Chapter 148.2: Storm Filming (4)
“Action!”
As soon as Xuan Yushu’s voice came through the earpiece, Han Fei—wearing black sunglasses, a simple white T-shirt, and athletic shorts—stood on a white yacht. His palm faced upward as he slightly curled his index finger, gesturing toward Yi Chen, who stood nearby.
Yi Chen immediately placed the binoculars respectfully into Han Fei’s open palm.
Han Fei gazed toward a distant yacht, invisible to the naked eye, and once he felt the weight of the binoculars in his hand, he raised them. At the same time, he reached up with his other hand and removed his sunglasses.
Ba Ze, on the other side, instantly stepped forward and took the sunglasses with both hands.
As Ba Ze accepted the sunglasses, Han Fei peered through the binoculars and saw the scene unfolding on the yacht.
On the luxurious deck, a group of wealthy young men and women were chatting in small clusters, basking in the sunlight and enjoying the sea breeze.
Whatever Han Fei saw, his previously indifferent expression cracked ever so slightly. The long fingers gripping the binoculars tensed faintly, and he suddenly spoke in a chilling tone:
“They look like they’re having a good time.”
Hearing this, Yi Chen and Ba Ze exchanged glances, both seeing the same confusion mirrored in each other’s eyes.
Then, Han Fei’s cold voice came again:
“That doctor Zhou Yanlin from the Zhou family—the lucky one who didn’t die—he’s on that yacht too.”
Instantly, Ba Ze and Yi Chen looked at each other again, this time with shared understanding. They turned their eyes toward the cruise ship—too far away to make out individual faces, but now clearly important.
Ba Ze began idly toying with the black firearm in his hand, a gleam of excitement flashing in his eyes.
Han Fei lowered the binoculars and spat out coldly:
“It’s too noisy. I’m not in a good mood. Blow it up.”
Han Fei tossed out that casual, feather-light command, then turned around and walked leisurely back into the yacht’s interior—his steps unhurried and elegant, as if he’d merely said, “The weather’s not great today.”
Behind him came the crisp responses from Ba Ze and Yi Chen.
“Copy that!”
“Understood.”
Inside the yacht.
Han Fei leaned back into a single armchair with his eyes closed, his posture relaxed. His slender, well-defined fingers tapped lightly on the gray tabletop—calm and rhythmic—while outside, explosions thundered one after another.
—
On the cruise ship.
Just as a stray bullet nearly struck him, Zhong Cheng’an was yanked down to the floor by Zhou Yanlin.
All around them were screams for help, cries of pain, and the constant roar of gunfire and explosions. Zhong Cheng’an’s face was pale as a sheet, but his mouth still worked, spitting out complaints:
“Damn it, what the hell?! We just came out to international waters, and they’re shelling us like it’s war?!”
Shang Yu looked remorseful. “I’m sorry. I never should’ve brought you all onto this ship. I didn’t know my brother’s friend was gutsy enough to come out this far offshore.”
Liang Jing, shielding Gu Xi with his body, twisted his head around to glare at them and roared in irritation:
“Are you two seriously chatting at a time like this?! Want to die?! Get over here now!”
“This kind of firepower—what kind of grudge are they even settling?! Damn it, how did I end up with this godforsaken job?!”
“Shit! I knew it—only lunatics show up in international waters!”
“This is the real deal—‘thrill’ my ass, we’re gonna get thrilled to death!”
“Still bombing?! Can’t they be done already? Damn it!”
“Who the hell on this goddamn boat pissed off whatever lunatic is out there? If you’ve got beef, can’t you blow each other up face to face?! Why the hell do we have to be the unlucky ones?!”
…
As a mercenary, although Liang Jing kept swearing irritably, his actions were swift and precise as he skillfully led the group in retreat.
Zhou Yanlin pressed his lips tightly together and remained silent. Gu Xi and Zhong Cheng’an, caught between Liang Jing and Zhou Yanlin, nervously dodged stray bullets as they retreated from the deck into the interior of the cruise ship.
