The first thing that appeared to Xia Lei once he exited the cabin was Sa’im with an odd expression on his face. Despite that, the Iraqi did not look nervous. Xia Lei was perplexed. “What happened?”

“Boss, take a look at this,” Sa’im gestured him over.

Xia Lei trailed behind the man onto the deck. There, the Iraqi captain and a few of his sailors were huddled together deep in discussion. The captain looked into the distance while another sailor traced his finger along a map laid on the floor. The scene was reminiscent of an ancient ship on an expedition where the lost crew were in search of an island to dock.

Xia Lei was immediately reminded of the crystal skull. He thought no one. “Did the crystal skull wreck havoc on the ship’s navigation system? Is that why they’re resorting to ancient sailing techniques to pinpoint their path?”

And as expected, the captain pointed to the span of ocean ahead of them. “What the fuck! We were en route to Egypt’s Port Said but... For some reason, we’re heading towards Cyprus instead!”

Cyprus was a Mediterranean island nation. It was ninety degrees off their original route.

Xia Lei was certain of its cause, yet there was no way he could tell them that. He thought about it before turning to Sa’im. “Tell your captain friend to continue the journey to Cyprus. I’ll shoulder all of his losses and pay him an extra one million USD later.”

“Alright then, I’ll talk to him about it.” Sa’im left to discuss with the captain.

Xia Lei’s offer to waiver their losses and pay them extra was so attractive that the captain had found it difficult to say no. Even if he were fired tomorrow, the one million USD was enough to cover the rest of his life comfortably.

The exchange between Sa’im and the captain was short. The captain swiftly laid down instructions to his crew to maintain their current course towards Cyprus. He even strode over and gave Xia Lei a tight hug, praising his generosity.

But to be honest, this had nothing to do with generosity. It was just that Xia Lei had the monetary capacity to solve issues like this.

Egypt was their initial plan but Cyprus wasn’t a bad choice either. The only difference was they extended time at sea.

Xia Lei left the deck after the issue was solved.

Sa’im followed him into the corridor and utilized the privacy to whisper, “Boss, what the hell is going on?”

Xia Lei cleared his throat. “The crystal skull is behind this. But we must not let the captain find out.”

Sa’im was taken aback but nodded anyway. “Got it.”

Xia Lei supplied, “By the way, keep a lookout of the sky too. If you find an Israeli plane, inform me immediately.”

“I’ll watch the sky on the deck.”

“Go.” With that Xia Lei excused himself into his cabin.

Tsukino Kyoko was still inside, loyally watching over his bag. Noticing his return, she immediately blossomed with a smile. “What happened out there?”

“The ship got deviated away from its course. The direction we’re heading in is not towards Port Said but Cyprus,” answered Xia Lei.

“Huh?” Tsukino Kyoko gasped. “Isn’t that quite a big deviation? Even if the navigation system is wrong, simply looking would point out that we’re heading towards Cyprus instead, no?”

She had a point. For a ninety-degree error, the helmsman must have at least hit a full rudder. But it was near impossible for any qualified helmsman to do so on a straight course. This meant that the issue had arisen long before the captain had even noticed it. The disruption provided by the crystal skull certainly begun ever since he boarded the cargo ship.

Xia Lei pointed a finger at his bag. “It’s causing this.”

“The crystal skull?”

Xia Lei nodded affirmatively. “Yeah, it could even erase memories. Qian Jun had experienced it earlier. We talked for quite some time but he completely forgot whatever happened within that one hour span.”

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Xia Lei drawled the silence as he pondered briefly. “Hey, can you try to look around for some lead material? I’ll make a box and place it inside. Otherwise, who knows where this might lead us.”

“Sure, I’ll go look around.” Tsukino Kyoko hastily went out of the door.

Now, Xia Lei was the only one left in the cabin. He brought out the crystal skull again and placed it on top of the sheets.

The crystalline skull tranquilly radiated its pristine reflections of light. It was translucent and pure.

Xia Lei watched it carefully. “You’re nothing but a skull. How are you able to interrupt modern equipment? You’re even able to tamper with it and direct others towards the wrong path. Do you have a soul?”

He extended an arm and caressed it, feeling its surface. It wasn’t a real crystal. Its density and hardness was greater than any known crystal. Judging from its exterior, every clue had pointed towards it being a real skull. But whose skull was this? What was it made of? The questions that surfaced in his mind seemed to have no answer.

