Chapter 546 - Barbie Doll
Chapter 546
Barbie Doll
Perhaps they were too loud, perhaps the drug had worn off, perhaps they really did drag this on for too long…
In short, Lin Ruoxi didn’t wake up before, or after, but right when Yang Chen decided to kill someone, and the light shield was all around her, and her surroundings were frozen in snow and ice!
In fact, from Lin Ruoxi’s expression, which was complicated with obvious panic, agitation, bafflement, pain, and other indescribable emotions, Yang Chen guessed that she might’ve woken up even earlier!
“Oh… You’re awake?”
Yang Chen knew it was just stating the obvious.
Lin Ruoxi gave him a profound look, and all the previously revealed emotions were now hidden as if they had never occured.
Without a word, she looked carefully at the shield enclosing her. Either because she was cold, or she was scared, Lin Ruoxi huddled into a ball, shivering—like a tender flower in the midst of snow, incompatible with the harsh surroundings.
Stern and Alice exchanged a glance and noticed each other’s gleeful expression at Yang Chen’s misfortune. They knew that although everything had been under Yang Chen’s control, he had been keeping Lin Ruoxi in the dark.
Yang Chen couldn’t be bothered with these siblings, and scratched his head as he thought of what to say next.
When he came up with this plan to capture the enemy by first letting them loose, Yang Chen had considered if Lin Ruoxi would notice the details that he had kept hidden from her. But he realized that he would need to be forthcoming sooner or later, so he arranged for everything to have followed through perfectly.
But facing Lin Ruoxi in such special circumstances, Yang Chen was still slightly nervous, and took a few deep breaths to calm himself.
Seeing Lin Ruoxi sitting on the deck silently, Yang Chen thought that she was just in shock. She was a woman after all; no matter how exceptional her spirit was, it was good enough that she hadn’t fainted at such an irregular scene along with all the otherworldly talk between gods.
“Don’t worry, it’s all over. Come, I’ll bring you all back to the ship, we should be back at the hotel by nightfall.” Yang Chen walked in front of her, and extended his hand. Stern’s shield was no obstacle to him.
Gripping Lin Ruoxi’s ice-cold hand, Yang Chen channeled a stream of True Qi to defend her against the severe chill outside which was dozens of degrees below zero.
Lin Ruoxi didn’t resist or mention anything, but surprisingly obeyed. In the past, she would have flushed or dodged at any contact with Yang Chen, but now she was like a barbie doll completely under Yang Chen’s control. Holding hands, getting up, walking, as she was asked to do, all without making a sound.
Her eyes were flat, her face totally blank, and not a single word came out of her mouth.
This woman who had always been like an iceberg now seemed like an exquisite ice sculpture, standing clean and clear on a ship full of white frost without the impurities of emotions or desires.
Yang Chen finally sensed that the situation was more complex than he thought, and he became jittery. Everything before his eyes was nothing like he anticipated it to have been.
Yang Chen wouldn’t even dodge a resolute slap from Lin Ruoxi, and would also gladly listen to a hostile scolding from her as she glared at him fiercely…
But her absolute silence made Yang Chen very uncomfortable.
What went wrong? Yang Chen didn’t get it, but had to let it go for now. The priority was to bring Lin Ruoxi, Harry, and his mother away from here.
Of course, Yang Chen was only responsible for Lin Ruoxi. Harry and his mother would be brought back by the Cromwell siblings. Yang Chen felt like they had to do their share of the work too.
Everything seemed to have gone smoothly when they returned via the ship. Besides the very strange stares that everyone gave the Cromwell siblings, no one said much.
The leaders of Sea Eagles and Zero came forward with Sauron and introduced their respective roles in the groups to Lin Ruoxi, voluntarily pledging their loyalty to her as well. It was this process that livened things up a bit.
Only, Lin Ruoxi appeared so numb. As she blankly listened to these people calling her a title that would make the European upper class incomparably envious, besides a vacant look, there seemed to be a trace of panic in her eyes…
Standing beside her, Yang Chen frowned and thought Lin Ruoxi must be acting like this because it was hard for her to accept such inconceivable matters, or rather so many in such a short time. Therefore, he didn’t disturb her, thinking that she would recover once they had a good night’s rest in Paris.
Yang Chen couldn’t help but regret all that has happened. He knew that he should’ve given Lin Ruoxi a heads-up so that she wouldn’t end up as pitiful as she was now, not even daring to speak.
Compared to the previous decisive, vigorous career woman, the Lin Ruoxi now had empty eyes with no energy to speak of, and was more like a lamb in the corner. Yang Chen just wasn’t used to it.
After reaching the port in Le Havre , Yang Chen brought Lin Ruoxi to where he had parked the Maybach, and helped the soft-bodied Lin Ruoxi inside. He adjusted her seat before starting the car, and turned on the heater. It was better to not be cold after being shocked, for the sea wind outside was very chilly.
“Dear wife, rest here first, I’ll return in a while to bring you back to the hotel.” Yang Chen smiled as her as he spoke warmly, regardless of whether she was listening to him.
