Qiao Haoqiang!
Tense.
The situation was tense.
Li Renjie could clearly see he had landed in a terrible location at a terrible time. There were signs that a battle had just happened, and that the parties involved were still present.
Terrible.
Looking around he saw a few wide-eyed figures staring at him, caution could be seen in their gaze. There was a beautiful young lady dressed in purple robes, she seemed quite exhausted but was looking at him with blatant shock. To her far left was a young playboy looking guy dressed in lavish robes.
Focusing his left eye he stared at the two.
'I can barely see 'them'…about the same as the chicken?'
Li Renjie then focused his eyes on the two elders that stood beside the playboy looking guy.
'Can't see 'them''
Then he shifted his attention to the old man in purple robes that stood just over fifteen feet away from him. The moment he tried to 'see' the old man he felt a searing pain in his left eye.
'Dangerous.'
'You can't trust systems after all,' he quietly thought to himself.
[What's this got to do with me?! The location was random! You just have awful luck.]
As Li Renjie was staring at the group, they too quietly stared back at him.
A young child, about thirteen or fourteen years old, loose disheveled black hair that reached just below his ears and eyebrows, slightly tan with healthy-looking skin, and a soon to be handsome face.
He was wearing the dingy and rough linen robes typical of commoners and even barefoot at that, but no one seemed to care as all they could focus on was his eyes!
They looked like pure silver mirrors!
Everyone present could clearly see their reflection clear as day in the child's eyes! Even more was the fact that each of his eyes had two pupils!
Bai Ning stared intently at the young man's eyes before mumbling slightly.
"Ocular Blood lineage…"
"Ehm…forgive my intrusion, goodbye," the young man said blatantly before a small and black square covered in strange symbols suddenly appeared above his head.
Without pause the black square shattered and a strange bubble quickly formed around the young man and the space around him, before suddenly disappearing in a flash of blue light!
Bai Ning and the two elders shuddered as they sensed the violent spatial fluctuations.
Gone.
He was gone.
What the hell?!
At least give us an explanation!
"..." Bai Lifei's mouth hung open after what had just transpired. Before she could get a grasp of the situation, she quickly noticed something.
"T-The little girl is gone!"
::Azure Island - Blue Reef City::
A salty ocean breeze blew across the beautiful white marble lined and blue roof tiled buildings of Blue Reef City, the now setting sun cast a beautiful orange hue on the white buildings and shimmering water. The city was a masterpiece in engineering and design, positioned on beautiful white sand beaches and backdropped by mountains to the north and east, it had a feel and ambiance unique to just it.
Boasting a population of roughly three and half million, it was a major port city. Hordes of ships could be seen docking and undocking from a massive circular port that naturally formed into the city from the south, bringing with them all sorts of wears and valuables. Merchants from all the surrounding islands could be seen dealing in all sorts of business transactions.
Money was being made.
Though, in a certain back alley of the city, one man wasn't in the mood to enjoy the beautiful atmosphere of the city.
Pah!
"Urgh!" a young man about twenty-five years old clutched his stomach as he grunted in pain.
"Zhang Wei, this is your last warning! You better think carefully, you have until tomorrow morning to make a choice," a bald and burly man standing over six feet shouted at the black robed young man on the ground.
The two lanky figures behind him seemed to take delight at the young man's pitiful appearance. After a moment, the three turned and left the alley without sparing him any more attention.
The young man gradually caught his breath before pushing himself up.
"Dammit," a single word escaped his blooded mouth as he looked at his disheveled robes.
Zhang Wei slowly stood up and began to head towards the southern end of the city around the ports. As he walked, he received all kinds of looks, some sympathetic, some curious, and some condescending ones even.
'I must really look terrible,' he self-deprecated before continuing on his way.
Walking for another twenty minutes or so, he finally arrived in front of a large estate, a beautifully carved black oak door blocking the way. Sighing, he takes out an ornate looking key and lets himself in.
Inside was a small private port that had about twenty black oak ships docked within. Walking in he closed and locked the gates behind him before glancing at the ships. All of them were of extremely high quality and one was even trimmed with gold and adorned with a golden figurehead at the bow.
The figure head appeared to be of a beautiful mermaid with flowing long hair and striking features.
It was quite the work of art, the product of an expert craftsman.
