After Black Cocoon t with the Leader of the White Raven Brigade on the middle school rooftop, his Restraining Band Avatar dissolved into a cloud of scorching steam, blowing away toward the city with the wind.
anwhile, in the Guyimai Residential Area.
Host Body One, Gu Wenyu, suddenly opened his eyes in bed. A red and black notification box appeared in his vision.
[Notice: Your Restraining Band Avatar has died.]
[Following a twelve-hour cooldown period, the Restraining Band Avatar can be released again.]
Gu Wenyu closed the panel, tucked his arms behind his head, and turned his face to stare blankly at the billboard outside his window.
"That went smoothly enough. In all likelihood, the Leader will take the mbers to Norway to wait for the Legendary Whale to land. As long as they can enter the Garden World, Xize'er and Li Qingping will have a chance to survive."
"So... the top priority right now is the Salvation Society. Tomorrow morning, I have to go to London with my Little Sister and the others. Then it will be a race against the Salvation Society to see who can catch Red Traffic Light first."
Having made up his mind, he slowly closed his eyes, synchronizing his consciousness with Host Body Two.
At the sa ti, at the Marco Polo International Airport in Venice.
It was still five in the afternoon here, but the sky was already growing dark. The afterglow of the sunset resembled a yellow bus sliding down a blood-red slope, pressing heavily against people's cheeks.
Wearing his human-faced mask, Xia Pingzhou walked shoulder to shoulder with Ayase Origami through the long airport corridor.
Jack the Ripper followed behind them, playing "Ninja Fruit Slice" on her mobile phone without even lifting her head.
He had no idea what kind of obsession she had with slicing fruit. Perhaps she had developed an addiction to slicing people and needed a substitute. Either way, the constant swishing sounds coming from the device irritated Xia Pingzhou.
The three of them boarded the first-class cabin of the airplane. Hacker had modified the flight's status so that no other passengers could book seats in this section, leaving the entire cabin exclusively to them.
Xia Pingzhou had to admit that the only perk of joining the White Raven Brigade was gaining this digital pet who could arrange itineraries and provide information anyti, anywhere.
The downside was being under twenty-four-hour surveillance whenever an electronic device was nearby.
However, considering Xia Pingzhou was still in a high-risk observation period and the Leader had not completely dropped his suspicions, being monitored by Hacker was not entirely a bad thing.
A violent jolt ran through the cabin as the plane took off amid the roaring of its engines. Their destination was London, England. The flight from Venice to London would only take two hours.
Xia Pingzhou raised his head to gaze at the sky outside the window, clear as if washed by water, before turning his attention to the Kimono Girl who was looking down at her Haiku Collection.
"By the way... do you really like haiku?" he asked.
"This is the only thing my mother left ," she replied softly.
Xia Pingzhou fell silent for a mont. "Have you ever been to London?"
"No. What about you?"
"It is my first ti going to a place like that too."
Xia Pingzhou lowered his eyes, his mind suddenly drifting to Kong Youling. Back when they were in the Orphanage, the two of them used to lie on their stomachs in a corner of the library, heads pressed together. They would flip through a travel magazine spread out on the floor, gasping in awe at pictures of Big Ben and the River Thas in London.
Kong Youling had said that the outside world was so big. He had agreed, promising to take her out to see it one day, vowing to write "Ji Minghuan and Kong Youling were here" everywhere they went.
"But... won't we get yelled at?" Kong Youling had asked, holding up her Notebook.
"Then we'll just run away," Ji Minghuan had declared proudly. "We'll run all the way to the North Pole, ride a polar bear down to the South Pole, catch a huge flock of penguins, tie them all together, and ride on their backs around the Pacific Ocean."
"Can penguins be used as boats?"
"Didn't that pirate animated series say that penguins make the most durable ships?"
"That is amazing... I want to ride a penguin ship!" Kong Youling's eyes had sparkled as she scribbled in her Notebook, harboring absolutely no doubts about Captain Ji Minghuan's grand plan.
Suddenly, a cold, clear voice interrupted Xia Pingzhou's reverie.
"Will there be a Sherlock Hols... in London?" Ayase Origami asked after a mont of thought. It seed that when it ca to England, the only na this girl lacking in common knowledge knew was Sherlock Hols.
"I have no idea. Since there is a modern version of Jack the Ripper, it would not be strange for London to have a modern Sherlock Hols, right?" Xia Pingzhou said lightly.
"What is your problem with the modern Jack the Ripper?" an icy voice demanded from behind them.
"Nothing," Xia Pingzhou retorted. "I am speaking with the Young Mistress. Please do not interrupt."
Ayase Origami closed her Haiku Collection. "Then... would Sherlock Hols be an Esper?"
"I feel like... he should be an Exorcist."
"Why not an Esper?"
"His Celestial Drive could be a pipe or sothing. It would be very stylish." Xia Pingzhou maintained a blank expression. "If he were an Esper, it would be hard for
to imagine what his ability would be. Besides, a detective relying on superpowers to solve cases would just be la."
"Oh."
Ayase Origami suddenly went quiet.
In truth, Xia Pingzhou really wanted to tell her that she did not have to force a conversation if she could not find a topic. Whenever she tried to initiate small talk, she looked as if she were racking her brain. Perhaps there would always be a pathetic barrier between a Doll and a human. Fortunately, his own persona was that of a robot.
