After listening to Huo Sheng's words, Zhuang Ruoting's face instantly turned pale.
Compared to an old fox like Huo Sheng, she was indeed too young.
The problems she could think of, Huo Sheng had already anticipated!
This meant that Huo Sheng had Ying Chen and Zhuang Ruoting trapped this time!
"So that's how it is!"
"Damn, I almost fell for it! I wrongly accused Huo Sheng!"
"I'm sorry, Huo Sheng, I was shallow. I apologize for my words just now!"
Everyone looked enlightened and rushed to speak to Huo Sheng.
Even Officer Lin said apologetically, "Huo Sheng, I was a bit impulsive just now. My apologies..."
Huo Sheng waved his hand, "It's fine. If it were me, I would have fallen for it too. After all, if I put myself in your shoes, I wouldn't be able to distinguish loyalty from treachery."
"Let's not talk about it anymore, it's all in the past! In short, Huo Sheng, you've made us regain our confidence! You've proven that we Hong Kong people are always united and stand against outsiders!" Officer Lin said.
The others chimed in.
In the blink of an eye, the atmosphere became one of "harmony between generals."
Ying Chen watched everyone, unmoved.
He secretly winked at Huo Sheng.
That look seemed to say: This move of retreating to advance is well done! That's how we should do it!
If no one had seen Ying Chen's wink, it would have been fine. But for some reason, as Ying Chen winked, everyone seemed to have a tacit understanding and turned to look at Ying Chen's position, witnessing the wink with their own eyes!
Most importantly, after blinking, Ying Chen deliberately pretended to be unfazed.
He quickly changed his expression and reprimanded Huo Sheng, "I knew the cruise ship was inexplicably heading out to sea! It didn't stop at the scheduled location! So you had already planted spies in the Li family! Despicable villain! When I return to the Li family, I will find that spy and tear him to shreds!"
Huo Sheng, unaware of what was happening, laughed proudly, "You return to the Li family? You don't think you'll have a chance to return, do you? I've worked so hard to set up this scheme, and if I let you escape again, wouldn't I lose face?"
"This time, you are doomed to die!"
"Everyone, please enjoy the final performance of a generation of power-monger!" Huo Sheng exclaimed, spreading his arms.
However, to Huo Sheng's surprise, after he finished speaking, he did not hear the expected applause and cheers.
There wasn't even a single supportive voice.
Only complete silence.
Huo Sheng immediately sensed something was wrong and quickly turned to look at Officer Lin and the others.
Officer Lin and the others were also looking at him.
Their eyes met.
Speechless.
The look in Officer Lin's eyes seemed to say: "Stop acting, your performance is too fake."
Huo Sheng's eyes seemed to say: "What's going on? Didn't we just agree to stand united against outsiders? Damn it, was it not me who actually switched sides, but you guys?"
Thus, in a silent stillness, they fell into mutual suspicion.
The group that was "brotherly" a second ago, was now looking at each other like "I don't think you're a good person."
The scene was indescribably bizarre.
"Wh-what's going on?" Zhuang Ruoting looked at the scene in a daze.
She had been present the entire time and hadn't missed any of it. But for some reason, she felt as if she had missed an extremely important scene, which made the preceding and succeeding events disjointed!
Only Ying Chen had a hint of playful amusement in his eyes.
What is a rabble?
These people, who gathered solely for their own interests and had no trust in each other, were called a rabble!
With just a sentence or a glance, they could be scattered and dissolved!
"What did you do?"
Finally, Huo Sheng realized where the problem lay and looked at Ying Chen.
He suddenly realized that after half a lifetime of navigating the political and business worlds in Hong Kong, he, who considered himself a cunning old fox, was as naive and ridiculous as a child in front of Ying Chen.
No matter what, he was always manipulated by Ying Chen!
If Ying Chen hadn't looked so young, Huo Sheng would have suspected that Ying Chen was actually an ancient monster who had lived for thousands of years!
And what Huo Sheng didn't know was that he had actually guessed correctly.
Ying Chen had indeed lived for two thousand years!
The schemes and tricks that Huo Sheng played with were less than one percent of the court intrigues in Ying Chen's eyes!
True court intrigue was hundreds of times more formidable and complex!
For example, the classic "calling a deer a horse" was a peak that people like Huo Sheng could never reach in their lifetime!
Seeing Ying Chen's silence, Huo Sheng's expression grew increasingly grim.
His eyes flickered several times.
After a moment, he suddenly took off his glasses and smiled silently.
Then he raised his glasses high and smashed them to the ground fiercely!
*Crash!*
Hearing the sound of the lenses shattering, everyone froze.
They didn't understand what Huo Sheng was doing.
Was he signaling the start of an attack, and a large force would soon surround them?
As everyone was speculating, they heard Huo Sheng say leisurely, "I almost fell into your logical trap."
"You slander and frame me, why must I try to clear my name?"
"Even the purest water will only become dirtier the more you wash it! Therefore, my attempt to clear my name is a futile effort! It's a foolish act that falls into your logical trap!"
"I just need to proceed according to my plan. After I deal with you, people will naturally believe me when they stand before your corpse and see your disappearing heartbeat and pulse!"
