The rooms on this research vessel are not as luxurious as those on commercial polar cruise ships, but they are certainly clean and tidy, with all the necessary amenities. There are private bathrooms, 24-hour hot water and showers, which are more than enough for four people.
After the captain helped them rest, he said, “Please rest for a while. Dinner will begin in an hour. We will make an announcement when dinner begins. Go to the restaurant when you hear the announcement.”
Charlie nodded slightly, then used a bit of his spiritual energy to give him a mental suggestion, instructing: “During dinner, remember to invite all the staff to the restaurant. I want to meet everyone.”
The captain immediately agreed, smiling and saying, “No problem, don’t worry, I’ll call everyone.”
Charlie nodded and said, “Then, please continue with your work, see you at the restaurant later.”
“Okay, see you at the restaurant.”
After the captain left, Charlie said to the three women, “After flying all this way, everyone must be a little tired. Let’s go back to our rooms to rest and pack our luggage. After all, the ship still needs four or five more days to leave port, and another three days to sail at sea, so it will be at least seven days before we can disembark.”
Jeremiah Yun said, “Mr. Wade, I noticed that the crew members on this ship seemed a little surprised to see us. Perhaps the fact that the four of us have Asian faces is a bit unusual for them. Are there any risks involved? Ruyu and I don’t mind, but we’re especially worried that Miss Lin’s whereabouts will be exposed, as there are surveillance cameras everywhere on this ship.”
Charlie smiled and said, “I feel the same way, but don’t worry. I’ve already asked the captain to call everyone over for dinner. I’ll give them some encouragement so they can do their best to make things easier for us and not reveal our whereabouts to anyone.”
“As for the surveillance footage, that’s easy. I’ll have their technicians open an interface so our AI model can process all the stored surveillance footage and erase our tracks. That way, there’s basically nothing to worry about.”
“That’s good,” Jeremiah Yun said with a relieved smile. “Since Mr. Wade has already made plans, Rugo doesn’t have to worry anymore.”
Charlie nodded slightly and smiled, “After dinner, you two can relax and be alone in your rooms. Or you can join me for some alone time. It’s fine if you don’t leave the house for the next few days.”
“As for Miss Lin, you can ask them to deliver food to your room. You can also tell them what you’d like to eat, and they’ll definitely do their best to accommodate your request.”
Maria Lin asked hesitantly, “If Young Master is also going into seclusion, can I share a room with you? Otherwise, I always feel uncomfortable being alone.”
Charlie smiled and said, “Of course, no problem.”
…
When Charlie and the other three returned to their room, Victoria was sitting cross-legged in her bedroom on an island about three thousand kilometers from Ushuaia.
In front of him were five jade stones of different shapes and sizes.
He continued to practice his breathing technique, drawing precious spiritual energy from the five jade stones until all the spiritual energy within them was completely absorbed.
These five jades were painstakingly collected by the Wu family from all over the world and then presented specifically for him.
For the past three hundred years, Victoria has been relentlessly searching for rare treasures, spiritual stones, and magical artifacts throughout the world. In her early years, she reaped abundant rewards, and various good things were sent to her incessantly.
These things not only helped him conquer the Niwan Palace and strengthen his cultivation, but also helped him win over and build his own cultivator army.
However, with the advancement of modernization, rare treasures are becoming increasingly difficult to find. Many natural resources that took thousands or even tens of thousands of years to develop are slowly disappearing before they reach maturity due to climate change and the impact of human activity.
In the Dharma-Lattering Age, rare and precious materials are already extremely rare, and most of them die prematurely before they can fully grow, thus becoming even rarer.
In recent years, medicinal materials for refining elixirs have become scarce, and spiritual stones that can directly absorb spiritual energy are even rarer.
However, given Victoria’s current cultivation level, let alone five spirit stones, even fifty spirit stones probably wouldn’t bring much improvement. Therefore, a sense of helplessness in cultivation gradually grew in her heart and became stronger.