The young man looked at the ships before sighing quietly and making his way to a large manor located at the back of the property. Like the rest of the buildings in the city, it too was made of white marble and blue roof tiles.
Inside was a woman about nineteen years old seated in a black wooden wheelchair, her appearance baring a striking resemblance to the young mans. Both of them had obsidian black hair and deep green eyes that rivaled the healthiest of evergreens, that along with their sharp and symmetrical features made them both quite good looking.
Seeming to have heard the young man enter she stopped what she was doing.
"Big brother, where were yo…what happened?!" the young lady exclaimed after turning and seeing the young mas disheveled appearance.
"It's nothing," Zhang Wei said before smiling gently towards his sister.
"White Lotus company again?" the young lady's eyes began burning with fury as she stared at her brothers beaten figure.
"Yea, this time they sent body tempering cultivators, I couldn't even fight back."
"Cultivators?! Does that man really want to make us give our ships away by force? We have to tell the city officials!"
"Mingmei, the officials know," Zhang Wei said as he poured himself a cup of wine.
"What?" Zhang Mingmei replied with wide eyes.
"They already know, but that man isn't someone to be trifled with, why would they go against him? Even if by some wild chance we do get to someone of importance, they only gave me until tomorrow."
"No way…what should we do then?"
"..." Zhang Wei couldn't answer his sister's question.
The hand holding his wine glass began to squeeze down harder.
'Dammit, why do I have to be so weak?!' he cursed in his heart.
Seeing her brother's appearance Zhang Mingmei slowly moved her wheelchair closer before hugging him.
"Don't worry brother, even if we lose everything, we still have each other," she said gently.
Zhang Wei 's grip began to soften hearing his sister's words, slowly he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.
"We'll figure something out; I won't let our parent's hard work go to waste!"
"Mhm," Zhang Mingmei responded with a bright smile.
The two then began to brainstorm ideas as they shared a bottle of wine.
A few miles away from their private dock, positioned near the busiest part of the city port was a massive building standing over ten stories tall. Unlike the others, it was made entirely of gold veined white marble and was built quite elegantly, containing all sorts of plants, trees, and small streams within its perimeter. Large group of people could be seen making their way in and out of the building, each one checked at the gates before being allowed to enter. The most striking thing about this building, however, was at the very top.
Contrasted by a square black background, was a large symbol displayed for all to see.
A pure white lotus.
On the top floor of this building, the three men that had assaulted Zhang Wei earlier could be seen waiting outside of an expensive looking wooden door.
Stationed by the door were two masked guards.
Their masks were entirely white and only had two narrow cut outs for the eyes, along with the black robes they wore, they gave off a strong presence.
They watched the three the entire time.
After waiting for over an hour, a voice came from behind the door
"Let them in."
"Yes sir!" the two guards responded before each one grabbed a handle and opened the doors for them.
Slowly the three made their way into an opulent looking office.
Massive bookshelves could be seen on either side of the room, on the floor was a carpet made from the pelt of what appeared to be a large wolf, and from the ceiling a chandelier embed with pale yellow stones that gave off a warm and gentle light hung quietly.
At the very back of the room was a massive window that gazed out at the spanning city behind, and right in front of this window was a colossal wooden desk that was beautifully carved with images of all sorts of fantastical beasts.
A man could be seen sitting behind the desk, his eyes staring down at the paperwork before him. Occasionally, his thick bushy eyebrows would arch as he read.
Every now and then he would gently adjust the plain glasses he wore.
The man seemed to be in his mid to late thirties, he had a clean-shaven face and wore his hair in a simple and neat bun. Dressed in clean and formal black and white robes he emitted the aura of a scholar.
However!
The seams of his robes seemed like they were about to burst from the tremendous stress they were under!
They could barely contain the man!
The sheer amount of muscle on his frame could not be comprehended by the ordinary mind!
From his ears to his toes, every part of him was pure muscle! The man's massive frame actually covered over sixty percent of the giant window behind him!
The trio felt a dreadful pressure being emitted from this behemoth of a man; it might have been due to the sheer size of him, yet they felt it was deeper than that.
This was founder and president of the most successful shipping and transportation company on Azure Island!
The White Lotus Company!
Qiao Haoqiang!