayase Origami replied expressionlessly. "Kitten, do you not want to disembark?"
"Why would you say that?"
"Cats like to eat fish."
"There are fish in places other than the sea."
After he and Ayase Origami got off the ship, they headed straight for the local airport. Before long, the two boarded a flight to Venice. Inside the first class cabin arranged for them by Hacker, Xia Pingzhou encountered a figure that completely caught him off guard:
Jack the Ripper.
Today, Jack the Ripper was still dressed in her black and white school uniform, her long black hair cascading down her back all the way to her waist.
She had her eyes lowered, quietly playing on her mobile phone. The screen displayed a sowhat old-fashioned ga, "Ninja Fruit Slice". With casual swipes of her slender fingertips, the waterlons on the screen burst open one after another.
"Number Two?" Xia Pingzhou muttered, turning his head to look at Ayase Origami. "Why is she here?"
"Is she not allowed to be here?" Ayase Origami spoke slowly, standing up to find an empty seat and sitting down.
[Hacker: Number Two said she dislikes squeezing in with others, so she took a different Human Serpent Ship.]
[Xia Pingzhou: The auction is already over. Why are you still monitoring
twenty-four hours a day?]
[Hacker: We still have not confird who the insider is. However, the Leader said it is also possible we do not have an insider at all, and that Black Cocoon's ability is just rather special.]
Xia Pingzhou read the ssages as he took a seat next to Ayase Origami. The first class cabin was completely empty, save for Xia Pingzhou, Ayase Origami, and Jack the Ripper. He did not even need to think to know this was Hacker's handiwork. With that little brat's skills, making it impossible for other passengers to book first class seats was a simple task.
Without even looking up, Jack the Ripper spoke, "Newcor, do you not want your heart anymore?"
"If you had not brought it up..." Xia Pingzhou replied, his face expressionless. "I would have assud you were refusing to return it."
"How could I?" The Ripper girl raised an eyebrow. "Soone would get angry with
if I refused to give it back."
"Who?"
"Who indeed, what a difficult guess..." Jack the Ripper glanced at Ayase Origami out of the corner of her eye.
After she finished speaking, a plump, beating heart materialized in her right hand.
As the heart vanished from her palm, Xia Pingzhou's entire body gave a slight jolt. His chest felt full once more. It was no longer a hollow cavern echoing with an eerie heartbeat—for quite so ti, he had felt as though those pulses were echoing from the far end of the world, leaving him with auditory hallucinations in the dead of night.
'At least my heart is back...' Xia Pingzhou thought. 'Then my only concern now is how to increase my strength and, as much as possible, kill Jack the Ripper before she advances to the third rank.'
Xia Pingzhou remained silent for a mont before stating, "I understand now. You are going to Venice to collect the new mber's heart."
Hacker had previously inford him via text that they would be eting the new mber Number Five in Venice, taking over Lan Duo Duo's vacant spot. With Jack the Ripper appearing on this flight, her objective was self-evident.
It seed that even during the brigade's off-duty hours, new recruits joining the group still had to abide by the rules and temporarily hand their hearts over for Jack the Ripper to safeguard.
"What else?" Jack the Ripper kept her eyes lowered, her fingers swiping lazily across the screen. "The Leader is taking the matter of the traitor quite seriously now, unlike his usual casual attitude."
"But... what if you are the traitor?"
"If you want to fight, just say so. There is no need to invent excuses." Jack the Ripper cast him a hostile sidelong glance.
Xia Pingzhou paid it no mind, silently staying seated next to Ayase Origami. Though he remained expressionless, his actions subtly conveyed the sentint that one must consider the master before striking their cat.
Ever since Oda Takikage's death, Ayase Origami had been rather unwilling to speak, maintaining her silence even with the two people she was closest to within the brigade right beside her.
Xia Pingzhou did not rashly disturb her. The kimono girl beside him maintained a quiet, pale silence, either looking down at her Haiku Collection or gazing at the eyeglass case hidden within her sleeve.
