Chapter 1650: Not my Forte

They continued discussing the matter for a while until Lory finally yawned. After several long hours of discussion, Leon and Fargo decided it was time to excuse themselves.

Just before Fargo left, Zhao Li Xin quietly called after him. "Can we speak for a moment?"

Fargo paused, surprised. Zhao Li Xin was not exactly the type to initiate a conversation, so his curiosity was immediately piqued. He nodded and raised the half-empty whiskey glass in his hand.

"I’ll wait on the balcony." Fargo give a nod.

Leon, meanwhile, left to continue his duties.

Zhao Li Xin then gently tugged Lory toward the bed. Perhaps weighed down by the long and heavy discussion, she fell asleep almost the instant her head touched the pillow. He pulled the blanket over her shoulders and sat beside the bed, gently rubbing her stomach until her breathing evened out. A moment later, Lory let out a soft snore.

A tender smile spread across his face. He leaned down, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and quietly left for the balcony, where Fargo was waiting.

Fargo leaned lazily against the balcony railing as he took another leisurely sip from his half-empty glass of whiskey. The cool night breeze stirred his hair and carried with it the distant sounds of the city below. Zhao Li Xin stepped onto the balcony. His footsteps were quiet enough that Fargo only noticed him when the man’s shadow fell across the floor beside him.

Fargo glanced sideways. "It’s not usual for you to come looking for me, Li Xin." His eyebrows lifted, curiosity immediately taking over his expression. "Do you need something from me?"

Zhao Li Xin said nothing at first. He walked to the railing and placed one hand upon it, his long fingers resting loosely against the cool stone. His posture was relaxed, almost casual, yet there was something unnervingly still about him.

"I do need your help," he said in a casual tone.

Fargo’s eyes glinted. "Oh?" He turned slightly toward him. "What is it?"

"The enemy keeps harming my wife." Zhao Li Xin’s gaze drifted toward the distant city. "They have done it repeatedly." His voice remained remarkably calm, too calm. "...And it’s starting to get on my nerves."

Fargo’s lips twitched. That was probably the most understated way anyone could possibly describe wanting to kill someone.

Zhao Li Xin continued staring into the distance, his expression serene as though he were discussing something completely unrelated. "I want to teach them a lesson, just a little bit." Something flickered in his cold eyes, cold and eerie. "I want to make them bleed a little."

Fargo stared at him for a moment before a low chuckle escaped his throat. "Make them bleed, huh?"

"En, just a bit..." Zhao Li Xin answered with a faint, cold smile.

"The truth is, I don’t want to become too involved." His eyes narrowed faintly as he gazed at the distant lights. "I know you all have your own plans. I’d rather not interfere with them, lest I accidentally disrupt everything you’ve worked so hard to arrange."

His fingers tapped once against the railing, slow and deliberate. "But..." He paused briefly. "Being passive has never been my forte."

Fargo nearly choked on his whiskey. He slowly lowered the glass, staring at Zhao Li Xin in disbelief. "So, all this time, you were being passive, huh?" He couldn’t help himself.

The memories came rushing back. The Constellation members Zhao Li Xin had tortured and killed without even blinking. The island where hundreds of Bael had been slaughtered. The sheer destruction he had left behind there, and then there was Xiya Country.

Leon had told him enough about what Zhao Li Xin had done there, and yet this man was standing here, calmly declaring that he had been passive.

Fargo stared at him as though he had just discovered that a tiger considered itself vegetarian. "You have a very strange definition of passive."

Zhao Li Xin glanced at him, "Do I?" Zhao Li Xin sincerely asked.

"Yes." Fargo laughed under his breath.

Zhao Li Xin, however, genuinely didn’t understand the problem. From his perspective, he really had been restraining himself. He had not gone looking for his enemies. He had not stormed into enemy territory, nor had he deliberately hunted down every person connected to them.

Whenever the enemy attacked, he had merely responded. That was defense, at least according to Zhao Li Xin. It was nothing like the old days, when he would personally appear at his enemy’s doorstep with thousands of subordinates and slaughter every single one of them, leaving only the young and women simply because it was boring to kill the weak.

