"Why?" Zofia was a little surprised. You know, if this sentence was thrown out, it would definitely cause an earthquake in the upper social circles of the Ark - even if the condition was to marry into the Soma family, countless young talents would scramble for it, and the man in front of her who came from a common class... he actually asked her if he could refuse?

"Well...if you really want me to give a reason..." Ke Lan thought for a moment and said, "A high EQ version or a low EQ version, which one do you want to hear, Miss Zofia?"

"Two." Zofia said expressionlessly.

"As for the high EQ version... I think we've known each other for less than a month, and we've only met twice in total. We don't know each other at all, let alone have a foundation for love. Isn't it a bit too fast to talk about marriage?"

"What about the low EQ version?" Zofia asked.

"I think this might be a trap."

“…”

Suddenly, the room fell into silence and the atmosphere became a little awkward.

After a long while, Zofia, who had recovered from her shock, asked in the calmest tone possible: "Why do you think... why do you think this is a trap?"

"Any normal person who is not possessed by that bug will think this is a trap..." Ke Lan smiled helplessly, "You may not think so from your perspective, but from a third party's perspective, if I agree to this condition, I will be like a low-IQ tool who is deceived by beauty..."

Ke Lan paused, took a sip of water, and continued, "To put it in a more understandable way, it's like in a common fairy tale, where the king promises the warrior, 'As long as you can defeat the dragon, I will marry you the princess.' But in fact, in the dragon's cave, the armor and weapons of the warriors eaten by it have long been piled up as high as a small mountain."

"But what if the warrior really killed the dragon?" Zofia asked angrily.

"First of all, I'm not sure if I'm the hero who killed the dragon or one of the supporting heroes who was killed. Secondly, this is just a fairy tale... In reality, the warriors who killed the dragon often become the next dragon, and the princess' ending is often to be married off to another country as a bargaining chip for political marriage."

“…”

"So, if I were a prince of a neighboring country instead of an unknown warrior, I would definitely agree with your proposal, Miss Zofia - after all, no man doesn't like beautiful women... It's a pity that I'm probably not even a warrior." Ke Lan laughed, "So don't joke with me. If I really fall in love with Miss Zofia, I'll be finished."

"Is falling in love with me a bad thing?" There was a hint of barely perceptible anger in Zofia's tone.

"If you're not careful you could lose your life, isn't that terrible?" Ke Lan said with a smile.

"Then isn't it bad enough to face the threat of heretical sects?" Zofia asked back sharply.

"Uh... what did you say? What heretical sect?" Although Ke Lan's expression did not show any change, his heart suddenly "skipped" - this beautiful woman seemed to have much more information than he had imagined.

"It's that... the heretical sect that brought the 'Seed of Corrosion' to the Ark." Zofia said word by word.

"What is an erosion seed? An indigenous creature? I've never heard of it... Miss Zofia, if you plan to trick me in this way, you may be disappointed... Because I really know nothing about it."

"You can choose to continue to play dumb, but I think the intelligence provided by General Maginot should not be biased." Zofia lifted her drooping hair again and continued, "Due to the relationship with the Pioneer, I have always maintained a close cooperative relationship with the military and the Security Bureau..."

It can be noticed that Zofia particularly emphasized the word "I" in this sentence. She said that "I" has always maintained a close cooperative relationship with the military and the Security Bureau, not the Soma Group.

"Is this a test?" Ke Lan thought to himself, but he still did not choose to be frank with the other party. Instead, he asked with a rather interested look: "Oh... So it seems that this matter is very confidential? I am quite curious, can you tell me a little? However, if I know that my freedom will be restricted or I will be killed, then forget it."

"You found the missing Team 776 in the underwater city." Zofia spoke again.

"Oh, so the Soma Group even went to investigate the origins of that batch of equipment, so what?" Ke Lan didn't think the other party was deceiving him. After all, he was rescued onto the ship in full view of everyone, and there was no way he could fool around about the origins of those antique equipment. Even Maginot came to him because he had received information from the Soma Group.

"Do you know Liao Xing?"

"Shit!" Ke Lan cursed inwardly. The other party had already brought out Liao Xing, a key character, and obviously knew the details of the conversation between him and Maginot. It seemed that the guy named Maginot really sold him out. This made Ke Lan even more wary of the pot-bellied general... Fortunately, he didn't tell the whole truth last time, otherwise, he would not know how he died.

Since Zofia knew this information, it was natural that the people of that heretical sect might also know it. Their infiltration into the Ark had reached an unimaginable degree. Otherwise, the arrest operation by the Security Bureau would not have failed.

Ke Lan suddenly felt that his situation had become extremely dangerous.

"Do you feel that your situation has suddenly become very dangerous?" Zofia laughed softly, "Compared to this, the Arasaka Group doesn't seem that scary?"

"No, the Arasaka Group is more terrifying. I heard that the Japanese would pour concrete piles on those who offended them and then sink them to the bottom of the sea..."

"What if I tell you that the top brass of the Arasaka Group might be colluding with that heretical sect?"

"Isn't that even more dangerous? I want to stay away from this Arasaka Group as far away as possible." Ke Lan said without thinking.

"What if they have already targeted you?"

"……Grass."