In that instant, his wrist had already turned slightly purple. Lu Dongcheng, who had almost dislocated his shoulder, didn't care. He pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses and looked just like a good-natured, refined businessman.
The most important person has arrived, and everyone can finally board the ship.
Bodyguard Jiang followed diligently behind his employer. He had just woken up and wanted to yawn, but due to his poor professional ethics, he held it in.
The others around were quietly observing, wondering what this lazy blob was.
After his older brother appeared, Shi Bu completely forgot that he had a boss and followed his brother closely, completely losing the elite demeanor he had cultivated when he was not speaking.
His colleagues looked at him with a shocked expression, as if they were seeing him for the first time.
The journey from the port to Atsha took several hours, during which everyone went back to their rooms to play, but bodyguard Jiang stayed by his employer's side the whole time, adhering to professional ethics.
Stay near your employer and play a match-3 game.
The ship was large and comfortable, and the rooms were also spacious. Lu Dongcheng sat on the sofa looking at reports, while Jiang Yujin didn't make himself uncomfortable and sat down comfortably on the sofa opposite him.
Jiang Yujin looked up at his employer after exhausting all the stamina given to him by his friend in the match-3 game.
Lu Dongcheng, who was looking at the computer, noticed his gaze and asked, "Want some water?"
Bodyguard Jiang showed the other party the phone recharge interface: "I helped you eliminate more than a dozen... enemies, and now I'm out of stamina. This counts as a work injury."
"Okay," Lu Dongcheng read out a string of account numbers, then said, "I'll transfer the money to you once I add it."
Jiang Yujin didn't add the account, but happily bought stamina and took a screenshot of the bill, saying, "I'll transfer it to my card later."
Lu Dongcheng said he was very vigilant.
Jiang Yujin nodded: "We definitely have to treat perverts differently."
Lu Dongcheng turned off the computer, took off his silver-rimmed glasses, and leaned back on the sofa. He watched the person who was still engrossed in playing Candy Crush, then suddenly laughed and said, "After knowing you for so many years, all you think of me is a pervert?"
Jiang Yujin nodded honestly: "More or less."
After failing the challenge again, he said, "Do you remember the first gift you gave me?"
Lu Dongcheng: "Flowers?"
If I remember correctly, the bouquet of flowers I sent was sold by the other party.
"No," Jiang Yujin said, "I forgot which instance it was, but anyway, you gave me a candy made from a different kind of eyeball there."
The perverse impression was sown there, and it took deeper and deeper root.
Unexpectedly, the other party still remembered this. Lu Dongcheng paused, then said, "Back then, I wasn't even..."
He never imagined that he would later fall victim to this person.
They met in the game a long time ago, long before Xu Tonggui, when they were both single.
It started as a cooperative instance where he encountered the rumored white-haired 001 and temporarily teamed up with him.
This person is taciturn, occasionally talkative, and highly efficient. Although he doesn't like to use his brain much, he can deal with alien species very quickly, like a beautiful killing machine.
The other person didn't remember the instance, but he remembered it was a candy factory that specialized in hallucinogenic candies. After dealing with the aliens, as he squatted beside the collapsing factory, he slightly raised his eyes beneath his white, tousled hair, looking at the unusually pink candies on the signboard, and said, "I kind of want to eat some."
Before leaving the instance completely, he remembered giving the other person a piece of candy. It was wrapped in tin foil, and only he knew what was inside.
The other party accepted it and politely said thank you.
He thought they probably wouldn't see each other again.
But they did meet again, in an island instance.
The island shattered, and he fell into the deep sea. Seawater tried to rush into his body from all sides, the pressure pounding against every inch of his skin.
After falling into the deep sea, the light grew dimmer and dimmer. Unidentified species swam by and pushed him further into the depths.
The feeling of death was clear and intense, and while he was still conscious, he began to accept the fact.
When the tide breaks through the sea, a huge sound is heard, and light appears on the dark seabed.
