Squalo

Half an hour later.

The yacht had already moved far away from the bustling Port of Palermo.

This yacht wasn't very large, only about ten meters long from front to back.

The captain obediently steered the yacht from the cockpit, while Li Qing reclined comfortably on a sun lounger on the small deck, sipping the "free" cold drinks stored on the yacht and enjoying the maritime scenery of a foreign land.

The sea surface under the sun was calm and waveless, like an boundless sapphire mirror, deep blue and brilliant.

The cool, moist, and slightly salty breeze of the Mediterranean Sea blew in gusts, making the air on the boat smell...

"Terrible."

Li Qing pinched his nose, his face filled with disgust.

His sense of smell had improved significantly after leveling up, making him very sensitive to pungent odors.

To mask the acrid smell, he couldn't resist picking up the lighter he had "borrowed" from the captain and lighting a cigarette he had also "borrowed" from him.

Oh, right, during that friendly exchange, Li Qing had politely remembered the portly captain's name:

"Andrew, what exactly is this smell?"

"Well..."

"You'd better not smoke right now."

The unfortunate captain, Andrew, glanced at Li Qing timidly and mumbled, "If I'm not mistaken, it might be a fuel leak."

"A fuel leak?"

"How can this boat be leaking fuel?"

Li Qing's expression changed slightly, and he immediately pinched out the cigarette butt he had just lit.

His tone wasn't particularly menacing, but after experiencing a series of threats, intimidation, and kidnapping, the poor Mr. Andrew now saw Li Qing as a wolf in human skin.

He tried his best to conceal his inner dissatisfaction and replied cautiously, "Mr. Bu... Sir."

"Didn't I tell you from the beginning – it seems there's a problem with the fuel tank, and it needs to be sent back to the dock for inspection."

"It was you... you insisted I take it out."

Despite his best efforts to hide it, the air of resentment from being "forced into wrongdoing" was impossible to conceal.

"Oh, haha."

Li Qing didn't make things difficult for the unfortunate Mr. Andrew.

He stroked his bald head and laughed nonchalantly, "You do seem to have mentioned that to me."

"So, can this boat still run?"

"If it can, then keep going further away, as far from that place as possible."

Andrew's eyes darted around as he replied with hidden meaning, "Although there are some signs of a fuel leak, it can still manage to move for now."

"But..."

"If it continues like this, and we don't dock soon, it could stall at any moment out at sea."

"And if the situation gets worse, it might even catch fire. If that happens, we'll all be finished."

"Oh..."

Li Qing responded casually.

It was clear that Andrew was trying to persuade him to find a place to dock the boat quickly so he could leave safely.

However, Li Qing didn't think the man was lying.

Because Li Qing could smell that as the yacht continued to sail, the unpleasant smell of fuel was indeed becoming stronger.

"Then let's find a small island ahead and dock there."

Li Qing said reasonably, "Don't worry, I'm just an ordinary passerby."

"As long as you cooperate obediently, I'll let you leave safely."

"Ordinary passerby..."

"Are there ordinary passersby who rob with guns and kidnap people?"

Andrew's mouth twitched. He held back for a long time, not daring to voice his grievances.

Then, forcing a smile, he replied, "Yes, sir."

"There's a nice little island ahead. You can get a new boat there."

"Don't worry," Andrew added shrewdly, "There isn't even a police station on that island. I definitely won't call them and cause you any trouble."

"En."

Li Qing responded noncommittally, then turned back to continue enjoying the wonderful sunlight on the sea.

And just at this moment.

Relying on his extraordinary hearing, he heard the roar of an engine coming from the distant sea:

"A boat?"

"There's a boat following us!"

For safety reasons, Li Qing instinctively entered Digitization Mode.

His vision instantly went dark, but his already keen hearing was amplified dozens of times over.

In the "Blind Monk" state, the sound became even clearer:

"The one chasing us is a speedboat, and it's traveling very fast."

"There's... there's only one person on the boat."

"200 meters, 180 meters, 140 meters... getting closer."

"That's right, it's coming straight for us!"

