The yacht left the port, venturing towards the roaring Mediterranean Sea.
Countless yachts of this sort were anchored above the sea surface, carrying bikini-clad beauties, bottles of high-end champagne and wine on them. When night came, it was an earthly paradise for the filthy rich. The occasional odd presences would probably go unnoticed by them.
At the same moment, four customers appeared at a hotel in Valletta. It was a group that consisted of three women and one man. Among the three women were a pair of identical twins and one equally gorgeous woman. Nestled in between the three women’s unwavering attention was an Asian man, who had a bright handsome face that seemed to radiate sunshine.
Unable to walk in a straight line, the man was possibly pissed drunk. He was being supported by the three women. They were the only thing keeping him and the floor apart.
“Mister Xia, why did you drink so much?” One woman asked.
“Yeah, you’re already drunk as soon as you got to Malta. Why are you like this?” the other woman chided.
The Asian man could only giggle uncontrollably, extending an arm to grab one of their breasts and giving it a lowly squeeze.
Immediately, her cheeks turn red from fury and embarrassment.
However, that didn’t stop the drunken man from groping the other woman’s ass.
“You damned pervert!” The female was flustered to feel a palm on her butt cheeks. There was a frantic attempt to swat away his wayward hand but the man took the chance to reach under her skirt and touched her privates.
The display was hard to miss, drawing attention from the curious occupants of the hotel lobby. The men threw envied glances to the Asian man’s incoming sexual bliss while the females had their eyes glued to the Asian man’s face.
One of the women around him left to the reception to purchase a night in the suite. Following that, all three women escorted the man with their arms all around him to the elevator, constantly engaged in verbal exchanges.
“Mister Xia, please stop that. Save it for later, I’ll surely satisfy you.”
“Shhh… Quit talking. We’ll be done for if the others find out.”
“It shouldn’t be a problem. Mister Xia’s men are coming for us soon, we’ll be safe.”
The metal door soon separated to allow their entry.
As soon as they were gone, the lobby sprung back to life.
“Damn, that man is lucky. Can he handle three ladies in one go?”
“If he can’t, we should go help him out”
“Hahahaha…”
“Enough joking, those ladies around him are clearly not ordinary women. Did you all not notice that limited edition Patek Philippe SA watch on his wrist? That is worth half a million USD. Those three women are willing to sleep with him because he’s filthy rich.”
“That man may be rich but let’s not forget he has looks to die for.” A female patron attempted to defend the Asian youth.
As the discussion went on, a bald man exited the lobby. He quickly dug out his phone and dialled someone. With a heated voice, he spoke, “Xia Lei is here! He’s now in the Mediterranean Hotel, Valletta. I even saw the Russo and Grey sisters, but Giovanna isn’t with them. There’s only Rosa, Stella and Theresa… Okay, I’ll keep a close eye on them.”
The bald man ended the call with a malicious smirk. “He’s actually here in Malta!”
Meanwhile, the three women finally made it to their room with the wobbly Asian man in toll.
Not a second after the door was shut, the man palmed his face and removed a human face mask. That was no man, she was just the mysteriously absent Giovanna. Due to her injured torso, the bandages secured around her chest had made her the best candidate for crossdressing.
The operation tonight didn’t just involve Xia Lei and the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team members. It had included the Russo and Grey sisters in their plan too. As the new members of the team, their injuries rendered them unable to fight. However, it wasn’t an issue for them to act under the watchful eyes of the Knight Hospitaller.
Theresa hurriedly went towards the television to connect a USB at its port. She then played an audio file stored on the storage device.
“Ohhhhh! Yes, yes, yes, yes!” Giovanna lewd moans were heard not long after.
“Mister Xia, you’re so good at this! I can’t, I can’t take it!” Stella’s voice rang.
“Even if you can’t take it… Raise your ass, little bitch! Haha!” Xia Lei barked an order.
“You’re so bad! Can’t you try to be gentler? Aaaaaaaaah- God, yes!” Theresa screamed.
“Rosa, what are you hiding there for? Move your ass over and let me slap it.” Xia Lei called out.
“You’re awful! I’m not doing this.”
Clap clap clap clap…
The abomination of a recording had the four women blushing furiously.
“I can’t believe we actually agreed to record this for him.” Giovanna palmed her heated cheeks.
“It’s fake so it’s fine.” Though Stella had said so, the colour of her face said otherwise.
Theresa was staring out of the window blankly, thinking back to the afternoon when Xia Lei had instructed them to record this.
“Enough, we must stick to the plan,” urged Rosa.
The four of them quickly stripped off the outer layer of their clothes to reveal the hotel’s employee uniform. They quickly left the room, not forgetting to place a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the doorknob.
The minute they made it into the employee access stairs, the yacht came to a halt. It remained still in the dark as if it was abandoned. Unbeknownst to the others, there were five people that were leaning flat on the deck. Each of them had on a pair of binoculars, looking ahead into the direction of the Holy Mountain.