Someone broke through the waves and plunged rapidly into this place filled with despair, appearing and disappearing amidst the surrounding foam. He opened his eyes and saw white hair fluttering in the seawater and light-colored pupils that finally showed some emotion below.
His collar was grabbed tightly, stopping it from falling any further. The other person pulled out a crumpled piece of tin foil and shoved it into his mouth, calmly saying, "You fucking eat the packaging too."
Even if it means dying, you have to eat something before you die.
Very domineering, and also very fierce.
Feeling the only warmth emanating from his body in the icy seawater, he couldn't hold on any longer and closed his eyes.
After that, they frequently went into and out of dungeons together. Mainly, he followed 001, partly to make up for the candy he didn't get to eat.
He knew the other party only saw him as a useful brick, to be moved wherever needed, but he didn't care.
The game is filled with an atmosphere of death and oppression, but having people around actually makes it not so bad.
He enjoyed hearing the other person call his name every time, complain that his clothes were stained with blood again, and threaten him not to do anything perverted.
Even after knowing each other for a very long time, the other person still refuses to tell him their real name, but he doesn't care, thinking there's still time.
Until one place, they encountered a man who had just arrived. For the first time, he saw something akin to sadness in the eyes of this man beside him.
The man is Xu Tonggui, the lover of the person beside him.
It turns out he was the one who came later.
"..."
The computer automatically shut down, and Lu Dongcheng, who had been leaning back on the sofa, sat up straight and then stood up.
After standing quietly for a while, he walked to the water dispenser in the room and asked, "Would you like some water?"
"Why not drink free water?" Even though there was tea on the table, the busy bodyguard Jiang still took a moment to say thank you.
During the several-hour flight, bodyguard Jiang diligently played Candy Crush for two hours before falling into a deep sleep, requiring his employer to find someone to lightly cover him with a blanket.
He was finally awakened by the exclamations outside, and only after waking up did he realize that he had fallen asleep while playing on his phone. His employer was still sitting not far away, tucking the blanket behind him, and said warily, "I was just taking a short break, but you still have to pay me for what I did, not less than half an hour's pay."
The big boss is indeed a big boss; after hearing what he said, he nodded and didn't care about the small amount of money.
The exclamations outside continued. Jiang, the bodyguard who was always on the front lines of the drama, said to his employer, "There might be danger outside. You stay here, I'll go out and check it out for you."
It can be said that they were extremely dedicated and responsible.
Bodyguard Jiang slipped away. After sneaking out of the room, he relied on the little memory he had left to walk out of the corridor and onto the deck, where he found that there were already quite a few people standing on the deck, all looking out to sea.
He found an empty space and looked over there as well.
The seawater was red. Huge, black clumps floated on the surface, and you could vaguely see bits of red flesh inside; the blood that stained the sea red was flowing from them.
Not far from the ship, a huge, lifeless eye floated on the sea. The ship's crew had already begun to replan their course, avoiding this pile of things floating on the surface.
Jiang Yujin leaned over the railing and took another closer look, noticing that the floating chunks of meat had neat cuts.
The person who did it was very efficient, but some of the wounds had already started to become dull, indicating that the person who dealt with it must have spent a lot of time and effort.
Besides the pieces of meat, there were two boats floating on the sea. One looked relatively intact, but there were no people on board. The other boat had been completely broken in two and scattered to both sides by the waves.
Looking back around, Jiang Yujin saw someone on the deck staring intently at the sea, looking rather grim. He turned around, took out his phone, and went to a corner.
He understood.
There are Zero people on the ship, and Zero's headquarters is nearby. The goalkeeper was also killed, which seems to have happened recently.
As the sea breeze kept blowing past his ears, the elderly father Jiang sighed.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the ship rounded the object floating on the sea, then gradually slowed down, and everyone was asked to return to their rooms.
After taking one last look, Jiang Yujin turned around and returned to his employer's room based on his memory.
The ship began to descend noticeably, the light in the room gradually dimmed, and then brightened again.
The control room automatically turned on all the lights, instantly brightening the room considerably. Standing by the window, one could clearly see the water overflowing the hull, and the fish swimming in the water were also clearly visible.