He knew that he had entered the final fifth of his life. If he hadn’t taken the Elixir of Immortality, even if he could have lived to be a hundred, he would have been over eighty by now.
With less than a hundred years left, which would pass in the blink of an eye, if he could not capture Maria Lin and obtain her master’s ring, he would face certain death.
However, even if they managed to catch Maria Lin, what next?
Even if you manage to catch him, you probably won’t get the ring.
Even if we could get the ring, we wouldn’t know if it contained the Hundred Turns and Thousand Reversals Pill.
If there were no pills and only a recipe, it would be much more troublesome. Would I be able to gather all the ingredients to refine the Hundred Turns and Thousand Reversals Pill?
Even if I find the ingredients, is my cultivation level enough to refine the Hundred Turns and Thousand Reversals Pill?
The more problems you face, the lower your success rate.
Moreover, behind the Qing-Breaking Society lies a mysterious enemy, someone who is like a time bomb, who could explode at any moment.
Overall, Victoria was increasingly doubtful whether she would live to see another five hundred years.
The thought of the mysterious enemy made Victoria even more anxious. She immediately called Wu Tianlin, the person she trusted most, and asked, “How’s the investigation in Morocco going? Have you found any clues about that person, or those assassins and elite bodyguards?”
Wu Tianlin said embarrassedly, “Your Majesty, I’ve sent several groups of people to Morocco to investigate, but so far I haven’t found any clues. Those people seem to have disappeared from Morocco. No clues have been found at any of Morocco’s major ports, borders, or transportation routes.”
Victoria angrily crushed the dried spiritual stone into powder and said coldly, “Outrageous! Thousands of people disappeared without a trace. How could they leave no clues behind? Even if they were burned, at least their ashes should have been left behind!”
Wu Tianlin sighed, “My Lord, our enemy is clearly a powerful organization. They not only possess powerful cultivators, but also possess advanced modern combat capabilities. The melee weapons system in Cyprus is the best proof of this. Their operational style is extremely discreet, leaving almost no traces. It will probably take more than a day or two to investigate them.”
Victoria gritted her teeth and asked again, “Since the thorough repairs in all the garrisons, have you found any traces of the enemy?”
Wu Tianlin shook his head and said, “Your Majesty, I have increased the number of guards and surveillance at each garrison and have been closely monitoring the situation in each garrison. So far, I have not detected any anomalies or suspicious personnel approaching. I am confident that our enemies are aware of this major reshuffle and will not risk attacking our garrisons again.”
Victoria sighed: “The fact that he has stopped attacking the base proves that our major overhaul plan is very effective, but it has also cut off the enemy’s main route. I’m afraid he will surrender now, and then we might never be able to catch him again!”
Wu Tianlin knelt on one knee, clasped his hands together, and said, “Your Majesty, I dare to say something treasonous.”
Victoria hummed in agreement: “Go ahead and say it.”
Wu Tianlin said, “My Lord, if the other party truly stops now, even if we can’t recover our losses or retaliate against this attack, at least we won’t be bothered by them anymore. I think the most important thing right now is to bring Maria Lin back as quickly as possible. Other matters can be put aside. What do you think?”
Victoria was silent for a long moment before nodding slightly and saying, “You’re right. It doesn’t matter if we suffer a little loss now. Since the other party is also a cultivator, they must have been there for decades, or even centuries.”
“If I can solve the problem of the Hundred Turns and Thousand Reversals Pill, I will have plenty of opportunities to slowly find them and kill them one by one!”
At that moment, she growled with a ferocious and sinister expression, “I, Victoria, have always been arrogant all my life. I can suffer losses, but I will never suffer in silence. Anyone who offends me will pay a thousandfold, ten thousandfold the price!”
Then, he said coldly, “Pass on my orders: all members of the Wu family, as well as all military governors and elite guards, must do everything in their power to find Maria Lin’s whereabouts.”
“Whoever finds Maria Lin will be rewarded with a hundred years of life and billions of dollars in wealth. Whoever captures Maria Lin will be rewarded with an additional hundred years of life for her entire family!”