Several speedboats were dropped from the whaling ship, and the staff in black suits brought Ji Qingzhuo onto the deck. Ji Qingzhuo didn't refuse because she knew she had to find a way to stop An Kun's actions.
As the large ship moved slowly forward, Ji Qingzhuo's white skirt fluttered slightly as she walked towards An Kun.
An Kun blew a smoke ring in her direction, quickly noticing the difference in Ji Qingzhuo's attire today. "Miss Ji, did you know I was coming today, so you didn't wear your boring lab coat?" He spoke in a casual tone.
Ji Qingzhuo had no desire to communicate with him at all. With a flat tone, she said to An Kun, "Mr. An, the Night Mist Sea is mine now. You are plundering what belongs to me."
"Oh," An Kun turned his head slightly and lit another cigar. "I'm just inviting these big guys from the sea to come and play."
"Play?" Ji Qingzhuo seemed to hear the whales' cries. Her gaze swept past An Kun's ear and locked onto the slender yet resilient ropes. "What is the nature of this incident? Mr. An is not the person in charge of making decisions."
She took out her electronic device and prepared to make a call. "When I came here, I already notified the Security Department. The absolute protection of citizens' ownership in the independent city. I will have them send people here now."
"I assure you they will encounter various accidents on the way," An Kun's laughter rang out again. "Tire blowouts, navigation errors, or they might not even leave the Security Department at all."
"Miss Ji, you probably don't know how much tax revenue the An Kun Group brings to this city every year." An Kun leaned against the railing facing the sea.
"Do you think you alone can protect this sea?" His tone carried a hint of mockery. "How many security guards did the Lanhai Company employ to guard this sea before? You should be familiar with this data, right?"
"Miss Ji, I didn't expect you to be so naive. Buying a sea is easy, but to protect it—just wishful thinking." An Kun extinguished his cigar.
Ji Qingzhuo squinted her eyes and looked out into the distance at the ocean. She didn't want to argue with An Kun because she knew that despite his unreasonable words, they were an undeniable truth.
No one would come to help her protect this sea. Since she didn't have that ability, she shouldn't have taken it over in the first place.
However... however... She took a deep breath. She now knew that this sea had life and a pulse. How could she just hand it over to others?
Let these people plunder this sea until there is nothing left but desolate land?
Ji Qingzhuo's hand reached for her waist. At that moment, An Kun received a document from his assistant.
"I'm here just to show off my gentlemanly demeanor to Miss Ji," An Kun handed the folder to Ji Qingzhuo. "This is the transfer agreement for the Night Mist Sea. The An Kun Group has evaluated and decided to purchase it at three times the original price. After you sign it, not only can you immediately pay off your bank loan, but you can also gain enormous wealth."
"As for you, Miss Ji, we have plenty of time to take things slow." An Kun smiled at Ji Qingzhuo.
He liked beautiful women, and he wanted different types of them in his collection, especially someone like Ji Qingzhuo who piqued his curiosity.
An Kun didn't believe that there were people who could be as cold and boring as machines. Even if Ji Qingzhuo didn't say a word, she looked like a beautiful piece of art just standing there.
This was his first test, and perhaps it was his habit of always finding success. He felt like he could succeed.
But Ji Qingzhuo pushed the document back, lowered her gaze, and looked at the metal decorations on the deck.
"I refuse," she said.
"Say it again," An Kun couldn't believe these words were coming from Ji Qingzhuo's mouth.
"I refuse," Ji Qingzhuo repeated her words.
"How dare you... fine, then watch as these stupid and clumsy creatures get dismembered on the ship." An Kun clenched the newly lit cigar in his mouth and said viciously, "Their blood will stain the entire deck. And as my honored guest, I will share with you the juiciest piece of meat from their bodies. It's a different experience to eat it raw with some mustard."
Ji Qingzhu's hand reached into the large pocket of her white dress. She always had a big pocket in each of her outfits because she was prone to losing things. So, she usually kept some of her essentials in her pocket.
A pen from a certain brand, a notebook, test tubes, tweezers, electronic terminal... and also--
The seagulls perching on the mast were startled and flapped their wings in panic, flying away from the source of the sound.
"Bang, bang, bang--" Several gunshots rang out from Ji Qingzhu's hand. Even though this weapon had undergone multiple improvements and the recoil had been optimized to almost none, Ji Qingzhu still staggered back two steps uncontrollably while holding it with one hand.
The smoke from the muzzle dispersed, revealing her face behind the smoke.
- This is why she dared to approach Shen Rongyu in the cramped cabin underwater, even though she knew he was dangerous. It was because this was her prepared means of self-defense. The independent city did not restrict citizens from privately owning firearms, but Ji Qingzhu's weapon had too much power.
She did not aim the gun at An Kun. The bullets grazed An Kun's shoulder and shot straight towards the side of several whaling ships behind him.
