Card Room

Chu Huaying's starship sailed much faster than the average passenger starship. By the time they arrived at Azure Planet, the passenger starship that Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had been on was still three hours away from the terminal.

Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had their ticket purchase records. In order to pass through the security check and enter Azure Planet, they would have to have valid proof, the security personnel would definitely check the information of the spacecraft they were riding. It would arouse suspicion if they arrived too early.

Chu Huaying flew the starship to a hidden corner and waited for the passenger starship.

In these three hours, they took a break, ate something and organized their ideas.

Yu Hanjiang briefly summarized the current clues. "The first area of doubt is who saved Brother Jiu and Mr Tang on the bug planet and why did they lose part of their memory? Secondly, why did the emperor restart the Noah's Ark project and why did he kill all the insiders that year?"

Xiao Lou added, "Third, am I a clone? What is the emperor planning by having so many clones in the palace? Also, who sent the invisible assassin who snuck into the Twin Palaces on my birthday? What did he mean by 'the one who lives to the end is the winner'?"

Once all the doubts were explained and the truth was revealed, the fundamental problem of this secret room should be solved.

As for clearing the instance…

Ye Qi made a guess. "Is it necessary for us to expose the conspiracy of that year, solve the problem of the remaining cloning program, take out the emperor and support Professor Xiao to take the throne?"

After all, Xiao Lou's identity was the emperor's son and there were at least two clones of him in the palace.

This sensitive identity wouldn't allow him to use 'retreating' to clear the instance. He would either be killed by the other princes and become a victim of the struggle or he would take the throne himself. It was impossible for another Xiao Lou to leave him alive.

Therefore, Ye Qi's speculation was actually very reasonable.

Xiao Lou's status was noble but this identity would also bring him danger.

Lu Jiuchuan held his pained head. "Do we have to lead troops to war?"

Tang Ci said calmly, "Now that we have fled from Capital Star, we should be prepared for the worst when we go back."

Everyone was silent.

This time, the keepers didn't point out a clear way to clear the secret room. Now that everyone was in a difficult situation, they had to first investigate the matter of the clones while protecting Xiao Lou who had a special status.

Three hours passed quickly and a passenger starship appeared in the radar surveillance area of Chu Huaying's starship.

It was the one that Shao Qingge and Ye Qi had previously been on.

Chu Huaying looked at Shao Qingge and advised him, "My starship can't land at the space station. Wait for the passenger starship to land before sneaking over with the teleportation card. Mix in with the other passengers to get through the security passage."

Shao Qingge nodded. “I understand.”

Ye Qi joked, “What if the passengers recognize us? The two of us were captured by the star thieves. Who would expect us to suddenly reappear here?”

Shao Qingge smiled slightly and took out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket, putting them on Ye Qi’s face. “This way, no one will recognize us.” As he put on the sunglasses, his fingers inadvertently slipped over Ye Qi’s cheek. Ye Qi felt the place that was touched become slightly hot and couldn’t help whispering, “I’m not a child. I can put it on myself.”

"Your father will put it on for you." Shao Qingge said with a smile. "When you were a child, I even bathed with you."

"………" Ye Qi's face was red. "Shut up!"

Chief Shao bullied Ye Qi daily and the team members were long used to it.

Xiao Lou walked over and handed the Tao Yuanming card to Shao Qingge. "The Peach Blossom skill is on cool down and can't be used again until midnight tonight. Chief Shao, after you arrive in the Azure Empire, settle down in the hotel first. Investigate the surrounding environment and make sure it is safe. Then pull us over the moment it is midnight."

Shao Qingge took the card. "Don't worry."

The passenger starship landed at the space station. Chu Huaying drove a small mecha to send Shao Qingge and Ye Qi to the vicinity of the space station. As the starship stopped on the tarmac and the passengers got off one after another, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi used the teleportation card to get to the end of the line.

The passengers in the back felt a gust of wind blowing. They looked back and saw two men, one tall and one short, standing in the line wearing sunglasses. The young man in front smiled, revealing two cute dimples.

At the security checkpoint, the staff checked the permit information, ferry ticket and identity of the people going through. There were no problems and they were soon released.

Shao Qingge and Ye Qi successfully entered the Azure Empire.

Shao Qingge had booked a hotel online before he left. He had booked the luxurious presidential suite of the local five-star Ferris Wheel hotel. There were three bedrooms and it was convenient for the team members to live there together.

Shao Qingge called a suspension car and took Ye Qi to the hotel to check in.

The entire hotel was like a giant Ferris wheel and all the rooms were like balls floating in the air. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi took the hotel's special elevator to the highest ball and opened the door to enter.

The suite was very spacious, fully furnished and luxuriously decorated, but its prime asset was that it had an extremely wide view.

Ye Qi stood in front of the floor to ceiling windows and sighed emotionally. "It is a sky room and we can see the stars from the transparent skylight on the roof. If we stand in the living room, we can see the night view of the entire city…" Shao Qingge thought he would praise the room. As a result, Ye Qi's words changed. "What about those with a fear of heights?"

