The Great Worm Lich

Time flew. Unknowingly, the Manhattan Princess had already been drifting in the Pacific Ocean for more than two months.

During this period of time, in addition to deliberately bypassing Oahu, the yacht also passed by islands like Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Kauai, and Niihau at least twice.

Every time when they passed by an inhabited large island, Zhang Lisheng would fill the yacht with a full tank of fuel. Not only that, but he would also take Tina, Trish, and Sheila onshore to stay in a hotel for a few days.

Far from Altman and Julinas’ threats.

Ever since the FBI took over the case of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel from the police, after a hasty investigation, they threw the case into the archives, wanting to conceal it up. They did not even make any phone call asking for assistance in the testimony and just like that, all of a sudden, the lives of the four became extremely comfortable and pleasant.

As time passed by, in the bliss of the blue sky, blue sea, bonfire parties, the light dance of the Hawaiian hula dance and all sorts of delicious food, the three girls gradually forgot the tension and started to enjoy their last high school holiday.

However, unlike the relaxed and cozy state of the girls, Zhang Lisheng had never once forgotten the threats of the supernatural realm’s spies. He would pay special attention to the current news on the Internet everyday.

First, he witnessed the incident in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel to be described by the US government as a terrifying attack by the terrorists. Every time when a confusing picture of the wizard gus battling with Altman and Julinas appeared on the Internet, there would be 10 more pictures that were photoshopped in varying degrees to become even more magical.

Every time a correct description and speculation about the invaders from the supernatural realm appeared, 100 more ridiculous stories ranging from the resurrection of the prehistoric behemoths of the Pacific Ocean to the signs of the end of the world would appear as well. Just like this, the truth was mixed in the lies, eventually becoming concealed without the need to blot it out.

Afterward, he learned from the news that the US army based in Oahu had begun to do everything in their power to hunt the terrorists down. Many confrontations had taken place in the meantime, causing a total of more than 100 deaths among innocent civilians and tourists, making this beautiful island transform from a paradise on Earth into a horrible hell.

Finally, one evening, after cultivating the secret technique for an entire day, Zhang Lisheng was called by Tina for food. Habitually, when he was browsing the latest news on the tablet connected via satellite, he was shocked to find the important notice issued by the US Pacific Fleet Marine Corps’s commander on the headlines.

It claimed that after nearly eighty days of hard pursuit, the terrorists that had launched many terrorist attacks in Honolulu City had been killed on the spot at a planned round-up at 11 am.

After reading this news twice in a row, an inexplicably surging round of emotions rose from the young man’s heart. Sighing, he opened the door and walked out of the cabin.

“Lisheng, what’s wrong?” Seeing that something was not right with his emotions, Tina, who was waiting outside the door, asked.

“It’s nothing, Tina! Sage Altman is dead now! We can leave Hawaii safely already.”

“Really? This is amazing!” Tina cried out loud in joy. However, when she realized that she would have to leave New York and the young man in front of her after these days that were gradually becoming boring and carefree ended, she became depressed instead. “Lisheng, I’ll have to go to Boston for my college after we go back to New York. Will you miss me?”

“Isn’t Boston far from New York?”

“It takes four hours by car and more than an hour by plane. It would not be so easy for us to meet each other anymore.”

The young man became slightly dejected when he heard the girl’s words but he did not say the words that the girl wanted to hear. Instead, he became silent for a moment before smiling, “Tina, go sail the boat to Oahu. I’ll make dinner for tonight.”

Tina was stunned for a moment. With her heart becoming lower in spirit, she forced a smile on her face. “I’ve already finished making the dinner tonight… Fine! The food that I make is definitely not as tasty as the one you make anyway. You can just remake it!”

After saying so, she entered the steering room and guided the Manhattan Princess to the Hanalei Pier in Honolulu, in accordance to the navigator.

Four days later, the yacht arrived at the destination smoothly. After resting for another day in Hawaii, Zhang Lisheng and the three girls began to fly back to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Just like that, his first summer vacation after he came to the US had also unknowingly come to an end.

After returning to New York, the days passed by with nothing interesting happening day by day. No more incidents took place in the news and the existence of the supernatural realm was still kept secret by the government.

In the blink of an eye, the late autumn that caused the cold wind to rustle and flutter the dried yellow leaves on the street to fly arrived.

Unknowingly, Tina had already gone to Boston for more than three months already. Even though they could still connect with each other through phone and Facebook all the time, and that the girl had also returned to New York several times as well, due to the reason that the two of them were living apart, Zhang Lisheng had started to get used to the life of being single again.

“What are you thinking about? Could it be your girlfriend who has gone to Boston for her college? Hey buddy! You’re only in the junior year! Those college girls are not suitable for you! You should look for somebody who is about your age…” In the afternoon, walking out the Lowbige Junior High’s open campus along with the flow of crowds, George placed his books on his head and patted the shoulder of Zhang Lisheng who was staring at the falling leaves quietly. Just like usual, he began to rant nonstop again.

