Today's team-building activity: bullying a duke's daughter

After the "Adventurer," namely Ailan Rainbowlight, removed her helmet, her inner world seemed to undergo some kind of change.

After Lin Yu revealed her basic identity information, almost pinpointed her identity, and even mentioned the name "Omia Bosen"...

In fact, Ailan already had a feeling that he had broken through some kind of "limit".

So...

Now that Ailan has crawled out of this Alchemical Armor, he seems to have a bit of a "what's the use" attitude.

"Since you know that 'Mr. Candle' is Omia, then I'll take you to see him... Anyway, with the information you have so far, it's only a matter of time before you find out where to find him."

Ailan jumped off the armor, and wisps of blue smoke rose from the gaps in her Combat Suit —this was the excess exhaust gas produced by the Alchemy Component during operation, now being released in a concentrated manner.

Seeing Ailan's straightforward manner, Lin Yu also spoke up, "Don't we need to confirm his willingness again?"

"What does that half-buried guy's opinion matter?" Ailan Rainbowlight waved his hand. "I'll just take you there. He's not going to kill me, is he?"

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot spoke up, "Wow--aren't you afraid we'll harm him?"

"Honestly, I'm not afraid. I don't think you have any ill intentions... If you wanted to kill him, you wouldn't need me to lead the way," Ailan said, having expelled the Alchemy Waste Vapor from her body. She stretched her limbs, the space inside the Alchemical Armor seemingly making her stiff. "Besides... if you really wanted to fight us, you might not come out on top either— Nightless Sky Huo Ming City, I admit you're a formidable figure, and your trusted subordinates are all veterans of battle in the Great Wilderness, but Omia and I are not weak either."

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot, hearing Ailan's confident statement, did not refute him.

She nodded slightly. "That makes sense... Let's go then—where is Omia Boson?"

"Somewhere in this Great Wilderness, there's one of his strongholds... well, it's just one of many. He told me to finish up my business here and head over there."

"However, the journey might be a bit long. If we travel from the Great Wilderness and are lucky enough to avoid any alchemical disasters or attacks, it will probably take three to four days."

As Ailan Rainbowlight spoke, Nightless Sky Fire Apricot sighed.

"Three or four days? Ailan, I'm not like you, Second Generation rich kid who failed in your business, is unemployed, lazy, and spends all your time having fun. I'm very busy; I don't have three days to take you on a trip to the Great Wilderness!"

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot spoke, she was clearly faithfully imitating Nightless Sky Huo Ming's speaking style.

After all, she wholeheartedly agreed to let Nightless Sky Fire Apricot spend three days in the Great Wilderness conducting the only true hiking event in the entire City That Never Sleeps.

But...

It's true that she doesn't have time—the current Nightless Sky Fire Apricot is no longer the idle Second Generation heir, but the future Chosen of Wisdom.

Despite having the special permission from Nightless Sky Yong Lian to come out and "assist Lin Yu"...

However, it's impossible for Nightless Sky Fire Apricot to stay in the Great Wilderness forever without showing her face—both within the Truth Company and the Nightless Sky Family, there are many matters that require Nightless Sky Fire Apricot's involvement.

These matters might be fine if they piled up for a day or two, but if they dragged on for more than three days, she would definitely face a barrage of impeachments from within her family when she returned.

Certainly...

Even if it weren't for Nightless Sky Fire Apricot, Lin Yu's side alone would hope to find out the Truth of the matter as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Ailan Rainbowlight was getting a little anxious from being urged on by Nightless Sky Fire Apricot.

"If you don't have time, you don't have time, so why belittle me to the point of being worthless?"

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot raised an eyebrow. "Did I misjudge you...? You just failed in your business, didn't you? The heir of a powerful Ducal Family ran a company that went bankrupt. In the past fifty years... no, in a hundred years, you'd be one of those people in City That Never Sleeps!"

"If your dad had just let you skip some of the orders from the Universal Chamber of Commerce, you wouldn't be in this mess."

Ailan Rainbowlight said seriously, "What's the point of that? How would that prove my abilities...? I don't need that company to make money; I just need to prove that I can succeed without relying on the Rainbowlight Family name or my father!"

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot turned to Lin Yu: "Now you understand how that idiot went bankrupt, right?"

Lin Yu nodded. "I understand perfectly..."

"This is a typical case of over-indulgence leading to a mismatch between ability and vision, which is quite common in high-income families that practice elite education," Old Zheng said, adjusting his glasses. "Because they've had a smooth life from a young age, and their education system relies on family resources to consistently maintain a 'central' and 'leading' position in sports competitions and club activities, coupled with the 'implicit requirements' imposed by their family environment and social class, these individuals not only demand of themselves 'worldly success,' but also far surpass that of ordinary people, even if they can't match their relatives' achievements. Furthermore, the constant feeling of 'winning' in simulated competitive environments like schools and clubs from childhood often leads children from these families who may actually be mediocre to mistakenly believe they possess exceptional talent and genuinely pursue this enormous and often highly challenging career success."

