Chapter 1271: I’ll Show You a Magic Trick
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The chaos on the Aurora Borealis cruise s.h.i.+p continued.
People walked around in the cabins, packing their luggage frantically. They feared that they would be evacuated in a while, and they would become the ones left behind.
Either someone leaked the news, or perhaps the news was reported on TV, the rumors that they were followed by pirates spread crazily in the cabin.
Someone ran to the captain’s cabin and knocked on the door, asking for the escape boats to be put down. Some people even asked for life jackets to be issued. Once the s.h.i.+p was boarded by pirates, they would jump into the sea and escape.
When people encountered dangerous situations, they would often do ridiculous things.
Except for a limited number of diesel-engined speedboats, the rest of the rubber boats were only to keep people afloat at sea and wait for rescue. Not to mention that there was the risk of being overturned by the waves.
As for the life jackets…
That was a creative idea, to say the least.
More and more people gathered in the captain’s cabin. The bodyguards of the Royal Guards had to join the security team and maintained order outside the captain. The chief mate on board also tried to calm everyone’s uneasy emotions.
Even though they were safe for the time being, that might not remain true for long.
After w.a.n.g Peng reported the situation on the satellite phone, Lu Zhou asked w.a.n.g Peng to take him out of the captain’s cabin. He wanted to return to his room to rest for a while.
However, just as they were going down the stairs, they suddenly met two acquaintances.
They were Prince Frederick and his beautiful wife, Princess Sophia. Princess Sophia was crying, and her head was lying on Prince Frederick’s shoulder, as if she had lost her soul.
Even though they had nothing to do with him, no one would turn a blind eye to such a thing. When Lu Zhou saw that the little princess was not by the two of them, he had a vague guess in mind. He asked kindly, “What happened?”
Princess Sophia looked up and saw Lu Zhou and w.a.n.g Peng. She grabbed Lu Zhou’s arm and said in a pleading voice, “My Lilia! She’s gone! I beg you, please help me.”
Lu Zhou glanced at her and saw that her eyes were red. It was like her whole person was drowning, desperately grabbing on to everything around her.
He had no doubt that she needed all the help she could get.
Prince Frederick was calm. He at least had a trace of reasoning ability. He gently pulled his wife’s arm.
“People from the Royal Guards are already looking for her, they just need a little time.”
“Those trash don’t care about us!” She pushed her husband’s arm away and covered her face. She sobbed and said, “The royal name means nothing to them, they don’t care about us. Look at them, they don’t care!”
“You’re overreacting…”
w.a.n.g Peng looked at Princess Sophia, who was crying, and took a step forward.
He had an expressionless look on his face. He did not care about these things at all, so he spoke in a polite voice.
“Sorry, Princess Sophia, we have more important—”
“It’s okay, please don’t panic, Princess Sophia, your daughter will come back to you.”
w.a.n.g Peng looked at Lu Zhou, who interrupted him. He almost suspected that there was something wrong with his ears.
Princess Sophia, who was still crying, raised her head and looked at him in disbelief.
“Are you… willing to help me?”
Lu Zhou nodded and spoke in a gentle voice.
“Of course, I am also very worried about the safety of the little princess. I hope she can return to you as soon as possible.”
Prince Frederick held his wife’s hand again, squeezing it gently. He was looking at Lu Zhou with some hesitation.
“Are you… sure?”
Even though the relations.h.i.+p between the two countries was temporarily in a honeymoon period, both Sweden, China, and he knew that his daughter was not worth the risk of Academician Lu’s life.
A problem with the princess was just Sweden’s own problem.
But a problem with Lu Zhou wasn’t as simple as a diplomatic dispute.
Lu Zhou looked at Prince Frederick, and he spoke with a smile.
“It’s fine, it’s nothing difficult.”
After asking for Prince Frederick’s room number, Lu Zhou led w.a.n.g Peng to the other end of the cabin. w.a.n.g Peng looked at Lu Zhou from behind and said, “We shouldn’t be distracted. I am worried that there may be other dangers on board.”
This wasn’t Lu Zhou’s responsibility…
Even if something happened to the little princess, no one would blame the scholar or China. People would put the blame on the pirates.