“I’m not thinking about anything, George. Nothing at all. Can you stop bothering me? I still need to sign a contract at the factory tonight so I just want to empty my head for now.”

“Another contract? The hell? Why are you signing contracts all day long now? Buddy, remember! It’s a joy if you have 100,000, it’s luck if you have one million, and you can ask for nothing more if you have 10 million! however, it’d start to make your life filled with burden if you have 100 million…”

George made a deep remark.

“Don’t worry, George, you won’t have such a burden in your entire life! I’ll leave first, see you tomorrow!” After Zhang Lisheng finished saying that, he entered his car and ignored his best friend who flashed two middle fingers at him before leaving.

Listening to the latest real-time news broadcast, the young man drove on the streets of New York. When he was about to turn into the round-the-city highway, he suddenly heard the car phone began to ring.

Glancing at the illuminated central control screen, Zhang Lisheng picked up the call. “Mr. Edward, I’m already on my way. I’ll arrive at the factory in about half an hour.”

“There’s no need to rush, Mr. Lisheng, it’s still very early and I’ve already prepared the contract. After signing these six contracts, the third phase of your factory will also reach a work saturation state. I wonder, have you ever thought of continuing to expand the factory? By mastering the core technology of dealing with ecological waste, you can completely occupy the entire slaughtering market in the whole US and even the world! You can build a business empire that is worth 100 billion dollars!”

“I feel that my money is already enough so I don’t have such a plan for the time being. Edward, why did you suddenly ask me about this?”

Edward chuckled at the other end of the phone but he did not reply to Zhang Lisheng’s question. Instead, he continued to talk to himself, “Mr. Zhang, I remember that during an idle chat, you said before that your dream is to become a biologist and build the world’s largest and most advanced biological science laboratory.”

“That’s right! I only need 100 to 200 million dollars to realize this ambition.”

“Then have you ever thought about the salary needed to hire the top scientists in the world? No matter how much a genius you are, you can’t do everything alone too right? And how about the waste that may be caused by large-scale pilot projects? Moreover, there is no limit to the size of the laboratory. The larger the laboratory, the more scientific research projects that can be carried out at the same time. From this perspective, there’s no such thing as ‘sufficient’ no matter how much money you earn.”

Zhang Lisheng was stunned for a moment. “You have a valid reason, Mr. Edward. Looks like you have made your homework well to convince me.”

“I can’t help it. In order to become the chief legal officer of an emerging giant financial oligarch, I have no choice but to do some homework,” Edward cracked a joke.

“In that case, after you’ve finished your homework and convinced me, help me negotiate with the construction company then. Let’s take down the entire market of the whole New York metropolitan area first.”

Edward hesitated. “You mean…”

“I’ve decided to continue my business’ expansion and you’re the chief legal officer of the Lisheng Group,” Lisheng treated it as a trifling matter but he said it pretty straightforwardly. “Even though I have no idea what a chief legal officer is, I’ll still sign the contract with you and let you have a share of profit distribution in accordance to the general customary rule of a company without any stock rights. Is this condition satisfactory?”

“I’m very satisfied, Mr. Lisheng. Even though you’re young, you’re the most generous industrialist I have ever seen. Please be assured that I won’t let you down.”

“I believe that you’ll be a very competent chief legal officer. I’ll see you later.”

“See you, Mr. Zhang.” In a speeding black Mercedes-Benz, Edward quietly waited for Zhang Lisheng to hang the phone up before smiling at Charlie who was once Zhang Lisheng’s business representative who had negotiated with dozens of National Farmers Union before. “It’s a deal, Charlie. I’m now the chief legal officer of the Lisheng Group.”

“Oh, that’s great.” Charlie, who was driving the car clenched the steering wheel tightly. “It’s not so easy to become a corporate spy. Not only that, Wadeck B. Waste Management Corp. must have already used countless methods that have all come to a dead end before finally deciding to spend such a hefty amount of money to buy you over through me…”

“It’d still be a delusion no matter how much money he offers me. Even if Mr. Lisheng didn’t hire me as the group’s chief legal officer, I’d never betray the interest of my customers…”

“Oh drop it, Edward! You’re a lawyer! Stop acting so just and righteous. However, since you’ve already obtained such a gold mine that you can continuously mine endlessly, you’d definitely not want to do this kind of one-off trade anymore.”

“I’m a lawyer and you’re a businessman! Admit it, Charlie. Stop pretending as though you’re very happy. Your wrath in your heart is already lighting your hair up you know,” Hearing his friend’s sarcastic words, Edward imitated Charlie’s tone just now. “Rest assured. I’ll advise Mr. Lisheng at the right time to let you be the chief business representative of the Lisheng Group. At that time, you’d be able to dig some gold from this gold mine as well. For the sake of this purpose, the first thing you need to do now is to make a better impression on your future boss. You’ll also have to work together with me to ensure his interests — or in other words, our interests — are not infringed.”