"Mm."
Su Rui directly made a phone call inside Vulpisfoglia's mind, displaying a communication interface in her field of vision.
As Vulpisfoglia waited for the call to connect, she got into the driver's seat, checked her weapons once more, then started the car and headed toward the location Su Rui had marked for Texas.
The call connected almost immediately, and Texas's voice came from the other end.
"Hello? Su Rui?" The caller ID showed Su Rui. Texas clearly had not saved this number under that name, so the only one capable of doing that was probably Su Rui.
"Mm. We're ready. Bring your weapons and a change of clothes. It's time to go. We'll be downstairs at your place soon."
"I understand."
"You have everything packed, right?"
Texas glanced at the weapons beside her and the neatly packed suitcase.
"That's right. I'm ready."
"Alright. I'll call you again when Vulpisfoglia and I reach your door. It shouldn't take long."
Since Mrs. Sicilian had not yet had time to make a decision or issue any orders, Vulpisfoglia's car encountered no obstacles as it arrived beneath Texas's residence. Su Rui then called Texas again.
"I'm already on my way down."
The moment the call connected, Texas said that. Su Rui nodded.
"Good. Get in the car, and we'll leave right away."
Texas hurried downstairs and sat in Vulpisfoglia's passenger seat, then froze.
"You two didn't prepare anything?"
"Of course we did. Also, I'll hold onto your suitcase for now."
As he spoke, Texas's suitcase vanished into thin air. She stared blankly at the weapon hanging at her waist, then at her empty hand.
"What just happened?"
Texas stared dumbly at the hand that no longer held her suitcase, then looked at the weapon still hanging from her waist. She could hardly believe what she had just seen.
"Simply put, I stored your suitcase. If you want it back, I can return it to you."
Su Rui's voice suddenly sounded inside the car, startling both Texas and Vulpisfoglia. Neither woman had expected another voice to appear.
Texas instinctively placed her hand on the grip of the weapon at her waist, then noticed that the voice was actually coming from the car speakers.
"...You're Su Rui? What an amazing ability. But once we reach the wilderness, you won't be able to stay in contact with us, right?"
After all, there was no network in the wilderness. Texas believed that no matter how skilled a hacker was, they could not operate somewhere without a network.
"You'll find out when the time comes."
Su Rui did not explain the answer that would soon reveal itself. Once he spoke in the wilderness, Texas would realize that he was not some hacker.
But for now, he said, "I'm only holding your luggage for you. Or would you rather carry it like this?"
"Then I'll leave it with you for now. Thank you."
Texas looked at the suitcase that had reappeared in her hand. After hesitating for a moment, she decided to let Su Rui keep it.
"Don't worry. I'm not interested in your belongings. I'm just keeping them for you."
Su Rui said it casually, and Texas watched the suitcase disappear again.
Vulpisfoglia, who was driving, also explained, "Don't worry. Su Rui has no physical body, so he has no interest in material wealth."
"...I see."
Texas nodded. Though her face remained expressionless, Su Rui could tell she had many questions.
"If you have any questions, just ask. I'll answer as I see fit."
He said it casually. Texas nodded, and Vulpisfoglia drove them toward the road out of Wolseini.
Because Mrs. Sicilian had only just received the news and had not yet had time to act, Texas and Vulpisfoglia drove straight through Wolseini's exit without obstruction and entered the wilderness.
Just as Texas began to feel confused, Su Rui's voice sounded again.
"People in the city have started moving. Looks like Mrs. Sicilian was indeed keeping an eye on Texas. Not long after you slipped out, she sent people into action."
As he spoke, Su Rui displayed the movements of those mafia members within Wolseini beside Vulpisfoglia's vision without affecting her driving.
Considering that Texas could not view the images as conveniently as Vulpisfoglia, Su Rui spoke through the car speakers to remind her.
"Texas, take out your phone and have a look."
"Mm."
Though she did not understand why, Texas still pulled out her phone from her pocket. When she turned it on, there was no need to enter the lock-screen password. The footage Su Rui had recorded was displayed immediately.
"Mrs. Sicilian has already begun hunting Texas. She also just issued a statement regarding the Texas Lineage and is preparing to wipe out the entire lineage."
"...Thank you."
Texas nodded, her expression complicated. The thought that Mrs. Sicilian had begun planning to exterminate the Texas Lineage the moment she left the city even gave Texas the illusion that she herself had been the fuse.
"What are you thinking? This has nothing to do with your own actions. You should be glad you escaped before this happened, instead of moping around like this, understand?"
"You're right." Texas nodded, but Su Rui could still see from her somewhat melancholy eyes that she was thinking.
Fine. He would give her some time.
Before muting himself, Su Rui still reminded them, "By the way, as the daughter of the newly appointed head of the Texas Lineage, even though you were never involved in the lineage's affairs before, a wanted notice for you has already been issued."
"So that means people will soon leave the city to hunt us down, right?" Vulpisfoglia asked while driving, multitasking with ease.
"That's right. In fact, people have already driven out of the city to surround you. But they weren't prepared well enough, so they probably won't be able to catch up."
Su Rui spoke casually as he displayed a map in Vulpisfoglia's vision and on Texas's phone.
"These are the vehicles nearby that are pursuing you. We should reach an area near a wasteland by evening. I marked it in light blue. When we get there, I'll mark a few suitable hiding places for you."
"...How are you able to detect the vehicles chasing us?"
Texas still found it unbelievable. Logically speaking, a hacker should not be able to do such things without a network, right?
Besides, this was beyond what a network could accomplish. Terra's vehicles had not yet been computerized to the point of installing trackers.
