Tidal Engagement - Chapter 9

I put my phone on speaker. The conversation just now had been simultaneously live-streamed to the reporters.

Pei Zongyue’s expression flickered.

I said, “Mr. Pei, does everyone in your Pei Family have this problem, thinking that others will be scared stupid once they know the truth?”

Pei Tinglan turned his head to look at me.

I didn’t look at him.

“I’ll investigate my mother’s matter. I’ll also investigate Pei Tinglan’s matter.”

“But you’ve just admitted to illegal imprisonment, human experimentation, persecution under the Old Code, and incidentally, admitted that the Pei Family isn’t human.”

Pei Zongyue sneered.

“You think the outside world will believe it?”

“Not entirely.”

I said, “But creditors will believe the asset issues, reporters will believe the missing persons files, the research institute will believe the abnormal samples, and the police will believe the illegal detention at the sanatorium.”

I raised my hand, holding up a vial of pale golden blood sample.

That was the blood I had taken from the drops on the floor while Pei Tinglan wasn’t paying attention.

Pei Tinglan: “…”

I said quietly, “Don’t look at me like that. A partner always keeps a sample.”

He was silent for two seconds.

“You truly are suited to survive.”

“Thanks.”

Pei Zongyue’s face turned utterly grim.

“Seize her.”

Before the bodyguards could move, Pei Tinglan had already lifted his gaze. All the moisture in the parking lot condensed into thin threads in an instant, binding their wrists and ankles.

He didn’t kill anyone. But everyone was forced to their knees.

Pei Tinglan’s voice was very low. “I’m holding back.”

He looked at me, as if waiting for confirmation.

I nodded. “Well done.”

The silver in his eyes wavered.

I suddenly realized that this kind of praise might also be dangerous for him.

Because the next second, he lowered his head and leaned close to me, his nose almost grazing my ear.

“Lin Wu.”

“Hm?”

“Stop rewarding me.”

Before dawn, the police and maritime authorities arrived on the island.

When the Pei Family Council of Elders was taken away, Pei Zongyue remained dignified.

Passing by me, he whispered, “You think this is over? Without an Anchor, sooner or later he’ll return to the sea.”

I said nothing.

Pei Tinglan stood not far away, his back to the rising sun. The scales on his body had mostly receded, leaving only a small patch on the side of his neck, like moonlight not wiped clean.

I walked over.

“Your second uncle said you’ll return to the sea.”

“I will.”

He wasn’t lying to me.

“How long?”

“Without a Binding, at the next Great Tide.”

I frowned.

“Binding means wearing the Ring?”

“The Old Code is wearing the Ring.”

“And the new method?”

Pei Tinglan looked out at the sea. “Not yet.”

I almost laughed out of anger.

“So your original plan was to destroy the Old Code, then go back to the sea yourself?”

He was silent.

I understood.

This person truly was clever. Clever enough to calculate every step, able to weave the Pei Family, the Old Steward, me, the police, and the media all into one net.

But he excluded himself from the ending.

That wasn’t nobility. It was another kind of arrogance.

I said, “Pei Tinglan, do you think you’re so good at arranging things?”

He looked at me. “No.”

“You do.”

I took the Silver Ring out of the evidence bag.

His expression changed. “Don’t touch that.”

“I know I can’t wear it.” I held the Silver Ring up to the sunlight. The patterns on the inside were so clear they were dazzling. “But the lock can be altered.”

Pei Tinglan froze.

I said, “The Old Code treats the Anchor as a consumable because it’s a one-way extraction. So what if we change it to a two-way restriction?”

“What do you want to do?”

“Study it.”

“No.” He answered quickly, almost fiercely.

I looked at him. “Why?”

Pei Tinglan’s breath caught. After a few seconds, he said, “I’m afraid you’ll try.”

“I won’t risk my life trying.”

“I’m afraid I would want you to try.”

That sentence fell, colder than the sea breeze.

He had finally laid bare the ugliest part.

“Lin Wu, I want to live.” His voice was very soft. “I also want to keep you here.”