Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
When Song Jiu woke up, the sun was already shining.
Sunlight streamed through the porthole, directly hitting Song Jiu's face. He lay on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling of the sleeper cabin for a long time.
"Hey, is anyone there?" Song Jiu called out weakly. He had been awake for a while, and from the moment he opened his eyes, something felt off. After turning his gaze around for a while, he realized that this didn’t seem to be his sleeper cabin. Confused, he tried to get up and check, only to suddenly realize that he was tightly bound by several leather straps.
Song Jiu was stunned for a moment; his first reaction was that the yacht had been hijacked because he could feel that the boat seemed to be stationary and not moving. At the same time, his body felt sore all over, especially his cheeks, which felt as if someone had punched him—painful and swollen, making him very uncomfortable.
What was going on? Had those people from The Establishment struck during the night? It didn’t make sense.
Feeling dizzy and disoriented, Song Jiu lay there for a long time without anyone coming to check on him. It seemed like he was the only one left on the entire ship.
Could it be a prank?
Song Jiu wriggled his body, straining to turn over. However, he exerted too much force and fell off the bed with a thud, landing painfully on the deck, which nearly brought tears to his eyes.
Frustrated and anxious, Song Jiu cursed loudly as he struggled to get up. Just then, the cabin door suddenly swung open, and he heard his sister's exclamations.
" Jiu Jiu!" Song Yao exclaimed in shock as she rushed into the sleeper cabin to help Song Jiu up. Before he could say anything, Luo Yu and Wu Wentao also hurried in. Upon seeing him in this state, their expressions turned serious.
"Are you okay?" Song Yao asked with deep concern. The wound on Song Jiu's cheek had reopened, blood smeared across half of his face—he looked utterly disheveled.
But Song Jiu was still bewildered and twisted his body while shouting, "What are you doing? Let me go!"
Luo Yu and Wu Wentao exchanged glances; their expressions were somewhat strange. Wu Wentao furrowed his brow and squatted down in front of him, tentatively asking, "Do you know who I am?"
"What's going on?" Song Jiu was taken aback. He had intended to curse, but he noticed that Wu Wentao didn't seem to be joking, and Luo Yu and Song Yao's expressions were strange, as if they were waiting for some confirmation.
"Do you know who I am?" Wu Wentao repeated.
Song Jiu, confused, frowned and said, "Old Wu, what's happening?"
Wu Wentao relaxed his furrowed brow and pointed at Luo Yu and Song Yao. "What about them?"
"What the hell are you playing at?" Song Jiu snapped, turning to the other two. "Sister, what does this mean? Luo Yu, are you in on this too?"
The three of them froze for a moment, then collectively sighed in relief. Without explaining, they hurriedly stepped forward to loosen his belt, their expressions still tinged with nervousness as they hesitantly scrutinized Song Jiu from head to toe.
Song Jiu was seething with anger. Looking around, he muttered in confusion, "What’s going on? Who tied me up? Why am I in Old Wu's cabin?" As he spoke, he touched his face where it stung and felt warmth between his fingers. Looking down, he saw his hands covered in blood.
" Jiu Jiu, don't panic. I need to ask you a few things," Song Yao said softly, her brows slightly furrowed as she tried to calm the increasingly pale Song Jiu. "Do you remember anything at all?"
"What should I remember?" Song Jiu's fury subsided somewhat. These three weren't the type to mess around with him; judging by their expressions, something serious must have happened.
Gathering his thoughts, Song Jiu asked earnestly, "What exactly happened?"
"Do you remember what you did last night?" Luo Yu asked anxiously, directly inquiring. "Do you have any recollection of last night’s events?"
"What did I do?" Song Jiu was greatly puzzled. He frowned and thought for a long time before hesitantly saying, "I drank and got into a fight."
The three exchanged glances, their expressions growing even more peculiar.
"Wu Wentao gestured for the two women to wait, pointing to the Sea Chart left by Song Jiu on the table. He asked, 'We are going to Taiping Island, do you know?'
'I know about going to Taiping Island; didn't we discuss it earlier?'
'So, did you come to see me last night?' Wu Wentao raised an eyebrow and inquired.
