"You, who are you...?"
"Who I am isn't important," the dark-haired young man shook his head, "Let me ask you a question, did you agree to help someone named Shana deliver something to Coldwater Port?"
"Shana?" Fang Hong's mood swung from one extreme to another, thinking the other might know his teacher, but unexpectedly, it wasn't the case; instead, the person mentioned was equally mysterious to him, and he almost paused in surprise before reacting, "Wait, you know Shana?"
The dark-haired young man gleaned the information he wanted from this rhetorical question, nodding, "It seems to be you then, Shana asked you to help make a batch of equipment and promised to pay you at market price, is that correct?"
Fang Hong certainly remembered this matter, Shana had him make a batch of Drake Models 1, 2, 3 sets, and some rookie-use Magic Guided Reactors for delivery to Coldwater Port. He planned to go to Scepter Coast to handle this after seeing Mazak.
He nodded.
"That's it," the dark-haired young man smiled: "I'm the one here to pay the deposit."
Fang Hong stared blankly at the other.
For a batch of rookie equipment, they got a top expert to pay the deposit, is that even reasonable?
"Wait a minute," he still didn't quite understand how the other knew his first ID online was Columba, Shana and the others shouldn't be aware of this, right?
He couldn't help but ask: "What is your relationship with Shana and them, and how do you know that ID?"
"I do know Shana and R," the dark-haired young man replied, looking at him, "but as for how they know your ID, you might have to ask him directly, I actually don't know why they trust you so much to let you complete this mission."
Fang Hong was slightly stunned, what was special about this task that merited the word 'trust'? But the next moment he stood still, as if just realizing, wait, Shana and who was it?
He opened his mouth, looking at the other in immense shock: "S, Shana and, and...?"
"What," the dark-haired man looked at him, showing a rather unexpected expression: "It seems you also know R?"
Fang Hong's mind was in chaos.
He almost didn't doubt the dark-haired young man's words because it's too much of a coincidence, both R and Shana were sending him to Coldwater Port, there's no such coincidence in the world, right?
But the fact that Shana knew his teacher was like a bombshell, rendering him momentarily without the ability to think.
However, he quickly collected himself, immediately thinking of other stuff, was his contact with Shana arranged by the teacher? So those training programs and tests were R's assigned "homework" for him?
This idea seemed plausible, but he immediately had doubts.
Because that's not R's style.
Although that person kept his identity a secret, he never used such petty tricks, he would only tell him openly that he wouldn't tell him something.
If the person wanted to give him assignments, they would only directly pile them on him and tell him — if you can't solve them, you're out. He wouldn't bother with these gimmicks, largely because of sheer laziness.
Just a coincidence?
Conversely, does Shana know of his relationship with R? Fang Hong was even more uncertain about that, as the other always appeared quite mysterious, and his exchanges with them were infrequent.
At this moment, the people on the deck also walked over, coming behind Fang Hong.
Gita, representing others from the cabin, spoke with a bit of worry through the Sound Transmission Tube: "Captain, how are things outside?"
"No problem, you don't need to come out," Hilveld assured the worried Miss Scholar in a low voice, from afar, "Don't worry, I will protect your Lord Captain. Also, Mr. Luo Yu, could you continue to increase the power output of the Magic Guided Engine—"
Luo Yu responded.
The deck rose and fell, the ship advancing amid the bumpy waves, the Seven Seas Traveler was still slowly descending, emitting a rumbling sound from within.
The dark-haired young man glanced around, then his gaze returned to Fang Hong, "It seems you do have some secrets, I roughly understand why Shana and R chose you."
He raised a sword, "…Now you should understand my purpose here, don't stop, keep attacking, if you have any questions, we can talk while fighting."
The crowd was slightly stunned.
And Fang Hong had already grasped the other's meaning, raising his Magic Guided Gun to fire a shot at the opponent, although the muzzle slightly tilted to the side amid the surge of flames.
The dark-haired young man swung his sword, sweeping the bullet aside amidst a flash of sparks, then said to Fang Hong: "No need to disguise it deliberately, just attack directly, treat it as a training battle, show me your strength."
Xiangzi didn't say a word and, hearing this, shot forward with an arrow step, thrusting straight with his rapier, yet this time the dark-haired young man didn't engage, he just sidestepped, only reaching out to push the opponent from behind, causing Xiangzi to fly out immediately.
However, Fang Hong could tell, the other held back, otherwise Xiangzi wouldn't have just flown out so easily. Yet, for the moment, he didn't know what to say, the other asked them to attack with full force, and Xiangzi, the straightforward one, did indeed go all out, leaving no room.
Standing still, Fang Hong, with numerous questions about R and Shana, still didn't know where to start asking.