The park next to the castle indeed had an artificial lake, and it was a very large one.
Several six-star hotels were situated by the artificial lake, with yachts moored nearby, and some yachts even roamed within the lake.
The capital city of the Saudi royal family was very prosperous, with a large number of wealthy individuals, especially princes and princesses from the royal family.
Of course, those princes and princesses were not from the direct line, but even so, each of them was immensely wealthy, far richer than the second-generation wealthy in Huaxia.
"Didn't they say there was one yacht here? This is called one?"
Ye Cangtian was speechless. With such a vast artificial lake dotted with yachts everywhere, how was he supposed to find it?
Just as he was about to send a message to Xuan Jiu using his silver mask, he saw a middle-aged man emerge from a yacht docked by the shore not far away.
"May I ask if you are Lord Xuan Qi?"
The middle-aged man cupped his hands respectfully, "My Lord Xuan Jiu has invited you!"
Ye Cangtian nodded and followed him onto the yacht. The middle-aged man did not board but remained by the shore.
The yacht slowly sailed towards the center of the lake at a leisurely pace.
Ye Cangtian walked directly into the cabin, which was luxuriously furnished and stocked with various fine wines and champagnes.
Inside the entire cabin, there was only one胖子 (pàngzi - fat person) wearing a silver mask, leaning back in a chair and smiling at him.
"Long time no see, brother Xuan Qi!"
"Brother Xuan Jiu certainly knows how to enjoy himself!"
Ye Cangtian plopped onto the sofa, picked up the half-finished bottle of Rémy Martin on the coffee table, and took two gulps, pursing his lips.
The wine, worth tens of thousands of dollars, didn't taste as good as he imagined!
Xuan Jiu opened a box of cigars, tossed one to Ye Cangtian, and lit one for himself, taking a couple of puffs and exhaling a smoke ring.
"The Dark Association has plenty of money anyway. Doing some work for them and enjoying it on the company's dime, is that too much to ask?"
"It can be reimbursed?"
Ye Cangtian was startled. How did he not know about such a good thing? Lord Zi Long had never mentioned this when assigning him tasks last time.
Huang San and Huang Wu had even stayed in trees in the park for several days to monitor him!
"Heh heh, you didn't know, did you? Xuan-level powerhouses are all entitled to expense reimbursement. All expenses incurred during a mission can be reimbursed by the superior, it's just that nobody actually does it!"
Xuan Jiu chuckled. Although Xuan-level powerhouses indeed had such privileges in the Dark Association, very few people actually sought reimbursement from their superiors.
They felt it was beneath them!
Xuan Jiu bared his teeth and continued, "You can forget about it. Your Tang Xin Wan hasn't earned little money, and your Death God Squad has probably earned a lot over the years. Now you are also Prince Noah of the Saudi royal family, do you lack money?"
Ye Cangtian raised an eyebrow. This胖子 (pàngzi - fat person) had investigated his background quite thoroughly!
He decided to take off his silver mask and said, "Come on, let's talk openly. We're already so familiar with each other."
Since the other party knew him inside and out, but he knew nothing about this胖子's (pàngzi - fat person) identity, Ye Cangtian felt at a disadvantage.
Although he suspected the other party might be from the Hidden Organization, it was just speculation!
"No, I feel more at ease wearing my mask!"
Xuan Jiu gave a sheepish smile, then changed the subject, "Let's first talk about our mission to enter the ruins. Lord Zi Long's intention is that besides acquiring some resources from the ruins, our primary objective is to obtain one item!"
"What item?"
"The Heart of the Ruins, which is the core of the entire ruin. To put it simply, the entire ruin is like a grand formation, and the Heart of the Ruins is the eye of the formation!"
Xuan Jiu said with some emotion, "The importance of the Heart of the Ruins can even surpass all the resources in the ruins. Therefore, it is also the item that all parties hope to obtain."
Ye Cangtian frowned slightly. Old Master Xu had only told him to come to the Saudi ruins, but he hadn't mentioned anything about the Heart of the Ruins.
"How do we identify the Heart of the Ruins?"
"It might be a weapon, or it might be a stone. After all, every ruin is different, so the Heart of the Ruins is not fixed!"
"The Dark Association is sending two other Xuan-level stewards besides you and me. However, that's not important. What we need to pay attention to are the people from the Temple of Light!"
Xuan Jiu's voice turned solemn after he finished speaking, "According to the news, the Temple of Light may send a Cardinal this time, whose strength is comparable to Lord Zi Long! So, we need to be careful!"
"What about the Dark Association? Won't Zi Long go?"
"Lord Zi Long needs to guard the island ruins. Although the entrance there is not yet stable, he cannot leave to prevent other forces from setting foot there!"
Xuan Jiu shrugged and said, "But whether the Dark Association has sent other Di-level powerhouses, I don't know!"
Ye Cangtian rubbed his chin. It seemed this trip to the ruins was going to be quite dangerous.
If he truly encountered a Cardinal from the Temple of Light, who was comparable to a Di-level powerhouse, he would definitely not be able to defeat them.
He suddenly asked Xuan Jiu, "What about the Hidden Organization? Your Hidden Organization should also send a master, right?"
Xuan Jiu looked at him deeply and said speechlessly, "Are you trying to pry information from me? I'm not from the Hidden Organization, how would I know?"
Ye Cangtian pouted. This胖子 (pàngzi - fat person) was indeed not foolish!
However, whether he was a spy from the Hidden Organization or not, it was hard to say.
...
Half an hour later, the yacht docked!
Ye Cangtian put on his mask, got off the yacht, and rubbed his head, feeling a bit of a headache!
This trip to the ruins was indeed not that simple!
Old Master Xu was something else, not even giving him a hint whether the Hidden Organization had sent any experts.
Since the Temple of Light was sending a Cardinal for the sake of the ruins, and the Dark Association knew this in advance, they would certainly not send only this many people.
All along, Ye Cangtian had felt that as an undercover agent, he was in the dark while the enemy was in the light.
Now, he suddenly felt that the real masters were hidden in the shadows, and he might be in danger at any moment!
"Whatever, let's worry about it once we enter the ruins!"
Ye Cangtian couldn't care about anything else anymore. At worst, they could fight over the so-called Heart of the Ruins then, as it had nothing to do with him.
He quickly found the direction of Huang San and Huang Wu through his silver mask.
A moment later, he indeed found these two unfortunate souls.
Perhaps because the consumption in the royal city was too high, these two paupers were not enjoying themselves as much as Xuan Jiu, and could only squeeze into an empty, dilapidated house.
The sight of several buckets of consumed instant noodle boxes and cigarette butts scattered all over the room indicated that these two paupers were living quite miserably.
"Sir!"
"Sir has finally arrived!"
Upon seeing Ye Cangtian, the two men's spirits perked up, and joy appeared on their faces.
Ye Cangtian nodded and said, "You two will set off for the ruins tomorrow morning. This time, many organizations and forces will enter the ruins. You can hide among them and enter together then."
"Sir, what about you?"
"I will also enter, but to avoid exposing my identity, I won't enter with you two. Otherwise, the target will be too big, and it will be easy to expose."
"Sir, we heard that our masks will also fail inside the ruins..." Huang San said with some worry.
Ye Cangtian said calmly, "Don't worry. This time, our Dark Association has four stewards and some Huang-level members entering. We will regroup once we are inside the ruins!"
This statement reassured the two men, putting their worries at ease.