Chapter 893 — Another Visitor

That was why Yang Ce had devised such a ruthlessly venomous, scorched-earth scheme: any of Dr. Ban Lin's people who came out of the Center's base would be killed one by one, so that none who set out ever returned.

Their minds made up, Yang Ce and Dong Jun were in no hurry. They slept soundly, and the next morning drove leisurely and with perfect confidence to the Las Vegas beach pier, where they waited for the man Dr. Ban Lin would send.

It was the same seaside food stall as before. Yang Ce and Dong Jun settled into their seats, ordered some snacks and drinks, and began eating with the easy comfort of two ordinary tourists.

"Yang Ce, sometimes I feel like the two of us are a pair of real gluttons. It's like we're eating every hour of the day, every single day—and even when we're working, we do it in style..." Dong Jun said, gnawing on a chicken leg.

"Ha, I doubt there's any job in the world more leisurely than what you and I are doing right now!" Yang Hengye said. "Sitting here eating, watching the sea—I figure we'll only get a life like this after we retire."

"You certainly take things lightly. But as long as Dr. Ban Lin and the Center remain unresolved, I won't have a single day's peace of mind!" Dong Jun sighed.

"Ha, there's really no need to take it so hard. It'll be settled sooner or later—it's only a matter of time," Yang Yanzhou said. He was full of confidence about dealing with Dr. Ban Lin; after all, he had experience fighting the Right Elder and the Chixiao Sect, and that left Yang Ce brimming with assurance.

No matter how formidable Dr. Ban Lin and the Center were, they could not possibly surpass the Right Elder and the Chixiao Sect. It was only certain unknown factors that made Yang Ce wary. And the Center was different from the Chixiao Sect: there was no deep, irreconcilable hatred between the Chixiao Sect and Yan. They would never risk an all-out life-or-death break with Yan, nor do the kind of thing that costs the enemy eight hundred while losing a thousand of your own—no one with half a brain in the Chixiao Sect would attempt that.

After all, they could not kill Yang Ce, while Yang Ce could wipe out their sect's disciples at any time. That alone was enough to keep them quietly in their place.

With Dr. Ban Lin, though, Yang Yongjin knew whether the conflict could even be dissolved—and even if it were, having such a powerful enemy forever keeping you in mind would leave Yang Ce unable to eat or sleep in peace.

As long as Dr. Ban Lin coveted the strange power in Yang Ce's body, he would always find opportunities to make trouble for Yang Ce—even if not now, then later. He was not like the grand elders of the Chixiao Sect and the Dark Night Palace, who knew when a thing could not be done and simply stopped.

Besides, once Ye Wan'er gave birth to the child, even if she wanted to go back on her word, she would have to swallow her pride and accept it. Even if she grew stronger than Yang Ce, the worst she could do was grumble to Ye Wan'er; Yang Ce truly did not believe she would dare to kill Chu Pengzhan and his child. After all, Yang Shuoxuan was not to be trifled with—if anything happened to the person he meant to protect, he would never let it go!

And most important of all: the grand elder had little conflict of interest with Yan and cared greatly for the disciples under her. Dr. Ban Lin was different. To test whether Yang Ce and Dong Jun were targeting him, Dr. Ban Lin had actually sent another of the Center's men to his death—which showed plainly that Dr. Ban Lin was a man with a cruel and vicious heart, one who cared nothing for whether his subordinates lived or died.

His attitude toward a defector like Dong Jun, who had turned his back on the Center, made that plain enough as well.

"Let's hope so." Dong Jun nodded. "By the way, how's it going? Has Dr. Ban Lin's man set out yet?"

"Just left. This time the speedboat is different from last time—it's painted in a riot of colors, and the driver has a bizarre head of hair, wears ear studs, and is dressed in gaudy floral beachwear. He looks for all the world like a fashionable beach tourist!" Yang Yanzhou said. "If we hadn't known in advance that he was one of the Center's people, it would've been really hard to connect him with the Center!"

"Oh? You don't say? Has Dr. Ban Lin gotten smarter this time?" Dong Jun frowned. "Looks like he really means to give us a hard problem this time. But you saw through it in advance—if Dr. Ban Lin finds out, he'll probably cry himself to death, won't he?"

"Ha, let him cry himself to death, then." Yang Hengye laughed. "This is only the beginning. If this is enough to make him cry himself to death, he's got plenty more crying ahead of him!"

"Fair enough. What do we do in a bit? How do we move?" Dong Jun asked.

"In a bit you don't need to do anything—just watch me. I'll make sure that man dies without knowing what hit him!" Yang Linyue said calmly. "When his speedboat is about to reach the shore, you go settle the bill, and then we leave. I'll take him out in secret."

Dong Jun was startled. "Kill him here?"

"Of course. Or were you planning to wait until he went somewhere else?" Yang Hengye said. "Dr. Ban Lin has planted a whole pile of monitors, bugs, and satellite tracking systems on him. If we get too close, we're bound to be filmed! Even though our faces are disguised right now, it's still best not to expose ourselves and let Dr. Ban Lin know."

"I understand that. But killing him here—won't it cause some kind of chaos? This is a pier!" Dong Yan said. "And when you go to kill him, how can you guarantee Dr. Ban Lin's monitors won't film you?"

"Ha, don't forget what my old line of work was. Assassinating a nobody like this is far too easy," Yang Linyue said with a confident smile.

"Right, I'd forgotten. You're too formidable now—you joined the Mystery Investigation Bureau, and you can even take out a figure like the Right Elder. It made me forget without thinking that you're the heir of the King of Assassins!" Dong Jun smiled wryly. "I know what our master was capable of. You've outdone the master and surpassed him!"

"So you finally remember." Yang Hengye said. "Which is why you can rest easy and leave everything to me!"

"All right, then it's settled. It's all on you—I won't worry about a thing," Dong Jun said with a nod.

Having settled their plan for what came next, the two of them relaxed and started eating. Dong Jun and Yan did not come here every day; this was only their second visit in this stretch, and the owner and staff had long since forgotten that these two were regulars.

This pier was, after all, a place with a huge flow of customers, and Yang Ce and Dong Jun had changed into different clothes besides—if anyone recognized them, that would be a ghost of a chance.

Plenty of people came here in the morning like Yang Ce and Dong Jun and ate straight through until noon; it was nothing remarkable at all.

"Time to settle the bill," Yang Ce said to Dong Yan, having just about seen the speedboat carrying Dr. Ban Lin's man enter normal visual range.

(.)