Chapter 9: The Vast Ocean and the Mulberry Field (Part 1)

  "What is this place?" Zhang Fan was woken up by a burst of music. When he opened his eyes, he couldn't help but be stunned for an instant.

  This is a hall, in the hall, some strangely dressed clowns, fairies and nobles are chatting with each other - of course, they are human, just dressed up like that. Some people just wear a mask, and their clothes are still the same as usual.

  Apart from those chatting, many people were also dancing in the dance pool along with the music.

  It only took two seconds for Zhang Fan to realize his situation - he was now in a masquerade ball! And on himself, he was wearing a clown suit, lying asleep on the sofa.

  "Oh, yeah! I actually fell asleep at the dance party!" Zhang Fan knocked his head, remembering what had happened. Xiaoxue's father was ill and took a two-month leave of absence, while he stayed alone in the office feeling bored and without any interesting assignments, so he simply ran to a luxury cruise ship, preparing to spend a good month-long vacation, and also looking for some romantic encounters.

  "What a pity, sleeping at this time, if I miss some beautiful women, the loss will be great!" Zhang Fan got up and sat down at a table, ordered a martini, sipped it slowly while gazing at the people on the dance floor.

  "Looks like there's no notable beauty around... " Zhang Fan muttered, taking another sip of wine.

  Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

  A beautiful woman gently pushed open the door and walked in!

  She wore a princess hairstyle, with fair skin and a hint of pink under the mask, a pair of bright blue eyes that were lively and deep, with a wave of her hand, a colorful glow flowed out, making people yearn for it. She was dressed in noble women's clothing, made from intricately patterned brocade and shimmering satin, with a low neckline and a flower-shaped decoration at the collar; the sleeves were slender, with lace-trimmed cuffs that flared out like a trumpet. On her back, there was a row of neat pleats running down from top to bottom, spreading out towards the long, trailing hem of her skirt, which flowed gently as she walked, rustling softly, shining brightly, and looking noble and elegant.

  The only thing that was slightly disappointing was that the upper half of her face was covered by a butterfly-shaped mask.

  But this in no way detracts from her beauty, instead it evokes a curiosity that cannot be resisted to explore and discover.

  A half-concealed and half-revealed temptation, isn't it more likely to move a man's heart than a straightforward one?

  The beautiful princess glanced around the venue, her pink lips curving up into a lovely arc.

  A man also dressed in noble attire walked forward, slightly bowing his head and making an inviting gesture. Unfortunately, the beauty only slightly shook her head, turned her gaze around, but stopped at Zhang Fan sitting in the corner.

  Zhang Fan smiled slightly. He stood up and walked to her side, gently bent down, made an inviting gesture, and said: "This beautiful and noble lady, I wonder if you would condescend to dance with me?"

  The man on one side furrowed his brow, just about to say something, but saw her smiling and extending her hand to Zhang Fan.

  Zhang Fan laughed even harder.

  The long-awaited encounter has finally arrived...

  Embracing the beautiful girl's soft waist, Zhang Fan clearly felt that his dance partner's steps were very awkward, but she was obviously a very good student, and in no time at all, she could follow his steps and strike elegant poses.

  "Haven't you danced for a long time?" Zhang Fan asked while twirling around the dance floor with the beauty.

  She shook her head slightly and didn't speak.

  "That person proposed the invitation before me, why didn't you choose him but chose me?" Zhang Fan asked persistently.

  Still just smiled, without answering.

  "Or you..." Zhang Fan smiled, "or do you think that compared to the combination of a noble young lady and a noble youth, the combination of a noble miss and a clown is more interesting?"

  The beauty heard this and raised her head, staring fiercely at Zhang Fan. Zhang Fan felt a familiar feeling in an instant.

  "Uh...haven't we met somewhere before?"

  She tilted her head, slightly pouting her mouth, looking at Zhang Fan with a puzzled expression, then shook her head.

  However, her lovely expression made Zhang Fan lose his mind for a few seconds. After regaining consciousness, Zhang Fan felt that if he had seen such a woman before, there was no reason why he wouldn't have an impression of her. Dismissing his doubts, Zhang Fan once again showed her a charming smile and said:

  "May I know your name? My name is..."

  Before Zhang Fan could finish speaking, the beauty covered his mouth with her hand, looked at him and shook her head again.

  Zhang Fan was stunned, after a while, he could only smile helplessly: "Is that so... well, let's just have a good dream tonight then."

  She nodded and smiled with curved eyes.