"At the same time, this environment may also lead to personality disorders such as a lack of empathy, causing him not only to blindly pursue success but also to lack a proper understanding of failure and setbacks. After a huge gap, he may either become cynical or become despondent—even if his family environment can provide him with a safety net and give him sufficient material resources for trial and error, his psychological capacity for trial and error is already shockingly low."

Lin Yu asked curiously, "Are you talking about 'The Tycoon'?"

"Tycoon? Oh... I've met that guy, but his situation is different," Old Zheng shook his head. "He treats business like Liangshan, indulging in his 'gangster boss' Game, so he genuinely doesn't care about going bankrupt... I'm referring to some common phenomena I observed during my time in Yanjing..."

As the two were talking, Ailan Rainbowlight couldn't understand the later parts of their conversation, but she understood the earlier ones.

Her face flushed red as she looked at Nightless Sky Fire Apricot and questioned her.

"What do you mean, Nightless Sky Huo Ming City? Are you just going to let your subordinates humiliate me like this?"

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot spread her hands. "Wow, you think I instructed you to say these things?"

"Otherwise what? You're a Royal Nobles, how dare they humiliate an heir of a Ducal Family if you don't let them speak?" Ailan was so excited he was almost incoherent. "In short, keep your Ming! Nightless Sky Fire Dog in check!"

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot heard that Ailan was so anxious that she called him by the wrong name, she couldn't help but chuckle.

"What?... Fine, I'll put in a good word for them."

As she spoke, Nightless Sky Fire Apricot looked at Old Zheng and Lin Yu.

"Hey, you two, that's going too far—apologize to Miss Ailan!"

Lin Yu and Old Zheng didn't stand on ceremony either. Nightless Sky Fire Apricot mentioned it, they immediately bowed to Ailan Rainbowlight.

"We apologize, Your Excellency Ailan Rainbowlight, we shouldn't have spoken ill of you to your face."

Hearing Lin Yu and Old Zheng's respectful apologies, Ailan Rainbowlight didn't feel any better; instead, she felt even more aggrieved.

She held back for a long time without responding to their apologies, and looked at Nightless Sky Fire Apricot.

"You're just jealous that I'm the first in line to the throne... I can inherit the title without having to form a secret Association!"

To be honest, that statement was quite powerful—if Nightless Sky Huo Ming were really here, he might have started fighting Ailan on the spot.

Fortunately, this is now the Nightless Sky Fire Apricot.

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot doesn't care.

"Yes, yes, yes... I am indeed jealous of you, I admit it," said Nightless Sky Fire Apricot, "But we really have to set off now, I'm really busy—and even if you're unemployed, this matter must be quite urgent for you, right?"

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot said, "Don't you want to find out as soon as possible who is targeting you behind the scenes?"

Ailan sighed, "No matter how urgent it is, the journey that objectively takes three days won't be shortened."

"Even if you can call a vehicle over... Omia's base is in the W District, and it's snowing heavily right now, so your regular vehicles can't get in."

The Nightless Sky Fire Apricot pouted.

"W District? I understand."

"Don't underestimate my abilities, Ailan —since I said I wanted to cooperate with you, I certainly have enough resources."

"Today I'll show you what a 'Fairy Queen' really is!"

As she spoke, Nightless Sky Fire Apricot took two steps to her left and stomped heavily on a dusty manhole cover.

"Bang!"

The manhole cover was stepped on by Nightless Sky Fire Apricot, revealing a dark, downward passage.

Ailan was somewhat surprised.

"This is..."

"You'll see when you get down there—come on, three, two, one—jump!"

With that, Nightless Sky Fire Apricot jumped directly into the passage.

Ailan hesitated, but the moment Huo Xing jumped down from the Nightless Sky Fire Apricot...

The Metal Grappling Claw behind her popped out and grabbed Ailan's waist, dragging Ailan Rainbowlight down with them.

Wow!

Ailan exclaimed in surprise, and was then pulled into the passage!

I fell freely down the tunnel in the darkness for a while, amidst the increasingly humid air and the ever-approaching sound of rushing water...

Thump!

Ailan felt himself land on an air cushion!

To be more precise...

It's a small boat located in an underground river system!

Ailan, still somewhat shaken, said, "This is really..."

"Were you scared?"

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot looked at Ailan and asked in return.

"That was so exciting!"

"I'm excited, "Ailan said, his eyes shining.

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot slapped her forehead. "Ah-ha--I forgot, you're Adventurer!"

"Then hold on tight, there's more excitement to come!"