Skadi, My Wife

Shining's words surprised both Nearl and Nightingale.

Shining and the other two were neither from Chernobog nor Ursus. However, they had all once joined Dawn—the former Reunion Movement—and lived in Chernobog for some time.

But later, Chen An, the one who had brought them into Dawn, left. They felt that rather than staying in Chernobog, finding Chen An and persuading him to return was more important. That was why they chose to leave Chernobog and begin this journey.

It was worth mentioning that although they had left Chernobog, they had not withdrawn from Dawn. While searching for Chen An, they had continued operating as Dawn personnel stationed abroad. During that time, they had tricked... cough, introduced quite a few Oripathy patients to Dawn for treatment.

Of course, that was not the point.

The point was, they had not even found him yet. Why were they thinking of going back?

Nightingale could not help asking, "Going back to Chernobog? Aren't we looking for Chen An anymore?"

"No. I simply suddenly felt that compared to searching blindly like before—with no clues, no direction, relying only on wishful thinking—we might have a better chance of finding Chen An by returning to Chernobog and making use of Dawn's intelligence."

Nightingale's past had been rather miserable.

Because of war, she had endured much pain. Because she had endured too much, her body had become riddled with wounds, and even her memories and mind had developed problems.

As a result, although she was kind and gentle by nature, she appeared cold and distant toward others. She often gave people a sense of loneliness and sorrow, as though she were still imprisoned within her old cage.

She could not save herself, and Shining had been unable to save her either. Chen An had saved her.

Chen An healed Nightingale's frail body and made her healthy. During the time she traveled with Chen An, her mental issues also recovered without medicine, and she gradually became more cheerful.

Much of the reason she later joined Dawn was because of Chen An.

After Chen An left, she had also taken the lead in the plan to leave Chernobog and search for him. Since Shining rescued Nightingale, this was the first time she had seen her take such initiative in doing something.

All in all, Chen An was extremely important to her, and she cared deeply about his whereabouts.

Shining understood Nightingale well, so she patiently explained, "There are only three... no, four of us."

Remembering Red Skadi, Shining paused briefly before smoothly correcting herself. "The four of us are too few, and we have no effective channels for gathering intelligence. Dawn is different. It is an organization, and because it can treat Oripathy, it has gradually begun cooperating with other powers and nations. It can obtain a great deal of useful intelligence."

"Talulah and the others are looking for Chen An too. With them there, if any information about Chen An appears, Chernobog will definitely receive it. It is even possible that while we have been searching for Chen An outside, Talulah and the others have already found him. We simply have not received the news because we have been constantly on the move."

Nightingale fell into thought. The more she considered it, the more reasonable Shining's words seemed. At last, she nodded. "All right. We'll listen to you. We'll return to Chernobog tomorrow."

Next door, Red Skadi, who had kept her eyes closed as though asleep, opened them.

A thoughtful look appeared in her eyes as she murmured softly, "Chernobog... Chen An, are you there?"

"After giving you so much time, have you decided whether you want to go to Dawn in Chernobog or Rhodes Island?"

At the Lungmen Guard Department, Ch'en was giving Rope one final inquiry before trafficking her away.

"Why do I have to leave Lungmen and go to one of those two places you mentioned?"

Rope was born in Rim Billiton, but she had grown up in Lungmen since childhood. To her, Lungmen could be considered her hometown.

For no reason at all, she was being forced to leave her hometown. If life had still been as hopeless as before, with nothing to look forward to but death, then fine. But now that life had finally begun looking up, and there was even someone lusting after her body, who could possibly stand that?

At any rate, Rope could not.

So even though Ch'en had held her at the Guard Department for nearly a day, and she had already resigned herself inwardly, she still could not help making a huge fuss when Ch'en asked her.

"I don't want to leave Lungmen! I want to go home! What right do you have to decide my future!? Someone, help! There's a human trafficker here! Someone, help!"

Ch'en calmly watched Rope throw a tantrum without saying a word from beginning to end.

After shouting for ages, she had not summoned so much as a fly, much less a person. Rope gave up.

She dejectedly plopped down onto the floor. Her long ears drooped, and she waved her hands, all spirit gone from her voice. "Fine, fine, you win. I'm just a little slum thief and one of the Infected. I have no rights. You're some big shot, and the whole Guard Department listens to you. If you want to traffic me away, then traffic me away. I give up."

Ch'en raised an eyebrow. That way of talking did not sound like someone who had given up at all.

Too lazy to argue with Rope over her little schemes, Ch'en said flatly, "Since you're being honest now, I'll introduce Rhodes Island and Dawn in Chernobog to you first."

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Rope muttered.

Pretending not to hear Rope's complaints, Ch'en continued, "Rhodes Island, also known as Rhodes Island Pharmaceutical Medical Company, was registered several years ago. Its base is a landship bearing the same name as the organization. It possesses advanced Oripathy treatment technology and is an expert in handling Oripathy patients. However, according to intelligence, Rhodes Island seems to have other operations besides saving people. I do not understand them well enough to comment."