“People all over the world know that the Swedish royal family is the poorest royal family in the world. Even if there are some well-known entrepreneurs and rich people on board, they are far from being rich enough to be a target. Not to mention that even if they receive a ransom, it will be difficult to get away. Obviously, the pirates are not looking for money, they’re coming after me.
“So, we’ll be fine.”
“But—”
w.a.n.g Peng wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by Lu Zhou.
He smiled and continued, “Like I said, it’s not a big deal.”
In fact, the main reason was that Chen Yushan liked the little girl. If the little girl was in danger, like she fell into the water or something worse, Chen Yushan would definitely feel sad.
Of course, this was just an excuse.
Perhaps the real reason was that Lu Zhou was a nosy person.
w.a.n.g Peng sighed and gave up.
“How are you going to find her? I don’t have enough manpower on my side.”
“This is a good question. Give me one minute.”
Lu Zhou reached out his index finger and tapped lightly on the AR gla.s.ses.
“Xiao Ai, help me find a little girl on the boat. Her name is Lilia, the little princess of the royal family. I don’t have a picture of her, but you should be able to find it online.”
[Okay, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]
Xiao Ai controlled the quantum computer. It was almost omnipotent in the online world. Even though the surveillance on the cruise s.h.i.+p was not connected to the internet, there were things connected to the cruise s.h.i.+p that could be used as a proxy.
Xiao Ai had instantly gained control of the monitoring system.
It retrieved the height and other physical characteristics of the little girl. It quickly scanned the entire Aurora Borealis s.h.i.+p.
Lu Zhou reached out his hand and gently held his gla.s.ses. He smirked and said, “We found her.”
w.a.n.g Peng looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.
He wanted to ask “Are you sure?”, but Lu Zhou would never joke about this kind of thing, so he changed his words.
“Your gla.s.ses… How much is it?”
“You think this pair of gla.s.ses was behind this? Don’t even think about it, it’s mine.” Lu Zhou smiled faintly and said, “The target is in the utility room at the end of the second floor. The room number should be B2771. Let’s go over.”
w.a.n.g Peng nodded.
“Okay.”
Lu Zhou followed w.a.n.g Peng’s footsteps to the utility room at the end of the s.h.i.+p.
This was mainly for storing cleaning supplies that were temporarily unusable, so generally, no one would enter here.
The door was locked. Lu Zhou was curious about how the naughty little girl slipped away. He didn’t waste too much time on such minor matters. His index finger tapped on the frame of his gla.s.ses. After that, the electronic lock was unlocked.
w.a.n.g Peng turned the door handle first and cautiously opened the door.
Lu Zhou watched his cautious movement. He smiled and shook his head before following him into this fairly s.p.a.cious storage room.
There was no ambush here, only a little girl in a dress. She was sitting in a corner while holding a rag doll tightly.
Her big emerald eyes stared at the two people who appeared at the door. Princess Lilia was shocked.
“Why aren’t you guys hiding?”
Lu Zhou felt like this question was a bit funny. He walked to her and squatted down. He then asked with a smile, “Why should we hide? It’s just a small accident. Good kids don’t run around.”
“Lilia is not running around. Lilia is just escaping.”
Lu Zhou couldn’t hold back. He smiled and shook his head.
Escape?
We’re in the ocean, where can you escape?
The little princess sitting on the ground complained, “You don’t believe me. I’m telling the truth. Some people are saying that pirates are here. And I can’t find mom and dad. Lilia has to hide from the pirates!”
“Good kids should go back to their rooms instead of making their parents anxious… Wait, you said someone said that pirates are coming?”
“Yes.” Lilia nodded. She looked at Lu Zhou curiously and said, “Don’t you know? Everyone is saying that.”
Lu Zhou and w.a.n.g Peng looked at each other with a moment of realization in their eyes.
Sure enough, there were insiders on the s.h.i.+p.
Even if there were rumors, they wouldn’t be so consistent.
Besides, the rumor was spread before he used satellite images.
Even if the news came from the captain’s cabin, the timing didn’t make sense. Someone was deliberately creating chaos, and they intended to take advantage of the chaos…
A searching icon flashed in the upper right corner of the gla.s.ses.
After 30 seconds, a line of text appeared in Lu Zhou’s field of vision.
