448: Chapter 16 – River’s Unease_1 448: Chapter 16 – River’s Unease_1 “This is a fine ship, the best one I’ve seen in my life.” River drained his cup, and a natural coffeehouse waiter stepped forward to refill it.
River stretched languidly and said with a laugh, “I’ve spent nearly half of my ti on the ship for the past decade.
It’s beco my second ho.
And ho, as you know, must be protected at all costs.
I would fight anyone who wanted to harm this ship.
That’s why the association entrusted with its protection.”
“So you’re worried that we are potential threats?” Catherine asked with a strange smile.
“Is that why you invited us to negotiate?”
“Impossible.
I’m not in the sa league as you four legends.” River chuckled and shook his head.
“Moreover, you are invited guests of the Marquis Snape.
Even if anyone could threaten this ship, you wouldn’t be among them.
If the Marquis wanted to damage the ship, he could buy it and smash it at his whim.
No one would say a word.
It’s unnecessary for him to have you endanger the Jeff.”
“Huh?
Four legends?” The three girls turned and stared at Freya.
“Did you advance too?
Why didn’t we notice?”
“It’s hard to tell when a Crystal Gunner or a chanic advances.” Freya responded, cradling her iced water, “It reveals only in combat.
There’s nothing strange about you not noticing it.
Boo-hoo, I want another sour grass juice.”
“Yeah, I found out from the database,” River nodded, “Otherwise, even as a legend myself, I wouldn’t have been any wiser.”
“I’m curious, Mr.
River, why have you stayed on the ship for ten years?” Catherine reclined on her lounge chair, stretching her crossed legs and queried, “Given your legendary rank as a ranger shooter, you could have had better choices.”
“Money, lots of it.
I get 20,000 gold coins for a trip, basically for doing nothing.
As adventurers, even if you’re in a Gold Rank Adventure Group, you toil for two to three months and only earn a little over a hundred thousand.
After deductions, each of you divides the rest, which is roughly equal to my inco from resting every day.” As River spoke, his laughter intensified.
“Just kidding, it’s indeed very boring.
But I have no choice.
I have gout.
When I have an attack, I sweat all over and can’t even walk.
In the most severe cases, I feel like cutting off both legs.
Under these circumstances, staying on this ship, resting and recuperating, is the best choice.”
“That’s unfortunate.” Catherine responded sympathetically, “But on the brighter side, at least you no longer have to risk your life.
A stable life is a good choice.”
“When I was younger, I was reluctant to lead a mundane life,” River squinted his eyes, “But as I’ve aged, I’ve grown to appreciate the peace and serenity.
It made feel healthier, both physically and ntally, and even llowed my temper.
Look at now, I haven’t been angry for three years, hehehe.
However, I have been a little anxious for the past two days, concerned about the safety of the Jeff.”
“Why so?” Catherine was taken aback and pressed on, “What’s the problem?”
“rchants are the most well-inford individuals, more inford than most people,” River sighed.
Despite the sigh, his plump face was still adorned with a habitual smile, “Yesterday, we received news that soone might be eying the association’s four skyboats, possibly plotting to seize one.”
“Seize it?” Pannis interjected, “What would they do with it?”
“Nobody knows.” River admitted, “Skyboats are essentially useless.
They can transport at most a few hundred people at a ti, and they’re not suited for cargo transportation.
As a weapon, a few blasts from a crystal energy cannon could bring it down.
I don’t see why anyone would want a skyboat, aside from dropping it on soone.
Many people think this might be a false lead, purposely sent out to interfere with our decision-making process.”
“That’s a rather peculiar false lead,” Catherine frowned, “What’s the exact content of the intel?”
“I don’t know.” River clapped his hands and with a bitter smile replied, “Intelligence from our association is the aggregate of seemingly trivial clues, summarized, and analyzed by experts.
So, we can’t exactly say what the ‘normal’ content of any intel is.
Like , I don’t even know how this piece of intel ca about, let alone the clues that led to it.”
“But you guys sure are bold,” Lina said indifferently, her glasses reflecting sunlight, “Knowing soone may cause trouble, you still dare to sail.
Or did your association take us passengers as bait, to lure out the enemy in the shadows?”
“Miss Lina, what do you think we should do then?” River chuckled and counter-questioned, “Stop sailing because of so vague news, the authenticity of which we can’t even be sure?”
“Hmm.” Lina was speechless.
She pushed up her glasses and said, “I can’t deny that you make sense.
We can’t just cancel the journey over this issue.
The only option is to strengthen our vigilance covertly.”
“Even strengthening our vigilance would be hard to manage,” River said.
