Du Lai was cursing inwardly, but maintained a polite expression on his face and said:

“Magic performances are held twice daily — 11:00 to 11:30 in the morning and 9:00 to 9:30 in the evening. If you enjoyed it, you’re welcome to come again tomorrow.”

The black-clad powerfully built man was unmoved, all emotion hidden behind his dark glasses. They stood there like a group of cold machines.

The one at the front lifted one side of his suit jacket, revealing a heavy black weapon at his waist, and spoke in an even tone:

“You understand what we mean. Let’s go. If you want to walk back alive, don’t keep the young miss waiting.”

Du Lai: “…”

It seemed the person he had run into was no ordinary wealthy guest.

……

Du Lai had always been greedy for money, and equally keen on keeping his life.

He followed the four black-clad men to the upper levels of the cruise ship and arrived outside the most lavish suite on the entire vessel. After layer after layer of checks and pat-downs, he was finally shown into the luxury suite——

The first thing to greet his eyes were ten more powerful black-clad men.

Du Lai quietly counted to himself: from just now until this moment, inside and out, he had seen at least thirty black-clad individuals. In other words, this mysterious young miss — she alone — had this many bodyguards attending to her.

Quite the extravagant display.

He set aside any sense of underestimation and resolved to put on a good show later. Not for the sake of whatever tip he might receive, but because someone like this was absolutely not someone he could afford to offend.

Moving deeper in, he finally laid eyes on their young miss.

She had her back to him, toying with a golden birdcage on the table. Her long hair fell loosely over both shoulders; she wore a pale yellow silk gown, the cut accentuating the graceful lines of her figure, the light color giving her a lively girlish quality. Judging by the back view alone, Du Lai found her quite pleasing to look at.

Until she turned around——

No, that wasn’t it — she was still beautiful even facing him. But the moment she opened her mouth to speak, the urge to find her unbearable became impossible to suppress.

“Up close, you seem pretty ordinary…” the young miss looked Du Lai over twice, her voice openly dismissive. “Your features are decent enough, but your skin is lacking, and your hair doesn’t look like it’s been washed.”

She settled onto the sofa and said, in a tone of exquisite prickliness: “Do a few magic tricks and let me see.”

The way she spoke was like saying to a dog: Do a few flips and let me see.

Du Lai felt deep scorn internally for this kind of pampered, spoiled heiress — but still asked, with an expression of docile compliance: “What kind of magic would you like to see?”

“Anything will do, as long as it’s interesting.” The coquettish young miss leaned against the sofa armrest, her cheek resting on the back of her hand, languid and faintly impatient.

“I finally get a chance to go out and have fun, and they stick me on a ship. It’s like being in prison — I can’t go anywhere.” She pouted and complained. “Completely boring.”

“Being on the cruise ship provides a more enclosed space, which better ensures your safety,” a woman said.

Du Lai only then noticed that in this room, besides the black-clad men and the young miss, there was also a woman.

——She, too, was dressed in black, appeared to be in her thirties or forties, tall and slender, with her hair pinned up high, wearing a pair of narrow-framed glasses. She looked extremely cool and aloof, even somewhat stern.

She was standing on the other side of the sofa. If she hadn’t spoken, she would have been almost entirely without presence.

Instinct told Du Lai that this woman was very dangerous — even more so, perhaps, than those imposing powerfully built men.

But what happened later would make him understand that no one was as dangerous as the young miss herself.

“Magician, hurry up and do some magic~” the young miss said lazily. “If it isn’t interesting, I’ll throw you into the sea to feed the fish, you know~”

Du Lai: “…”

If an ordinary person said something like that, he would have taken it as a joke.

But this one…

Even her bodyguards were carrying prohibited weapons. So throwing someone into the sea — that wasn’t necessarily something she couldn’t do.

—