There was silence as Xia Lei pondered. After a while, he brought out his satellite phone and dialled for Liang Siyao.

Doot... Doot... Doot... Doot...

The line was connected instantly.

“Hey, Siyao. It’s me...”

“Inhale... Exhale... Inhale... Exhale...” The voice ringing through the device was weird.

A lump manifested in Xia Lei’s throat. “You?! What the hell do you want?!”

This voice was no stranger to his ears, it sounded too similar to the black-robed man. Xia Lei would always hear this prior to their exchange. The only thing Xia Lei could think of right now was that the black-robed man had kidnapped Liang Siyao and was about to threaten him!

“Inhale... Exhale... Inhale...” The odd breathing continued, no other word muttered.

“Come on, speak! What the fuck do you want?! Come at me!” roared Xia Lei.

“Inhale... Exhale... Inhale...” Nothing changed.

Xia Lei furrowed his brows, no longer attempting to make them speak. He too fell silent, maintaining his ear close to the device.

“Inhale... Exhale... Inhale...” The eerie noise continued with no signs of stopping.

Xia Lei took a glance at the multifunctional watch adorning his wrist. Shockingly, this had gone on for a full minute. He quickly arrived at a conclusion. Liang Siyao was not kidnapped by the black-robed man and that the latter was not trying to liaise through the satellite phone. The satellite phone was merely interrupted by the crystal skull!

The intention behind making a call to his wife was to gauge the crystal skull’s interruption. And yet, the results still managed to raise Xia Lei’s goosebumps from its eeriness.

Xia Lei made another call to Tsukino Kyoko, testing it further. While they were aboard the same ship, it was clear that he could not reach her as well.

“That’s weird. In George’s video, he was able to call Professor Mark while standing on the hill. Their signal was not interrupted then, so why now?” Xia Lei scratched his scalp. “Could it be that Professor Mark was standing outside the cave? But that’s not right. Qian Jun mentioned that it could trick technology and the human mind. How is it possible to escape its influence just by standing outside the cave? Unless... unless it possesses intelligence. Does it really have a soul?”

To think that the crystal skull had the intelligence of a soul was insanity. But that was the only assumption Xia Lei could manifest to explain how Mark and Professor Mark were able to contact each other via phone. Honestly, this thought was baffling to Xia Lei himself as well.

“Boss! Bad news!” Sa’im’s screams echoed down the corridor outside his cabin, accompanied by his rushed footsteps.

Xia Lei hastily stuffed the crystal skull into his bag, making a quick move for the door. “What’s going on?”

“The Israelis found us!” Sa’im’s eyes were wide and trembling. “There’s a drone hovering above us and it has missiles!”

Xia Lei could not even hold his breath any longer. He ran for the deck.

True as it was, a Heron 2 drone was zooming towards them from the direction of Israel. It was approaching real soon. Xia Lei could clearly make out the air-to-surface missile attached firmly to its body. They were not regular missiles. It was the latest God of War air-to-surface missile developed by the Israeli Military Industry Corporation. But of course, the missiles hung on the Heron 2 drone were of compatible sizes and not the five hundred kilograms version carried by fighter jets. The drone’s approximate weight should range about one hundred kilograms and it carried four missiles. Even if it wasn’t the larger God of War missiles, one sole lightweight drone version would be able to sink this ship no problem!

It would be great if they had a shoulder-fired air defence missile launcher now. Sadly, the nature of this operation had rendered neither Xia Lei nor the members of the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team unable to bring along one.

With a blink of the eye, the Heron 2 drone had reached the top of the cargo ship at about two thousand metres altitude.

Xia Lei urged, “Sa’im, bring me Anjum Khan’s sniper rifle. I’ll destroy it with the XL2500!”

“Ah, only you’d be able to do that.” Sa’im threw a remark and dashed for the cabins.

But before Sa’im could accomplish that, the circling Heron 2 abruptly fired a missile!

With the power it packed, it could easily tear a crater in the ship’s body. Within an hour of its blast, the cargo ship would breathe its last breath before sinking into the depths of the ocean forever. If the missile had landed on the wheelhouse instead, the crew can bid the electronic instruments and locomotive equipment farewell. Either way, the result was the same.

“It’s trying to destroy the right side of the hull!” Xia Lei quickly deduced where the missile would land and quickly dashed to the left of the deck, throwing himself forward onto the harsh floor.

Sa’im mirrored him and watched the impending missile fall from the skies above as his stomach lurched with anxiety.