I really don't want to date a girl addicted to the internet!

"No." Cheng Fei quickly shook his head. "I just didn't expect that Miss Shen, who never lifts a finger to cook, would take the initiative to cook."

"I've said it countless times, I'm not some rich girl." Shen Xi walked to the workbench with a cold expression. "So, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Wash the pots, or wash these stainless steel basins," Cheng Fei quickly arranged a job for her that was neither dangerous nor required any skills.

The girl did not resist this care and immediately threw herself into her work.

So the kitchen became a busy space for the three of them.

"Shen Xi, could you please give me that washed basin?" Nagasaki Asuna's smile was as friendly as ever.

Shen Xi handed over the items expressionlessly.

Seeing that the two seemed to be doing alright, Cheng Fei breathed a slight sigh of relief. After finishing making the sweet and sour pork, he took the freshly baked dish to the restaurant by himself.

"Got it?" After the boy left, Nagasaki Asuna, who was frying tofu in a pan, suddenly said softly, her tone very calm.

“It was obvious long ago.” Shen Xi replied calmly.

"So you're planning to keep a close watch on me?"

"You can pretend I don't exist; I'm just curious about what some people do on a daily basis."

"You're already here, why pretend to be high and mighty?" Nagasaki Asuna smiled, as if referring to the sizzling tofu in the pot.

"Tolerating your existence is the greatest mercy I can show. If it were someone surnamed Lin, you would have vanished from the face of the earth long ago." Shen Xi focused on scrubbing the bottom of the stainless steel basin with a sponge.

"What a pure white lotus. I hope you can stay this way even when you find that everyone is fed up with you. Please don't become as heartless as Lin."

"A person who is both inwardly dark and disgusting towards those around them, yet pretends to be cheerful, is probably the real 'white lotus'."

"If you're really that aloof, you don't need to come here. Anyway, if you're confident, people will like you no matter what. It's okay for me to poach a few people, right?"

"I can't understand how shameless one must be to admit to doing such a thing. The assessment that they value trivial matters over shame is really true."

"It's fine for a young lady from a supposedly civilized country to act all high and mighty, but to come here to wash the dishes and say something like that is a bit pretentious?"

The two chatted back and forth, calmly as if they were having a normal conversation.

When the boy who was serving the food returned, the conversation abruptly ended, as if nothing had happened.

……

For the next period of time, Cheng Fei's life at sea passed peacefully.

It is worth mentioning that when Miriam was watching Cheng Fei and Ye Shuang practice fighting, she mentioned that Sebastian had served in the British Special Air Service (SAS) and could teach Cheng Fei professional special forces hand-to-hand combat techniques.

So the boy gained another teacher; when the yacht was on autopilot, Sebastian came to teach him military killing techniques.

The boy with the red headband absorbed knowledge from the two at an alarming speed, refining his fighting skills.

January 28th, Lunar New Year's Eve.

In the morning, Cheng Fei didn't go to the kitchen to make breakfast as usual. Instead, he made a bowl of oatmeal with milk and went to the gym for cardio.

Someone else will be in charge of breakfast today.

After finishing his training and taking a shower, the boy ran into Nagasaki Asuna on his way to the kitchen. He managed to restrain Nagasaki Asuna, who was 30% more clingy than in the morning, and led her into the kitchen.

A cool, aloof girl with long, dark hair stood in front of the stove, her expression serious as she... made tomato and egg noodles.

Lately, she's been spending a lot of time in the kitchen, but she's not content with just being an assistant, so she's started trying to cook herself. Although she occasionally does some questionable things, her clever mind still works well in the kitchen, and she can handle simple home-style dishes.

"Good morning, Teacher Shen. You look adorable today too." Cheng Fei looked at the girl who was putting salt into her bowl with a serious expression.

"Isn't Nana cute?" Nagasaki Asuna, who was following behind, peeked out with her hands behind her back, her smile as light as ever.

Shen Xi let out a cold laugh.

……

196. Chasing the Corridor

"You're cute too, as a good friend," Cheng Fei said calmly.

"Shen Xi, your hair is about to fall into your eyes." Nagasaki Asuna casually reached out and brushed the long hair in front of Shen Xi's eyes away from her eyes.

