On the Ark.

Chapter 163 The Rich Woman and Her Keeper's Young Man

Compared to Lin Ye's original world, Terra's entertainment options were quite limited. One reason was the inferior technology, and another was the chaos. Even Lungmen, a leading city in Terra, lagged far behind in many aspects, including entertainment. For instance, the stage plays popular in Lungmen were extremely rare in his original world; people preferred playing games and watching movies in their free time. Lin Ye was no exception; he had absolutely no interest in the stage play Swire had invited him to. If Swire hadn't been attending, he would most likely have ignored it even if he had tickets.

Swire seemed quite enthusiastic, talking to Lin Ye as they parked the car.

"Today we have John Walker, the famous stage play master from Ursus," Swire said. "He rarely leaves Ursus, and Lungmen spent a lot of money to bring him here. This is an extremely rare opportunity."

"Is it that amazing?"

"Yes, look at the ticket in your hand and guess its value."

Lin Ye thought for a moment and quoted what he considered an expensive price: "Three thousand?"

“Heh.” Swire slightly raised the corners of her mouth. “Tenfold.”

Lin Ye was shocked: "Thirty thousand?! This ticket actually costs thirty thousand?!"

“What else did you think?” Swire said with a touch of pride. “Besides, these are VIP room tickets; even if you have money, you might not be able to buy them.”

Lin Ye thought to himself, "It's so good to be rich." This ticket was almost worth a year's salary for him working in Chernobog. If he had known this, he would have bought both tickets and then worked as a scalper outside the theater to make some pocket money. What a waste!

"Did you buy these two tickets?" Lin Ye asked Shi Huaiya.

“No.” Swire shook her head. “I’ve told you before, these two tickets were a gift from someone. I have a friend who asked me if I wanted to see a play by John Walker, and I said of course I did. Then he said he happened to have two tickets.”

Lin Ye sensed something was off: "And then?"

"Then I took both of his tickets."

Lin Ye: "..."

"What's wrong?" Swire turned to look at Lin Ye.

"Um, don't you think that when he took those two tickets, he actually wanted to invite you to watch it with him?"

“Really?” Swire was somewhat surprised. “No way, if that’s the case, why didn’t he say so?”

Would you agree if I told you?

"Of course not, I don't like going out with strangers."

Lin Ye: "..."

You just said the other person was a friend, how come they're a stranger now? Lin Ye felt sorry for that male compatriot he had never met. Is this an example of a simp getting nothing after simping?

After parking the car, the two went straight into the theater, but a small incident occurred at the theater's exit security checkpoint.

"Do we still need to go through security?" Lin Ye looked at the alarm at the theater exit, somewhat surprised. "Is it that serious?"

“Is that an exaggeration?” Swire said. “John Walker is a world-renowned stage master in Terra, so ensuring his safety is very important.”

"Really? So are those security personnel from your Guard Bureau?" Lin Ye noticed that the security guards at the checkpoint were all wearing riot gear.

“No, that’s not it.” Swire shrugged. “Most of these people are John Walker’s own bodyguards, and of course there are some theater security guards, but none of ours. The Guard Bureau has its own business; they’re already too busy with their daily work to handle this kind of thing. Do you think we’re idle?”

Lin Ye turned to look at Shi Huaiya.

Swire frowned. "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"nothing."

Lin Ye shook his head. He thought to himself that Swire had the nerve to say that the Guard Bureau was busy. If he remembered correctly, it should be working hours now, and a certain senior superintendent had already driven his sports car to watch the stage play.

Lin Ye can summarize this phenomenon in six words.

Longmen eats dates and pills.

Swire had no idea what Lin Ye was thinking. If she knew that she had kindly invited Lin Ye to see a stage play, only to be criticized by him like this, she would probably explode on the spot.

The two reached the security checkpoint and were stopped by security personnel with shields.

"Sir," the security guard walked directly up to Lin Ye, "weapons are not allowed in the theater."

"Uh, okay." Lin Ye almost forgot he was carrying a black steel sword on his back, so he took it off, handed it to the security guard, and asked, "You'll come here to pick it up after watching the show, right?"

“Yes.” The security guard nodded, then looked at Swire. “Miss, are you carrying any prohibited items?”

“How could I possibly have one?” Swire held up her small handbag. “I only have one bag.”

"Can I open it and take a look?"

"It's not very polite to ask a lady to open her bag."

“Alright.” The security personnel also noticed Swire’s Guard uniform. “Then you can go in.”

The two walked through the alarm. When Lin Ye walked through, the alarm did not sound at all, but when Swire walked through, the alarm immediately went off with a piercing sound.

They were immediately stopped by security personnel.

"Miss, it seems you'll have to open your handbag."

Swire was very puzzled: "How is that possible? There are only some daily necessities in my bag."

"We need to confirm first." The security personnel did not move aside.

Swire had no choice but to hand the bag to the security personnel, saying somewhat dejectedly, "Be careful not to spill my setting spray."

Lin Ye, who was listening nearby, was speechless: "Do you bring setting spray to work?"

“Otherwise?” Swire retorted. “As a senior superintendent, one should always present the best image.”

