Chapter 332: A Strange Tacit Understanding
There was no sign of Higan.
Tang Long only had three bodyguards with him, but it did not stop him from being the center of attention wherever he went with his white suit. The boys who looked up to him while the girls who admired him.
However, Tang Long was a rather cold person. He maintained his well-mannered smile, but his distant gaze drove people away. People might find it difficult to approach him, yet they could not find anything wrong in his every act and move.
Tang Ling did not care how popular Tang Long was, but he was slightly disappointed when he did not see Higan.
Tang Long stopped at the entrance to the Medley Sea Market. As he looked up, his gaze landed on the underwater mountain replica, which was based on a real mountain known for its mysterious presence.
Tang Ling was sitting on top of it and on his shoulder was a funny-looking octopus.
They crossed paths again!
The moment Tang Long stopped, a small crowd appeared around him. Those who had missed the infamous meeting the last time did not want to miss this one either.
Tang Ling jumped down from the peak of the underwater mountain and stood right in front of Tang Long again. “Where’s Higan?”
“What does she have to do with you?” Tang Long sounded cold.
It seems like Tang Ling is prepared to keep disturbing Higan, but it won’t matter anymore. Soon, only one of us will be alive.
Tang Long strongly believed he would be the one who survived this. If somehow he really lost to Tang Ling, it was not exactly a painful end for him either. At least, he would not have to live until the day when Higan would belong to Tang Ling.
Tang Long was not afraid of dying because his heart was frozen solid.
Having grown up with a harsh and unloving mother and a father who had neglected him, he might have the Stardust Sixteen with him, but their goals were clear. There was also his G.o.dfather, but if he was not a genius, would he ever be promoted to such a high position?
Tang Long could not view this world with kindness. He was pessimistic and Higan was his everything, his only one because she was the only person in the world that he wanted to hold on to strongly.
“No, she has nothing to do with me, but it won’t stop me from trying to find out how she is,” Tang Ling said calmly. He was mentally a lot stronger than Tang Long.
Tang Long remained quiet and did not answer. He never thought that Tang Ling would be such a shameless person.
What’s wrong with this guy? Is he really my blood-related brother?
“But I still don’t want to answer you. Is there a problem?” Tang Long raised a curious brow.
“No problem at all.” Tang Ling did not mind either because it would be strange if Tang Long told him the answer.
“You are nothing but weak. You are afraid that Higan will see me. If I were you, I wouldn’t care who Higan meets. It is her freedom and she has the right to choose her own friends.” Tang Ling stared into Tang Long’s eyes, smiling calmly and comfortably.
Tang Long remained quiet, but his heart was stung. Am I weak? Am I really that weak?
“Come on. Let’s sign that life or death pact and announce the rules.” Tang Ling no longer wanted to prattle on this topic.
“Let’s go then.” Tang Long did not want the crowd to perceive him as someone playing with a monkey either.
The meeting between the two of them was not as tense as the crowd thought it would be. There was not even the slightest smell of gunpowder spark in the air. The whole encounter felt calm and easy.
Although their conversation felt weird, it also seemed like the two of them knew each other well and shared a tacit understanding.
…
Inside the large office that was surrounded by a 270° transparent gla.s.s French window, the curtains were drawn and everything that was going on in the office was clearly displayed to the crowd outside.
Tang Ling tightened his lips in dissatisfaction while Tang Long frowned in dissatisfaction.
‘Did the organizer do this on purpose?’
The two of them shared the same thought at the same time, but they did not say anything as they remained seated at different tables opposite each other.
Two copies of the life or death pact were placed on the side of their respective tables. Then, the staff handed both of them a list of rules that all the geniuses had agreed upon.
“This set of rules contains the signature of every partic.i.p.ant. If the two of you agree to include the rules listed in this doc.u.ment on top of your own rules as requested, those who have suggested the particular rule and have their signature beside the rule will join the game as promised.”
Tang Ling and Tang Long were quietly reading through the doc.u.ment. The doc.u.ment listed out many requests and demands in detail. Those in blue were to be considered and were not mandatory for addition. On the other hand, those in red were mandatory rules. If either Tang Ling or Tang Long disagreed on either one of the red rules, the young geniuses could simply walk away from their little game.
The morning sun was soft and warm. Through the 270° gla.s.s wall that surrounded the office, the warm light was cast on the two of them.
Outside the transparent wall, a girl suddenly went mad and squealed in panic, “What to do? What to do? It’s such a difficult choice!”
The crowd looked at her strangely. What was difficult to choose?
While the crowd was surprised, the girl who was dressed like a morning glory pouted her thick lips and told her friend beside her, “Tang Long is so handsome, but Tang Ling isn’t that bad either. Tang Long is like a cold, icy prince while Tang Ling is a sunny, bright boy. Who should I choose? Choosing either one will hurt the other’s heart. What to do? What to do? I’m going mad!”
