LSDWTWHA chapter 70

Chapter 69

Watching Su Su being taken away by Mo Lin’s people, Mo Shan finally revealed an expression of confidence: “I think Mo Lin is right. There seems to be some misunderstandings between us. Why don’t you, General Qi, stay for a moment? Let’s sit down and have a good chat in this quiet place.”

“I have nothing to talk about with you.” Qi Hanyi said this, yet did not refuse Mo Shan’s invitation, following him into a pavilion beside the club. Although he didn’t want to say a word to the other party, he still needed to gather some information from Mo Shan.

There was some un-melted snow around the pavilion, and in the distance, the sound of flowing water could be heard. The warm mist from the hot springs shrouded the surroundings, making it feel like a fairyland.

In the middle of the pavilion, there was already a tea table set up, with exquisite tea cups, and the aroma of tea wafting through the air.

Mo Shan picked up the teapot and enthusiastically made a cup of tea for Qi Hanyi: “If only we had sat down to talk earlier, we wouldn’t have ended up in today’s situation.”

“Who leaked the information to you?” Qi Hanyi sat down on the stone bench but did not touch the tea cup. His sharp eyebrows and eyes fixed on Mo Shan, directly asking the question.

“To be honest, I’m not quite sure either. The other party is very cautious; they just sent an anonymous letter to Mo Lin’s mailbox, and when I tracked back, the account had already been canceled. I couldn’t find any further information.” Mo Shan shrugged in despair.

What Mo Shan said was true, but he wasn’t completely clueless. He already had suspicions in his mind. He believed that the one who sent the message should be people from the Crown Prince’s side, since most of the Crown Prince’s supporters were conservative and advocated the most conservative management of mermaids. Recently, however, they had been severely suppressed by Qi Hanyi’s mermaid policies. Using Su Su’s identity as a shield to retaliate against Qi Hanyi made sense.

Moreover, the Crown Prince had been close to the fourth member of the Qi family, seemingly intending to support him to become the head of the Qi family and gain military support. The motives were quite ample.

The Crown Prince’s authority was above his own—whether it was about uncovering Su Su’s identity or hiding his identity, he had the capability to do so.

Also, since the Mo family had maintained a neutral stance in the selection of the heir apparent, it would be unwise to offend them recklessly and instead use the Mo family as a tool from behind the scenes. This could also explain why they didn’t take direct action.

It turned out to be through the means of an anonymous letter.

Qi Hanyi’s conclusion was completely different from Mo Shan’s. The technology company he had investigated earlier had already led him to discover that there was a very powerful hacking team in the dark undercurrents. They were not only able to create flawless fake identities online but could also break through higher-level security barriers set by the Empire. Making such a letter appear in Mo Lin’s mailbox would be an easy task.

However, he did not plan to share this information with Mo Shan. Even if Mo Shan and the dark undercurrents were not involved, there was no guarantee that the dark undercurrents did not have spies placed around Mo Shan.

Seeing that Qi Hanyi remained silent, Mo Shan showed a friendly smile: “To be honest, I don’t care who is behind this. I have no intention of harming you or Su Su. The Mo family and the Qi family have been friends for generations. If Su Su hadn’t revealed everything today, I would have wanted to keep this confidential for you.”

“Keep it confidential and then use it as leverage to make me agree to your conditions?” Qi Hanyi bluntly pierced through the other party’s falsehoods.

“Leverage is not the right term; I just want to engage in a mutually beneficial cooperation with you,” Mo Shan no longer hid his ambitions. “’Star Wars’ is the most popular online game in the entire galaxy. Once the currency exchange channels are opened, it will contain huge profits. The Qi and Mo families control the entire operation of the game, and making money from it would be as easy as snapping fingers—much simpler than printing money at least—after all, printing money still requires costs.”

“As long as you agree, we can split the profits 70-30, with your military taking 70, and I only need 30. How does that sound? Isn’t your expeditionary force lacking in funds? If you are willing to cooperate with me, will you still worry about military funding in the future?”

Mo Shan lured him step by step: “I am a businessman, solely focused on profits. As long as the price you offer is right, I don’t care if you want to promote mermaid policies or try to protect Su Su in this matter; I can help. Honestly, the noble council is completely under the control of the Mo family. To put it bluntly, if the council doesn’t pursue the issue of Su Su’s impersonation, the matter can easily be minimized. But on the contrary, if the council keeps pursuing it, even if Su Su doesn’t die, he will likely spend the rest of his life in the Training Center. I assume you love your partner so much that you wouldn’t want to see him fall to that level, right?”

Mo Shan believed he had the upper hand. He noticed Qi Hanyi’s feelings for Su Su, similar to how his father loved that mermaid back in the day. This made Qi Hanyi no longer that perfect war god; Su Su became his Achilles’ heel.

While Mo Shan thought about this, he couldn’t help but feel contempt. No matter how much Qi Hanyi hated mermaids in the past, wasn’t he now under the control of a mermaid hybrid, deeply in love? Perhaps deep feelings were something ingrained in his bloodline, a curse he couldn’t escape in this life. Just like his unfortunate father.

But Mo Shan was mistaken. Qi Hanyi never regarded Su Su as a weakness. The seemingly soft and beautiful young man possessed strength that was underestimated by everyone.

“I refuse your so-called cooperation. The purpose of ‘Star Wars’ is to let the world understand the crisis we face and to discover potential talents from the public. It should never be commercialized nor should it become a tool for a few families to amass wealth.” Qi Hanyi stood up.

