Chapter 21

"Sorry, I said the wrong thing, don't be angry, okay, young man? You're a man, you can't get mad at a little girl like me. I apologize to you." The coquettish voice made his skin crawl, and the hairs on his body, which had not yet settled, stood up again.

Nothing good, absolutely nothing good. This little one, though not as violent as the older one, was definitely not a good person. It was already surprising that she could say something that sounded sincere. The word "young man" made him shiver all over, like a prey being watched by a predator.

The surrounding burly men visibly relaxed, thinking it was the second young miss they knew. The second young miss was so talented, she even knew such a 'handsome' man. Look at that head, so stylish. The mark on his face was so artistic, clearly the work of the second young miss. The bump on his forehead, by its size, was clearly the work of the first young miss.

Even knowing that the young patrolman was the target of the two young misses' teasing, they still didn't dare to relax. At least half of them remained vigilant, watching the surroundings. No suspicious person could get within thirty meters.

Thirty meters, that was their safety line. With this distance, even a Battle Master couldn't easily break through. As long as they held for one second, reinforcements would arrive.

"You... What do you want to do?" Du Qian instinctively took a step back, his face full of tension.

"Young man, you look a bit nervous." The little girl smiled sweetly.

"Du Qian, are you busy? I just saw you, and here you are, with a friend?" Dozens of meters away, Manager Li, holding a package, walked over with a smile.

The surrounding men became more tense, but seeing Manager Li's attire and his apparent familiarity with Du Qian, they didn't stop him.

His originally tense mood eased a bit when he saw Manager Li. "Big Brother Li, you're a good person, your whole family for eight generations are good people."

"Manager Li, not busy today?" Du Qian hurriedly greeted, but his heart was still racing. He couldn't relax in front of the little demoness.

"Busy, always busy. You know the business, with the family's ships constantly here, we managers are always busy, not much better than you patrolmen." As he spoke, he was already outside the thirty-meter mark.

Among these burly men, there were many with keen eyes. They could see that Manager Li was ordinary, just a business manager, with combat strength not exceeding three thousand. Such a person was nothing to them.

"Not busy now?" Du Qian knew that business managers were busy at times and idle at others. When a related ship docked, they were very busy, but when there were no ships, they were quite relaxed. This job paid more than a patrolman's, required less work, started later, and ended earlier.

It was a good job, but not everyone could do it. Business managers needed to understand personnel management, basic ship knowledge, fish knowledge, market trends, and more. They also needed the trust of the business.

Of course, this trust wouldn't be too high. Truly trustworthy managers wouldn't be sent to the Fisherman's Wharf; the pearl and gemstone markets were more important to the business.

"Yes, I saw you, so I came over." He waved the oil paper package in his hand and walked another five meters closer.

"What's this?" Everything seemed natural, but why was his heart beating faster? The pressure from the little demoness was too great.

"The fish scraps you wanted. A lot came out today. Knowing you like this stuff, I packed it for you. It's still ten dollars, take it home and play with it." Manager Li was really nice; this package was even bigger than yesterday's, twice as much as what Du Qian bought today.

But... why did something feel off? Manager Li walked another five meters, his steps steady, and was now less than twenty meters away from Du Qian.

"Thank you so much, I already bought a package today, but it's not as big as yours." Du Qian's eyes widened as he waved the package of fish scraps in his hand.

In an instant, countless thoughts raced through his mind. The fish scraps were wrapped in oil paper, but fish scraps were a mess of fish parts, including meat, scales, and broken spirits, with some water stains. No matter how they were packed, they couldn't be neat.

Looking at Manager Li's package, there were indeed water stains, but they were too uniform, as if deliberately made. The package was very neat. Normally, Du Qian would just marvel at the professionalism of the packer, but today was different. Today, he had a mission, and important people were inspecting. Then he met the two sisters, surrounded by burly men who were clearly bodyguards. Then Manager Li came.

