Chapter Sixty-Six: Explosion.

The blade bearers never went anywhere without their blades.

"It'll take another four hours to get to Shanhai City. If you're bored, you can sleep for a while."

The plane took off, and the temperature in the cabin was slightly low. Mei handed the blanket beside her to Kiana.

Kiana casually draped it over herself, then looked at Mei expectantly. "When we reach Shanhai City and encounter the Whale Monster, can I try my hand?"

"You want to fight?"

"Mm-hmm."

Kiana nodded and said excitedly, "I've gotten stronger again, so I want to test my strength."

She had bought herself another handgun, but the handgun was her limiter. Whenever she encountered a powerful enemy, she would put it down and raise her fists instead.

"Fine."

Mei answered softly, "But don't act on your own."

"Don't worry, Mei."

In the seats on the other side, Sirin rubbed her chin and turned to look at Yae Sakura sitting beside her. "Hey, don't you think their relationship is a little too good?"

Yae Sakura, who had been resting with her eyes closed, opened them in confusion. "What makes you say that?"

"Look."

Sirin lowered her voice. "How can anyone be this intimate?"

Kiana rested her head on Mei's shoulder, and Raiden Mei didn't mind at all. She simply kept still, closed her eyes, and meditated.

Yae Sakura glanced at them. "It's normal."

"Is this normal?"

Sirin looked doubtful. She began to wonder whether she had been making friends incorrectly. Had she misunderstood what friendship was supposed to be? Was this what it was really like?

"If you're close, naturally you'll be intimate."

"Are you saying that my relationship with her isn't good?"

Sirin's expression darkened.

Kiana was a friend she had personally acknowledged. Yae Sakura, this woman who couldn't speak properly, was no comparison at all.

Yae Sakura nodded, but before Sirin could turn red with anger, she added, "You've only met her three times."

She had returned Sirin's earlier words in much the same manner, without the slightest change in tone.

Sirin glared at her unhappily, but that was the truth, and she had no way to refute it. She shut her eyes angrily. "I'm going to sleep."

They reached Shanhai City's airport safely without incident. By the time they arrived, it was already night.

Yet the city was still as bright as day. Neon colors filled the spaces between the skyscrapers, and after leaving the airport, the crowds along the roadside and the streams of cars were just as vibrant.

"There are way too many people."

Sirin frowned. She didn't like searching for someone in a crowd where people were constantly coming and going.

"How lively!"

Kiana sighed in admiration. The prosperity and vitality here were no different from those of the major cities before she crossed over. It was hard to imagine that this was Izumo, where the land had once been covered in scorched earth.

"It's certainly much livelier than Changkong City. Shanhai City has great prospects for development, and it's also the heart of this entire region."

Mei didn't pay much attention to that. She only noticed that Kiana was looking at everything with not only amazement but also longing.

Was she thinking of the homeland she could never return to?

That was what Mei thought.

"Stop staring at the sights. We're going over there."

Sirin quickly spotted a man in a suit waving at them. She grabbed Kiana and headed over.

Mei froze for a moment before hurrying after them.

Yae Sakura shook her head as she watched this scene. After getting off the plane, she had put her cloak back on and was walking at the very end.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, ladies. This way, please."

The suited man who had come to receive them led the way and brought them to the waiting car. "Lady Sirin, it's getting late. Shall I take you to the hotel?"

"Let's go to the hotel."

They weren't being taken to see the Whale Monster immediately. It seemed the situation wasn't too serious. The Whale Monster was probably still on the seabed and had made no new moves.

The suited man said nothing more. He drove toward a certain destination while telling Sirin about the intelligence related to the Whale Monster.

They couldn't dive that deep to fight, so all reports related to the Whale Monster came from technological observation.

"Many other Kishin living in the sea have also been affected. They're now following it and hope to have Lady Sirin pay attention to them as well. Kishin abilities are strange and varied, and we still have many shortcomings when it comes to gathering data on enemies in the sea."

Humans couldn't take hits as well as Kishin.

Once killed, they died.

No one wanted an Edict Blade wielder who could fight Takemikazuchi to capsize in a ditch and fall here.

"Mm, I know the intelligence. But the person you should brief isn't me. It's the one beside me."

Sirin looked at Raiden Mei, who was listening with great seriousness, and introduced her. "Raiden Mei. I've handed the mission to subjugate the Whale Monster over to her. After all, the Resonating Blade is definitely more suited than I am to killing Kishin."

"R-Raiden?"

Everyone knew the information about the Resonating Blade, but it was all in written form. That was why the suited man hadn't recognized Raiden Mei just now.

"...Yes, that's me."