Li Qing's tone immediately became serious:

"Captain!"

"Give me full throttle, as fast as you can!"

"Ah?"

Andrew hadn't even processed it:

"Go faster?"

"This oil leak issue hasn't been fixed yet. If we push it to overload, I think there might be problems."

"I don't want what you think, I want what I think!"

Li Qing urged him on belligerently, "Give it everything you've got!"

"Otherwise, if that boat behind us is the mafia coming to hunt me down – do you think they'll let you off the hook too?"

"Th-this..."

"Chasing mafia?"

"God, what have I gotten myself into!"

A greasy sheen of cold sweat broke out on Andrew's plump face.

Then, trembling, he followed Li Qing's instructions and pushed the boat's speed to its maximum.

Unfortunately, the yacht's speed was limited. No matter how much he increased the throttle, he couldn't shake off the small speedboat chasing them.

Thus, the distance between the two boats grew smaller and smaller.

120 meters, 100 meters, 70 meters, 50 meters...

When the distance between the two boats, one in front and one behind, was only fifty meters, the speedboat behind, which had been at full speed, suddenly slowed down and began to trail the yacht leisurely.

"En?"

"Why did that boat stop chasing?"

Li Qing was a little puzzled, but Andrew breathed a sigh of relief:

"Perhaps, perhaps it's not an assassin, just a passing tourist."

"Many tourists like to rent speedboats here to tour the Mediterranean. It's normal to encounter them at sea."

"Is that so?"

Li Qing remained vigilant.

But in reality, it was just as Andrew had said. The person driving the speedboat showed no malice whatsoever:

He neither sped up to attempt a boarding, nor pulled out any weapons for a long-range snipe. He simply steered the speedboat silently, maintaining a distance of about fifty meters from Li Qing with great restraint.

Several minutes passed, and the other party showed no unusual behavior.

"Could it be that I'm overthinking things?"

"No, the absence of anything unusual is the biggest oddity!"

"The sea is so vast. If the other party were truly just a passing tourist, why would they be so persistent in following us?"

With the other party's continued inaction, Li Qing's expression became even more serious.

He maintained Digitization Mode the entire time, not letting his guard down for a moment.

What Li Qing hadn't noticed at this time was...

On the deck beneath his feet, a "shark" quietly emerged from the shallow puddle of water.

Meanwhile, on the speedboat.

A young man with orange hair was intently staring at Li Qing on the yacht's deck ahead.

The boat owner couldn't see it, but he could—

Above Li Qing's head floated a strange red long frame.

This was the red health bar that only those judged as "enemies" by the System could see; it was a clear sign that Li Qing had entered Digitization Mode.

This man was named Squalo, the boss's most trusted personal guard and the naval warfare expert the boss had placed great hopes on for this mission.

"Tch, so vigilant."

"After waiting so long, he still won't deactivate his 'Stand ability'?"

"Troublesome. Really troublesome!"

Squalo muttered impatiently to himself:

"According to the intel provided by the boss, that bald guy has a bizarre body, like a 'video game character'."

"If it's a head-on fight, it'll take a lot of effort."

He hadn't attacked directly just now because he wanted Li Qing to lower his guard and deactivate Digitization Mode, then try to command his Stand to launch a sneak attack, aiming for a one-hit kill.

Unfortunately, Li Qing wasn't that careless.

"Forget it."

"Let's just attack directly!"

"If I get his head quickly, I can still make it back for the lunch appointment with D'Arby."

D'Arby was his partner, and the two were inseparable.

However, this mission was urgent, and D'Arby's Stand ability wasn't suitable for direct combat, which was why Squalo had come alone to pursue Li Qing.

He mumbled his partner's name, his tone incredibly relaxed.

As the battle was about to begin, the biggest concern on Squalo's mind was still whether to order a Margherita pizza or squid ink pasta for lunch with D'Arby.

This wasn't him underestimating the enemy; it was his confidence.

As long as the battlefield was this vast ocean, Squalo had absolute confidence in his Stand ability:

"Go—"

"Clash!"