"Dawn in Chernobog is somewhat similar to Rhodes Island now. It is an organization dedicated to researching Oripathy and saving all the Infected. But its predecessor was an organization that had long operated in Ursus, resisting Ursus's tyranny and rescuing fellow Infected suffering from Oripathy. Its original name was the Reunion Movement."

The Reunion Movement?

Rope froze for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully. This name—she had never heard it before at all!

"Dawn's leader is called Talulah. She was once part of Lungmen as well."

A strange emotion appeared in Ch'en's eyes. She fell silent for some reason before continuing, "After she joined, the Reunion Movement, which had previously been nothing more than an obscure underground organization, began to grow. When Chernobog encountered a Catastrophe, it saved the entire city and gained control of it. Afterward, the Reunion Movement began transforming and eventually became Dawn."

"Chernobog used to be a city of Ursus, and it was also the city in Ursus with the harshest discrimination against Oripathy patients. But after the Reunion Movement took over, that atmosphere changed. Chernobog also broke free of Ursus's control and became an autonomous city like Lungmen... Ursus made verbal demands for accountability, but took no actual action."

Rope's eyes went wide, and her long ears stood straight up in shock. "Are those Ursus lords idiots? They can just give away a mobile city?"

Ch'en frowned inwardly. She found it strange too. Chernobog was no small city; it could practically rival Lungmen. If it had suffered enormous losses in the Catastrophe and the city had fallen into trouble, then Ursus choosing to abandon it would barely make sense. After all, Dawn's predecessor, the Reunion Movement, seemed very powerful.

But in reality, because of the Reunion Movement's rescue efforts, all of Chernobog had suffered almost no losses in the Catastrophe. Under such circumstances, Ursus abandoning Chernobog seemed highly unreasonable, even if Ursus's own situation was not good at present.

This was not the time to think about such matters. Ch'en said calmly, "Before long, Chernobog and Lungmen may enter into some cooperation. When that happens, I will probably apply to become a special envoy and work there for a while. I hope that when I see you in Chernobog then, you'll be as lively as you were this afternoon."

Having said that, Ch'en did not speak further and turned to leave.

"?"

Rope did not understand what Ch'en meant at first. By the time she did, Ch'en was already out of sight.

She shouted furiously, "Didn't you already decide where I'm going!? Why did you even ask me just now!?"

Outside the holding room.

Carefully taking a photograph from the inner pocket of her coat, Ch'en looked at the picture of her younger self and her childhood companion. Nostalgia and melancholy surfaced in her eyes.

I thought we would never have a chance to meet again. I never expected to suddenly receive news of you.

After so many years, are you doing well, Talulah?

Chernobog.

Alina was trying to persuade her friend. "When we discuss cooperation with Lungmen in a while, are you really going yourself, Talulah?"

"Of course. That's Lungmen," Talulah replied without hesitation.

"But you're Dawn's leader and Chernobog's ruler. Isn't it inappropriate for you to leave Chernobog so casually? Why not let me, Yelena, and Winter handle these negotiations instead?"

Talulah stubbornly held her ground. "Anywhere else would be fine, but not Lungmen."

She looked at Alina almost pleadingly. "I know you don't want me to go because you care about me, but please, don't stop me this time. Lungmen is practically my hometown, and there are important people there whom I want to see."

"I know. You mean Miss Ch'en Huil, the sister you always talk about?"

Alina looked troubled.

Deep down, she did not really want to stop Talulah, because she knew what Lungmen meant to her and how important it was.

But she could not simply let her go either. Dawn was no longer the old Reunion Movement. As everyone's leader, the future of both Chernobog and Dawn rested on Talulah's shoulders. Letting her leave Chernobog, even if she was going to her former hometown, made everyone uneasy.

...If only Chen An were here.

In her difficulty, Alina suddenly thought of someone, and her mood sank into gloom.

Talulah was everyone's leader, but in truth, the reason the Reunion Movement had reached this point, become Dawn, and enabled Chernobog to successfully become independent was largely due to that person.

Without him, Talulah would likely have fallen on the frozen plains of Ursus.

Without him, even if the Reunion Movement had done everything it could to rescue people, Chernobog would certainly have suffered severe losses under the sudden Catastrophe, and the conflict between ordinary citizens and Oripathy patients within the city would have been difficult to reconcile.

Without him, the Reunion Movement would have had no way to deal with Oripathy, much less clear its name, gain independence, and become Dawn.

Everyone trusted him. Not only Talulah and herself—even Yelena, who was always bickering with him, and Mr. Patriot, whom Yelena always called an old stubborn fool, trusted him immensely. They might even have trusted him more than Talulah.

