Chapter 251

"The Human Federation concealed... the facts about the Ruins and the White Hole Erosion..."

As I walked out of the ward, the turmoil in Efnir heart had not yet subsided; a heavy sense of crisis made it almost impossible for me to breathe.

If everything Saori said is true, then this world that people take for granted might just be a complete joke.

Her pace quickened involuntarily; she was eager to confirm what Saori had just said, and the purpose of Codename J in giving Saori this information—she even began to suspect whether their ability to rescue Saori was also within Codename J's expectations.

Pushing open the outermost isolation door, Efnir was not surprised to see Furan sitting on the waiting chair.

Her swollen eyes were wet with tears, Furan just sat there quietly wiping them away.

Efnir slowed her pace and sat down next to Furan.

"Rin, are you alright?"

"Senior?"

Furan seemed unaware of Efnir's arrival beforehand. She hurriedly rubbed her teary eyes and raised her swollen, red eyes. "Um... Saori still awake...?"

"Saori is a little tired; she just fell asleep."

Efnir noticed the tear stains on Furan's sleeve. "How long has it been since you've eaten?"

"Hmm... not yet today..."

"Go get something to eat, I'll watch over things here for you."

Furan shook her head.

Efnir sighed softly, reached into her pocket, took out a chocolate energy bar, and handed it to Furan.

"Eat this."

Furan held the chocolate in her hand, her face buried in her hands, and remained motionless.

Seeing this, Efnir took the chocolate, tore open the seal for her, and then held it to her lips.

"Here, take a bite. If you don't eat something afterwards..."

Before she could finish speaking, Efnir suddenly felt a warm sensation on the back of her hand—a tear, followed by a sob as light as a feather.

"Cold..."

Efnir looked at Furan, who was biting her lip tightly, pursed her own lips, and rewrapped the chocolate. "If you're going to cry, just cry. Holding it in won't make you feel any better."

"No... it's just... a little sad... my eyes are a little sore..."

Furan tried to sound tough, but her voice was a little off-key.

Efnir rolled up her sleeve to wipe away the tears from the corners of Furan's eyes. Her arm suddenly sank, Furan gently grabbed Efnir's sleeve, burying her face in Efnir's shoulder, sobbing.

"Saori... will she be alright?"

"Of course, she's stronger than we thought, and the doctors will do everything they can to save her; nothing will happen to her."

"But..."

Suppressed emotions slowly broke down, Furan finally couldn't hold back her tears. She pressed her cheeks against Efnir's shoulder and called out Efnir and Saori incoherently over and over again.

At this moment, Efnir didn't know how to comfort her, so she just patted her back again and again, but the image of Yukina involuntarily appeared in her mind.

What would she do if Yukina were in danger?

What will happen to Yukina if she dies one day?

Those endless, fruitless worries split the path ahead into three or five pieces, making one hesitate to move forward.

After a long while, Furan's crying subsided, the corridor fell silent, and she lifted herself off Efnir's shoulder, leaving only a tear stain.

"I'm sorry... senior... I'm sorry you had to see this..."

"Eat it." Efnir didn't seem to mind, handing the chocolate back to Furan. "Then go keep her company. She needs you more than me, her senior."

"Um..."

Furan didn't notice the fleeting sadness in Efnir's eyes. She got up and walked to the door, then stopped and asked Efnir, "Senior, Saori... did Saori say to you?"

"Some information about Codename J, but it's not confirmed yet."

"..."

Furan realized that Efnir was hiding something, but she didn't press the matter.

Just as Saori trusted Efnir, Furan also placed absolute trust in Efnir.

"Rin, I'm leaving Saori in your care for now. Feel free to contact me anytime if you need any help."

What exactly is Thing in the Box? Perhaps only the person Codename H could know the answer.

After leaving the nursing home, Efnir went straight to the command center and entered without being stopped. She found Shinomiyami Nami was already waiting there— Efnir had asked her to prepare the necessary paperwork for going to the archives.

"I've already registered, I can just go directly there."

Shinomiyami Nami handed the card to Efnir, "Efnir, why are you suddenly looking for files now? Have you made some new discovery?"

Efnir shook her head and did not Saori Shinomiyami Nami had told her.

Although she trusted Shinomiyami Nami, this time, Efnir wanted to act alone for the time being.

There are some things I want to confirm.

Efnir gave a casual, dismissive reply.

"By the way, Nami, there are some things that are inconvenient to say over the phone... Do you know a way to contact Chufei directly without going through the Boundary Stele System? I have something very important that I need to confirm with her."

"Huh? We have to hide it from the Boundary Stele System..."

Shinomiyami Nami was initially puzzled, then frowned slightly. She quickly realized Efnir's intention. "We can't Human Federation know?"

"No, you can't."

Efnir clenched the card in her hand. "I'm afraid the Third Group will have to temporarily leave the organization to carry out its operations."

192. If you are dining at night

While Efnir and Shinomiyami Nami were searching for records in the archives, Yukina had just finished a physical examination at Nishizaki Yuki's medical department. However, the person in charge of the examination was not Nishizaki Yuki, who had just returned from a meeting, but her assistant Kanade Kotone.

"Miss Nishiki will get you some medicine and spray later, I'll bring it to you."

Wearing a name tag indicating her job title and identification code on her chest, Kanade Kotone held up a logboard and recorded the data from the instrument.

Yukina buttoned up her clothes, hung the pistol and holster that were placed to the side on her waist, glanced at her phone, and saw no record of Naoko calling.

It seems Naoko is still busy.

