Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the dimly lit corridor, after leaving Lumoluki’s line of sight, Yaj, who became gloomy inadvertently glimpsed the proud smile of the black-haired young man. Annoyed, she frowned and asked, “Congratulations on getting your wish, Sir Lisheng. Then, are you going to fulfill the agreement with our Golden Velvet Flower Trading?”
Upon hearing the upset tone hidden behind the woman’s calm tone, Zhang Lisheng was a little puzzled but did not bother to ask the reason. Instead, he immediately took out a demon god wood sculpture that had a human upper body and a snake for the lower body the size of a thumb to give to the woman, “Miss Yaj, this is my promise.”
“Your token is quite barbaric.” Yaj took the woodcarving and looked at it before carefully placing it away. Her mood changed to become better as she said with manner, “The fleet sailing to the Nutao Sea will leave seven days later. I’ll lead the caravan personally. A banquet will be held one night before departure according to the custom of the Sea Haines City. As one of the companions on the sailing, you must come too.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Since the master had already tacitly ended the conversation, Zhang Lisheng naturally bowed to bid his goodbye politely “I’ll take my leave first today, Miss Yaj.”
Then, he proceeded to turn and leave.
Looking at Zhang Lisheng’s back that disappeared at the corner of the stairs, Yaj silently opened her folding fan to cover her mouth as she muttered with a deep gaze, “This pig Lumoluki is starting to become imprudent with me. I can’t just keep using the name Adalu to suppress his lusty thoughts. I must find a way to end it once and for all. This Sir Zhang Lisheng doesn’t seem to be this simple too. A scholar obsessed with pioneering biology who came from a foreign mainland? Humph! Look at that businessman antic of his that is good at acting! How can that possibly be a scholar? There are so many weird animals on the Green Leaf Mainland, and he doesn’t want to research here but wants to go to Nutao Sea instead? Something is fishy here…”
Although the woman felt that she was smart, the intricate, robust relationships and the confusing human hearts still made her be at the end of the tether. No matter how she thought about it, she still had no choice but to do her best in the things that she needed to do and hope everything will eventually work out. Three days later, she actually gathered a vast caravan composed of over 200 merchant ships in the harbor outside in the Sea Haines City.
After another three days, exquisite gold and silver utensils, beautiful artworks, fragrant spices, luxurious armor, and other high-value goods were packed into cargo ships in batches. According to their plan, the Golden Velvet Flower Trading managed to prepare everything before the long-distance voyage.
In the evening, a temporary dinner was held at the Golden Flower Terrier Manor.
This was the joyful fortune baroque of the Sea Haines City’s major commerce family in advance. Those who were influential in the city-state, whether they were qualified or had the knack to follow the Golden Velvet Flower Trading’s caravan to the Nutao Sea for the gold rush, were all invited.
Those who felt that they had some status but were not invited would do everything possible to appear in the dinner.
Contrary to those people who tried to secure personal gains by hooks or by crooks, Zhang Lisheng waited in the Lush Hotel the whole day until the evening but did not receive any invitation from Yaj at all. With this, he was secretly overjoyed that he did not have to deal with this seemingly luxurious but boring networking.
To his surprise, when he rang the waiter to order dinner, a young boy with bright eyes, wearing a short golden robe appeared together with the waiter before saying in a crisp voice, “Sir Zhang Lisheng, as per Yaj Mishen’s order, I’m here to invite you to the banquet. The carriage is waiting outside.”
“Oh,” His dream of a quiet night was shattered. Sighing, the young man stood up, “I didn’t expect Miss Yaj to be so thoughtful. Let us go then.”
Then, he walked down the stairs under the envious eyes of the waiters and the other guests to leave.
The air in the Sea Haines City was unusually wet and salty in the evening.
A chilly breeze blew through the city-state that was just brightly lit by the street light, making everybody feel cold right away. At once, it gave off a more vivid feeling of the surrounding bustling scene.
Zhang Lisheng took a deep breath of the cold air and jumped onto the carriage when the young boy opened the door of the carriage respectfully. The carriage drove to the suburbs, and over ten minutes later, it came to a bright Golden Flower Terrier Manor that was lit with thousands of flaming white candles with a pleasant aroma
At this time, half of the guests had already arrived. When the luxurious carriage drew with gold-colored velvet stopped in front of the entrance hall of the manor, and a black-haired, unfamiliar young man walked out of it, many luxuriously dressed guests could not help but be baffled. Only a few merchants who knew the inside story politely smiled and nodded at the young man to show their courtesy.
At the same time, Yaj, who was wearing a blue, low-neck long dress that had a foreign world’s taste and a red ruby necklace lying on her fair chests as she fluttered around like a butterfly while welcoming the guests, was accompanying a silver-haired, thin old man with a hearty spirit to walk up to Zhang Lisheng. Reaching out a hand, she smiled charmingly as she greeted, “Good evening, Sir Zhang Lisheng.”
