On the Ark.

Orange arcs of electricity danced across Jingzhe's body, causing her long golden hair to stand on end, like needles pricking open her hood and clothes, even causing the hem of her skirt beneath her robe to flutter. She gripped her staff tightly, the veins beneath her skin bulging from the force.

"In the name of the Dali Temple Censorate of the Yan Kingdom," Jingzhe said slowly, "you will die here today."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the door to the suite was suddenly opened.

As Jingzhe turned her head, she met a pair of red eyes.

"Who are you?" Skadi frowned slightly.

……

Lin Ye pulled his hand out of the bathtub water; it was already red from being scalded for so long.

He had only taken Nian to the bathroom on a whim and had her blow on the water in the bathtub. To his surprise, she actually heated the entire tub of water! And it only took her a minute! Just a minute ago it was cold water, and now it was practically boiling. If Nian had blew a few more times, his hand, which he had placed in the water to test the temperature, would probably have been steamed alive.

Thinking this, Lin Ye couldn't help but pat Nian's head and said, "You're too amazing, but remember not to use too much force next time, or I'll be gone."

Nian said, "You're the one who told me to blow a few more puffs."

Lin Ye coughed twice: "After all, it's a bath, so of course you want the water to be hotter. Okay, okay, you can go out now. Thank you for your hard work. I'll take you to eat tiramisu after your bath."

Nian nodded and was about to leave when all the lights in the suite suddenly went out.

"Huh?" Lin Ye was taken aback. "What happened? Did the power trip?"

What does "tripping the circuit breaker" mean?

"A tripped circuit breaker means..."

Before Lin Ye could explain, a loud noise suddenly came from outside the bathroom, causing the entire suite to shake.

Chapter 564 Can I ask what happened? (3K)

Lin Ye's first thought was that it was an earthquake.

He panicked at that moment, after all, they were on the thirtieth floor!

If this building is a shoddy construction and collapses with the slightest tremor, then we'd be utterly doomed, not even a god could... Well, maybe it really is possible, provided we wake up the divine cat sleeping next door.

Fortunately, the tremors didn't last long and soon stopped. However, it was pitch black all around, and Lin Ye couldn't see anything, not even where the bathroom door was. He quickly called out, "Nian!"

"Huh?" Nian replied, her tone devoid of any panic, instead filled with growing curiosity. "What's wrong?"

"You're asking what happened? There was an earthquake!"

"But you just said it was jumping, jumping, jumping and stuff."

"These two things don't conflict at all!" Lin Ye felt a headache coming on. Why did he have to have such an adorable little thing by his side at this moment? Not only was it completely useless, but he also had to take care of it. "Never mind that. It's too dark here. Can you breathe fire to light the way?"

Nian said, "I can't breathe fire."

“No, you can,” Lin Ye said. “Believe in yourself! How could you not know how to breathe fire? Just be careful not to breathe fire on me.”

"Oh... I'll give it a try then."

Soon, Lin Ye heard a breathy sound, followed by a burning sensation from behind him, which made him jump up immediately.

"I already told you not to spew insults at me!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a series of crisp sounds and a muffled groan rang out from outside the bathroom.

Lin Ye then realized that there seemed to be a fight in the living room. He immediately endured the burning sensation from the hot iron, held his breath and listened quietly, while his brain was thinking rapidly.

Why would anyone be fighting in the living room at this time? Who could it be?

The tremor just now seemed to have come from the living room, not an earthquake. And for a fight to cause such a commotion, it's most likely Skadi. Could someone have been trying to harm him, following him to his room, only to be caught by Skadi upon his return? Hmm, that's highly probable. But since Skadi has already made her move and her opponent hasn't been defeated, they're clearly no ordinary person, definitely not someone Skadi, with her limited skills, can handle.

In times of crisis, Lin Ye's mind is often more active than usual.

So he quickly made a decision: to avoid causing trouble for Skadi, he should just stay in the bathroom and wait for her to take care of the enemy. He absolutely couldn't let the enemy discover him, so it was best to make absolutely no sound.

However, just as he had this idea, Nian patted him on the shoulder.

"Look," Nian said with a little excitement, "I really can breathe fire!"

A tiny flame leaped from Nian's index finger, illuminating half of the bathroom and Nian's slightly excited face.

Lin Ye was shocked. After all, lighting candles at a time like this was tantamount to suicide! Just as he was about to extinguish Nian's flame, the bathroom door suddenly collapsed, and a person flew in from the living room, landing directly on Lin Ye and slamming him into the bathtub. The bathtub was filled with water that Nian had just heated. At that moment, Lin Ye felt like a boiled squid.