'Last night I...' Song Jiu fell silent, opened his mouth, and narrowed his eyes slightly. After a long hesitation, he murmured, 'I was sleeping.'
'Sleeping?' Luo Yu poured him a glass of water and said softly, 'Think carefully about yesterday. What do you remember?'
At that moment, Song Jiu finally sensed something was off. He wasn't a fool; if he still couldn't understand what they were implying now, that would indeed be a problem.
'You tell me first, what did I do last night?' Song Jiu suddenly felt a bit anxious. He tried hard to recall the previous night, but his memory was hazy. Instinctively, he felt like he had been sleeping and couldn't remember anything happening.
Luo Yu glanced at Wu Wentao, who hesitated for a moment but remained silent.
Song Jiu frowned in silence as he continued to search his mind for anything related to yesterday. After a long while, he quietly said, 'I was up there; yes, I stayed in the cockpit for a while.'
Wu Wentao's eyes lit up; indeed, last night Song Jiu had knocked on the door and asked him where he had been. He had said he was on the deck.
'And then?' Song Yao took his hand and encouraged him gently, 'You left the cockpit afterward, right?'
'Yes.' Song Jiu lifted his head as the vague impressions in his mind began to clarify. He replied, 'After that, I went back to the Sleeper Cabin.'
Just before Song Jiu spoke again, Song Yao and the others had just sighed in relief because it was clear that Song Jiu had remembered something. However, his next statement caused all three of them to frown once more."
"Back to the Sleeper Cabin," Wu Wentao said, lighting a cigarette and offering it to him, testing the waters. "Are you sure?"
"Sure." Song Jiu's expression changed slightly, a hint of confusion and displeasure crossing his face. "I remember now; I went back to the Sleeper Cabin and had some drinks. Then I felt like I had a bit too much and just fell asleep."
Song Jiu's expression relaxed, revealing a relieved smile as he sighed. "No wonder! I must have drunk too much, haha! I was wondering how I ended up here when I opened my eyes."
Wu Wentao fell silent, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, his eyes fixed intently on Song Jiu, trying to glean any useful information from him.
Song Jiu seemed oblivious to the strange looks from the other three and continued casually, "What’s wrong? I came looking for you after drinking too much, and then you hit me."
"Yeah, that's how it went." Wu Wentao suddenly spoke up, nodding with certainty and pulling at the corners of his mouth. "Don't drink anymore; it's annoying when you get drunk and act crazy."
Song Yao and Luo Yu exchanged puzzled glances at Wu Wentao. He gently shook his head, signaling them not to say anything more.
"Damn, you're taking advantage of me when I'm down! That was too harsh," Song Jiu shot him a glare, touching the bruise on his face as he cursed. "What the hell did I do for you to hit me like that?"
"You hit me first," Wu Wentao replied with a grin, brushing off the comment. He quickly changed the subject. "By the way, we're about to dock."
"Huh?" Song Jiu paused, turning to look out the porthole in confusion. "Didn't they say we wouldn't arrive until tonight?"
"We were intercepted." Wu Wentao lit another cigarette for himself. "We're approaching Yongshu Reef now. The Establishment's ships stopped us half an hour ago, so we have to land directly at Yongshu Reef."
Luo Yu and Song Yao remained silent; they didn't understand Wu Wentao's intentions. They were unsure why he was skipping over yesterday's events when it was clear that Song Jiu had some issues. Could he still maintain his judgment in such an unstable state?
"What’s the reason?" Song Jiu's expression returned to normal as he furrowed his brow in thought. "What do Sun Houqi and the others mean by this?"
"The heads of The Establishment are currently at Yongshu Reef, including representatives from overseas The Establishment. It seems they are negotiating something. Sun Houqi's faction is also present, so it doesn't matter whether we go to Taiping Island or not." Wu Wentao did not hold back, recounting the previous events in detail to Song Jiu. "That's the current situation."
Song Jiu nodded silently and sighed, "When you're under someone else's roof, you have to go along with their wishes. Is there anything we need to prepare next?"