"...What you said makes so much sense, I can't even refute it."

"You shouldn't have argued back in the first place."

As soon as Swire finished speaking, the security personnel spoke up.

“Officer, there’s no setting spray in your bag,” the security guard said. “It only contains these things, and we can’t let you bring these in.”

Lin Ye and Swire looked over and found that the security personnel had opened Swire's backpack and taken out a series of "contraband" items such as handcuffs and batons.

Swire was stunned: "How come these things are in my handbag?"

Lin Ye was also stunned: "Shouldn't a policeman's satchel contain these kinds of things?"

“But I never carry one,” Swire said. “I never need a baton to subdue criminals.”

The security personnel put the handcuffs and baton back into Swire's handbag, but did not return the handbag to her. Instead, they said, "Officer, there are far too many contraband items in your bag. We cannot allow you to bring them in. Therefore, we suggest you leave your handbag and this gentleman's sword here and retrieve them after the performance."

Having said that, Swire nodded somewhat helplessly: "Okay, just don't lose them. Losing these things would be a real hassle for me."

"Don't worry, we won't lose it."

Having handed over her handbag, Swire could only enter the theater empty-handed with Lin Ye. After taking a few steps, she suddenly remembered: "Ah, that's not my bag."

Whose is that?

“It’s that gossipy woman’s!” Swire gritted her teeth. “That gossipy woman bought the same bag as me. She must have been in such a hurry when she left that she grabbed the wrong one.”

The gossip is naturally Chen.

Lin Ye was speechless at Shi Huaiya. Just as he was thinking of something to say, a man wearing a baseball cap walked towards him and accidentally bumped into him.

"Sorry, sorry," the man in the baseball cap apologized repeatedly. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

Lin Ye didn't argue with him and continued talking to Swire. The man in the baseball cap stood there, waiting for Lin Ye and Swire to enter the theater before taking out his phone and dialing a number.

“Beatlex Swire has come in, with a man beside her. I’ve already tested the man; he has no fighting ability whatsoever. He’s not a bodyguard,” the man in the baseball cap said in a low voice. “He’s either a friend or a kept man.”

A deep voice came from the other end.

“Beatlex Swire has no male friends, but it doesn’t matter. Whoever it is, they’ll die here with Beatlex Swire tonight.”

The man in the baseball cap looked up at the security personnel not far away, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"That's natural."

Chapter 163 Plus One: The Theater Incident (3K)

They arrived at just the right time; the play was about to start in ten minutes, and most of the audience had already entered.

And just as Swire said, their location was arguably the best, a private box in the very center of the second floor, offering a panoramic view of the entire stage and the audience.

Lin Ye and Shi Huaiya took their seats and then noticed that the private room only had two seats, yet it was quite spacious. Considering the viewing angle, he could roughly understand why the tickets here could be sold for such a high price. Although in his opinion it was still not worth it—this was a reserved seat for the wealthy, but he wasn't wealthy; he was only sitting here because he had a rich woman with him.

"How long will this play last?" Lin Ye asked Shi Huaiya.

"Didn't you read the description?" Swire glanced at Lin Ye and said, "About three hours."

Lin Ye nodded, feeling a bit of a headache. Three hours of stage play, wouldn't that drive him crazy? He didn't think he would enjoy watching this kind of play.

"What would you like to order?" Swire pulled out a list from somewhere.

"what is this?"

“The snack menu,” Swire said. “This show provides snacks and drinks. Write down what you want on it and leave it outside the box. Someone will bring it up within ten minutes. Take a look.”

Lin Ye took the order, glanced at it, and said, "I'll have a slice of cake and a glass of juice."

“Then write it down.” Swire handed Lin Ye another pen. “And write this down for me too. Just a cup of coffee, with some brown sugar and lots of milk foam, thank you.”

After she finished speaking, she leaned back comfortably in her chair, looking quite relaxed.

Lin Ye wrote down what he wanted and what she wanted on a list and then hung it outside the private room. When he returned, looking at Swire sitting leisurely in a chair, he suddenly thought of something.

This large private room, with only two people, should have good soundproofing and be quite dark, making it suitable for doing things discreetly. Thinking this, Lin Ye sat back down in his seat, then leaned slightly towards Shi Huaiya and softly called out to her, "Superintendent Shi."

"Don't call me Superintendent Swire." Swire frowned. "Why?"

"Could you tell me more about Rhine Lab?"

"Why are you suddenly asking about this?" Swire said. "Can't we just enjoy the show?"

“Anyway, it hasn’t even started yet,” Lin Ye said, “so let’s find a topic to talk about.”

“You really picked a good topic…” Swire said with a click of her tongue, “No wonder you’re over twenty and still don’t have a girlfriend.”

Lin Ye was once again rebuffed by Swire on this issue, and he really wanted to retort, "What does it matter to you whether I have a girlfriend or not?" However, thinking of the superintendent's temper, he held back.

Swire was just teasing Lin Ye casually, then asked, "Why don't you just ask your colleagues about Rhine Labs? Don't you have colleagues who worked at Rhine Labs?"

"They probably won't tell me."

"Why didn't I tell you? Is our relationship bad?"