However, there was no other way. The journey to the Supreme Ship would definitely be even more dangerous, and Zhou Ziwei still had to rescue three more people. He didn't have the energy to protect so many people at once, so naturally he wouldn't bring these two burdens along.
As the black Bentley pulled up to a small pier on the Zhongdu coast, waiting for the speedboat belonging to the gambling ship, which had been requested by San Tian Dayu, Zhou Ziwei got out of the car. He walked alone to a secluded spot on the pier, took out a newly bought cell phone, hesitated for a moment, and then dialed an encrypted number…
"Old commander, there's something I hope you can help me with..."
Five minutes later, after Zhou Ziwei had finished negotiating the terms and finally hung up the phone, he saw that the speedboat had arrived at the dock and immediately walked over quickly.
"Mr. Mita, who is this guy? Is he your friend? Heh heh... He's got quite the airs... We actually had to wait for him." A man in a light gray suit on the speedboat stared at Zhou Ziwei with a smug look of dissatisfaction.
Upon hearing this, San Tian Dayu's face paled. He glanced at Zhou Ziwei, and seeing that Zhou Ziwei remained expressionless and seemingly unperturbed by the man's rudeness, he breathed a slight sigh of relief. He quickly put on a stern face and reprimanded the man in the suit, "Mr. Liu, this is our San Tian clan chief... um... our most distinguished guest. Please be more polite in your words, otherwise... I'm afraid that if the San Tian clan chief gets angry, even your boss won't be able to withstand his wrath."
"Chief Santian's guest." The man in the suit was slightly surprised upon hearing this, and couldn't help but glance at Zhou Ziwei a few more times, but couldn't see anything special about him. He couldn't help but curl his lips and said casually, "Oh... well, I'm sorry... please get on the boat quickly! We still have to pick up another guest, and that guest has quite a powerful backer. If we delay any longer, I'm afraid I'll still be in trouble!"
"What...you're going to pick up other guests?"
This time, Mita Dayu was truly enraged. The Mita family had always been a highly respected family in Asia, and no local power dared to disrespect them, whether in China or Southeast Asian countries.
Normally, whenever he, Santian Dayu, showed up, the other party would treat him with the highest level of hospitality. This time, he called to say that he was taking a friend to a gambling ship. He thought that the other party would at least send a helicopter to pick him up. However, he did not expect that the other party did not take him, Santian Dayu, seriously at all and even told them to go to the dock to wait for the ship to pick them up.
Originally, Mita Dayu wanted to simply fly there by helicopter himself, but the Supreme Casino ship firmly refused, and even refused to provide him with the current coordinates of the casino ship. Helpless, after asking Zhou Ziwei for his opinion, Mita Dayu had no choice but to agree.
Unexpectedly, what greeted them was just a small speedboat, and the person who came to pick them up was so arrogant that it made people angry. What he couldn't stand even more was that such a distinguished guest as Zhou Ziwei had to ride in a speedboat with other guests. How could San Tian Dayu save face?
"I think you haven't grasped Mr. Zhou's identity and status!" Mita Daiyu said with a stern face, "For Mr. Zhou to even ride on your speedboat is already a huge favor to your Supreme Ship. And you still want us to accompany you to pick up other guests, you..."
“Oh… I think you’ve got it wrong, Mr. Mita?” The man in the suit, unfazed by Mita Daiyu’s almost threatening tone, rolled his eyes slightly and said, “The Supreme Ship only allows guests to board before entering international waters. Once it enters international waters, no one is allowed to board or participate in activities. Our boss made an exception this time because of the Mita family. Mr. Mita, you should be satisfied, hehe… Although I know your Mita family has a lot of influence in Asia, our boss is from Europe. He doesn’t care about your Mita family’s ways. Hmm… If you feel that riding on my speedboat is beneath your dignity, you can refuse to board. I have no objection. You can also call our boss directly. Maybe he’ll be intimidated by the reputation of your Mita family and personally come to pick you up by helicopter…”
"What the hell did you say, you idiot..." Mita Daiyu was immediately embarrassed by the man in the suit's sharp retort. He took a step forward, ready to fight, but then two people suddenly appeared from the speedboat, each holding a submachine gun and glaring at him fiercely. Mita Daiyu was so frightened that he trembled and hurriedly took a few steps back.
