Chapter 2288: Love and Chaos: System Showdown 12

At midnight the next night, the formal cruise dinner.

The atmosphere was pushed to its peak, the light of the crystal chandeliers blinding and dazzling, the champagne tower flowing with golden liquid, laughter and chatter noisy, colliding and fermenting in the vast space, weaving an invisible net that made people slightly intoxicated.

Without warning, the entire banquet hall plunged into darkness.

The silence lasted only half a second, then piercing screams, the crisp sound of shattering cups and plates, and chaotic cries rang out.

The bartender and person in charge hurried to maintain order, activating emergency lights that could only provide a faint glow, and explained that it was merely normal sea waves causing the power equipment to fail.

Youle'an, as darkness fell, quickly slipped his wine glass into a nearby waiter's tray, and, taking advantage of the darkness and the crowd's panic, slipped away silently.

He glanced quickly in the direction of Jin Chen.

At the moment the emergency light source suddenly came on, Weisen, dressed in a black suit and made to look extremely similar to Jin Chen, stood silently in front of the real Jin Chen, shielding him from the chaotic crowd.

Youle'an felt relieved and immediately focused all his attention on the true target area.

Jin Chen narrowed his eyes, easily took a sip of champagne, then turned and walked toward the railing.

Emergency light speckled across the deck.

Xie Jiulong was indeed still standing near the railing; he seemed not at all surprised by the sudden blackout, his face even bearing a grim, cold smile of being in control.

Meanwhile, Xilan, like a beast driven by both fear and desire, struggled to approach Xie Jiulong.

His gaze locked firmly on Xie Jiulong's back, and on that silver-gray coat that remained strikingly conspicuous even in the dim light.

Youle'an hid in the shadows of the dark place, holding his breath.

He watched as Xilan finally got close behind Xie Jiulong.

Youle'an's mouth curled into a sly arc; he drew a sharp breath and shouted briefly toward Xilan's direction.

"Be careful!"

This voice wasn't ear‑splitting in the chaos, but it struck like a thunderclap, precisely hitting the nerves of Xie Jiulong and Xilan.

Xie Jiulong almost instinctively, with offended alertness, snapped his head back.

The fear of his plan being exposed left Xilan's mind blank.

No retreat possible, the arrow was on the string.

Xilan exerted all his strength, lunging at the nearby Xie Jiulong and shoving his hands hard into his back.

Xie Jiulong reacted extremely fast; the moment he felt the wind behind him, his body instinctively sidestepped.

In that split second, a faint but extremely sharp tearing sound rang out in the darkness.

Someone flung a porcelain plate; it flew as fast as a hallucination, striking precisely behind Xie Jiulong's right knee.

"Ugh!" Xie Jiulong grunted; his whole body lost balance completely from the sudden severe pain in his right leg.

Xilan's all‑out shove happened to collide with Xie Jiulong's off‑balance body!

Plop!

A heavy, huge splash sounded, clearly drowning out the nearby chaotic screams.

Under the emergency light, spray shot high; Xie Jiulong, wearing that conspicuous silver‑gray coat like a heavy sack, was instantly swallowed by the pitch‑black, icy seawater.

Xilan stood at the railing, looking down at the churning black sea; his face showed lingering fear, his fingertips still trembling uncontrollably.

Just then, a somewhat carefree, even jaunty footsteps sounded, slowly emerging from the shadows behind him.

Xilan turned his head sharply.

Youle'an wore a purely amused, interested smile as he walked slowly toward him.

"Oh dear," Youle'an walked up to a spot very close to Xilan, tilted his head slightly, his smile bright and innocent, his voice like an ice pick piercing Xilan's eardrums.

"You've been caught doing bad deeds… by me?"

Xilan's pupils contracted sharply, a chilling dread shot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.

The instant his words fell, Youle'an took advantage of his inattention, thrusting his hand hard against Xilan's chest and shoving him forward.

"Bye~"

Plop!

A second clear splash followed immediately.

【Today's villain points: 9/10!】

The system hesitated again, '【But in the whole storyline, the task‑taker only saved the male supporting character…】'

【He hadn't even completed the task of being alone with the male lead!】

Youle'an declared righteously, '【Just say whether it's completed or not.】'

【The value soared; that could be completed perfectly.】

【The system couldn't find anything wrong, so it could only log off slowly.】

But just then, Youle'an heard a third splash.

He stared, turning his head in disbelief; far off he heard guests exclaim that someone had fallen into the water, and through the emergency light beside the cabin he caught a glimpse of a black suit's coattail flashing by.

How could that be!

Weisen was right beside Jin Chen! This link wasn't supposed to exist in the plan!

Youle'an didn't have time to think further, sprinting with all his strength toward the source of the sound,

crowd, shouts, pushing.

overturned glasses, toppled tables and chairs.

Everything became a blurred background and obstruction.

Youle'an stumbled through, his heart pounding wildly in his chest, his eyes straining to search through the chaos; he saw only the frightened crowd gathered at the railing and below that, the all‑consuming, ink‑black sea.

"Jin Chen!"

His voice carried a sob that Youle'an himself hadn't noticed.

A strong, sturdy arm wrapped around him from behind, precisely gripping his waist, hauling him hard back from the dangerous edge; his back slammed into a solid, warm chest.

"I'm here, what are you panicking about?"

You Le'an was dazed by this sudden turn of events, they jerked their head back, and Jin Chen's face was right in front of them, carrying a hint of helplessness and a smile.

Noticing You Le'an's fright, Jin Chen pulled them into an embrace, gently patted their back, and repeated, "I'm here."

"What's in the sea is..."

You Le'an then noticed that Jin Chen had changed clothes, and the figure rescued from the sea turned out to be Lin Xi, dressed in a black suit, together with Zhou Du holding Lin Xi.

The plot coincidentally overlapped from a strange angle.

You Le'an let out a breath, only then realizing their reaction seemed a bit overly intense, they lifted their gaze to Jin Chen, and was again pinched on the back of the neck.

"Why so tense, huh?" Jin Chen said, lowering their gaze to look at him.

You Le'an; "...... Afraid, afraid you'll fall in."

Jin Chen chuckled, held them a little tighter, and said, "I know."

His heart was still pounding hard, so he simply leaned into Jin Chen's embrace without hesitation, calming down.

Ling Gun Gun rubbed against it and brushed off the progress bar on its head.

【Progress bar entry finished, currently reconnecting...】