"That thing?" Luo Chao and Fang Zhiruo asked curiously.

"Ah, that guy Chen Yaoyang, once his gambling addiction kicked in, he went insane. That day, he tricked Shiyun into an underground casino and actually used her as a wager!" Zhou Delong said, choking up a bit at this point.

"How despicable! Does that guy even have any humanity left? He actually used the woman who loves him most as a gambling chip!" Fang Zhiruo was furious upon hearing this, waving her small fist in anger.

Luo Chao was also outraged and immediately asked, "And then what? After doing such a heinous thing, how did Chen Yaoyang end up becoming the one seeking revenge?"

Zhou Delong took a deep drag on his cigarette and sighed, "Ah, young friend Luo Chao, as you know, Shiyun is my favorite granddaughter. When I found out in the Capital that she was used as a bet by Chen Yaoyang and held hostage in an underground casino, I immediately took my men to Huahai City to rescue her!"

"But during the rescue, my men accidentally injured Chen Yaoyang, causing him to become paralyzed from the waist down."

"Hmph!" Fang Zhiruo snorted coldly, "He had it coming, served him right!"

She quickly realized her words might not match her identity and corrected herself, "Senior Zhou, although your actions were reasonable, they were illegal. It would have been best to leave matters like this to the police to handle."

Zhou Delong nodded, "Officer Fang, you're right, which is why this time I firmly chose to report to the police. You must help me rescue Shiyun!"

"Senior Zhou, from what you just said, Chen Yaoyang is not only penniless but also paralyzed. How could someone in such a state have the ability to kidnap Miss Miao?" Luo Chao asked puzzled.

"I don't know either!" Zhou Delong said helplessly, "Seven years ago, after Chen Yaoyang became paralyzed, he suddenly disappeared from the hospital one day. I haven't seen him since, and no one knows what he did during those seven years..."

Upon hearing this, Luo Chao thought to himself, "Disappeared for seven years? Returned seven years later with a vengeance... Chen Yaoyang must have had some kind of extraordinary encounter during those years."

Thinking of this, Luo Chao picked up a red invitation and, upon opening it, saw the following words, "Dear Mr. Zhou, welcome to the Eastern Star's high-stakes gambling journey on the high seas."

"Eastern Star?" Luo Chao muttered under his breath, while pulling out a ticket from the invitation, which bore a picture of a massive luxury cruise ship.

"What! It's actually the Eastern Star!" Upon hearing the words "Eastern Star," Zhou Delong immediately snatched the ticket.

After examining it carefully, Zhou Delong looked up to the sky with a long sigh, "Really, it really is the Eastern Star!"

"Senior Zhou, the Eastern Star, is that the name of this luxury cruise ship?" Luo Chao tentatively asked.

In fact, he was a bit puzzled; someone of Zhou Delong's status and position should have sailed on most luxury liners in the world, so why was he so excited about seeing the Eastern Star?

Zhou Delong seemed to perceive the confusion in Luo Chao's eyes, so he explained, "Indeed, the Eastern Star is a ship's name, but the origin of this luxury cruise ship is not simple at all. It's the official vessel of the World Gambling Association! Every year, this ship travels around the world, picking up local millionaires to sail to the high seas for luxury gambling!"

After Zhou Delong's explanation, Luo Chao understood that the Eastern Star cruise ship was like a gambling platform, but set on a ship that traveled globally.

It seemed that Chen Yaoyang still hadn't mended his ways, still obsessed with gambling. However, this time he appeared to have come prepared.

"Senior Zhou, I believe Chen Yaoyang is definitely up to something this time, and not with good intentions. I'll accompany you on the ship tonight. After all, with Miss Miao being kidnapped, I share part of the responsibility."

Luo Chao felt somewhat guilty. Last night, he had indeed noticed something amiss in Miao Shiyun's expression but had not taken action, leading to her abduction.

"Senior Zhou, I'll go too!" Fang Zhiruo suddenly spoke, "This is a kidnapping; I can directly exercise police authority to seize the ship and conduct a rescue operation."

"No." Luo Chao decisively stopped Fang Zhiruo's proposal, "Do you think Chen Yaoyang, who has been planning for seven years, would not have prepared for how to deal with the police? Setting aside whether you have the authority to seize a stateless luxury cruise ship, where's the evidence? Can you act just based on our words?"

"But... if the police don't get involved, who will ensure your safety on board? Once you're on the ship, it could be full of Chen Yaoyang's men!" Fang Zhiruo understood Luo Chao's reasoning, but she still worried.

"I'll be there." Luo Chao confidently flipped his hair, "Of course, if you're still worried, you can come along, but you'll need to change into plain clothes."

"Fine, I'll go change into plain clothes, and the three of us will go together tonight!" Fang Zhiruo agreed to Luo Chao's suggestion.

"Great, since Chen Yaoyang likes to play with gambling, I'll join him for a round!" Luo Chao stared at the ticket, a cold smile curling at his lips.

...

At 7:50 PM, at the Huahai City dock, a massive red and white luxury cruise ship quietly docked at the shore.

On the side of the ship were four large golden Chinese characters - Eastern Star!

Just from the exterior, one couldn't tell this opulently luxurious cruise ship would host a series of earth-shattering gambling events.

At this time, Luo Chao, Zhou Delong, and Fang Zhiruo had all changed into formal attire for the evening event.

Now the three of them looked indistinguishable from the wealthy and elegant Huahai City socialites boarding the ship.

Zhou Delong held the ticket in his hand and worriedly asked Luo Chao and Fang Zhiruo, "Young friend Luo Chao, Officer Fang, how will you board without tickets?"

"Ahem." Luo Chao cleared his throat, glanced around to ensure no one was paying attention to them, and then whispered, "Senior Zhou, let me clarify, from now on, the three of us are strangers who don't know each other. You must not address Miss Fang as Officer Fang later."

"Understood." Zhou Delong nodded, recognizing that Luo Chao's arrangement was to avoid suspicion.

"As for the tickets, I've asked a friend from the Dragon Fang Team to enter our fake identities into the cruise's identity verification system, so we only need to show the electronic tickets on our phones." Luo Chao displayed the QR code on his phone to Zhou Delong.

"Oh... QR code, the rapid advancement of technology is truly something I can't keep up with. I'm getting old!" Zhou Delong shook his head helplessly.

"You're talking about that Dragon Fang Team hacker friend of yours, right? Always hacking into other systems, want me to get the cyber police to catch him?" Fang Zhiruo joked.

"Ha, catch him? He taught the cyber police their skills; you think they can catch him?!" Luo Chao scoffed.

Although Luo Chao admired the hacker skills of Lone Dragon, requesting his help this time cost him ten million Huaxia Coins, which still pained him!

At this moment, Zhou Delong suddenly asked, "By the way, do you have enough money? Since you're pretending to be rich gamblers, lacking money for stakes might raise suspicion!"

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