"Ah! Hot, hot, hot..." He couldn't finish his sentence because his whole body went numb. He then realized that there was an electric current in the water!

What the hell?! The bathtub is leaking electricity! What kind of lousy hotel is this?!

Dizzy and disoriented from the high temperature and electric current, Lin Ye struggled to climb out of the bathtub. However, the person who had fallen into the bathtub with him got up first, grabbed Lin Ye from behind, put his hands on Lin Ye's neck, and hissed, "Don't move!"

"Okay, okay!" Lin Ye, who was almost numb from the electric shock, immediately gave in, "I won't move."

The other person turned out to be a woman.

Lin Ye deduced from her voice and the sensation behind him that although he didn't know why she was causing him trouble, he knew he wouldn't have given up if he hadn't been electrocuted. However, at this moment, he could only look expectantly at Nian beside him, silently pleading: "Nian, move! Move quickly! Take care of this guy! Why are you just watching?! You're a divine beast!"

Nian noticed Lin Ye's gaze, thought for a moment, and timidly asked, "Do we need to heat it up further?"

Heating my foot!

Lin Ye didn't want to talk anymore.

At that moment, Skadi slowly walked in, holding a greatsword, her red pupils shining brightly in the dim firelight.

Upon seeing Skadi, Jingzhe tightened her grip and shouted, "Stop! Don't go any further! Or I'll kill your boss!"

Boss? What the heck is this?!

Lin Ye had no idea what had happened.

The same was true for Jingzhe. She never imagined that the seemingly delicate and weak woman would be so capable of fighting. She had originally thought that the other woman was just Lin Ye's plaything, and although she carried a large sword on her back, she thought it was just a weightless plastic sword, only for show. Who knew that the other woman's first move almost chopped her up along with the floor tile? If she hadn't reacted quickly enough, she would probably be meeting the King of Hell by now.

Jingzhe couldn't understand why this was happening.

Why would a woman with such combat power be willing to be a bodyguard for this pervert? Just who is this pervert? And... the information provided by the Dali Temple didn't mention this level of existence at all!

Jingzhe clenched her teeth tightly.

As the master of "Thunder Magic," a traditional art of the Yan Kingdom, Jingzhe had never been forced into such a predicament since birth. Although her combat strength wasn't among the strongest in the Dali Temple's Surveillance Division, it was definitely top-tier. Her exquisite and powerful lightning control techniques meant she wouldn't be at a disadvantage against most opponents, whether sorcerers or warriors. Moreover, she was still young, and almost no one doubted that Jingzhe would become even stronger; even Jingzhe herself believed so.

Even in the battle just now, despite giving it her all, she couldn't last five minutes against Skadi, and now she had to resort to taking hostages—something she considered utterly shameful—to protect herself. While this made her realize how true the old saying "there are always people stronger than you" truly is, the price was far too high.

The water in the entire bathtub was stained red with blood.

But no matter what, she had to get out of here alive. So after Skadi stopped, she struggled to drag Lin Ye to her feet.

"Back off!" Jingzhe said.

Skadi was in a bit of a predicament, as this was the first time she had encountered such a situation. Previously, she had fought without teammates, and given the intelligence of deep-sea monsters, they would rarely resort to taking hostages to coerce their hunters. Therefore, when Jingzhe took Lin Ye hostage, Skadi was momentarily at a loss for what to do. After a moment of silence, she took two steps back.

Lin Ye was still speechless and could only be forced out of the bathtub by Jingzhe.

Then Jingzhe looked at Nian, who was blocking their way and looking up at them with a curious expression, and said, "Move aside...please move aside."

The tone was completely different, probably because Nian didn't seem nearly as threatening as Skadi.

After hearing Jingzhe's words, Nian nodded and obediently said, "Okay."

Then he stepped aside.

Lin Ye was so angry he almost vomited blood.

What the hell are you talking about?! Are you some kind of mythical beast?! Hit her, beat her up! Burn her the way you burned me! You just quit because someone tells you to? Don't you have any dignity as a mythical beast?! I've raised you for so many days, and you're such an ingrate?

Jingzhe, of course, had no idea what Lin Ye was thinking, nor did she know that the electric current she was sending tantrums through him. She had only one thought in her mind: to escape alive and then call for reinforcements from the Dali Temple. She absolutely couldn't handle Skadi alone; she needed help.

"Get out!" Jingzhe said to Skadi, "or I'll kill him!"

