Leijiu's brows lifted, and her lips curved into a teasing smile that didn't quite hide the tiredness in her eyes.
"Luoqi xiansheng, you really are ruthless," she said softly. "You use me, and then the moment you get what you want, you're telling me to leave?"
She slid closer, not bothering to maintain any polite distance. Her fingers hooked around Luoqi's arm, drawing his hand against her chest with a deliberate, almost lazy intimacyas if she were daring him to push her away.
"I worked so hard to bring you from Beihai all the way to Donghai," Leijiu continued, her voice light but pointed. "I even managed to dodge the Haijun's pursuit on the way. You understand, don't you? Because of the woman behind you, they were hunting you like mad."
Her gaze shifted past Luoqi's shoulder.
On the bed behind him lay a woman who hadn't moved once since they docked. Long, straight legs. Black hair spilled like ink across the pillow. A standard-issue Haijun cape draped over her, as if even unconscious she refused to be stripped of her identity.
Taotu Zhiyuan.
A Dajiang houbu.
Right now, she was nothing more than a sleeping hostageher breathing shallow, the effects of a powerful anesthetic keeping her locked in darkness.
Luoqi shrugged, spreading his hands with exaggerated helplessness.
"I didn't have a choice," he said, the words honest even if his tone carried a hint of mockery. "If I hadn't grabbed this woman as a hostage, I'd have had no way to escape from He and those lunatic women she brings along."
He's ship hadn't only carried herself and Zhiyuan. Her so-called "girl army" might not have had the same fame, but they weren't weak. Not even close.
Luoqi could defeat Zhiyuan… but only because he'd taken her by surprise.
If he'd faced He head-on, with her entire crew, Luoqi didn't kid himself. He wouldn't have made it out.
And with Tianlongren blood already on his hands, he could imaginevividlywhat kind of end waited for him if the Haijun ever got their claws in him.
Leijiu watched him for a moment, her expression settling into something more thoughtful.
"Still," Luoqi went on, turning his attention fully back to her, "as for you, Leijiu nüshi… I actually do wish you could keep sailing with me."
Leijiu blinked, surprised by the sudden sincerity.
"Your navigation skills are genuinely useful," Luoqi said, unbothered by how blunt it sounded. "I need a hanghaishi who can steer through any sea. But your body… that gene in you that forces you to obey Jiazhi's orders. I can't keep you even if I want to."
His mouth tilted upward.
"If one day I find a way to solve that problem, and you still want to sail with me… I'll welcome you. Seriously."
For a moment, Leijiu's smile faded. What remained wasn't flirtation. It was something tired, honest, and quiet.
"If I could break free of my father's control," she murmured, "maybe I really would follow you out to sea."
She exhaled, as if the thought itself was both tempting and cruel.
Then Luoqi's tone snapped back into practical reality.
"Alright. Don't get tangled up in it." He pulled his arm out of her hold, the warmth of her body leaving his skin. "This is my last request."
He nodded toward the bed.
"Take this troublesome Zhiyuan nüshi away from this island. Return her to a Haijun base far from here. Once she's back in their hands, maybe they'll stop chasing me like rabid dogs."
As he spoke, he reached for the meidao resting beside himthe blade he'd taken from Zhiyuan herself.
Jinpiluo.
The moment his fingers closed around the hilt, something sharp and cold seemed to gather around him, as if even the air remembered what that sword was meant to do.
He turned toward the cabin exit.
"Wait," Leijiu said, a little too quickly. "Before you go… can I ask you something?"
Luoqi paused, not looking back.
"Why did you kill the Tianlongren?" Leijiu asked, the curiosity in her voice real. "From what you said, you were doing pretty well inside Shijie Zhengfu. You were about to become CP0. That's… not a position people throw away."
Luoqi's shoulders rose and fell in a small shrug.
"This?" His voice carried from the doorway, casual, almost careless. "Maybe… I've seen too much darkness. And I started longing for a world with light."
He lifted one hand in a lazy wave and walked out without another word.
Only Leijiu remained in the cabinalong with the unconscious Zhiyuan.
Leijiu stared after him, frowning slightly.
"Longing for light…" she murmured.
If Luoqi had been stationed on a Tianlongren's ship, then the "darkness" he spoke of… wasn't hard to imagine. The Tianlongren's nature, their cruelty, their casual violenceit was infamous even among those who served Shijie Zhengfu.
Maybe Luoqi had simply reached the limit of what a human being could endure.
Leijiu shook her head, pushing the thought away.
"Whatever it is," she whispered, "it's not my problem."
She looked down at Zhiyuan again, then made her decision.
"I'll take her to a Haijun base farther away, then return to Jie'erma 66."
As she stepped closer, her gaze drifted to Zhiyuan's long thighwhere a messy, hastily written "正" had been scrawled, like a childish tally mark.
Leijiu's mouth twitched.
She couldn't help it. A laugh bubbled up, soft and wicked.
"I wonder," she said with a gleam in her eyes, "what kind of face Zhongjiang Zhiyuan will make when she realizes Luoqi's 'joke.'"
…
Outside, Xie'erzi Zhen's coastline was bright with sun and salt spray.
A boy in a straw hat stood near the shore, eyes stretched wide as he stared at the enormous snail tugging the ship into port.
"Wa! So awesome!" he shouted. "Such a huge woniu!"
He turned toward the pink-haired boy beside him like he'd discovered a treasure.
"Kebi, look! This woniu is incredible!"
Kebi pushed up his glasses, his mouth half open. "Y-yeah… I didn't even know woniu could pull ships…"
The straw-hatted boy's excitement only grew.
"Kebi, someone's coming out of the ship!" he said, pointing. "That must be the owner!"
His grin split wide, fearless and bright.
"I've decided! I'm going to invite him to be my partner!"
Before Kebi could even inhale to protest, the straw-hatted boy dashed forward like a cannon shot, sprinting straight for the man who had just leapt down from the deck.
Luoqi barely had time to straighten before the kid planted himself in front of him, chest out, eyes blazing.
"I'm Lufei!" the boy declared. "The man who's going to become Haizei Wang! Come be my partner!"
Luoqi blinked once. Then again.
"…Huh?" he said, the sound more surprise than refusal.
In his mind, thoughts flickered rapidly.
'Caomao Lufei… I actually ran into him.'
'And that short one behind himpink hair, glassesthat's Kebi.'
'So the story… it's only just beginning?'
He tilted his head slightly, studying the boy.
If this had been Luoqi ten years agofreshly thrown into this world, hungry for directionhe might have agreed without a second thought, joining the Caomao Haizei Tuan for a main-plot adventure.
But now?
He had been in this world for over a decade.
He had mastered Haijun Liushi. He had honed Sanse Baqi until it obeyed his will. In terms of raw strength, he could contend with a Dajiang houbu.
In that situation, what reason did he have to cling to someone else's story?
Luoqi shook his head, already preparing the words.
"Sorry," he began, "I"
[Ding! You have received an invitation from the current world's "child of fate." Do you accept?]
[If you accept, you will awaken the "Zuiqiang Yingling Moban Xitong." You may use Yingling templates to strengthen yourself and your partners.]
Luoqi's voice cut off.
For a full beat, he just stared at the air in front of himbecause the words weren't spoken by anyone.
They were simply there.
In his vision.
In his mind.
"…What?"