"At that time, the pure will prove themselves pure!"
"Don't you agree?"
Hearing Huo Sheng's words, Ying Chen laughed.
It had to be said that an old fox like Huo Sheng was indeed incomparable to ordinary people.
An ordinary person might have been led astray by Ying Chen.
And would still be busy trying to prove their innocence.
Huo Sheng, however, quickly found a way out by approaching it from a different angle.
Although Huo Sheng's choice seemed simple, the saying "those in the midst of the maze are confused" has been a proven truth throughout history.
When you are truly in the midst of a maze, making such a seemingly simple and correct choice is incredibly difficult.
Perhaps not even one out of ten thousand people could achieve it.
"You're quite right. However, whether you can do it is another matter." Ying Chen said with a faint smile, looking at Huo Sheng.
Huo Sheng let out two cold laughs, "According to you, should I kneel and surrender, begging for your forgiveness, for that to be considered doing it right? Don't be ridiculous!"
"If that were the case, how could my Huo family maintain its dignity, how could I, Huo Sheng, maintain my dignity? How could Hong Kong maintain its dignity?"
"Not to mention, one day of kneeling, a lifetime of servitude. I, Huo Sheng, don't want to be a slave my whole life! If I want to be one, it will be you who becomes my slave!"
With that, Huo Sheng clapped his hands twice.
Immediately, a fierce alarm sound blared from the ship's broadcast.
The sound traveled far across the silent sea.
In an instant, lights appeared on the distant sea.
The lights were like swords, cutting through the waves on the sea, and projected onto the cruise ship.
Judging by the power of the lights alone, they were definitely from powerful vessels!
Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to project so far!
Indeed, after a while, everyone heard the deafening roar of ship engines.
At the same time, they vaguely saw the silhouettes of ship after ship.
The hulls were extremely tall, the beams extremely wide, and the draft depth was astonishing.
This draft depth clearly indicated that these were not ordinary civilian vessels!
"It's the Victoria!"
"And the Buckingham!"
"The furthest one seems to be the Downton!"
"My heavens, why them? Didn't these three warships withdraw from Hong Kong long ago?"
The people present immediately recognized the names of the three vessels!
They were actually three warships!
Previously, these three warships were stationed in Hong Kong harbor.
Later, they withdrew from Hong Kong for various reasons.
Although the warship model was relatively outdated in this era, and many major countries had phased them out and no longer used them as main vessels, because of their short range and poor defense against anti-ship missiles, coupled with their high cost, any hit would result in huge losses.
However, that was relative to nation-to-nation conflict.
When ordinary people faced warships, warships remained terrifying and insurmountable absolute rulers!
Even if everyone present were to wear steel armor, they would not be able to escape the bombardment of the warships!
A broadside from a warship's main guns could turn the entire cruise ship into a piece of braised iron!
*Buzzzzzz~~~*
The three warships approached the cruise ship rapidly and eventually stopped within firing range.
At the same time, they issued warnings, like a death knell, urging Ying Chen to surrender.
Seeing the three warships and hearing their warnings, everyone present was overjoyed.
Without Huo Sheng needing to say anything further, they all swarmed towards Huo Sheng.
"Huo Sheng, you truly live up to your reputation! This move is even higher than the eighteenth floor!"
"I knew Huo Sheng would have a backup plan! This move is brilliant! Who would have thought that the three warships, which had already left Hong Kong, were actually under Huo Sheng's command?"
"Hahaha, I said earlier that Huo Sheng would never betray us, but you didn't believe me. Do you believe it now?"
Everyone looked at the speaker with disdain.
He was the one who had doubted Huo Sheng the most just now!
And now he claimed to have always believed Huo Sheng wouldn't betray them. Hmph, shameless!
Officer Lin also walked up to Huo Sheng, unable to hide his shock, "I was originally planning to mobilize the Hong Kong Flying Fox team, but compared to your move, my idea seems so petty! Tsk tsk, three warships, you really have it!"
Huo Sheng said with a proud smile, "This is the survival philosophy of our Huo family. Forefathers plant trees, descendants enjoy the shade. It began with my father, who started cultivating relationships with the captains and crew of these three warships. Later, when I took over as family head, although the three warships withdrew from Hong Kong, I still provided them with the full benefits according to my father's standards."
"This is to raise soldiers for a thousand days and use them for one occasion."
"I never expected that they would actually be useful today!"
"No matter how great a martial arts master or a master of the mystic arts you are, it's all in vain! Only strong ships and powerful cannons, only the range of artillery, is real!"
"Ying Chen, Ying Chen, are you convinced now?"
"If you are convinced, then kneel before me and kowtow three times! Swear to be a servant of my Huo family for life! Be a good dog for my Huo family!"
"If you do that, I can spare your life. Otherwise, you can just wait for death!"
Facing Huo Sheng's threat, Ying Chen looked at him as if he were an idiot.
Only when Huo Sheng could no longer smile, did Ying Chen leisurely ask, "Excuse me, Mr. Huo the Clever, we are on the same ship. If I die, do you think you can survive?"