Chapter 162: The Decisive Battle
“Hey, don’t react so strongly. It’s not like I’m asking you to sacrifice yourself. What are you so tense about?”
Seeing Nicole’s “as expected” expression, Chen Ran felt like laughing. This woman could be considered to see him as a friend, no longer deliberately hiding her reactions, and occasionally showing a bit of a girl’s due cuteness. But in front of others, she was still the same as when he had first met her, business-like, without any extra expression.
“You think you can completely buy me with just a broken ring? You wish,” Nicole said, but she had no intention of returning the ring. “Tell me, what is it?”
Chen Ran casually took out the soul crystal from his clothes, the one that controlled Eva, and handed it to Nicole.
“Eva is quite pitiful. She was captured and her consciousness was taken away. Now her only relative is also gone. Even if she’s just a half-puppet, I still feel a little bad. After all, she was a woman who was with me. Now, I’ve already erased the aura on it. You can take care of her for me for a few days. After the matter here is over, you can help me heal her.”
Nicole blinked and looked at Chen Ran. “That’s not a problem, but I have a detail to tell you. It’s possible to restore her self-awareness, but there’s a drawback. Although Eva can retain a normal person’s consciousness, she will lose most of her past memories. After all, her existence is equivalent to having ‘died’ once. What our light magic can give her is just a rebirth in that body.”
“Is that so?” Chen Ran smiled bitterly. “Well, it’s not a bad thing to forget all the unhappy things and start a new life. It’s better than slowly dying in a few years. I would feel bad too. As for what to arrange after that, we’ll talk about it then.”
“Alright, for the sake of this storage ring you gave me, I’ll help you with this matter,” Nicole said, playing with the ring in her hand, unable to put it down.
Storage items had always been luxury goods, priceless things. The worst one could reach a value of tens of thousands of gold coins and was not something ordinary people could afford. And the one Chen Ran had made was naturally not a cheap product. Continuing the exquisite design concept, few people would not be moved.
Just at this moment, one of Chen Ran’s subordinates came over with a letter in his hand.
“Boss, someone sent a letter outside, specifically for you.”
“Oh,” Chen Ran took it and opened the envelope. He glanced at the contents, and his brows moved. He turned to Nicole at the side and said, “Come out with me for a bit. An acquaintance is looking for us.”
Chen Ran came to a temporarily closed underground entertainment city in the city.
This territory was now controlled by the Diya City guards. After confirming their identities, Chen Ran and Nicole entered the inner hall.
The underground entertainment city was very empty. Besides a few guards on duty, there was no one else. At this time, Sayven was at a pool table, clearing the balls on the table.
“You’re here,” without even turning around, Sayven gently pushed the cue and steadily pocketed a ball. “Come, play a game with me.”
Chen Ran walked over and picked up a cue from the side. This pool was actually the same as the pool Chen Ran was familiar with. Although the rules were a little different, it was not difficult to get the hang of it.
Chen Ran stood at the side and asked, “What’s the matter at this time? I’m so busy right now.”
“I know you’re busy. Isn’t that right? I’m here to help you lighten your burden,” after speaking, Sayven pocketed another colored ball and stood up. “With you guys making such a fuss, Diya City is much quieter now, with fewer parasites. As the young master of this city, I’m also taking advantage of the situation and taking over what I can. Then I’ll tidy up the city’s environment and make the air in Diya City a little fresher.”
Chen Ran said with a laugh, “Aren’t you always happy to be the biggest dandy in Diya City? Why are you so diligent this time, regardless of the mundane affairs? Although you’ve also helped me in a way, it’s not in line with your usual style.”
“People change. A single life is always so boring. It’s always more interesting to try new things,” Sayven said, pocketing another colored ball. “If I don’t take care of it now, I estimate that it will cause some trouble for the city in the future. Although this matter is not my business, seeing that it’s affecting your actions, I’ll join in the fun a little.”
“It seems I have a good face.”
Sayven quickly cleared the table of balls. An attendant neatly took out the balls from the pockets and set them up again.
Sayven bent down and continued to play, saying, “From the looks of you, you don’t really want to be a big shot in Diya City and just want to be a rich man in peace. As for the current situation, you can manage the legitimate industries that Leif and you have recently obtained yourself. As for the casinos and some of the more shady industries, we, the officials of Diya City, will take over the corresponding industries and not give any small leaders a chance to stir up trouble in this city, which has finally become a little cleaner.”
“Your arrangement this time is not bad. Once you officials get involved in this matter, even if the Dark Temple wins, the market they can get will be very limited,” Chen Ran nodded. “Then now, I have to consider how to deal with the guys from the Dark Temple here. I don’t like the feeling of being targeted by others. I almost died yesterday.”
“But from the looks of you, your mentality is much better than a few days ago. Is there some trick up your sleeve?”