Mita Dayu was originally considered a ruthless character, but he usually relied on his family's power to intimidate others, and he was always surrounded by a group of bodyguards and thugs. Even when he got angry, it was his men who charged forward. But this time... Zhou Ziwei insisted that he not even bring a driver. The two of them didn't even have any weapons for self-defense. Under these circumstances, how could he possibly be ruthless anymore?
San Tian Dayu retreated to Zhou Ziwei's side, his lips trembling as he said, "Mr. Zhou... what do you think? Should we... should we go play again next time? These guys have a death wish. I... I'll talk to the clan chief later, and he'll definitely make them regret it..."
Zhou Ziwei waved his hand lightly. His expression remained unchanged throughout, as if he hadn't seen anything at all. The submachine guns carried by the two burly men on the speedboat seemed like mere toys. He strode onto the gangplank and boarded the speedboat. Seeing that San Tian Dayu was still hesitating behind him, he waved his hand impatiently and said, "Fine, if you don't want to go, then don't go. As long as they can get me to the Supreme, your mission will be complete!"
"Ah...I..." Mita Daiyu was initially delighted upon hearing this, but then, thinking of the Chinese man's standing in Mita Masao's eyes, he felt a chill run down his spine. He knew that if his performance today reached Mita Masao's ears, his uncle, who was always extremely strict with him, would probably cripple him this time.
Even if they spared his life out of familial affection, he could forget about ever holding any important position in the Mita family again.
Fortune favors the bold. Mita Dayu knew that if he could curry favor with Zhou Ziwei and gain even a little bit of favor in Zhou Ziwei's heart, then he was destined to prosper in the future. However, if Zhou Ziwei developed any aversion to him... that would be even more terrible than Mita Masao disliking him.
So even though the people on the boat were giving him very unfriendly looks, Mita Dayu didn't dare to hesitate any longer. He immediately chuckled and said, "Mr. Zhou, you...you see, I'm just thinking of you. Since you want to go...then I...then I will naturally follow your lead. Judging from your appearance, you probably don't have much money on you. I've already prepared some. Even if you find someone to help you carry the money, you still need someone, right?"
As he spoke, Mita Daiyu hurriedly ran to the trunk of the car and pulled out a suitcase full of cash. Then, under the guns of the two men on the speedboat, he followed them up cautiously.
The Supreme Cruises is a gambling ship, and it's also a place that provides exclusive entertainment for some of China's wealthy tycoons. You can't go to a place like that without money. Although Zhou Ziwei didn't say what he was going to do on the Supreme Cruises, he still needed to prepare some cash.
Fortunately, the Mita family owns several wholly-owned companies and three manufacturing enterprises in China. He only needed to make a phone call, and someone would directly withdraw a large sum of money from the company's vault and deliver it to him. This box of banknotes was already prepared when he saw Kyzylem and Anilias off on Nanjing Road.
Seeing that Mita Dayu was determined to go with them, Zhou Ziwei didn't try to dissuade him any further. He was sure that he would be going to have a life-or-death struggle on the gambling ship. Although this guy had practiced a few moves of judo, with his character, if he really met and fought with the experts from the black market assassin network, he would just be cannon fodder sent to his death. However, Zhou Ziwei didn't care much about the lives of these Japanese devils. Since he wanted to go, he would let him go.
Seeing that Mita Dayu had tacitly yielded, the man in the suit laughed triumphantly. He then boarded the boat, untied the mooring ropes, and had the speedboat started, heading straight for another dock.
Xue Xue was sitting on the dock, having taken off her boots and dipped her delicate, snow-white feet into the seawater, splashing around in the water. She had a large lollipop in her mouth, and her eyes were half-closed as she gazed at a seabird foraging for food on the surface of the sea. Her lips twitched from time to time, revealing a smile that looked bright but also seemed quite sad.
Behind him stood four bodyguards dressed in black suits, two white and two black. Regardless of their height, they were all over two meters tall, making them look like the Black and White Duo from a martial arts novel, except that there were two of them.