“We only have so many people on the ship.
All cabins have been thoroughly inspected by dedicated staff three tis over.
It’s impossible for anyone to be hiding on the ship.
As for the passengers themselves, apart from a few, there are only three high-ranking professionals, and they’re only Gold Rank.
Even if they collaborated, they wouldn’t be able to wrest control of the ship from .
So, we’re at a loss even when it cos to ramping up security.
We can only ask every guard to be more alert and ready for any sudden changes.
That’s as much as we can do.”
“Are you asking us to help?” Catherine asked.
“Do you want to hire us to deal with this crisis?”
“No, not at all!
You misunderstand,” River shook his head.
“At this point, I wouldn’t even call it a crisis, so there’s no need to seek help.
I’m sharing this with you to keep things transparent.
If you notice any problems during our voyage, notify us as soon as possible.
Of course, we’ll do the sa.
If anything unusual crops up, we’ll seek your help.”
“Oh, I get it,” Catherine smirked, whispering, “You just want a few free spies to keep watch.
If things go smoothly, you save money.
If not, you hire us.
It’s a pretty shrewd calculation.
You’re in a win-win situation no matter what.”
“Hahaha,” River laughed heartily, waving his hand and saying, “You’re overselling it.
I’m just trying to work towards a mutually beneficial outco, not trying to be a cunning plotter.”
“Alright, we’re not going to nitpick,” Catherine let River off the hook, accepting his proposal.
“We’re just here to enjoy our vacation, after all.
If you really want us to take on a formal task, we might not be up for it.
Don’t worry; we get what you’re saying.
But was it you who gave news to Grandpa Snape, leading him to change his plans at the last minute?”
“No, we would never do such a thing,” River said solemnly.
“When it becos necessary to inform our guests, we make sure every passenger is notified, regardless of their importance.
Every passenger on our skyboat holds significant status.
Among this batch of passengers, we have the Minister of Finance from the Falar Empire, the Vice President of the Business Federation, a city lord from the Sea Country, and a gentleman who ranks amongst the top three on the City of Knowledge’s wealth list.
None of them have been inford.
It’s impossible that we would have provided a warning solely to Marquis Snape.
Therefore, Marquis Snape deciding not to board must have been his own decision.”
“Don’t overthink it,” Catherine said.
“I was just making conversation.”
“Actually, the main thing is that this borderline absurd news is strictly controlled among a few high-ranking decision makers in the association.
The only ones in the know are the four of us, the Legendary Rank who are responsible for the security of the four skyboats so five in total.
Oh, it seems like I’ve forgotten soone.” River’s smile dropped, his eyes narrowed while he observed Maggie idly sitting at the side.
Only when he had stared at her long enough to make her freeze did he say, “Little Maggie, it seems like you’ve heard secrets you shouldn’t have.
What should I do to ensure this secret is kept?”
“Oh.” Maggie paled and waved her hands frantically, “I didn’t hear anything, I really don’t know anything.
Like soone trying to hijack the ship, Marquis Snape, the decision-making executives, I really don’t know anything about these.
Please don’t kill to keep quiet.”
“You see, don’t you know everything after all?” River withdrew a longbow from under his chair, ard an arrow and aid it at Maggie’s direction.
He gently said, “Don’t bla .
If you want to bla soone, bla yourself for knowing too much.”
“Wah, please don’t kill .” Maggie curled up on her chair, hugging her head.
“You were purposely saying all those things in front of .
Please, don’t kill .”
Amidst Maggie’s screams, River pulled the longbow string taut, and in a flash, three arrows flew past Maggie, aiming towards the ship’s side.
Not far away, a large bird with a wingspan of four ters was headed straight for the skyboat.
The three arrows flew in a line, the first accurately pierced the bird’s head.
The second and third arrows hit the tail of the first one and skillfully changed its direction.
The first powerful arrow, along with its victim, flew back towards the skyboat, landing perfectly next to the group’s table.
“Hahaha, little Maggie, you’re so funny!
I can’t help teasing you a bit!
Don’t cry anymore, today I’ll treat you to stewed bird at.” River instantly restored his usual gentleness, laughing and saying, “Also, to all the adventure team mbers, to show my thanks for your agreent to lend a hand in ti of need, I’ll be treating you all to lunch.
Stewed bird at is quite a delicacy.”
“Are you paying?
Isn’t the food free?” Lina adjusted her glasses and said, “Very much like a rchant style, I see.”
“Hahaha, you got there,” River rose up and laughed heartily, “Let’s go grab sothing to eat.” (To be continued.
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