Mo Shan was unexpected; despite his repeated concessions and persuasive words, he still could not get a nod from Qi Hanyi. He clapped his hands, his tone dark: “A strong and righteous statement! Truly worthy of our Empire’s most beloved general. But Qi Hanyi, Su Su was brought to the Training Center for you, didn’t you care? That place is not a good spot to be.”

Qi Hanyi’s expression remained unchanged: “Before the final determination from His Majesty, regardless of his bloodline, race, or gender, his identity will always be my wife. If any harm comes to him, I, Qi Hanyi, will pursue it to the end. I hope you will act with caution.”

Qi Hanyi left decisively, while Mo Shan’s expression darkened like the bottom of a pot, as he violently knocked over the teapot on the table, the scalding tea splattered everywhere.

The Training Center was not short of ways to torture people without revealing any signs of injury. He swore to make Qi Hanyi regret this.

Su Su was taken by Mo Lin’s people to the Mermaid Training Center, located on a hillside, with an overall structure resembling a tower with a total of seven floors.

Before Su Su entered the door, he was first taken to a small room at the tower’s edge. The people escorting him confiscated his terminal ring and all his clothing and accessories, only giving him a clean black robe to wear.

After changing clothes, Su Su was led to a scanning station, seemingly to check for any electronic devices on him capable of sending signals. After confirming there were no issues, they brought him into the tower building.

Inside the tower was square shaped. As seen from the first floor, it was just a clean and tidy lobby. In front was the reception desk, and electronic screens hung on the walls, continuously playing pictures of the life of mermaid training here, which looked relatively harmonious.

Here, the guards who escorted Su Su left, replaced by a robot. Passing through a row of employee rest areas, the robot led Su Su to a lift at the back, using its permissions to activate it, arriving at the fourth floor.

The fourth floor seemed to be the living area for mermaids, with narrow rooms separated like prison cells. The doors were made of hard alloys, with only a palm-sized window on them. Each room had two sets of bunk beds, accommodating four people in total, and a toilet was installed at the back of each room, leaving no blind spots in the room. At this time, the whole floor was silent, with no one inside.

The robot was impassive, guiding Su Su through the fourth floor. Su Su was surprised to find that this floor and the elevator above were actually not connected at all. Moreover, the required permissions were also different.

The elevator leading to the fifth floor was located at the end of the path, while the person responsible for leading him had shifted from a robot to a real person.

The elevator stopped at the sixth floor. As soon as Su Su stepped out of the elevator, he heard a shrill scream, a sound that did not seem human but rather like some animal being skinned alive.

“This way.” The person leading Su Su wore a pure white uniform, was short in stature, and had a wrinkled, aged skin with a pair of malicious eyes continually glancing towards Su Su.

He was the administrator here, numbered 03, having worked here for forty years. He had a peculiar hobby of torturing animals, and the cuter they looked, the more cruelly he would treat them. As he grew up, this bad habit became uncontrollable, and one day he couldn’t help but turn to humans. It was a very cute blonde girl; he enjoyed her screams, cries, and pleas, even finding the look of pain and despair in her eyes charming when she died.

He committed a capital crime, and on the day of his execution, a bullet was supposed to pass through his skull, ending his evil life. But he didn’t die. He was brought here, losing his name and identity, becoming employee number 47. Later, as he continued to work diligently, his number advanced, and his authority increased.

However, 03 didn’t care for these things; he liked being here because he could freely indulge his desires. Those mermaids, beautiful mermaids, he could appreciate their fear and suffering to his heart’s content.

Look at how beautiful this new mermaid is. Even though 03 was used to the beauty of mermaids, his breath momentarily stopped upon seeing him. What a shame, this is the mermaid young master wants, and 03 cannot privately act against him and savor his pain and helplessness. But at this moment, there were new mermaids undergoing training in the interrogation room, and these screams were enough to cause panic and bewilderment in someone who had just arrived.

He was itching with anticipation, his murky eyes locked on that beautiful face, seeking to find some expression he liked. 03 thought to himself: the little beauty has just been sent here; hearing such a horrendous scream must be so terrifying and bewildering for him.

He was excited to the point of trembling: come on, quickly show me your fear and helplessness. If you can let me see a few drops of despairing tears, that would be even better.

Yet, in the next second, his expression froze as he stared incredulously at the mermaid before him. The other party’s face was as calm as a mannequin; it was as if he were deaf, unable to hear the pitiful screams.

Su Su was certainly not deaf; he clearly heard the scream and could even identify that the voice belonged to the girl who had just been forcefully taken away at the banquet. However, such a scene did not stir any thoughts in him.

But the person before him continued to stare at him, gradually making Su Su feel uncomfortable. He was always sensitive to others’ malice, and this person’s gaze was filled with greed and brutal desire, reminding him of the sharks that sought to prey on him when he was vulnerable.

Su Su’s aggression was aroused; he kicked out at the man in front of him, his long legs transformed from a shark’s tail, delivering an explosive kick.

The man felt a heavy blow to his chest, as if his rib had been broken, a wave of salty blood rising in his throat. Before he could react to what had happened, Su Su had already stepped fiercely onto the injured spot on his chest with his bare foot, causing the man to writhe in agony, his screams drowning out the sounds in the room.

Su Su’s face still bore no expression, yet the killing intent in his eyes was unmistakably pure as he said, “I don’t like your gaze. If you look at me like that again, I will scoop your eyeballs out.”