"Don't touch me." Shen Xi said expressionlessly.

"Cheng Fei, your sweetheart is so mean to me," Nagasaki Asuna complained as she turned her head.

Cheng Fei tasted a mouthful of the boiling tomato and egg soup in the pot and smacked his lips.

"What do you think is the problem?" Shen Xi raised her head and narrowed her eyes.

"No problem, call me when it's done." The boy put down his soup spoon and walked away quickly, as if he wanted to slack off.

Asuna Nagasaki watched him leave, then smiled at the remaining person, "Are you angry?"

"Heh, such a pointless provocation isn't worth getting angry about." Shen Xi lowered her eyes, stirred the noodles in the pot, tasted one, and then scooped it out...

While eating breakfast, Cheng Fei was also editing a message on his phone.

"It's been a long time since I sent my greetings, my dearest Xuanqi. Today is New Year's Eve, and as I write these words, I am sailing in the vast waters of the South Pacific. The weather has been lovely lately, and the deck is so hot from the sun that it's burning my feet, just like my ever-growing longing for you..."

He sent a message and was editing the next one when he received a reply.

"Are you out of your mind? Don't go looking for trouble."

The boy quickly deleted all the content he was editing.

"Okay, best of luck, Xuanqi."

After sending the message and waiting a moment for a reply, he put away his phone and enjoyed the noodles Shen Xi had made.

Opposite the boy was Ye Shuang, whose dark circles were faintly visible. The girl with pigtails was eating noodles with her head down, looking listless, an expression she had never shown before at school.

"Master Ye, are you staying up all night again?" Cheng Fei observed her discreetly.

"None of your business," Ye Shuang said irritably.

As she spent more and more time on the ship, her true nature gradually came to light.

Some people, in Sakura, are beautiful, well-mannered, and admired rich girls who love wearing white over-the-knee socks. In reality, they hide pistols and daggers under their skirts, are cold-blooded, and kill without blinking an eye.

You thought you understood her dual personality until one day you discovered her wearing sportswear, holed up in her room reading romance comics all night long. When no one was watching, she seemed to wriggle on the bed like a maggot. All the impressions you had built up before were shattered.

What's more, the speed at which she reads is outrageously slow.

"Remember to lend it to me after you've finished reading it." Cheng Fei didn't dare to comment too much, lest he be used for personal revenge during training.

At this moment, Miriam sat down next to Ye Shuang, and picked up her chopsticks to eat noodles with great spirits.

She had just put up Spring Festival couplets on the door of the reception area and hung some red decorations, making her the only person on the entire ship with a festive atmosphere.

"Junior, so eating tomatoes on New Year's Eve is also a tradition?" Miriam stared at the noodles.

"I've never heard of it. Why do you have this idea?" Cheng Fei asked, puzzled.

“Because tomatoes are red too!” Miriam said, taking a sip of soup, then shivered. “So sweet…”

Upon hearing this, Shen Xi frowned slightly, kicked someone under the table, and sent a message via WeChat.

"Why didn't you tell me there was too much sugar?"

"Because I think everything you make tastes delicious."

After Cheng Fei finished replying, Shen Xi glared at him with disgust.

Asuna Nagasaki rested her chin on her hand, her gaze silently shifting between the two of them.

Ye Shuang was very sleepy and was completely unaware of everything.

……

As evening fell, Cheng Fei, Shen Xi, and Nagasaki Asuna gathered on the upper deck.

The screen simultaneously displays the coordinates of the Miriam and the Corridor, which are very close to each other on the map and are constantly getting closer.

"Can we catch up this time?" Nagasaki Asuna blinked.

"God knows," Cheng Fei shrugged indifferently.

Shen Xi remained expressionless.

In fact, the Miriam came very close to the corridor the day before yesterday, but the corridor suddenly accelerated and changed its direction of movement, causing them to miss each other.

At this moment, the Miriam is cutting through the waves, and if the corridor really exists, it should be located somewhere ahead of them.

Cheng Fei shaded his eyes with his hand and looked up at the sky. He saw that the clouds in the distance were a bit thick, but other than that, the sky was high and the sea was wide, and there was nothing unusual.