The cabin was dead silent. Xia Pingzhou turned his head, staring blankly at the sea of clouds beyond the window.
A single scenario played on a continuous loop in his mind: If he saw Kong Youling walking down a London street in a hospital gown tomorrow, would he really be able to keep a cool head? He had already co this far; a single misstep would ruin everything.
The Kimono Girl suddenly spoke up. "What are you thinking about?"
"What?" Xia Pingzhou paused, turning back to et her gaze.
"Since yesterday, you have made
feel..." she murmured, "like you are weighed down by heavy thoughts."
"Does he?" Jack the Ripper chid in from the row behind them. "Isn't he just a deadpan guy? How could he possibly look weighed down by heavy thoughts?"
"I second that," Xia Pingzhou agreed.
Ayase Origami lowered her eyes, staring at the text in her Haiku Collection for a mont. "Is that so?"
Xia Pingzhou remained silent for a beat. "Sotis I think it would be nice if I were really just a cat. A cat's only responsibilities are napping and acting spoiled. They don't have to worry about heavy thoughts."
"Are you not a cat?" Ayase Origami asked.
"Only in front of you."
"I have already seen you nap. Let
see you act spoiled."
Right at that mont, Jack the Ripper kicked the back of their seats hard. Her lukewarm voice drifted from behind: "Acting so brazenly... Do you want
to chop off your fingers and use them as a mouse to play my ga? I really wouldn't mind doing it."
"Gonasai." "Sumimasen."
The two apologized with expressionless faces, their tones utterly devoid of fluctuation.
Xia Pingzhou gazed out the window. 'Jack the Ripper is currently the strongest combatant in the entire brigade. Bringing her along will hopefully prove useful during this trip to London, but the problem is... how am I supposed to make contact with Red Traffic Light without arousing suspicion from them and Hacker?'
'Should I use Host Body One's intelligence-gathering abilities to orchestrate a chance encounter?'
He shook his head, reeling in his scattered thoughts.
"Speaking of which..." Xia Pingzhou suddenly spoke.
"What?" The Kimono Girl turned to look at him.
"I have been your cat for so long. When are you going to be my cat? It is only fair." Xia Pingzhou turned his head, staring at Ayase Origami with a deadpan expression.
She froze for a second.
"...The kitten has rebelled."
"Be careful that the kitten does not suddenly turn into a lion. I bite."
"Wait until the day," Ayase Origami said disapprovingly, looking back down at her book, "you beco stronger than ."
"Really? Then would you have to call
'Master' when that day cos?" Xia Pingzhou said nonchalantly.
Ayase Origami did not say anything. Instead, she used a sheet of paper to form a tiny hand and gently scratched his cheek.
The plane soared through the sea of clouds, its cabin still trembling slightly. Looking at the pale and silent Kimono Girl beside him, Xia Pingzhou felt as though he was being infected by her Doll-like deanor. His initially restless mood began to settle.
He closed his eyes and unconsciously drifted off to sleep, resting his head against her shoulder.
"Restricted-tier Esper, ID Number 1002—'Ji Minghuan', wake up imdiately and prepare yourself. The Tutor has a ssage to relay."
It was impossible to tell exactly how much ti had passed when a chilling voice dragged him out of his slumber.
Ji Minghuan groggily opened his eyes, scratching at the collar fastened around his neck. He slowly sat up, staring blankly at the penguin-shaped intercom speaker on the ceiling.
Before long, the heavy tal door swung open, and the Tutor walked in. "Ji Minghuan, are you ready?"
"Ready for what?"
"Ready to head out on a mission. When you wake up, you will find yourself in London."
"That fast? Are we taking a plane?"
"You will find out soon enough."
"Fine." Ji Minghuan rubbed his eyes, slid off the bed, and ambled over to the table. "So why are you here now? You might as well just be quick about it and ship us all off to London right now."
"First, I want to introduce you to Mario. It will be easier for you two to look out for each other when the ti cos."
"Mario? That kid whose Celestial Drive is a ga console?" Ji Minghuan pulled up a chair and took a seat.
"Yes."
Resting his chin on his hand, Ji Minghuan let out a yawn and muttered, "You're not planning to shoot us up with anesthetics, put us to sleep, and have Mario load a 'London' level on his console, are you? Then when we wake up, you'll trick us into believing it's the real London?"
"You certainly have a vivid imagination," the Tutor replied, smiling faintly with his hands clasped behind his back. "Anyway, he is here. Try to get along with him."
With that, he walked out of the Confinent Room without looking back, his figure disappearing into the blazing white curtain of light.
Ji Minghuan tilted his head, silently watching the entrance to the Confinent Room from the corner of his eye, wondering what kind of freak or monster would show up this ti.
Soon enough, a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes stepped through the dazzling light, his gait sluggish and dispirited. Mario hung his head, clutching a ga console in both hands. The dark circles under his eyes were so pronounced that he looked as if he had not slept in ten days and nights.
Ji Minghuan looked up, eyeing him curiously before adopting an aggressive tone.
"So you're the kid nad Mario, huh? Did you pay Nintendo their copyright fees for using that na?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)