Chapter 73: Submerging

When faced with a deep-sea submersible operation that a normal person would be lucky to experience once in a lifetime, you ask whether Lu Mingfei wants to come.

He would shake his head and refuse without a second thought. Even as an entry-level cultivation practitioner, he has no desire—when he knows an accident is coming—to climb into a collector's piece belonging to the Caesar Gattuso family, where he can only look out through the observation window on top, surrounded by blue-black seawater with just a sliver of faint light filtering in.

Slowly, the submersible sank completely into darkness.

The air was thick with the nicotine of Caesar's expensive cigars.

"Boss, could you not smoke in public?"

"The Trieste's air circulation system is powerful enough. Don't worry, it'll clear out in a bit."

Lu Mingfei could only inhale the pricey secondhand smoke, easing the unease in his heart by chatting in the group.

Caesar, precisely because he was about to step into the halls of matrimony, felt he had a lucky BUFF blessing him, so he wasn't nervous at all. Instead, he took great interest in joining this operation. Back at the dock he had already become fast friends with the workers, using his Chinese-English mixed with clumsy Japanese.

As for Chu Zihang, no need to even mention him—even at the very last moment, he kept his attention on how to counterattack, rather than wasting it on negative emotions. In terms of self-control, he had already surpassed the vast majority of people.

And him, Lu Mingfei? Although he knew this operation would be more fright than harm, his heart was still uneasy and restless.

Have you ever seen the butterfly effect?

Lu Mingfei was terrified that standing in the wrong spot, or taking one extra sip of water, might trigger some unforeseeable change.

Even a cultivator at the late Qi Refining stage, in the deep sea, could only be done in by the water pressure, right?

Apart from Hui Liyi, those bastards from the Snake Eight Families actually had them ride a bomb to dive.

Scientific expedition? Heh heh heh.

Su Lin: "【Image】"

It was a round dining table covered with a white tablecloth, laden with all sorts of delicacies—from fresh sashimi to dishes that took painstaking handiwork.

Judging from the details in the picture, about six people were seated around it, plus Su Lin that made seven. Such a large spread was honestly a bit wasteful; if you added him, Lu Mingfei, it would be just right.

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan: "Poisoning people in the middle of the night, hurry up and send me a portion."

Su Lin: "That's not appropriate, there are people next to me."

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan: "Then put it on my tab, I'll make it up next time. I'm continuing on my way to find my Xun'er, logging off."

Su Lin: "Goodbye, Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan giegie."

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan: "Damn it, you brat, just you wait."

Su Lin: "Mm, remember to give me some good fruit to eat."

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan didn't reply; he had most likely gone offline.

Lu Mingfei: "You went back to your own world?"

Su Lin: "Nope."

Lu Mingfei: "Who are the other people at the table?"

Su Lin: "Oh, this is someone else's engagement banquet. I crashed the party, and they being the warm and hospitable sort, kept me for a meal."

Lu Mingfei immediately closed the chat group. He'd been alive for twenty years—how come he'd never run into such good fortune?

He might as well close his eyes and sleep, but the submersible kept making the occasional creak.

Lu Mingfei's expression turned a little odd. If he remembered correctly, in the narrow gap of the pressure chamber there was a beautiful long-legged "healer."

Hang in there, big sister in the tight suit, hurry up and disarm that bomb.

Lu Mingfei prayed silently.

A certain luxurious hotel in Jingcheng

Inside a private room arranged by the Wu family.

Su Lin wore a slightly apologetic smile and said to a man and woman among the people before him: "Ha ha ha, I didn't expect you two to be getting engaged tonight. My apologies, my apologies."

Ever since getting off the plane, Su Lin had been running around the entire day.

There were two reasons.

One was that he wanted to spend a few more days playing around in Beijing, so he was in a rush to finish the business the "employer" had assigned him first.

And the other reason…

In the system shop's World-Limited section, prices varied from E-rank bloodlines to S-rank bloodlines, from Word Spirits to Authorities.