Each of the four bodyguards had a black leather suitcase at their feet, and their waists were bulging as if they were hiding something. Two of them faced Xue Xue, while the other two had their backs to her, gazing at the scene outside the dock with focused and vigilant expressions, which contrasted sharply with Xue Xue's unfocused and casual gaze.
"Miss... the speedboat is here. Please step back a little to avoid any ill intentions from the crew."
The two bodyguards facing the sea saw a speedboat approaching rapidly in the distance. They immediately stepped forward warily, flanking Xue Xue and cautiously reminding her of its presence.
"So what if they're here... I'm just a little girl, what's there to be afraid of..." Xue Xue casually pushed the two bodyguards beside her aside, her brows furrowed slightly as she said, "Don't you know you smell of sweat? Don't stand so close to me next time, or I'll punish you by not letting you eat tonight."
The two ruthless individuals, one in black and one in white, had veins throbbing on their foreheads upon hearing this, but neither dared to utter a word of rebuttal. They could only nod in agreement with wry smiles. However, as the speedboat drew closer, both of them involuntarily placed their hands on their waists, and their eyes gradually sharpened, just like eagles preparing to hunt their prey.
"Miss Xue...please board the ship. I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting!"
The man in the gray suit stepped off the speedboat and greeted them ashore with a smile, displaying an attitude several times more respectful than he had shown to Mita Daiyu earlier.
"Halt." The two bodyguards, one in black and one in white, immediately moved their towering bodies to block the gray-suited man's path as he seemed about to shake hands with her. The other two bodyguards quickly stepped forward to protect Xue Xue. They paid no attention to the black boxes on the ground. The white bodyguard, in the lead, said coldly, "Our young lady never interacts with strange men. Please do not approach... You are sent by Mr. Carlos of the Supreme, right? You can lead the way; our young lady will board the ship herself."
The man in the gray suit was somewhat annoyed at being outmaneuvered, but considering the background of the seemingly confused little girl, he didn't dare utter a sound. He certainly didn't dare to make his brothers brandish their guns like he had done with Mita Dayu earlier. So, he could only nod and bow, make a "please" gesture, and then take the lead on the deck to board the speedboat.
Why are there other people on this speedboat?
The two bodyguards who were leading the way ducked into the speedboat's cabin and glanced inside. They were taken aback when they saw Zhou Ziwei and Mita Daiyu sitting there casually. They then glared at the man in the gray suit and roared, "Mr. Carlos, don't you know our young lady doesn't like to be around strange men? Why are there other guests on board?"
The man in the gray suit felt a chill run down his spine when the towering black man, a head and a half taller than him, glared at him with his bull-like eyes. He could only manage a wry smile and say, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Originally, the boss sent us specifically to pick up Miss Xue, but... on the way, we received another call from the boss saying... saying that another guest also wanted to board the Supreme Cruiser for a trip, and sending another speedboat would take a long time, so he asked me to give these two guests a ride as well. I hope Miss Xue will understand... Our boss said..."
"No..." Before the man in the gray suit could finish speaking, the black bodyguard grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up like a chicken. "Don't you understand me? Our young lady isn't comfortable around strange men. This cabin is so small, you want our young lady to sit with two stinky men? I think you're asking for trouble."
Meanwhile, another white man had already crouched down and crawled into the cabin. He stared at Zhou Ziwei and Mita Dayu, who were sitting there motionless, and said in a deep voice, "Did you hear that? Our young lady is not used to sitting with men. You... get out of here right now."
Volume 2 The Killer's Nightmare Chapter 471 Mr. Egg
When Mita Daiyu saw so many more people coming aboard, he was already a little unhappy. He was about to tell the man in the gray suit not to let too many people into the cabin, lest the air inside be bad and make Zhou Ziwei uncomfortable, but he didn't expect that the white bodyguard would actually tell the two of them to get out.
Mita Daiyu knew that the owner of the Supreme Casino had a very powerful background, which was why he was afraid when he saw the other party brandish their guns. However, when he saw a little girl with four bodyguards, he didn't take them seriously. He guessed she was just the daughter of some wealthy family. It seemed that the girl was Chinese, and as long as she was Chinese, Mita Daiyu had even less to fear.