The ship seemed to slowly sink into the water, but in reality, the seawater was always a tiny distance away from the hull, and the glass remained clean, without a single splash.
Zero really loves hiding underground; the branch is like that, and so is the headquarters. The only difference is that one hides underground, and the other hides underwater. The latter's method of entry is also more elaborate. It's fortunate that these employees have good stress resistance and haven't developed depression, despite such a depressing work environment.
The deeper you go, the more you can see the undercurrents and whirlpools in the deep sea. Fish are swept towards this side, only to be carried away by the invisible undercurrents just before they hit the glass.
It was completely dark outside.
——
The giant alien creature they encountered on the sea was dealt with, and the other four people's boat was also capsized and broken by the waves. Chen Jing and his two companions did not pay much attention to the four people who jumped into the sea. After searching the sea for a week without finding anything, they dived into the water.
As they approached the deep sea, various undercurrents surged, and light became almost completely obscured. The only source of light was the lamp they had prepared in advance.
To reach the seabed, they needed to cross the current layer, where there were almost no living creatures. It took them some effort to get through.
After passing through the dark current layer, an even stronger suction came. Before being swept away, Little Fatty didn't have time to think and grabbed onto anything he could. Then it seemed that something loosened, and his heart skipped a beat. He then realized that he hadn't been swept away, or rather, all the noise around him had stopped.
A passage appeared, but before the passage, a cipher disk emerged.
In the silence, Little Fatty took out the keypad unlocker that he had hesitated for a while before leaving the house, but finally decided to bring.
Zhang Xin gave him a thumbs up.
In this situation, it's difficult to use iris recognition, and fingerprint recognition is also not very feasible. So Zero could only set a very complex password. The unlocker took a long time to unlock, and just when Little Fatty thought the thing was about to be broken, a "beep" sounded and the screen turned green.
It's over.
Zero has, to some extent, entered the realm of intelligence. After the password was entered correctly, the incredibly thick glass that had been blocking the passage opened, and after they entered, the water that filled the passage began to recede.
Standing inside the passage and looking out, they realized that the incredibly thick glass was one-way; those on the outside couldn't see what was inside, but those inside could clearly see anything outside.
If someone had been in that passage, they would have been discovered before they even entered headquarters.
After confirming that there were no surveillance cameras in the passage, Chen Jing was the first to remove his oxygen mask. They took out towels from their waterproof bags and roughly dried their quick-drying clothes. Then they put on their clothes to cover their diving suits and walked down the passage.
This place feels like another world, not underwater. It's warm and dry, with abundant oxygen that shouldn't exist on the seabed.
After walking a little further down, they could faintly hear voices and the clanging of guns. So they retraced their steps and carved out a path for themselves in a suitable spot.
Chen Jing's abilities are quite effective when used correctly; they make clearing roads quietly and quickly.
At the end of the road was a dimly lit alley.
It was indeed a narrow alley, surrounded by buildings, with piles of garbage and overturned trash cans, and rats scurrying about. Outside the alley, there was light, very bright, like sunlight. Standing there, they actually felt as if they were on solid ground.
Covering the opening they had made, several people emerged from the alley. The moment they saw the scene outside, they suddenly understood what Atsha truly meant.
Beneath the enormous white dome, skyscrapers rise from the ground, green trees stretch out on both sides of the road, children are on the sidewalk, and cars pass by.
This is a city, or rather a country, existing on the seabed, a country that should have disappeared long ago.
Little Fatty wiped the water droplets still dripping from his hair and asked, "Where are we going?"
Looking up at the tallest silver building among the skyscrapers, Chen Jing said, "Let's go there."
——
After a slight rocking motion, the view outside the ship's window changed, gradually transitioning from darkness to light, and finally, the shadows of tall buildings could be faintly seen.
The boat came to a stop. Someone knocked on the door, saying that we had arrived at our destination and could disembark.
Bodyguard Jiang opened the door first.