Chen Ran was stunned. He hadn’t expected Sayven’s eyesight to be so sharp. He had been a little worried before, but after hearing Mihawk’s news about the reinforcements and Sayven helping him to sort out the forces in Diya City, his burden had been lightened a lot. He just had to deal with the group of guys from the Dark Temple with all his might, so his mentality was naturally much better. He couldn’t help but sell a pass. “You’ll see then. Anyway, I don’t have a plan myself right now.”
Looking at Sayven clearing two racks of balls, his technique was so sharp that he didn’t give Chen Ran a chance to play at all. He stood at the side with his cue for a long time, a little frustrated.
Sayven inadvertently turned his head and, seeing Nicole’s casual men’s attire, couldn’t help but say, “Beautiful, don’t always have a ‘someone owes you’ expression on your face. That’s not good. You were born with six beautiful faces for people to look at. If you smile more often, the world will be a little more beautiful. I still like to see the attire from the ball. It’s much prettier.”
Nicole snorted, a look of disdain on her face.
And when Sayven’s gaze shifted downward and he saw the holy silver ring on Nicole’s slender finger, he couldn’t help but praise, “The ring is not bad.” Then, he noticed that the ring was on her ring finger. He was stunned for a moment, turned his head, and looked at Chen Ran with a sly smile. “You’re quite fast. When did your relationship develop so quickly?”
Chen Ran ignored him, but Nicole had a puzzled look on her face. “What are you talking about?”
“As a woman, you’re so weak…” seeing that Nicole didn’t understand anything, Sayven was speechless for a moment. “Um, you’d better take some time to study the real way to wear a ring. Otherwise, you’ll break the hearts of many people who are chasing you.”
Seeing that Nicole still had an ignorant look on her face, Sayven didn’t elaborate. He wanted to end the last ball with a domineering long shot, but he used too much force and it bounced out. He raised his eyebrows in dissatisfaction and put down the cue.
“That’s all I have to say today. From now on, I wish you good luck.”
“I hope so,” Chen Ran said, picking up a long cue. He didn’t waste any time and directly hit a bank shot. Then, without looking, he threw the cue to the side and said to Nicole, “Let’s go.”
As he turned, he saw that the shot Chen Ran had hit had hit all the colored balls of the same color on the table in an incredible trajectory, like scattered flowers, and all the balls went into the pockets…
From behind Chen Ran came a series of exasperated curses.
“You cheated again!”
After a few days of operation, the situation on Chen Ran’s side had finally stabilized.
However, the Dark Temple seemed to be making corresponding preparations. The longer it dragged on, the more unfavorable it would be for Chen Ran’s side.
In this uneasy state of mind, Chen Ran finally received news from Mihawk’s side, asking him to meet at the seaport.
He took a carriage and, along with Nicole, Johnson, Turyav, and a few of his capable men, went to wait. Now, when he went out, Chen Ran really didn’t dare to go out without a few bodyguards.
By the port, the waves were rising and falling, and a gentle sea breeze blew in their faces.
Although he had been in Diya City for some time, Chen Ran had not had the time to go to the seaside for a walk, to sit on the big ships here, and to fish for sharks in his spare time.
All kinds of giant sailing ships filled the entire port, and countless sailors and porters were busy by the seaport.
Mihawk stood on the wooden deck and greeted Chen Ran who had arrived.
“You’ve come just in time. They’ve already arrived…” Mihawk pointed to the distance.
On the sea level, a sailing ship was sailing toward them. The ship was not good-looking, but it was quite special. Its speed was much faster than an ordinary ship. He estimated that it would arrive at the port and dock in another half an hour.
He quietly waited for the ship to approach and dock at the shore. Mihawk’s sailors set up a wooden ladder to let the people on it come down.
At this time, a group of crew members came down from the ship one after another. Mihawk went up and high-fived the leader, a strong man in a dark blue captain’s uniform.
“We’ve finally been waiting for you.”
“A brother is in trouble. We naturally can’t not come…” the captain said heroically.
From the age and expression of the two, they should be very close brothers.
Chen Ran couldn’t help but size up these so-called reinforcements.
This captain was slightly taller than Mihawk. He was wearing a captain’s coat without a shirt, revealing the rugged eight-pack abs on his abdomen. He had a large frame and a long and strong body. There was a long, thin, diagonal scar on his eye, but it was not at all ferocious. He looked very heroic.
This person did not hide his aura. In the observation of Chen Ran’s True Eye, this was an eighth-tier fighting spirit warrior. From the looks of it, he was also the type of brute force like Johnson.
The crew members on the ship also came down one after another. The tall were extremely tall, and the short were extremely short. But they were all strong and energetic, and their faces also had a rare ruffian air. Most of them were very sloppy.
