NOVEL NEXT Chapter 86 - Storm and Waves
Just as Mai Dongzi playfully assured the three girls that she would complete the task and then leaped into the sea, Prince Arthur, who was having a “pleasant” breakfast with his family, received a text message.
Seeing the message channel on his light brain, Prince Arthur’s expression darkened slightly as he opened the text.
“Your Highness, on the black market assassination list, the bounty for Miss Mai Dongzi has been increased by someone to forty million credits, making the total bounty fifty million credits.”
After receiving this message, Prince Arthur’s expression grew grim, and his aura surged dramatically, almost causing the Second Prince, Adi, and the Third Prince, Ali, who were sitting beside him, to nearly collapse.
“What’s wrong?” King Gujia asked.
“It’s a personal matter,” Prince Arthur had already calmed his emotions.
King Gujia nodded and didn’t say anything more. Once his sons reached adulthood, he generally refrained from interfering in their personal matters unless they sought his help.
“What could make Big Brother so angry?” the Second Prince, Adi, asked, half in curiosity and half in an attempt to probe.
“Personal matter,” Prince Arthur said lightly.
The Second Prince, Adi, looked a bit aggrieved and was about to say something when King Gujia, having finished breakfast, stood up and said to his children, “I’m going to work now!” He then turned and prepared to head to the National Assembly building.
Prince Arthur also stood up and told his younger siblings, “Take your time with breakfast.”
Hearing the Third Prince, Ali, snickering behind him and the Second Prince, Adi, somewhat irritatedly scolding him, Prince Arthur remained unaffected.
In Prince Arthur’s mind, the Second Prince, Adi, was far less impressive than the Third Prince, Ali. Despite being their mother’s sons, he wondered how the Queen had managed to raise them so that the brothers didn’t get along.
After receiving the news about Mai Dongzi’s attack, Lieutenant Chen immediately initiated an investigation and, when he saw Prince Arthur, reported the matter to him.
“The security patrol has been monitoring that route all day. Therefore, when Little Lucy was attacked, the security patrol team arrived at the scene immediately. Little Lucy was not injured,” Lieutenant Chen first reported the key points.
“Have they caught anyone?” Prince Arthur asked with a slight frown.
“Not yet. The assassin organization deployed a Cloudpiercer ship, and the security patrols couldn’t keep up. All surveillance equipment failed to detect it,” Lieutenant Chen replied.
Although the Blue-Black Empire enforces strict airspace control, new types of flying vessels from other countries inevitably leak into the black market. After modifications, these illegal flying ships often go undetected by satellite surveillance.
Prince Arthur was not surprised. He said in a deep voice, “A few days ago, I had that assassin organization taken out, but last night, someone suddenly injected forty million credits into Mai Dongzi’s bounty. This person’s methods are very covert. Our people in the black market only found out about it half an hour ago and have been unable to find any clues.”
Lieutenant Chen carefully processed Prince Arthur’s words before saying, “I’ve had people keep a close watch on Zhao Fanni. She hasn’t made any moves.”
According to Prince Arthur, the actions of his people in the black market had come to the attention of the person who increased the bounty.
Although Zhao Fanni had the money, she didn’t have the capability. Besides, the Xi family was keeping a tight watch on her, wary of her running off and causing trouble for Mai Dongzi.
“It shouldn’t be her,” Prince Arthur said.
“Do you have any suspects, Your Highness?” Lieutenant Chen asked.
“There are two dangerous individuals around Mai Dongzi who haven’t been identified yet.”
——-
Vice-Admiral Chen immediately understood. One of these dangerous individuals is the one who secretly encouraged Little Lucy to purchase the enhancement potions for abilities on the black market, while the other is the person behind the exposure of the fake heiress.
“Little Lucy must have done something wrong to be targeted by so many people.” The more Vice-Admiral Chen delved into the investigation, the more sympathy he felt for Little Lucy.
As someone who was swapped at birth and had lost both parents, her only fault seemed to be her association with Prince Arthur.
Thus, Vice-Admiral Chen couldn’t help but suspect that the person behind all this trouble for Little Lucy was likely motivated by issues related to Prince Arthur.
Vice-Admiral Chen looked at Prince Arthur and asked, “Your Highness, do you have any leads?”
“This person is deeply concealed, but this time, there were some traces left. I’ve already sent someone else to investigate,” Prince Arthur replied coldly.
“Currently, Little Lucy’s bounty has reached fifty million credits, which is enough to attract high-level assassins. One guard, Su, is too weak to handle this alone,” Vice-Admiral Chen expressed his genuine concern.
Just like this recent attack, the Assassin organization even deployed a Cloud Piercing Ship on a grand scale. If it weren’t for Prince Arthur’s arrangement of patrols and the powerful flying car provided by General Su, Little Lucy would have been in great danger.
Prince Arthur coldly stated, “She will be staying at the Imperial Capital University for the next six months.”
In six months, they should be able to deal with these people.
……
Before jumping into the sea, Mai Dongzi had already been concerned about the weather for today.
Sure enough, she hadn’t even swum ten nautical miles when the sky started to darken with thick clouds, the sea breeze picked up, and the once calm sea began to stir.
By the time Mai Dongzi swam another nautical mile, the wind had grown stronger, the clouds were churning, and a heavy storm was clearly imminent.
In the sea, the gale brought by the storm could easily stir up huge waves, putting them at a disadvantage.
The waves had already changed from the initial small waves to medium waves about two meters high.
Although the two-meter high waves were not dangerous for these cultivators, they significantly hindered their progress.
Mai Dongzi could still maintain her speed, but the new students around her were falling further behind. She used her spiritual sense to check ahead, and there were already fewer than fifty people in front of her.
They had only swum one-seventh of the distance, and some of the new students who had entered the water earlier than Mai Dongzi by nearly five minutes were quickly overtaken by her.
Soon, it started to rain heavily. Large raindrops pelted down on their heads. Although it wasn’t painful, it was quite uncomfortable.
Although they were in the sea and didn’t need to worry about getting wet from the rain, they were concerned about the strong winds brought by the heavy rain.
The intensity of sudden storms cannot be accurately predicted in advance, making the lurking dangers unpredictable as well. In this storm, the wave height quickly increased from moderate to large waves.
Mai Dongzi “saw” the new students around her struggling in the waves, as if they might be swallowed by the sea at any moment.
Even she could not avoid being submerged and pushed under the water by the large waves.
When submerged by the waves, Mai Dongzi remained calm, determinedly swimming towards the surface. She quickly managed to reach the top of the water.
However, she would often have just enough time to catch a few breaths before being pushed back underwater by another large wave.
However, she would often only have time to catch a few breaths before being pushed back under the water by another large wave.