CH 74

Translate by Hua

After Rowlett and Clarice finished posting on Starblog, Ji Mingjiang roughly browsed the forum and comment area and nodded with satisfaction when he saw that almost everyone was scolding Orfield.

As for why it’s said to be “almost” everyone, that’s of course because there are always some conspiracy theorists who think “the world is turbid; only I alone is in the clear” and the Federation people who are fishing in troubled waters.

Their remarks included, but were not limited to, implicitly saying, “Clarice definitely doesn’t really care about this mermaid. He is just a victim of the power struggle.” Or directly lead people to think in the direction of identity authenticity, such as “It’s not certain whether this so-called mermaid is real. After all, there was never such news ten or twenty years ago. A group of people actually believed the emperor’s lies so easily. They are so stupid.”

Of course, these baseless and fabricated speculations are in sharp contrast to the three clearly organized attachments sent by Rowlett with clear evidence, so in the end, they didn’t cause any splashes. The only gain was being ridiculed and scolded by others. Ji Mingjiang wrote down a few suspicious IDs and sent them to Clarice.

After a few minutes of simple browsing, Ji Mingjiang exited the Starnet and opened the game area after some thought.

He hasn’t been online in the past few days. Just now, he saw someone mentioning him in the game forum. Lin Nan and Zhuang Zhiye also sent him several messages in the past two days, asking if he had encountered any difficulties again. If he didn’t show up to brush up on his level, he was afraid that the next time he opened the forum, he would see people discussing whether he went to fight on the front lines and died.

As soon as Ji Mingjiang logged into the game in holographic mode, before he had time to re-adapt to the world in front of him, the avatars of the only three people on his friends list ticked frantically, and then a team invitation slammed straight into his face.

“Your friend [Come and beat me] invites you to join the team for a game. Do you accept it?”

Rubbing his brows, his intuition told him that Lin Nan and the others might have made up some strange experiences about him. Ji Mingjiang glanced at Bernie’s shaking avatar with some apology and then simply clicked the confirm button.

The space around him was distorted for a moment, and Ji Mingjiang’s figure quickly disappeared.

Touching the ground again, as soon as Ji Mingjiang opened his eyes, he was startled by the three big faces that suddenly approached him and took half a step back unconsciously.

“How did you three…get together?”

Looking at Bernie, Lin Nan, and Zhuang Zhiye standing in a row in front of him,the corner of Ji Mingjiang’s mouth twitched, and he asked incredulously.

“Uh-huh, we saw that you hadn’t been online for the past two days and were too worried about you. We went into the game today just after seeing your avatar light up, and then we saw him at the door.” Lin Nan put an arm on Ji Mingjiang’s shoulder and pointed at Bernie casually with his other hand. “I remember seeing him with you before, so I pulled him to join us.”

When he saw Yu Quanquan appear in front of him wearing his familiar black robe, Lin Nan keenly felt a sense of familiarity…

Lin Nan furrowed his brows silently and quietly looked up and down at Yu Quanquan, who had allowed him to rest on his arm on his shoulders. He had obviously not seen him for several days, but this strange feeling made him extremely confident that he must have seen this person recently. Where did this sense of familiarity come from?

Anyway, it’s definitely not His Majesty! He used to be fooled by that bastard, Zhuang Zhiye, before thinking that Yu Quanquan was his majesty. Now, upon closer inspection, he clearly doesn’t have the same height and physique.

If he had to say it, he is somewhat similar to Ji Mingjiang in human form.

……

No! No, no, no!

As soon as this speculation came up, Lin Nan shook his head vigorously, trying desperately to get rid of this outrageous idea, and then quickly adjusted his somewhat distorted expression under the strange eyes of the other three people.

However, with his expression regaining its calmness, his arm was quietly using some force. Right on the hood there at Ji Mingjiang’s neck, the cloak was pressed out with a few folds, and the hat had a tendency to slide down as well.

There was no way. Although he didn’t want to believe it, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that his guess might be right.

On one hand, the time and body shape are right, and on the other hand, it was naturally because of that coincidence that had cornered him into a ditch before: Ji Mingjiang’s game style is highly consistent with Yu Quanquan.

Since the speculation that His Majesty Clarice is ruthless in game is very unreliable, apart from the possibility of being under the same mentor, the possibility that the two people are the same person… the more you think about it, the more reasonable it becomes!

Mermaids can now grow human legs and walk. Is there anything else that is impossible?

The two thoughts in his mind were competing fiercely, causing Lin Nan’s face to gradually put on a mask of pain again, but his arm was still exerting force.

Damn it, if you take off this shabby hat, everything will be clear! Lin Nan gritted his teeth and thought.

While leading people towards the mecha hall, Lin Nan secretly worked hard.

Soon–

Soon–

His eyes gleamed, looking almost unobtrusively at the neck of the person next to him.

The overly burning line of sight rightfully caught Ji Mingjiang’s attention, and noticing where Lin Nan was staring closely and the force coming from there, the corners of Ji Mingjiang’s mouth twitched.

With this stare, those who didn’t know would have thought this was some kind of ABO world.

Originally, he wanted to slap Lin Nan’s hand away and straighten his hat, but seeing the other party’s burning eyes full of hope and longing, Ji Mingjiang hesitated for a moment and silently put down the hand that had already been lifted halfway.

Forget it; it doesn’t seem to be a big deal to tell them directly in this situation.

