After contacting Zhang Zhuoyuan and making sure everyone from the old ship had been safely transferred to the new ship brought over by Gua One, Shi Jin finally relaxed. He collapsed onto the bed in his room on the new ship and fell into a deep sleep in an instant.

Shi Jin didn’t know how long he had slept when Xiao Si woke him up. He sat up, groaning in discomfort, “What’s wrong?” His head was dizzy, and he hadn’t slept enough.

<Jinjin, don’t sleep anymore! Your progress bar suddenly started rising—it’s already up to 700!> Xiao Si’s tone was urgent, tinged with panic.

“What?” Shi Jin snapped awake. He glanced at his progress bar and saw the number jump from the 700 Xiao Si had mentioned all the way to 800. His scalp tingled in shock. He hurriedly threw off the blanket without even bothering to fix his clothes and dashed toward the captain’s cabin.

At this time, it was already a little past two in the afternoon. Outside, the sky was blue with white clouds, the sea rippled gently, and seagulls occasionally flew overhead. It looked peaceful and serene, but Shi Jin’s heart was racing, because just as he rushed outside, his progress bar was still rising—and at an incredibly fast speed!

“What’s going on? Didn’t we wipe out the enemy completely? Lu Shan said they’d all retreated—so why is the progress bar still rising? Could it be that the issue with the shipping lanes isn’t enough to stop them? Did someone send a second wave?” Shi Jin was on the verge of breaking down. He stormed out of his room and ran toward the captain’s cabin.

<8-880! Jinjin, the progress bar is rising too fast—there’s definitely danger nearby—wait, in the sky behind us, there are enemy forces!> Xiao Si’s voice suddenly rose sharply.

Shi Jin’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly had Xiao Si cast the Far-Seeing Eye buff on him, then ran to the railing and turned to look at the sky behind them. Sure enough, far off in the distance, three small planes with strange designs were rapidly approaching. He couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

Th-Those were fighter jets… real ones. He quickly grabbed the railing tightly and spun around, sprinting toward the captain’s room.

Gua Three was standing guard outside the captain’s room. Seeing Shi Jin rush over with his clothes disheveled, he furrowed his brows and hurried forward to ask, “Shi-shao, what’s wrong?”

“There’s enemy forces!” Shi Jin exclaimed, stepping past Gua Three into the captain’s cabin. Inside, Gua One and Gua Nine were huddled together chatting, while the captain and others were casually talking, all looking completely calm and composed. It was clear that the incoming fighter jets must have been equipped with anti-detection devices. With no time to explain further, Shi Jin rushed to the captain’s seat, cranked the ship’s speed to maximum, and activated the local communication system, ordering, “Attention, all ships! Increase your sailing speed immediately! Enemy forces are approaching—be on high alert!”

The captain was startled by Shi Jin’s sudden actions and asked in confusion, “Enemy forces? But the radar didn’t—”

Beep beep beep—

The alarm suddenly sounded, warning that unidentified flying objects had appeared in the sky behind the ship.

The captain fell silent, staring at the radar in disbelief, eyes widening—What is this? Has Shi-shao foreseen this in advance?

“There really are ships approaching us—it’s the big ones! One, two… four in total! And there are helicopters closing in too.” Gua Nine, who had been tapping away at a strange laptop, suddenly stopped, frowning as he warned them.

Gua One quickly hurried over, glanced at his computer screen, and then looked up at Shi Jin.

There were ships too?

Shi Jin was surprised, then let out a sigh of relief—it seemed that their monitoring system was still quite effective, able to detect the enemy’s approach, though not from as far away as the Far-Seeing Eye buff could see. He moved closer to Gua Nine’s side. Although he knew his actions were already a bit suspicious, the situation was urgent, leaving no time to hide anything. He quickly said, “They’re definitely not helicopters—helicopters can’t move this fast!”

If they’re not helicopters, then what could they be?

