The world’s current level of maritime security was far worse than it had been 100 years ago.
At that time, the Abyssal Demon Incident had not yet broken out.
Although technology was backward, maritime transport was much cheaper than land or air transport, had a considerable scale, and was quite safe.
Now, since the world had been ravaged by Demonic Creatures, sea transport was no longer safe and was prone to attacks by Flight-type Aberrants.
Those things were tough, possessed unparalleled destructive power, and had indescribable mobility.
More terrifyingly, their numbers seemed endless and impossible to wipe out.
Encountering even one Demonic Creature was difficult to handle, let alone the high probability of encountering groups of Flight-type Aberrants.
This was why the maritime freight industry had abandoned solo operations in favor of traveling in convoys.
They usually hired private security companies for escort.
High costs weren’t something a single ship could bear, so freight companies would wait for enough ships before collectively hiring security.
There were many tricks to the trade, which Song Wuli hadn’t looked into closely.
After flying at a high altitude for a long time, Yin Lin observed the logos on the ships.
Most belonged to two mainstream freight companies, mixed with a few scattered vessels from others.
Materials containing mana were basically all inside the cargo holds of these two large companies.
She checked online and learned their basic situation—they did transoceanic shipping with fixed monthly routes to the Kingdom of Western Alliance, Kingdom of Northern Alliance, and Kingdom of Southern Alliance.
Their business was characterized as “brave and free,” engaging in high-risk, high-reward ventures.
These two large companies did not do coastal transport.
As for those doing coastal freight, they were usually small cargo ships.
Although called “small,” they were still dozens of meters long—still giants.
However, this batch of small ships was also following the large companies toward the West, transporting a portion of the goods along the way.
They would split off mid-route to head for other surviving human cities.
After figuring out the freight system, Yin Lin’s large golden eyes darted around as she began to think.
She had been flying on her wand for so long that her rear end was starting to hurt.
She simply lay down, squinting to rest while she pondered.
‘How should I continue the investigation?’
‘If I don’t ask Huang Yi for help, and I don’t ask Huan Hong or Jin Luan, how can I find out what’s going on with those mana-infused materials?’
Her limited intelligence showed its shortcomings again.
After some thought, she picked up Old Song’s phone and sent messages to her two “good brothers.”
Song Wuli: [@Huang Yijun @Qian Dehao I have a question for you—how much money would it take for you to betray humanity and help the Great Demon King destroy the world?]
She suddenly felt the topic was too blunt and quickly added an explanation:
[Just asking for fun. I’m writing a proposal recently and want some shocking material.]
A few minutes later, Qian Dehao replied:
[No money needed, I’ll help for free. If you want to destroy the world, count me in.]
Song Wuli: [Be serious, stop joking around. I want to understand everyone’s thoughts so the proposal can be more vivid.]
Qian Dehao seemed a bit more serious, replying after two minutes:
[To be honest, no amount of money could bribe me.]
Song Wuli: [Why?]
Qian Dehao: [I go to work every day, come home to my wife, play some games, eat all kinds of takeout, and scroll through my phone to see interesting news from all over the world when I’m bored. Isn’t this great? Isn’t this exactly the kind of immortal life ancient people dreamed of? Man, I’m counting on playing games to survive this life.]
Song Wuli: [I don’t see you having any time to play games.]
Qian Dehao: [Aren’t I working on it? After that business at the hotel last time, I confessed to my wife. Sigh, we’re still in a bit of a cold war, but I’ll keep moving toward my dream.]
At this moment, Huang Yijun popped up:
[So much chatting.]
Huang Yijun: [Destroy the world? Betray humanity? What kind of topic is this, Old Song? What’s wrong with you? Did our Master and Heavenly Father do something to offend you?]
Song Wuli: [Stop joking. The proposal is waiting. Say something useful.]
Huang Yijun was silent for a long time before sending a paragraph:
[They couldn’t bribe me either. Once a man has a true pursuit, it’s not the kind of fake pursuit that he just talks about and forgets in a few minutes.]
Huang Yijun: [Once a man has something he truly wants to do, almost nothing can stop him.]
Huang Yijun: [And I intend to spread the prestigious name of our Master and Heavenly Father to the seven continents and eight oceans.]
Huang Yijun: [Let those blonde-haired, high-nosed Europeans feel the greatness and universal love of our Master and Heavenly Father.]
Huang Yijun: [Let the people of Old Japan and Old Goryeo feel the cuteness and holiness of our little angel Yin Lin.]
Song Wuli: [Stop it. Stop being a freak. I’m asking you something serious.]
Huang Yijun: [I’m being sincere.]
‘Sigh, these two are truly beyond help.’
She put down her phone but suddenly thought of another person and picked it up again.
It was Greta, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.
She asked the same question, wanting to see if this foreigner had a different perspective.
‘If it’s this woman, she probably won’t make those messy jokes, right?’
A few minutes later, the reply came.
Greta: [Destroy the world?]
Greta: [That’s a question I’ve never thought about. Let me think, Mr. Song.]
A few more minutes passed.
[I wouldn’t destroy the world. No matter how much money it is, it couldn’t make me give up the thing I’ve always loved.]
Greta: [For the thing I love, I can sacrifice everything, even myself.]
Greta: [And destroying the world would destroy my passion along with it. That’s something I would never do, no matter what.]
Yin Lin fell into a long period of contemplation.
She carefully recalled Old Qian’s and Old Huang’s words.
Perhaps they weren’t joking but were serious, just like Greta.
Looking at it this way, people who wanted to destroy the world were probably a very small minority.
In that case, these large cargo ships parked at sea, preparing to transport those mana-infused materials to other Alliances—maybe they didn’t know?
Were they just being kept in the dark?
Were these mana-infused materials that could potentially destroy the world not something they actively wanted to transport?
Then what about the people from the Star Summoning Society?
They seemed to have joined willingly. Or did they have a reason for “willingly” joining?
While she was thinking, she suddenly dazed off, lost her balance, and fell from her wand.
Fortunately, her reactions were extremely fast, and she quickly controlled the wand to catch herself.
Her flying skills were becoming more and more proficient.
‘Now isn’t the time to think about the Star Summoning Society. I need to solve the problem of these large cargo ships first.’
She descended directly onto a ship from the high altitude.
She decided to do something Huang Yi had done before—actively startle the snake.
After playing the “boxing game” with Greenfield last time, she had learned a lesson: Don’t go fishing for something you can’t handle.
Although she could track the large cargo ships to see where they delivered the goods and thus uncover the secret of these mana materials…
She knew very well—the fisherman would one day become the catch.
‘Forget it. I shouldn’t overestimate myself, nor should I overestimate Huan Hong and Jin Luan.’
‘I’ll just honestly sabotage the enemy’s plan. No more fishing.’