He thought that to Ayase Origami, Oda Takikage must have been far more like family than a re butler. This was very likely the first ti in her life she had ever experienced the pain of losing a family mber.
'But once I kill Jack the Ripper and use the clues I have to lead the brigade to the Salvation Society's base, Host Body Two will no longer have any value to ...' he pondered. 'If one day I destroy this host body, would she search the entire world for ?'
The plane took off shortly after. Resting his cheek against his fist, Xia Pingzhou slowly closed his eyes amidst the gentle turbulence of the cabin, synchronizing his consciousness with the perspective of Host Body Three.
The rumbling roar of the aircraft engines faded away, replaced by the profound, muffled silence of being subrged in seawater.
With a soft splash, Yagubalu opened its eyes in the water, its gaze peering outward through the crystal ball.
Inside the bedroom, Xize'er was already awake. He stood before the wardrobe, changing into an elegant set of royal attire. Smoothing his unruly white hair in the mirror, he returned to the bedside and lowered his voice to speak to the little shark in the crystal ball:
"I have to attend the dinner gathering soon, Yagubalu. This will be my very first ti participating in a Royal Family dinner."
"Why? Have you never been to one before?" Yagubalu asked.
Xize'er shook his head. "No. Because of my poor health, Royal Father would never allow
to attend."
"Then why are you allowed to go now?"
"Royal Father is ill." Xize'er offered a faint smile. "Right now, my two older brothers are the ones calling the shots for many affairs."
"Then I will accompany you."
"I was thinking the sa thing. I get anxious when I am alone, but if you co with , I will be fine." After speaking, Xize'er took a deep breath.
He closed his eyes, seemingly ntally preparing himself, before opening them again. Carrying the crystal ball, he quickly walked out of the bedroom.
"Let us go, Ikar."
By now, the butler nad Ikar had been waiting in the dim corridor for a long ti. The butler glanced at the crystal ball Xize'er was cradling and said respectfully, "Third Prince, Your Highness, there is no need to bring the Nobel Shark to the dinner gathering."
"Ikar, I want to bring it with . It will make
feel a bit more at ease." Xize'er lowered his head slightly. "Otherwise, I fear I will be too nervous to even speak. Besides, think about it—if no one talks to , at least I can chat with it."
Ikar fell silent for a long mont before nodding. "Very well then."
Accompanied by his butler, Xize'er left the Floating Castle. At the edge of the Floating Island, Ikar crushed a Ubiquitous Anomaly Fragnt—a Moving Staircase. Instantly, a suspended flight of stairs materialized in the dusky sky.
Xize'er stepped onto the floating stairs, walking toward the Royal Palace alongside the butler. With every step they took forward, the front of the suspended staircase extended by one ter, while the rear retracted by one ter.
Yagubalu quietly observed the do above.
Just as Xize'er had ntioned, the Whalegarden experienced only dusk and night. Currently, it was dusk. Beneath the blood-red canopy of the sky, schools of fish swam like flocks of birds, and the ocean tides crashed against the transparent Whale's Belly, shattering into clusters of white sea foam.
Occasionally, through the Whale's Belly, one could catch glimpses of sunken ships, jellyfish, and colossal marine creatures on the ocean floor.
Before long, the butler led Xize'er to the Royal Palace, and they ascended the grand marble steps.
The guards at the palace entrance bowed to them in greeting, while simultaneously casting surprised glances at the crystal ball in Xize'er's arms. They exchanged looks with one another, their eyes tinged with mockery, as if ridiculing the Sickly Prince for having the ntal maturity of a child, bringing a re toy to such an important occasion.
Xize'er brushed past them without a second thought, traversing the brilliantly illuminated corridors until he entered a luxuriously decorated grand hall. At this mont, all one hundred mbers of the Royal Family were gathered here. It was a monthly dinner gathering, and Xize'er had finally managed to attend one.
Growing up, he had always wanted to attend the dinner gathering with his two older brothers, but he simply could never obtain his Royal Father's permission.
Cradling the crystal ball, Xize'er looked up. His eyes fell upon an absurdly long and wide rectangular dining table, completely surrounded by elegant, aristocratic figures. As he made his entrance, the mbers of the Royal Family cast peculiar glances in his direction.