Gua Nine seemed to realize something. His expression changed, and he quickly resumed typing on the computer again. After about twenty seconds, the screen updated, showing satellite-captured images—several fighter jets, flying at high speed, appeared on the display.

“They actually came,” Gua One suddenly spoke up.

Shi Jin was taken aback and frowned. “What do you mean? You knew enemy forces were coming?”

“There’s a secret cooperative organization from Meridian Gate over in the LS Islands. Jun-shao probably guessed that with Meng Qing’s personality, after suffering a loss, he wouldn’t let it go and would keep sending people over to pursue us, so he had me stay alert at all times,” Gua One explained. He held back a thought unsaid—but he never expected that Shi Jin would actually detect the approaching enemy even before the instruments did… Could this also count as a form of crisis sensing? Too sharp, really.

Shi Jin grew even more bewildered and asked, “Lian Jun guessed that? He had you stay alert at all times? When did he—”

Boom——!

A loud explosion sounded behind the fleet, churning the sea and causing the ships to rock violently.

The enemy was advancing aggressively, opening fire even before the ships had even entered within range.

The alarms blared frantically. Shi Jin’s expression darkened as he commanded, “All units, maintain maximum speed! Keep your course steady and don’t let the shockwaves from the explosions throw you off. Under no circumstances can we be caught, otherwise—Damn it! How the hell does a criminal organization even have fighter jets?!”

These are things even the authorities don’t have in large numbers—how could a violent organization possibly possess them? It makes no sense!

“The environment around the LS Islands is complicated. Some of the larger criminal organizations are actually secretly supported by the authorities, so it’s not surprising they have these,” Gua One said calmly, even trying to reassure Shi Jin. “Shi-shao, don’t worry—we’ll be fine.”

How could Shi Jin not be worried? He said: “Those are fighter jets, not armed helicopters or anything else. We—”

“We have them too,” Gua One continued.

Shi Jin was dumbfounded: “What?”

“Fighter jets, we have them too,” Gua One emphasized, raising his hand to remove the wireless earpiece and pressing a button on Gua Nine’s computer.

The next second, Lian Jun’s voice came through, steady and composed: {How many?}

Shi Jin stared at Gua Nine’s computer in disbelief, wondering if he was hearing things.

Gua One replied: “Three jets. Gua Nine has already locked onto their positions.”

{Send me the coordinates. Reinforcements are already on the way. Keep moving forward—don’t panic,} Lian Jun calmly ordered.

Gua One responded with a “Yes” and began helping Gua Nine transmit the coordinates to Lian Jun.

With Lian Jun’s words, the captain and the others immediately calmed down and returned to their stations to resume their duties. For a moment, the captain’s room was filled only with the sound of Gua Nine typing on the computer and the various instrument alarms. Even though enemy forces were still harassing their fleet from behind, the atmosphere inside had stabilized—there was no trace of tension or anxiety anymore.

Shi Jin no longer felt anxious either, because he noticed his progress bar had stalled at 900 and wouldn’t budge. And… glancing at Gua Nine’s computer, he swallowed hard and quietly eased his footsteps, attempting to slip out of the captain’s cabin.

Although Lian Jun had only said a few words, Shi Jin was absolutely certain—Lian Jun was angry. And the reason why Lian Jun was angry…

{Shi Jin.} Lian Jun’s voice suddenly rang out, as if he knew Shi Jin was trying to slip away, carrying a clear warning.

Shi Jin’s body jolted. He quickly stopped, straightened up, and raised his voice to reply, “I-I’m here! I swear I was not running away! Uh, did you just wake from your nap? I just woke up too, haha… ha…”

The captain’s cabin fell into a deathly silence. Everyone turned to look at Shi Jin, their expressions indescribable.

Shi Jin: “……” Oops, I think I said the wrong thing.

Lian Jun remained silent for a few seconds, then his voice rang out again, even deeper this time: {Stay right by Gua One’s side obediently. Until I see you, you’re not allowed to go anywhere, or else…}

Click. The call ended. Lian Jun didn’t finish his sentence.