Her friend was immediately embarra.s.sed by the confession, so she took a step away, but it seemed like the girl dressed like a morning glory was not the only one who suffered from the difficult choice. Her words immediately resonated with many other girls in the crowd.
The choice was difficult. Who should she choose?
It was then a loud and abrupt voice sounded in the crowd’s ears. “Here is your only chance to watch Tang Ling and Tang Long in the best seat! You can approach and get close to your idols! It’s only a wall apart and it’s made of gla.s.s!
“The seats are on sale right now. One seat only costs 100 Black Wind coins. There are limited seats on sale. First come, first served.
“On top of that, there’s also an exclusive sale of Tang Ling’s s.h.i.+rt! I collected his s.h.i.+rt after his smithing session, so it’s soaked in his sweat and hasn’t been washed! I guarantee his exclusive smell is on it, and in order to fulfill the fans’ demand, I’ve cut the s.h.i.+rt into 100 pieces. One piece costs 1 Black Sea coin. There’s only a limited amount. First come, first served.”
Tang Ling’s flushed immediately. Why did the gla.s.s wall not cancel out the noise? His sweaty s.h.i.+rt? On second thought, he seemed to have lost two of them!
That motherf*cking boss, can he be any sleazier?!
Tang Long’s eyes did not leave the doc.u.ment in his hand, but he commented on the commotion outside, “Idiot!”
The one who sold the seats and Tang Ling’s sweaty s.h.i.+rt was none other than Boss Huang. Right after his voice subsided, the girl in the morning glory attire ran over.
“I want a seat and a piece…no, two pieces of his s.h.i.+rt!”
“Very well, my lady!” Boss Huang accepted the payment and delivered the goods. He gave her two small pieces of Tang Ling’s s.h.i.+rt and let her in.
Boss Huang occupied one side of the gla.s.s wall by himself. No one dared to be within 2 meters around him because he did not allow them to. In Darkness Port, everyone knew that he was a pervert they should not offend, so who would step on his tail just because of some insignificant matter?
With the first came the second, a group of young girls ran over to him.
At the same time, Han Xing and the two plump sisters were also selling the pieces of s.h.i.+rts on the other two sides of the gla.s.s wall.
They could not help but succ.u.mb to Boss Huang’s temptation because he declared that he would split the profit three ways after the sale, and the profit was considerably large.
…
Tang Long’s brows furrowed tighter.
Tang Ling also frowned and blushed.
No one could bear the situation whereby a bunch of girls was pressing their faces against the gla.s.s wall just to have a closer glance. Some of them waved a small piece of yellowish-white cloth from time to time, sniffing at it animatedly, and glanced at Tang Ling bashfully.
“Sh*t!” Tang Ling exploded.
“Shameless.” Tang Long also reached his limit.
The two of them slammed the doc.u.ments on the tables at the same time, but neither of them noticed that their movements were in sync.
“Are the two of you done?” the staff who brought the doc.u.ments to them asked in surprise.
The requests and demands from the geniuses were meticulous, but the two of them had gone through them quickly.
“We’re done,” they answered almost in unison as their respective gazes landed on each other before faintly s.h.i.+fting their eyes away.
Precise Instinct! Only people with Precise Instinct could maintain a certain level of reading speed while a.s.suring there were no mistakes in remembering the contents.
Tang Long obviously knew that Tang Ling had Precise Instinct and Tang Ling started to suspect that of Tang Long too.
In the past 10 days, Tang Ling managed to find the time to watch all three of Tang Long’s matches in the Desperado Ring. It was not exactly amazing because all the challengers were jokes to Tang Long.
However, when Tang Long made his move, Tang Ling saw a familiar shadow within him, one that only people with Precise Instinct would sensitive about when it came to another person who possessed the same talent.
The two of them did not say anything after that.
The staff with the doc.u.ment was somewhat lost. He lowered his voice and asked awkwardly, “What about your opinion?”
“The 1st to the 43rd…”
“Number 1 to 43…”
The two of them spoke at once about the same content but in different voices.
Tang Long suddenly felt a slight sting in his heart. He averted his gaze, but looking at the wall of faces on the gla.s.s wall demanded courage, so he frowned when he looked at the infatuated girls.
“You say it,” Tang Long said while looking away.
Tang Ling had a strange feeling in his heart too, but he just told the staff, “The rules written in red, numbers 1 to 43, are all acceptable. The blues aren’t given any consideration and numbers 44 and 45 are unacceptable.
“We’ll include the first 43 rules into our game. I think that’s about it,” Tang Ling then blurted everything out in a single breath, not noticing that he had used ‘we’ in the sentence.
“What about Mr. Tang Long?” the staff asked.
Tang Long’s heart felt strange and complicated. He was silent for a while before he said, “I think the same.”
The same? Tang Ling’s left hand unconsciously curled into a tight fist. He turned around to Boss Huang outside the gla.s.s wall who was still selling seats as a decision was made in his mind.