Mulan Boat

She opened the Small Parasol again, smiling as she pointed to Wen Keke's neck, "Here's a piece of advice: you'd better use that beautiful flower around your neck less often. Haven't you noticed that it's already lingering on your skin?"

After saying that, she took out a card and swiped it in the air. A silver Portal appeared, and Gan Tian waved her hand with a smile, her fingers twirling lightly.

"Mission accomplished, reward received. Well then, I look forward to seeing you again, you toxic Ms. Wen."

The Portal and Gan Tian's figure disappeared together. Wen Keke stood there for a long time until the last trace of unfamiliar energy in the air dissipated, and only then did the smile on her face gradually fade.

Her gaze shifted to Qin Rang, and her brows furrowed.

Qin Rang's resistance was too strong; she still couldn't completely control him.

Even the strange corrosive power couldn't completely subdue him, so naturally, her weak control couldn't either.

But it doesn't matter. As long as he's by her side, he'll eventually be completely controlled by her.

Will the Calamity Crossing Squad be able to maintain their usual composure when they encounter their captain again and see that he has joined the Worship God?

Tao Yuan and the others panicked after discovering that Qin Rang was missing.

They quickly reviewed the surveillance Weird Object, and after seeing Wen Keke's furtive figure in the footage, they were even more certain that someone had taken him away.

Although it's unclear why the bars holding Qin Rang were inexplicably deflated, the surveillance footage clearly shows only one person inside.

After discovering Qin Rang's disappearance, Tao Yuan and the others also tried to find him by following the energy source, but to no avail.

There were very few places they could find, and the Authorities couldn't spare the time to help them; the strange riots in the surrounding area had already consumed most of their energy.

The eerie silence finally subsided in the middle of the night.

"There's no need to be so anxious. Qin Rang being with the Worship God might actually be a good thing." Minister Wen of the Logistics Department sat upright in his chair, rubbing his temples wearily. "Our Logistics Department's cameras captured Qin Rang's condition inside the Worship God, and so far everything seems normal."

"How can you call that a good thing? That's the captain of the Dù'è! How can we let him be controlled by the people of the Worship God?" Xu Shouyan angrily.

"Old Xu, calm down," Director Chen said. "I understand what Minister Wen means. Qin Rang controlled by Wen Keke allows the power of the Evil Ghost Mask within Qin Rang to be suppressed by the Poppy Flower, which gives us more time."

Minister Wen nodded, his eyes slightly lowered beneath his short hair. "Director Chen is right, Deputy Minister Xu. I hope you can calm down and set a good example for the younger generation."

Xu Shouyan had also stayed up all night, stood up angrily upon hearing this, his already irritable temper flaring up. "Fine, fine, I have no idea, you guys talk!"

Minister Xu left, Director Chen shook his head. "Still the same fiery temper."

Minister Wen chuckled, "Never mind him. Next time your department needs our assistance, he'll be the first to swallow his pride."

As she spoke, she looked at the silent members of the Calamity Crossing Squad and said, "We will continue to investigate and search for Qin Rang's location. In fact, we already have several suspected locations where they are currently hiding, but it will always take time to investigate them one by one."

"Time is of the essence now, and sending a few more of you to search won't be of much use. What I mean is, you should focus on finding a way to rescue Qin Rang and Sheng Qingqiao."

"We understand, but we still want to find Qin Rang; we can't give up now," An Ying said.

Director Chen said, "It's okay to take a few days to go see him, but it can't be too long. Regardless of the outcome, you must return on the day you're supposed to leave."

Tao Yuan nodded. "Okay."

Minister Wen nodded and said, "In that case, I'll first notify the Purger and Logistics Department personnel who are skilled in swimming. Your ship is a large, Weird Object, so it's best to have some professionals at the helm."

"We also need to hire an Artifact Forger."

As he spoke, Minister Wen lowered his head and began taking notes.

Wang Ding stood up and said, "Minister Wen, Director Chen, and Minister Xu, for your help. We will do our best to search in the next few days, and we will suspend the Authorities tasks for now."

"Alright," Director Chen said, "I'll handle Elder Ju's side."

The Calamity Crossing Squad searched for several days, and Cheng Shanshi followed them for several days, but they found nothing.

They didn't receive orders to return until four days later.

Jiang City Dock:

Jiang City has inland waterways, which are used to transport goods during peacetime. Although they are not large compared to other waterways in the country, they traverse several nearby cities.

At this moment, the Dock, which had been idle for many years, finally welcomed a large influx of people once again.

From afar, Tao Yuan and his companions spotted a Mulan Boat moored at the edge of the Dock. It resembled a wooden house floating on the ocean, its thick, dark brown planks gleaming in the water and sunlight. The bow was adorned with colorful illustrations that looked like Mermaids.

A large crowd had gathered around the boat, creating a lively scene. Some people were loading things onto the boat, one large box after another, which were tightly sealed with waterproof cloth and bound with hemp rope.

Looking out over the water, the river, deserted year-round, had a deathly gray hue, as if even sunlight could hardly penetrate it.

"You're back." Minister Wen put down what he was doing and came over when he saw the group.

"Minister Wen," the group greeted him.

"It's only been a few days, but the ship looks completely different," Tao Yuan asked, looking at the two-story pavilion that had been built on the deck.

The rooms on the ship had upturned eaves and scattered wooden windows, completely different from when they first visited.

Minister Wen smiled with satisfaction, "This was made by the new Artifact Forger who brought along a few of our Artifact Forger, using some architectural Weird Object. I don't know how long you'll be floating around, but with these, you'll be more comfortable living here."

"Oh, and he also added some warning and offensive Weird Object, which are all incorporated into this ship."

"Artifact Forger?" An Ying. "The Artifact Forger in the team are all so busy, do they even have time for this?"

"They volunteered, saying they'd never tried building such a large structure before and were very curious," Minister Wen said, smiling at Cheng Shanshi. "And it's all thanks to Cheng Shanshi; the Artifact Forger he contacted is incredibly skilled—one man can do the work of three."

Cheng Shanshi smiled and said, "That's right, I knew he was very capable!"

Tao Yuan asked, "When did you contact Cheng Shanshi? How come we didn't know?"

Cheng Shanshi chuckled, "You were all in a bad mood, so I didn't tell you."

Mi Chuchu and Wang Ding somewhat puzzled. "Who is it? Do we know each other?"

"Of course you know each other, it's been a long time."

A familiar voice came from behind them. They turned around and saw a young man wearing a large sweater with his black hair disheveled by the wind jumping off the deck.

"Boss Lin?" the group asked in surprise.

Lin Nieran greeted him with a smile, "It's me."