About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"Don't say such things, Hei! You've already tried your best, and you saved my father and me once again! So don't say such things that will make me sad, okay?"

"Okay...Okay, Miss."

"Anyway, at a time like this, instead of blaming yourself, you should praise me more, right? I tried my best, and no matter how scared I was, I never said anything! It's because you said 'believe in me' that I was able to hold on! And I believe in you too!"

"Miss..."

Ceylon showed Hei an unabashed smile, and kept thanking Hei for his trust and dedication. Hei looked away slightly. Even though she had been with Ceylon for so many years, she sometimes still couldn't get used to her master's direct praise.

Here, Filin and Liberi were so intensely engaged in lily-sticking that the only thing missing was pink bubbles popping up in the background, while on the other side, Orson was firmly pressing Cronin's head onto the deck, which was also considered physical sticking.

“What’s going on…!? You’re not Karen! Damn it, who the hell are you!?”

Cronin yelled and wanted to turn around to see who this "suddenly betrayed" guard was, but he was pinned to the ground.

Cronin was completely unable to understand the current situation. According to his own script, he should have been checking the accounts transferred from Hermann and Ceylon, while enjoying the "touching" master-servant recognition between Hei and Ceylon, and finally thinking about how to make these people disappear completely.

But now he was pressed on the deck, and red liquid with a rusty smell kept flowing out of his nose due to the violent impact.

The only 'error' is this guy, but the question is... who is this guy called "Orson"!?

Cronin kept thinking, but no matter how hard he dug into his memory, he still had no impression of the boy.

"Me? Just treat me as someone whose travel plans were ruined by you. Usually, I'll just go through Male Tourist A. Anyway, come with me for now."

Orson smiled in response, then slammed Cronin's head against the deck again, and then pulled the "Messenger of Disaster" up from the ground, who was completely unable to understand the current situation.

"Miss Hei, I have already subdued him."

Orson twisted Cronin's hands behind his back and tied them, then pushed him towards Hei like a prisoner.

“Where did you get this guy from—Puh, cough, cough!!?”

Cronin had just begun to speak when Hei, without any hesitation, punched the other man in the abdomen.

Cronin, who had been standing quite straight, almost vomited gastric juice because of this punch, and his whole body hunched over like a cooked shrimp.

"The only reason you're still alive is because the crisis in Xiosta isn't over, not because of friendship or humanity. Think carefully before you speak."

Black put away his fist, looked at Cronin with disgust, and then put the solid line on Orson.

"Orson, there may be other people on the sailboat. Please protect Miss Ceylon. I will go search for Master Hermann and the other hidden guards."

"No need. I just used the tuning tool to inspect this sailboat. Including you, Miss Ceylon, and Mr. Hermann, there are only 12 people on board. The rest have been disabled."

Orson answered in the affirmative, and after hearing Orson's words, Hei did not insist on continuing the inspection, but just nodded to show his trust in Orson's judgment.

"This guy probably never intended to take too many people away from Xiosta from the beginning. Most of his men were simply bribed. For example, the driver had no idea about the Xiosta volcano. Or even those people on the ship, I'm afraid he would have silenced them in some way after everything was settled."

Orson looked at Cronin. Although he could barely make out the melody in this guy's heart, it had now been completely devoured by malice and ambition.

"Hahaha... I'm not as cold-blooded as you say. You two, you want to be messengers of justice? Forget about this meaningless action. That guy named 'Orson', if you hang out with me now, I promise to give you—puff cough cough cough vomit—!"

Once again, Cronin hadn't finished speaking the words he had prepared in his mind when Hei punched him hard in the abdomen, forcing him to stop.

The only difference was that this time he actually vomited gastric juice from his mouth.

"Ms. Ceylon, you should know where Mr. Hermann is being held, right? Please go and release him. As for Ms. Hei, first subdue the incapacitated guards and find a place to lock them up. Leave this guy to me."

Orson calmly and methodically assigned tasks to the two men, and neither Ceylon nor Hei refused. They just nodded to show that they understood.

"Um... Orson, I'm really sorry for doubting you before. As expected, you really are the perfect Prince Charming!"

"...?"

Before entering the cabin, Ceylon thought of something and turned back to say this to Orson with a smile. Orson was stunned for a moment, thinking that he didn't seem to have done anything, just helping out along the way.

After Hei and Ceylon began their respective actions, Orson pushed Cronin to the edge of the sailboat.

"You probably have something to tell me about the impending eruption of Xiosta, right?"

"Volcano? What are you talking about? Xiosta only has an extinct volcano that will never erupt. I have no idea about it—gurgle gurgle gurgle"

Cronin was halfway through his sophistry when Orson dragged half of his body out of the sailboat and pressed his head with one hand, pushing him into the water.