Mei nodded, but she felt a little awkward inside. Will everyone I meet from now on be surprised by my existence?

She only knew the general outline.

She had no idea how Sirin had described her, to make everyone who met her react with such astonishment.

66

Chapter Sixty-Six: Explosion.

"I'm truly sorry. I failed to notice you just now."

The suited man hurriedly apologized.

"That's not important."

Mei was genuinely curious about how Sirin had described her, but this wasn't the time to ask. She restrained her curiosity and said, "Please continue telling me more about the Whale Monster."

"Of course!"

The suited man answered and poured out more information that needed attention like beans spilling from a sack.

Raiden Mei wasn't the battle-hardened Sirin, so he explained things in much greater detail this time, adding plenty of points that a novice should pay attention to.

The key was to be wary of Kishin abilities.

When powerful Kishin were being subjugated, they often had followers by their sides. Kishin abilities were bizarre and varied, and when combined, they could be extremely troublesome, making them difficult to guard against.

The human body was fragile.

Therefore, when facing Kishin with all kinds of strange abilities, one had to be careful—extremely careful.

Far too many people had fallen along the road of subjugating Kishin.

These were all things Mei lacked. They were also experiences that others had summarized with their lives, so she listened extremely carefully.

The hotel was by the sea.

When Sirin arrived and calculated the distance, she glared at the suited man in annoyance. She had even thought that the arrangements this time were pretty good and that they wouldn't make them travel somewhere in the middle of the night.

So they had simply arranged for them to stay by the sea.

That way, if anything happened, they could discover it immediately and respond at once.

Forget it. I'm used to this by now.

There was indeed nothing wrong with the arrangement, and the surroundings looked quite nice too. Besides, she wasn't the main force this time. Raiden Mei was.

She seemed to like it.

The hotel arrangements had been made long ago. They only needed to take their key cards and go directly to their rooms to rest.

They hadn't put two people in each room. Once they learned that there were four people traveling together, they had immediately opened two more rooms.

That left Kiana feeling somewhat disappointed.

She really wanted to share a room with Mei. Once there was a first time, there would be a second, and then she wouldn't have to worry about lacking an excuse to sleep with Mei next time.

And besides...

"This is way too big."

The room was rather luxurious. The most eye-catching feature was the enormous floor-to-ceiling window, through which the seascape under the night sky could be seen clearly.

There was also an enormous bed.

Four people could probably lie on it without feeling crowded.

She walked to the window and looked at the clearly visible scenery outside. It was easy to imagine how beautiful it would be during the day.

Yet beneath that beauty lurked unknown dangers. From their conversation, the number of Kishin in the ocean was also nothing to underestimate.

While she was letting her thoughts wander, the doorbell suddenly rang. Someone was looking for her outside.

"Mei, what brings you here?"

Kiana ran over to open the door. When she saw Mei outside, her eyes lit up. "Do you want to sleep in the same room as me?"

Mei hadn't expected Kiana to invite her to stay, and she froze for a moment. "...Sorry."

"Next time. I just promised that gentleman I'd go to the place where they observe Kishin and learn more about the situation."

Seeing that Mei had something to do, Kiana said instinctively, "Then I'll go with you."

"No need."

Mei smiled. "I already asked about it. It's quite boring over there. I just don't understand them deeply enough yet, so I want to take a look."

Boring... Are they just watching surveillance footage the whole time?

That sort of thing really wasn't suitable for her. She might even disturb Mei.

"All right."

"This is one I just bought. I've already added my contact information."

Mei took out another phone and handed it to her. "You can contact me anytime if something happens."

"When will you be back?"

"I'm not sure."

She didn't know how long she would need to stay there. She said, "Don't worry. I'll keep in touch with you the whole time."

"All right."

Mei left. Kiana turned around and threw herself onto the bed, fiddling with the phone. The new phone's interface was clean, and its contact list contained only one lonely entry: Raiden Mei.

Kiana thought for a moment, then changed the contact name to "Mei Wife." She couldn't suppress the smile at the corners of her mouth. "This feels much friendlier!"

Before she could look at it for more than a moment, another sound came from outside the door. Kiana had just secretly changed the contact name, and her heart nearly leaped into her throat.

"Who—who is it?"

Her voice carried an indistinct hint of nervousness. She quickly put the phone away and ran to open the door with a guilty conscience.

When the door opened, the person standing outside wasn't Mei but Sirin. Kiana secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Why are you here?"

Since she hadn't spent enough time with Sirin yet, Kiana reservedly didn't ask whether she wanted to share a room.

"I'm taking you out to have fun. Coming?"

"Just the two of us?"

"Yes."

"Shouldn't we invite Yae Sakura too?"