"That is how it happened." Hong Guoguo finished her dejected recount, her voice thick with a nasal quality. "After hearing news of Sister Zhaoran, I... I immediately followed your scent and chased after you, Sister Hyacine..."
'To think she ran into Lin Zhenyi and the others by such a coincidence...'
Hyacine rubbed her temples, feeling a wave of speechlessness.
"Sister Hyacine, I beg you..." Hong Guoguo's voice carried a sob as she gripped Hyacine's sleeve tightly. "Sister Zhaoran fell in, her fate unknown, and now even you are leaving... don't leave me here alone..."
"Sigh..." Hyacine looked at her pleading eyes and sighed. "Fine, come along. We'll have Cipher open a portal to save us the train ride."
After speaking, she made a show of operating her terminal.
In less than a minute, a stable purple portal quietly unfurled in the air.
"Let's go, Guoguo."
With that, Hyacine was the first to step into the light.
Hong Guoguo hurriedly wiped her eyes and followed close behind.
With a flash of light, the two appeared before Cipher.
At this moment, Cipher was leaning lazily in a sofa scrolling through her terminal. On the ground around her, even more soldiers who had come as reinforcements only to be quickly "laid out" were sprawled in all directions, their numbers significantly higher than when Hyacine had left the clinic.
"Tsk, I didn't want you to know about Little Ran's situation."
When Cipher looked up and saw Hong Guoguo, she put down her terminal with some helplessness.
"Why?" Hong Guoguo asked in confusion. "Sister Zhaoran and I have known each other for so long..."
"It is precisely because you have known each other so long and have such deep feelings that I wanted to keep it a secret for now." Cipher sighed and stood up. "Her current situation... even I can't say for sure. She might be in some unknown world, or she might..."
She paused, not voicing the worst possibility.
"In short, I originally intended for Hyacine to scout the way first. I would tell you once we found a trace of Lu Zhaoran."
Hong Guoguo remained silent for a moment, then asked in a low voice:
"Then... why can't I go?"
"It is not that I am forbidding it, but the risk is too high; it is not recommended." Cipher's gaze swept over Hyacine and Little Ica floating beside her. "I believe in Hyacine's strength to protect herself, but bringing you along introduces too many variables."
As she spoke, she began counting on her fingers:
"First, I do not have absolute certainty that the other side of the Spirit Tide is your world."
"Second, no one knows if you will be randomly teleported to different locations after entering."
"However," Cipher's tone shifted as she looked seriously at Hong Guoguo, "since you know about Lu Zhaoran now, I will not stop you. Whether you go or not is your own decision."
"I'm going!" Hong Guoguo did not hesitate for a second, her eyes firm. "In this world, Sister Zhaoran is the person who cares about me most, followed by Sister Hyacine. If they are both leaving, what point is there in me staying? Besides..." she added, a glint of hope in her eyes, "if that really is my world over there, I can help Sister Hyacine familiarize herself with the environment!"
Seeing the resolve in Hong Guoguo's eyes, Cipher stopped trying to dissuade her.
"Alright." She nodded, then rummaged through her system inventory, pulling out two items—one looking like a beacon and the other like glue—and handed them to Hong Guoguo.
"In that case, take these two items with you."
Cipher passed them over.
"These two items are called Localized Anchor and Fortune Glue. One is used to prevent accidents during spatial traversal, and the other is for saving your life."
She then gave a detailed introduction to the two items.
"Aren't these a bit too precious?!"
After hearing the functions of these items, Hong Guoguo's eyes widened in disbelief.
What did she mean by effectively resisting common jump accidents like spatial tearing, coordinate deviation, and temporal disorder? And what was this about gaining good luck after applying it, safely passing the next 24 hours regardless of previous dangers?!
Setting aside the former—which some powerful space-type ability users might also achieve—the latter was practically something on a conceptual level!
"It is nothing." Cipher waved her hand dismissively. "I have no use for Fortune Glue, and I still have several Localized Anchors."
"Besides, the Localized Anchor is not a one-time use item, and the Fortune Glue is just for emergencies; there is a high probability you won't need it. If you really feel bad about it, just give it to Hyacine once you are safe."
"Oh... okay, alright." Hong Guoguo was a bit dazed by Cipher's "tycoon" speech and instinctively took the two items.
"Right, since it is decided, then let's set off!"
Cipher did not delay further and turned to lead the way.
Hyacine and Hong Guoguo followed closely behind, soon arriving at the door of the small observation room.
"This is it."
As she spoke, Cipher stepped to the door of the small observation room. After silently saying "I can easily open the door before me," the alloy gate slowly swung open before the two.
Behind the door, a deep blue spatial rift floated in the center of the observation room, emitting heart-palpitating energy fluctuations and unstable light.
Violent energy currents twisted and tore at the edges of the rift like formless tentacles.
"That is the entrance to the Spirit Tide." Cipher stepped aside, gesturing for the two to look at the rift. "After attaching the Localized Anchor to your belts, you can enter."
Looking at the terrifying rift that seemed capable of swallowing everything, Hong Guoguo swallowed nervously, her fingers unconsciously clutching the corner of her clothes.
"It is not too late to regret it now," Cipher noted, catching her nervous mood as her tone softened slightly. "The danger of this thing is something even I can only estimate. If Hyacine were not strong enough, I would never let her take the risk."
"No need!" Hong Guoguo took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her fear as her gaze turned firm again. "I have already come this far, how can I back down!"
As if to overcome her hesitation, she closed her eyes and charged straight toward the rift!
"Ouch!"
However, the expected feeling of weightlessness did not come. Hong Guoguo felt herself headbutt a soft yet resilient barrier and was gently bounced back.
She covered her forehead and opened her eyes, finding a pink Bubble barrier emitting a warm halo had appeared in front of her at some point.
"Don't be in such a hurry." Hyacine's teasing voice rang out as she gently took Hong Guoguo's hand. "Safety first. Let's set up the protective shield before we go."
Feeling the warmth from her palm and seeing the sturdy pink barrier, Hong Guoguo's face turned slightly red. Her reckless behavior just now made her feel a bit embarrassed.
"Mhm... okay, sure."
She answered softly, then allowed Hyacine to lead her, step by step, into that deep blue chasm.