Aalto: "Why so sudden?"
Lucian shared his earlier thoughts, and Aalto, upon hearing them, sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation.
"That idea of yours isn't bad, but our person-in-charge would never let you do that."
Lucian blinked. "Person-in-charge?"
Aalto humd proudly, spreading his arms wide. "She is an existence born alongside our planet, the embodint of its will, the echo of all things in this world—"
Lucian leaned over and whispered to Rover, "This guy says I'm the one with issues, but he's clearly the one with chuunibyou. Rover, let's stay away from him…"
Rover nodded in agreent.
Aalto: "…"
Do they not know that Resonators have hearing far beyond ordinary people?
Aalto cleared his throat awkwardly. "Ahem, let's get back on topic."
He plucked the black flower from his shoulder and said, "This black flower is also a product of the energy leaking from the Black Shores."
"Due to its unique location, the Black Shores have beco the most accurate place for observing and predicting The Lant."
"But the patterns of The Lant's occurrences are constantly shifting. As for the truth behind it… we're still researching."
"All we can do is predict the tidal timings of The Lant, summarize its known patterns, and issue warnings to help nations prepare in advance."
Lucian scratched his head. "Then where exactly are the Black Shores?"
He recalled Yangyang saying even she didn't know their precise location—as if they were completely cut off from the world.
Aalto smirked mysteriously. "Once you beco a mber of the Black Shores, soone will naturally guide you there."
Rover asked, "Were you following
before?"
Aalto nodded slightly. "Fine, I'll admit it, Rover. We have been keeping an eye on you. But please believe —we an no harm."
"We just wanted to confirm whether you're soone we can trust as an ally."
"Every mber of the Black Shores acts with the shared goal of resisting The Lant and saving the world. They're all exceptional talents—top-tier hackers, demolition experts, feng shui masters… you na it."
"Judging by your way of doing things, you'd actually fit right in with us. So, what do you say? Care to join?"
Lucian: "Top-tier hackers, demolition experts, feng shui masters?"
He coughed twice. "The Black Shores needed a hacker, so they recruited one. They needed an expert, so they recruited one. They needed a master, so they recruited one."
"But little did they know, they only needed to recruit one person to fulfill all those roles!"
Aalto raised an eyebrow. "And who might that be?"
Lucian declared loudly: "That would be !"
Aalto: "…?"
Beside him, Rover wore an expression that said, here we go again. She had long since beco immune to Lucian's narcissism.
Aalto lowered his sunglasses slightly, giving Lucian a once-over. "I don't see it. But I will admit, no one surpasses you when it cos to flirting with anything that moves."
Lucian: "?"
How dare you say that in front of Rover?!
Sure enough, the next second, Lucian felt a chilling touch against the back of his neck.
He turned to see Rover smiling at him—a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Even Aalto knows about your habit of flirting around. Seems like this reputation of yours is truly well-established, huh…"
Lucian laughed nervously. "Haha… misunderstandings, all misunderstandings…"
Seizing the mont while Rover was distracted, he quickly slipped the Comical Eyepatch onto her head.
But clearly, the eyepatch no longer had any effect on her.
She took it off and placed it on his head instead, then turned back to Aalto. "Do you know Callya?"
Aalto chuckled. "Ah, her? Of course I do!"
"Sure, she might seem a little… unhinged, but she is a mber of our organization."
"She only accepted this mission because of you, you know. Didn't expect you to be so charming."
Rover shrugged. "She nearly killed ."
Lucian: "Rover, if she dared treat you like that, next ti I'll make sure to stab her back for you!"
Rover: "?" She suspected Lucian was making a dirty joke, but she had no proof.
Aalto: "Maybe her way of expressing emotions is just… direct? But don't worry, she wouldn't actually harm you."
Rover nodded slightly and asked again, "What are you doing in Jinzhou?"
Aalto: "According to the warnings from our Lant monitoring system, the next Threnodian revival will occur in Jinzhou."
"Our goal here is to relay this information to the city."
Lucian frowned. "The next one?"
He rembered Yangyang saying that Threnodians were enemies of civilization, manifestations of collective anxiety and inner demons—foes that had to be defeated.
Aalto nodded. "That's right. So regions have already been destroyed by Threnodian revivals… We don't want to see the sa thing happen again."
Rover pressed further: "What's my connection to the Black Shores?"
Aalto spread his hands. "? I'm just a humble 'guest consultant' in the Black Shores. I only know a fraction of their secrets."
"But I believe the intel I'm giving you now is more than worth the value of this trip—"
"This isn't the first ti you've awakened. And the place you awoke before… was the Black Shores."
"Rover, our goals are the sa."
The first awakening was at the Black Shores?
Lucian glanced at Rover. He rembered her saying she woke up at the nto Square in Stone Pile Plain. Was there more to it?
Rover rubbed her chin in thought, but her mories were too hazy. She couldn't recall anything from before.
Encore declared loudly: "That's right! Encore can prove it—Threnodians are big bad guys! Encore and Aalto are heroes of justice! Heroes of justice must defeat the big bad guys!"
Aalto chuckled. "Of course, I don't expect you to believe and join us so quickly."
"Rember the black flower I gave you earlier?"
"It's both a token of our mbers and a key to the Black Shores. Sooner or later, you'll need it."
Aalto exhaled deeply. "Whew—Anyway, this mission is a success. We retrieved the Data Beacon and uncovered a major secret about the Court of Savantae."
"See? Doing business with you is never a losing deal. I hope we get to cooperate again in the future."
Lucian sighed. "I feel like I got the short end of the stick. Next ti, let's make a deal as fair as the last one!"
Aalto grimaced, unwilling to revisit the topic of two million Shell Credits.
Suddenly, he smacked his forehead. "Oh, right! I still need to check the Data Beacon first, just to be safe…"
Then, as if rembering sothing else, he muttered, "Wait… no… no no no—"
Before he could finish, Aalto dashed off, leaving Lucian and Rover utterly bewildered.
Encore stomped her foot. "Hey! Aalto, wait for Encore!"
Lucian and Rover exchanged glances, then followed side by side…
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