Reinforcements Part 2

Shi Jin became even more confused and asked, "Lian Jun guessed it? He asked you to be vigilant at all times? When did he ask you--"

Boom!

An explosion sounded behind the fleet, causing the sea to surge and the ships to start shaking.

The enemy came aggressively and started firing without waiting for the ships to enter their range. The alarm blared loudly, and Shi Jin's expression turned serious as he gave orders, "Maintain the fastest speed possible and keep the course steady. Don't let the explosion affect us, and we absolutely cannot let the other side catch up to us. Otherwise... damn it! Why would a criminal organization have fighter jets?!"

It didn't make sense for a criminal organization to have something that even the government didn't have many of.

"The LS Islands have a complex environment, and some of the larger criminal organisations are secretly supported by the government. It's not surprising that they have these things," Number One said calmly, even trying to reassure Shi Jin. "Don't worry, Young Master Shi, we'll be fine."

But how could Shi Jin not worry? He said, "But that's a fighter jet, not an armed helicopter or anything else. We-"

"We have fighter jets too," Number One interrupted.

Shi Jin was dumbfounded. "What?"

"We have fighter jets too," emphasized Number One, as he reached up to remove the wireless earpiece from his ear and pressed a button on Number Nine's computer.

The next second, the voice of Lian Jun came through, his tone calm: "How many?"

Shi Jin stared at Number Nine's computer in disbelief, wondering if he was hearing things.

"Three," Number One replied. "Number Nine has already locked in their location."

"Send me the coordinates. Reinforcements are on their way. Keep moving forward and don't panic," Lian Jun calmly instructed.

Number One acknowledged with a "yes" and began sending the coordinates to Lian Jun. With those words from Lian Jun, the captain and his crew immediately calmed down and returned to their posts. The captain's room was now filled with the sound of Number Nine typing on his computer and various instruments beeping warning signals. Even though the enemy was still harassing the fleet from behind, the atmosphere in the room had stabilized and there was no longer any tension or anxiety.

Shi Jin was no longer anxious either, as he noticed that his progress bar had been stuck at 900 and... he glanced at Number Nine's computer, swallowed hard, and tried to quietly leave the captain's room.

Although Lian Jun had only spoken a few words, he was very certain that Lian Jun was angry, and he knew exactly why Lian Jun was angry...

"Shi Jin." Lian Jun's voice suddenly rang out, as if he knew he was trying to escape, and it carried a warning tone.

Shi Jin's body trembled and he quickly stopped and stood up straight, raising his voice to reply, "I-I'm here! I swear I wasn't trying to run away! Um, did you just wake up from a nap? I did too, haha...ha..."

The captain's room fell into a dead silence as everyone looked at Shi Jin with indescribable expressions.

Shi Jin: "..." Oh no, it seems like he said the wrong thing.

There was a few seconds of silence on Lian Jun's end before his voice rang out again, even lower this time: "You stay by Number One's side and don't go anywhere else until I see you. Otherwise..."

Click. The phone hung up and Lian Jun didn't finish his sentence. The sudden hang-up on the phone scared Shi Jin so much that his heart skipped a beat.

He couldn't help but imagine what Lian Jun might have said if he hadn't finished his sentence. The more he thought about it, the more afraid he became. He forgot about the progress bar and the pursuers and just spun around in circles, completely at a loss.

Oh no, Lian Jun must be really angry now. What should he do? When did Lian Jun connect with Number One? Does he already know about the pit he dug for Meng Qing and the others?

Should he have called Lian Jun first thing in the morning to report in before going back to sleep? But it was so early then, what if Lian Jun hadn't woken up yet... Oh no, he missed the chance to confess and now he's in for a storm!

Number One glanced at Shi Jin and cleverly decided not to disturb him. A not-so-tense escape battle began, and about three minutes later, the alarm started blaring - the fleet had entered the range of the fighter jets. If they were attacked again, they probably wouldn't be able to escape.

"Reinforcements have arrived," Number Nine suddenly spoke up.

Shi Jin snapped out of his daze and followed his gaze to the computer screen in front of him. His eyes widened as he saw on the satellite map that near the symbol representing the enemy, several other symbols representing fighter jets suddenly appeared. The latter quickly approached the former in a fan-shaped formation, surrounding them.

"We're safe now," Number One also spoke up, gesturing for Shi Jin to look ahead. As Shi Jin turned his head in confusion, he saw several massive military ships approaching in formation. They split into two columns as they neared the fleet, allowing the ships to pass through before regrouping and forming a protective wall behind them.

Shi Jin was stunned and couldn't help but stand up and gaze at the large ships that were protecting them. He asked, "What is this?"

"It's the reinforcements brought by Young Master Jun," Number One replied, taking out a pair of binoculars and walking out of the captain's room.

Shi Jin also followed suit and walked out onto the balcony outside the captain's room, pretending to look through a pair of binoculars and enjoying the spectacle with his Thousand-Mile Eye buff.