Flag bubbles kept coming out from near Cronin's head and his body twisted violently, but he was still held down firmly by Orson without any mercy.

It took about 50 seconds for Orson to pull the other person's head out of the sea.

"Ahem! Ahem! Ahem—I only know that volcano—Puff! Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle…"

Cronin was pulled out and before he could even catch his breath, Orson pushed him back into the water.

Orson soaked Cronin in the water at Xiosta Beach with one hand, and at the same time took out his cell phone with the other hand and dialed the number of Junjun, the acting city lord.

"Dudududu—Hello, is that Junjun?"

"Orson? I heard you're on a short business trip as a Rhodes Islander. What's going on?"

Junjun on the other end of the phone quickly answered Orson's pager, and his tone did not seem so anxious.

Ever since Tallulah and her group returned to Che City and Natalia's (Zaolu) school was temporarily closed for vacation, Junjun's 007-hour work-a-week life as the acting city lord finally got a temporary reprieve.

Although the workload has decreased a lot, Junjun has been responsible for handling various affairs of Qiecheng for a long time, so she still holds a considerable position in the internal management of Qiecheng. Occasionally, she is dragged out of bed and dragged to the office to help with overtime.

"Well, I do have something urgent to deal with here. Do you know of any method that would be suitable for extracting the necessary information from someone on a medium-sized sailboat, without taking any physical toll on them?"

"Wow... your question is a little scary... And why do you think I know something like this? Seriously, I'm having afternoon tea with Ms. Tanisha right now..."

Junjun on the other end of the phone sounded a little unhappy, and it was obvious that he was unhappy like "I was clearly resting but now I have to work again..."

"Tanisha...who is it?"

Orson had never heard the name in Che City.

"That's the lady from the Internal Security Department who came to Chernobog to conduct an inspection and surveillance in the name of the Emperor of Ursus. You saw her last time, Orson, right?"

"Well, that seems to be true... So how do the inner guards drink tea?"

Orson thought of the internal guard he met when he met Junjun last time. Although it was not the first time he heard of her gender, he still felt very strange every time he heard it.

"Hiss—just use a syringe...inject it, huh—be careful not to burn your mouth...that's it..."

The unique "Shashasha" voice of the inner guard was heard, and it seemed that the other party was deliberately and considerately helping Orsen to solve his problems.

"I see. Well, I won't bother you anymore. I wish you a pleasant afternoon tea time, Miss Tanisha."

"Anyway, wait for me for two minutes, I'll help you take a look."

"Junjun... you've finally grown up. You're no longer the Junjun who only knew how to yell and fall into pits..."

Hearing Junjun's calm and reassuring words, Orson smiled with satisfaction, like an old father.

"Don't say such things in front of the envoy sent by the Emperor!!"

——But the fact that he gets angry easily is still the same as before.

While Junjun was helping him find the necessary method, Orson saw that Cronin was already twitching, so he calmly pulled him up again.

“Ahem! Who… who the hell are you…?! Are you from Longmen?!”

Cronin continued to spit out lake water while yelling at Orson.

"Hmm? Not really. I'm one of the executors of the Reunion Movement, but that's not important. You should have met the Sicilian gang member who escaped. What did you learn from him?"

"Reunion...? Anyway—ha, I absolutely won't tell you! I don't know how you got into the script I wrote, but I hold the cards in my hands now. You're the ones who don't understand the situation, right?! If you dare to touch me, I have the power to destroy Xiosta immediately—"

"Orson? I checked for you. Since we're on a sailboat, there should be fishing gear, right?"

Cronin's words were interrupted for who knows how many times. Junjun's voice came from the phone. It seemed that he had found an "efficient torture method that can be carried out on a sailboat" that met Orson's requirements.

"Fishing tools, right?"

"That's very simple. Find two fish hooks. Use one to force open the other person's eyelids and point them towards the sun. Then use the other hook on the other person's genitals. The key is to hit that part—"

"Ugh!?"

Before Junjun finished speaking, Cronin's face turned pale in an instant.

"You...you're kidding, right? How could that be possible? That kind of method—"

"Orson, I've already dealt with the others. They're all lying in the cargo hold now."

After dealing with the other guards, Hei walked over and happened to see Orson dragging Cronin while talking on the phone.

"Well, thank you for your hard work, Miss Hei. Also, can you help me find two fish hooks? And tell Miss Ceylon to stay away from here."

Orson asked the gangster to find the props needed for the next torture themselves. The tone of his voice did not sound like he was about to commit an extremely cruel act. Instead, it was more like he was going to a restaurant and asking his companions for toilet paper.