Shao Qingge walked up to him and spoke helplessly, "Your ideas are always on a different path."

Ye Qi smiled and carefully observed the city under his feet. "It is as prosperous as the capital of the Locke Empire. However, there are more aerial buildings here. Most of the surface is painted blue and white and it is very clean."

Shao Qingge nodded. "Yes, the palace should be in that direction."

He pointed his finger to the distant sky.

The palace of the Azure Empire was also a building floating in the sky. Generally, people of this empire believed that the higher they lived, the more noble they were. The palace was located at the highest point in the entire city. It definitely wasn't easy if someone wanted to sneak into the palace. A mecha would probably be destroyed by the palace defense forces before even approaching.

Ye Qi looked at the time on the electronic clock and suggested, "It is still half an hour until midnight. Do you want to take a bath first?"

Shao Qingge's eyes narrowed. "Are you concerned about me?"

Ye Qi moved his eyes away in an embarrassed manner and his voice was very light, "Your wounds might've healed and you changed into clean clothes but you did fight a long time with the bugs… it would be nice for you to take a bath."

Shao Qingge's lips curved up lightly. "Do you want to wash up with your father?"

Ye Qi blushed. "What are you talking about? I'm not a kid!"

Shao Qingge laughed and jokingly whispered in Ye Qi's ear, "Then we'll talk about it later."

Ye Qi was stunned as he watched the back of the man leaving. His heart was beating as fast as a drum. He touched his hot face and felt that he wasn't in the right mood today. It might be because he saw Shao Qingge's bloody battle which reminded him of Shao Qingge blocking the blow for him in 8 of Spades…

In fact, ignoring Shao Qingge's love of teasing him, Shao Qingge had always been very good to him.

He even rescued Ye Qi more than once in critical moments.

Ye Qi's mind was a mess so he turned on his communicator and searched for the latest news of the Azure Empire to divert his attention.

Suddenly, his eyes were fixed on a headline.

[The princess of the Azure Empire will host a grand charity dinner in two day's time.]

Ye Qi's eyes brightened. Wasn't the princess Xiao Lou's sister?

It was after midnight when Shao Qingge came out of the bath. Ye Qi hurriedly said, "Quickly call Professor Xiao and the others. I have an important discovery!"

Tao Yuanming appeared in the room and opened the Peach Blossom Spring.

The four people who had been waiting were pulled into the Peach Blossom Spring by Shao Qingge.

They exited the Peach Blossom Spring and found themselves in the presidential suite of the Ferris Wheel hotel booked by Shao Qingge.

Lu Jiuchuan couldn't help exclaiming, "Xiao Lou's cards might have no offensive power but they are really useful. There is group teleportation. No matter whether we are escaping or travelling, it is as convenient as opening a space-time portal."

If his original team had Xiao Lou then perhaps they could've passed through J of Clubs.

Lu Jiuchuan's expression darkened as he thought of his sacrificed teammates and he changed the subject. "We have secretly escaped. How can we see Xiao Rou? It isn't appropriate to directly break into the palace, right?"

Ye Qi enlarged the holographic screen of his communicator in front of everyone and spoke excitedly, "Look at this! In two days, the princess will host a charity dinner at the sail-shaped hotel of the Azure Empire."

Ye Qi had checked the princess' information while Shao Qingge was washing up.

Xiao Lou leaned over to take a look and couldn't help smiling. "Xiao Ye, you did well. We can start from the charity dinner and find a way to enter to see my sister."

Xiao Rou had been doing charity work for the past few years. She held charity dinners every year. The wealthy businessmen of the empire gave her face by attending. All the money obtained from auctioning jewelry would be donated to orphanages.

Lu Jiuchuan touched his chin. "How can we get in? Should I pretend to be a security guard with Hanjiang?"

Yu Hanjiang added, "We can refer to last time and use the Mask card to disguise as guards."

Shao Qingge had just washed up. He heard up to here and narrowed his eyes. "Have you forgotten a card?"

Xiao Lou reacted first. "The sapphire necklace that was drawn from the 10th level?"

Shao Qingge nodded. "Yes, I got this necklace and thought it was quite useless at the time. After all, we aren't short of money. Now it can come in handy. If I remember correctly, this necklace can also increase favorability."

Ye Qi's eyes lit up. "Yes! If we give the sapphire necklace to Xiao Rou then she must really like it. Maybe after increasing the favorability, she will stand on our side?"

Shao Qingge said, "I am a businessman from the Locke Empire and I have always admired the princess of our empire. I heard she was holding a charity dinner and decided to give her a piece of jewelry. Isn't this reasonable?"

The teammates exchanged looks and thought it was a good idea.

The sapphire necklace was an S-grade card drawn by Chief Shao after passing the 10th level. It was absolutely valuable after it became a real object. If they thought of the characters in the secret rooms as NPCs with awareness and emotions, perhaps the NPC would really help them after they gave a gift to increase favorability?

Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality