Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 643: Really Knows How to Pick a Place

Chapter 643: Chapter 643: Really Knows How to Pick a Place

Everyone knew well that Leng Le was here not to destroy the relationship between Gu Fan and Lin Xi, but to surveil Gu Fan on the boss’s orders by lingering near him.

Now, in Gu Fan’s hands, were a map, some notes, and photos of two stone tablets found on Primal Island. Gu Fan’s task was to use these tools to locate the island.

According to the two women dressed in ancient Eastern attire, the island had been submerged deep in the ocean and was constantly moving. Its appearance above water was known to no man.

Deep in thought, Gu Fan was stumped by the idea of a nomadic island-- that would render his previous map useless.

With the limitation of a single person’s thinking capacity, Gu Fan called upon Ouyang Jin, Su Hui, Lin Xi, Du Jun, and others, hoping to brainstorm a solution.

Just as they began to think, Leng Le barged in. Fortunately, the loud noise made by her high heels alerted Gu Fan, who swiftly and discreetly hid the items.

On arriving, Leng Le, seeing the room full of people, wondered aloud, "You’re all here. I’ve been looking everywhere for you."

"Oh, just keeping boredom at bay with a game of cards," Gu Fan replied, producing a deck of cards as everyone feigned engagement in a friendly competition.

"Oh, I love playing cards. Can I join?" Without waiting for an answer, Leng Le pushed her way through.

Putting on poker faces, the group continued their card game for three hours, appearing genuinely engrossed.

It was clear to Gu Fan that as long as Leng Le was present, he would make no headway. Thus, he developed another plan-- keeping Leng Le under careful watch by Lin Xi. If the boss could have Leng Le monitor him, he would merely return the favor.

However, Gu Fan reminded Lin Xi not to be swayed by any divisive words spoken by Leng Le.

Confidently, Lin Xi promised she would keep Leng Le in check and make her regret joining their ship.

Seeing Lin Xi’s determination, Gu Fan couldn’t help but feel anxious about the potential conflict that could arise between them.

Additionally, he planned to limit the number of people involved in the meetings, as not to arouse suspicion from Leng Le.

From now on, Gu Fan decided that it would be best to strategize his plans alone with Ouyang Jin, the fewer involved, the better.

However, Jie suggested that it would be safe to meet at night because everyone would be in their cabins, leaving Leng Le with no room to intrude.

Gu Fan contended that it would be rather naive to underestimate Leng Le, telling them that he had discovered a surveillance camera in his cabin. Nonetheless, he decided not to confront her, pretending to be unaware.

So the game of wits between him and Leng Le was on. At night, he decided to sleep regardless of his situation, aiming to avoid any visible irregularities. In the daytime, however, everything would continue as usual to avoid group suspicion.

Eventually, Gu Fan proposed meeting in a place where Leng Le would not dare to intrude: the men’s restroom.

"Could a place like that really exist?" Ouyang Jin questioned but instantly comprehended Gu Fan’s implicit context; of course, he was referring to the men’s restroom.

Gu Fan was confident, under Lin Xi’s watchful guard, Leng Le wouldn’t risk trying her luck.

Despite everyone’s dismay, they agreed to follow Gu Fan’s plan. Lin Xi now had to closely monitor Leng Le while Gu Fan and Ouyang Jin would hold strategic discussions in the remotest men’s lavatories.

Ouyang Jin complied, but he was convinced that this was no conducive work environment and demanded a raise, only to be shot down by the group.

Left with no choice, Ouyang Jin had to follow Gu Fan into the remotest men’s restroom. Instead of arranging any furniture, they just sat on the floor and laid everything out.

Out of everyone, Ouyang Jin and the ship’s captain were the most familiar with the Triangle Sea Area. However, Gu Fan could not risk the captain knowing too much and had to rely solely on Ouyang Jin for advice.

Ouyang Jin studied two maps: an ancient one and one drafted by pirates, but finding them incomprehensible, he moved on.

Next were the stone tablet photos presented by Gu Fan which, filled with uninterpretable symbols, Ouyang Jin had to skip over again.

Lastly, Ouyang Jin examined the notes from Gu Fan’s father’s exploration of the Triangle Sea Area hoping to find useful information.

Gu Fan attempted to connect symbols from both stone tablets. His first successful match resulted in a ship’s figure, which he speculated to be the large wooden ship of Lisa and her crew.

He hypothesized that the submerged island was indeed the crew’s haven. On foggy nights devoid of moonlight, they set sail to seize live victims upon the ship.

The pivotal issue that arose next was returning to the base. Since the island was mobile, it was impossible to return to the initial location. Lisa must have known the new location of the island undersea.

Gu Fan made two assumptions. Either the ship was equipped to trace the island or the island moved in a predetermined pattern, enabling Lisa to know its location.

Gu Fan leaned towards the latter, as a predictable pattern would make the island a lot easier to locate.

During his rumination, Ouyang Jin suddenly exclaimed, snapping Gu Fan out of his thoughts. "What did you find?" Gu Fan quickly inquired.

Ouyang Jin pointed out a passage in the diary, "Your father mentioned heading in a particular direction for half a day after leaving an island. He stumbled upon two more islands near the center of the Triangle Sea Area, hidden behind a slight fog. As per my memory, there’s only one island in that area."

"What?" Gu Fan quickly compared the entry to the pirate’s drawn map and confirmed the inconsistency between the two.