Glimpses of light soon appeared in the direction of the Holy Mountain, soon beginning its accelerated movements on the waves. Upon inspection, they found that those were a collective of more than ten speedboats. The boats exited the foot of the Holy Mountain into the Mediterranean Sea, then followed the shoreline towards the direction of Valletta.
“They’ve moved,” said Yelena.
“It’s time for us to proceed too.” Xia Lei straightened his posture against the deck.
“Boss, are you sure about bringing Tsukino Kyoko alone?” Anjum Khan tossed a concerned glance to both Xia Lei and Tsukino Kyoko, who were now dressed in diving suits.
Xia Lei replied, “We must have back up in case of emergencies. If there’s an exchange of fire, I’m sure you know what to do.”
Anjum Khan cackled, turning around to look at the box that hid their Hell-bound One Soldier Cannons. “They better not be hasty. I’ll split the seas with this thing.”
“Sa’im, remember to contact Giovanna and her sisters. Make sure they retreat on time,” reminded Xia Lei.
Sa’im returned him a curt nod. “Got it, boss. No worries.”
With that, Xia Lei and Tsukino Kyoko leapt off the boat into the water below. In a swift motion, they manoeuvred their dive motors towards the foot of the Holy Mountain.
Ten minutes later, they found themselves before the steep cliff.
True enough, Xia Lei noticed a water tunnel that extended into the interior of the mountain. The waterbed of the tunnels was rather deep, about twenty metres or so. It had enough space that even a small cargo ship wouldn’t be a problem.
Xia Lei gestured to Tsukino Kyoko to head into the tunnel. The duo soon activated their dive motors once again to quicken their pace.
Tonight, the waters were turbulent. The waves crashed into one another on the top of their heads and there was practically no light. Xia Lei didn’t dare to turn on his torch, relying on his left vision fully to see in the dark. This was also why he was leading Tsukino Kyoko in the front.
After travelling for about a hundred metres into the tunnel, the water path soon came to an end, signalled by the appearance of light above their heads. Xia Lei activated his vision to obtain a quick understanding of the condition onshore.
Right now, they were at a port within the mountain. There were a yacht, a cargo ship and another few speedboats. Those that had left earlier were not their full force.
At the back of the port was a human-made platform. There was a flight of stone stairs at the edge of it, allowing its users to venture deeper into the cavern. A black-robed man stood before the stairs. His hood wasn’t draped over his head, allowing Xia Lei to notice that he too was a bald Caucasian.
Xia Lei focused his gaze on the man. Before long, he identified the man. He was one of the sharpshooters who tried to kill him and Linda the day before in Sicily!
He quickly retracted his vision and fixed the dive motor along the rock beds at the bottom. Then, he pointed to Tsukino Kyoko, notifying her about the presence of a target up there.
The female ninja nodded and fixed her dive motor alongside Xia Lei. The duo then began their ascend. In the process, Tsukino Kyoko had already brandished a shuriken.
Sticking close to the structures of the port, Xia Lei cautiously allowed the buoyant force to bring him upwards. Stealthily, Xia Lei brought up his silenced gun in preparation to take him out. Before he could do so, Tsukino Kyoko surfaced and threw her shuriken in an effortless swing.
Caught by surprise, the bald man wasn’t able to respond in the nick of time, allowing the shuriken to strike his forehead. Slumping onto the ground with a thud, he twitched violently and went completely silent. Tsukino Kyoko had made sure to place her weapons in lethal toxin prior to the operation.
The duo made it up the port, quickly removing their hefty oxygen tanks. Xia Lei went forward to strip the black robe off the bald man and placed it over himself.
At the same time, Tsukino Kyoko actively installed the military bombs onto the few speed boats and yachts parked along with the port.
Hiding the body away, Xia Lei and Tsukino Kyoko then climbed the flight of stairs.
Oil lamps gave light to the bumpy rock surface of the tunnel, however, it was still rather dim. There was no electric lights and no modern-day security surveillance. Subconsciously, Xia Lei caressed the surface of the golden access card copy that he forged from Arthur’s. He then wondered, “There’s no electrical supply here. Was the golden card not used with a card reader but by displaying it to the guards?”
Infiltrating the Knight Hospitaller headquarters was admittedly dangerous. A slight giveaway would bring them a great threat. It wasn’t that Xia Lei hadn’t thoroughly weighed the risks, the man was out of choice. He had to retrieve the protective suit from them. Whether or not the Knight Hospitaller held answers to the ancient alloy and AE was none of his concern.
William Arthur mentioned that the golden access card was compulsory to enter the Sacred Palace. It required Lord Angelo’s approval but Xia Lei had deemed it unnecessary. Prior to this, Xia Lei had successfully lured the tiger off its mountain lair, thinning away at least half of their elites. Even if they got caught, it was certain that he and the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team would be able to put up a great fight!
The long winding tunnel made it difficult for them to see ahead of their path.
As soon as they reached a corner, the duo could hear approaching footsteps coming from ahead.
On reflex, Xia Lei reached down and drew out the military knife on his waist.
Tsukino Kyoko immediately halted him and silently urged him to survey the situation.