"Not for now. After we land on the island, we'll arrange a meeting. Your sister's friend is also on the island, so the specifics will likely have to wait until after their meeting." Wu Wentao signaled Luo Yu with a glance and said seriously, "You should go sober up first; we’ll be heading to the island soon."
"Alright." Song Jiu nodded in response, forcing a smile as he added, "Now that you mention it, I do feel a bit nauseous. I’ll head back for now."
Song Yao personally escorted Song Jiu back to the Sleeper Cabin and even went to find Chef Jia to prepare a bowl of hot soup for him. The others only knew that Song Jiu had argued with Wu Wentao the night before. Seeing this scene, they all felt relieved; it turned out to be just a drunken quarrel, no wonder things escalated.
After confirming that Song Jiu was settled in his Sleeper Cabin, Song Yao breathed a sigh of relief and hurried back to Wu Wentao. As soon as he entered, he asked, "Why didn't you tell him earlier?"
"Telling him what?" Wu Wentao was packing his gear and chuckled at the question. "Should I tell him that he wanted to kill me last night or that he went crazy?"
"Then..." Song Yao was at a loss for words.
"You saw it just now," Wu Wentao set down what he was doing and gestured for Song Yao to sit down. He spoke earnestly, "He has no idea what happened last night and firmly believes he was just drunk. We can't even be sure about his condition; do you think telling him the truth would help?"
"His actions last night were likely unconscious. Even if we told him, it would only make him doubt himself without any real benefit." Wu Wentao sighed. In reality, he had more to say but held back. Before becoming an RCA Field Duty member, he had been an international mercenary. Similar situations had occurred with his teammates in the past; doctors referred to it as post-traumatic stress disorder—this was a mental issue. However, this was merely his speculation; until professionals assessed it, he couldn't be certain.
"So what do we do? Just keep it from him?" Luo Yu understood Wu Wentao's point but worried that if they ignored it and Song Jiu suddenly went mad again, it could lead to disastrous consequences. The island where The Establishment's headquarters were stationed was not their territory; if something went wrong, the outcome would be unimaginable.
"Isn't your friend on the island? Have them arrange for a doctor; he needs to be checked out." Wu Wentao lifted his shirt hem to reveal the still-visible gunshot wound from last night and smiled wryly. "This isn't a joke; if his arm goes any higher, I might end up dead without knowing why."
Just then, Cao Zheng's voice came through the corridor's loudspeaker: the yacht had entered the harbor and everyone would disembark in five minutes.
As things stood, Song Yao and Luo Yu could only gather their thoughts. With the island approaching, the future remained uncertain. Just when they thought they had everything under control, an unexpected situation arose with Song Jiu, catching them off guard.
The crew on the ship had already packed their belongings; there wasn't much to carry since supplies would be arranged on the island. The only issue was with their weapons. The other party insisted that all weapons needed to be surrendered first, and they would be returned after a series of procedures. Wu Wentao outright refused. What a joke! Times had changed, and firearms were essential for survival. The situation on the island was unknown, and they couldn't expect to disarm them just by talking.
Sun Houqi and the others felt powerless in this situation. During earlier discussions at Stilt House, there hadn't been such an additional condition because they had planned to head straight to Taiping Island, where they could speak freely. Unfortunately, now that they were changing course midway, Yongshu Reef was the main base, and his promises could no longer be fulfilled. Fortunately, the negotiations didn't escalate into a heated conflict. Although The Establishment's support team was somewhat dissatisfied, they still complied with Wu Wentao's wishes. After all, their entire crew numbered fewer than twenty people; even if each person had a cannon, it wouldn't make much of a difference.
The morning sun was pleasantly warm, not as harsh as it would be at noon. Song Yao and the others stood at the bow of the ship, gazing at the familiar yet strange military uniforms lining both sides of the harbor, feeling a mix of emotions.
In the distance, palm trees swayed in the breeze, and a tall building proudly displayed a red flag that fluttered in the wind with a crisp sound. The Sovereignty Monument stood tall on the beach, its bright red letters strikingly visible.
In the center of the dock stood two women and one man, their clothes billowing in the gentle sea breeze.
Comment 0 Comment Count