"Phew... I've finally arrived at the border of the Chaos Capital."
Lu Zhaoran stepped off the plane, raising her hand to wipe the cold sweat seeping from her forehead, her heart still fluttering with fear.
"What on earth happened over at the Chaos Capital this morning? What the hell was that giant beast? Even from such a distance, it made my heart palpitate..."
At that time, she was still sitting on the plane. Because of the sudden and inexplicable thunderstorm, the plane had planned to circle in the air first and wait for the storm to pass before descending.
But Lu Zhaoran, who possessed A rank strength, didn't think this way.
Although the distance was quite far, she was still barely able to see that terrifying giant beast in the distance at the time, as well as the lightning on its body.
So she came to a conclusion: these thunderclouds were created by this giant beast!
Thus, she immediately and anxiously sent several messages in a row to her friend in the Chaos Capital. However, these messages were like stones dropped into the sea, yielding no response.
She was worried to death at the time, even considering whether to use her spatial abilities to force a landing in the Chaos Capital.
However, this thundercloud didn't last long either. In just a short ten minutes or less, that giant beast disappeared, and the thunderclouds vanished as well.
After waiting for about another five minutes, she finally received a message from her friend saying that she was fine and even sent a photo. Only then did Lu Zhaoran's hanging heart settle down slightly, and she began to patiently wait for the plane to land.
The moment her feet touched the ground, Lu Zhaoran couldn't wait to open her Terminal and send a message to her friend.
Lu Zhaoran: Kitty, I've gotten off the plane and arrived at the Chaos Capital. When do you think it's convenient to come pick me up?
Guozi: Sister Zhaoran, don't casually call me Kitty!
Guozi: Are you over at the Border Airport? I'll come pick you up right now.
Lu Zhaoran: Okay.
Lu Zhaoran: By the way, didn't you say you met a new friend these past couple of days? You might as well introduce us.
Guozi: ...
Guozi: Actually... it doesn't entirely count as friends, right? At least I feel like I might not be qualified to be their friend, but they are really good to me, that's all.
Lu Zhaoran: They treat you so well, how does that not count as friends?
Guozi: Sigh, you don't understand... Forget it, we'll talk when we meet. I'm heading out now!
Lu Zhaoran: Wait!
Guozi: Hmm? What's wrong?
Lu Zhaoran: What on earth happened with the thunderstorm this morning? I saw a bird-like giant beast from the plane! You were in the city at the time, do you know the specific situation?
Guozi: About that matter... it's a bit complicated. I'll explain it to you in detail when we meet later.
Lu Zhaoran: Alright then.
After sending the last message, Lu Zhaoran put away her Terminal and found a seat at the airport, her thoughts churning.
"How rare... It's been three years, and Hong Guoguo actually made new friends. Sounds like more than one, too?" She muttered to herself while mindlessly scrolling on her phone, "You know, if I hadn't used my spatial abilities to catch her back then, let alone being friends, she'd probably hide from me for the rest of her life, right? I wonder how she's been doing these past two months..."
Before long, a car stopped steadily in front of Lu Zhaoran.
The rear door opened with a "click," and a petite figure agilely jumped down.
"Sister Zhaoran, I'm here to pick you up!" Hong Guoguo's crisp voice rang out.
Lu Zhaoran looked up, her gaze sweeping over the car, and raised an eyebrow in surprise, saying,
"A gang car?"
Then she turned to Hong Guoguo, her tone carrying a hint of teasing. "What's this? Guoguo, have you finally seen the light? I kept advising you to join a gang before. With your skills, the treatment definitely wouldn't be bad, but you stubbornly refused. How did you figure it out this time?"
"Moreover, you haven't made any new friends in three years, and now you suddenly know quite a few..."
"Wait! Wait!"
Hong Guoguo hastily interrupted her rapid-fire questions. "First of all! I didn't join a gang! It's just... just that they are temporarily staying on a gang's turf, so I'm also temporarily living with them." Then, her voice lowered, seeming somewhat uncertain, "Secondly... I already said, they... probably just care for me out of a senior's regard for a junior. It shouldn't count as friends..."
"Sigh..." Hearing this, Lu Zhaoran shook her head in disappointment. "Looks like you still haven't seen the light."
Then she stood up, patted her clothes, and continued,
"Then where is that senior you mentioned? Take me to meet her?"
"You probably don't need to go out of your way to meet me." At this moment, a familiar voice, tinged with a bit of lethargy and banter, suddenly came from behind Lu Zhaoran. "Because you already know me~"
"Ah?!"
Hearing this voice made Lu Zhaoran instantly guess who it was, but she still found it a bit unbelievable, so she abruptly turned around.
When she clearly saw that familiar face bearing a playful smile, she was thoroughly convinced.
"Big Boss Cipher?! It really is you! Why are you here?"
"I naturally have my ways." Cipher crossed her arms and slightly raised her chin, looking as if it were a matter of course. "It's you on the other hand, flying over here without even giving a heads-up. Could I just sit back and ignore it? That's why I came over a step ahead."
In reality, this was not the case. It was merely that the system's gacha pull happened to place Hyacine here.
As for bumping into Lu Zhaoran now, she hadn't anticipated it either.
At the time, Hong Guoguo had suddenly said she was going to pick up her friend from the airport. Out of curiosity, Cipher glanced at the chat history, and impressively saw the name of a certain someone who "surfed the internet using her real name"...
Consequently, she received astonishing news.
It turned out that Hong Guoguo's friend was actually Lu Zhaoran?! And Lu Zhaoran hadn't even gotten off the plane yet? Then what was the point of her previous actions, wandering around the Chaos Capital to see if she could find where Lu Zhaoran was?
Thus, at Cipher's request, she followed Hong Guoguo to pick her up from the airport together.
As for Hyacine, she stayed behind at the clinic to continue treating the wounded. They were going to return to the clinic eventually anyway.
"Wait a minute." Lu Zhaoran suddenly interrupted Cipher's words. "Let's set aside the fact that you arrived before me. Since we've all left, what about Luo Lin and the others?"
"Didn't you give them spatial transfer necklaces to save their lives?"
Cipher tilted her head in confusion as she spoke.
"But those are only for saving lives!" Hearing Cipher say this, Lu Zhaoran became even more anxious. "Those things are single-use items. They were originally meant to let them teleport ten kilometers away to stall for time when they suffer severe injuries, and then I would go notify you, Big Boss, to have you go over and support them."
"I see..." After listening to Lu Zhaoran's description, Cipher was deep in thought. "Then doesn't this mean there's no impact?"
"How is there no impact? This place is so far away from the Pit Bottom District. Even if I could notify you, I feel like it would be too late to rush back..."
Lu Zhaoran scratched her head, appearing somewhat frustrated.
"So you were worrying about this..." Cipher covered her face, somewhat speechless. "Since you've called me Big Boss so many times, you should at least put a little more faith in my strength."
"Since it's like this." Saying so, Cipher snapped her fingers, and a blue-purple spatial portal appeared beside Lu Zhaoran. "Off you go!"
"Eh?"
Before Lu Zhaoran could react, she felt a powerful suction force coming from beside her.
Then, losing her footing, Lu Zhaoran stumbled toward the other side of the portal.