Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

“May I ask what the relationship between you three is? Why have you come to Chongming Island?” an inspector on duty bowed politely and asked with a smile.

The regulations at the entrance of Chongming Island were a lot stricter than they thought. It felt like they were trying to enter a foreign country. However, they had their own reasons. The place was a different district. In order to maintain order, applying strict control at the entrance was a reasonable solution.

“She’s my girlfriend, and this is my sister. I’ve brought them here for a short little trip. Shanghai was getting quite boring, so we decided to visit some other places. I was told that most places here are a great experience of nature,” Mo Fan was dressed in casual clothing right now, and replied calmly.

“Brother, I want to ride a horse, can I please ride a horse!” blurted out Lingling playfully. Her cute, adorable look immediately earned the inspector’s affection.

The inspector smilingly said, “You can go to Wanfeng Town if you want to ride a horse. They have a huge ranch there.”

“Do they really have horses there? I thought only the Inner Mongolia has horses?” asked Lingling.

“HAHA, we have horses here, too! Most towns here are traditional ranches. We supply the freshest meat you can find in the cities. You will know once you visit the ranches. That frozen, imported, fake meat is incomparable to ours. You have come to the right place if you’re thinking of enjoying nature,” the inspector smiled.

The inspector returned their identification while he was speaking. He had no reason to doubt the couple who had come traveling with a younger sister.

“Thank you, uncle,” said Lingling with a sweet smile.

“What uncle, I am not even in my thirties!” the inspector laughed.

“Thank you, young uncle.”

“…”

As they passed the checkpoint, Mo Fan and Mu Ningxue subconsciously looked at Lingling.

Lingling had regained her usual indifferent look. She looked like a completely different person than the active, adorable girl just a moment ago. They both felt it was a waste that she was not interested in winning an Oscar.

As they boarded the bus, Lingling immediately took out her notebook computer and rapidly smashed the keys. The screen blinked continuously. It was so quick that Mo Fan had no idea what she was searching for.

“I just checked the businesses that are registered and excluded those that I think are unlikely to be our target. By the way, the ranches that the inspector mentioned seem to be working with the government. However, most of them are privately owned. There aren’t any problems with their production and sales, but you can easily fake most of them and use the business as a front,” said Lingling.

Lingling was fully prepared before they departed for the island. There were lots of towns on Chongming Island, but the girl had already filtered out half of them.

“If they could secretly help Salan flee the country, the business must be big enough to do international trading. With that in mind, there are only six possible targets left. Most of them are privately owned by some big shots,” Lingling quickly listed the six possible targets and marked them on a map.

“The closest one to us is Tuna Trading Co., LTD, at Wanfeng Town. Let’s check it out first,” said Mo Fan pointing at one of the markers on the map.

——

The bus was rather slow. It was noon before they arrived in Wanfeng Town.

The town was built with careful planning. The roads, plants, and buildings were obviously built in specific spots. It felt like a vacation town the moment they arrived. Transportation was convenient, too.

Mu Ningxue and Lingling were dressed in identical clothing: a cardigan, a middle-long flared skirt, and a ruffled hat. People on the street kept turning around to look at their casual, but attractive outfits. Mo Fan almost forgot they were currently in the tiger’s den.

When they arrived at Tuna Trading Co. LTD., they went around searching for clues while telling the people they had lost their way as an excuse. However, they realized the place was just a normal factory for processing tuna. There was nothing fishy about it… ahem!

They spent some time looking around Wanfeng Town to check out other places, but the whole town seemed normal.

“The people of the Black Vatican are used to hiding in a busy city. It’s quite tricky to ferret them out if they aren’t showing themselves, and we can’t let the Black Vatican realize what we are up to. They are in the dark, while we are in the light. If they know we are up to something, we are unlikely to leave Chongming Island in one piece,” warned Mo Fan in a serious voice.

Mu Ningxue nodded. She was well aware of the Black Vatican’s methods. Both Yu Ang and Mu He hid in their family for so long, yet no one had realized their secret identities.

Perhaps it was the scariest thing about the Black Vatican. They were a bunch of vicious criminals, but they still lived among normal people. They were like ticking time bombs that no one could do anything about!

“Let’s not hurry to the next town. We should spend a day here,” said Lingling.

Since they were pretending to be on a trip, they should stick to their disguises. It was suspicious if they moved on to the next town without spending more than half a day in the first one. As Mo Fan mentioned, they could not afford to be spotted by the people of the Black Vatican. Otherwise, they would find themselves in grave danger!

They stayed in Wanfeng Town for the whole day. The shops did have some delicacies. Mo Fan simply forgot about the Black Vatican and enjoyed the vacation.

At night, Mo Fan suggested they get only one room.

The two girls agreed, but as Mo Fan expected, he was asked to sleep alone on a bed, while the two girls slept on the other.

——

Their next destination was Pingyi Town. Both Pingyi and Zhenming Towns had ranching as their main source of income. These unique ranches that preserved the ecology had slowly turned Chongming Island into a tourist attraction.

As they were arriving in Pingyi Town, they saw both sides of the road were covered in green grass. They did not look like the irregular weeds of Inner Mongolia, but each stalk seemed to be carefully taken care of. It was clean like a carpet laid down on the ground. The grass was not too dense, but was not too scattered, either. The beautiful scene and fresh air blew on their faces.

The green landscape was a clear contrast to the concrete, steel, and glass in a developed city. There were people on the bus who resembled university students on a trip who blurted out in surprise:

“Wow, awesome, it’s my first time seeing such a huge field of grass!”

“See, what did I tell you? You won’t regret it if you come!” proclaimed a nerdy young man wearing a pair of glasses with golden frames.

“Look at the spectacular building on the hill in the distance. I feel like living in there!” exclaimed a girl with bangs excitedly.