Xiao Ai: [Master, Xiao Ai found a few suspicious people in the bottom layer of the s.h.i.+p. φ(≧ω≦*)♪]
Lu Zhou: “Mark them for me.”
Xiao Ai: [Ok! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]
Soon after, a surveillance stream was displayed. While everyone went to the restaurant and prepared to follow the instructions to evacuate, a few suspicious people walked against the crowd and walked to the bottom of the cruise s.h.i.+p.
Judging from their clothes, they were wearing the uniforms of the hotel staff. Finally, they disappeared from the surveillance screen. Xiao Ai marked their current location on the map.
“w.a.n.g Peng, look at your phone.”
w.a.n.g Peng turned on his phone without any hesitation and played the surveillance video that Lu Zhou had just sent.
When he saw the unusual people, he frowned.
“Before boarding, there were two security checks. Apart from us, no one should be able to bring weapons on board.”
“Does this include the Royal Guards?”
w.a.n.g Peng was taken aback for a moment. He then nodded.
“I see…”
They did not bring weapons on board. They planned to use the equipment belonging to the Royal Guards.
Even though these equipment were all light weapons, it was enough to do many things in the midst of the chaotic situation.
If the pirates’ attack was unsuccessful, they would be the backup plan.
w.a.n.g Peng put away the phone and said, “I’ll be back. You stay here, don’t walk around.”
Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I don’t plan to go anywhere, but you should be careful. There were six people.”
w.a.n.g Peng smiled suddenly. Even Princess Lilia couldn’t help but notice the murderous expression in that smile.
“Only six?
“Even sixty is not enough.”
After that, he walked out of the door.
The door of B2771 was closed. Before leaving, w.a.n.g Peng turned on the lights in the storage room for Lu Zhou.
It was safe here.
The monitoring system was being controlled by Xiao Ai. No one could find him even if they searched the entire cruise s.h.i.+p. He just needed to wait here quietly for the chaos to end. After that, he could hand the little princess to her parents. Everything would be solved.
Lu Zhou was thinking about whether to use his AR gla.s.ses to pa.s.s the time and watch a movie when a timid voice suddenly came from next to him.
“I heard.”
“Heard what?”
“The pirates will take us away.”
“…”
Lu Zhou thought this was ridiculous. If the pirates couldn’t demand ransom, why would they take any hostages? But seeing how this was just a six-year-old girl, he didn’t bother to correct her.
“Then what?”
“Then kill all the men, then all the women—”
Lu Zhou immediately covered her mouth nervously.
“Who told you these things?”
Princess Lilia blinked and spoke innocently.
“I read it online.”
“I think people who told you these things should go to jail.”
Lilia asked curiously, “Then… Should Mr. Andersen be in jail? I love his stories the most.”
Lu Zhou: “What you read is definitely not the normal version…”
“What should I do, I’m very scared.” Lilia suddenly hugged her head. Her body leaned against the corner. She suddenly thought of something terrifying, and her shoulders trembled as she said, “What if they throw me into the sea and feed me to the fish?”
Feed you to the fish?
Lu Zhou couldn’t help but shake his head.
He was thinking about how to comfort her when he suddenly thought of a good idea. He snapped his fingers and said, “Don’t worry, I can show you a magic trick.”
Lilia looked up at Lu Zhou and spoke curiously.
“Magic?”
“That’s right, magic.”
Lu Zhou stood up from the floor and extended his right hand to the little girl sitting on the ground. “Get up, let’s go to the porthole.”
She gracefully placed her hand in Lu Zhou’s palm. Lilia said, “Can’t you just do it here? The boat is shaking, it’s tiring to stand up.”
“I’ll make sure you don’t fall. This magic trick is only for bad people…”
Lu Zhou looked outside the porthole. The cargo s.h.i.+p was getting closer.
On the other hand, a green dot was getting closer and closer on the map on his AR gla.s.ses.
“Where is the magic?” Lilia tilted her head unhappily. She looked at Lu Zhou and grumbled, “Are you lying to me, Mr. Scholar?”
“Anyone who knows me knows that I never lie. Look out the window.” Lu Zhou reached out his index finger and gently pointed at the cargo s.h.i.+p that was getting closer. He said softly, “Abracadabra.”