The sound of the call ending made Shi Jin’s heart skip a beat. He couldn’t help imagining what Lian Jun hadn’t finished saying—and the more he imagined, the more terrified he became. Forgetting all about his progress bar and the pursuing enemies, he spun around in circles helplessly, utterly distraught. —It’s over. Lian Jun is really angry. What should I do? What should I do? When did Lian Jun contact Gua One? Does he already know that I took matters into my own hands and set a trap for Meng Qing and the others?

He really should have called Lian Jun first to report in and say he was safe before going back to sleep this morning. But it was so early… what if Lian Jun hadn’t woken up yet? It’s over, it’s over—he missed his chance to get off easy by confessing. From here on out, it’s probably going to be a storm of trouble!

Gua One glanced at Shi Jin and wisely decided not to disturb him.

A rather low-key escape operation began. About three minutes later, the alarms started blaring— the fleet had entered the fighter jets’ firing range. If they were attacked again this time, escape would likely be impossible.

“Reinforcements have arrived,” Gua Nine suddenly said.

Shi  Jin snapped back to attention and followed Gua Nine’s gaze to the computer screen in front of him. His eyes widened in an instant—on the satellite map, near the symbols representing the enemy forces, several more symbols representing fighter jets suddenly appeared. The new jets rapidly closed in on the enemy, forming a fan-shaped formation with vertical spacing, effectively surrounding them.

“We’re safe now,” Gua One said as well, gesturing for Shi Jin to look ahead.

Shi Jin turned his head in a daze and saw several massive vessels, clearly military-grade, advancing in formation towards them. As they approached the fleet, the vessels smoothly split into two columns, allowing the fleet to pass through. Then, they gradually came to a stop, regrouped into formation, and formed a protective wall, securely shielding the fleet behind them.

Shi Jin stared in disbelief. After the captain brought the ship to a halt, he couldn’t help but stand up and look at the massive vessels protecting them. “This is…?” he asked.

“The reinforcements brought by Jun-shao,” Gua One answered, taking out a pair of binoculars and stepping out of the captain’s room.

Seeing this, Shi Jin quickly stepped out as well, standing on the balcony outside of the captain’s cabin. He pretended to grab a pair of binoculars but actually used the Far-Seeing Eye buff to watch the scene unfold.

Once the massive ships had completed their formation, they immediately began adjusting their gun muzzles. The enemy ships pursuing them, seemingly realizing something was wrong, stopped before entering the firing range of these large vessels, creating a strange standoff. Shi Jin felt a tightening in his chest and quickly glanced at the sky. Seeing that the fighter jets were also facing off, he couldn’t help but grow tense.

If a battle were to break out, with the current firepower on both sides, the scene would be absolutely terrifying—and there would almost undoubtedly be heavy casualties.

The situation froze for a moment, both sides locked in a silent standoff. Time seemed to stretch infinitely. Shi Jin stared at the enemy ships unblinkingly, terrified that if he looked away for even a second, they would recklessly charge forward.

Finally, after more than ten minutes, just as Shi Jin could no longer resist the urge to do something, the pursuing forces suddenly all retreated, turning their course and withdrawing decisively.

Shi Jin: “Huh? They’re not fighting anymore?”

“Looks like Jun-shao’s negotiations worked,” Gua One said, lowering his binoculars and explaining, “The other side isn’t a local organization, so they have no reason to fight us to the death. Seeing that they have no chance of winning, retreating is a perfectly normal move.”

“Wait, negotiations?” Shi Jin finally realized something was off. He put down the binoculars, turned his head towards Gua One and frowned. “What negotiations? Who’s negotiating? Lian Jun is on the island—how could he be negotiating with the enemy? Weren’t the reinforcements sent remotely by him? And… how do you know everything? How much important information did I miss while sleeping?”