  After a few dances, the host of the ball walked into the middle of the dance floor and said in an excited voice: "Ladies and gentlemen, tonight Countess Yekaterina is also on our ship. Let's invite her out and have her dance with us!"

  "Countess Yekaterina?" The name made Zhang Fan's heart move slightly, such a familiar name!

  As soon as it was learned that Countess Yekaterina was also on the ship, the atmosphere at the ball became much more lively. At the moment of her appearance, the atmosphere reached a small climax.

  Zhang Fan was originally interested in the countess, but the woman pulled his hand and walked to the table in the corner, gesturing for him to sit down.

  "What's wrong?" Zhang Fan asked in confusion.

  She frowned and didn't say anything.

  "...don't you dislike that kind of scene?" She smiled and nodded.

  As he gazed at her smile, Zhang Fan suddenly felt that the female count behind him was no longer attractive to him. He found it strange, as according to his usual personality, beautiful women shouldn't have such a great influence on him either.

  Never mind...

  Zhang Fan thought for a moment and smiled at her: "In that case, we're also getting a bit tired from dancing. Let's take a break."

  Zhang Fan and the woman sat down, then started chatting casually. Behind them, people were dancing, laughing and shouting, but the two of them were completely unaffected. However... it wasn't really a conversation, more like Zhang Fan talking non-stop. She didn't say a word, just quietly listened with a serene smile floating on her lips. Occasionally when she heard something interesting, she couldn't help but burst out laughing with a "pu" sound, at which point Zhang Fan would lose his train of thought for a second or two.

  How did I become so weird? To think that I wasn't originally a talkative person! Could it be that coming out on vacation and relaxing has made me more chatty?

  Unconsciously, Zhang Fan's thoughts began to drift in an unexpected direction...

  Just then, the host walked onto the stage. It turned out that there were some small games in the middle of the dance party.

  "Mini game?" Zhang Fan was somewhat curious.

  "For example, eating chili pepper contest."

  "It sounds silly..."

  "Beer showdown."

  "What is that?"

  "It's just a matter of who can drink more beer."

  "Isn't that just like competing in a chili pepper eating contest..."

  Complaints aside, Zhang Fan was still quite interested in participating. Since they were on vacation, wasn't the point to have more fun?

  But when he turned his head to ask if the beauty was interested in playing together, he found that she was no longer beside him!

  Huh......? Zhang Fan hastily looked around in all directions, but ultimately couldn't find her.

  "Big pervert, who are you looking for?" Just wondering, a familiar voice suddenly came from beside his ear.

  "Xiao... Xiao Xue?!" Zhang Fan almost jumped up: "Didn't you take leave to care for your father? How did you suddenly appear here?"

  "Can't I?" Xiaoxue glared at him directly: "I knew you wouldn't be honest, and specially followed to take a look! Looks like you had a great time chatting with that princess just now!"

  "How is that possible..." Zhang Fan's mouth denied, his mind more puzzled: when did Xiaoxue become like this? To know, although she looked down on her own wolf-like nature, she would never interfere with her own private life. Moreover, leaving behind her sick old father to come and follow herself, this was also too far-fetched!

  "You still want to deny..." Xiaoxue's eyebrows were raised, just about to say something, when the boat suddenly shook violently!

  "Monster! Monster!" Along with the intense shaking, waves of mournful and heart-wrenching cries also spread across the deck!

  Zhang Fan's heart sank, and he took a deep breath before speaking to Xiao Xue in a low voice: "Stay here and don't move, I'll go take a look!" Seeing that Xiao Xue also looked eager to try, he emphasized his tone: "The situation is unclear, and the fact that the ship's body is shaking so violently suggests it could be extremely dangerous! Just stay put and don't move!"

  As he spoke, his toes kicked off, and his body shot out of the gate like an arrow from a bowstring, rushing towards the deck!

  "My god, I just came out for a vacation, how did you bring out such a monster!" As soon as he went up to the deck and saw the scene in front of him, Zhang Fan's heart directly sank to the bottom of the valley!

  It seemed that Heaven had not heard his words - or if it had, was utterly indifferent to them. The sea, which had been calm and peaceful just a moment before, with only an occasional small wave, suddenly became turbulent, as if awakened from a deep sleep. The waves crashed violently against the ship, causing this massive liner to rock back and forth like a tiny boat in the midst of towering waves.

  In the center of that huge wave, a giant black tentacle stretched out and then suddenly withdrew into the water, stirring up another round of massive waves!