Once they had finally retreated inside, Zhong Cheng’an looked at the furious-looking Liang Jing and the grim-faced Zhou Yanlin, and decisively chose to side with Gu Xi, who—just like him—had been scared pale by the shelling and Liang Jing’s shouting, but didn’t dare say a word.
“Gu Xi, how come I never noticed before—Liang Jing is seriously vicious when he curses. He talks even more than I do…”
Leaning against the wall, Gu Xi’s voice was weak: “Understandable.”
Liang Jing was peeking from a blind spot to observe the yacht that was attacking them. When he heard this, he quickly ducked down to ensure he remained out of sight, then irritably shouted at Zhong Cheng’an, “What the hell did you just say about me?”
Zhong Cheng’an instinctively hid behind Zhou Yanlin: “S-sorry…”
Zhou Yanlin raised his head to look at Liang Jing and said, “Apologies.”
“I’ve already sent our location. Reinforcements are on the way.”
Hearing this, a mocking look appeared on Liang Jing’s face. “Reinforcements? Your brother?”
Thinking of what Liang Jing had said to him in the past, Zhou Yanlin gave a tight, insincere smile. “Sorry. This is a personal matter.”
On the yacht—
Ba Ze put down the binoculars and clicked his tongue. “Tch, they’ve gone into hiding.”
Yi Chen tilted his head and looked at Ba Ze with confusion. “Mr. Han said to blow up the whole thing. You don’t understand?”
Ba Ze didn’t stop his bombing actions, grumbling the whole time: “You’re just like Xie Yi—look all gentle and soft on the outside, but in truth, even more cold-blooded and ruthless than a brute like me. No wonder you were one of the first to follow Mr. Han—he’s really rubbed off on you.”
At first, Yi Chen didn’t respond to Ba Ze’s words, but eventually, unable to bear it any longer, he turned to him coldly and said, “Don’t act like you’re some kind of innocent. Your hands are plenty stained with blood.”
Ba Ze blinked innocently, his expression far from sincere as he defended himself: “Tch, I was just out of my mind back then. If I were in my right mind, I’d never have imagined I’d one day become a villain.”
“Villain?” Yi Chen frowned at the word and looked at Ba Ze.
“W-what’s wrong?” Ba Ze asked, confused by Yi Chen’s reaction.
Yi Chen’s eyes dimmed slightly, and he replied flatly, “Nothing. Continue.”
Ba Ze couldn’t figure out what Yi Chen meant by that look, so he simply responded, “Got it!”
On the cruise ship.
The situation was becoming more and more critical—the cruise ship was on the verge of destruction.
Liang Jing was at his peak of frustration. “Zhou Yanlin, when the hell is your brother coming? If he doesn’t get here soon, we’re all going to be blown to pieces!”
Zhou Yanlin’s expression was cold and calm. He walked to a spot he had picked out long ago while they were waiting, opened the hatch window, and said to the three others, “Jump.”
“F**k, I knew it would come to this!” Liang Jing cursed, then looked to Zhong Cheng’an and Gu Xi. “On the count of three—if you don’t jump, I’ll kick you.”
Zhong Cheng’an and Gu Xi didn’t wait to be kicked. One after the other, they leapt into the sea.
Boom!
Just as the four hit the water, a massive explosion erupted behind them…
On the yacht.
Yi Chen took off the binoculars. As he turned and walked back into the cabin, he instructed the bodyguards, “Pause for now. I’ll go report to Mr. Han.”
Inside the yacht.
Yi Chen walked up to Han Fei, lowered his eyes to the ground, and reported in a quiet voice, “Mr. Han, the cruise ship has sunk.”
Han Fei, who had his eyes closed, abruptly opened them. He recalled the last time in the Han family estate in Yicheng when things had spiraled out of his control upon seeing Zhou Yanlin. His voice was cold as he spoke:
“Alive or dead—I want the body.”
He didn’t believe that Zhou Yanlin could escape his control again this time.
Yi Chen nodded. “Understood.”
With that, Yi Chen turned to leave. After walking a couple of steps, he suddenly paused, as if remembering something, his footsteps halting.
