Regardless, this was a huge windfall. I suspected Shen Xingyue had introduced them to me so readily precisely because she didn't know how formidable these dolphins were. Now that Chu Qi knew, I wasn't sure if they'd be poached by Shabiya next, especially with thirty-two of them. Too many.
Just as I feared, barely ten minutes after the martial arts tournament, Shen Xingyue called me, demanding the dolphins.
I frowned, looking at Chu Qi. She must have let the cat out of the bag. Chu Qi shrugged and left.
“How many do you want?” I asked reluctantly.
“Twenty, I guess.”
“You might as well take them all!”
“Sixteen. We’ll split them, eight each. That’s fair, right? And I’m not taking them for free. I’ll trade you some guns.”
“You mean those things you printed for me last time?” I asked.
“No, remember that deal between Little King Yama and Lin Chi? They asked the yang world to make a batch of rifles for their underworld court, but without being too far ahead of underworld tech. Shabiya’s design department has finished them. You can’t expect us to build them for nothing, can you?”
That was true. But these weren’t the kind of guns that were simply burned as offerings. These were meant to be delivered through official channels, transported to the underworld. The underworld was still in the matchlock era of centuries past. If Little King Yama and his ilk were to suddenly equip themselves with modern assault rifles, or even Gatling guns or Maxim guns, the rebels would notice their adoption of yang world technology, essentially cheating. Then the rebels would also find ways to acquire such technology, putting both sides back on equal footing, rendering our aid meaningless.
They needed to design a weapon that was more advanced than matchlocks but still lagged behind modern weaponry. The rebels would believe it was something newly developed by the court and wouldn't covet yang world weapons. That was how we could truly help Little King Yama and his people. After all, neither side wanted to break the boundaries between the yin and yang realms. Such chaos was something the underworld couldn't withstand.
The court, by monopolizing the resources of the "Underworld Official Office," had official channels to transport goods to the underworld, making this kind of "cheating" possible without upsetting the balance between the two realms.
“I need to see what you guys have designed first,” I said.
“You’ll understand it?” Shen Xingyue chuckled.
“I just visited the underworld and even participated in a battle. Of course, I have an opinion.”
“Fair enough. Alright, come over. I’m at the office. And bring those sixteen dolphins with you!” Shen Xingyue hung up.
I first explained the situation to Yaoyao. She thought it was fine. Thirty-two was too many, too conspicuous, and hard to manage. Splitting them meant streamlining operations. Besides, if needed, they could always come back to help. We weren’t a fishpond, why keep so many dolphins?
Then I told the Sea Emperor. He said he didn’t mind and would defer to my command. However, the dolphins below were quite devoted to me and reluctant to go to Shabiya. So, we had to draw lots.
Of course, the Sea Emperor had to stay with me. I cheated by secretly slipping a "stay" slip into her hand. The dolphins didn't seem to be good at counting, and didn’t notice there were only thirty-one paper slips in the box. They drew one by one, their fates decided. Sixteen, including the Sea Emperor, stayed. The other sixteen would go with me and Chu Qi. No, the car couldn't fit them. Fortunately, Shabiya's Lu Shun headquarters was also by the sea. I drew them a map and told them to go by themselves and meet us at the dock.
Just then, Mengmeng and the fox demon returned from shopping. I took sixteen sets of clothes and drove to Shabiya headquarters with Chu Qi.
Upon arriving at the dock near the headquarters, we picked up the sixteen dolphins, they changed into their new clothes, and then we went to see Shen Xingyue.
The dolphins were received by the comrades on the first floor, all female staff, who would take them to the dorms for guidance and training, I presumed.
Shen Xingyue didn't come downstairs. She instructed Chu Qi and me to go directly to her room.
It was in the same large office. As soon as I entered, I saw an old-fashioned rifle lying on the desk. It was very long, almost sixteen feet with the bayonet, as tall as Chu Qi.
“What… what kind of antique is this?” I picked up the gun and sniffed it. It wasn't an antique. The paint was new, just artificially aged to look old.