It was the same people they had seen at the port before. Shi Bu, who had been quiet all the way because they were not in the same room, reappeared. Before he made a sound, Jiang Yujin glanced at him.
Shi Bu stopped making noise, but his body was still moving, and he consciously stood behind his brother.
There were already people waiting below, a group of people, led by a middle-aged man with gray hair, both legs intact but leaning on a cane. The group's eyes were mainly on Lu Dongcheng.
Jiang Yujin had little interest in such polite words and empty formalities in business, and turned to look at the surrounding scenery.
Although the changes are somewhat significant, it is indeed the Atsha he visited before. Several iconic buildings are still there, but the sky looks incredibly fake; it's obviously man-made. High-rise buildings have sprung up, there's water and greenery, and with the addition of artificial lighting, the headquarters looks quite pleasant.
He retracted his earlier statement; the living conditions at headquarters seemed far better than those at the branch. It turned out that not everyone in this organization could tolerate the dark and damp conditions.
Lu Dongcheng looked at the people who were still looking around and said, "Let's go."
It wasn't a scolding tone, just a simple reminder, as if it had been done many times before.
The others looked over, especially the people in Zero. Someone whispered to Shi Bu, who was standing to the side, "Excuse me, what is this?"
He asked the question that everyone on the boat had wanted to ask since early morning, and immediately everyone around looked over.
Before Shi Bu could blurt out "my brother" without thinking, Jiang Yujin introduced himself first: "Bodyguard."
The introduction was very concise, succinct, and direct. The person asking the question was taken aback, and then, unsure of what to say, simply replied, "Hello, bodyguard."
Jiang Yujin nodded politely: "Hello."
"..."
The entire conversation was, to put it mildly, very strange.
Not far from where they disembarked was a tall, silver building. Upon closer inspection, they noticed that the material of the walls was also quite unusual, resembling a metallic coating.
Jiang Yujin pulled back the stone cloth that he wanted to stick to the wall for closer inspection.
Unlike other branches that look like shady organizations, the headquarters is clean and tidy. If you ignore its special geographical location, you could mistake it for an ordinary modern and civilized city.
From disembarking the ship to entering the building, people were laughing and keeping the atmosphere lively all the way. After entering the building, the group walked and stopped, passing through countless doors and turning through several corridors before finally arriving at an office door.
The office door opened. The interior had clearly been slightly altered; a round table stood in the center, surrounded by several chairs. Lu Dongcheng pulled out a chair for the person behind him and said, "Sit."
Bodyguard Jiang sat down, and Shi Bu handed him a water glass: "Brother, have some water."
"..."
The person opposite couldn't help but twitch their eyebrows and eyes.
Who is the real boss here?
The key point is that the other party actually sat very calmly, slowly took a sip of water, and acted like a boss even more so than the big boss.
Fortunately, Boss Jiang didn't stay there for too long. After the fake chat, everyone except Lu Dongcheng and the gray-haired middle-aged man left the office.
Zero arranged rooms for them to rest and a relaxation area, but that was limited to that area.
No one wanted to linger in the lounge area; everyone chose to return to their rooms. After glancing at the security cameras in the hallway and in front of the room doors, Jiang Yujin followed the person leading the way and entered the room.
After entering the room, he sat on the sofa and sent a message. After sending the message, he casually opened the Candy Crush game.
Just as he finished a match-3 game, there was a knock on the door. He got up and opened it, and Shi Bu entered the room.
Before he could ask any questions, Shi Bu said, "The surveillance issue has been resolved."
"We just passed through thirteen doors in total, five of which were combination locks, five of which were guarded, and the last three were unlocked with iris scans."
"The elevator is on the sixteenth floor, and you need to enter your fingerprint to press the button for this floor. There is also a seventh floor, and the fingerprint panel lit up briefly when the elevator reached the seventh floor."
He put down the laptop he was holding, picked up a pen and paper, and began to draw a map of the route he had taken. While drawing, he looked up and asked, "Brother, why do you need to know all this?"
Jiang Yujin squatted to one side, letting out a sigh like an old father.