As for the Chinese... the Mita family only has one person they fear, and that is Mr. Zhou in front of them. Of course... they also have to include some women who are closely related to Mr. Zhou. Apart from that, even some provincial and ministerial-level officials have to be polite to Mita Dayu. What is there to be afraid of?
Besides... the bodyguards with this girl are all foreigners, so she's probably just a Chinese person who came back from abroad to visit relatives. Chinese people generally don't have a high social status abroad. Even if they have money, if they don't have status, there's nothing to be afraid of.
So, Mita Daiyu immediately stood up aggressively, pointed at the white bodyguard, and roared, "Who do you think you are? How dare you ask our Mr. Zhou to leave? Don't you have any manners, you little bodyguard? I think you're asking for trouble!"
During his early years in Japan, Mita Daiyu spent several years hustling at the bottom of the Mita Group. It wasn't until he achieved some success that he was promoted by his uncle, Mita Masao. These years of experience gave him a roguish air, typical of a street thug. While he was relatively well-behaved during business negotiations, his roguishness was fully revealed when he got into arguments. Bystanders would find it hard to believe that this was actually a high-ranking member of the renowned Mita family.
"What did you say?" The white bodyguard had no intention of arguing with Mita Daiyu. Seeing that Mita Daiyu was not going to move aside from the cabin, he was too lazy to waste any more words. He quickly walked over, grabbed Mita Daiyu by the collar, and threw him onto the deck.
"Ah..." Mita Dayu cried out in pain, sat down on the ground with a thud, rolled over and got up. When he saw three other burly men, each over two meters tall, standing in front of him, he immediately fell silent.
As the saying goes, a wise man doesn't suffer a loss before his eyes... These bodyguards seem to be quite skilled, but what's most frightening is that they seem to have no brains. Before making a move, they didn't even bother to find out the other party's identity or background, and they weren't afraid of bringing disaster upon their master.
For such brainless fools, Mita Dayu always crushes them to death if he can. When he can't crush them, he stays far away to avoid being killed without even knowing how he died. Even if his uncle avenges him and wipes out the other party's entire clan, he still won't survive, will he?
However, Mita Daiyu was convinced that these big guys were doomed to fail here today, because there was a mysterious Mr. Zhou inside who even Mita Masao feared to the core...
The legend that Mr. Zhou could single-handedly contend with the entire Mita family was no secret within the family. Therefore, Mita Dayu had reason to believe that the next ones to be thrown out would be those other big guys.
"And you...get out of here too!"
After throwing Mita Dayu out, the white bodyguard immediately shouted at Zhou Ziwei in a deep voice. However, Zhou Ziwei remained sitting there silently, as if he had not heard him. He neither flew into a rage like Mita Dayu nor showed the slightest fear.
The white bodyguard seemed carefree, but since he was sent by his master to be the bodyguard of Miss Xue, who was known for her absent-mindedness, he couldn't possibly be a fool. Seeing Zhou Ziwei's calm demeanor, he immediately became wary.
"Friend, could you do me a favor?" Seeing that Zhou Ziwei ignored him, the white bodyguard changed his previous fierce demeanor and actually bowed to Zhou Ziwei in a very gentlemanly manner, saying politely, "Our young lady is a little bit of a germaphobe and doesn't like to be in the same room with strange men. You see... she's still waiting outside. She's only seventeen or eighteen years old. You can't very well let her stand outside in the sea breeze for hours, can you?"
Zhou Ziwei finally raised his head and looked at the little girl who was standing on the deck, staring blankly at the sea with a dazed expression. He glanced at her for a few moments, then his lips twitched slightly, and he said, "Let her in! I'm not a germaphobe."
"What did you say?"
The white bodyguard's face darkened once more. He rarely spoke so politely to outsiders. He had lowered his stance and tried to be as agreeable as possible because he sensed that Zhou Ziwei was not someone to be trifled with. He thought Zhou Ziwei would understand the situation and give him face, but Zhou Ziwei was so oblivious. His eyes slowly hardened, and he gave a light snort, saying, "You're very good... I admire your courage. I hope you can hold on... Don't let me underestimate you..."
