Chapter 36 Cruise Ship Escort, Honored Guest

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Cruise Ship Escort, Honored Guest

"Still the Black Armor Swordsman?"

Feng Yin made a show of mulling it over. "This guy had a grudge against the Ren Sheng Group?"

Xie Yanran shook her head. "No idea. But given how calculating Kondo Makoto and Yamanamikawa are, they don’t seem like the type to go and make an enemy of someone that dangerous."

Feng Yin pressed on, feigning innocence. "So does that mean we won’t have to fight the Ren Sheng Group at the bidding tournament in a few days?"

Xie Yanran’s lips curved slightly. "Obviously. The Ren Sheng Group got wiped out — their top two are both dead. There’s nothing left to fight. What we should watch out for now is other factions moving in to take what they left behind."

"Other factions?" Feng Yin raised an eyebrow.

"Sin City has tens of thousands of convicted felons crammed into it. You didn’t seriously think the Ren Sheng Group and our crew were the only ones who’d organized, did you?" Xie Yanran gave him a pat on the shoulder.

Feng Yin thought for a moment, then said carefully, "But factions with a Fierce-level Powerhouse backing them — there can’t be that many of those, right?"

Xie Yanran nodded. "True enough... Globally, there are roughly one million registered Fierce Level fighters. This island is full of serious criminals, so the proportion here runs a bit higher than average, but it still won’t top fifty. And most of those are locked up inside Death Madness Tower."

"One million?" Feng Yin blinked. "That many?"

People like Xie Yanran, Hong Yuan, and Kondo Makoto — beings that ordinary people would call Supermen — and there were that many of them?

Xie Yanran gave him a strange look, probably thinking he was dangerously short on basic knowledge.

"That’s not a lot. The global population is over ten billion. One million Fierce Level fighters is one in ten thousand — already incredibly rare."

Well... when she put it that way, it did make sense.

Feng Yin fell silent. He’d been looking at that number through the eyes of an Earthling.

Back on Earth, forget one million Fierce Level fighters — if even a single Superman-tier person showed up, the whole world would lose its mind.

The only explanation was that the people of this world were fundamentally different from Earthlings at a biological level.

"What about Instant Level fighters?" he asked, curious.

"Instant Level is about one percent of Fierce Level — somewhere over ten thousand," Xie Yanran said, her tone matter-of-fact.

"Reaching Fierce Level strength basically lets you make a comfortable living anywhere — combat instructor, Elite security, that kind of thing. At the very least, you’ll never go hungry."

"Fierce Level maps to Professional Level. Instant Level maps to Expert, or what you’d call Professional Level in the competitive sense."

She looked at Feng Yin. "The fighters who dominate the world’s major combat tournaments are almost all Instant Level. Every single one of them is a national icon back in their home country."

Feng Yin nodded, mentally slotting these Instant Level fighters into a frame of reference he understood.

— Pretty much the equivalent of Olympic-caliber athletes back on Earth.

"Anyway, none of these numbers are the point," Xie Yanran said, shaking her head. "I didn’t come find you just to tell you the Ren Sheng Group got destroyed. There’s something else."

"Go ahead, Senior Sister."

"Zero Point Consortium sent a last-minute notice. A ship full of VIP guests is arriving on the island today. They want me and Old Hong to bring a few of our better fighters along as supplementary escorts."

Xie Yanran gave a faint smile. "Old Hong and I are planning to take you and two others."

"VIP guests... Zero Point Consortium." Feng Yin nodded slowly. "What would the guests of a major consortium like that want on Border Prison Island..."

The answer hit him before he even finished the sentence. "They’re coming to Death Madness Tower to watch the Death Frenzy Sword Combat?"

Xie Yanran let out a cold laugh. "It’s not just sword fights — short weapons. There’s also Halberd Combat with long weapons, and even bare-handed fights to the death. No rules, no limits. That’s exactly the kind of thrill that bored rich people and powerful elites come here for."

Her words brought back a memory — the scene Feng Yin had once watched play out on a massive screen. Ya Lie, battling a master of Swordsmanship in a fight to the death.

The audience had been packed with people in tailored suits and expensive, refined clothing. Every one of them looked like old money.

But when Ya Lie cut his opponent down, every last bit of that composure had vanished. They’d been screaming, wild-eyed, completely unhinged.

This world might look civilized on the surface, but from the top of society down to the common people, everyone had a deep reverence for combat. You could see it in the status afforded to elite Martial Artists, and you could see it in just how wildly popular these brutal fighting spectacles were.

