“Lan Xiaoni? Did I hear that right?” Xiao Chou was completely incredulous.

“You mean THAT Lan Xiaoni? The princess of the Spirit Fish Clan?” Bai Yao’s eyes widened as she began to doubt her own hearing.

An Lin nodded with a placid expression. “That’s her. She saved my life once in the Fallen God Seabed Tomb, so I’ve got her back from now on.”

“What… I don’t understand…” Xiao Chou scratched his head in confusion.

An Lin heaved a faint sigh. “It’s a long story… In any case, the undeniable fact is that she risked her own life to save mine. I have to repay her for what she had done for me. I hope you two won’t mind.”

An Lin was aware of the fact that Lan Xiaoni had a vendetta against Xiao Chou and Bai Yao.

A wry smile appeared on Xiao Chou’s face. “We only had our differences when she and Chen Nan tried to snatch away Bai Yao.

“Now that all that is behind us, we no longer feel any hostility toward her. On the contrary, I killed her fiance, and we almost killed her too… I hope she won’t hold that against us.”

An Lin nodded. “Don’t worry, she won’t. She’s very obedient to me.”

Xiao Chou: “…”

Bai Yao: “…”

Xiao Chou was astonished again. “Big Brother An, what happened between you two?”

“Ahem… I’ve already told you that she saved my life. This is a long story, which we’ll discuss at another time.” An Lin felt like this was a slightly dangerous topic of conversation and decided to put a stop to it.

“But… her being obedient to you doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the fact that she saved your life?” Bai Yao looked at An Lin with a confused expression and thwarted An Lin’s attempts to move on.

An Lin: “Underling Lan is a very pure and naive girl who takes looks very seriously. In the past, even Chen Nan’s looks were enough to make her fall head over heels. Now that she has seen my extraordinarily handsome looks, she has completely fallen for me and listens to everything I say!”

“So that’s what happened!” Xiao Chou was abruptly enlightened.

Bai Yao turned to Xiao Chou and opened her mouth, but she didn’t say anything in the end.

Xiao Chou didn’t have any inkling about human beauty standards, so he might have believed it when An Lin said he was more handsome than Chen Nan…

Bai Yao didn’t want to say anything. After all, she didn’t want to embarrass An Lin!

In the end, An Lin won the battle and successfully changed the subject using his shameless tactics…

An Lin heaved a sigh of relief.

Right at this moment, Tina jumped down from his shoulder and pulled out a photographic crystal.

A figurative lightbulb had switched on above her head at the sight of Bai Yao’s puzzled and skeptical expression, and she pulled out the photographic crystal to display a beautiful image.

“You really don’t need to worry, Bai Yao. Giant An Lin and Lan Xiaoni share a really close relationship. The Spirit Fish Clan definitely won’t seek vengeance on the White Fox Tribe!”

The image on the ground depicted the glorious rising sun shining down upon the ocean and settling over An Lin and the mermaid princess, who were locked in a gentle embrace.

An Lin: “…”

Xiao Chou: “…”

Bai Yao: “…”

An Lin slowly made his way over to Tina. “What are you doing, Little Na?”

A dainty smile appeared on Tina’s face, as if she was asking for a compliment. “Bai Yao was clearly a little worried and skeptical, so I’m using the image on this photographic crystal to verify the fact that you have a great relationship with the Spirit Fish Clan! Is Little Na smart or what?”

An Lin took the photographic crystal from her with a smile. “That’s very smart. Little Na is awesome!”

Tina was a little ecstatic to be praised by An Lin.

Bai Yao’s heart surged with shock. Tina had indeed verified that the two parties shared a good relationship, but why did she feel like… she had seen something she shouldn’t have seen?

Boom!

The photographic crystal suddenly exploded into smithereens.

“Ah, this crystal is so fragile! I accidentally broke it.” An expression of disappointment appeared on An Lin’s face. “Sorry, Little Na.”

Xiao Chou: “…”

Bai Yao: “…”

The Jade Bone Immortal Bug: “…”

Did he just blatantly dispose of the evidence?!

It would only shatter if he had accidentally broken it, not exploded into tiny particles!

Couldn’t he at least try to make his acting more convincing?

Tina’s eyes widened with an upset expression. “Ah… The photographic crystal broke… How am I supposed to explain this situation to Little Tian?”

“Oh? Little Tian has a part in this as well?” An Lin’s expression turned sharp.

“He asked me to take some photos of you interacting with and engaging in physical contact with beings of the opposite gender. I found this quite strange, and I wouldn’t have agreed to help him if he hadn’t implored me to do so.”

Tina was a little distressed as she spoke.

“Hehe… So that’s what this is…” An Lin chuckled.

“Little Na, you don’t have to worry about Little Tian. I’ll explain the situation to him for you,” An Lin said with a smile.

Xiao Chou swallowed nervously. He could see a hint of killing intent flashing in An Lin’s eyes…

Bai Yao immediately tugged on his fur and transmitted her voice to him, “Don’t jump to conclusions! We have to keep this a secret for now… Perhaps An Lin and Lan Xiaoni are just friends?”

A thoughtful expression appeared on Xiao Chou’s face. “So, Lan Xiaoni is a good friend of Big Brother An, and she listens to everything he says?”

Bai Yao: “…”

Crap! Why did that sound even worse than before?

An Lin paused for a moment before explaining to Bai Yao and Xiao Chou, “Lan Xiaoni and I are just normal friends. I’m the big boss, she’s the underling.”

Xiao Chou and Bai Yao nodded earnestly.

“I believe you, Big Brother An,” Xiao Chou said with a serious expression.

“Me too, Sect Leader An Lin.” Bai Yao’s expression was even more earnest.

“Little Na can vouch for this too!” Tina raised a hand.

An Lin rolled his eyes. “There’s no need for you to do that.”

Thus, this slightly farcical event drew to a conclusion, and everyone entered the Four Nine Immortal Sect together.

“By the way, where is Bai Ling? I have something important to speak to her about,” An Lin asked.

“Pavilion Lord Bai has been in the Phoenix Small World these past few days and has not come out even once,” Xiao Chou replied.

“Is she absorbed in her research again?” An Lin was a little speechless. “What is she working on? It feels like she’s slowly becoming more and more secluded.”

A resigned smile appeared on Xiao Chou’s face. “We don’t know anything about that. Among the entire sect, Pavilion Lord Bai only listens to you, Big Brother An. We don’t even have any way to contact her and ask her what she’s doing. Even if we did, we probably wouldn’t be able to understand her response anyway.”

A smile appeared on An Lin’s face. As if he would be able to understand what Bai Ling was saying!

Bai Ling was always spouting random theories and jargon, leaving An Lin to feel like he was a pre-evolved ape.

“Oh, right, Big Brother An, what do you need Pavilion Lord Bai for?” Xiao Chou asked.

“I want her to repair a ship for me,” An Lin replied.

Xiao Chou was confused. “Repair a ship?”

“That’s right. Repair a big ship,” An Lin replied with a smile.

“A big ship? What are you doing with a big ship, An Lin? And how big is it?” Bai Yao asked.

An Lin replied after a moment of thought, “It’s about fifty kilometers in length.”

Xiao Chou: “…”

Bai Yao: “…”

The two of them were astonished again.

That’s right, the ship An Lin wanted Bai Ling to fix… was the future strategic weapon of their Four Nine Immortal Sect, the Starfire Battleship!