"Is that not the Third Prince?"
"I have not seen him in ages."
"He has been hiding in his castle without ever coming out. How could you possibly see him?"
"I have never seen him attend a dinner gathering. What is so special about today?"
"What is he holding?"
"A Nobel Shark. It seems to be a birthday gift given to him by the King."
"This foolish prince truly is sothing else... Just as everyone says, being cooped up in that castle every day has left him with the ntality of a seven-year-old, even though he is twelve."
For a ti, hushed murmurs filled the grand hall. Xize'er held onto his crystal ball and walked forward with poised, unhurried steps, casting his gaze toward the First Prince and Second Prince seated at the far end of the hall.
The First Prince, Lorenzo, possessed a feminine face with slightly deep-set eyes and a high-bridged nose. His aura was rather gentle, making him look like a wise and erudite scholar.
In contrast, the Second Prince, Cosimo, had much sharper features. He was incredibly handso and tall, instantly standing out from the crowd like a proud peacock among a flock of chickens, yet his temperant exuded a cold aloofness that made him seem difficult to approach.
Their sole commonality was that they had both inherited their father's blonde hair and blue eyes, entirely different from their younger brother's white hair and green eyes.
Lorenzo offered a warm smile, waving at Xize'er from a distance. Cosimo, however, rely lowered his head to take a sip of his alcohol, not even sparing Xize'er a single glance.
Contrary to expectations, Xize'er was not seated anywhere near his two older brothers. Instead, he was relegated to the far corner of the dining table, forced to sit with unfamiliar mbers of the Royal Family.
He blinked, glancing at his two brothers again. Seeing that neither of them was paying him any attention, he could only quietly take his assigned seat.
He placed the crystal ball on his lap, looking down at the little shark inside. Seeing it there seed to put his entire being at ease.
"I shall take my leave now, Third Prince, Your Highness," the butler announced respectfully, bowing before exiting the grand dining hall.
"I am so nervous, Yagubalu. If only my brothers were willing to sit beside ..." Xize'er muttered in a low voice.
"It is alright. I am right here," Yagubalu whispered back.
Xize'er took a deep breath, slowly lifting his head from the crystal ball. One hundred pairs of eyes were staring intently at him. The majority wore fake smiles, yet their gazes were completely devoid of emotion or laced with hidden mockery, much like a crowd of hypocrites.
"I really want to run away," Xize'er lowered his eyelashes, quietly staring at the tiny shark in the crystal ball.
"Did you not say this is your first ti attending a Royal Family dinner?" Yagubalu reasoned. "It would be a pity to run away now."
"But I am seated so far from my brothers, and all I wanted was to talk to them." Xize'er paused for a mont. "I cannot speak with them from here, and I do not know anyone else."
"Alright, stop complaining. Are those people from the Royal Court Squad?" Yagubalu asked.
Xize'er froze for a second, following Yagubalu's line of sight. He saw seven figures walking in from the entrance. Their faces were impassive, and their eyes exuded a chilling aura of absolute lethality.
Yagubalu imdiately spotted Li Qingping among them. He stood out because he alone wore a sharp black suit, unlike the rest of the Royal Court Squad, who were draped in long white robes adorned with the "White King Scepter" insignia.
Li Qingping remained entirely expressionless, looking much like a solitary crow standing amidst a flock of doves.
Xize'er's eyes imdiately lit up. "Li Qingping!"
Hearing soone call his na at such a formal gathering—and so loudly at that—Li Qingping could not help but freeze in surprise.
He soon looked up, slowly eting the Third Prince's gaze, and offered a faint twitch of his lips that passed for a smile. Following that, he and the other six mbers of the Royal Court Squad took their places at the remaining cluster of empty seats at the table, filling the final vacancies.
'Are these the mbers of the Royal Court Squad?' Yagubalu thought to itself, its gaze sweeping over the six individuals surrounding Li Qingping. 'I should start considering how to take them down, one by one.'
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