“Good evening, Miss Yaj, and this is…” Zhang Lisheng showed the excellent manner that he had perfected in the high social circle in New York. According to the general etiquette of the Green Leaf Mainland, he kissed the girl’s middle finger before turning his gaze to the old man to ask.
“I’m Darren Mishen, Yaj’s father, the owner of the Golden Velvet Flower Trading. Welcome to the banquet tonight, Sir Zhang Lisheng. Your arrival makes the Golden Flower Terrier Manor even more radiant,” The silver-haired old man replied directly. Although his words were polite, his attitude was naturally dominant. With just a glance, one could tell that he had been in a high position for a very long time.
“You flatter me, Sir Darren. It should be me who thank you and Miss Yaj for inviting me to this banquet,” In the face of such a master, Zhang Lisheng, who had no intention to reveal his spurs, smiled as he replied humbly and politely.
Upon hearing this, the old man smiled and no longer gave any polite remarks, “I’m sorry, Sir Zhang Lisheng. I just saw a few friends of mine, so I’ll take my leave first. Please have an enjoyable evening.”
Then, he proceeded to walk towards the few gorgeous carriages that had just stopped together at the slab stone road.
“To be honest, you should wear formal attire to attend a banquet. You can’t dance in a long robe. If you want to change your dress, go find Mr. Sakni instead, “Yaj looked at the loose robe the young man was wearing and whispered to him. Then, she followed her father to greet the other guests.
Zhang Lisheng, who regained his freedom, would certainly not find any butler to change his attire. He felt that he had already shown enough goodwill by attending this banquet as per required by the custom. Hiding in inconspicuous places, enjoying the excellent wine and food of the foreign world till the feast ended later would be the smarter choice.
When he thought of this, he quickly walked into the manor hall and took a glass of red wine from the dining table. Under the crowd’s watchful eyes, he slipped through the crowds and went to a corner, before leaning on a wall to sip his wine silently.
However, things would not transpire according to how he wished. Due to Zhang Lisheng’s unusual look and his distinctive identity of holding the trading right with the Hellfire tribe, despite hiding by the corner, he still inevitably attracted attention. Some merchants even deliberately went to talk to him.
Even so, as the banquet progressed, the joyful atmosphere became even livelier. When four dance performances ended, it was time for everybody to dance; the young man who had been unsociable and eccentric began to find himself alone and free.
He, who had gotten what he wished for, leisurely left to get a few cakes on a plate. Standing at the corner of the hall while looking at the mainlanders who were dancing under the accompaniment of the band’s soothing music 30 to 40 meters away, a greedy smile unconsciously crept upon the corner of his mouth.
Once he had unified the Hellfire Archipelago, his next target of war would be none other than Green Leaf Mainland. If the war started, the first place that he would hit was the Kattaman City State who was facing the west sea. While the young man was thinking about the future, several familiar figures appeared in his line of sight and caused him to be stunned.
After snapping back to reality, Zhang Lisheng frowned and muttered to himself, “I actually come across the Atlanteans and the US spies in such a critical moment? How unlucky! If I knew that it would be like this, I should have let that empty-vessel merchant die in the storm…”
Just as he was about to dodge, Zhang Lisheng, whose attire, skin color, and hair were too unusual, was immediately spotted by Alison, who was looking around.
Hiding was no longer a feasible option. Zhang Lisheng secretly sighed and pretended to stare into the eyes of the federal intelligence officer. Putting on a stunned expression, he walked up and beat her to it as he whispered, “Madam Someril, Miss Alison! Long-time no see! How are you guys? I heard Mr. Luqi said that you’ve gone for some exploring…”
“Mr. Lisheng, there’s a serious unexpected situation on Earth, and we came here, especially for you!” Alison interrupted the young man and said in an exceptionally grave expression, “The mission of exploring the Shrimp World No. 2 has been called off. According to the new order, we must return to Earth in the shortest possible time.”
“The mission has been called off?” Zhang Lisheng was stunned. “What do you mean? We spent so much effort and such a long time…”
The black female officer interrupted Zhang Lisheng’s words for the second time. “There’s a split among the Atlanteans! The White House has terminated all cooperation plans with them and ordered all those who are carrying out missions in the foreign worlds to immediately return to the nest!”
When her words left her mouth, Someril, who was standing by her side, quickly corrected her, “Alison, there’s no split among us. It’s just that some people have a biased view of the foreign world. Wasn’t I the one who passed the ‘return to the nest’ order to you? Atlanteans are still the comrades of the Earthlings…”
Zhang Lisheng, who had always had a negative opinion about the Atlanteans’ selfless help on Earth, did not have any sense of smugness after knowing that he had actually guessed it right.
When he thought of the power of the Atlantis, his body stiffened. Staring at the alien elite members with a grave expression, he placed his hand, both intentionally and unconsciously, on the animal skin pouch tied around his waist as he asked, “Alright, Madam Someril. I don’t care if the Earth and the Atlantis are enemies or friends in the future, but I just want to know how Earth is now?”
“We don’t know either. I’m sorry, Mr. Lisheng!” Someril replied in a low voice. It was apparent that she had a heavy feeling too.