It was Orson's words "there's nothing unusual" that completely broke Cronin's defenses. Cronin, who prided himself on being a pretty good judge of character, realized almost instantly that the young man in front of him, who actually looked much more "kind and lovely" than he had originally expected, was indeed capable of the torture method he had just described.

"Wait a minute! I'm telling you everything! So stop it now!"

Cronin screamed and loudly indicated that he would not hide it anymore.

"Well... thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Cronin. Without further ado, let me ask you a few questions. Just so you know, I possess the ability to read the inner thoughts of others. While I can't cheat like a lie detector, I can still sense general emotional changes."

——Where on earth did this perverted guy come from...!

Cronin wailed in his heart about Orson's sudden intrusion. At this point, the script he had originally constructed had completely gotten out of control and off track.

"So, do you have any information to share about that volcano that's about to erupt?"

Orson asked Cronin with a smile in a very calm and friendly voice, while intentionally or unintentionally dangling the fishhook that Hei had brought over in front of Cronin's face, making him look like a devil.

"Well, that volcano—it actually stopped being dormant a long time ago! It just wasn't going to erupt in the next two years, but then the fugitive from the Sicilian Gang told me a bunch of really weird shit! Things like 'Sleeping Gods' and 'The Earth Will Eventually Collapse'. I don't care about that at all, but I did learn one thing from him—that the so-called 'volcano' actually houses a giant lava Originium worm. That Originium worm—'Pompeii', that's what the Sicilian Gang guys call it. Pompeii itself controls the eruption of the volcano!"

Cronin did not dare to delay and told Orson everything he knew.

"Pompeii..."

Orson frowned. The other party's melody did not fluctuate much, which meant that these words were not made up on the spur of the moment.

Having said that, are there really Originium worms that can control the rage of a volcano?

As if noticing Orson's distrust, Cronin immediately continued to explain.

"Well, that guy is a walking disaster that can change nature! The reason the volcano hasn't erupted so far is because Pompeii is dormant. In other words, as long as someone artificially changes the internal structure of the volcano and wakes Pompeii, the volcano will erupt!"

Cronin pointed to his pocket with his chin.

"I have explosives buried near the volcano. Once activated, Pompeii will wake up, and the volcano will erupt and submerge the entire Xiosta! But I don't have anything yet—"

Before he could even utter the words "I haven't done anything yet", a dull roar suddenly erupted from the Xiosta volcano at the far end of the sailboat anchored on the 'sea'.

“Boom, boom, boom—!!!”

"——!?"

Orson and Hei looked at the volcano in the distance, and saw thick smoke and dust suddenly coming out of the side of the volcano, as well as continuous landslides.

"You guy-"

"No, it's not me!! I haven't done anything yet... Wait, wait a minute! That's where the obsidian was originally mined. Those idiots must have failed to take proper precautions while digging, causing the mine to collapse!"

With veins bulging, he pointed the dagger at Cronin, who immediately closed his eyes and screamed, saying that the explosion had nothing to do with him.

"Obsidian mining site..."

Orson recalled the scene he saw near the volcano when he was looking for Ceylon. At that time, he did make the judgment that "if we continue like this, there might be a landslide."

"Boom!"

Orson slammed Cronin's head hard on the deck, then immediately took out his cell phone to call Kal'tsit.

But before Orson dialed the number, Kal'tsit contacted Orson first.

"Orson, you—"

"Are you okay, Kal'tsit? How's the landslide situation over there? Are you affected? I'll be right there to pick you up!"

Orson said anxiously.

"Calm down, Orson. I'm not in the path of the landslide, so I'm still safe. But I have some news for you—due to the unexplained tremors just now, the volcano's activity has exceeded the critical point. In other words, it could erupt at any moment."

"—Damn it, I'm coming to find you right now. Get out of there immediately, Kel'tsit! Black, contact Mr. Herman to issue an evacuation notice!"

Orson was about to step onto the small assault boat parked beside the sailboat without any hesitation. However, Kal'tsit, speaking in the voice chat, stopped Orson.

"Wait a minute, issuing an evacuation order right now is pointless. Do you know the true nature of this volcano?"

"The essence...it might be an Originium worm."

"Sure enough, Eyjafjalla and I's deduction was correct—if the cause of the volcanic eruption is that unreasonable Originium worm, then there's still a chance. As long as we curb the Originium worm's actions, we can at least put the volcano back to dormancy for a short period of time."

"Really?! Then I'll go over now and we can discuss the details on the way!"

Orson asked in surprise, while Hei walked over to Orson.