After the large ships were lined up, they immediately began adjusting their gun barrels. The enemy ships that were chasing them probably realized something was wrong and stopped before entering the range of the large ships, creating a strange standoff. Shi Jin's heart tightened and he quickly looked up at the sky, where the fighter planes were also in a standoff, making him even more nervous.

If they were to really fight, with the current firepower on both sides, the scene would be absolutely terrifying and there would definitely be serious casualties.

The situation was at a standstill for a while, with both sides silently facing each other. Time seemed to stretch infinitely as Shi Jin stared at the enemy ship, afraid to even blink for fear that the enemy would charge forward if he looked away. After more than ten minutes, just when Shi Jin couldn't help but want to do something, the pursuers suddenly retreated in unison, changed course, and withdrew decisively.

"Huh? They're not fighting anymore?" Shi Jin asked.

"It seems that Young Master Jun's negotiation was successful," Number One put down his telescope and explained, "They are not a local organization and there is no need for us to fight to the death. It's normal to retreat when there is no chance of winning."

"Wait, negotiation?" Shi Jin finally realized that something was wrong. He put down his telescope and turned to Number One, frowning, "What negotiation? Who is negotiating? Isn't Lian Jun on the island? How can he negotiate with the enemy? Weren't the reinforcements sent from afar? And how do you know everything? How much important information did I miss while I was sleeping?"

"It's not that you missed the information, it's that Young Master Jun didn't let me tell you. He said you were too tired and needed to rest, and he will take care of things from now on." Number One answered honestly, gesturing towards a large ship ahead.

"Also, Young Master Jun didn't just send reinforcements from afar, he personally led the team and is on that ship. Although these ships are things that belong to Annihilation, they cannot be used casually because they are registered with the authorities. In order to mobilize them as soon as possible, Young Master Jun had to set sail himself."

Young Master Jun personally leading the team... How can he do that with his physical condition?

In an instant, Shi Jin's mind went blank. He remembered the pale and weak appearance of Lian Jun before he left, who had still been unconscious then.

Instinctively, he glanced at the progress bar in his mind that belonged to Lian Jun. He saw that the value of the progress bar, which had just been lowered to 470, had risen back up to 490 at some point. His heart trembled, and he turned around and ran towards the deck.

Number One tried to stop him, but he was too late. He quickly called Number Six.

Shi Jin quickly arrived at the edge of the deck, put down a lifeboat, and jumped into it, heading towards the ship where Lian Jun was located.

On the other side, Number Six received the notification from Number One and had already lowered the gangway in advance, making it easy for Shi Jin to come aboard.

With lightning speed, Shi Jin approached and deftly stopped the ship. He jumped into the sea and swam to the gangway, climbing up in three quick steps. Once on deck, he spotted Lian Jun sitting in his wheelchair by the windbreak connecting the deck and cabin.

Lian Jun was staring straight at him, causing Shi Jin to momentarily catch his breath before quickly running over. He stopped one step away from Lian Jun, reaching out to embrace him, but hesitated upon noticing the water on his own body.

"Lian Jun..." he called out softly.

"Shi Jin." Lian Jun interrupted him, grabbing the hand that Shi Jin was about to retract. His lips were tightly pursed, as if suppressing something. He spoke in a deep voice, "Didn't I tell you to stay by Number One's side and not run around? Why do you always disobey me?"

"I'm sorry." Shi Jin could hear the tremble in his voice as he held onto the other's hand, afraid that the water on his own body would wet the other's clothes. He cautiously leaned forward and whispered, "I'm sorry for making you worry. It's my fault. Please don't be angry."

"I take my eyes off you for one second and you go off doing whatever you want." Lian Jun was truly furious, gripping onto Shi Jin's hand tightly.

He had been able to suppress his emotions during their phone call, but seeing Shi Jin's drenched and disheveled appearance caused him to break down instantly. His eyes were turning red as he continued, "Shi Jin, why can't you just stay put? If I had been even a little bit late, or if the second wave of pursuers had arrived sooner... Sometimes I really want to chain you up so you won't run off to places where I can't see you!"

Shi Jin saw that his eyes were red and without much thought, he leaned onto him. His throat felt like it was choked with lead as he repeated, "I'm sorry, it's my fault. Don't be angry anymore. I won't run around or cause trouble. Don't be angry."

Lian Jun turned his head, resisting the urge to hug him. He held back for over ten seconds, but when he noticed Shi Jin shivering from the cold, he couldn't take it anymore. He let go of his hand and embraced him tightly, using all his strength to hold him.

He said, "This time, you can't just brush it off. You actually used yourself as bait to do something so dangerous... Did you want to kill me?"

"No," Shi Jin hugged him, feeling his thin and bony body. A rush of worry, longing, self-blame, and guilt overwhelmed him. He closed his eyes and buried his head in the man's chest, murmuring, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I miss you so much, I'm sorry."

Lian Jun wanted to scold him, but also wanted to comfort him. He had so much to say, but in the end, he just lowered his head and held him tightly, unable to say a word.