But why had he suddenly left? And why had he not even said goodbye when he did? Was it because he hated the sorrow of parting?

Alina let out a faint sigh. She could not understand it. But if he were still here, he would surely be able to persuade Talulah and make her obediently listen, wouldn't he?

While she was feeling gloomy, Alina suddenly heard Talulah say, "...And Uncle is very crafty. If I let you all go, he'll definitely run circles around you."

Alina: "..."

The silver-haired teacher suddenly became angry. Pointing a slender white finger at Talulah, she raised her voice. "He'll run circles around us? Are you any better than us? I wonder who still can't even wash her own clothes. He told us, you know—before we met, he even had to wash your underwear for you. You actually did something like that? I'm embarrassed for you just thinking about it!"

With her dark history suddenly exposed, Talulah instantly became flustered. "C-can you not talk about that? We're discussing something very serious here."

Alina huffed, still looking somewhat angry.

Talulah hurriedly begged for mercy. "Please, Alina, just let me off this once. I'm not saying I'm better than you all. I'm saying that when it comes to dealing with Uncle, I'm more suitable than you."

Alina gave Talulah a sidelong look. "How are you more suitable? Just because Mr. Wei is your uncle?"

He owes me.

Talulah kept those words in her heart and smiled. "Not only that. In Lungmen, I have a sister too. We're not trying to take advantage of Lungmen with this cooperation. If we reason with her, Huil will definitely help me."

Right, Huil?

Talulah looked out the window, her gaze softening. I can finally see you again. After so many years, what are you like now, Huil?

Alina wanted to speak but stopped herself. In the end, she silently sighed and decided to stop trying to persuade Talulah.

Just this once, she would let Talulah be a little willful.

Miss Exusiai Had a Face Full of Bitterness

The weather was beautiful, the waters clear, and the mountains green.

Ripples spread over the lake's surface as Skadi swam through the water. Her graceful figure looked like a beautiful mermaid straight out of a fairy tale.

On the grassy shore, Chen An wore sunglasses and lay leisurely on a deck chair in boxer-style swim trunks, sipping an iced drink.

Beside him were Exusiai and Texas, dressed in swimsuits that exposed their legs, waists, shoulders, and vast stretches of snow-white skin.

Like Chen An, the two of them lounged lazily on deck chairs.

This was a lake not far outside Lungmen. It was secluded, with trees surrounding the shore. Some time ago, Exusiai and Texas had made a delivery far away, and Exusiai had discovered it by chance on their way back.

Then, at Exusiai's strong insistence, the four of them came here today for a little vacation and relaxation.

"The sun is so warm. This feels amazing," Exusiai suddenly said blissfully.

Chen An nodded, not because he agreed with Exusiai, but because he was pleased that today's leisure activity was coming out on vacation instead of playing games with Exusiai and then getting cursed at by her when she lost and became furious.

After nodding, he suddenly noticed that he had finished his iced drink. After thinking for a moment, he took advantage of Exusiai not paying attention and swapped his empty cup with Exusiai's half-full cup of iced cola beside her.

Taking a large gulp of the iced cola, Chen An sighed, "Refreshing."

Iced drinks were already refreshing enough, but stealing it from someone else made it even more refreshing.

Suddenly thirsty, Exusiai sat up to grab her iced cola, only to stare in astonishment at the cup that should have still been half-full but was now completely empty.

Her gaze turned to Chen An. Seeing that the cup in his hand still had some left, she bristled. "That's my cola, you damn thief!"

Chen An had been drinking something else, so there was no need to wonder. The cola Chen An was drinking now had definitely been stolen from her.

"It's only half a cup of cola. Don't be so stingy. It's not like I mind sharing with you. If you really care that much, I'll buy you a big bottle when we get back. You can drink all you want, all right?"

"You still need to buy it for me when we get back? And I'm the one who minds sharing with you, okay? You bastard!"

Exusiai cursed and grumbled, but Chen An had already finished the drink. What else could she do? Too lazy to get up and pour herself another drink, she wanted to lie back down, but then she suddenly thought of something and stopped.

Her eyes rolled slyly. Exusiai quickly picked up the empty cup and swapped it with the cup in Texas's hand, which still held more than half its drink.

Texas: "???"

Pushing up the sunglasses on her nose, she turned to look at Exusiai, who had stolen her drink and was happily drinking it. Her gaze was exceptionally unfriendly.

Chen An did not notice Exusiai and Texas's little squabble. He casually asked, "By the way, Exusiai, why did you suddenly move our vacation up to today? Didn't you say it would be this weekend?"

"Isn't it because of that Ch'en, sir?"

Exusiai complained, full of resentment. "She suddenly came to us and asked us to help escort someone to Chernobog. She even set the departure date for us. Chernobog may be nearby, but it isn't exactly close. Taking someone there and coming back will take at least until next week. How could we still have a weekend this week?"

"Escort someone?"