She opened the chat window and sent a message to Naoko, then turned off the screen and held it in her hand.

"By the way, have you finished your previous medication? I'll give you some more. This time, take half the usual dose. You should be completely fine in five days."

At this moment, she was wearing a well-fitting white lab coat, and silver-rimmed glasses perched on her delicate nose, looking quite presentable.

After working with Nishizaki Yuki for over a month, Kanade Kotone has begun to take on the role of assistant. Of course, she only needs to do some basic tasks and is still far from being a qualified researcher. This is because she does not have the personal abilities of a researcher. After all, just over a month ago, she was just an ordinary high school student.

So whenever she had time, she would borrow books from the headquarters library to study on her own and supplement her knowledge. At the same time, at Efnir's suggestion, she began to do basic physical training and firearms practice. She became more and more proficient in her assistant work, but her schoolwork had long since fallen behind.

If she were to go back to school now, she might get good grades in chemistry and physical education, but she would definitely only mediocrely in the other subjects.

Kanade handed her a cup of hot water.

Thirsty?

"Thank you," Yukina, holding her water glass, taking a small sip before setting it aside. "But I think I'm pretty much fine now."

"It would be great if you were really alright, but it's my job to cover for you agents who never take your health seriously. You'd better take this medicine."

At this moment, Nishizaki Yuki Kanade Kotone Nishizaki Yuki when she was instructing Efnir. Nishizaki Yuki and Efnir had a good relationship, as did Kanade Kotone and Yukina.

"Speaking of food, I'm feeling a little hungry..."

Yukina rubbed her stomach and sighed, "It feels like I haven't eaten for twelve hours..."

Now that you mention it, I'm starting to think...

Kanade Kotone, her stomach rumbled loudly.

"Have you finished your work? Want to go out for dinner together?"

After all, various things had happened, and Kanade Kotone, as Nishizaki Yuki's assistant, was also very busy. She often postponed meals as much as possible, but she had gotten used to this kind of life.

As the maintainer of security in a city, the Orderkeeper Headquarters always operates like a gear in a clock, with lights on in every department even late at night. People can always be seen rushing around in the corridors, and some people take a nap on their desks when they are tired.

The dining area is also open 24 hours a day, providing services for people who work late into the night.

Yukina and Kotone greeted different people along the way before arriving at the dining area.

They sat facing each other by the window, from where they could see most of the city's night view.

Kanade Kotone gently draped her work clothes over the back of the chair, leaving only her ID card and cell phone on the table so that she could receive a message immediately if Nishizaki Yuki needed to contact her.

"Phew, it seems a bit chilly at night... It's much warmer inside. Ugh, so tired..."

As soon as she sat down, Kanade rubbed her hands together and yawned repeatedly.

She pushed the menu in front of Yukina, "Shiomi- san, you should order first."

"After all, it's late autumn, and winter might be just around the corner."

Yukina also took off her coat, revealing a tight-fitting undershirt underneath. She placed the pistol aside, glanced at her phone again, and saw that there was still no message from Naoko on the screen.

However, she didn't feel cold. The agent's physical fitness far exceeded that of ordinary people, but her energy consumption was also astonishing, so now she wanted to eat something.

"Cookies, fried chicken nuggets, um... and this, and this..."

Yukina ordered a bunch of high-calorie foods and a dessert set meal, Kanade laughed, "I remember you would never eat these things back in school."

"You know that was in school. Back then, I felt I needed to maintain my figure and eat healthily, so since I didn't do much exercise, I could only focus on my diet... But now I suddenly feel that what I did back then was meaningless. Eating happily is the most important thing."

"Hmph, it's only because you agents don't get fat that you can be so carefree. You're really infuriating."

Kanade ordered a bowl of noodles and a drink. "If I stayed up all night every day and ate as much high-calorie food as you, I'd probably have gained twenty pounds by now."

That's why we can't neglect physical training.

"Ah... that's too tiring..."

Kanade Kotone listened to a long sigh, then looked up and rubbed her sore eyes.

Although Efnir had suggested that she do a certain amount of physical and combat training every day, she didn't actually do it every day because she was too tired. After a long day of work, no one has the energy to sweat it out and fill their leisure time.

"I think I finally understand why Ms. Nishiki's office is always such a mess..."

"Yeah... it's really tiring."

Yukina also recalled the time when she first joined the agency, "However... I've probably never had a life as fulfilling as this."

"Me too... I'm tired, but I'm very happy."

Kanade Kotone, and seeing Yukina looking out the window, she propped herself up and looked out as well.

Looking towards the Boundary Stele from a high vantage point, one can clearly see the still brightly lit, towering metal building, as well as the signal lights emitted by helicopters slowly taking off and landing nearby. Further into the distance, the view is unobstructed, with a faint glimmer of light rising on the horizon.

Below that, there was a hazy fog, and nothing could be seen.

The white fog created by the White Hole Erosion seems to accumulate heavily beneath the clouds, completely obscuring the earth's surface. It forces humanity to look up at the sky, using this humble attitude to remind everyone that the sky once belonged to them.

"Oh, it's almost dawn..."

Kanade Kotone and sighed.

"Hmm... time really flies."

Yukina gazed quietly at the sky outside the window.

The nights in Xijing City are very clear, with bright stars dominating most of the view. Yukina often hears older people say that the sky in the old century was filled with smog, and some even say they have seen brownish-gray snowflakes.

Yukina had seen photos that were supplementary to books from the old century, but she still couldn't imagine what the sky looked like.