"Never mind, there's no use rushing. I'll just play the piece I've been practicing lately." Cheng Fei turned on the synthesizer next to him. "My Heart Will Go On, dedicated to... this peaceful world."

Shen Xi stared intently at the screen without looking up.

"The Titanic theme song?" Nagasaki Asuna tilted her head. "Um, Cheng Fei, wouldn't it be unlucky to play this on a ship?"

"Feudal superstition," Cheng Fei said nonchalantly. "If you're so capable, let an iceberg suddenly appear and crash into me."

“Actually, it’s fine to just say it’s dedicated to Shen Xi,” Nagasaki Asuna added.

Shen Xi seemed not to hear at all and went to the side to adjust the remote sensing equipment.

"Then I dedicate this to my beloved Shen Xi, and my good friend Nagasaki Asuna." Cheng Fei pressed the piano keys.

A tranquil prelude slowly unfolds.

On the boundless sea, a silver-white superyacht chases ghostly coordinates in the afterglow of the setting sun. On the empty, deep blue sea, only the white wakes left by the speeding oars resemble the footprints of a traveler crossing a snowfield or the long tail left by a comet in deep space.

"We're almost there," Shen Xi said in a deep voice, her eyes glued to the screen.

On the electronic map, the coordinates of the Miriam and the Corridor are slowly aligning.

Asuna Nagasaki looked up at the sky and blinked. Apart from the increasingly thick clouds, she saw nothing, not even a bird.

This sea area is far from any shipping lanes, and there are not even a single island or reef nearby. It is one of the most remote places in the world.

"Are the coordinates accurate?" Shen Xi, who had also found nothing, questioned.

"The model has been optimized quite well recently, and the corridor area is so large, with thirteen floors. If you can really see it, you can't miss it if you get even slightly closer." Nagasaki Asuna looked up at the sky nonchalantly.

In the distance, half of the gray-blue clouds were sinking into the night, while the other half was still illuminated by the afterglow of the setting sun. The strong contrast between light and dark made the shape of the clouds three-dimensional, like a castle or mountain suspended in the sky.

“That means it’s invisible in the visible light spectrum.” Shen Xi calmly picked up the multispectral camera and aimed it at the sky diagonally above, “It’s also invisible in the near and far infrared, and ultraviolet…”

Shen Xi quickly operated the equipment to scan the sky one by one, her expression growing increasingly cold. "No abnormalities in magnetic field strength, no abnormalities in microwave radiation..."

Cheng Fei's piano piece gradually rises to a rousing climax. The young man plays under the sky, and the undulating melody floats from his fingertips to the sea.

It's as if you can see the steel behemoth slowly embracing the iceberg, and amidst the heart-wrenching creak of the keel, men and women running along the gradually tilting ship's side, with romantic and tragic emotions flowing and echoing.

……

197. The Final Chapter of the Strange Vision

Cheng Fei didn't help Shen Xi; he had done everything he could. If the corridor really existed, then this continent should be floating above them right now, covering the world within sight.

The reality was that the view above the Miriam was good, and stars appeared in the gradually darkening sky. Those lights that had traveled countless light-years to reach this point were dim and tired, yet still clearly visible.

Cheng Fei and Nagasaki Asuna both remained silent.

Shen Xi's remote sensing seemed to be in vain. As each method failed to detect the corridor, the girl's expression became somewhat anxious...

Until a certain moment, a sharp buzzing sound pierced through the melody that Cheng Fei had carefully created, like some kind of instrument sounding an alarm.

Cheng Fei's fingers didn't stop; he changed the chords to make the buzzing sound part of the performance.

Asuna Nagasaki turned her head to look.

On the bulky laptop screen that comes with a certain instrument, numbers and lines are changing rapidly, and a steep curve is automatically drawn in the coordinate system.

"What is this?" Nagasaki Asuna asked curiously.

“Gravimeter…” Shen Xi sat down to examine it, her brows furrowed and she remained silent for a moment.

She suddenly opened her eyes wide and looked at Cheng Fei, her pure, dark eyes shining for the first time. "The gravitational acceleration has changed drastically by several hundred milligal from just now until now," the girl said quickly.