“It’s not that you missed any information. Jun-shao just didn’t let me tell you. He said you were too tired and needed proper rest, and that he would handle the upcoming matters from here on out,” Gua One answered honestly, gesturing towards one of the large ships ahead. “Also, the reinforcements weren’t sent remotely—Jun-shao personally led them here, on that very ship. Although these vessels belong to him, they can’t be used freely, because the authorities have them on official record. To mobilize them quickly, Jun-shao had no choice but to set sail in person.”

Lian Jun personally led the team… how could someone in his physical condition personally lead a mission!

Shi Jin’s mind went completely blank. Remembering Lian Jun’s pale, weak, and unconscious appearance before leaving, he instinctively glanced at Lian Jun’s progress bar in his mind. He saw the value, which he had painstakingly dropped to 470, had somehow risen back to 490. His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately turned and ran towards the deck.

Gua One couldn’t stop him in time and hurriedly called Gua Five.

Shi Jin swiftly made his way to the edge of the deck, lowered a lifeboat, and jumped directly into the sea. Climbing onto the lifeboat, he headed towards the ship where Lian Jun was located.

Over there, Gua Five had received Gua One’s notification and had already lowered the gangplank in advance to make it easy for Shi Jin to climb aboard.

Shi Jin approached at top speed, skillfully stopped the boat, then jumped into the water and swam to the gangway. In three quick strides, he climbed aboard. Upon reaching the deck, he immediately saw Lian Jun sitting in a wheelchair at the sheltered area connecting the deck and the cabin, staring straight at him. His breath caught. After a brief pause, he hurried over, stopping just a step away from Lian Jun. He reached out, intending to embrace him, but his peripheral vision caught the sight of water dripping from his own body, causing him to hesitate and consider pulling his hands back.

“Lian Jun…” he whispered.

“Shi Jin.” Lian Jun interrupted him, raising his hand to grasp the one Shi Jin had been about to pull back. His lips pressed tightly together, as if suppressing something, and he said in a deep voice, “Didn’t I tell you… to stay obediently by Gua One’s side and not run off? Why do you never listen?”

“I’m sorry.” Hearing the quiver of anger in his voice, Shi Jin quickly clasped Lian Jun’s hand in return. Worried that the water on his body might wet his clothes, he carefully leaned in and softly said, “I’m sorry for making you worry. It’s my fault—please don’t be angry.”

“I take my eyes off you for just a moment, and you go around recklessly doing your own thing.” Lian Jun was truly furious, gripping Shijin’s hand tightly. While he could originally manage to suppress his emotions over the phone call, seeing Shi Jin’s drenched and disheveled state in front of him made his control collapse instantly, his eyes reddening. “Shi Jin, why can’t you just stay put? If I had been a little later this time, or if the second wave of pursuers had gathered faster… Sometimes I really want to chain you up, just to keep you from running off to places I can’t see!”

Seeing his eyes redden, Shi Jin could no longer hold back. He leaned against him, his throat feeling as if it were clogged with lead, and repeated, “I’m sorry, it’s my fault. Please don’t be angry. I won’t run off or act recklessly anymore—please don’t make yourself angry over me.”

Lian Jun turned his head, forcing himself to not hug him. After holding back for over ten seconds, he noticed Shi Jin’s shivering slightly from the cold and couldn’t bear it any longer. He released his hand, wrapped his arms around him, and held him tightly with all his strength. “This time, don’t think you can get away with it so easily. You actually used yourself as bait to do something so dangerous… Are you trying to make me die of anger!”

“No.” Shi Jin hugged him back, running his hands over his painfully thin frame. A flood of worry, longing, guilt, and remorse surged through him all at once. He closed his eyes, nuzzling his face against Lian Jun’s chest, and murmured, “I’m sorry… I’m sorry. I missed you so much, I’m sorry.”

Lian Jun wanted to scold him, yet also wanted to comfort him properly. There were so many things he wanted to say, but in the end, he just lowered his head and held him tightly, unable to utter a single word.