Even if Su Rui had installed trackers on every car in advance, that would have been far too troublesome. It seemed impossible just thinking about it.
"I'm not a hacker. In short, I can do many things. You'll find out soon enough."
Su Rui gave a casual explanation without directly revealing his abilities, because he did not want to waste words.
Texas merely assumed that Su Rui had not fully trusted her yet. She nodded, showing no discomfort with that.
Trust in a partnership had to be built bit by bit.
With the positioning and route map Su Rui provided, Vulpisfoglia quickly drove into the blue area he had marked.
"This is the place."
As Texas drove the vehicle, Su Rui's voice sounded again, startling her.
It was already evening. Texas and Vulpisfoglia had switched drivers once in the middle of the day, and they had taken turns eating the instant food Vulpisfoglia had prepared for lunch.
"Texas, I marked the locations on your phone. Just choose whichever spot you think is best. These places are all suitable for hiding and difficult to discover."
As Su Rui spoke, Vulpisfoglia placed Texas's phone in front of her. Once it was turned on, the map appeared.
"I understand."
Texas nodded and skillfully drove the vehicle.
"...Actually, I don't really understand. There's no network here anymore, so how is Su Rui contacting us?"
That night, following the map Su Rui had provided, Texas parked the vehicle in a shallow pit in the wilderness. They lit a fire inside the pit and sat around the campfire with Vulpisfoglia, cooking dinner.
After struggling with it for a while, she finally voiced her confusion.
When Vulpisfoglia heard Texas's question, her hands paused as she arranged the utensils. She then looked at Texas and considered whether she should tell her.
However, Su Rui's voice had already sounded from Texas's phone.
"Simply put, I'm following Vulpisfoglia. And I can operate every electronic device within range."
"Is that so? Then what exactly are you... Sorry, that was presumptuous of me."
Texas instinctively wanted to know more, but she realized that her question was too abrupt. This probably counted as private information, so she hurriedly apologized.
But Su Rui had already spoken, and though Vulpisfoglia felt somewhat helpless, it would not have much impact anyway. She directly introduced Su Rui.
"Su Rui has been with me this whole time. It's hard to explain what kind of existence he is, since even I'm not entirely sure. But he's easy to get along with, and he's helped me a lot."
Other than occasionally coming up with terrible ideas and having a rather nasty personality, he was great in every other way.
Vulpisfoglia nodded, then looked at Texas before her.
"That's about all I can think of. If you have any questions, you can ask us directly."
"Mm... When you fought Lappland and me one against two before, was Su Rui helping you?"
Texas paused, but she could not help her curiosity. Though she had a cold personality, as an equally skilled assassin, being defeated completely by Vulpisfoglia in a one-against-two fight was something Texas did care about, even if she never showed it.
"Yes. Su Rui predicted how you would act, making it easier for me to respond appropriately."
Vulpisfoglia nodded without hiding it any longer. Su Rui could not run away anyway, and Texas would not do anything dangerous to her, so there was no harm in telling her.
"I see."
Understanding flashed through Texas's eyes, and when she looked at Vulpisfoglia, there was a trace of envy in her gaze.
How nice would it be if this person belonged to me? And having someone to talk to whenever I wanted would be nice too.
Texas's thoughts went unnoticed by Vulpisfoglia because dinner was ready.
"Texas, dinner's ready. Hurry and eat. Our conditions are simple, so we couldn't make anything too good."
"These conditions are already very good."
Texas said it casually. After Vulpisfoglia prepared her portion, she began serving herself.
Normally, people going camping would not bring along all kinds of kitchen equipment that needed to be installed in a kitchen. But because Vulpisfoglia had Su Rui's spatial storage, she had brought everything with her.
With Su Rui's help, they had essentially set up an entire kitchen in the wilderness before cooking.
The reason Vulpisfoglia called it simple was merely because they were in such an environment that she had not been in the mood to cook, so she had simplified a few steps.
Still, compared with having to set a single pot over a campfire to cook, they had it far better.
As she tasted the steaming dinner in her hands, then glanced once more at the empty patch of ground where cooking equipment had stood just moments ago, Texas felt as though these experiences were a dream.
With her legs drawn up against her chest, Texas ate while watching the campfire. Then she suddenly spoke.
"Su Rui, can you tell me about the current situation of the Texas Lineage?"
"Mm? Wait a moment."
Su Rui fell silent for a moment, as if checking information. Then his voice sounded again from Texas's phone.
"Mrs. Sicilian's message was only sent out recently. Given Terra's rather poor communications, only Syracuse—or perhaps only Wolseini—knows about it for now. It will still take some time for the news to spread."
However, considering that the high-power communication channels between cities still had some long-distance transmission capability, Su Rui's assessment was this.
"The cities of Syracuse will probably receive news of the hunt for the Texas Lineage and you before we arrive. It would be best to stay careful."
"I understand."
Texas nodded without expression. Although the situation was somewhat troublesome, it was not impossible to handle.
At least Vulpisfoglia before her and the unseen, untouchable Su Rui had both become her allies.
"Once you're done eating, get some rest quickly. We need to get up early and continue tomorrow. I'll keep watch for you. There won't be any problems."
Su Rui's voice sounded, and Texas nodded instinctively. "Thank you. Then we'll leave it to you."
In Texas's mind, Su Rui had become something like a super hacker at Vulpisfoglia's side who could operate without a network. It was perfectly normal for him to handle something like this.
But Vulpisfoglia understood Su Rui far better and did not immediately think of resting.
Before you continue