The white bodyguard slowly took a step forward, his massive muscles trembling violently with each step, as if to burst through his black suit. His height of over two meters already easily created a strong sense of oppression, and now, with his muscles deliberately bulging and his fierce expression, he could easily scare half to death anyone who had never seen anything like it.
Zhou Ziwei, of course, was not intimidated by him. Seeing the white bodyguard's domineering demeanor, he knew that the more aggressive the bodyguard acted, the more guilty he should be. He didn't bother arguing with him. He simply raised a finger as if casually and tapped it lightly a few times on the metal table in front of him. Then he turned his head away, staring blankly at the sea view outside the window like the confused little girl outside. He had no interest in looking at the white bodyguard again.
Seeing Zhou Ziwei's blatant disregard for his presence, the white bodyguard's anger finally began to falter. Just as he was about to pounce on Zhou Ziwei and throw him onto the deck, he suddenly noticed a series of small dents, each half an inch deep, on the solid metal tabletop. He froze instantly, no longer intending to fight Zhou Ziwei. Instead, he took a few steps back, bowed, and retreated from the cabin.
“Miss… there’s a man inside who refuses to vacate the cabin, you see…” The white bodyguard approached Xue Xue, remembering her instructions not to let them get too close. He stopped about a meter away from her, bowed, and whispered, “That man seems to have an unusual background and is quite skilled. He’s probably not someone to be trifled with. I’m afraid that taking direct action might cause you unnecessary trouble, Miss…”
Xue Xue stared blankly at the layers of crashing waves on the sea, responded with a dazed look, then waved her hand lightly and said, "What a nuisance! You can't even handle such a small matter, and you always have to bother me with everything... If you can't handle it yourselves, then let Little Egg help out..."
The white bodyguard was overjoyed upon hearing this. He bowed and responded, then took a black leather case from another bodyguard, gently pressed it against the case, entered a series of passwords, and with a "click," opened the case. A pure silver-white metal ball immediately jumped out.
"Waaaaah... It's been so long since I've been out for a breath of fresh air, my first love, you're so mean."
The metal sphere spoke human language, bounced and rolled a few times on the metal floor, and then suddenly a long crack appeared in the sphere, from which a pair of metal wings emerged.
"Waaaah... Moonlight shines before my bed, but there's no frost on the ground... I know from afar it's not snow, because it has no feet... I'm a happy newspaper boy, I have to go sell newspapers at dawn, crying and laughing at the same time..."
"Fluttering..." The metal wings flapped clumsily a few times, and the somewhat adorable-looking metal ball flew directly into the air. Then, like a carousel, it circled around Xue Xue, going up and down, while talking nonsense and making no sense.
The black and white bodyguards seemed to have a strong immunity to the metal ball. No matter what the little guy said, they didn't find it strange at all. However, Mita Daiyu and the gray-suited man representing the Supreme were completely dumbfounded.
What... what is this thing...?
It clearly looks like a silver-white metal sphere, but... why can this metal sphere not only fly, but also talk? And... what kind of nonsense is this thing spouting...?
"Mr. Egg, could you do us a favor?" The white bodyguard, seeing the metal ball circling Xue Xue several times without stopping, had no choice but to bite the bullet and approach the metal ball respectfully, saying, "There's a man inside, and he's bullying Miss. Mr. Egg, could you... do Miss a favor and throw that man into the sea?"
"What... someone dares to bully my first love, Master? Does he have a death wish?" The metal ball called Egg had initially ignored the white bodyguard's words, but upon hearing the bodyguard mention that someone was bullying Xue Xue, it suddenly became furious. In fact, for a brief moment, a flame actually shot out from the small holes at the top of the metal ball, startling the onlookers, San Tian Da Yu and the man in the gray suit.
"Where is he? Where is the person who bullied my first love master?" Egg flapped its thin metal wings and excitedly circled around the deck like a madman, occasionally "banging" against the hull of the speedboat, actually knocking dents into the thick metal plates of the sturdy hull.
"Hiss..." Mita Daiyu and the man in the gray suit gasped simultaneously. How could such a seemingly lightweight metal ball possess such terrifying power? It was just randomly circling and crashing into things, yet it had managed to create a dent in the metal wall. If... it were to accelerate straight ahead from a certain distance, just how much damage would it cause...?