  This tentacle is almost half a mile long. The momentum of the waves it sets off is enough to capsize this luxury liner!

  "What the heck?!" Zhang Fan couldn't help but scratch his hair. This thing looked like an octopus's tentacle, but was there really such a huge octopus?!

  Before he could finish his lament, a dark and massive body began to emerge. A small mountain-like head with two huge eyes grew out of it, without a body, the head was connected to eight giant tentacles. The monster was now using its enormous tentacles to stir up chaotic waves on the surface of the sea.

  "It's actually an octopus!" Zhang Fan took a cold breath. "But how is it possible for an octopus to be so big?! Did he eat Giant Calcium?"

  But the gods of fate were not done playing tricks on the people on this ship, and in the blink of an eye they sent them an even bigger surprise!

  That invincible giant octopus actually dragged out another enormous monster from under the sea!

  That monster has a round body and a round head, with a pair of big round eyes, ears drooping like a small dog on its head, hands and feet are fin-like, and there is a whip-like long tail behind it, with fluffy hair at the end of the tail. However, such an adorable appearance has a huge body that is not inferior to that octopus.

  No matter how cute it looked, its enormous size still gave the people on the ship a further shock. ——In a scream that seemed like the end of the world was coming, the people on the deck ran away clean.

  "Am I still on Earth?" Zhang Fan's first reaction after waking up from his astonishment was to pinch himself hard: "Or have I already arrived in a magical world?"

  Such a huge creature is impossible to appear on Earth! If they were whales, Zhang Fan wouldn't be surprised, but they are clearly octopuses and small dogs-like creatures! If such creatures existed, humans would have discovered them long ago!

  It was obvious that the two monsters were fighting each other, and the boat where Zhang Fan and others were sitting was only affected because the two monsters were too large in size, and the waves stirred up by their fight were too turbulent.

  At this time, the big dog-like monster was clearly at a disadvantage, struggling desperately and shaking its body constantly. The giant octopus grasped the big dog tightly with its eight arms covered with suckers, continuously tightening and leaving deep marks on the dog's body.

  It seems that the octopus is desperately pulling a huge dog-like monster down to the sea floor, but the big dog is constantly struggling and refusing to go down.

  Unfortunately, although its size is not much smaller than the giant octopus, its strength is obviously inferior. It can only protect its abdomen from being entwined by the giant octopus and its other struggles are in vain. Its body has begun to slowly sink downwards with its opponent.

  "Boom! Boom! Boom!" Suddenly, three loud explosions, several lines of fiery light shot fiercely at the two giant monsters!

  This huge luxury cruise ship originally had very strong self-defense capabilities - otherwise, if it encountered pirates at sea, it would be in trouble. Recently, the number of pirates in the waters of Southeast Asia has never been small.

  It was just the first time people saw these monsters, and they hadn't reacted yet. Now that they've calmed down, they naturally started taking measures.

  "It's useless!" Zhang Fan shook his head, intuitively feeling that this level of attack was just a scratch to these two monsters. Indeed, before several shells even approached, the octopus suddenly swung one of its tentacles and, with a loud bang, the shells exploded in mid-air! And yet, the octopus's tentacle remained unscathed!

  However, this clearly enraged the monster who had not been paying attention to them. The monster's tentacles swung violently and slapped heavily against the hull of the luxury cruise ship!

  "Ah!" The massive impact almost capsized the ship. As Zhang Fan was struggling to steady himself, he heard a blood-curdling scream beside his ear!

  Turning back to look, it was unexpectedly the small snow that should have been in the hall and hadn't come out, being directly shocked into the air by a huge impact force, falling towards the outside of the ship!

  "Xiao Xue!" Zhang Fan's head was shocked, his body suddenly jumped up, and he directly grabbed Xiao Xue's ankle. But this also made his body leave the range of the boat, and he fell straight into the water.

  "Oh no!" Zhang Fan's hand swung up and tossed Xiaoxue onto the deck, but his own body shot out like a meteor, falling towards the more distant sea surface.

  But he didn't fall into the sea. —— Just as he was about to plunge into the sea, he suddenly felt a tightness in his waist, and the end of a black tentacle had already wrapped around him!

  That huge octopus actually caught him!

  And obviously, the octopus wasn't just playing with him. Just as Zhang Fan was thinking of a way to escape, the octopus had already stuffed him into its mouth and swallowed him whole!

  "Zhang Fan!" Xiao Xue's shrill cry came, but unfortunately Zhang Fan could no longer hear it.