Yet an inexplicable feeling of warmth suddenly welled up in their hearts. At least somewhere in a distant corner of the world, an old man was still telling stories about the stars.
"I hope our plan succeeds, that more and more people join us, and that we eventually become a true Northern Cross Constellation." Bai Ye concluded.
Chen finished the meat bun in her hand, wiped her mouth, then looked at Bai Ye. "Has your plan changed? Are you still planning to go to Rhodes Island?"
"Of course." Bai Ye nodded. "I'll leave Lungmen tomorrow."
Swire could not help teasing him. "Just like you. You hand everything over to me, then go off and become a hands-off boss?"
"I trust you." Bai Ye looked at the girl seriously.
"Um..."
That direct hit sank Swire's ship in one blow. His words were far too candid, leaving the girl unsure how to respond.
"Y-you really are impossible." Swire brushed aside the golden hair by her ear and muttered.
Chen, who had been watching the show from the side, slapped the table and laughed. "What kind of wild tsundere are you? In Higashi, that sort of trait isn't popular anymore."
"Shut up!" Swire turned and glared furiously at Chen. This was all Hoshiguma's fault—lending comics to Chen for no reason and teaching her these terms.
Hoshiguma:??
With business concluded, the tea party was more or less over.
Swire kept her word and trotted off on her own to pay the bill.
Bai Ye had wanted to say he was only joking and would not really make a rich lady treat them, but Chen winked at him.
Once the little tiger had left, she moved closer to Bai Ye and whispered, "Bai Ye, hearing your plan suddenly reminded me of many things. Things I used to think about, but haven't thought about recently."
"After graduating from Victoria's Royal Guard Academy, I returned to Lungmen and became a police officer. It's a little embarrassing to say, but my sense of justice did not seem entirely pure. Back then, I thought that becoming a police officer would give me access to more leads."
Bai Ye was somewhat confused. He could not understand what riddle Chen had suddenly begun speaking.
But the expression on her face was truly strange.
Bai Ye had never seen such a contradictory expression before. At the same time, it was the first time he had seen Chen make such a face. She looked... vulnerable.
"Ahem, sorry. I suddenly said something strange." Chen quickly recovered from that odd state. It seemed she had only briefly lost control.
But Bai Ye shook his head. "It's fine. Based on your sense of justice—or rather, based on what I currently know about you—you would not easily join us. But you still did. Clearly, there's something you need our help with."
"And it must be something the Lungmen Guard Department cannot accomplish."
"Was it that obvious?" Chen sighed. "It seems I wasn't acting naturally enough?"
"Has anyone ever told you that you're actually not very good at hiding yourself?" Bai Ye tilted his head.
Chen suddenly laughed. "Not necessarily. One of my friends said I would be well suited for Military Intelligence."
As she spoke, Chen recalled the conversation she had once had with that friend at Victoria's Royal Guard Academy.
I used to be a little scared that you'd choose Military Intelligence. Chen Chen, you're so gloomy—if you became a spy, you'd definitely be terrifying.
After that conversation ended, she received that transmission. For the first time in years, she learned news of that person.
It was the first time she had learned of her whereabouts, yet it also marked the beginning of another disappearance.
"Chen?" Bai Ye watched as the young girl suddenly zoned out mid-conversation, her pupils losing focus as she stared blankly ahead.
"Ah..." Bai Ye's voice pulled the absent-minded Chen back to reality. She jolted awake, looking somewhat at a loss.
"You might need some rest. You've been too tired lately." Bai Ye felt that this conversation could not continue.
But Chen shook her head. "Back to what we were discussing. I really do need your help, especially with logistics and messengers."
Bai Ye became serious when he heard that. "Go ahead."
"I want you to help me find someone. She's my... friend, in Ursus."
As she spoke, Chen pulled a photograph from her clothes and pushed it before Bai Ye.
"She is..."
In the photograph, two little girls were hugging each other.
One of them was clearly Chen, while the other looked strangely familiar to Bai Ye no matter how he looked at her.
"Her name is Talulah."
"Fuck..." Chen's words confirmed Bai Ye's suspicion.
This time, it was Bai Ye's turn to lose his composure. He could not help crying out.
"You know her?" Chen hurriedly asked. She remembered Bai Ye saying he was a traveler. Perhaps he had heard something about this person?
Bai Ye drew a deep breath and slowly said, "I've heard of her, but I'm not certain."
Talulah—he knew her far too well...
She had been a boss in his previous life... In the memory instance, TeaParty had even claimed the first clear of that boss.
Although he was not a member of the tea party, Bai Ye had been dragged along as hired muscle.
Even now, Bai Ye remembered those flames that filled the skies...
Public Intelligence, Issue 01
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Temporary Departure
Bai Ye did not know much about Talulah. Most information about her had been sealed away, and Players could only investigate information about this boss NPC through limited intelligence and clues.
At present, all that was known was that two different consciousnesses existed within Talulah's body. One of them committed the atrocities, and in the end, Talulah's original self regained control of her body and was successfully redeemed.
It was an extremely old trope, and Players had endlessly mocked the plot for feeling far too familiar.