Du Qian didn't have much experience, but he wasn't stupid. Putting it all together, the problem was big. Who was Manager Li? Uncle Feng said he was the manager of the Buzhou Business at the Fisherman's Wharf, having worked there for over ten years, with eyes much sharper than a newcomer like himself.

He could tell these sisters weren't ordinary, and even with a belly full of anger, he didn't dare to show it. How could Manager Li not see it? Who would believe that?

Since he saw it, coming over was a problem. A ten-dollar package of fish scraps, why give it now? Du Qian was on duty; he could have given it later. He couldn't take it home now anyway; he'd have to wait until his shift ended.

Should he fight or run? This choice was tough. Du Qian thought about hiding the little demoness behind the bodyguards. No matter what Manager Li did, he probably couldn't beat these bodyguards.

But if he did this, he'd have to run with the little demoness. He had a ninety percent chance of success if he acted unexpectedly. But if Manager Li was just delivering fish scraps, doing this would not only offend the little demoness but also Manager Li.

To hell with it, Du Qian grabbed the curious little demoness and, using all his strength, charged toward the nearest bodyguards, diving forward in the process. He even turned halfway to use his body as a shield for the little demoness.

It wasn't that Du Qian was noble; he just thought a bit more. Manager Li's target wouldn't be him, just a small patrolman. If they really wanted to deal with him, they had plenty of time and ways.

If not him, the only likely targets in this group were the two sisters. The other burly men were clearly bodyguards, so the important people could only be them.

"Danger, take cover."

Charge, run, dive, fall—four actions, smooth and quick, all in less than a second.

Alright, Du Qian admitted, he couldn't think of anything else. A graduate of the War Orphan School, he had only received basic military training—standing in formation, shooting, and nothing more.

The few times of military training at school taught him little, and he remembered even less. At this moment, only the words of the old city guard instructor came to mind. The instructor, a veteran who had been in the border defense forces, told the war orphans, "You haven't had military training. On the battlefield, you're all rookies. Even military academy graduates wouldn't do much better."

No matter how much you learn or how well you practice, on the battlefield, you'll forget it all.

Just remember one thing: when danger comes, take cover; when you see the enemy, shoot.

That's it, simple. The rest is for soldiers, for veterans. For war orphans like them, surviving the first moment is success.

"What are you doing?" The first to react was the older sister. Seeing Du Qian grab her sister and dive to the ground, she didn't think twice and pounced, her small hand pressing on Du Qian's deformed head as he landed.

Du Qian, holding the little demoness, fell to the ground, and her hand naturally pressed on his head, her body lying beside him.

His vision went dark, and a sharp pain shot through him. The older sister's hand was too strong.

The pain was in his head, but his heart was at ease. The little sister in his arms, the older sister by his side...

Don't misunderstand, it wasn't that Du Qian was a pervert. This had nothing to do with lust. The two sisters were the most important people, and Manager Li was targeting them. With both of them by his side, his goal was achieved.

Whether he could survive was up to fate. At such close range, if they died, they'd die together. Once dead, any trouble would be irrelevant.

If he survived, they probably wouldn't be hurt. Their combat strength was much greater than his. If he could survive, they wouldn't even be scratched.

His eyes couldn't see, but his hands didn't stop. By feel, he reached for his waist. The first part of the instructor's advice was done; now for the second part, shoot when you see the enemy.

Du Qian felt his hand move quickly, reaching out as he fell.

"Hmm?" The feel was wrong, a bit soft.

"Hmph! Looking for death!" The sky darkened, filled with stars.

"I want to get my gun." Du Qian shouted, "I'm innocent, I really want to get my gun."

"Pervert..."

"Boom..." A loud explosion drowned out the word "pervert," and a scorching heat wave rushed toward the three. The bodyguards' bodies glowed, a green light shielding most of the shrapnel and shockwave.

The older and younger sisters' bodies also glowed green, and the remaining shrapnel and shockwave were completely blocked. Du Qian, the weakest, was unharmed, except for a momentary dizziness.

Time seemed to stop. After an unknown duration, Du Qian felt himself being lifted. His vision cleared, the stars were gone, but he still couldn't see anything.

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