"Anyway, just stick with me and Old Hong," Xie Yanran said quietly. "Playing honor guard for VIPs is usually a cushy gig — the pay is solid."

She gave Feng Yin a look that hovered somewhere between amusement and seriousness. "If you’re lucky, some of these guests will be people with real pull. One of them might just take a liking to you and get you off this island."

Feng Yin shrugged. "Sister Xie, those odds are way too slim to count on. I’d rather focus on winning a hundred Death Frenzy Sword Combat matches and earning my way out."

"Fair enough. You’ve got a clearer head than I gave you credit for."

With that, she turned around. "Let’s go."

Feng Yin paused. "Already?"

"We’re heading to Death Madness Tower’s logistics area first — shower, clean up, get into the uniform they provide. We’re filling in as their professional security detail, so we need to at least look the part."

That made sense.

...

Meanwhile, out at sea.

The sky was vast and clear, the ocean breeze steady and warm.

Across an endless expanse of blue, an enormous white ocean liner cut through the water, its upper decks rising like a palace stacked atop the hull.

Seagulls wheeled lazily overhead.

At the very top of the ship’s hotel levels, a young girl leaned over the railing, craning her neck to peer down at the lively pool deck far below.

Her wide eyes sparkled with delight, a grin spread across her face as she took in all the noise and splashing.

Her cheeks still carried the faint softness of youth — fair as porcelain, practically glowing in the sunlight.

A gentle breeze tugged at her white dress, which wrapped neatly around her petite frame and hinted at curves well fed and healthy. Her short hair, just above the shoulders, was lightly tousled by the wind.

A moment later, she spun around and came trotting over to a middle-aged man with a calm, refined bearing, her voice bright and sweet. "Master~ How much longer before we reach Border Prison Island?"

The middle-aged man sat at a round table beneath a parasol. On the table rested a single-edged sword about three feet long, its scabbard engraved with the characters for "Jing Yuan."

At the sound of her playful wheedling, he simply shook his head with a tired look. "Xiao Yu, Border Prison Island is not a nice place. There’s no need to be this excited about it."

"It might not be nice, but it’s way more fun than sitting at home studying this and practicing that~"

The girl called Xiao Yu grinned with barely-contained mischief.

The man smiled faintly. "If you had even half the discipline your brother and sister have, your father wouldn’t worry about you so much."

"Ugh, Master, stop lecturing me." Xiao Yu pouted, then immediately looked up with wide, eager eyes. "Master, that senior sister you mentioned — Xie Yanran — is she really on this island?"

The man nodded. "The intelligence is reliable."

Xiao Yu tilted her head curiously. "But Master, didn’t you tell me before that she died overseas? How did word of her suddenly turn up now..."

The man tightened his fist. "That treacherous disciple fed me false information. He made me believe Yanran had died along with Yu Fei and Le Yao. If not for a stroke of luck..."

Xiao Yu studied his expression, her own small face turning serious. "Master, don’t worry. I’m here representing the Xuan Guang Group this time. Getting one person out of there is nothing — I’ll bring Senior Sister home safe, I promise!"

The man looked at Xiao Yu’s earnest, determined face and reached out to ruffle her hair with a smile. "Alright. Then I’ll thank you in your senior sister’s name."

"Heh heh heh..." Xiao Yu looked insufferably pleased with herself.

Then suddenly she whipped her head around, eyes lighting up. She pointed at an island now visible on the horizon and shouted, "Master, Master! Look — is that Border Prison Island?!"

The man raised his eyes. Rising from the center of the island on the horizon was a single unmistakable structure.

He nodded. "That landmark — Death Madness Tower. That’s Border Prison Island, no question."

Xiao Yu practically vibrated with excitement. "I heard that everyone who fights inside Death Madness Tower is the most ruthless and dangerous people in the whole world."

"I wonder if there’s some cool, dashing Swordsman who might have a fated, romantic encounter with this young lady~"

"I can’t wait~"

Xie Jingyuan said nothing in response to his fanciful little disciple’s daydream.

Death Madness Tower was indeed crawling with powerful fighters — but the average Death Frenzy Martial Combat participant was little more than a desperate thug with nothing to lose, topping out at Fierce Level at best.

Anyone at Instant Level or above could find far better ways to get ahead in life without throwing themselves into that kind of death-or-glory mess.

Xiao Yu’s hopes of finding some dashing young prodigy among those desperados were, to put it gently, a little naive.

His thoughts drifted, and he found himself thinking of Xie Yanran — his disciple in name, but in his heart, the daughter he’d never had.

"Yanran... I wonder how you’ve been, all these years."

***