Liu Ren: “Sir, He's Playing You!”

In the cramped boiler room, Uncle Qiang stared at Liu Ren, who had brought in a great deal of food from the upper decks, and could not help demanding, “What's the matter with you, kid? How did you get so much stuff from up there? This will get you in trouble!” As he warned Liu Ren, Uncle Qiang's expression turned anxious, and he looked thoroughly flustered — partly out of fear that Liu Ren had done something he shouldn't have, and partly out of fear that something would happen to him. After all, in these times, when a Chinese laborer was beaten to death, no one would bother about it — under another man's roof, a man has to bow his head! Hearing the concern in Uncle Qiang's voice, Liu Ren smiled. “Uncle Qiang, don't worry. I earned this with work!” Then he pointed at the tailcoat he was wearing. “Look, I'm a waiter now!” Seeing Liu Ren looking so unconcerned, Uncle Qiang and the others finally set aside their worries, though they still told him not to do it again. Eating a little worse was no great hardship — they had endured it this long, after all. But sending a half-grown kid like Liu Ren to fetch their food — that they could not bear. With a bright smile, Liu Ren said nothing and simply told everyone to eat their fill. He knew all too well that this Titanic was going to sink, and when that time came, escaping the boiler room would take a great deal of strength. Liu Ren was not a good man in the conventional sense, but he was not a bad one either. From childhood he had seen all kinds of people: some had bullied him for his background, and some parents, out of pity, had brought him clothes. So even now, he still kept a place in his heart for the kindness owed to his own people — because in this man-eating age, it was thanks to them that the malnourished “Predecessor” had lived to this day... “Uncle Qiang, take your time eating. I'm off to work up on deck!” Waving to Uncle Qiang and the others, Liu Ren turned and left. Watching him go, Uncle Qiang sighed. “That kid always reports the good and never the bad!” But just as Liu Ren reached the corridor, the burly Slavic big man looked at him and said, “I reckon...” “No, you don't reckon! Right now you're going to be a well-behaved seed until I wake you. Understand?” Staring at the Orc Lad before him, Liu Ren spoke with a completely straight face. The moment he finished speaking, the Orc Lad roared in displeasure: “I'm smart! I'm not stupid! You don't want me to fight, Waaagh...” But before the Orc Lad could finish, its body began to shrink at incredible speed, gradually turning into a green seed. Looking at the green seed in his palm, Liu Ren tossed it into the Storage Space. “What a damned headache!” Thinking of the Orc Lad's habit of ignoring orders, Liu Ren felt his head ache at once. As their “Creator,” he would never be the target of their hostility, but their frenzied instincts made them want to fight at every moment — even to destroy everything. And the most terrifying thing about Orc Beastmen was not their fighting instinct, but the “psychic field” that formed between them. When that power took shape on a large scale, they could even alter reality and twist the future, causing destruction beyond all prediction. “Damn it, I've gone and landed myself a living ancestor to serve!” He spoke with considerable exasperation; Liu Ren had no idea now how he was supposed to use Orc Beastmen. In terms of fighting strength, Orc Beastmen were formidable — but too formidable, and dangerous. And this was only an ordinary Orc Lad. When he woke orcs on a large scale, Orc Veterans would very likely appear, and even War Bosses, and Clan Chiefs... Still, by the time Liu Ren needed to wake a War Boss or a Clan Chief, he would no longer have the heart to tell right from wrong! Liu Ren: I don't give a damn whose side you're on — Waaagh... Orc Beastman: Waaagh... fighting's fun! Back in the room where he had woken the Orc Lad, Liu Ren raised his arm again and called to the soil: “Rise, my orcs!” With a rustle, green sprouts pierced through the soil and in an instant formed four burly Orc Lads. But just as they let out furious roars and shouted “Waaagh,” Liu Ren said, “I reckon you lot could take on other shapes...” The four Orc Lads stared blankly at Liu Ren, exchanged glances, and gradually took the shape of Slavic big men. Looking at the transformed Orc Lads, the smile on Liu Ren's face slowly turned savage — because this was the true use of the “psychic field”! Looking at the four emerald seeds in his palm, Liu Ren tossed them into the Storage Space, because this was his limit. Summoning more Orc Lads would require a stronger physique before he could control these “mad” Orc Beastmen. But as things stood, five Orc Lads were enough to cut a bloody path through the entire Titanic. “Wait, why am I having crazy thoughts like that? Have the Orc Beastmen chewed my brains out?” Realizing that he had just wanted to butcher his way through the ship, Liu Ren fell silent, because that did not fit his “benevolence”! Liu Ren: Benevolence is taking an axe and splitting you in two, smashing that pig brain of yours right into your chest cavity! Passing up through the lower decks, Liu Ren soon reached the main deck. All around him were upper-class people in expensive suits and fine clothes. Liu Ren did not linger, but headed straight up. But while he was looking for Spicer, he suddenly spotted a slender figure happily dragging Jack along as she ran off down the corridor. Watching this in silence, Liu Ren instantly wore the expression of a baffled old man on the subway. “Whaaat?” A second later, though, Liu Ren slapped his forehead. “Holy shit, don't tell me that's Rose and Jack...” Thinking of how the two of them had once drawn an extremely explicit portrait in Cal's room, a grin spread over Liu Ren's face at once. After all, put a Far Easterner in front of something like this and wasn't it as good as shouting, “Gossip here, come get it!”? In the luxurious room, Rose put on the fabulously expensive Tear of the Ocean, then slowly let her nightgown slip down from her shoulder. Shocked at the sight, Jack was struck dumb on the spot. But just as Rose lay back on the soft sofa, out in the corridor Cal was already arriving, his face dark with fury. Following behind Cal, Spicer stared gravely at Liu Ren. “Boy, you'd better make sure this is true, or I will make sure you learn what regret means!” “Sir, we Far Easterners set great store by promises. Besides, my name is Liu Ren — the Ren of winning people over with an axe!” As he explained this to Spicer, Liu Ren's expression did not change in the slightest. But when Cal tried to open the door, he found it locked from the inside. As Cal, who had been reluctant to believe any of this, looked at Spicer in shock, the old butler was furious too. “Young master, I think we need to have someone break the door down!” “What's the point of all that trouble? Watch me!” Hearing that Cal and Spicer still meant to go and call for help, Liu Ren was struck dumb — wasn't that just handing them time to react? At the thought, Liu Ren drew back half a step and kicked hard. “Open up!” Boom! The luxurious door burst open. Rose and Jack both froze, unable to react in time. But just then, when Cal rushed in and saw everything in the room, his eyes instantly went bloodshot. “You two damned bastards!” “Cal, no — it's not what you think!” Seeing Cal appear, Rose frantically snatched up her clothes to cover herself. And Jack hurriedly said, “Sir, I was only here to draw!” As he spoke, Jack pointed at the unfinished painting. But just then, Liu Ren drawled with heavy sarcasm, “Sir, he's playing you!” At those words, Cal said nothing more. He charged forward in a rage, seized Jack, and threw a punch. Bang! The heavy fist caught Jack on the nose, and he crashed to the ground in a sorry heap — but he fought back. Watching the two of them scuffling on the floor, Spicer swung a chair up in one hand and smashed it down on Jack, a veritable paragon among butlers.