After settling her in, Yang Chen returned to the port. Some of the over-hundred people who had escaped on the Louis XVI had dispersed, but there was still a batch left.
As Alice and Stern didn’t want to reveal their identities completely, their undertaking had only involved Depney who was impersonating Apollo, and Yang Chen who just happened to join in.
As a witness, Fodessa naturally didn’t dare to reveal everything that happened, but simply narrated Depney’s crime and placed all the credit on Yang Chen.
There was no other way. No one would believe that anyone else besides Yang Chen could have dealt with this matter easily, or in fact, at all.
But Yang Chen was not worried that trouble would arise from so many people knowing his identity. These groups weren’t stupid. They wouldn’t risk offending him by going around spreading the truth about his identity and whereabouts.
To be frank, these people were happy to not verify the identity of gods. The existence of gods would only affect the stability of various regimes, and religions would expand zealously. The authorities would definitely be opposed to this. Just like when he returned to China—the Yellow Flame Iron Brigade knew of his position as god but wouldn’t simply reveal that fact.
So even if everyone knew about the identities of Yang Chen and the siblings, they wouldn’t leak it out. In a world dictated by humans, the gods were willing to silently observe—that was the ideal cooperation.
Therefore, the Cromwell siblings kept up the show of being rescued hostages, while Sauron, Abbess Yun Miao, Sargeras, and the rest bore witness.
The matter was understood as such, and the remaining loose ends would be tied up some other time when the governments had their own meeting. Slowly, many of the organizations started to take their leave. Takamagahara and the Sword in the Stone were amongst the last to leave. The Sword in the Stone seemed to have changed their attitude towards Yang Chen; after all, they had only survived by his grace. The strange beings from Takamagahara said a simple farewell—to them, acknowledgement was already a great sign of respect.
And although quite a few people were drooling at the Sword of Thanatos in Sauron’s hands, they dared not extract the tooth from the mouth of the beast which was Yang Chen—even if Yang Chen hadn’t made a big deal out of the sword from the start.
“Your Majesty Pluto, do you really not want to take this divine weapon?” Holding on to the black box, Sauron was uncertain and consulted Yang Chen.
Yang Chen patted his old friend’s shoulder. “You guys take it, and hand it over to Ron. I have no use for this sword. I thought that someone would seize it but it seems I guessed wrongly. It’ll just be an unnecessary, troublesome object here with me.”
Sauron nodded, and without saying anything else, gave Yang Chen a soldier’s salute, and led the rest away.
Fodessa and the other French officials watched something that was theirs being taken away just like that, and didn’t dare to complain although they didn’t feel too good about it. Luckily, the Realm of Gods no longer existed, so the president and the European Union were out of danger—they didn’t really suffer any loss.
Just then, the father-daughter pair of Sargeras and Lilith came forward. Sargeras led Lilith in a slight bow and smiled. “Many thanks to Your Majesty Pluto’s actions. I would like to extend an invitation to my ancient castle if Your Majesty Pluto is willing to stay for a few days, and let us honor you by being your hosts.”
Yang Chen waved his hand hurriedly. “That’s alright, I’m not interested in that thousand-year-old house. But you should quickly go back and recuperate after being stabbed by the Lance of Longinus. If the leader of the Venture clan falls, Camarilla would be thrown into chaos.”
Sargeras was somewhat embarrassed. “Heheh, that’s nothing. Although the Lance of Longinus is deadly, with the assistance of Your Majesty Pluto, this body is still holding up.”
Besides him, Lilith’s bright, pretty blue eyes were shining. Whatever she was thinking about, she seemed shy, but remained quiet.
Behind them, the Cromwell siblings were getting impatient. After sharing a quick kiss, Stern saw that Yang Chen was still talking, and waved his hand. “I dare say, Mr Yang, we’re still waiting on you for that ride back to Paris. Can you hurry up? It’s cold out here!”
The remaining people were secretly disdainful. These two are so good at pretending, can they even feel cold?
Yang Chen was about to mock the siblings with a few lines, but an alert suddenly flashed across his mind!
“Oh no!”
Just as he sensed something was wrong, it was already too late!
About a hundred meters away, Sauron and the rest were returning to their cars, but unexpectedly there was a sudden ripple in the space next to Sauron who was at the front!
Sauron had no time to react at all before finding that the box in his hand was missing!
Cling-clang…
The sharp sound of metal rang out—the Sword of Thanatos, now without its box, landed on the ground!
The three figures of Yang Chen, Stern, and Alice appeared before Sauron almost as soon as the sword had landed, making all of them jump!
“We’re still too late,” Yang Chen mumbled. He could do nothing but smile bitterly.
He thought that he had miscalculated, that this mysterious person wouldn’t seize the Sword of Thanatos. However, he never considered that this fellow would still take the sword, but would only appear in the presence of less people, thinking he wouldn’t appear—that was when he moved!
Looking down at the Sword of Thanatos which was obviously depleted of its divine power, or should it be ‘the sword of ordinary metal’, Yang Chen gripped both of his fists.