Bai Ye had once harshly criticized the story planners as well, but now he had no choice but to accept that reality was truly like this—sometimes, reality was even more fantastical than fiction.
Chen had asked him to find Talulah, but Bai Ye worried... If he really found her ahead of time, only to discover that she had already fallen into the dark side, would he not be completely doomed?
Still, if he could make contact with Reunion in advance, the benefits would be enormous...
.
.
This time, it was Chen's turn to stare blankly, because while they were talking, Bai Ye suddenly froze and stopped speaking.
He neither agreed nor refused. He merely stared blankly in one direction, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Only when Swire returned to the private room did she break the strange atmosphere.
"Did you two have a fight?" The girl put her wallet back into her handbag and curiously looked at Bai Ye and Chen.
"No, we were just discussing something." Bai Ye came back to his senses, drained the tea in his cup in one gulp, then looked at Chen. "Sir Chen, I'll consider what you said."
"Thank you." Chen's expression relaxed. Though they had not known each other for long, she knew Bai Ye was reliable.
He always carried a sort of confidence, as though no matter what happened, he was certain he could handle it.
Swire frowned at the sight, repeatedly looking between the two people at the table. Something felt suspicious. It seemed they were hiding something from her, but unfortunately, she had no proof.
Bai Ye returned to Penguin Logistics' dormitory.
The room was pitch-black. It seemed they had gone out to take a commission.
Bai Ye did not turn on the lights. He returned to his room and began packing.
He was preparing to leave. He could catch Rhodes Island's convoy tonight and depart from Lungmen with Flanka and the others for the main ship.
Taking a sheet of paper, Bai Ye wrote a farewell letter and placed it on the dining table.
Thinking back on everything that had happened since his transmigration, the time had not been long, yet it had been full of excitement and challenges. He had also gained quite a lot.
But now was not the time to discuss cooperation with Penguin Logistics' Emperor. Bai Ye was still too weak and lacked power.
He could only wait until his wings had fully grown before making further plans.
In truth, Bai Ye was quite skilled at making something from nothing. He had previously made grand promises to Emperor, and recruiting Swire and Chen had been much the same.
But that trick could only be used once. The second time, he needed tangible results, or people would only think less of him.
After finishing the farewell letter and blowing the ink dry, Bai Ye returned to his room to pack his luggage.
He did not have many belongings, and most could be stored in his inventory. After wandering around the room for a while, he had nothing left to do. He sat on the edge of his bed and opened the game panel.
A light screen projected itself before him, emitting a cold, dim glow only he could see.
The open beta had already ended, and his NPC module had temporarily shut down again. However, the system forum remained open. Bai Ye browsed it for a while and found that most of the posts resembled ones he had seen in his previous life, so he quickly lost interest.
After closing the forum window, Bai Ye focused on his personal attribute panel instead.
The first thing that caught his eye was the experience pool. Bai Ye had harvested a large amount of experience by teaching skills to Players, and the number gave him a sense of bountiful harvest.
But Bai Ye quickly calmed down.
The experience only looked like a lot. Once it was actually used, it would disappear in no time.
Bai Ye had experienced the later stages of the game. Back then, the experience needed to level up was an astronomical figure. Compared to that, this amount was nothing.
How to make use of this experience was something worth considering.
After some thought, Bai Ye first raised his level by six.
Level represented his basic attributes. It was the most fundamental thing.
Of the thirty-six free attribute points, Bai Ye evenly distributed thirty among Strength, Agility, and Spirit. He put the remaining six into Constitution.
As a result, his Strength and Agility had now surpassed his Constitution.
But that was not a problem. As long as Constitution differed from Strength and Agility by no more than ten points, there would be no issue.
After allocating his points, Bai Ye let out a long breath. The increase in his attributes felt good.
There was no such thing as "suddenly being unable to adapt to increased strength" or "accidentally smashing all the furniture." The power he had controlled in his previous life was far greater than this. Handling this much was more than easy enough.
Compared to when he had first transmigrated, his personal attribute panel had undergone earth-shaking changes:
Name: Bai Ye Identity: Lungmen, Northern Cross Template: NPC (Normal) Race: ██ (Warning: This entry is corrupted) Level: 15 Sanity: 43/43 Constitution: 30 (Related to physical strength, endurance, immunity, and self-healing) Strength: 32 (Related to muscular strength and physical power) Agility: 32 (Related to hand-eye coordination, bodily flexibility, reactions, and balance) Spirit: 30 (Related to mental strength, willpower, Originium Arts, perception, and intuition) Charm: 96 (Fixed attribute) Inventory: 10/10 Talents: Thought Acceleration: Accelerates thought, judgment, reflexes, and the brain's information-processing speed for a certain period of time Arts Talent Awakened: Wind Skills: Cold Weapon—Swordsmanship (Mastery): Countless rounds of training and battle have allowed you to wield weapons with ease. They are extensions of your body Personal Exclusive Sword Technique Under Development Unarmed Combat (Proficient): You can skillfully use your own body to fight. Your body is the best weapon
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