Not yet aware that his little scheme had already been discovered and condoned, Lin Nan was still distracted, pretending that nothing happened as he was chatting with the people next to him.

Finally! His arm resting on Yu Quanquan’s neck suddenly slipped, and the hood with excellent texture finally couldn’t hold up after his persistent efforts and fell sharply downward!

The silver hair that was not disguised with hair dye hung down smoothly as the black hood slipped off, revealing the familiar face that was seen in reports and live broadcasts yesterday afternoon and last night.

Lin Nan had wanted to turn his head very naturally and then say something in surprise, but when he executed the first step of the idea in his head—turning his head naturally—he instantly froze in place. The slightly curly black hair at the top of his head was blowing up a little, and he stared wide-eyed at Ji Mingjiang like a frightened cat.

Silence prevailed.

“Senior, those courses in the military academy…senior?” Bernie, who didn’t notice the sudden silence in the air, looked straight ahead and posed a question in a reserved manner, pretending to be indifferent.

The long absence of an answer behind him made him feel a little confused. He called out “senior, senior, senior”, turned his head carelessly, and then…

——”F*ck?! You… uh uh!”

Bernie stared out in a daze the same way Lin Nan did, and his face showed the same look as Lin Nan’s, or even more shocked than him. The difference was that his mouth, which had just opened wide, was quickly covered by two hands, one left and one right, muffling the shocked exclamation that had just reached his throat.

Fortunately, Ji Mingjiang and the others happened to have reached a corner of the mecha hall, and there were several mechas in front of them as cover. There were not many people who had the leisure to play games at this time. Those few words that Bernie just leaked out didn’t attract anyone’s attention.

Almost carrying Bernie as he walked deeper, Lin Nan, who looked shocked, and Zhuang Zhiye, who was slightly surprised, silently watched as Ji Mingjiang took off his hat, his hands inserted into the pockets of his black robe, and his steps leisurely followed them to this place.

“Wep me goh mmphhm…!”

Although Bernie, the middle one between the two, seemed to be suddenly struck by five thunders, the presence of the two hands covering his mouth was so strong that he had no choice but to turn his attention to himself first.

It was only when they heard vague sounds of dissatisfaction coming from the person wedged between them that Lin Nan and Zhuang Zhiye involuntarily let go of their hands. After rubbing their palms on their pants uncomfortably, the three of them looked at Ji Mingjiang.

“What the hell is going on with you?!”

***

After a brief explanation, the shock and confusion on the faces of Lin Nan and Bernie still lingered, and they even showed expressions of doubt about life.

On the contrary, Zhuang Zhiye seemed to accept it well.

Lin Nan squatted on the ground and looked up at him. He indignantly took out a small piece of parts from somewhere in his pocket and threw it accurately on his head.

The tiny parts bounced off the top of his head before falling to the ground, transforming into a string of silver data chains that fell back into Lin Nan’s pocket the moment they hit the ground.

“Senior/You, why do you look like you already knew this?”

Bernie and Lin Nan asked at the same time.

“Damn it, you two must have contacted each other privately behind my back, and you still don’t admit it!”

Before Zhuang Zhiye could speak, Lin Nan added viciously.

Touching his nose, Zhuang Zhiye innocently defended himself: “I didn’t! I just guessed a little ahead of you. It’s not easy for me to tell you about uncertain guesses!”

Thinking about it, he was the one who guessed that Yu Quanquan was Clarice last time, and he was the one who guessed that Yu Quanquan was Ji Mingjiang this time, so it would be a hell of a thing for Lin Nan to believe it, right?

Lin Nan resignedly rubbed his head hard, pulling Bernie, who was crouching next to him, planting mushrooms, to his feet, snapping Ji Mingjiang’s hat back on him once more before naturally resting on his shoulder again. “Nevermind, it feels like it wouldn’t be so hard to accept if it was you.”

After all, no mermaid is so cruel and violent when playing games.

Ji Mingjiang stretched out his hand to pull up the brim of his hat, turned his head slightly to look at Lin Nan, and then saw this guy suddenly looking at him with bright eyes and said impatiently, “In that case, on the basis that I didn’t settle score with you for keeping us in the dark, do you have anything related to His Majesty that you can tell us?”

Ji MingJiang twitched the corners of his mouth. Very well, the stereotype of a military cadet deepened a little more with him.

Next to him, Bernie also suddenly remembered Ji Mingjiang’s identity under the reminder of his words, which was the closest mermaid to Clarice!

His Majesty! Mermaid! Big Boss! His friend! Someone that neither his dad nor his brother can touch! An eyewitness to the news that has made a lot of noise in the past two days!

The unexpected surprise hit Bernie on the head, and his cheeks turned red with excitement. Unlike Lin Nan, who always admired Clarice, he quickly followed Ji Mingjiang, smiled, and asked, “I’m not curious about His Majesty’s affairs; I just…”

Under Ji Mingjiang’s patient gaze, Bernie was in high spirits. “Can you tell us about any specific evil things done by the Orfield family?”

Okay, plus one for the new aristocratic stereotype promoted by Clarice.

Ji Mingjiang raised his eyebrows. First, he mercilessly pushed away Lin Nan, who was looking at him eagerly. Then he said vaguely, “The trial will be held in about three days. It will be broadcast live on the entire network. You can go and watch.”