The hunt was in its final stage, and the workers on the deck were about to haul the enormous whale onto the ship when bullets whizzed by.
Each small bullet accurately penetrated the weakest parts of the ropes restraining the whale. With a few "puchi" sounds, the ropes with tail hooks snapped, and the freed whale fell into the water, creating a massive splash. The resulting waves crashed onto the ship, as if it were raining.
Ji Qingzhu's marksmanship, calculated beforehand, was excellent. Every bullet hit the thinnest and weakest parts of the ropes, causing them to break one after another.
She had already started calculating these data when she was modifying her yacht.
Ji Qingzhu didn't board the ship with the intention of negotiating with An Kun. She only came here to collect data from a higher vantage point.
"You--" An Kun dropped the cigar he was holding. He didn't expect Ji Qingzhu to play around with firearms in front of him.
Joking aside, An Kun's group had more powerful weapons than Ji Qingzhu. Once firearms were used, it meant that the other party could also retaliate with the same weapon.
"Me?" Due to An Kun's instructions, Ji Qingzhu was standing very close to him. The still-smoking barrel in her hand shifted, aiming at An Kun's heart.
She held the gun with both hands, her hands trembling slightly--indicating that this was her first time handling a gun. However, no one would doubt her marksmanship.
"Mr. An, do you think my gun still has bullets?" Ji Qingzhu's voice was calm.
She could no longer suppress her anger and was frustrated with her own lack of ability. Why couldn't she just quietly guard this last corner of the ocean?
The situation had escalated to this point, and she could no longer back down. Using firearms here, even if she didn't harm anyone, An Kun would definitely find a way to create evidence of her harming someone.
The most difficult part was that she couldn't leave unscathed unless--
Ji Qingzhu took two steps forward, pressing the barrel against An Kun's chest. An Kun quickly raised his hand in a gesture of surrender, but his gaze was fixed on Ji Qingzhu, revealing a fanatical light.
Truly... a perfect collectible. She couldn't escape from here.
"I haven't hurt anyone or violated any regulations of the independent city," Ji Qingzhu's voice quivered with a touch of youthfulness. "Mr. An, have your subordinates leave my sea."
"Miss Ji, there are no bullets in your gun, right?" An Kun suddenly held onto the still hot barrel. "You are an excellent researcher; you won't lie."
He lowered his gaze and let out a sinister laugh. "Rest assured, I will let you go, but before that, I'm afraid you'll have to sign another agreement with me."
Ji Qingzhu's fingers trembled as they rested on the trigger. Since she took out the gun, she hadn't had any desire to kill.
The number of bullets was just enough to shoot through the ropes binding the whales. This was the optimal solution.
She said, "I won't."
"It's okay, I will use your beautiful and delicate wrist to sign your name on the agreement, Miss Ji," An Kun's fingers slowly climbed up the barrel, "After all, it was you who threatened me first, wasn't it?"
Just as his fingers were about to touch the back of Ji Qingzhu's hand, another sound came from the sea. It was the sound of an engine roaring. Another person stood on the speedboat, and Ji Qingzhu looked in the direction of the sound, feeling a sense of familiarity with the figure.
He was wearing clothes that she had bought for him not too long ago. She knew his body size very well.
With a "whoosh" sound, Shen Rongyu used something to stick himself to the railing of the whaling ship and pulled himself onto the boat.
In an instant, the weapon that had been aimed at Ji Qingzhu changed direction and was now pointing straight at him.
Shen Rongyu lowered his head and looked at the watch on his wrist, showing a tender smile to Ji Qingzhu. "I'm sorry, I saw that you hadn't arrived on time, so I came out to find you."
His gaze shifted and fell on the high-tech weapons equipped by An Kun's security team.
"What flashy things," he took a step forward, then withdrew his gaze. Those cold, hard weapons instantly crumbled, their internal systems in disarray, and their energy dissipated, as if they had been shattered by some form of energy attack.
Ji Qingzhu's mind was in turmoil. She remembered that Shen Rongyu had been tied up underwater just yesterday, and he still had such a long dragon tail at that time.
How did he escape from there?
At this moment, both she and An Kun were stunned, looking at her in unison.
"Can't you bring your hand back yourself?" Shen Rongyu approached Ji Qingzhu.
When his hand touched the back of her hand, An Kun was horrified to discover that he couldn't move his body as if there were invisible threads controlling him.
"Let me take it back for you." Shen Rongyu gently flipped up the fingers of An Kun's hand that were pressed against the barrel in Ji Qingzhu's hand.
Since he couldn't move now, his finger joints were also stiff. Even though An Kun realized the danger and tried to retreat, he had no room to beg for mercy.
"Crack, crack."
Shen Rongyu smiled as he broke his finger bones, slowly and indulgently, then used a slow and enjoyable speed to retrieve the barrel of the gun from Ji Qingzhu's hand.