Compared to that version of himself, Zhao Li Xin was practically a saint, and if the Mong brothers were standing here, they would undoubtedly agree with him.

Fargo studied Zhao Li Xin’s face carefully. There was no sarcasm or hidden joke behind his cold face. It seemed the man was completely serious. That realization made Fargo’s amusement grow. So this was what he considered restraint.

For the first time, Fargo found himself wondering what kind of man Zhao Li Xin had been in his own world, and how Lory had been able to tame that volatile man. Whatever it was, Fargo was glad Zhao Li Xin was on their side.

Fargo took another drink before straightening away from the railing. "Well, there are a few things you can do that we can’t." The amusement in his eyes slowly disappeared, replaced by something sharper, something dangerous.

"You know, Luxembourg has quite a few military bases." Fargo gave him a conspiratorial look.

Zhao Li Xin remained silent, listening.

"One of them is a massive military ship." Fargo gestured vaguely toward the horizon. "Not just an ordinary warship. It’s practically a floating military base."

"A ship?" Zhao Li Xin finally turned his head. His expression showed genuine curiosity. He had never seen a military ship before.

Fargo nodded. "An enormous one. Big enough to look like an island from a distance." Zhao Li Xin tilted his head slightly.

Fargo continued. "It carries soldiers, weapons, supplies, aircraft... practically everything they need to operate independently. It’s one of Luxembourg’s most important military assets."

"And you can’t attack it?" Zhao Li Xin’s brows arched.

"Not directly." Fargo’s expression became more serious. "If we attack it openly, it’ll create a diplomatic disaster. Other countries will demand answers, and Luxembourg will use the incident to turn everyone against Harland and the Lucient family."

He shrugged. "Harland has spent years maintaining its neutrality. We can’t afford to be seen as the aggressor." His eyes narrowed. "So we’re stuck."

Then a slow grin spread across his face. "But you..."

His gaze moved over Zhao Li Xin. "You don’t exactly have the same problem."

Zhao Li Xin’s lips curved into the faintest smile. "You want me to sink it?" he asked, offering the suggestion as casually as if he were offering Fargo a snack.

Fargo’s grin widened. "That’s the idea."

The balcony fell quiet for several seconds.

Zhao Li Xin looked toward the city again. In the distance, the city lights shimmered beautifully against the darkness, peaceful and almost deceptively ordinary.

His expression remained tranquil. "Give me the location. I’ll make sure it will not lead back to Harland." Zhao Li Xin gave him a confident look.

Fargo stared at him before breaking into a satisfied grin. He lifted his glass and took a large gulp of whiskey. "As you wish, Your Highness." He gave Zhao Li Xin a courteous bow before turning around and walking away.

Zhao Li Xin watched him leave. Only after Fargo disappeared through the doorway did his gaze return to the city. His expression became distant.

’Your Highness.’

The title lingered in his mind. He hadn’t heard it used toward him in quite some time, and, truthfully, he had never liked it. Once, those two words had been enough to make his entire body tense. People had rarely said them with genuine respect. More often, they had carried an underlying mockery, as though Your Highness were merely a prettier way of reminding him of his worth in the imperial palace.

Worse, the title was tied to the weakest period of his life, when he was powerless and oppressed by his sickness. A prince in name without a shred of dignity, let alone power.

That was why his subordinates rarely used it, not unless circumstances demanded it.

Yet when Fargo had said it just now...

It hadn’t sounded insulting. There had been no mockery in his voice, no hidden contempt or ridicule. Instead, it had sounded almost natural.

Zhao Li Xin found that unexpectedly pleasing. His eyes softened slightly. His wife was also called the same thing. A strange realization settled quietly in his heart.

Perhaps that was why the title no longer sounded so unpleasant. After all, there seemed to be a rather ridiculous rule governing his life these days: anything he once hated became something he could learn to love if it was connected to his wife.