Yi Chen furrowed his brows slightly, looking conflicted. He hadn’t yet decided what to say when Han Fei’s deep voice came from behind:
“Something else?”
Yi Chen simply turned around, lowering his eyes to the ground. “Mr. Han, Ba Ze said we’re ‘villains.’ That kind of language shouldn’t come from our mouths.”
“It’s fine. He’s always been loose with his tongue.”
Yi Chen still wanted to say more, but seeing Han Fei’s expression, he could only nod. “Yes, sir.”
As soon as Yi Chen came out, Ba Ze rushed up to him. “Well? Well? What did Mr. Han say?!”
Yi Chen stared directly at Ba Ze, who instantly felt uneasy. “W-why are you staring at me like that?”
“It’s nothing.”
Yi Chen shifted his gaze away from Ba Ze and looked toward the bodyguards on the deck. He raised his hand and tapped the white wireless earpiece at his ear. “Pass it on—Zhou Yanlin, dead or alive, we bring him in.”
“Cut!”
Suddenly, everyone on the various cruise ships and yachts heard Director Xuan Yushu’s voice broadcast through the speakers, clapping and saying:
“Great job, everyone. That was excellent—absolutely perfect!”
“Let’s pack up and get ready for the next stop!”
As the director called “cut,” the production crew sprang into action, beginning to tidy up the yachts.
Watching the crew start packing up, Song Chengwang swallowed hard and took a moment to adjust. Finally shaking off Yi Chen’s intense demeanor, he relaxed his tense body and stretched out his limbs with a deep, relieved stretch.
After stretching and finally feeling like himself again, Song Chengwang turned to Mu Zhenchu and said, “I was suffocating! You playing Ba Ze got to act all carefree and relaxed, while I had to pretend to be all deep and brooding—it’s exhausting!”
He still defaulted to his usual style of snarking at people when things got too quiet.
Mu Zhenchu grinned. “Then go ask Captain Xiu for some tips—he always drops out of character in a second, not even a second more.”
Song Chengwang shook his head. “You don’t get it. What I mean is, my ‘seven-aperture exquisite heart, master strategist’ mode is totally fake, so it’s tiring. But Captain Xiu is actually smart, naturally sharp-minded—so when he acts, it’s effortless. I’m not smart. What tips am I supposed to ask for?”
Just then, Shen Xiu walked out from inside, catching only the last part of Song Chengwang’s sentence. Curious, he asked casually, “What are you guys talking about?”
Hearing Shen Xiu’s calm voice, Mu Zhenchu turned around. “Noth—”
Before Mu Zhenchu could finish his sentence, a panicked voice suddenly blasted out from the loudspeaker: “Director Xuan, bad news—there was an issue with the explosion effect. The cruise ship’s deck got damaged…”
They had only discovered the accident while cleaning and packing up the set.
The announcement came so quickly and abruptly that the crew didn’t have time to shut off the speaker system.
On the yacht, after hearing this, everyone instinctively turned their gaze toward Shen Xiu.
Shen Xiu had agreed—through a third party—to lend both the yacht and the cruise ship to Storm for filming. And now there was an issue with the yacht? How exactly was that supposed to be explained?
Xuan Yushu rushed over to the damaged section of the cruise ship. After surveying the scene, he sucked in a sharp breath. Still trying to figure out how to explain this to Shen Xiu, he quietly asked into the loudspeaker, “Shen Xiu doesn’t know about this yet, right?”
Everyone: “……”
Even through the speaker, everyone collectively cringed with secondhand embarrassment on the director’s behalf.
Their eyes couldn’t help but drift toward Shen Xiu.
Shen Xiu, suddenly being called out for no reason: “?”
What was that supposed to mean? Was it still possible to pretend he hadn’t heard it?
Clearly… it was too late.
Realizing everyone’s eyes were on him, Shen Xiu stiffly walked over to the crew member holding the mic and, with an awkward expression, spoke directly into it:
“Director Xuan, I heard it…”
