The aftermath aboard the luxurious private jet: using "I want some time alone" as an excuse, Fang Ran helplessly sent Adeline off to rest by herself.
His plan to lend her a hand and persuade her onto the right path in life had ended before it even had a chance to begin.
She had asked just one question, and it had already sent Fang Ran's blood pressure soaring.
Because it looked expensive and he could not bear to waste it, he put the pure gold-colored dessert on the table into the Black Box, thinking he might feed it to a cat someday or bring it back for his older brother to eat.
He did not explore the private jet's movie theater or steam room, both of which he had actually been rather interested in trying.
With one hand braced on the table, Fang Ran stared out at the high-altitude view beyond the window. In the end, he watched a patch of lights approach across the boundless black earth, gradually turning into the bustle of a city as they descended.
He wondered whether the classmates who had come along were excitedly discussing the work environments they had been assigned for their first day, or worrying in their dorms about the difficulties of communicating in another language.
He had arrived at the first stop of this trip to North America—
—Las Vegas.
The night wind was cold, yet it carried the heat of extravagant indulgence.
Taking a somewhat familiar pure-black coat from Adeline, he remembered that the previous one had been destroyed in the battle at the North Pole. He did not let her help him put it on.
He stepped down from the private jet and boarded the helicopter that had long been prepared.
Its interior was large enough to contain