Skadi remained silent for a moment before leaving the bathroom. Jingzhe immediately dragged Lin Ye to the living room, then moved closer to the door, keeping a wary eye on Skadi. At that moment, Lin Ye desperately wanted to shout, "Skadi, don't worry about me, just kill her!" like in the movies, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He had no lightning resistance and was practically paralyzed by the electric shock.

Jingzhe thus led Lin Ye to the elevator in the corridor.

The elevator had its own power supply, so there was no fear of it not going down. However, Jingzhe didn't dare to press any elevator buttons because Skadi was keeping a distance of about two meters from her. If she were to be even slightly distracted, Skadi could easily sever her head. Knowing that her opponent had the ability to do so, Jingzhe whispered to Lin Ye, "Press the elevator button, or I'll kill you."

Lin Ye was helpless. He wanted to ask how he could press the buttons in his current state, but he couldn't speak. He also felt Jingzhe's pressure increasing. Helpless, he could only try to raise his hand, but unfortunately, it wasn't effective. He could only barely move his fingers with all his might. He touched Jingzhe's white silk thigh, which was stained with blood.

Jingzhe was taken aback at first, then immediately flew into a rage, "You bastard! Where are you touching?!"

Skadi narrowed her eyes slightly.

Jingzhe felt threatened once again, and no longer caring about Lin Ye touching her thigh at this critical moment, she immediately grabbed Lin Ye and retreated. Just then, the elevator doors opened, and the two of them entered the elevator.

Although she didn't know how the elevator had opened, Jingzhe knew this was a golden opportunity, so she immediately reached out and pressed the close button. However, Jingzhe forgot about the electric arc in her hand; as she pressed the close button, the current flowed through the button and into the circuit board inside the elevator.

After the elevator doors closed and the elevator descended several more floors, the circuit board was completely burned out.

With a bang.

The elevator was also swallowed by darkness.

Lin Ye and Jingzhe were thus trapped in the elevator.

At the same time, I heard a weak voice from an old man.

"Um? Can I ask what happened?"

Chapter 565 Only Your Highness can address the princess by her given name! (3K5)

Old Li didn't know why this was happening; he had only come to help the princess find the pearl. But as soon as he reached the top floor, before he could even leave, he saw a woman forcing a man into the elevator, and outside, there seemed to be an even more ferocious woman.

Even as the steward of the Fourth Princess, Old Li, who had seen countless things in his life, had never witnessed such a scene. Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, Old Li was still thankful that the princess was no longer there. If she were still staying there today and had been caught up in this turmoil, and had been injured, he would have been utterly responsible.

However, being caught in the elevator was quite troublesome, especially since the power went out shortly afterward, leaving him in complete darkness. This made things even more complicated and difficult for him, as he had no idea which of the man and woman was the good guy. So he decided to ask, but when he spoke, he deliberately made his tone sound flustered, pretending to be a helpless old man, while secretly grabbing the iron rod hidden in his clothes.

After all, he is the princess's steward and is responsible for protecting her when necessary. How could he not know any martial arts?

Meanwhile, Lin Ye had parted ways with Jingzhe. He sat alone in a corner, and as the numbness in his body gradually subsided, he quietly gripped the Guardian Gun in his pocket. Since [Maple] had been placed in the living room before entering the bathroom, he only had the Competitor in his pocket.

At that moment, he was also relieved that he hadn't gone into the bathroom completely naked, otherwise he would have been at the mercy of others.

However, with only one bullet left in the competition, and unable to see anything, he dared not fire. Missing Jingzhe was a minor matter; if he accidentally shot the innocent old man in the elevator, that would be a heinous crime. Therefore, he had to be extremely careful and not shoot the wrong person. At the same time, he heard the old man's words and decided to take advantage of the situation. He deliberately spoke in a bitter tone, "Well, actually, I don't know what happened either. I was taking a shower in the bathroom when this woman suddenly barged in, beat me up, and dragged me here. Sigh, I didn't expect the security in Yan Country to be so bad. But don't worry, old man. This woman is probably after me, it has nothing to do with you. Whether she robbed me or assaulted me, I accept it, it won't affect you."

Lin Ye's words almost made Jingzhe vomit blood from anger.

After all, Jingzhe, a high-ranking official of the Dali Temple, was treated like a robber and a womanizer... What kind of woman could you possibly rob?! And why is a pervert like you, who makes young girls do *that* kind of thing, portrayed as a positive character?! And who actually got beaten up? I was the one who got beaten up! I'm still bleeding!

The Awakening of Insects roared in my heart.

Well……