Seeing that he had successfully provoked Mr. Egg, the white bodyguard felt a smug sense of triumph, as if his scheme had succeeded. With a forced smile, he pointed to Zhou Ziwei, who was already losing his composure and peering over in their direction from inside the cabin, and said, "That's the guy. Miss isn't comfortable sitting with strange men and wanted to ask him to come outside, but he refused. Clearly… he has designs on our young lady, so…"
"What... Could it be that he's trying to seduce my first love? No... I'm going to kill him..."
Before the white bodyguard could finish speaking, Eggball went completely berserk this time. What puzzled Mita Daiyu and the man in the gray suit was that the metal ball did not rush into the cabin to fight Zhou Ziwei. Instead, it flew off in the opposite direction and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"No...no way! What...what is this thing?!" Mita Daiyu exclaimed in astonishment, "I never thought this metal ball would be so cunning. It spouts grand words while making a quick getaway...Wow, I've never seen anything more shameless than this thing! Even a broken machine can be so cunning. What kind of world has this become?!"
Upon hearing Mita Daiyu's words, the white bodyguard's expression changed slightly, but not in a fierce or cold way. Instead, it became...grotesque. The guy gave a creepy smile, then gave Mita Daiyu a thumbs-up and said, "You didn't think Mr. Egg couldn't hear what you were saying just because he's a bit far away, did you? Hehe... I forgot to tell you, Mr. Egg's sound detection range is eighteen kilometers. That means... once Mr. Egg starts operating, it can hear everything clearly, even a fart from anyone within a radius of ten kilometers. In that short time, even if Mr. Egg flew incredibly fast, it probably couldn't have covered eighteen kilometers. So... poor guy, you've offended Mr. Egg. You should probably start telling your crew to prepare for your funeral by now. A few seconds later, and it might be too late..."
"What...can hear any sound within an 18-kilometer radius?"
Mita Daiyu was startled by the white bodyguard's words, but then dismissively curled his lip and said, "That broken iron ball is probably already mentally unstable, right? Even if it really heard what I said just now, it would probably think I was praising it, so what do I have to be afraid of... Besides, it's already scared away, and it's hard to say whether it will come back..."
Just as Mita Daiyu was speaking with great enthusiasm, a silver light suddenly appeared in the distance, then began to rapidly approach, gradually enlarging in everyone's pupils...
"No—" Although he couldn't see what was inside that silver light at all, even a fool could figure out that it was undoubtedly that terrifying egg. So... so that guy wasn't really running away like a greased grease, but was clearly using this method to gather his strength, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to Zhou Ziwei...
Mita Daishu, unaware of the situation, had just thoroughly insulted Mr. Egg. If, as the white bodyguard claimed, this egg could indeed hear the farts of anyone within an 18-kilometer radius, then given the metal ball's mad-like personality, it probably wouldn't even have time to deal with Zhou Ziwei hiding inside; it would have to dismantle Mita Daishu into pieces first.
"Whoosh—" The speed of the egg was basically the same as the speed of light. Just as Masao Mita saw the silver light appear from the far distance, before he could react, the silver light had already arrived in front of him.
With a "whoosh," just as Mita Daiyu was mentally bracing himself for being smashed into a pulp by the silver egg, he felt a sudden chill on his head. The silver light had already grazed past his scalp, stirring up a cool breeze and taking away Mita Daiyu's already sparse hair...
The silver light flashed like lightning and disappeared into the cabin in the blink of an eye. For some reason, the cabin door slammed shut with a loud "bang" after the light entered, and then there was no more sound from inside.
The man in the gray suit covered his eyes with a hint of helplessness. Judging from the situation, the person inside was probably already in grave danger. Sigh... Although the man in the gray suit didn't care much about that esteemed guest of the Mita clan chief, he was still a figure of some importance... To die so inexplicably on his own ship, Mr. Carlos would probably have a hard time explaining to Mita Masao later!
Just then, a loud bang came from the cabin that had just been closed, and then a gleaming silver object flew out, drilling a large hole in the metal door...
Volume 2: The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 472: Artificial Intelligence