The Dawn of the New World

"Well, it's kinda complicated you see. I think it should be better if Jin Wang explained it to you himself," Vasu replied while looking at others for help. It was pretty obvious he wanted to change the subject or at least didn't want to be involved in it himself.

Hao Xuan's brows scrunched up in worry, but he didn't linger on it too much. They took him to the mess hall which was just 1 floor up. There were several hundred people already there but it didn't look too crowded.

Hao Xuan ordered every single dish on the menu and within half an hour an entire table was filled to the brim with all kinds of dishes.

Zhurong suddenly appeared out of nowhere along with the food, surprising everyone present, especially the nearby females.

"Omg, he's so cute! Can I cuddle him??" a little girl of about 10 years of age quickly walked over as soon as she saw him but Zhurong didn't even give her the time of the day, making her awkwardly return to her table.

He was already cute before but now he looked even more adorable with the shiny white fur. He looked like a noble magical creature until he jumped into the trays of food that is, throwing all decorum to the wind.

An hour or so later Jin Wang returned.

"It's done. Here's the room key," he said handing Hao Xuan a hexagonal token with the number 8671 on it. It had a purple cloud in the background that was moving on its own.

"Fancy," Hao Xuan murmured. Alte and Vasu leaned over upon hearing Hao Xuan and both of them looked at Jin Wang with wide eyes.

"I-Is that.."

"Yeaup," before they could even finish, Jin Wang confirmed and picked up a large beast leg and started chomping on it.

Hao Xuan looked up at Alte, "What is it?"

Alte quickly fixed his posture and expression, with an awkward smile. He cleared his throat before answering in a low voice.

"Uhm, that is a VIP room. The purple cloud suites are the best ones you can get in here. Not to mention they are absurdly expensive, but all of their occupants are people in power so none of them would usually give theirs away. All such rooms are booked at least 6 months in advance."

Hao Xuan brows furrowed as soon as he heard that and he slowly leaned over to Jin Wang, as casually as he could.

"Did you kill the people living in this room?" he whispered.

Jin Wang took a massive bite out of the beast leg and shook his head, "Nah, I just threw money at him until he agreed."

Alte, Vasu, Beruh, and Kayin were all eavesdropping on their conversation and all of them almost fell from their seats hearing that. Beruh looked at Hao Xuan with a new twinkle in his eye.

The occupants of VIP rooms were rich beyond measure. To buy a room from someone like that was nothing short of a miracle...that or a ridiculous amount of money.

"Alright, well that's good I guess."

"Fooooooood~"

Just as Hao Xuan was about to bite into a juicy piece of roast meat, a familiar whining came from above his head and a small white blob on tentacles lifelessly fell down on to the table.

Jin Wang got up and ruffled Hao Xuan's hair like he was looking for something.

"The hell did he come from??"

"Get off!" Hao Xuan pushed him away and grabbed the starving Fortis.

"Fooood!~" Fortis's eyes were half-closed and he instinctively bit Hao Xuan's finger and started sucking the blood.

"Ouch, wake up dumbass!" Hao Xuan pinched one of his little tentacles, quickly getting a slap in return.

"No YOU!" Fortis shouted before jumping into the nearest tray of food without any hesitation. On one side it was Zhurong and the other Fortis. Both of them were eating their way towards the middle of the table where a whole roasted beast awaited them. It looked a goat but about 5 times as big and with small burnt wings on the side.

Hao Xuan carefully picked up a small plate and moved aside along with the others. He didn't want to be anywhere near them when they reached the last dish.

Hao Xuan talked with Alte's group and asked them a lot of questions, especially about the things that had happened in the last two months. They were about to explain to him the reason for the princess's visit to the academy when the light's suddenly turned a dim red and a loud siren started ringing throughout the entire ship.

*Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee*

"The hell is that?" Hao Xuan asked with a full mouth. Alte and the gang quickly got up to their feet, including Jin Wang.

"We're under attack. Pirates, it seems. Come on, let's go!" Jin Wang gestured for him to follow.

"What? Why do we have to fight? Isn't it the crew's job to do that?"

"We ARE the crew. Long story, come, I'll explain on the way!" Jin Wang shouted.

Hao Xuan unwittingly put down the plate of food he had yet to finish and grabbed the kitten and the little octopus before following behind him.

"NO! Fooood~!"

"Moew~!"

both Zhurong and Fortis started struggling to get back to the table full of food.

"Enough! You can eat later, we're under attack! Idiots," Hao Xuan shouted in a loud and stern voice, but only got a whip and scratch marks on his face in return.

"NO! EAT NOW!"