A cheap E-rank hybrid bloodline cost 300 points, while the pricey Authority of the Bronze and Fire Long Wang was sold for a whopping 270,000 points (bundled with Dragon Race alchemical techniques).

The Authority of the Earth and Mountain Long Wang was priced at 180,000 points.

Although he didn't know what Authority the other Lu Mingfei planned to give him, this stuff really was quite valuable, and would greatly help his improvement at this stage. Tempting.

So, when he heard there was a target—a hybrid gathering here—he didn't hesitate at all and headed straight for this place.

"What are you saying! Your presence is my son's honor! Come, come, come, these are mere mortal common dishes—not nectar or phoenix marrow—but please, do have a taste." Wu Zhongcheng played the waiter, carrying a porcelain plate in from outside the door and carefully setting it on the table.

"…."

"I still prefer you when you're wild and untamed." Su Lin really wanted to say that line, but felt it would be too disrespectful.

"What are you standing there for?" Wu Zhongcheng said to his son and daughter-in-law. "Aren't you going to thank Lord Su Lin for gracing your engagement banquet?"

"Lord Su Lin, I'm no good with words, I can't talk pretty. Bottoms up." Wu Zhongcheng's son was a young man in his twenties, with proper features and a buzz cut, giving a down-to-earth impression at first glance.

He picked up a bottle of Maotai and started chugging it down.

So what you "bottoms up"-ed is a whole bottle?!

Su Lin hadn't expected it either—this young man… the last one to drink like that was a guy called Leng Feng in some movie.

But he wasn't worried; after all, the man was a hybrid with dragon blood.

To normal people, he only wanted to say: drinking is harmful to health, try to drink less or not at all.

Su Lin glanced at the orange juice in his own hand and shook his head helplessly. What's the point.

"A great divine spirit gracing my and Xiao Gu's engagement banquet—in ancient times this could be passed down as a myth for thousands of years." Wu Zhongcheng's daughter-in-law was a tall woman, who said this in a sweet voice.

Wu Zhongcheng nodded in satisfaction. Compared to his honest, simple-minded son, the daughter-in-law was much better with words.

Su Lin thought, could you all stop calling me a great divine spirit? It's not wrong, but it just feels a bit embarrassing… he hadn't gotten used to the change in identity yet.

Wu Haoran was off to the side studying a smartphone. In the past, he would have disdained such a newfangled piece of technology.

His grand-niece Wu Yuxiang, the child with the purest bloodline of this generation in the family, was beside him teaching him how to use QQ on the phone.

Not every hybrid treats dragon-slaying the way Kassel Academy does—as a lifelong cause worth devoting oneself to.

Among the many hybrid families, Kassel's attitude toward the dragon race also counts as belonging to the "extremist" faction.

Most hybrids don't want to get involved in something so dangerous. They only want to use their own talents and abilities to live better lives in human society.

If the dragon race threatens their lives, they'll rise up and resist. But if the dragons revive out in the wilds, what does that have to do with them? Just wait for those hotheads to go clean it up.

There are even some who research and pursue the power of the dragon race, wanting to become a "dragon" themselves.

As long as the profit is enough, stance and all that don't matter much to certain hybrids.

At least the Wu family's attitude toward the dragon race counts as fairly hard-line.

"Alright, I've got it now." Wu Haoran picked up the phone and said to Su Lin, "Sir, you still haven't told me what you want me to download QQ for."

"Oh, hold on a moment." Su Lin set down his chopsticks, tapped at the phone a few times, and said, "What are your four QQ numbers?"

He was speaking to the few Wu-family hybrids with decent aptitude.

"6663…" Wu Zhongcheng rattled off a string of numbers.

"1722…"

"3013…"

"…"

Su Lin nodded, his fingers tapping rapidly a few times. "Done."

A few seconds later, an invitation popped up simultaneously on all of their QQs.

【A High-IQ Creature in the Late Foundation Establishment Stage】 invites you to join 【A Loving Family of Four】.